Wang Ben was the imperial lieutenant and the spokesperson of the military.

At this time, he stood up and tried to show the disadvantages of the matter of giving the lord, which caused the generals to nod again and again.

The Qin army was called the division of tigers and wolves by the six countries of Shandong, and was crowned with the exaggerated decoration of "the Qin people donated armor to the enemy, the left took the head of the person, and the right coerced the captive", all because of the incentive effect of the military merit system.

In order to obtain the title, the Qin people went to the battlefield and fought hard, just to behead and get the knighthood, and even there were cases of killing each other in order to snatch the head within the Qin army, which shows how important the title is in the Qin State.

Now that the emperor has given a wide range of titles, it may have an impact on the entire title system.

The military meritorious group is the biggest beneficiary class of the military meritorious system of the Qin State, and they don't want problems with this obviously well-run system, and they are afraid that their interests will be damaged, so they naturally want to stand up and protest.

In the face of Wang Ben's admonition, the First Emperor seemed to have expected it, and he said calmly: "If I give the knighthood a first-class, 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 at this moment he could only stubbornly push Wang Ben.

"What Taiwei said is wrong, the emperor gave the head of the world this time, and the hearts of all the people are embraced, which is of great benefit to stabilizing the princes' hometowns. As for the words of corrupting the knighthood, it is inevitable that some alarmists are alarmist, let me ask me that the Great Qin military meritorious system is twenty ranks, even if the first level of the title of the first level of Qian, the highest is only the doctor's level, how can the knighthood be destroyed? ”

"As for the morale of the soldiers, if the soldiers can get the first rank without fighting, they are extremely happy, and they are grateful for the emperor's virtue, they will only fight to the death, how can they reduce their fighting spirit?"

Wang Wu said: "The emperor bestows the knighthood, and the prince is promoted to the master, and he will work harder to fight for the lord of the hairpin, so that the heir can enter the school as a disciple." Those who have been promoted to hairpins will think about going to the battlefield to make meritorious contributions, so that they can be exempted from the change of service if they do not change their titles. In such a situation, the promotion of one level to the next, and the higher title will only stimulate the soldier's heart to be knighted, and I have not seen the so-called words of the captain to lose his fighting spirit. ”

The court fell silent again.

Zhao Tuo sighed, and Wang Wu's words reached a point.

It is the emperor's knighthood, which is aimed at the head of the world, and those with middle and senior titles are not within this range.

There is an upper limit to the bestowal of this title, although the emperor has not yet said it, but generally speaking, it is at the top of the doctor's level.

If you are small, you will reach the fifth level of the Great Doctor, and if you are large, you may be as wide as the fifth level of the Fifth Doctor.

No matter how impulsive the First Emperor is, it is impossible for everyone in the world to be promoted to the knighthood together.

Then didn't he Zhao Tuo have to do nothing, and he was directly promoted to Chehou?

If you really want to do that, I don't think many people will oppose it.

Including the eldest eldest Wang Ben, after all, he can be directly named Lunhou if he is promoted to one level, and under this kind of interest, I am afraid that no matter how dissatisfied he is, he will pinch his nose and recognize it.

It is precisely because the titles promoted are limited, so those who give knights at the bottom, even if they are promoted to the next level, there are still more than ten levels of titles on the top of their heads that can be upgraded, and each level of promotion will give them one more level of benefits. The hairpin can allow the children to enter the room, not to be exempted from the change of service, and the doctor has the qualifications to be an official in the county, but he is not afraid that the soldiers will wear out the fighting spirit.

As long as you set enough levels, you'll be able to motivate people to move up the ladder all the time!

And the rank of the knighthood is high enough, if only one level is given to the lower lord, the impact on the entire system is not very great.

From this point of view, what Wang Wu said also has a certain logic and truth.

Wang Ben is a master of military warfare, he has always liked to use his hands, but he doesn't like to move his mouth, and now he is being beaten by Wang Wu like this, and he really can't find anything to say in a short time.

