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Chapter 251 The System of Ancient Officialdom

Li Guang had a straightforward personality and was not good at pleasing his superiors. Emperor Wu of Han's military merit system was too harsh, which resulted in him being unable to be granted a title of nobility despite his outstanding military achievements.

In addition, Emperor Wu of Han's suppression of the Li family and his favoritism towards his relatives by marriage were also important reasons for the tragedy of Li Guang's family.

Li Xin of Qin, his grandfather and father were both governors of Qin. His generation was exactly the third generation of his family and was deeply trusted by King Qin Ying Zheng. More importantly, he was fundamentally different from Wang Jian and Meng Tian, ​​veterans who had served four generations of emperors.

He was a young officer promoted by Ying Zheng after he took power, and a loyal and beloved general to Ying Zheng. At this time, Meng Tian, ​​who was a contemporary of Li Xin, had just emerged, and Wang Ben, the fierce general who would destroy four countries in the future, was just an ordinary younger brother.

It can be said that if Li Xin did not make any mistakes, he would basically be Ying Zheng's right-hand man after he unified the six kingdoms.

Li Xin was not just a name, he was the vanguard of the Qin army whether it was destroying Zhao or attacking Chu, and Ying Zheng also brought back the head of Prince Dan of Yan, the culprit behind Jing Ke's assassination.

The curtain of Ying Zheng's unification of the world gradually opened. Who could become the sharp weapon for him to annex the six kingdoms? Ying Zheng did not hesitate to give the veteran general Wang Jian a long vacation and sent the young representative Li Xin to the top of the military.

In 225 BC, Ying Zheng appointed Li Xin as the chief commander and Meng Tian as the general, and led an army of 20 to march towards the State of Chu, ready to destroy it in one fell swoop. Facts have proved that Ying Zheng was right in his choice of people.

After entering Chu, the Qin army, led by Li Xin, captured cities and strongholds along the way, and successively captured important places such as Pingyu, Qiqiu, Yanying, and then headed straight for the Chu capital Shouchun.

But just when Li Xin was about to make great achievements, something unexpected happened. Prince Pingyuan of Chu, who grew up in Qin and had a close relationship with Ying Zheng, suddenly rebelled in Yinling for unknown reasons.

Yinling was the old capital of Chu State and a major military town. In order to avoid being attacked from both sides, Li Xin had to turn back to attack Yinling. However, as soon as Li Xin turned around, the Chu general Xiang Yan led the Chu army to chase after Li Xin.

The battle lasted for three days and three nights, and finally Li Xin's two camps were breached, seven captains were killed, and Li Xin fled in defeat. This disastrous defeat was considered the biggest defeat during Qin's conquest of the six kingdoms.

Ying Zheng was furious, but could only sigh. As a last resort, he re-employed the veteran general Wang Jian. Li Xin and the Li family became unknown passers-by.

It was not until 60 years later that Li Guang once again made the Longxi Li family appear in history books. That year, Li Guang, who was born in the Liang family, became a star in the army as soon as he joined the army. Because of his resistance to the invasion of the Huns, Xiaoguan was named Zhonglang General by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty.

However, Emperor Wen of Han said something thought-provoking, which meant that although Li Guang was brave, he was born at the wrong time. If he was born in the era of Emperor Gaozu of Han, it would be easy for him to become a marquis.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty's words came true. After Li Guang's death, he lived through the reigns of Emperor Jing of Han and Emperor Wu of Han, and fought in more than 70 battles of various sizes. Except for being given the title of "Flying General" by the Huns, he was never able to be granted a title of nobility.

There are many theories in history about why he was not granted a title of nobility. Some people think that although Li Guang was brave, he was too heroic. The confrontation between Han and Xiongnu at that time required more strategic planning and overall planning of generals, which were exactly Li Guang's shortcomings.

Another view is that Emperor Wu of Han used his relatives, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in the past, and Li Guangli, the second general, in the future. Li Guang was always suppressed. He led only a few thousand soldiers each time, so there was no room for him to play.

Even for the last battle, Emperor Wu of Han only reluctantly agreed after Li Guang's strong support.

However, Emperor Wu of Han also said the same strange things to Wei Qing as he did to Emperor Wen of Han, which was that Li Guang had a bad luck and even if he was taken to the battlefield, he should not be given the opportunity to fight against the Xiongnu Chanyu, otherwise the Chanyu could not be captured.

This shows that Emperor Wu of Han was very wary of Li Guang. In fact, in several wars against the Huns during Emperor Wu of Han's reign, Li Guang was either defeated and captured, or returned empty-handed. He did not have a single great victory to show for himself, and in the end his merits and demerits were evenly balanced.

As expected, he failed to fight against the Xiongnu Chanyu on his last expedition. It was not because Wei Qing interfered, but because Li Guang got lost on the way. In the end, he was so ashamed and angry that he drew his sword and committed suicide.

Li Guang had three sons. The eldest and the second died early, and only the third son, Li Gan, stayed with Li Guang until the end.

