The castle is one of the representative symbols of European medieval culture, and there are many castles left over from medieval Europe, which are either majestic, magnificent, or vicissitudes. In addition to their military and political role, there are also moving stories and legends such as knights and Cinderella, making those ancient castles very famous. Therefore, the impression of the Chinese people on the ancient castle comes mostly from the European castle, but we do not know that we also have many ancient castles. The castle appeared for war. In our history, there have also been years when "castles" are lined up.
In the history of "castle", the north has a variety of names: dock, fort, wall, fortress, solid, small obstacle, dock fort, barrier and so on (the south likes to call the wall, fence, fence), we now collectively call the "dock fort". As mentioned at the beginning, whether it is a "castle" or a "dock fort", they appear to serve the war. After development and evolution, the "castle" and "dock fort" gradually gave political, economic and other social functions. As can be seen from the well-preserved Zhangbi Ancient Castle in Shanxi, Wubao is like a small town with all availability, but at the same time it gives a military defense function.
What kind of development trajectory has the "Dock Fort" had in the history of our country? Wubao began in the Han Dynasty, after the development of the Three Kingdoms, Wei and Jin, the flooding of the Sixteen Kingdoms period, declined in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang and Jinyuan still existed. "Living in Wubao" was one of the mainstream lifestyles of the northern people during the war and chaos of the Sixteen Kingdoms.
Wubao originated from the Frontier Wars of the Han Dynasty
From the Western Han Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty, military conflicts between the Central Plains Imperial Court and the Xiongnu or Qiang people occurred frequently. In the northwest and northern frontier areas, many military facilities have been built, and the dock fort has been applied, which can be used as a forward base, a retreat can be used as a defensive fortress, and when there is tranquility, it can also be garrisoned. At this time, the Dock Fort was a supplement to the military fortifications such as the Great Wall, the City, and the Pass. It can be seen that Wubao is a small border town, which was first part of the military behavior of the central court.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, private dock forts from the Wei and Jin dynasties became the mainstream
From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the division of the masses, the three-way scuffle, the imperial civil strife at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, and the dispute between the Eight Kings, all caused great social turmoil. The original states, counties, and county cities became the focus of contention between the parties in the war. In order to protect private property and protect the peace of one side, the family clans and local tyrants have avoided disasters in the countryside, gathered people to build forts, and cultivated and defended themselves. In the yellow river valley in the north, where the war was most severe, forts appeared one after another. Tian Yu, Xu Chu, Li Qian, and Deng Ai all led the clan township party to tie up against the enemy. Man Yu once attacked more than twenty dock forts and "won 20,000 households.".
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, wu forts were flooded
The Sixteen Kingdoms period was one of the most chaotic periods in history, with warlords and warlords of Hu and Han dynasties fighting, various ethnic regimes standing in power, officials fleeing into exile, and the township order at the grass-roots level of society being seriously damaged. After the Yongjia Rebellion, the clan crossed south in crowns, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty was on the left side of the Anjiang River. The countryside in the north has become anarchy, displaced people need to survive, and local magnates need to protect themselves. In this situation, the people gathered on their own, and various types of dock forts appeared. Some of them gathered with the same sect, some gathered with the same village, some depended on the powerful forces, and some displaced people jointly promoted the sages as the leader, built a dock, and used collective strength to restore farming and resist thieves.
In terms of subdivision, the Dock Fort can be divided into: Hao Wu Fort, Displaced People's Dock Fort, and Civilian Dock Fort according to the composition. At this time, Wubao had long been transformed into a non-governmental organization integrating economy, production, life and military defense. There are leaders in all kinds of dock forts, and the names are different: suzerain, dock lord, fortress lord, camp master, etc. The people who live in the Dock Fort are in the capacity of tribesmen, tenants, etc., or farming or guarding, contributing labor to the Dock Fort and accepting the shelter of the Dock Fort. They are no longer residents of the state, paying for the government or performing hard labour.
