Wang Ben was the current Taiwei and the spokesperson of the military.
He stood up at this time and explained the disadvantages of conferring titles, which made all the generals nod their heads.
The Qin Army was called the Tiger and Wolf Army by the Six Kingdoms of Shandong, and was given the exaggerated modification of "Qin people donated armor and disciples to approach the enemy, grabbing heads from the left and prisoners from the right". All this was because of the incentive effect of the military merit and title system.
In order to obtain the title, the people of Qin went to the battlefield and fought hard, just to behead and win the title. There were even cases of killing each other for heads within the Qin army, which shows how important the title is in the Qin State.
Now that the emperor is granting titles widely, it may have an impact on the entire title system.
The military general merit group is the biggest beneficiary of the Qin State's military merit system. They don't want this system that is running very well to have problems, and they are afraid that their interests will be damaged, so they naturally want to stand up and protest.
Faced with Wang Ben's remonstrance, the First Emperor seemed to have expected it. He calmly said: "If I grant a rank of nobility, will it destroy the entire military merit worship system? What do you think?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Wang Wu.
Wang Wu understood, took a deep breath and stood up.
He chose to stand on the emperor's side, and now he could only bite the bullet and defy Wang Ben.
"What the Taiwei said is wrong. The emperor has conferred titles on the head of Guizhou Province this time, which will help the hearts of all the people. It will be of great help to stabilize the homeland of the princes. As for the talk of ruining the title system, it is a bit alarmist. Let me ask you how good is the military merit and title system of the Qin Dynasty? Rank 20, even if the head of Guizhou is given a first-class title, the highest is only the rank of doctor, so how can it destroy the title system?"
"As for sapping the fighting spirit of the soldiers, let me ask you, if the soldiers can get the rank of knight without fighting, they will be extremely happy. They are grateful for the emperor's virtue and will only fight to the death. How can it reduce their fighting spirit?"
Wang Wu added: "When the emperor bestows a title and a public servant is promoted to the title of Shangzao, he will work harder to win the title of hairpin so that his children can enter the school as disciples. Those who are promoted to the title of hairpin will also Thinking of going to the battlefield to perform meritorious service, so that they can be promoted to a non-renewable title and be exempted from military service. In all these cases, rising from level to level to a higher level of title will only stimulate the soldiers' desire to obtain the title. The Taiwei said that it kills the fighting spirit. , I didn’t see it.”
The court fell silent again.
Zhao Tuo let out a breath, and Wang Wu had reached a point in his words.
The emperor's conferment of titles was aimed at the heads of Guizhou in the world, and holders of middle and high-level titles were not included in this scope.
There is an upper limit for the granting of this title. Although the emperor has not yet said it, generally speaking, it reaches the upper limit at the doctor level.
If it is small, it can be as wide as the fifth-level doctor, and if it is large, it may be as wide as the fifth-level doctor, which is the ninth level.
No matter how impulsive the First Emperor was, it was impossible for everyone in the world to be promoted together.
Then Zhao Tuo didn't have to do anything and was directly promoted to Chehou?
If you really want to do that, I believe not many people will object.
Including the chief concubine Wang Ben, after all, he can be directly named Lunhou if he upgrades to one level. With this kind of benefit, I am afraid that no matter how dissatisfied he is, he will pinch his nose and recognize it.
Precisely because the titles that can be upgraded are limited, even if those knights at the bottom level are promoted to another level, there are still more than ten levels of titles above their heads that can be upgraded. Each level up will bring one more level of benefits. Hairpins can allow children to enter the office, and if they are not, they can be exempted from regular service. The doctor has the qualifications to be an official in the county, and he is not afraid that the soldiers will lose their fighting spirit.
As long as you set enough levels, you can keep motivating people to upgrade!
And the title level is high enough. If only one level is given to a low-ranking person, the impact on the entire system will not be great.
From this perspective, what Wang Wu said also has certain logic and truth.
Wang Ben is a master of military warfare. He always likes to use hands rather than words. Now that Wang Wu is hitting him like this, he really can't find anything to say in a short time.