Ironically, Li Gan also participated in the Battle of Mobei with his father, but Li Guang did not achieve any success, while Li Gan was named Guannei Hou by Emperor Wu of Han for his military merit in seizing the title of Zuo Xian Wang.

Li Gan had always been upset about his father's death. He believed that Wei Qing had killed his father, so he broke into Wei Qing's residence and beat him up. Although Wei Qing didn't say anything, Huo Qubing was not happy.

Huo Qubing felt that Li Gan had dared to attack his uncle, so he decided to take drastic measures. During a hunting trip with Emperor Wu of Han, he shot Li Gan to death with an arrow.

Emperor Wu of Han naturally would not blame his own nephew for this matter, so he announced to the public that Li Gan was killed by a deer while hunting. It was a pity that the son of a famous general did not die on the battlefield, but died in the hands of his own people inexplicably.

The Li family did not die out with Li Gan's death, because Li Guang's eldest son had a nephew.

The child's name was Li Ling. Like his grandfather, Li Ling was good at riding and shooting. When he grew up, he was appointed as the Cavalry Commandant by Emperor Wu of Han and led an army of 5000 people, responsible for patrolling the areas of Zhangye and Jiuquan.

In 99 BC, General Li Guangli was ordered to lead 3 cavalry from Jiuquan to attack the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu. Emperor Wu of Han ordered Li Ling to lead the baggage train to cooperate with Li Guangli in the battle.

However, Li Ling was unwilling to do the logistics work and took the initiative to ask Emperor Wu of Han to attack together with Li Guangli. However, Emperor Wu of Han said that too many troops were dispatched and there were no extra horses for him.

Li Ling said that he did not need horses and that he could attack the Xiongnu court with only his 5000 infantry. Emperor Wu of Han admired his courage and agreed to his request.

Soon after Li Ling led his troops to set out, he encountered the main force of the Xiongnu Chanyu at Junji Mountain. His 5000 infantry were surrounded by 3 Xiongnu cavalry. However, Li Ling was not panicked at all. He shot and killed thousands of Xiongnu in the first battle, which immediately intimidated the Xiongnu Chanyu.

The Xiongnu Chanyu sent another 8 troops to continue the attack. Li Ling fought and retreated, and he shot and killed more than 1 enemy soldiers despite the Xiongnu's dozens of attacks every day. The Xiongnu did not expect that these thousands of Han soldiers could fight so well, so they prepared to retreat.

But at this time a traitor appeared in the Han army. The traitor told the Xiongnu that Li Ling's army had less than 2000 people left, they had run out of arrows, and had no reinforcements.

The Xiongnu Chanyu was overjoyed upon hearing the news and launched another fierce attack on Li Ling. After the Han army ran out of arrows, they either used short swords to fight the enemy or cut off the spokes of their wheels to use as weapons.

Finally, Li Ling retreated to a valley and was trapped. The Huns rolled down huge rocks from the mountains. Li Ling's army suffered heavy casualties and was in a desperate situation. Li Ling was forced to surrender.

When Emperor Wu of Han heard the news, he was furious. Civil and military officials also scolded Li Ling, saying that he should die for his country.

Only the Grand Historian Sima Qian spoke up for Li Ling. He believed that Li Ling fought bravely with 5000 infantrymen against the enemy's attack, and even the famous generals of the Five Dynasties were no better than him. The reason why he did not die was that he wanted to make meritorious deeds to atone for his sins and serve the court.

Emperor Wu of Han believed that Sima Qian wanted to use Li Ling's praise to belittle Li Guangli, the general who had not made any contribution, and in anger he castrated him. Much later, Emperor Wu of Han finally figured out that Li Ling's failure was due to the lack of support.

So he sent General Gongsun Ao to lead troops deep into Xiongnu territory to bring Li Ling back. However, Gongsun Ao did not even see Li Ling. He just heard from a Xiongnu captive that Li Ling was training troops for the Chanyu and then went back to report to Emperor Wu of Han.

Emperor Wu of Han therefore killed Li Ling's mother, brothers, wife and children. The gentry in the Longxi area also felt ashamed that Li Ling had not died for his loyalty and had brought disaster to his family.

In fact, the person who trained the Xiongnu army was not Li Ling at all, but a Han Chinese named Li Xu. However, Li Guang's family was exterminated because of this rumor.

Ban Gu, a later historian, also felt sorry for Li Guang's family when he wrote about this period of history. He could only write in the history book: "The generals of the Three Dynasties were feared by the Taoists. Since Guang's death, his clan has been wiped out."

In addition to Ban Gu, Sima Qian in "Records of the Grand Historian", Fang Xuanling in "Book of Jin", Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi and others also put forward the view that one should serve as a general for three generations, which is something Taoists avoid.

[Understand the officialdom system of the Chinese dynasties in one breath - a little historical knowledge of the officialdom]

In the ancient Chinese political system, ministers played a very important role.

They are the link between the military and the people, and the key to maintaining the orderly operation of the country. Are you often confused by the official positions that appear in the drama, and can't tell who is higher and who is lower? This video will let us understand the official system of China's dynasties in one go.

