Liang State certainly had more than one capable man in Luo Xianzhi. Xie An and the others could all see that Xiao Yan's decision was inappropriate. Not only would it do nothing for centralization, but most of the gentry also disliked having another lord over their heads.
From the Later Han onward, kings had generally been forbidden to administer affairs within their fiefs. They merely drew revenues from the taxable households in their kingdoms.
The administration of a kingdom rested with its state chancellor, an official of the same rank as a commandery governor. These state chancellors were responsible not only for the kingdom's government, but also for supervising its king.
But history was a cycle.
After the Later Han collapsed, beginning with Cao Wei and continuing until the regicide by members of its imperial clan, the various states once again began entrusting important responsibilities to their imperial relatives.
The kingdoms established by these princes, who had been distributed across the land, no longer had the same distant relationship with their resident scholars as before.
Most scholars had served in a prince's household before being recommended to the central government, giving them a bond of sovereign and subject with those kings.
That bond naturally fell short of the one they shared with the emperor, but it went a step further than the Later Han system of recruitment by invitation.
This was a form of dual sovereignty even stronger than that of the Later Han.
After all, no matter what, an official who recruited men into his service was not actually a sovereign, even if people addressed him as Prefect or Lord.
This system could keep local regions within the ruling order at little cost. It was also highly effective at suppressing local powers, ensuring the imperial family's rule.
Their arguments