It is difficult to transport grain and grass
Ancient China was an agrarian society, and agricultural production had an important impact on social development. Among them, the transportation of grain and grass has always been a major problem that has plagued military and social development. Why is this dilemma occurring?
In ancient times, the means of transportation were mainly horse-drawn carriages and human burdens, which were not only inefficient, but also highly depleting. As a result, even with a strong workforce, it is not possible to quickly and efficiently transport large quantities of food supplies to the front.
In the Huangchao Rebellion in the last years of the Tang Dynasty, due to the lack of food supply, the Tang government could only be forced to retreat to Chang'an City, which was caused by the difficulty of transporting grain and grass.
China's vast territory and diverse topography have led to fragmented food production and storage locations. This requires troops to traverse a variety of terrain in order to reach their destination, making transportation more difficult.
Due to poor road conditions, vehicles travel slowly, which seriously affects the speed of grain and grass transportation. When the Yuan Dynasty attacked the Southern Song Dynasty, the Mongol army was once covered by heavy snow, which was undoubtedly even worse for them who already had to travel long distances.
In addition to the above factors, there is another important reason for the difference in population density. If the transportation of grain and grass is to be organized on a large scale, it is necessary to mobilize a large number of farmers through administrative means, which in turn will put a lot of pressure on the local economy.
During the Song-Jin War, most of the farmland was barren due to the devastation of the peasants in the northern region, which caused a severe food shortage, which also exacerbated the pressure on grain and grass transportation.
In ancient times, the development of grain and grass supply went through a process of starting from scratch. In the early tribal society, food and grass supply was not a problem because of the close proximity of the battle. However, with the expansion of the geographical scope and the emergence of a standing army, the supply of grain and grass gradually became a key factor affecting the victory or defeat of the war.
The longer and more remote the route to transport grain, the more food is needed. The consumption of livestock alone is very large. During the Qin and Han dynasties, it often took more than half a month to transport grain and grass from the interior to the border. The people and animals on the way consumed far more food than they actually delivered.
In the face of the problem of grain transportation, there have been attempts to deal with the problem of tuntian policy and outsourcing logistics in history. Cao Cao implemented tuntian, directly allowing the army to farm on the border for self-sufficiency, but in the long run, the army's combat effectiveness weakened, and officials also took advantage of the opportunity to seek personal gain.
Later, some generals proposed to directly outsource the supply to the local government, but it turned out to be an even bigger riot, because the local forces were in rebellion. These historical lessons show that the difficulty in the supply of grain and grass lies in the difficulties in transportation and storage, and the chain effects brought about by these difficulties.
There were many insurmountable difficulties in the transportation of grain and grass in ancient times, which was the result of a combination of factors. Despite this, the ancients did not give up their efforts, they continued to explore and innovate in practice, and took many effective measures to deal with these problems.
This not only reflects the greatness of human wisdom, but also provides valuable lessons for future generations. Future researchers can continue to explore this issue in depth and find more practical ways to promote social stability and development.
The issue of grain and grass first
In ancient societies, regardless of the scale of warfare, the problem of grain and grass was one of the key issues to be solved first. Due to the low agricultural production efficiency in ancient times, grain and grass became the main bottleneck restricting the victory of wars.
The Battle of Changping was a famous battle in ancient China that took place during the Warring States period in 260 BC. In this battle, Zhao Wangqian led the elite troops of Zhao to face the powerful Qin army.
However, in the course of the battle, the Zhao army suddenly encountered a serious grain and grass crisis, which greatly weakened its combat effectiveness. According to records, the Zhao army had to lose five quintals for every load of grain transported to the battlefield, while the Qin state only lost thirty taels for each load transported.
This directly led to Zhao Jun not being able to support for too long when the grain and grass reserves were insufficient. In the end, the Zhao army could only choose to surrender, thus deciding the outcome of the battle.
In fact, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, large-scale war mobilization often led to a sharp decline in the domestic labor force and a decline in productivity due to the low level of productivity.
Once war breaks out, it is difficult to meet the needs of the army with enough food to eat in peacetime. At the same time, transportation capacity was limited in ancient times, and transporting large quantities of grain and grass from within the territory to the front line was a huge challenge.
The loss of grain and grass in the process of transportation is very large, generally more than one-third of the total amount of raw grain. Therefore, in order to reduce the pressure of transportation, ancient armies often chose to get grain nearby. However, once the enemy sends troops to attack and destroy the granary, it means that the whole army is in danger of annihilation.
In order to deal with the fragility of the supply of food and grass, the ancient generals also formulated emergency plans. For example, setting up more transit granaries, encrypting grain transport routes, or ending the war as soon as possible to reduce grain and grass consumption.
But when the granaries are empty and the transportation is not smooth, even the best strategies will not help. So in a sense, whoever controls the granaries and the main transportation routes will have the initiative in the war.
Why, then, was the supply of food and grass so important in ancient societies?
In ancient times, the social productive forces were backward, the level of agricultural technology was low, and the efficiency of grain production was not high. This made grain and grass the most scarce commodity in the war.
Secondly, the ancient road construction technology was backward and the transportation capacity was limited, which also limited the effective transportation of grain and grass. In addition, the administrative management of ancient societies was inefficient, lacked effective means of organization and scheduling, and could not respond to sudden grain and grass crises in a timely manner.
In this context, in order to avoid the catastrophic consequences of the shortage of grain and grass, the ancient generals adopted a series of measures to strengthen the management of grain and grass.
It is necessary not only to draw up a detailed plan for grain and grass, but also to predict the demand for grain and grass according to the deployment of troops and operational needs, and to rationally plan transportation routes and schedules.
It is also necessary to strengthen investment in and renovation of grain and grass production and storage facilities to improve the safety and stability of grain and grass production and storage. Thirdly, establish a sound information feedback mechanism to monitor the supply and demand of grain and grass in real time, and adjust strategies in time when problems are found.
In ancient societies, grain and grass were one of the key factors that determined the outcome of a war. In order to solve the problem of shortage of grain and grass, the ancient generals continued to explore and practice, forming a wealth of experience and wisdom.