As we know, through the efforts of Emperor Wen of Sui and Emperor Yang, the Tang Dynasty had the later imperial examination system, which opened a road to the emperor for the literati at the bottom, and at the same time completely destroyed the rule of the family and the family.
Why did Cao Cao suppress the family? What the hell was Cao Cao thinking?
What is a gate valve family?
To put it bluntly, it is a family-centered, group of people organization that dominates the officialdom. The Han Dynasty's system of selecting officials was known as the "inspection system", and its ultimate criterion was the character of the selected person, that is, "filial piety and honesty", whether you have talent or not, as long as you are virtuous.
But human nature is greedy, and the imperial examination system will naturally change, giving birth to a family of gate valves. At first, the imperial court didn't pay much attention to it, but as time went on, their influence grew.
Cao Cao was not a visionary, because the imperial examination of the Qin Dynasty, although there was a certain superiority, if you simply rely on your own judgment, there will be mistakes, and even cronyism, over time, the children of the family will gather, for their own interests, unite to overthrow the king, thus changing the fate of a dynasty.
The Eastern Han Dynasty was supported by the Haoqiangshi clan, which controlled the power of the ** and the local area politically, and gradually formed an independent force and a large clan through the collection of fields and the management of land and property economically. Although Cao Cao had the support of the Yingchuan family, he was wary of the Shi clan, both using and suppressing, and had the opportunity to kill Bian Rang, Kong Rong, Cui Yan, and Yang Xiu to curb the expansion of the family.
Cao Cao also made some reforms in the introduction, from 210 AD to 217 AD, he asked the Magi three times in a row, advocating the use of meritocracy, employing people without being limited by morality, even those who "have stains, ridicule, unkindness and filial piety, and the way to govern the country", but also dare to use, "everyone must do their best, do not leave anyone out." ”
This move not only absorbed a group of people with poor moral character or poverty, but also opened a gap in the state power held by the Haoqiang clan, so that the leaders could better use their subordinates, and at the same time for their own use, such as Cao Cao promoted Yu Ban and Le Jin from ordinary sergeants, Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were selected by Cao Cao from among the enemies, and many of the states and counties that Cao Cao sealed were also born civilians.
Cui Yan, Xun Yu, Yang Xiu, these three are Xun Yu of Yingchuan Xun's family, Cui Yan of Qinghe Cui's family, and Yang Xiu of Yang's family. Cao Cao's suppression of them was actually to unify the world, Cao Cao followed the way of the Legalists, while the Eastern Han Dynasty was a big family from the beginning, so there was such a contradiction.
If Cao Cao wants to unify the world, he must suppress those big families, but the productivity of the Three Kingdoms is too low, and many people can't even eat, so they can only rely on local wealthy families, so there are so many big families.
The same is true of Cao Cao, Cao Cao knew very well that if he wanted to consolidate Cao Wei's rule, he would have to rely on these families, and without the help of these families, Cao Shi's strength alone would not be able to stabilize Cao Wei at all.
The scholars held the culture and knowledge, and Cao Cao's power also needed some people to manage, and even if it was necessary, Cao Cao knew very well that without these people, it would be impossible for him to leave the family. Even if some people in the family stood up against Cao Cao, Boss Cao didn't have any choice. The only thing Cao Cao can do is to quiet those who are not convinced, so Xun Yu, Cui Yan, and Yang Xiu will die in the hands of Cao Cao one after another.
As the saying goes: "Three generations of one family, five generations of one family, ten generations of one family". It can be seen that the rise of a family cannot be completed overnight. Gaomen started in the Qin and Han dynasties, flourished in the Wei and Jin dynasties, and has always dominated the world for more than a thousand years.
However, everything has ups and downs, and the high-door valve is no exception. Since the establishment of the imperial examination system, the scholars have lost control of the government and gradually declined. is like what Liu Yuxi wrote in "Wuyi Lane": "The Vermilion Bird Bridge is overgrown with weeds, and the entrance of Wuyi Lane is at dusk." "A generation of glory has finally come to an end.