Thousands of years ago, in the vast and barren territory of the Qin State, a magnificent migration prelude began. At that time, the Qin dynasty pursued a series of large-scale population migration policies aimed at achieving an ambitious political goal. What are the political motivations behind these migrations? What twists and turns and hardships did you experience during the migration? How did the Qin dynasty consolidate its dominance through this immigration policy? What kind of historical revelations are hidden behind this? Let's find out.
The Roots of Immigration: The Political Ambition to Unify the Territory
Qin Zi Shang Tang was always ambitious, eager to one day unify the world and become a true overlord. However, at that time, the territory of the Qin State was small and the national strength was weak, and if it wanted to achieve this grand aspiration, who was willing to easily give up their country? As a result, the Qin people began to focus on immigration policy, hoping to lay a solid foundation and gradually expand their territory.
After King Huiwen laid the foundation for the war against Shu, the Qin state began to move a large number of people to the newly occupied land of Bashu. Fang Shu said: "King Hui sent a large number of people to move people to Bashu to consolidate the territory he occupied. This not only enabled the Qin Dynasty to obtain reliable human resources in the Bashu region, but also created favorable conditions for future territorial expansion. With the passage of time, a situation of vast land and sparse population gradually formed in Qin, and the importance of immigration became increasingly prominent.
After Qin Shi Huang succeeded to the throne, he pushed the immigration policy to a climax. It is reported: "In 33 years, they moved to Guilin, Xiangjun, and Nanhai", "In 35 years, they moved to 30,000 Liyi and 50,000 to Yunyang", and "in 36 years, they moved to 30,000 families in Yuzhong, Beihe". It can be seen that the Qin Dynasty made great efforts to carry out large-scale population migration, precisely in order to deploy and garrison in various important places, so as to consolidate its rule and finally realize the grand aspiration of unifying the world.
In fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, some countries began to implement immigration policies, but most of them only migrated the population of the conquered areas to the heartland of their own countries. For example, the Jin state once migrated the population of the conquered Lu and Wei countries to the Central Plains in order to strengthen its control. However, they have not made full use of the human and material resources of the occupied areas, which has led to the stagnation of development in these areas.
The Qin dynasty showed great foresight in this regard. They not only moved the Qin people to the occupied Shu, Lingnan and other places, but also absorbed a large number of immigrants to enrich the national strength of the Qin state. This ensured the continuous supply of the population of the occupied territories and laid the cornerstone for the long-term implementation of the immigration policy. It can be said that the Qin people were the most daring and enterprising people at that time, and they understood that only through unremitting efforts could they realize their ideals step by step.
Migration Strategy: A Virtuous Cycle and Radiant Expansion
The core of the Qin Dynasty's immigration policy was to achieve a virtuous circle between population and resources, to drive economic development through population movement, and thus to consolidate control over the newly occupied territories. In this process, the Qin dynasty adopted a multi-pronged strategy.
First, a large-scale import of population to build new territory. Although Shu has been known as the "land of abundance" since ancient times, due to the sparse population, the local resources have not been fully developed for a long time. After the Qin Dynasty occupied Shu, it transferred a large number of people from the Qin State to reclaim the land. People have built a large-scale Dujiangyan water conservancy project in Shudi, which has greatly exerted the potential of local agricultural production. In addition, a large number of laborers were sent to Guilin, Nanhai and other places to build fortifications and maintain the stability of the new territory.
Second, it is necessary to actively attract immigrants to enrich the country's strength. In addition to mobilizing its own population, the Qin Dynasty also formulated a number of preferential policies to attract immigrants from other countries. History: "Those who enter Qin are hidden in Chu, Wei, Han, Zhao, Shu, and Xu, and Qin is in it, and they have nothing to ask, and they are virtuous." "Gade does not punish him, and the people are at peace." These immigrants were greatly cared for in the Qin Dynasty and were quickly integrated into the production and life of the Qin State. Famous politicians and military strategists such as Zhang Yi and Li Si are descendants of this group of immigrants. It was the foresight of these figures that made a significant contribution to the eventual unification of the Six Kingdoms by the Qin Dynasty.
