Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 504 The time has come!

Chen Qun, courtesy name Wenchang, was the Minister of the Chancellery.

He was from Xuchang County, Yingchuan Commandery, and had a prominent background.

The grandson of Chen Shi, the Chief of Taiqiu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the son of Chen Ji, the Grand Herald.

He is a genuine descendant of a famous family, a son of an aristocratic family.

The reason why he is said to be the leader of the aristocratic families is because he did one thing, something that helped the aristocratic families in the world.

He formulated a unique official selection system, the "Nine-Rank System", and is the main founder of the current "Wei Law".

Editing the laws is not a very important matter; what is important is the formulation of the official selection system.

The Nine-Rank System, also known as the Nine-Rank Official System, was an idea adopted by Cao Pi from Shangshu Ling Chen Qun. Later, all participating parties basically followed this unwritten rule.

Generally speaking, it means that each state and county will elect one Da Zhong Zheng, who must be an official serving in the central government and has a high moral character and reputation.

The Great Zhongzheng gives birth to the Small Zhongzheng.

Zhongzheng is the name of an official position responsible for evaluating talents.

After the big and small Zhongzheng were produced, the central government distributed a talent survey form, in which the talents were divided into nine grades: top-top, top-middle, top-bottom, middle-upper, middle-middle, middle-lower, bottom-top, bottom-middle, and bottom-bottom.

To put it simply, the nine grades are to divide people into different levels.

As for whether there are any criteria for judging...

Yes, there are, but it just depends on the preferences of the people.

The main focus is on three areas.

The first thing to be affected is family background.

That is, family origin and background. It refers to the qualifications and official positions of the fathers and grandfathers, as well as the level of their titles. These materials are called "book of the world" or "book of the family", which the Zhongzheng official must master in detail.

Next comes the conduct, which is an overall evaluation of the individual's conduct and talents, equivalent to a moral commentary.

This was common in the late Han Dynasty, and the overall evaluation was usually very concise, such as "a natural talent, outstanding and unique", "a young person with excellent moral character and ability", etc.

The next step is to determine the grade.

In principle, the rank is determined based on conduct, and family background is only used as a reference. But in practice, the noble families would never allow the poor to surpass them, so the rank is basically determined entirely by family background.

No matter how high the evaluation of a person's behavior is, he can only be ranked in the lower class; a person from a wealthy family can be ranked in the upper class even if his behavior is not good. Thus, the situation of "there are no poor families in the upper class, and no powerful families in the lower class" was formed at that time.

As for the actual operation, an evaluation form will be issued. On this form, the local Zhongzheng officials will register all the well-known people from all over the country, whether they are in official positions or not, based on their own knowledge. The form will record their age, family background, rank, and comments in detail.

The Xiao Zhongzheng assisted the Da Zhongzheng in reviewing the report and then submitted it to the Ministry of Personnel, which promoted or demoted officials based on it.

All in all, this Nine-Rank System was designed entirely to serve the aristocratic families.

If this kind of system is established, even a fool can understand what is going on.

Chen Qun proposed such a system, and as the head of a noble family, there was nothing wrong with it.

Now Cao Pi treats the noble families like this...

Naturally, the noble family found Chen Qun to talk.

Chen Qun originally had a good relationship with Cao Pi. Cao Pi supported his own system and the aristocratic families, and everything was developing in a good direction.

result…

Something has been wrong since the Xun family incident.

it is good…

Even if it was just targeting the Xun family, how do you explain why Jiang Ji was being used to "take the blame"?
Jiang Ji was also a child of an aristocratic family. When he was young, he and Hu Zhi and Zhu Ji were famous in the Jianghuai area. When he was only a young man, he served as an accountant for the State of Chu.

Such a person, being bullied like this, is not worthy of being the emperor! To put it bluntly, in the Cao Wei group, the emperor recognized by the aristocratic families is the emperor!
At present...Tai Changlin, Taichang Zhao Zi, Yueqi Xiaowei Xun Wei (Henei Xun family), Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui, Shangshu Wei Ji (father of the later Western Jin Tai Wei Guan), Hedong Pei family, and Shangshu Ling Pei Qian are all in Chen Qun's mansion.

Chang Lin said, "Minister... Your Majesty has arrested Zi Tong, how are you going to punish him?"

Chen Qun said: "According to the charges Your Majesty has imposed, he will certainly be sentenced to death!"

This…

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the mansion.

Wei Ji immediately exclaimed: "This is an unproven crime, how could it be so cruel?"

Jia Kui said, "Cao Pi has such a personality, he should not have been allowed to inherit the throne!"

Jia Kui's words were quite decisive, almost... no, it could be said that he had already denied Cao Pi's legitimacy.

What he meant was that he regretted making Cao Pi the successor.

In fact, Chen Qun also felt that Cao Pi's behavior was not fair.

Although I understand the whole story, I cannot resort to such a method that would betray my family.

This will certainly cause resentment among the aristocratic families.

If you can betray Jiang Ji today, will it be the turn of Chang, Zhao, and Pei tomorrow?
Such things...will naturally arouse the vigilance and disgust of the aristocratic families.

However, if the external situation was stable right now, perhaps Chen Qun would also think about these things with these aristocratic families. But now that the situation is unstable, it is not the time to think about these things!
But he said: "I understand your feelings very well! However... the key issue at the moment is the rebellion in Hexi and Liu Bei's military advance."

"And... there's a spy among us!"

"After Cao Zhi's death, the Hexi area could no longer be peacefully recovered. This was not done by Jiang Ji, but someone else must have planned it."

"Your Majesty may not have done much, but there is really nothing you can do."

"Right now... we must first quell the internal strife and external enemies, find the spies, and then we can think of other things."

Chen Qun's calm attitude made the aristocratic families feel more at ease.

But it was only a little bit more reassuring. At the moment, Chen Qun's words did not completely calm the minds of the aristocratic families. Instead, they remained silent... but each had his own thoughts.

Chen Qun gave everyone a reminder.

Since Jiang Ji was wronged, there must be another person who escaped and is mixed in the court, staring at Cao Pi in the dark!

Who is that guy... and who is he doing all this for? I have no idea at the moment.

Besides, with Sima Yi's internal strife and Liu Bei's dominance, it seemed that the Cao family was on the verge of collapse, and everyone must have had different thoughts.

When Chen Qun saw that none of them said anything, he knew what these people were planning!
But he said: "Many of you have contacted the south before, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed again, and they looked like they didn't know how to start.

As for the connection with that side, it is more or less there.

We are all human beings, so who wouldn’t leave a way out for ourselves?

Especially when Chang'an was captured and Cao Wei was declining before their eyes, could they really be in the same boat and sink together?
Besides...

Liu Bei was a kind person, and after the Jiangdong noble families surrendered, their lives became better and better.

After the new currency reform, the noble families made a lot of fortune!

How can we ignore the northern family?
If Cao, who had supported them all the way, had not proclaimed himself emperor, who knows how many people would have gone to the south!
now…

Amid internal and external troubles, the thoughts that had already arisen in my mind would surely appear even more strongly!
even…

There are already a few who are trying to find a way to go south.

(End of this chapter)