During the Warring States Period, although there were many vassal states, they generally established the positions of "Prime Minister" and "General". The "Prime Minister" was responsible for civil affairs, while the "General" was in charge of military affairs.

The titles of officials in Chu at that time were different. Ling Yin was the head of all officials, while Shang Zhu Guo was a military officer second only to Ling Yin. This is the case with the "Xiang" in "Wang Hou Jiang Xiang Ning You Zhong Hu" in "Chen She's Family".

In the Qin Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty established a central institution headed by the prime minister, the general, and the imperial censor, commonly known as the "Three Dukes". The prime minister was the highest administrative official, and the representative figure was the prime minister of Qin, Li Si.

The Taiwei was in charge of national military affairs. Until the Yuan Dynasty, the Taiwei was the highest military officer assisting the emperor.

However, no one in the Qin Dynasty actually held this position, and the army was always controlled by the King of Qin himself. The Imperial Censor concurrently served as the Emperor's Secretary General and Supervisor.

This position had a small "benefit" at the time, which was that when the position of prime minister became vacant, the chief censor could succeed him.

Under the Three Dukes were Nine Ministers, namely Fengchang, Langzhongling, Weiwei, Taipu, Tingwei, Dianke, Zongzheng, Zhisuluneshi and Shaofu.

Fengchang was in charge of ancestral temple rituals; Langzhongling and Weiwei were responsible for the security of the palace, Langzhongling was in charge of internal security and Weiwei was in charge of external security; Taipu was in charge of the emperor's carriages and horses as well as road traffic throughout the country; Tingwei was in charge of justice; Dianke was in charge of diplomatic affairs; Zongzheng was responsible for handling royal affairs; Zhisuli Neishi was responsible for managing granaries and paying salaries to officials; and the royal expenses were the responsibility of Shaofu.

The system of Three Dukes and Nine Ministers continued until the Sui and Tang dynasties, with only some adjustments to the titles of some official positions.

In addition to the central institutions, the imperial power extended directly to every household: 5 households made up a wu, 1 wu made up a li, 2 li made up a ting, 1 ting made up a township, 10 townships made up a county, and several counties made up a county.

The county had a governor, a deputy governor, a lieutenant, and a censor. The governor was in charge of the counties and prefectures under his jurisdiction. The counties were directly governed areas, while the prefectures were autonomous regions.

The county magistrate's deputy was responsible for assisting the county magistrate in handling government affairs within the territory; the county lieutenant was the county magistrate's assistant, mainly responsible for military affairs of the entire county; and the county inspector was mainly responsible for supervising administrative and military activities at the county level.

At the county level, there are county magistrates, county assistants and county lieutenants. The county magistrate is in charge of the subordinate townships, and the county town has a county lieutenant, two in large counties and one in small counties. The township has a township assistant and a pavilion chief. The pavilion chief is in charge of 10 subordinate households, and the village head is in charge of 5 subordinate households. Each household in the five-member team supervises each other.

The Western Han Dynasty basically followed the Qin Dynasty's official positions, but the names of some official positions changed. The prime minister was changed to the Grand Tutor, the Grand Commandant was changed to the Grand Marshal, and the Imperial Censor was changed to the Grand Minister of Works.

The governor became the chief of the county and concurrently took charge of military affairs, hence the title of "county commander". The commander-in-chief and the chief clerk also became important subordinates, with the commander-in-chief supervising county officials and the chief clerk in charge of clerical affairs.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the post of Inspector was established to strengthen the central government's supervision over local governments. Inspectors were not local administrative officials at first, but in the late Western Han Dynasty, they began to intervene in local administration and military affairs, and actually became the highest local officials.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of the provincial governor was further consolidated and developed. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to suppress the Yellow Turban Rebellion and other rebellious activities, the provincial governor was even given the right to lead troops in battle.

During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Shangshu Province, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province formed and established a system of power division among the three provinces, and the three-province and six-department system replaced the three dukes and nine ministers system. The Shangshu Province was responsible for managing government affairs, the Zhongshu Province was responsible for drafting government orders, and the Menxia Province was responsible for reviewing government orders.

The chiefs of the three ministries were Shangshu Ling, Zhongshu Ling and Shizhong. Shangshu Ling was mostly a nominal position, but Zuo Pushe and Zuo Pushe actually served as prime ministers.

The Secretariat was divided into the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Works. Each ministry had a Shangshu and a Shilang as the chief and deputy chief, who were responsible for the overall administration of the department. The six ministries handled various affairs separately.

In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the position of Hanlin Academician began to encroach on the power of the prime minister. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the Hanlin Academy was established to draft important imperial edicts issued directly by the emperor.

Thus, the so-called "internal order" and "external order" were distinguished. The imperial edicts transmitted by Hanlin scholars were directly issued from the inner court, called "internal order", and were written on white hemp paper; the imperial edicts transmitted by Zhongshu Sheren were drafted by the prime minister, called "external order", and were written on yellow jute paper.

The Hanlin Bachelor was therefore called the "Inner Prime Minister", but the Hanlin Bachelor was not an official position but a job, so there was no formal rank or grade, and the number of vacancies was not fixed.