Zhao Tuo took a look at this white-faced and long-bearded Zhisu Neishi, he had dealt with Wang Wu when promoting pasta before, and felt that this person was quite good, but he didn't expect to be a master of eloquence.

Now Wang Wu has defeated Zhao Hai and Wang Ben separately, but Zhao Tuo is a little impressed.

However, Zhao Tuo thought of some things he knew, and couldn't help but sigh secretly.

Bestowing a knighthood may not be a big problem in a short period of time, and it will not really destroy the military merit system that has been based in the Qin State for a hundred years.

But that's just the beginning.

Did the First Emperor promise to give him a knight only this time?

Once this example is made, there will be a second, third, and countless more times......

Even if the First Emperor no longer bestows knighthoods, what about his successor?

If this is the beginning, sooner or later the entire military merit system will completely collapse.

Zhao Tuo is very sure of this.

Because when he looked at history in later generations, he was curious about why the military merit system existed for more than 500 years from the formal customization of Qin Xiaogong's reform to Cao Cao's formal dismemberment and division in the twentieth year of Jian'an (215 BC).

But in addition to Qin, there is not much to write about the history of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, and it is clear that the two Han Dynasty and the four hundred years are also implementing military merit, and it is also a twentieth rank system!

Later, Zhao Tuo had a cursory understanding, and only then did he know that the military merit lord had tended to be indiscriminate at the end of the Qin Dynasty, and those who were not of higher rank were even reduced to those who were redeemed for debts (zī), and repaired the Qin Tomb with the prisoners, and when they died, they dug a pit with the prisoners and buried them.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, in February of the second year of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, gave all the common people a first-class title on the grounds of "removing Qin Sheji and establishing Han Sheji".

In Zhao Tuo's view, Liu Bang gave the title of the people at that time, in addition to wanting to win the hearts of the people from the Chu-Han War, I am afraid that it was also because Qin Shi Huang gave him the head of this large-scale title of the head of Guizhou, so Liu Bang would follow the cat and paint the tiger and give the people the lord.

However, after Liu Bang seized the world, he may also realize the disadvantages of indiscriminate titles, and attach great importance to military merits.

He not only promulgated the edict of "restoring the old man's mansion" in the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, but also repeatedly ordered and reaffirmed the implementation of the military merit system in order to reward the meritorious soldiers who founded the country. In the household registration and documents of the Han Dynasty, it was necessary to "name the county Jue Li Nian", that is, the title of the person must be recorded to distinguish between identity and status.

Liu Bang's attention made the value of military merit rebound for a short time.

But it is limited to this, after the death of Liu Bang, the crown prince Liu Ying ascended the throne, and at the beginning of his accession to the throne, he issued an edict "to give the people a first-class title", rewarding the world's common people with a first-class title, and at the same time giving knights to officials, and even knights to the second and third levels of the Lang officials, warriors and others who guarded him.

Such a large-scale knighthood led to a rapid depreciation of the title.

At the beginning of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, when the knighthood was given on a large scale, the Lang officials who were not satisfied with the conditions for giving the title could be rewarded with 10,000 yuan, which shows that the price of the first-class title is more valuable than 10,000 yuan.

But only a year later, he promulgated the edict that "if the people are guilty, they must buy a thirty-level knight to avoid a capital crime", and at that time, the first-class title was worth 2,000 yuan, so the common people committed a capital crime, and they only needed to spend 60,000 yuan to buy a thirty-level knighthood to avoid death.

In one year, the price of the title dropped from 10,000 to 2,000 yuan, which shows how quickly the value of the title has depreciated.

Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty opened the head of this enthronement and gave the knighthood, followed by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty also learned, and when he ascended the throne, he issued an edict: "I ascended the throne at the beginning of the year, amnesty the world, and gave the people a first-class knight." ”

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty reigned for 23 years, and gave the people of the world twice, which was quite restrained, not much. However, he also got off to a bad start and accepted Chao Cuo's "Entering Su Bai Jue Policy", that is, selling the knight on a large scale, selling 600 stone millet on the second-level title, selling 4,000 stone for the fifth-degree doctor at the ninth-level title, and selling it for 12,000 stone for the eighteenth-level chief.

