Chapter 6 Lecture 1 Han Dynasty-4

4. The Military Service System of the Han Dynasty The military system of the Han Dynasty was all soldiers in the whole country.In the West, such a system was not invented until the Kingdom of Prussia experienced unavoidable oppression when Bismarck was prime minister in modern times, and we have already implemented it in the Han Dynasty.A strong man does not start military service until he is twenty-three years old. This rule also has its inherent meaning.Because they start to grow at twenty, it is reasonable to be able to farm independently.As far as agricultural economy is concerned, there is no way to produce more, but to save money. The so-called "three years of farming, one year's savings", according to the general situation, it is absolutely impossible to have a bumper harvest every year.In an average of three years, there will always be a famine year. When a famine year comes, the savings will be gone.If there is no shortage for three years, then there should be two years of savings in six years, and three years of savings in nine years.In an agricultural society, there will never be continuous ripening for more than nine years, nor will there be continuous shortage for more than three years.A strong man, who is in his twenties, can earn a living independently, but if he is to serve in the country, his family burden should be taken into account.Therefore, it was stipulated at that time that from the age of twenty-three, he could have one year of savings to withdraw to serve in the public service.This system is not only an economic consideration, but a moral decision.When we evaluate all systems in history, we should pay attention to the concepts and theories of the people at that time behind each system.Politics is an important institution in culture, and a certain system will never be produced casually and without reason.In the early Han Dynasty, most of the people in the government were originally from the countryside. They knew the hardships of the people, so they were able to formulate this law.Modern Chinese people often despise their own political traditions in the past, and say that China has no complete set of political theories and no great political thinkers.Of course, in the past works in China, there are very few books that focus on political theory, and there are very few people who are famous only for political thought.This is not to say that the Chinese have no theory or thought about politics.Just because most Chinese scholars are officials, their political theories and thoughts can already be expressed in actual politics.There is no need to write books out of thin air, divorced from reality, to complete a set of empty theories in his books.As a result, Chinese political theory has long since merged with real politics.Otherwise, why did the emperor and the prime minister decide to separate powers?Why do official careers have to go through examinations and examinations?Why should we strive to reduce land rent?Why should commercial capital be restrained?Why does national service not start until the age of twenty-three?Therefore, if we want to study China's past political thought, we should pay attention to the past political system.China is by no means a country without a system, and behind every system, there must be theories and thoughts of its own, how can it be easily obliterated with words such as autocracy and darkness?

There are several types of national military service in the Han Dynasty.One is to go to the central government as a "guard" soldier, and the other is to go to the border counties as a "garrison" soldier.One is to perform military service in the original place.Every citizen should have these three types, only the third type, starting from the age of twenty. There were two central armies in the Han Dynasty: one was called the Southern Army and the other was called the Northern Army.The Southern Army is the guard of the palace, and the Northern Army is the garrison of the capital.At that time, the total number of troops of the North and South Army was less than 70,000.Young men from various places take turns to serve as guards at the central government for one year. Being a guard is extremely favorable, and the round-trip travel expenses are provided by the central government. When they first arrive and retire at the end of their term, the emperor prepares banquets and banquets. They don’t need the guards to spend their own money .

Being a soldier is different.All expenses shall be borne by oneself.As for the duration of the garrison, it was only three days.This is again the old habit of following the feudal era.In the feudal era, the country was small, and Fang Baili was considered a big country.If so, the farthest from the center to the border is no more than fifty miles.It only takes half a day to go to the frontier for defense.If you stay here for three days, you will come back within five days.In the feudal era, guarding the border was not a chore, and it was enough to carry dry food for five days.After Qin Shihuang unified the world, he didn't seem to notice this problem, and ordered the common people to guard the border for three days.From Kuaiji (Jiangsu) to Yuyang (Rehe), as far as the government is concerned, you only need to serve for three days. This is an old tradition.But it takes more than half a year to travel back and forth, and you have to bring your own clothes and food, how troublesome is it?The world was unified, the national system changed, but Qin Shihuang's border defense system did not change. Perhaps the government was busy with business, and the military force unified the six countries, so they were so complacent that they did not pay attention to these small details, but this caused great social commotion.The revolution of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started from this.Modern Chinese people like to say that China's politics has not changed in two thousand years. How can there be such a reason?How can there be such a thing?As far as the border defense system is concerned, it changed in the Han Dynasty.The border defense in the Han Dynasty was only for three days, but you don’t have to go, as long as you pay one hundred yuan a day, three hundred yuan for three days, and hand it over to the government, you can be exempted from the garrison.If one hundred people do not go, they should be exempted from military service for 300 days. The government will hire another person who is willing to go, and he will be required to serve 300 days of military service once he goes.He also got this sum of money, which is not only enough for living expenses, but also can leave a little to settle down, which is a workaround.According to theory, everyone should guard the border for three days, even the prime minister's son.In the Han Dynasty, there was a prime minister who really asked his son to go to the frontier in person, and he was really a three-day guard. This has become a good story in history.