Zhao Tuo took a look at the white-faced and long-bearded Zhi Su Neishi. He had dealt with Wang Wu before when he was promoting noodles, and thought this man was quite good. Unexpectedly, he was a master of eloquence.
Now Wang Wu was fighting one against two, pushing Zhao Hai and Wang Ben back respectively, but Zhao Tuo was a little surprised.
However, Zhao Tuo couldn't help but sigh secretly when he thought of some things he knew.
Granting one level of nobility may not be a big problem in a short period of time, and it will not really destroy the military merit nobility system that has been established in Qin for hundreds of years.
But this is just the beginning.
Did the First Emperor promise that he would only grant a title this time?
Once this example is opened, it will happen a second time, a third time, or even countless times...
Even if the First Emperor no longer bestows titles, what about his successor?
If this is started, sooner or later the entire military merit system will completely collapse.
Zhao Tuo is very sure about this.
Because when he looked at history in later generations, he once wondered why the military merit system existed for more than 500 years from the time when Qin Xiaogong's reform was formally established, until Cao Cao officially dismembered it in the 20th year of Jian'an (215 BC).
But apart from the Qin Dynasty, the history of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms is not covered much. It is clear that the Han Dynasty also implemented military meritorious titles for four hundred years, and it was also a twenty-level title system!
Later, Zhao Tuo had a rough understanding of it, and realized that military honors had become frivolous in the late Qin Dynasty. Those with no higher ranks were even reduced to debt redeemers, and they followed the prisoners to build the Qin Mausoleum. After he died, he dug a hole with the prisoners and buried him.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, in February of the second year of the Han Dynasty, on the grounds of "removing the Qin State and establishing the Han State", he "showed kindness and granted civilian titles" and granted first-class titles to all the common people under his rule.
In Zhao Tuo's view, Liu Bang was not only trying to win over people from the Chu-Han War by conferring titles on the people, but it was probably also because Qin Shihuang gave him the initiative to grant titles to the head of Guizhou on a large scale. Lord.
However, after Liu Bang conquered the world, he may have realized the disadvantages of frivolous titles, and attached great importance to military merit.
In the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, he not only issued an edict to "restore old titles, lands and houses", but also made repeated orders to promote the implementation of the military merit title system in order to reward the heroes and soldiers who founded the country. In the household registers and documents of the Han Dynasty, the "name of the county and the year of the title" must be recorded, which means that the person's title must be recorded to distinguish the identity and status.
Liu Bang's attention made the value of military merits rise briefly.
But it is limited to this. After Liu Bang's death, Prince Liu Ying came to the throne. At the beginning of his accession, he issued an edict "Granting the first level of nobility to the people", rewarding the common people in the world with the first level of nobility. At the same time, he also gave nobility to officials, such as the Lang Guan who guarded him. , samurai and others were even given titles to the second and third levels.
Such large-scale conferral of titles resulted in the rapid devaluation of titles.
When Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, when large-scale granting of titles was given, officials who were dissatisfied with the conditions for granting titles could be rewarded with tens of thousands of coins. It can be seen that the price of a first-class title is more expensive than ten thousand coins.
But only one year later, he issued an edict that "people who are guilty must buy the 30th rank to avoid the death penalty." At that time, the first-level title was worth 2,000 yuan, so if the common people committed a capital crime, they only had to spend 60,000 yuan to buy the 30th rank. A title can save you from death.
In one year, the price of the title fell from 10,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan, which shows how quickly the title depreciated.
Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty started this idea of conferring nobility upon ascending the throne, and Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty followed suit. When he came to the throne, he issued an edict: "When I first ascended the throne, I will grant amnesty to the world and grant the first level of civil nobility."
In the 23 years of his reign, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty granted the people of the world two titles, which were considered restrained but not too much. However, he also got off to a bad start by accepting Chao Cuo's policy of "purchasing millet to worship nobles", which was to sell nobles on a large scale. A second-level nobleman would sell 600 shi of millet, and a ninth-level nobleman would sell 4,000 shi of millet. Stone, and the eighteenth-level concubine chief sold it for twelve thousand stones.