Third, implement a strict household registration system to ensure the implementation of policies. In order to avoid the occurrence of emigration and other situations, the Qin Dynasty implemented strict household registration management throughout the country, and all residents were classified into 36 classes. At the same time, it also stipulates the implementation of a joint punishment system, and whenever a person flees, his relatives must bear the corresponding punishment. Under the deterrence of this sword, the attrition rate of soldiers in the course of successive campaigns has also been greatly reduced.
Through the above-mentioned series of measures, the Qin Dynasty not only mobilized the original human and material resources, but also continued to absorb new new forces from the outside world, thus forming a virtuous circle. In this way, the originally modest national strength was soon strengthened to an unprecedented extent, rapidly radiating to the surrounding areas, and gradually building the cornerstone of the unification of the six countries in the future.
Innovation in Immigration: The Application of Diverse Immigration Types
Another major innovation of the Qin Dynasty's immigration policy is that they divided immigration into various types and used them in a focused manner according to different purposes, so as to maximize the role of immigration policy.
First, economic immigration represented by the Fushidu policy. In the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shi Huang, the Qin Dynasty ordered "120,000 wealthy households in Xianyang", and many wealthy people moved to live near Xianyang. This seemingly simple move is actually profound. Since the rich have a lot of financial power, if they are not controlled, it is easy to collude with other forces and cause chaos. Therefore, the Qin Dynasty concentrated them under the nose of the capital, which on the one hand could be closely monitored, and on the other hand, it could also make full use of their wealth and thicken the state finances. To some extent, this is a kind of "high attention and tightening the reins" of capital in the Qin Dynasty.
Second, military migration with an eye on frontier defense. The Qin Dynasty repeatedly relocated part of the population to border fortresses to ensure the military power of the frontier. For example, in the thirty-third year, "building pavilions and barriers to chase the Rong people, migrating, and the beginning of the county". These so-called "Rong people" were prisoners of war who were forcibly relocated to remote areas to take charge of local defense. Correspondingly, a large number of Qin military and civilian workers were also dispatched to the frontier to build the Great Wall and other fortifications. Through the rational deployment of military households, prisoners of war and other personnel, the Qin Dynasty solved the problem of manpower for border defense.
Third, political immigration against dissident forces. Immediately after the unification of the Six Kingdoms, the Qin Dynasty began to migrate the noble and wealthy families who had lost power to other places in batches, both to avoid civil strife and to make the most of their intellectual resources. Within a few years, these former ruling classes had settled into a new life trajectory during the Qin Dynasty. Among them, there are many outstanding figures like Zhang Yi and Li Si who have made outstanding contributions to the development of the Qin Dynasty. This shows that the Qin Dynasty was also very clever in the selection of immigrants, reflecting their political wisdom.
It can be seen that different types of immigration policies have their own emphasis, but they all aim to ensure the long-term stability and sustainable development of the Qin Dynasty's national strength. Economic, military, and political were all in consideration of the Qin Dynasty's immigration policy. It can be said that the success of the Qin Dynasty's immigration policy was largely due to the innovation of its application.
The Shadow of Immigration: Population Loss and Social Shocks
Although the immigration policy of the Qin Dynasty promoted the unification and development of the country to a large extent, its negative impact cannot be ignored. Due to the large scale of the migratory population, it is bound to cause a certain degree of population loss to the original place of residence. And this loss will bring a series of socio-economic problems.
First, there is a serious imbalance in the economic development of the Central Plains and the border areas. Due to the transfer of large numbers of manpower from the Central Plains, this rich land, once the hinterland of the Yellow River Valley, experienced a severe shortage of manpower. In addition, during the war years, the agricultural production and economic development of the Central Plains region were also sluggish. In stark contrast, the border areas have developed rapidly due to the continuous influx of migrants, the rational use of resources and population. According to records, after the construction of Shudi in Dujiangyan, "agriculture and mulberry are abundant, and goods are growing day by day".
