The inspection system was implemented in the Han Dynasty, and talents were selected from the bottom up. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the system of inspection and adjudication was gradually corrupted and controlled by aristocratic families. Most of the people they choose are close friends, even the scholars selected by Cha Ju can't read, and the parents of Xiaolian's family are not in charge. In this case, the comments of scholars are more objective and valuable. Some honest celebrities will also criticize those who seek fame and promote those who really have both ability and political integrity through evaluation. This kind of evaluation is called Ming Yi.
Zhouyi/Zuo
Xu Shao was born in a big family and studied well when he was young. He is noble and moral, and likes to judge others. Its evaluation is both pertinent and accurate, and it is appreciated by many people.
Xu Shao and his cousin Xu Jing and others set up an academic forum in their hometown. At the beginning of each month, they commented on people, events, poems and calligraphy and painting, so they were called Yuedan Review. "The History of the Later Han Dynasty Xu Shaochuan" records: "Shao and Jing were both famous at the beginning, and they were good at discussing the figures of the township party. They needed to improve their quality every month, so the custom of Runan had a monthly review."
This activity has become a common practice in Runan area, with a large number of participants and great influence. Later, Yue Dan's comments gradually became synonymous with celebrity commentators. For example, Liu Jun said in "On Guang's Parting" that "orpiment gives her a kiss and Zhuzi gives her a month", and Qin Guan in the Song Dynasty also said in a poem: "At the beginning of the month, if you taste the wind, you will know how much your bosom friend disciples know, and your name will be engraved on the tablet."
Later generations regarded Yue Dan as the best evaluation in the world, and those who were affirmed by Yue Dan were dignified in the imperial court, and their demeanor and influence even surpassed those of ministers or ministers. Although this statement is not without exaggeration, it also shows that Yue Dan's remarks have far-reaching influence in history.
Comments made Cao Cao.
According to historical records, Cao Cao is "a few good flying eagles and running dogs, wandering to excess." It can be seen that Cao Cao was a rich second generation when he was young, doing nothing all day and being bohemian. Plus Cao Song, Cao Cao's father, was adopted by eunuch Cao Teng, which means that Cao Cao belongs to eunuch. At that time, many people had serious prejudice against eunuchs, so at that time, not many people respected Cao Cao.
Qiao Xuan, a famous minister, has always been famous for appointing talents. When he met Cao Cao, he saw at a glance that his future was immeasurable and praised him greatly. He also wanted to entrust his wife and children to Cao Cao after a hundred years, and they became friends. Cao Cao was glad to be affirmed by Qiao Xuan. However, Qiao Xuan thinks this is not enough. Such a talented young talent should be known to the world. So he asked Cao Cao to ask Xu Shao to evaluate himself, hoping to get Xu Shao's approval, so as to reverse the negative evaluation of Cao Cao by the world.
I didn't expect Cao Cao to pay a heavy visit, but Xu Shao wouldn't comment. First, compared with the scholarly family, Cao Cao's father was adopted by eunuchs and then became an official. Therefore, Cao Cao is called "superfluous ugliness" and has a bad reputation. Second, when being an official, scholars and eunuchs are antagonistic. In runan county, where celebrities gather, Cao Cao's identity is naturally embarrassing and unpopular.
Later Cao Cao pestered him and threatened him. Xu Shao was very unhappy and had to give him a comment: "Qing Ping traitor, a hero in troubled times." There is another version of this sentence: "A minister who has the ability to manage the world is a traitor in troubled times." Cao Cao was very happy and satisfied after hearing this. After Xu Shao's evaluation, Cao Cao became famous in one fell swoop. Later, Cao Cao relied on the emperor to make the princes and pacify the quartet, which showed that Xu Shao's evaluation of Cao Cao was insightful and forward-looking.
It is worth mentioning that Xu Shao's evaluation of Cao Cao touched later Wei Wendi and Cao Pi. He thought that we should not make irresponsible remarks, but should create our own evaluation system. Therefore, at Chen Qun's suggestion, Cao Pi founded the Jiupin Zheng Zhi, and put the function of evaluating words under the central government. It can be said that although the monthly evaluation has dropped rapidly, it has set a precedent for the nine-product system.
Fame shocked Yuan Shao.
During Xu Shao's work as a kung fu in Runan County, the county officials were all afraid of him, and they behaved themselves in succession for fear of being targeted by him, which became the topic of discussion in Yuedan.
Yuan Shao was born in the Yuan family in Runan, a noble family. Only Yuan Shao is not an official. His mother is a palace maid. Yuan Shu, who was born in Yuan Dynasty, even called Yuan Shao a domestic slave. Yuan Shao naturally has a deep understanding of this weakness. On the one hand, he creates a good reputation for himself, on the other hand, he tries to avoid his own negative public opinion.
Yuan Shao had heard about Xu Shao and Xu Jing, fellow villagers in the same county. He was very afraid of leaving a bad reputation with Xu Shi and got a bad evaluation from Xu Shi.
On one occasion, Yuan Shao retired from Puyang and was ready to return to his hometown. In view of Yuan's popularity in Runan, there were many followers along the way, horses and chariots gathered, and the atmosphere was warm. It's almost the border of Runan, Yuan Shao thought. If Xu Shao saw such a luxurious way, wouldn't it be a criticism of my arrogance and extravagance, and wouldn't it be a bad reputation for me? So he said to the people around him, "Can my clothes make Xu Zijiang see me?" . Then I quickly sent the horses and chariots, took a car by myself and went home quietly.
Fortunately, Yuan Shao's extravagant and flashy style has not become a hot spot for Yue Dan's evaluation. If Xu Shao sees Yuan Shao's extravagant side and gives him a bad evaluation, I'm afraid Yuan Shao will have no future.
