In feudal society, the most common means used by the government to punish the guilty included beheading, enlistment, and exile. For some people who have committed deep sins, the government also practices joint sitting, and the families of those who commit crimes are often implicated. Most of these implicated families will face the fate of being exiled. Almost all of them will be exiled to the bitter cold.
Ninguta, for a long time, became a destination for prisoners to be exiled. So, after the Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty, where did the prisoners who were exiled to Ninguta go?
The exile system is an important part of the penal system of ancient Chinese feudal society, and it also has a very long history of exile system. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, the government drove some prisoners who had committed serious crimes but did not die to the deserted frontier. Let them do military service and labor on the frontier.
With the development of society, the country's legal system is also constantly improving. During the Sui Dynasty, under the instructions of Emperor Wen of Sui, the officials of the Imperial Punishment Department perfected the "Imperial Law". In the imperial law, the five forms of punishment in the form of explicit regulations were stipulated: moss, staff, disciple, stream, and death. The "stream" refers to exile.
After the Sui Dynasty, the exile system was used until the end of the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, among the five types of punishment, "exile" is the most commonly used form of punishment. The number of people sentenced to exile is also the largest. There is a reason why the exile system is "loved" by the government.
In feudal society, the productivity of society was low. In order to obtain sufficient water, food and other subsistence resources, people often gather in plain areas with flat land, fertile soil and sufficient water sources. Those frontier areas far from the capital and with a harsh natural environment are rarely inhabited.
Although there were very few people living in the frontier areas, the imperial court could not ignore the frontiers. Every country will send troops to guard the frontier and resist foreign invasion. In order for these soldiers stationed on the frontier to obtain normal living materials, and in order to open up the frontier areas, the imperial court had to send some civilians to the frontier areas.
In traditional Chinese culture, there is a very deep local complex, and no one wants to leave their hometown. What's more, is it to go to these bitter cold frontier areas? There were no people who voluntarily went to the frontier to live, and the government could only forcibly send some people over. Therefore, some criminals who have committed crimes, which are more serious, but who do not commit crimes to the death, are sent to the frontiers.
Before the Qing Dynasty, the Lingnan region, known as the "Land of southern barbarians", the miasma-ridden southwest region, and the northwestern region full of desert Gobi, were the main areas where officials exiled prisoners. For hundreds of years, countless prisoners have been exiled to these places, and working in these places has gradually developed into a harsh area that was originally a bitter cold place and difficult to survive.
By the Ming and Qing dynasties, Lingnan and southwest china already had more people living there, and the regional economy gradually developed. As a result, the imperial court rarely exiled prisoners to the southern regions. Compared with the warmer southern regions, the cold northern regions have a harsher living environment. As a result, the northeast region has slowly become a destination for exiled prisoners.
Before the Qing soldiers entered the customs, they were stationed in Inner Mongolia and northeast China. Ninggu pagoda, located in Heilongjiang, was once the garrison of the Qing Taizu Nurhaci army. After the Qing army entered the customs and established a unified Qing Dynasty, it did not relax its jurisdiction and garrison of the frontier areas.
The emperor of the Qing Dynasty set up a general in Ninguta, and there were troops stationed all year round. However, because of the cold climate and harsh natural environment of Ninguta, few people live in the local area. In order to keep the Ninguta area from becoming deserted, the imperial court exiled some prisoners to Ninguta to work and live.
During the Qing Dynasty, Ninggu Pagoda was a place where the name could scare some people. This is not only because of the Ninguta itself, but also because of the distance and distance from the Central Plains to the Ninguta. Many prisoners, unable to bear the long and harsh distance of exile, died on the road to exile before they reached Ninguta.
And the prisoners who made it to Ninguta were placed in a fixed residence. They had to work every day and had special guards to keep an eye on them. In order to prevent prisoners from escaping from Ninguta, soldiers of the army were also arranged to be stationed at the entrance and exit.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, many celebrities were also exiled to Ningguta. Zhang Jinyan, the last soldier of the last years of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Zhaoqian, a poet of the Qing Dynasty, and Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Chenggong's father, were all exiled to Ningguta.
Wu Zhaoqian was a reader in the early Qing Dynasty. At the age of twenty-six, he took the township examination in Jiangnan and became a lifter. However, it is very unfortunate that in the year that Wu Zhaoqian participated in the township examination, a case of cheating in the imperial examination broke out that shocked the government and the opposition. The emperor ordered a strict investigation of those involved, and many those involved in fraud were punished by death or exile.
Wu Zhaoqian was also implicated and framed, and was arrested by the government. Eventually, Wu Zhaoqian's family property was confiscated and sentenced to exile to Ninguta. Not only was Wu Zhaoqian exiled, but his parents, brothers, wife and other family members were also seated together and exiled to Ninguta.
Wu Zhaoqian stayed in Ninguta for twenty-three years. A friend of Wu Zhaoqian's asked Nalan Mingzhu, who was an official in the imperial court, to help redeem Wu Zhaoqian. After some maneuvering, Wu Zhaoqian was finally redeemed and returned to the capital. Three years after returning to the capital, Wu Zhaoqian died of illness.
Wu Zhaoqian was still very lucky to be able to return to the capital alive. Many of the prisoners who were assigned to Ninguta were never able to leave Ninguta until their deaths. For some prisoners who have committed more crimes, not only can they not leave Ninguta, but their descendants cannot leave Ninguta either.
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing officials, who were unable to protect themselves, did not have so much energy to take care of these exiled prisoners. Therefore, the prisoners in Ningutari, some of them found an opportunity to escape and return to their hometowns.
However, there are also some people who choose to stay. Most of these people who stayed behind have lived in Ninguta for many years and have already adapted to the environment here. They have made their home in Ninguta and raised their children. Therefore, there is no need for them to move their families to a new place.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the exile system that lasted for more than a thousand years also launched the stage of history. No more prisoners will be sentenced to exile. Ninguta is no longer a place of exile. Today, Ningguta is a very common area under the rule of Ning'an City in Heilongjiang Province.