Two hundred and seventieth chapters new thinking (4)
Corvee, also known as forced labor in the Han Dynasty, is a form of exploitation in which the ruling class forces the ruled to work for free.!
In the Han Dynasty, there were many types of corvee services.
Moreover, there are quite complete and systematic systems, regulations, and laws among various types of corvee labor, which ensure the smooth operation of the entire system.
Generally speaking, almost all government-led engineering construction and public welfare projects such as building bridges and paving roads, repairing city defenses, etc., all involve recruiting civilian labor and using whips, swords and guns to force the people to perform high-intensity labor for free.
Different from later generations, people in the Han Dynasty, even the landlord class, had to serve!
Under the policy of household registration and equalization of the people, no one can escape the clutches of the government.
According to Han law, even the son of the prime minister must perform corresponding corvee service!
So the question is, how did landlords, wealthy businessmen, and officials escape from corvee labor?
Liu Che has been very interested in this issue since time travel. In his previous life, he had already figured out this issue when he was the King of Hejian.
In the Han Dynasty, although the law stipulated that everyone except nobles and officials must serve.
However, as a feudal dynasty, hierarchy is naturally the most important order.
In the Han law, people of different ranks were required to perform completely different corvee services.
For example, according to Han law, those below the rank of official must undergo heavy and arduous transportation service.
The so-called transportation refers to the transportation of food and materials. Usually, this kind of labor has long distances, often hundreds or thousands of miles away, and is extremely difficult.
Even if you have a title of doctor or above, you still have to do some handyman work in repairing roads, bridges and channels in the local area.
Only three types of people are exempt from military service.
One is the officials above the rank of doctor and the eunuch royal family.
The second is nobles above the rank of duke.
The third is those who meet the conditions for exemption from old age and unregistered minor men and women.
Obviously, it is difficult for the landlords and wealthy businessmen to meet these three conditions.
So, how did the landlord class and businessmen escape?
The answer is simple. They have money and can pay someone to serve on their behalf.
In the Han Dynasty, this type of service was called Jian Geng.
According to Liu Che's understanding, in the private sector, due to different types of corvee, the price of regular labor is also different. For relatively easy corvee and short time, it is usually two thousand yuan a month.
As for the heavy and hard corvee work such as border guarding, building the Great Wall and military service, the price is 300 yuan a day.
But only God knows whether the people who serve in place of this money can get it, and how much they can get!
For example, the landlord class asks his tenants to serve him. If they don't go, they will not rent land to them. Do their tenants have room to object?
Another example is if a big businessman buys a bankrupt farmer as a slave, and if he doesn't like him, he lets him serve instead. Does the farmer have the right to protest?
In fact, landlords and businessmen used various means to pass on the corvee services they should have borne to the lower class people.
But these people are ignorant and have no right to resist.
Fortunately, the Han laws still gave these farmers a chance to breathe and recuperate.
That’s just trying to have a baby!
According to Han law, as long as anyone gives birth to five children, and all of them have been registered as Shifu or the woman has reached the age of twelve (the legal age for marriage stipulated by the Han Dynasty), then the head of the household can enjoy a title.
As the privilege of "Wan Lao", Wan Lao and his immediate family members can enjoy the preferential treatment of half the corvee.
Even though there is such a provision, the heavy burden on the people at the bottom often still makes them breathless.
Guanzhong was relatively fine. The Han court was very attentive to the management of Guanzhong and would not increase the burden on the people. All corvées could be avoided if possible.
But once you leave Hangu Pass, the vast number of counties and vassal states in Guandong, the people at the bottom really live like cattle and sheep all year round.
Only those who are lucky enough to live long enough to avoid old age can take a breather.
If you can live to be eighty years old, become an elder in the village, and serve as one of the three elders, you may also be able to give your descendants a chance to rise and become landlords.
In addition, the upward path for the people at the bottom is almost cut off.
If you want to climb up, there is almost no other means except war.
And this is where Liu Che is worried.
As a time traveler, Liu Che knows very well that when a ruling class does not have fresh blood to supplement it, the ruling class will inevitably fall into corruption and depravity. If the ascending channel of the bottom class is blocked, the anger of the bottom class will become worse.
As it grows larger, when it accumulates to a certain amount, a revolution will inevitably break out, which is also a peasant uprising in ancient China.
Now, although it is still very early to talk about the decline and demise of the Han Dynasty.
However, the corruption and depravity of the ruling class are already obvious.
Except for those who were deprived of their title due to various reasons such as rebellion and heirloom, the descendants of most of the other Chehous have been corrupted.
Most nobles no longer even have basic qualifications.
This is the so-called "meat-eaters are despicable" as the ancients said, and "the noble ones are the stupidest" as later generations said.
Liu Che knew very well that if the ruling class completely loses its vitality, it will be time for this country and this regime to perish.
And this was unacceptable to Liu Che.
Therefore, Liu Che knew very well what he would do to change everything after he became emperor.
Liu Che certainly has no intention of outlawing or suppressing the privileges of the landlord class and the wealthy.
In fact, privilege is the source of motivation within a country.
For example, the Qin Dynasty relied on the system of naming land and houses for military merit, sweeping across the six countries, annexing the world, and conquering almost all the known world.
The fundamental source and driving force of the Qin army's strength is its privilege.
Even on the earth in future generations, isn't it what motivates people to struggle and work hard? If I have money and power, I can have as many beauties as I want and eat whatever I want.
There is no such thing as fairness and justice in this world.
Liu Che feels that even in the legendary ideal society-the era of gczy, privileges will not disappear, but they will exist in human society in a more hidden and clever way.
What Liu Che wants to do is to try his best to create an environment for the people to counterattack.
Just like in the Qin Dynasty, a nobody could climb to the top of the pyramid of the ruling class.
Just like Europe in the Age of Discovery, even a serf, as long as he is brave enough, can climb into the upper class, sleep with the daughters of nobles, and marry famous ladies.
This is the foundation of Qin's strength and the source of white people's domination of the world in later generations.
Therefore, when the Qin State lost such an environment, the Qin State quickly perished.
The reason why the white people of later generations were able to dominate the earth for nearly three hundred years is that it has been improving itself and constantly releasing various policies that are beneficial to its internal affairs.
And Liu Che just wants to learn from the Westerners of later generations. (To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
ps: Well~ we can resume normal updates tomorrow. I’m really sorry these days~~~~~~~
