Comrade Guevara
At the beginning of the establishment of the Han Dynasty, due to the large-scale war at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the sea was extremely ruined, almost to the extent that it was thousands of miles of red land, ten rooms and nine emptiness. According to Ge Jianxiong's "History of the Chinese Population", the population of the Qin Dynasty peaked at 30 million, but it plummeted to 13 million at the beginning of the Han Dynasty. In other words, the net death toll caused by the war was 17 million, accounting for about 3/5 of the Qin Dynasty's peak population! According to the records of the "Historical Records", the population of the major cities in the early years of the Han Dynasty was often only 20%-30% of the Qin Dynasty's, that is, more than 2/3 of the urban population died.
Emperor Wangwen Image
It was precisely because the losses in the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty were too heavy that the policy of rest and recuperation was pursued for more than 70 years after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, and it was not until the late reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty that the population size reached the peak of the Qin Dynasty. For Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and his father, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, the annals of history do not hesitate to praise the words, believing that the China under their rule was a golden age of "peace at home, sufficient for people, and few later generations can match" (see "Zizhi Tongjian, Volume 15"), and there was a thriving scene everywhere, which was completely comparable to the "Great Governance World" in the Yaoshun period.
If we only look at the positive description of the history books, then the "rule of Wenjing" is indeed desirable, and its achievements are worthy of praise. However, when we have a calm and objective mind, through an in-depth analysis of historical materials, especially the discussion of important figures at that time to make a detailed interpretation, we will be surprised to find that the so-called "rule of Wenjing" is not only not as perfect as depicted in the history books, but also the truth is extremely cruel, if we have to call it a "prosperous era", at best it is just a "prosperous era" that barely starves to death.
Han Dynasty peasants drove ploughing oxen to plough prints
The cruelty of the "rule of Wenjing" is most evident in the peasants, who make up the vast majority of the population and are often officially praised as the "capital of the country", and the heavy taxes and the variety of forced labor are undoubtedly the "main culprits" for their miserable life. According to historical records, there were about 20 types of taxes in the Han Dynasty, mainly field tax and poll tax, in addition to various types of forced labor. During the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, although the field tax was reduced to 30 taxes and 1, the poll tax and forced labor were very heavy, which often caused the people to fall into a desperate situation of bankrupting their families and "giving birth to children and killing them".
In addition to the harshness of the government, the oppression of the proud and powerful landlords was also an important reason why the peasants' lives fell into a desperate situation. In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the imperial court advocated the doctrine of Huang Lao and implemented the "rule of inaction", which was certainly conducive to the recuperation of the people, but at the same time, it also contributed to the "barbaric growth" of the aristocracy, the powerful and the merchants. With their inextricable ties with the government and their deep pockets, these people frantically annexed land, forcing a large number of yeoman farmers to bankrupt, or become vagrants, or forced to become their tenant farmers.
The magrange of the Han Dynasty landlord
After seizing a large amount of land, the group of annexors collected as much as 50% rent from the tenant farmers on the one hand, and paid a very low rent (3.33% 3.33%) to the government according to the tax rate promulgated by the imperial court. Next, they will continue to carry out a new round of land annexation. This cycle gradually led to the emergence of a status quo in society where "the rich have no place to stand, and the poor have no place to stand" (see "Han Ji Wudi Ji IV").
How hard was the life of the common people in the era of the "rule of Wenjing"? This can be seen from the concerts of famous ministers in the early and middle Han Dynasty. Chao Cuo was an important minister of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Jing, and the official was the Imperial Shi Dafu (one of the three dukes, equivalent to the deputy prime minister), which can be described as a high and powerful position, and had an extremely important impact on the formulation and implementation of national policies. As early as the reign of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, Chao Cuo submitted to the emperor a piece of music entitled "On Guisu Shu", in which he described the difficulties of peasant life in an extremely painful tone, saying:
Wrong
Today, there are no less than two farmers in a family of five, and those who can cultivate no more than 100 acres can harvest no more than 100 stones. Spring ploughing, summer ploughing, autumn harvesting, winter storage, cutting salaries, magistrates' offices, and conscription...... Rest between four o'clock...... Diligence is so, and it is still plagued by floods and droughts, and the government is tyrannical and tyrannical, and the endowment is from time to time. Some people sell it for half a year, and the deceased takes the interest of the double name, so there are those who sell their fields and houses and their descendants to pay for their responsibilities. See Hanshu, Vol. 24, Shixiang I.
According to Chao Cuo's statement, when a family of five farmers worked hard to cultivate 100 acres of land every year, the total harvest was only 100 stone (note: 1 stone in the Han Dynasty was equivalent to 60 catties today). This meager harvest was only possible for the peasants to keep as food rations after they had paid various taxes and forced labor from the government. If the peasants are lucky enough to catch the good times, they will still be able to fill their stomachs, but if they are unfortunate enough to encounter a year of famine, they will inevitably go hungry, and even have to sell their children and farms to pay taxes or pay for forced labor.
Dong Zhongshu
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when the great Confucian Dong Zhongshu wrote to the imperial court, he also talked about the current situation of the people's lives under the "rule of Wenjing" with great sadness. According to Dong Zhongshu, under the rule of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the peasants wore ragged clothes and ate food as bad as pig food and dog food. Under such circumstances, thousands of hungry people often take risks and become robbers or bandits, and even if the government vigorously grasps and kills a group, it cannot completely prohibit chaos.
The rich have no land, and the poor have no place to stand...... And the month is a more pawn, already, reverted to the positive, one year old, one year old, thirty times the ancient, the land rent, salt and iron, twenty times the ancient. or plough the land of the wealthy, see tax tithes. Therefore, the poor often wear the clothes of cattle and horses, and eat the food of dogs. Heavy on greedy officials, torture and killing, people are worried about death, fleeing the mountains and forests, turning into thieves, ochre clothes are halfway, and tens of millions of years are out of prison. See Hanshu, Vol. 24, Shixiang I.
Emperor Wangjing Image
Judging from the above historical facts, the people of the Han Dynasty during the "rule of Wenjing" period, under the harshness of the imperial court and the clever and powerful snatching, the result of a lifetime of hard work, at best, was to be able to eat a full stomach and not starve to death, which is the truth of the "prosperous era". However, compared with the dark last years of the Qin Dynasty and the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, at least the people will not starve to death, nor do they have to act as "cannon fodder", and the basic right to life and survival can be guaranteed. From this point of view, the "rule of Wenjing" also has a certain progressive significance.
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