Liu Yi believes that it is not good for Wei State to use the nine-grade Zhongzheng system to manage officials. It only sees the present and does not see the harm in the future. It can only be regarded as a temporary measure and does not select outstanding people. However, his talents had eight disadvantages, so he wrote to the emperor to request that this situation be changed. He said:
I have heard that rulers base their appointment of officials on the basis of their ability. There are three difficulties in this matter, but it is related to the prosperity and decline of the country. Characters are difficult to know, which is one; love and hate are difficult to guard against, which is two; authenticity is difficult to distinguish, which is three. Nowadays, Zhongzheng has been established to evaluate the nine grades. You can be high or low at will, with honor and disgrace in hand. There is the power of the emperor and the power of the court. Love, hate, truth and falsehood all depend on oneself, one should not be responsible for public assessment, and one should not be afraid of being reported privately. Use all your scheming to infiltrate all parties. The atmosphere of honesty and humility disappeared, and the custom of muddling along was formed. The world is in chaos. They only strive for rank and official position. There is no mention of humility. I am ashamed of the Holy Dynasty.
To describe a situation to grasp talents is to be honest, to evaluate characters to be truthful and to criticize fairness, the key to national security must not be unclear. Integrity and fairness are the bright side of political education; distorting facts is the dark side of chaos and destruction, and we must be aware of it. However, everyone has his or her own strengths, and few are all-rounders. Only people have their own size, and fame comes sooner or later. If you correct your evil ways and return to the right path, you should be rewarded with new things; if you fail to recognize your talents, you should get the reputation of integrity; if you are far-sighted and do not consider trivial matters, you should be praised as extraordinary; if you are frank and natural without embellishment, you should get the reputation of being pure and honest; if you don't take many actions, you should be excellent. , should be reused with respect and trust. Therefore, the three benevolent men came to the same destination through different paths, and the four sons traveled in different ways, but they were all in harmony with each other. Chen Ping and Han Xin were ridiculed and insulted in their hometowns, but they made great contributions to the emperor; Qu Yuan and Wu Zixu were not tolerated by the emperor, but their names remained in history. This is what appropriate comments should show.
Today's Zhongzheng does not look at real talents and knowledge, but only relies on gang interests; it does things unfairly and only based on personal feelings. If you want to give, you will lie to help him become famous; if you want to let him, you will find fault. The level of rank changes with the strength of the power, and right and wrong are determined by personal likes and dislikes. Following the rise and fall of the world, regardless of true talent and learning, he will be lowered when he is weak and raised when he is prosperous. The same person will change within ten days. Either bribe oneself to gain access, or go with the planners in order to be promoted. Those who rely on others will surely achieve their goals, while those who abide by principles will be embarrassed and sad. If it is not good for oneself, it will be harmed; if it is good for oneself, it will be gained. Therefore, no high-ranking official comes from a poor family, and no low-ranking official comes from a powerful family. Even if it is possible, there are other reasons. To deceive the emperor and deceive the world is actually the source of chaos. This is one of the shortcomings of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System.
