In ancient China, except for a very few dynasties, ordinary people were generally allowed to own and carry weapons such as swords, guns and spears. However, in all the dynasties, no matter who it is, even the princes and nobles, the secret possession of armor is an extremely serious crime. If it is light, it will be beheaded, and if it is heavy, it will be exterminated. Swords are offensive weapons, while armor is only defensive. Why is it not guilty to carry a sword that can kill, but to hide defensive armor is a felony?
Weapons such as swords, in ancient times, could be used to defend against beasts, bandits, or in the presence of production tools. There are also some literati doctors who also like to wear long swords, using it as an ornament and a symbol of status and temperament. These functions of the sword are played in the daily life of the common people, and there is no harm to the ruling class.
Armor, on the other hand, is a purely defensive instrument. Its use can only appear on the battlefield. Although it is only defensive, its role is enormous. Soldiers, if they wear good armor, are not afraid of enemy bows and arrows, or even arquebusiers. Even if you are stabbed with a knife or a gun, the damage level will be greatly reduced. By effectively protecting yourself, you can kill your enemies more powerfully.
The Qing Taizu Nurhaci raised an army with thirteen pairs of armor handed down from his ancestors, and later his descendants successfully seized the Ming Dynasty' Jiangshan. In the battle of Li Shimin's great defeat of Dou Jiande, Li Shimin's three thousand Xuanjia cavalry relied on the protection of heavy armor, and dozens of arrows in some people still did not reduce the offensive. In the end, Dou Jiande's 120,000 troops were overwhelmed by the impact of 3,000 heavily armored cavalry, and Dou Jiande himself was captured.
When the Qin army unified the six kingdoms and the Mongol cavalry swept through Europe and Asia, it was often first relied on heavy armor to break through the gap, and then the light armored soldiers followed closely, charging and slaughtering the enemy, exerting great power.
Armor not only plays a huge role on the battlefield, but it is also not easy to make. A blacksmith can easily craft a knife, but the small workshops are simply not capable of making armor, only the official arsenal can produce it.
These characteristics of armor determine that it is a strategic material that can only be produced and stored at the national level. Swords can be used in everyday life, but armor can only be used on the battlefield. If you hide armor, you can only suspect that you are deliberately plotting rebellion, so all the dynasties have severely punished this.
The most well-known person who was convicted of hiding armor was Zhou Yafu, a famous general of the Western Han Dynasty. Zhou Yafu was the son of Zhou Bo, who quelled the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, saved the Han Dynasty, and made great achievements, but in his later years he was suppressed by the suspicion of the Han Jing Emperor.
Out of filial piety, Zhou Yafu's son secretly bought five hundred pairs of armor shields to be used as funerary items after his father's death in the future. Unfortunately, the matter was denounced by the villain, so the Han Jing Emperor took the opportunity to arrest Zhou Yafu and imprison him for treason.
During the interrogation, Zhou Yafu argued that the armor shields were only future funerary items. Ting Wei said sarcastically: "If you don't rebel on the ground, I'm afraid you will also have to go underground to rebel!" Zhou Yafu was full of grief and anger, and died of hunger strike a few days later.
A generation of famous generals died of this grievance, which shows how serious the responsibility for the illegal armor was in ancient times!