Moreover, what Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sold were empty titles, with no land or house rewards at all. They were all honorary titles. Moreover, only by purchasing a ninth-level and fifth-level official could one be exempted from servitude, and by purchasing an eighteenth-level concubine, could one be exempted from death penalty.
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sold his titles at a very high price and had few title rights, so naturally no one bought them.
When no one bought it, the price dropped, causing the military merits to depreciate on a large scale again, and no one cherished them anymore.
If no one cherishes it, the emperor will not pay attention to it.
When Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, he reigned for sixteen years and granted eight civil titles to the world.
Therefore, as long as they live out the era of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, basically every adult male in the world will have an eighth-level public title.
As a result, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty came to power and wanted to fight back against the Xiongnu. When he was about to use military honors to boost morale, he found that the system had collapsed and military honors had been devalued to the extreme.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty suddenly thought of it and came up with a system of military merit titles in order to motivate the soldiers. However, this thing did not change the medicine and could not attract the people's attention. Everyone knew what the Han family's military merit titles were.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to see that the system of military merit titles could not be saved, so he established a new "Order of Rewards for those who defeated the Huns and surrendered" based on the original spirit of the military merit titles. It was equivalent to directly rewarding gold for meritorious service, and being granted the title of marquis and food. This could motivate the soldiers. Fight hard.
This is why it was extremely difficult to make a marquis in the Qin Dynasty, but when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty attacked the Xiongnu, people everywhere were granted titles based on merit.
It was purely due to the collapse of this system by the previous Han emperors. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to use the still profitable marquises to motivate people. He also felt the pain of the collapse of military meritorious titles.
At this time, since the military meritorious officer was completely rotten, the Han emperor who followed him would continue to rot.
The emperor ascended the throne and bestowed titles upon him. Establish a prince and grant him a title. The emperor was given a Canadian dollar service and was given a title. The emperor changed the Yuan Dynasty and granted titles. If there is auspiciousness, you will be given a title. If there is a natural disaster, you will be given a title...
The number of titles given is astonishing.
For example, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun was in power for 27 years and granted civilian titles 14 times, including more than one first-level title, and the total number of titles reached sixteen.
However, many titles were given, and it was impossible for every man in the world to be a high-ranking noble of more than ten levels. Therefore, the emperor of the Han family had a new rule, that is, the highest title granted could not exceed eight levels.
This differentiated into high-level officials and low-level civil servants.
Officials who are high-ranking officials can perform meritorious service, or be awarded official titles and continue to rise.
As for ordinary common people, the civil nobility that accepts rewards can only reach the upper limit of the eighth level of public service. The so-called "the nobility of the public service must be transferred to the children if they are of the same birth." That is to say, if the civil service exceeds the eighth level or above, the The grades will be transferred to brothers and nephews.
In this way, the so-called "eight-level civil nobility system" of the Han Dynasty was formed.
The reason why the Han emperors in the past dynasties were willing to grant titles to people all over the world was probably the most precious military merit titles in the Qin Dynasty. By this time, they had become empty honors, with nothing but a title.
The rulers do not need to pay much price. As long as they issue an edict and give the people an empty honorary title, they can show their generosity and kindness, achieve the purpose of universal celebration and win over people's hearts. Why not?
Of course, in addition to giving some empty titles, smart rulers often also give some benefits such as cattle and wine, rent reductions and exemptions when bestowing titles, so that the people of Guizhou can be grateful.
The last time the Han Dynasty granted titles to the world was when Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty made Cao Cao's daughter his queen, thereby highlighting Cao Cao's status.
Later, when Cao Cao came to power and dismantled the twenty-level military merit system, in addition to retaining and reforming the marquis system, he felt that the eight-level civil nobility system was also quite good and useful in winning people's hearts, so he retained it.
The eight-level civil nobility system lasted until the middle of the Tang Dynasty and became a cheap embellishment for various dynasties to celebrate festivals.
This was the final outcome of the military merit system established by Qin Xiaogong and Shang Yang.
Zhao Tuo sighed quietly in his heart.
He knows the final outcome of the military merit system, and he himself has climbed up from this system step by step. It can be said that he is a direct beneficiary of the military merit system, and he naturally has some feelings for this system.