Set up the Zhongzheng and use the state's clear deliberation. Everyone will obey, and you can suppress those who are dissatisfied and unify their opinions. It does not mean that one person can know the talents of a state. If he does not know the person being criticized, he cannot be judged. In this way, since Confucius and above, everyone has made mistakes when it comes to slaughtering and sacrificing, but none of them are okay. Why only blame ordinary people! If it is particularly bad, you can naturally make a new choice. Now he attaches great importance to his authority but despises his person. After establishing the hierarchy, he returns to visit Diao You. He was neither surrendered by the state nor appointed by authority. Now ask him, let the correct submit to the disobedient, let the indifferent decide things, thus encouraging slander and creating conflicts. This seems not to be the original intention of establishing Zhongzheng, but to be more vigilant in governing the world. The person in charge was good with Diao You, and there were already several people who had Diao You downgraded and were selected as two thousand stones. Liu Liang raised the rank that Diao You had demoted, and Shi Bao punished Diao You for what he had done. Debate was everywhere in the state, and hatred and resentment was forged among the ministers. Lawsuits between wives and concubines brought disaster to Wu and Chu; cockfighting incidents brought disaster to Lu. As a result, there will be moral conflicts and cliques, prisons and prisons will breed, and the root of disaster will be laid. This is one of its shortcomings
Based on the principle of establishing grades, it is to keep human relations in order, just like skewering fish in order. The establishment of nine grades and the inclusion of inferior grades means that there are pros and cons in talents and virtues, and there are pros and cons in human relations and seniority. The current Zhongzheng, who has long-term plans for himself, will suppress one party and make it the highest quality; the promiscuous, despicable and inferior person will be promoted out of order and can accommodate him. Public grades became private property. A gentleman has no grudges, and there are no measures to punish traitors in national politics. It makes the superiors bully the Ming Lord and the inferiors disrupt human relations. Therefore, the distinction between good and bad was reversed, noble and outstanding talents were placed below ordinary grades, and those with a reputation for unfilial piety were placed at the forefront. This is its third drawback.
Your Majesty ascended the throne, opened up the benevolence of heaven and earth, issued the Shao Order to open up the world, adopted loyal words, and surveyed the world's public sentiments. This is the foundation of peace and a rare method. As for rewards and punishments, laws are used to stipulate them from the princes to the common people. Set up a Zhongzheng and entrust a country with important responsibilities, but there is no preparation for rewards and punishments. There are many deceitful people in people's hearts, and few people are honest, so there are many people who are resentful and litigious. If you allow it, the exposure of people's privacy will continue, but if you prohibit it, the violation of innocent people will never end. Although handling the case is cumbersome, it is still better than infringing on innocent people. Prohibiting litigation now will block the mouth of a country and cultivate the power of one person, allowing him to do whatever he wants without any scruples. Each of those who were wronged harbored resentment and sincere words, but they did not receive the selfless favor of heaven and earth, and remained under the election of evil and sycophantic people for a long time. So that the light from above cannot be illuminated from below, and the emotions from below cannot be expressed from above. This is its fourth drawback.
As early as the Holy Age, if you want to improve folk customs and appease the people, you must improve the morality of the village, praise the behavior of the six relatives, and make the etiquette schools consistent with each other, so that they can be distinguished from the unworthy. The village elder wrote down his good deeds to the emperor, Sima awarded him an official position based on his ability, and the relevant departments assessed his performance to decide his promotion or demotion. Therefore, people in the world retreat and cultivate themselves, there is morality in the countryside, justice in the court, and there is no place for flashy and evil people. Nowadays, there are thousands of people in a country, who are either living in other places or seeking food and clothing in other places. They don’t even know their faces, so how can they give full play to their talents? Regardless of whether they know the truth or not, when they encounter the time when they should be criticized, they can get a good reputation from the government. , gained a bad reputation from rumors. If you only believe in yourself, you will be blinded by your lack of understanding. If you only believe in others, you will be limited by each other's limitations. For people you know, you only rely on love and hate; for people you don't know, you only rely on relationships. It is neither a reputation recorded in the records of the village elders nor an assessment by the imperial court. Therefore, officials are made to abandon the near and seek the distant, abandon the basic and pursue the weak. Official positions are obtained by begging, not determined by behavior, merit is not assessed when assessing grades, and the flattery of cronies is untrue. This is its fifth drawback.
Generally, the reason for judging performance based on rank is to seek talents to govern the people, not to distinguish between good and bad based on reputation. Filial piety and brotherhood cannot be used in the imperial court, so outside the family, we can only talk about loyalty but not love. Now that you are an official, your authority may be great or small, things may be difficult or easy, and each has its merits and rewards. This is the practicality of people and the place of their duties. Now, on the contrary, when the deadline for reporting merit has come, although the position is very high, it is at a very low level. Those who have no political achievements are given a very high level, and those who have merit are suppressed and those who have merit are worshiped in vain. On the one hand, the assessment of the imperial court was in name only, on the other hand, it helped people who were not practical and formed cliques. This is its sixth drawback.