Second, the outflow of population from the Central Plains has led to the aggravation of social contradictions. Due to the trauma of the war and the harshness of the imperial court, the people of the Central Plains were extremely dissatisfied with the rule of the Qin Dynasty. When large numbers of poor people are forced to leave their homes and seek a living in distant lands, it exacerbates the boiling of popular resentment. There have even been some radical gangs of displaced people, roaming and plundering everywhere, and the social order has been seriously impacted. As time went on, this situation intensified, and finally a starving uprising broke out at the end of the Qin Dynasty. To a certain extent, the aggravation of the contradictions brought about by this outflow of population laid the foundation for the collapse of the situation of great unification in later generations.
Third, the Qin Dynasty's strong control measures further exacerbated the contradictions. In order to curb the outflow of population and social contradictions, the Qin Dynasty adopted a series of severe punishment measures. For example, strict household registration management, joint punishment, etc., although these measures have played a role to a certain extent, they have also intensified the contradictions and made the people's livelihood difficult. Coupled with the Qin Dynasty's strict laws and heavy taxes, the people's discontent gradually accumulated, and eventually brewed into a huge impetus for the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty.
On the whole, although the Qin Dynasty consciously took some mitigation measures, due to the lack of sufficient foresight and humanistic care, the immigration policy paid a heavy social price in the pursuit of centralized power. It also left a profound lesson for other dynasties in later generations when formulating immigration policies.
The Enlightenment of Immigration: The Wisdom of Governance in the Torrent of the Times
Throughout the Qin Dynasty's immigration policy, its successes and failures left many valuable governance inspirations for later generations. These lessons and lessons are the crystallization of the wisdom that Chinese civilization has continuously accumulated in the torrent of the times.
First of all, the formulation of immigration policies should keep pace with the times and make appropriate adjustments according to changes in the situation at any time. Although the Qin Dynasty had systematically planned population movements, in the later period, it was complacent and neglected to respond to the situation, which eventually led to the seeds of unrest. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took over this heavy historical lesson and promptly implemented immigration policies such as "covering the cone in the east and capitalizing in the west", which effectively curbed the fermentation of the peasant uprising. It can be seen that immigration policies should not be static in any period, and must always be flexible.
Second, the formulation of immigration policies must be comprehensively considered from multiple levels such as politics, economy, society, and ecology. The Qin Dynasty only started from the political level of domination of the world, ignoring many other issues. If we can weigh the pros and cons of all aspects in advance and formulate a more comprehensive immigration policy, we may not be able to plant the root cause of turmoil. In contrast, the later Western Han Dynasty adopted a more scientific and rational immigration policy on the basis of summing up lessons and lessons.
Third, the formulation of immigration policies should fully reflect humanistic care and try to avoid causing discomfort to the general public. The Qin Dynasty's focus on maintaining centralized power and neglecting the people's livelihood and the repeated use of violence led to a growing sense of resistance among the people. The immigration policy of the Ming and Qing dynasties left valuable experience for future generations, insisting on convincing people with virtue and ensuring that the people's hearts and minds were supported.
Finally, the formulation of immigration policies must not blindly pursue short-term interests, but must be based on long-term and sustainable development. Although the Qin Dynasty built a great empire for a while, it eventually led to the collapse of the country due to a lack of long-term vision. After the Tang and Song dynasties, the central government paid more attention to balancing the contradictions between the territory and the frontier, population and resources, and achieving long-term peace and stability in the immigration policy.
In short, although the immigration policy of the Qin Dynasty was brilliant for a while, there were also various drawbacks and shortcomings. Only by conscientiously summing up lessons and lessons and absorbing the essence of them can we truly achieve the ability of a generation to govern the world. Migration policies must be carefully formulated for the benefit of future generations.