 Like scholar @-@ officials , military generals were ranked in a hierarchic grading system and were given merit evaluations every five years ( as opposed to three years for officials ) . However , military officers had less prestige than officials . This was due to their hereditary service ( instead of solely merit @-@ based ) and Confucian values that dictated those who chose the profession of violence ( wu ) over the cultured pursuits of knowledge ( wen ) . Although seen as less prestigious , military officers were not excluded from taking civil service examinations , and after 1478 the military even held their own examinations to test military skills . In addition to taking over the established bureaucratic structure from the Yuan period , the Ming emperors established the new post of the travelling military inspector . In the early half of the dynasty , men of noble lineage dominated the higher ranks of military office ; this trend was reversed during the latter half of the dynasty as men from more humble origins eventually displaced them . 