The establishment of official positions should be aimed at different things, and people's abilities are also different. If his talents are used, he will succeed, and if he loses his talents, he will fail. Now, regardless of whether the talent is suitable, just let him ascend to the ninth rank. Selecting people based on their grades does not mean that they have achieved their talents; selecting people based on their performance is limited by their grades. If the performance is in line with the actual situation and the grade and performance still interfere with each other, they will be constrained by the election and will not be able to focus on their talents. What's more, today's Zhongzheng, those who are distant from him will belittle others' strengths, and those who are close to him will cover up others' shortcomings. If you only talk empty words and think you have a false reputation, then your grade and ability do not match, how can you handle things? This is the seventh drawback.
In the past, the Shao Shu, which was awarded to the ninth grade, contained good and evil deeds, and was regarded as praise and blame. At that time, there were few taboos. Today's Zhengzheng, demotion does not reveal the other party's mistakes, promotion does not list the other party's good deeds, abandons the purpose of praise and criticism, and only relies on emotions, mixing pure and dirty, to achieve personal goals. Therefore, he violated the early system and created a great momentum to incite everyone and make them all turn to him. A person who is promoted has no merit to motivate him, and a person who is demoted has no mistakes to punish him. If rewards and punishments are unclear, the atmosphere will be filthy. How can people in the world not slack off in virtue and concentrate on human affairs? This is the eighth drawback.
From this point of view, if you establish the right person without choosing the right person, give him power without rewards or punishments, or lack the right person without restraint, evil will be rampant and injustice will be everywhere. Although it is called Zhongzheng, it is actually a place of evil; although it is in the ninth level, it has eight harms. Either it creates hatred among relatives or creates suspicion among flesh and blood. When one is among enemies, one's descendants will avoid harm. The disaster has been throughout the ages, not just now. Therefore, there is no unchanging system for the monarch to legislate during the trial to prevent adultery and eliminate chaos. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty followed the Yin Dynasty, with some additions and subtractions. At the ninth level of Zhongzheng, the ancient sages did not use it. Could it be that they were blinded by this and were not thorough? They focused on political education and did not use it. Since the establishment of Wei Dynasty, it has never received any credit from people, but it has brought hatred and unkindness. Being immoral is not conducive to education. There is no greater mistake in ancient and modern times than sending someone away.
I believe that Zhongzheng should be dismissed, Jiupin should be abolished, Cao Wei's flawed methods should be abandoned, and a better system should be established.
From this point of view, the selected Zhongzheng is not a suitable candidate. He is only granted power without reward or punishment. Sometimes there is a lack of people to hold the position of impartiality and restraint is lost, so treacherous Party members can act unscrupulously, violate the law, and do whatever they want. Although his position is called Zhongzheng, it is actually a place of evil; he is engaged in the duties of a ninth-grade official, but he has done too much harm. Some people develop hatred and suspicion among their relatives. Once they fall into the hands of their enemies, their descendants will also suffer disaster. This has been a scourge throughout the ages, not just now. Therefore, there is no ordinary system for the subjective legislation of the time to prevent rape and eliminate chaos. Therefore, the Zhou Dynasty decreased and increased according to the Yin Dynasty. As for the ninth grade of Zhongzheng, the ancient sages were reluctant to do it, probably because they were worried that they would be deceived and incomplete, and that they would not be able to obtain the appropriate places with orthodox teachings. Since the founding of the Wei Dynasty, we have never seen such achievements in winning people, but have been implicated in vitriol. Destroying customs is not conducive to education. There is no more serious mistake in ancient and modern times than this. The foolish minister believed that the Zhongzheng should be eliminated, the Nine Ranks should be eliminated, Wei's bad laws should be abandoned, and a beautiful legal system should be established for a generation.
After he submitted the letter, the emperor ordered everyone to discuss it together. Later, Sikong Weiguan and others also petitioned to abolish the nine-grade system and restore the ancient rural selection and recommendation system, but the emperor did not agree.