As for how Yuan Shao builds a good reputation. There is a passage in the History of the Three Kingdoms: "Anyone who has been buried in the tomb for six years after his mother's funeral will surrender to him and chase after his father's clothes."
In ancient times, when parents died, children did not go to filial piety, and there were countless examples of being ruined. In the Han Dynasty, "filial piety" prevailed and ruled the world. Generally speaking, because the time for mothers to nurse their children is 27 months, ancient children also need to be filial for 27 months in order to repay their mothers' kindness. A time span of more than two years is called three-year filial piety.
After Yuan Shao's mourning for his mother, he also mourned for his father for six years, which greatly improved Yuan Shao's fame and appeal and played an indispensable role in recruiting talents in the future.
The Decline of Monthly Review
Under the influence of Yue Dan's criticism, Xu Shao and Xu Jing became famous all over the world. When Xu Shao took office as a Gongcao in runan county, the county magistrate heard that the famous Xu Shao was coming, "He is going to change his job". They are cautious in their words and deeds and pay attention to moral integrity, for fear that he will lose his position as soon as he opens his mouth. At the same time, Xu Shaoren is equivalent to concurrently serving as the director of the Commission for Discipline Inspection.
When Xu Jing was young, his fame was slightly worse than that of Xu Shao, but he was also famous all over the world. However, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain, and the two founders of Yue Dan's evaluation later embarked on the road of disharmony.
The main responsibility lies with Xu Shao. When Xu Shao was a meritorious Cao in Runan, he "squeezed out Jing and made a self-sufficiency by grinding horses". He excluded Xu Jing from politics. Xu Jing was so depressed that he had to make a living by driving a horse to push the mill. It was not until Runa changed the satrap that Xu got the job as a treasurer.
It is precisely because the two brothers compete with each other and have no intention to operate, and the monthly evaluation is gradually finalized, which is not the same as that. According to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, "(Xu Shao) is at odds with his brother Jing, so it is rarely mentioned." With the separation of the two brothers, this popular commentary program quietly withdrew from the historical stage.
Xu Shao is a smart man, with the ability to know people and foresight. When the world was in chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, Xu Shao refused the invitation of the imperial court, saying, "Now that the villain is in power and the society is uneasy, I want to take refuge in Huaihai area for a while to preserve my family business." Xu Shao wanted to leave the Central Plains, so he took his family to take refuge in Xuzhou. However, to Xu's surprise, Xuzhou did not bring him stability.
Xu Shao fled to Xuzhou for refuge. At first, Tao Qian, the secretariat of Xuzhou, was kind to him. Xu Shao did not care, saying, "Tao worships the truth inside, though it is thicker than me, it will be thinner." Xu Shao believes that Tao Qian's apparent hospitality and admiration for celebrities is actually not so generous. Although he treats people well now, he will show his true colors sooner or later. Then I packed my bags and left.
Soon, Tao Qian really laid hands on him, arrested the literati who lived in Xuzhou, and arrested and imprisoned those who had no time to leave, so Xu Shao escaped.
Xu Jing and Xu Shao have different ideas. Dong Zhuo went to Beijing, and Xu Jing wanted to take this opportunity to make a fortune. Xu Jing was promoted by Dong Zhuo because she could identify talents and was responsible for selecting talents. He and Zhou Yi, the minister, recommended Han Fu as Jizhou Pastoral, Liu Dai as Yanzhou Secretariat, Kong Zhou as Yuzhou Secretariat, and Zhang Miao as Liu Chen Satrap.
However, what I never expected was that after these people arrived, they all turned against each other the next year and joined the Kanto Coalition forces to crusade against Dong Zhuo. Xu Jing offended Dong Zhuo and had to flee Luoyang.
Although the last beat broke up, the Xu brothers' knowledge and ability to judge words did not decrease.
Smart people sometimes nod, and Xu Shao sometimes makes mistakes. After leaving Tao Qian, Xu Shao went to the Han Dynasty, and then to Yangzhou, the secretariat of Lu You.
In the second year of Xingping, Sun Ce reorganized his father's staff and led the army eastward with the intention of occupying Jiangdong and getting rid of Yuan Shu's control. Liu You's temporary settlement in Yangzhou was in jeopardy, and some subordinates recommended Taishi Ci as a general to lead the troops to retreat from the enemy.
Taishi Ci, Zi Zi Yi, is a famous person praised by Chen Shou, the author of The Three Kingdoms. However, Xu Shao's evaluation of Taishi Ci is very low. Liu You didn't listen to the advice of his subordinates and said, "If I use Ziyi, why shouldn't Xu Zi laugh at me as evil?"
Lu You did not appoint Taishi Ci as a general, but gave him a simple task, such as reconnaissance.
As a coincidence, according to historical records, Taishi Ci and one of his riders met Sun Ce and his thirteen riders in the process of finding out the military situation, and the two sides started hand-to-hand combat in Shenting. "It is a good policy to stab a good horse, and it is also a good policy to take care of a good item." Until the arrival of the military forces, the two talents separated.
Lu You's improper employment and Taishi Ci's overqualified led to fierce fighting between Sun Ce and Taishi Ci, but he soon lost his territory. He said that he had gone to Sun Ce after meeting the old gentleman. The prejudice against Taishi Ci may be the last time Xu Shao evaluated people in his life, but this time, he misjudged people. During the Three Kingdoms period, Taishi Ci can be compared with Monroe, Guan Yu, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao. Therefore, Taishi Ci's departure is naturally a great loss for Lu You.
Facing the aggressive Sun Ce, Xu Shao fled to Zhang Yu with defeated Liu You to take refuge in Liu Biao. Soon after, he died of illness at the age of 46. Since then, the monthly review has declined.