In recent years, there have been many articles or film and television dramas about the Warring States period, which inevitably makes people have a thought, the people living in the Warring States, the Qin Kingdom and the people of the Six Kingdoms who are happier?
We may wish to open the history books and see what the people at that time thought.
Above_ Quotient martingale transformation method
First, are the people of the Qin State proud to be Qin people?
Speaking of this, we often have to go back to the Shang martingale transformation method, because it is the Shang martingale that opens a new era, which makes the Qin state a war machine, and the whole people are soldiers.
First, let's look at what is the purpose of the quotient martingale transformation method?
Nothing else, but the weak people in rich countries. In Shang Martin's view, the will of the monarch and the strength of the state trumped everything, and the strength of the people of the whole country was concentrated, and the material was coordinated, and everything was based on the country's foreign wars. The Shang Martin stipulated that the common people should do two things: farming and war. Not only to pay taxes to the state, but also to serve in the military and serve in the military, which makes the people's lives very stressful.
Above_ Warring States Shang Martingale Square Liter, as a measuring instrument, its volume of 200 ml is the standard "1 liter" specified by the unified weights and measures of the Shang Martingale (the historical confirmation of the Shang Martingale Transformation Method)
Second, the system of sitting in shiwu is implemented, that is, five families are in the army and ten are in the company.
The specific measures are: it is forbidden for fathers and sons and brothers to live in the same room, and all people with two male laborers or more must live separately and form independent households; it is not allowed to move without authorization, supervise and report each other, and if they are not exposed, once the perpetrators of adultery are found, ten families will sit together. This has greatly damaged the relations between the neighbors, put everyone at risk, and the whole society has been pervasive in an atmosphere of terror.
Above_ Yun Dream Sleeping Tiger Ground Qin Jian
Third, the qin state's servitude was very heavy, and it was harshly punished.
Some people may say that this is a smear of the "Historical Record", but the "Qin Jian" unearthed in recent years is the record of the Qin people themselves, which details the scene of the ordinary people of the Qin State being overwhelmed and fleeing to the Six Kingdoms. In order to prevent ordinary people from fleeing, the government has formulated a special "Law of Death", and if they escape, they will be punished with heavy punishments. Light punishment, broken legs, heavy executions, and even car ruptures. Even so, there are still ordinary people who continue to flee.
There is a story recorded in The Yuelu Qin Jian that there was a young man named Xue, whose father was angry because he was whipped by qin officials during his labor service, and when he returned home, he beat his son out of anger, so he planned to flee to the Chu state. In order to escape, he bought a machete and prepared to "borrow a little plate to wrap" and fled to the State of Wei, but unfortunately he was caught and finally sentenced to death, that is, cut off alive from the waist.
Because the Qin law was so harsh, Lu Zhonglian of the State of Qi sighed: If he were a commoner of the State of Qin, he would rather choose to jump into the sea and commit suicide.
King Huiwen of Qin (356 BC – 311 BC), courtesy name Zhao, courtesy name Si, was a native of Xianyang (present-day Xianyang, Shaanxi).
We can also see the attitude of the people of the Qin State from the end of the Shang martingale, and it is understandable to say that the nobles hate the Shang martingale, because the change of law has touched their interests. However, the common people also hated him, and after King Huiwen of Qin ascended the throne, in order to calm the anger of the people and alleviate the contradictions, he decided to execute Shang Martin and make him a scapegoat. As a result, Shang Martin fled to a hotel on the border, but he set up his own identity inspection system and a whistle-blowing system, and was eventually arrested by the whistleblower, and people lamented that he had killed himself!
It is precisely because of this terrible atmosphere that the common people lived in deep trouble, so that later Chen Sheng and Wu Guang of the Qin Dynasty delayed their servitude because of the rainy period, according to the Qin law, even if they arrived, they would be executed, and if they fled, they would die, and the horizontal and vertical left and right were a death, and Chen Sheng and Wu Guangyi decided to revolt together, thus shaking the foundation of the Qin Dynasty's rule. Since then, the people everywhere have responded one after another, shouting out the words that represent the voice of all people: The world has been suffering for a long time!
