In 263, when Liu Chan, the lord of The Shu Dynasty, led a sheep and surrendered to the Wei generals, he also offered the household registration of Shu Han. According to the above, the total population of shu Han was 940,000 people, more than 100,000 soldiers, and more than 40,000 officials. That is to say, one soldier out of every 9 people, one soldier for every 8 people, and one official for every 27 people. So, is this proportion high? Why is it generally believed that the people of the Shu kingdom have the heaviest burden? And the Shu Han dynasty was established for more than 40 years, why is the population only more than 900,000?
First of all, we must compare the data: at that time, the total population of the State of Wei was 4.43 million people, and the total strength of the army was 500,000 people; the total population of the State of Wu was 2.4 million people, and the total strength of the army was 230,000 people. It seems that the proportion of soldiers and civilians in the Shu Han Dynasty is in the middle, neither the highest nor the lowest. It can be seen that in the Three Kingdoms period, about 10 people raised a soldier was the standard value. But in fact, the people of the Shu kingdom were indeed the most burdened. It's not about population, it's about geography.
Let's first look at the situation of the Wei and Wu states.
The territory of the State of Wei was the two plains of Guanzhong and the Central Plains in the traditional sense, which was a traditional agricultural development area at that time, and the agricultural resources were extremely developed. After the looting of the Yellow Turban Uprising, large tracts of land were abandoned. However, during Cao Cao's reign, many policies were introduced to stimulate agricultural development, and agricultural production in the Wei state flourished. Therefore, the people of the State of Wei were relatively wealthy. Moreover, Cao Cao implemented the tun tian system in the army, and soldiers directly produced grain, which could also reduce the burden on some people.
The Kingdom of Wu is located in Jiangnan, which is the home of fish and rice in the traditional sense. Although agricultural technology is not as good as in the Central Plains, the climate is pleasant and the grain can be abundant. Moreover, jianye, the capital of the State of Wu, is located in the Yangtze River, and the commerce is developed, so the people of the State of Wu are also relatively rich. In addition, Sun Quan also implemented tun tian, which also helped to reduce the burden on the people.
However, the situation in the Shu Han Dynasty was very different from that of Wei and Wu
Although the Shu Han Occupied the Chengdu Plain, known as the "Kingdom of Heavenly Capital", the agricultural technology and arable land area were worse than those of the Wei State. The Shu kingdom has many mountains, and there are only a few plains, and it cannot produce too much grain. The southern barbarian land occupied by the Shu Han Dynasty was not a traditional agricultural area, and it could not collect any grain or taxes at all. Therefore, the per capita wealth of the people of the Shu Han Dynasty was far less than that of Wei and Wu. And they also had to bear no less than Wei and Wu, and naturally they were overwhelmed.
In addition, it should be noted that the army of the Shu Han Dynasty was not simply used for garrisoning, but for fighting. In the short period of 42 years that the Shu Han Dynasty lasted, there were nearly 20 times in the Northern Expedition against Cao Wei. And the attrition required for each war is not the same as in peacetime. Moreover, the Shu kingdom was mountainous, and the cost of transporting grain was far higher than that of Wei and Wu in the plains. Correspondingly, the soldier's unit military expenditure was far greater than that of Wei and Wu. With the already small wealth to provide higher military expenditures, the burden of the people can be imagined. This is also the fundamental reason why the people of the Shu Kingdom are said to have "vegetables on their faces" in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
Of course, Shu Han also Tun Tian. In the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, it is recorded that "Liang divided the troops into tuntian, and the cultivators who had been stationed for a long time were mixed among the residents of Weibin, while the people were blocked, and the army was selfless." However, the land of Tuntian in the Shu Han Dynasty was in the Hanzhong Plain, which was the forefront of the war between Wei and Shu. Let's not say that the area of the Hanzhong Plain is not large enough, and this location alone is a big problem. The Hanzhong Plain is a military zone, not a peaceful agricultural zone. Zhuge Liang tuned the field here, and the effect of deterring the enemy was even greater. However, in such a war-torn land, how much grain can be collected and whether the grain can be received in their own hands is a question. Therefore, the Tuntian of the Shu Kingdom did not actually reduce the burden on the people.
So, how to explain the situation of the small population of the Shu Han? Actually, this is a better explanation.
This place in Yizhou, due to the obstacles of the geographical environment, is a place where it is difficult to have a foreign population to supplement. Here is an example: in the first year of Jiaping (249 AD), Sima Yi launched the GaopingLing Rebellion, and the General Xiahou Ba, who was originally guarding the Han Dynasty, defected to the Shu state. He took the necessary luggage, and there may still be people following, but he was still lost in the mountains of Yinping, even to the point of starvation. If Shu Han hadn't received the news and come to greet him, whether Xiahou Ba's life would have been in question. It can be seen that the Shu land at that time was relatively closed, and the population should be relatively stable.
However, looking at the ancient data, it seems that this is not the case. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yizhou had several "censuses", and the numbers fluctuated extremely violently, with the highest being 6.6 million and the lowest being 1.08 million. Later, what we generally accepted was the 5.58 million records in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty. The Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty also had a very limited impact on Yizhou, and only a thief named Ma Xiang claimed to be the Yellow Turban Army, but it was later quelled. Later, Yizhou was also involved in several wars, and the scale was not large. Moreover, from the perspective of local history, there were no large-scale natural disasters in Yizhou during this period. So, how did the Shu Han Dynasty experience a terrible negative population growth in a few decades? There was only one reason: the local aristocracy was hiding a large number of people.
Hiding population was a major method of tax evasion by ancient landowners. As long as a common man does not have his name on the household register, he will not bear the taxes of the state. Therefore, the landlords of ancient times always tried to hide the tenants in their land, so that all the output of the tenants would become their income. This situation was very common in ancient times, and the slaves, maids, and servants of large households were not counted in the state's hukou. This number is often very staggering.
At the end of the Three Kingdoms, the status of the warrior clan soared, and these warrior clans were arrogant and extreme, and only cared about their own interests. Even the emperor had to pay three points of respect to them. For example, during the initial period of the Wei state, Cao Cao treated the Xun Yu family with courtesy; for example, after Cao Pi ascended the throne, he greatly used Chen Qun, Sima Yi, and others; for example, during the reign of Sun Quan, Zhang Zhao, the leader of the Zhang family, presided over state affairs, and Let Lu Xun of the Lu family command the military; and as far as Shu Han was concerned, this situation could only be greater than that of Wei and Wu, and it could never be less.
The establishment of the Shu Han regime was inherently awkward. The Jingzhou clique led by Liu Bei seized Yizhou, and the means were actually very despicable. Originally, it was to help others fight wars, but later the master was destroyed, which cannot be said anywhere. Therefore, Liu Bei used all means, including marriage, to stabilize the local nobles of Yizhou. Zhuge Liang even had to "slash and slash horses with tears" in order to make a gesture in front of the local nobles of Yizhou. These two strongmen still need to use this method of checks and balances, and the situation after their deaths can only be more serious. As soon as Cao Wei's army arrived at the foot of Chengdu, the local Yizhou Zhou vigorously advocated surrender, which shows that the Yizhou clique did not regard itself as a person of the Shu Han regime from beginning to end. Therefore, their hiding of the population must be more serious than the courtesy of the nobles of Wei and Wu. This is also the root cause of the negative population growth of the Shu Han.