The chief of Han County has a prefect and a captain, just like the central government has a prime minister and a captain.The prefect is the chief executive of the local area, and the captain is the local military leader.The local troops are managed by the captain.All the strong men have to gather and perform once every autumn. This is a big review, called Dushi, which lasts for one month.Return home after expiration.When the country has something to do, it is called temporarily. This is a kind of militia.Each locality also trains various types of arms according to the geographical situation, such as chariots and cavalry (cavalry and chariot soldiers), buildings and boats (navy and navy), and military officers (infantry).

There are northern and southern armies in the center, garrison soldiers in the frontiers, and local militias in the local areas. If something happens to the country, all three types of armies can be called upon. In addition to military service, the country also has to perform forced labor. This has always been a big problem in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods up to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Now we will turn it into a historical event to tell about it.Forced labor is the voluntary labor that every strong man does for the country.It seems that if we want to repair the airport and build the road now, we must call in migrant workers.Only ancient times are purely obligatory.The country's strong men are organized according to the book, and each person works for the country for one month a year. This is called Gengju in the Han Dynasty, and it means to take turns.If this is the case, if a farmer wants to serve as a guard in the central government, a garrison soldier in the frontiers, or serve in the local national army, try, for example, our autumn sports meeting. However, it is more difficult than national military service.But if you don't go to practice the change (Shang Fan), according to the regulations at the time, you can also pay two hundred dollars to the government instead.

In addition to the above-mentioned three kinds of military service and one kind of forced service, every citizen has to pay population tax, even children.Having said that, there is a serious problem.At that time, the government did not arrange a living foundation for the people. The land in the country was not evenly distributed, and it did not try to make everyone employed, but required everyone to fulfill their duties to the country.Anyone who fails to fulfill the duties prescribed by this government is a crime.Those who broke the law had to be arrested, and some of them served as official slaves and were forced to do hard labor in various government offices.So some people would rather sell themselves and become private slaves.At that time, it was stipulated that slaves also had to pay population tax, and they had to pay double.But this is borne by the masters who raise the slaves, not the slaves themselves.Therefore, there were a lot of slaves in the Han Dynasty.If in future generations, they can be beggars and hooligans without a job, the government will not take care of them.But it was not allowed in the Han Dynasty.You have to be a conscript, you have to repair airports and roads, you have to pay population tax, and your name and address are all on the government booklet. If you don’t go, you have to pay.You are a beggar, but your name is still on the household register, and you should still be responsible to the state.So he had to sell himself to others as a slave.To be a slave at that time was not to sell his freedom, but to sell his duty to the laws and regulations of the country.The government wants to prohibit this trend, so it stipulates that the population tax for slaves should be doubled.But the rich can make a fortune by raising a large number of slaves.For example, going into the mountains to burn charcoal and mines requires a lot of labor.Selling as a slave is like joining this fortune-telling group.Therefore, slave life is better than ordinary households.This is explained in detail in "Historical Records: Huo Zhi Biography".This is the slave system of the Han Dynasty.It is completely different from the serfs of the Western Roman Empire.Most of the serfs in Rome were captives from wars, and the slaves in the Han Dynasty were peasants who freed themselves to cultivate the land to participate in large-scale industrial and commercial new production gatherings.How can it be compared?

In the Han Dynasty, in addition to the mandatory military service, there were volunteers among the people who volunteered to join the army.If the country has something to do, you can sign up freely.This is called a good family son joining the army.Those are relatively wealthy families, especially those who live near the border. They usually practice horseback riding and archery at home.Li Guang's family in Longxi is an example.