The population problem of the Three Kingdoms period has been elaborated by the author in three articles before. Its themes are: the causes of the population decline in the three countries at the end of the Han Dynasty, the extreme cases of the population decline areas in the three countries at the end of the Han Dynasty, and the population difference between the north and the south during the Three Kingdoms period.
The population was sparse during the Three Kingdoms period, but as long as productivity rebounded, coupled with the increase in "producer" input, it could alleviate the trend of population decline to a certain extent. But in fact, there were fewer "producers" at that time than in the Han Dynasty. For example
Soldiers
Officials, concubines, concubines, concubines, and powerful people all accounted for a large proportion of the population at that time, but they were not engaged in "production.". The Three Kingdoms are the era of soldiers, so starting from this article, we will move on to the next topic, mainly to share the situation of the military resources of various countries during the Three Kingdoms period and the marriage system of the Wei army.
One: The number of troops at the height of the State of Wei
Some scholars pointed out that at the height of the Wei state, there were about six or seven hundred thousand soldiers in total, which was even higher than this number.
According to the Book of Jin and the Chronicle of Emperor Wen, Sima Zhao pointed out to the Heavenly Son that
Now if we want to use as much force as possible to suppress Zhuge Birthday, we can mobilize half a million troops
As long as we defeat the widows with the masses, we will certainly be able to eliminate the rebellion.
Referring to this sentence, we can see that at that time, in addition to the necessary defensive forces in various places and then the army of Chang'an to resist the Shu Han, the State of Wei could squeeze out half a million troops, so that. The total number of Wei troops at that time was about 600,000 to 700,000 people.
Second: the number of troops at the height of the Shu kingdom
According to the "Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and The Biography of Zhuge Liang", Zhuge Liang was the largest during the Northern Expedition, with a total of 80,000 people on the front-line battlefield. These front-line battlefield troops accounted for eight-tenths of the country's mobile troops, so it was calculated that Zhuge Liang could draw 100,000 troops if he went all out. Coupled with the necessary garrison military forces in various regions of the Shu Han Dynasty,
Some scholars have calculated that the army of the Shu Han Dynasty should have more than 100,000 people.
The State of Wei made statistics after the destruction of shu han, and at that time shu han had a common army
One hundred and twenty thousand
This figure is consistent with the record of the number of soldiers in the Book of Shu, and the evidence is strong. Based on the calculation of 102,000 people, coupled with the losses in the battle of Wei and Shu Han, the number of hundreds of thousands of troops is reasonable.
Three: The number of troops at the height of the Wu kingdom
According to scholars' calculations, the generals of the State of Wu should have been no less than 300,000 in their heyday. According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Ke once defied opposition and mobilized all the states and counties under the rule of the State of Wu
200,000 mobile troops
Participation in the Northern Expedition. Considering the plague of Eastern Wu Mountain Yue, the mobile troops to prevent shu Han and the remaining troops in various places, the total strength of Eastern Wu troops was about around
Three hundred thousand
person.
According to the content quoted in the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms and the Biography of Sun Hao, when Eastern Wu fell in 280 AD, there were 230,000 soldiers.
Adding up the troops of the three countries, there were about a million soldiers in total.
Of course, this number is only strictly the Three Kingdoms period or the end of the Three Kingdoms period. If it was in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the so-called military strength at the time of the rise of the masses could not be compared with the professional soldiers of the Three Kingdoms period.
Fourth: Wei's military source policy
Soldiers in the Three Kingdoms period basically took the military as their own work all their lives, and formed an independent class in the society at that time, which Wei Guo called "soldiers", and generally speaking, "soldiers" will serve in the army for generations.
The family of "scholars" is generally called "scholars".
To tell the truth, the social status of this "scholar family" is extremely low.
The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Xin Bi, once pointed out that Cao Pi had wanted to bring 100,000 people to the Jizhou region."
Scholars
"Migrated to the Henan region.
Refer to Sima Yan's edict when he was crusading against the State of Wu, which contains a provision. Now it is necessary to mobilize the "scholars' family" to replenish the source of troops, of which one of the two or three boys in the family, two boys from the four boys, and three from more than six children. Sima Yan also stressed that
The number of soldiers drawn should be between the ages of 17 and 50, and priority will be given to the selection of wives and children.
In fact, the Sima Yan period was relatively good, and there is a sentence in the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms Cao Zhi" that says that due to the frequent wars, the government has made a big deal out of it
"Scholar's"
child. Cao Zhi later discovered that the country was almost"
"Almost all the children have been requisitioned, resulting in serious problems of orphans and left-behind children in their hometowns, and some have not grown up."
"The case where the son or the only bloodline in the family is also forcibly drawn by the state.
Five: Marriage policy in the Wei army
The daughter of a "scholar" is called a "scholar", and a "scholar" must marry a "scholar". There is a Wei Dynasty,
It was explicitly requested that if the "scholar daughter" did not marry the "scholar",
The dismissal of "soldiers" from their status and treatment was compulsorily arranged for the soldiers.
Marriage is too solidified, but also has drawbacks, at least it will cause the resentment of the class involved. After Cao Rui learned about it, he adjusted it to if the "scholar" must marry a non-"scholar",
The man can find a woman in his own home who is about the same age and beauty as the "scholar" to marry the "scholar" instead of her.
This replacement is generally carried out by the county chief executives. The end result is
The county officials first hid these beautiful women privately, and then sent them directly to the harem of the Heavenly Son to ask for merit, and only then did the ugly-looking ones really promise to the soldiers.
Zhang Mao, the minister of the State of Wei, pointed out that "scholars" were used like slaves to replace women who rationed "scholars", and eventually became fertility machines that satisfied His Majesty's personal desires and guaranteed the number of "scholars". If this continues, the "scholars" who have received false "scholars" may not be happy.
Sixth: How to get rid of the "scholarly" class
From the previous paragraph, we can see that if the unlucky person becomes a "scholar", the boy born will be pulled to continue to participate in the battle, and the girl born will be asked to marry and give to other "scholars", resulting in the complete solidification of the class. How to get rid of the "scholar" class?
1: Zhong Xuan once created a system whereby if "scholars" were enfeoffed, the compulsory marriage policy was abolished.
2: If the "scholar" died in the line of duty and the heroic deeds are known to even the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven may issue an edict to let the descendants of the martyrs leave the "scholar's family", and in general, the descendants can enjoy more favorable treatment and even obtain knighthoods.
During the Three Kingdoms period, some people looked down on the "scholars", and some people desperately got rid of the "scholars".