After Zhao Tuo glanced at Wang Wu, he looked at the First Emperor on the imperial couch again.
Even after Qin unified the world, the military merit system that required constant battles was no longer suitable for the needs of the empire. There were various problems in the system fit and needed to be changed.
Zhao Tuo has always had the idea of reforming military merit, but no matter what, he is not like the emperor.
Directly grant the title of the first person in Guizhou to the world.
We must know that the final collapse of the military merit and title system lies in the rulers' large-scale granting of titles. Although the large-scale granting of titles in the Han Dynasty began with Liu Bang, the granting of titles throughout the world began with Liu Ying.
But maybe they are learning from Qin Shihuang?
This emperor of eternity was the initiator of the destruction of the military merit system!
Today, the First Emperor wants to grant the first-level title to the head of Guizhou all over the world. Maybe it will not do much harm in a short time, but this is a bad start, and those who come after will learn from it. It is only a matter of time before the system collapses.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly.
This emperor was often called a tyrant in later generations, but almost no one called him a fatuous lord.
Can a person who can unify the world not see the harm of granting people nobility?
Or is he doing it on purpose?
Do you want to take action on the military merit system?
Or is this a way to test the military power group?
Or maybe his thinking was too complicated, and the emperor simply wanted to achieve great success in order to win over the people?
Zhao Tuo stared at the First Emperor closely.
Suddenly I felt a little unsure.
Because today's First Emperor has always been very calm, even if Zhao Hai and Wang Ben stood up to oppose him one after another, he did not show too many emotions, and just watched with a cold eye as Wang Wu stood up to defend him.
Moreover, what Wang Wu said about the role of winning people's hearts and stabilizing the hometowns of princes was also what he said himself. The First Emperor never expressed his position.
This emperor, who had learned Han Fei's methods, was a master of power whenever he thought, and few people could guess his thoughts.
Even Zhao Tuo couldn't figure out the emperor's true meaning after a while of random thoughts.
At this time, after Wang Wu made an impassioned move, he temporarily withstood Taiwei Wang Bi's attack. Many ministers have not spoken for the time being. Unlike Zhao Tuo, they have already known the outcome of this knighthood order in advance. Due to the limitations of the times, they have to carefully consider and weigh.
At this moment, no one said anything.
The First Emperor on the imperial couch smiled lightly and turned to look at Zhao Tuo.
This current military commander in the court is in charge.
"Both the Lord Lieutenant and the Grand Lieutenant have something to say. I wonder if the Martial Arts Marquis has any ideas?"
"Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang": At this age, he was given a rank of one rank.
Although there are only six short words in the history books, from the perspective of the development and evolution of the entire military merit and title system, this matter is actually very important. The First Emperor gave the first title to the leader of Guizhou in the world, which can be said to be the source of the collapse.
Military titles are so important to the Qin Dynasty, and the protagonist relies on this system to get up, so he doesn't want to skip this important event. It seems that most Qin and Chinese texts don't have much description of the title system, so they still feel it is necessary to spend more words. , it would be useful if some book friends could know about it.
Although the scope of this conferment of titles is not stated in the history books, judging from the fact that the other three large-scale conferments of titles in the Qin Dynasty were all given to the head of Guizhou, and that in the Han Dynasty they were all conferring titles to the people, there are often other explanations for conferring titles to officials, so this time it should also be a conferral. The title of Qianshou.
There is also archaeological evidence on this matter: a number of excavated inscriptions were unearthed in Zhaobeihu Village, west of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum, which are the "epitaphs" of the laborers who died while building the imperial mausoleum. Many of them were aborigines from the Six Kingdoms of Shandong, and their titles were All have reached the status of Shangzao, Bugen, etc. It can be inferred that the titles of these survivors of the Six Kingdoms were basically awarded after the unification of Qin, which is consistent with the records of handed down documents.
Regarding the information on military merit and nobility, we mainly refer to Zhu Shaohou's "Research on the Military Merit and Nobility System". This book is the most systematic and authoritative academic research work on the military merit and nobility system in China. Interested book friends can read it.