There is a mature organization in the dock fort, with various rules and regulations and traditional morality, to restrain the residents of the dock. The dock lord is either a strong hereditary, or a joint promotion of meritocracy for everyone. The residents of the dock are farmers in peacetime and soldiers in wartime, as well as traditional etiquette and cultural indoctrination. The location of the fort is generally in a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and is close to water sources and arable land. It is necessary to facilitate both defense and farming and production. The inhabitants of Wubao are few thousands, and more than tens of thousands, eating and drinking Lasa are self-sufficient, as if it is an independent kingdom like a "paradise". For example, Fort Pei, Tongbi, Chengyi Fort and other dock forts, even because of their long existence, have become local place names.
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the northern dock forts were widespread and numerous, and became a fairly common social phenomenon at the grass-roots level. According to historical statistics: there are more than 200 Forts in Jizhou, more than 1,100 in Sizhou, more than 3,100 in Guanzhong and its surroundings, and nearly 600 in the prefecture. The scale of the Dock Fort is getting larger and larger, and a considerable number of Dock Forts have formed alliances with each other, and the Dock Fort has become a force that cannot be ignored. The most famous Wubao league advocated Ping, and ruled over the north of the prefecture to Yanmen and the south to Gaoping, with nearly 300 Dock forts and more than 100,000 households, becoming an important force in the political situation of the state during the period from Later Zhao to Later Qin.
At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Yongjia Rebellion, the population of the southern crossing, the number recognized by scholars from all sides was between 700,000 and 900,000, so the household registration population of the northern government was nearly ten million, where did it go? Many people blamed the casualties of the war. However, I believe that in addition to the population of Nandu and the population of war deaths, more people have hidden in wubao or mountain settlements. According to the data in the Zizhi Tongjian, Zhang Ping has jurisdiction over more than 100,000 households in 300 Wubao households.
According to the previous statistics, there are about 5,000 dock forts in the northern states, and it is roughly estimated that the number of people who have fled the government and are dependent on the dock forts is more than 1 million. It should be known that after the Western Jin Dynasty and Pingwu, the average number of households in each county in the north was more than 2,000. Shi Le only broke through more than 100 dock forts in Jizhou, and he was able to raid more than 100,000 people. In this way, for a period of time, the existence of the Dock Fort almost replaced the traditional township system.
During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, why were the people eager to seek refuge in Wubao? You know, most of the dock forts, the residents also need to pay grain to serve, but the people who exploited them, from the imperial court to the dock lords. In fact, just because the people are eager to stay away from the war and the chaos, and they are eager to have a place to live in peace, the "paradise" such as Wubao can meet their demands for "tranquility" to a certain extent.
Is Wubao really a "paradise"? Obviously, both the warlords and the imperial court regarded the numerous dock forts as a thorn in their side. The lack of people in the state hukou represents a shortage of taxes, labor and military resources, and the government will not tolerate the long-term existence of extralegal land. For example, Later Zhao Shile and Former Qin Jian repeatedly attacked many forts, or surrendered or plundered.
In the first step, the Daowu Emperor Tuoba Jue's "suzerainty system" recognized the privileges of the dock lords on the dock fort, and appointed them as the "suzerain" who supervised the people, and the dock fort needed to be transformed into a public. In this way, the residents of the dock naturally became the Qi people of the state, and the dock owners became the grass-roots officials of the state. However, there is also a flaw here, that is, the suzerainty will deliberately conceal the population in order to avoid taxation and servitude.
In the second step, Emperor Xiaowen TuobaHong's "Juntian System" and "Three Chiefs System" divided and disintegrated the Dock Fort and let the residents get rid of the Dock Lord. The "equalized field system" means that the government distributes the land according to the head of the person, and after cultivating it for several years, it belongs to it. The "three-chief system" means that five households elect a "neighborhood chief", five neighbors elect a "lichang", and five lichang elect a "party leader". The "equalized field system" aims to increase the enthusiasm of the people to join the households, while the "three-chief system" aims to check the household registration and facilitate taxation and servitude. (Source: Book of Southern Qi and Biography of Wei Yu)
The "three-chief system" is of great significance, not only peacefully resolving the hidden dangers of the flooding of dock forts, but also becoming a model for the township system in later dynasties. Later, whenever there is chaos, there will be a Dock Fort, such as the Five Dynasties of the Late Tang Dynasty and the Jin Yuan Period, there are records of the Dock Fort gathering for self-defense, but it is only a case. After the Sixteen Kingdoms, The Fort never became a universal social phenomenon again.