Moreover, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sold all empty shell titles, and there were no field house rewards at all, all of them were honorary titles, and only by buying the ninth-level five doctors could one be exempted from servitude, and the eighteenth-level chief could one be exempted from capital crimes.

Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty sold the title at a high price, and the title rights were few, so naturally no one bought it.

No one buys it, and the price drops, resulting in another large-scale depreciation of the military meritorious, and no one cherishes it.

If no one cherishes it, the emperor does not pay attention to it.

When Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty succeeded to the throne, he reigned for 16 years and gave the people of the world eight times.

Therefore, as long as he survives the era of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, basically everyone in the world has an eighth-level dukedom.

Such a consequence led to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascending to the throne and wanting to fight back against the Xiongnu, and when he was about to boost morale with military merits, he found that the system had collapsed, and the military merits were devalued to the extreme.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty turned his mind and came up with a set of martial arts system, wanting to motivate the soldiers, but this thing does not change the soup and does not change the medicine, and it cannot attract the attention of the people, everyone knows what the military merit of the Han family is.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had no choice, seeing that the military merit system could not be saved, he built another "Reward Order for Attacking the Huns" according to the original spirit of the military meritorious, which is equivalent to directly rewarding gold for meritorious service, and giving food to the marquis, which can motivate the soldiers to fight.

This is also why it was extremely difficult for the Qin Dynasty to seal the marquis, and when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fought the Xiongnu, it was everywhere because of the merit of the marquis.

It was purely the collapse of the previous Han Emperor who played this system, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to take out the Marquis who still had real benefits to motivate people, and it could be regarded as a bitter taste after the collapse of the military merit.

And at this time, since the military merit was completely rotten, the Han Emperor in the back continued to rot and rot.

The emperor ascended the throne and bestowed a knighthood. Establish a prince and give a knighthood. The emperor gave the emperor a knighthood. The emperor changed the yuan and gave him a knighthood. There is auspiciousness, bestow knights. If there is a natural disaster, give the knight......

The sheer number of knights is jaw-dropping.

For example, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun reigned for 27 years and gave the world 14 times, of which there were not only first-class titles, but a total of 16 knighthoods.

However, there are many titles, and it is impossible for all men in the world to be more than ten levels of high lords, so the emperor of the Han family has a new rule, that is, the maximum title given cannot exceed eight levels.

This divided into high-ranking officials and low-ranking people.

As an official of the high lordship, he can make meritorious service, or be given a knighthood and continue to rise.

The so-called "lord over the public ride, if you have to move to the same birth as the son, you will have the same birth", that is, the lord will exceed the eighth level or above, and the number of levels exceeded will be transferred to the brothers and nephews.

In this way, the so-called "eight-level system of civil lords" in the Han Dynasty was formed.

The reason why the Han emperors of the past dynasties were willing to give the title of the people of the world was probably the most precious military merit of the Qin Dynasty, but by this time it had completely become an empty honor, and there was nothing except a title.

Rulers don't need to pay a big price, as long as they give the people an empty honorary title, they can show their generosity and kindness, achieve the goal of celebrating the whole world and buying people's hearts, why not?

Of course, in addition to giving some empty titles, the wise ruler often gives the title when he gives it, it will also be accompanied by some benefits such as giving cattle wine, reducing rent, etc., so that the people of Qianshou will be grateful to him.

The last time the Han Dynasty bestowed a knighthood on the world, it was Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty who made Cao Cao's daughter the empress, so as to highlight Cao Cao's status.

Later, when Cao Cao took power and dismembered the twentieth rank military merit system, in addition to retaining and reforming the marquis, he felt that the eight-level system of the civil lord was also very good, and it was very easy to buy people's hearts, so he retained it.

The eight-level system of the Minjue continued until the middle of the Tang Dynasty and became a cheap ornament for successive dynasties to congratulate and celebrate festivals.

This is the final fate of the military merit system established by Qin Xiaogong and Shang Ying.

Zhao Tuo sighed faintly in his heart.