Above_ Chen Sheng Wu Guang uprising
Second, during the Warring States period, how did the people of the other six countries live?
The situation during the Warring States period was that the Chu state was the largest country, the Qin state had the strongest military strength, and the Qi state was the richest. So many people asked, the economy and culture of the Qi state are so strong, why has it not unified the world? In fact, it is very simple, in order to achieve long-term peace and stability, it is definitely the rule of virtue, but the short-term unification often relies on the war machine, which is why the Central Plains Dynasty has always been bullied by nomadic peoples. Because the entire Qin state is a soldier, everything is for the start of the war machine, which naturally leads to his high efficiency and fast war deployment speed, so he can unify the six countries.
Above_ Sengoku Seven Heroes
First of all, what is the economic life of the people of the six countries?
If we look at the commercial centers at that time, there were jicheng, the capital of the Yan kingdom, Handan, the capital of the Zhao kingdom, and Linzi in the state of Qi, and the reason why these commercial centers appeared, in addition to the rulers encouraging commerce, also showed that the personal freedom of the people of these countries was not tied to the land like the Qin state, either farming or fighting. Handan, the capital of the Zhao Kingdom, was the largest commercial center at that time, and Lü Buwei became a rich merchant doing business in the Zhao Kingdom.
Lü Buwei (292 BC – 235 BC), surnamed Jiang
Second, let's look at the cultural life of the people in the six countries
The controversy of a hundred schools of thought that we praise today occurred in the Jixia Xuegong of the State of Qi, which lasted for more than a hundred years, and it would be difficult to have such a brilliant ideological culture without the rulers of the State of Qi respecting intellectuals and attaching importance to culture. King Yan Zhao, following the example of the State of Qi, built the Jieshi Palace, and for a time there appeared "Le Yi from Wei Xiang, Zou Yan from Qi Xiang, Ju Xin from Zhao Xiang, and Shi Zheng To Yan." Even he himself can "hang the orphans and share the happiness and suffering with the people."
In the State of Wei, Corporal LiXian of the Marquis of Wei, Bai Zixia as a teacher, for a time the study of the West River flourished in the State of Wei, and the study of Qilu Susi pioneered by Kong Meng was the two major schools of Confucianism at that time, attracting many talents and playing an important role in the continuation and development of Confucianism.
Above_ Bao Shan Chu Jian
Third, the people of the Chu Kingdom are really miserable, are they willing to be Qin people?
According to the modern excavated document "Baoshan Chujian", we have a clearer understanding of the social life of the people of the Chu state. At that time, the political and cultural atmosphere of the Chu state was relatively relaxed, the population could move freely, commercial activities were very prosperous, and the people could freely engage in agriculture, small business, handicrafts and other activities.
However, in the "Great Qin Empire", there is such a scene: a Chu person escapes from the Chu state and expresses that he is willing to be a Qin person and will not be a Chu person when he dies. This is undoubtedly inconsistent with the historical records.
Above_ Schematic diagram of the Six Kingdoms of Qin
By comparing the political, economic, and cultural policies of the seven countries during the Warring States period, we will find that although the Qin State finally succeeded in strengthening itself through changing the law and finally completed the hegemony of unification, from the perspective of the social living environment of the people at that time, only the Qin State implemented the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce and implementing severe punishments, so that the common people were tied to the land without freedom at all, neighbors still had to guard against each other, and neighbors would also implicate themselves in crimes.
This is also the reason why after Liu Bang occupied Guanzhong, the common people ate pot pulp to welcome the king's teacher, because they had already hated the Qin state to the bone!
Author: Mr. Lu Li Correction/Editor: Lilith
Reference: Warring States Policy
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author