He knows the final outcome of the military merit system, and he himself has climbed up from this system, so he can be said to be the direct beneficiary of the military merit system, and he naturally has some feelings for this system.

After Zhao Tuo glanced at Wang Wu, his eyes looked at the First Emperor on the emperor's couch again.

Even after the unification of the world by the Qin State, the military merit system that required non-stop conquest was no longer suitable for the needs of the empire, and there were various problems in the fit of the system, which needed to be changed.

Zhao Tuo has always had the intention of reforming the military merit, but no matter how he is, he doesn't play like the emperor.

Directly give the world the title of the head of Qian.

You must know that the final collapse of the military merit system lies in the ruler's wanton awarding of knights, although the large-scale knighthood of the Han Dynasty began with Liu Bang, and the all-day knighthood began with Liu Ying.

But maybe they are learning from Qin Shi Huang?

This emperor of the ages is the initiator of the destruction of the military merit system!

Today, the First Emperor wants to give the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the head of Qianshou in the whole world, maybe it will not be harmful in a short time, but after this bad start, the latecomers have learned, and the collapse of the system is only a matter of time.

Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo's eyes suddenly condensed slightly.

This emperor was often called a tyrant in later generations, but few people scolded him as a dull lord.

The people who can unify the world, can't they see the harm of this Guangci people?

Or did he do it on purpose?

Want to open the knife on the military merit system?

Or is it to test the military merit group?

Or is it too complicated for himself, the emperor is simply a great achievement, in order to buy the hearts of the people?

Zhao Tuo stared at the First Emperor.

Suddenly, I couldn't pick it up.

Because today's First Emperor has always been very calm, even if Zhao Hai and Wang Ben stood up against it one after another, he did not show too much emotion, but just watched from the sidelines and Wang Wu stood up to defend him.

Moreover, the role of Wang Wu in buying the hearts of the people and stabilizing the hometowns of the princes was also said by himself, and the first emperor never expressed his position.

This emperor who has learned Han Fei's method, as long as he wants to, he is a master of power, and few people can guess his thoughts.

Even Zhao Tuo, after a burst of cranky thinking, couldn't figure out the emperor's true meaning.

And at this time, after Wang Wu was impassioned and temporarily withstood the attack of Taiwei Wang Ben. Many ministers did not speak for the time being, they did not know the result of this decree in advance like Zhao Tuo, and under the limitations of the times, they had to think carefully and weigh it.

At this moment, no one said anything more.

The First Emperor on the emperor's couch smiled faintly and turned his head to look at Zhao Tuo.

This is the military general in today's court.

"The Lord Lieutenant and the Tai Lieutenant have something to say, I don't know if the Marquis of Martial Arts has any ideas?"

"Historical Records: Qin Shi Huang Benji": It is the age of the year, and the knighthood is given a first-class.

Although there are only six short words in the history books, from the perspective of the development and evolution of the entire military merit system, this matter is actually very important.

The military merit is too important to Qin, and the protagonist also relies on this system to get up, so he doesn't want to skip this major event, it seems that most Qin Wen and Hanwen don't have too much description of the title system, and I still feel that it is necessary to spend more pen and ink to let some book friends know about it, which is useful.

Although the scope of this knighthood is not written in the history books, according to the other three large-scale knighthoods of Qin, they are all the heads of Qian, and the Han Dynasty are all knights, and the titles of officials are often explained separately, so this time it should also be the title of the first lord of Qian.

In addition, there is archaeological evidence for the excavation of this matter: a batch of excavated texts were unearthed in Zhaobeihu Village on the west side of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, which is the "epitaph" of the laborers who died in the construction of the emperor's mausoleum, many of which are the aborigines of the six countries of Shandong, and the titles have reached the level of the upper and the same, and it can be inferred that the titles of the remnants of these six countries are basically rewarded after the unification of Qin, which is consistent with the records of the handed down documents.

Regarding the information on military merit, mainly refer to Zhu Shaohou's "Research on Military Merit Knighthood", which is the most systematic and authoritative academic research work on military merit system in China, and interested book friends can take a look.