Chapter 499 Let’s take a look
A rickety bullock cart, with more than a dozen guards guarding it from the front and back, was marching on the official road.
Since it’s a look, then it’s a look.
Most of the time you won’t be able to see anything with all the fanfare, so you can only watch it quietly.
Smart people often only believe in themselves. Only what they see and hear is true. As for what others say, most of them just serve as some assistance. Most of the time, they are only willing to listen more and see more. They rarely express their opinions, and even most things have a conspiracy in their hearts...
"Strange!" On top of the bullock cart, a middle-aged scribe who was leaning on the cart suddenly stopped the cart, then opened the curtain and looked under the cart.
A fairly smooth road stretches from your feet to the distance...
The scribe got out of the car and walked to the roadside, looking around with his slender eyes.
The official road has obviously been leveled just now. Although there is no green brick pavement, it is quite strong. It should have been tamped, then corrected and rolled and tamped again. It has been relatively dry these days, and it only raises when stepped on. There is a little bit of dust, unlike most other roads which are filled with dust every step of the way.
?No wonder the vehicles don’t shake so much when moving, and the width of this official road...
??The scribe squinted his eyes until they were almost narrowed into a line. He looked at the road extending into the distance and pondered in silence.
The width of the official road is at least close to forty steps!
?It is quite surprising that there are very few such wide roads nowadays.
War is the most destructive, and even the roads cannot escape the bad luck.
?This was once the Shangjun Road of the Qin Dynasty. It started from Xianyang, passed through Shangjun and went straight to Youzhou. After reaching Liaodong, it turned around and headed southwest, and finally ended at Lelang. It was an important channel for the Qin Dynasty to connect the central, Hetao and Liaodong regions.
Chi Dao, the cavalry can travel six hundred miles a day and night, which is considered to be basically up to standard. If there is an emergency, the cavalry can travel eight hundred miles day and night. It was originally supposed to be fifty paces wide, but the successive wars in the last years of the Qin Dynasty caused a lot of damage, and it has not been repaired until now.
At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the economic conditions and national financial resources were too weak. Even because of the serious shortage of horses in the early Han Dynasty, even the emperor of the Han Dynasty was unable to equip his chariot with horses of the same color. Many generals and ministers could only ride in ox-carts. The economy of the Han Dynasty did not recover until a long time later, and it practiced inaction for a long time, so it never mobilized people to rebuild roads.
During this period many roads were cleared for farming, became narrower, or even ceased to exist altogether.
Moreover, the enfeoffment system in the early Han Dynasty also weakened the role of roads. Chidao was obviously used for long-distance transportation and transferring troops and horses. However, in the Han Dynasty for a long time, the princes occupied various places and rarely interacted with each other. People in different fiefdoms There is no need to transport a large amount of goods over long distances, and the transportation lines are shortened, so there is no need to renovate Chidao.
Of course, with the recovery of the economy, the increasingly prosperous finances of the Han Dynasty were all invested in the war against the Xiongnu by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The use of a large number of cavalry also reduced the demand for vehicles, so there was not much money to spend on recovery. the way.
A wide and smooth road is naturally extremely convenient for the rapid transfer of troops and materials on both sides of the road, or even between cities...
But to rebuild such a road, a huge amount of people''s power needs to be mobilized. With such a large corvee project, are we not afraid of triggering a civil uprising?
The scribe saw several farmers on the roadside weeding the fields, so he slowly walked to the edge of the fields, bowed his hands to one of the older farmers, and said, "May I ask the old man, how much are the taxes and how is the labor here? "
The old farmer looked up and thought about it for a while. He seemed to be an official figure, so he didn''t hide much and said: "This year, because the official''s cattle and horses are used to open the fields, I have to pay an extra cent for grain." , so the land rent is five points, and the tax is one point... one month of labor each in summer and winter..."
"You have to pay six cents of rent. Will the surplus grain be enough for the family?" The rent is a bit heavy, but since it is renting land, it is almost the same, but the corvee is relatively light. The corvée service in the Han Dynasty was relatively complicated. For ordinary farmers, the rent was only paid once a year, and the ratio was fixed based on the output of the land. It was not heavy. However, the corvée service was not the same, and it often became an important reason for the bankruptcy of farmers.
In the Han Dynasty, civilian service was first a national military service. For one year, local county soldiers were recruited to be responsible for public security and received training. Then in the second year, they had to go to other areas to perform military service according to national arrangements. Generally speaking, these were relatively dangerous areas...
?Of course, a person in the national military service only needs to serve once in his life, but if war breaks out, he must obey the call again and must not resist...
He was serving in the frontier for one year, and it was also offset with silver money.
The above can be regarded as fixed corvee, but not fixed, temporary labor issued by local counties, including but not limited to civil engineering, building bridges and roads, managing rivers, transporting grain, etc., which are called For more service, you can also use money instead.
In addition, some people were exempted from corvee in the Han Dynasty, such as the clan, nobles, bureaucrats with high titles and their relatives, the three elders of the county and township and those who were elected as filial brothers and Litian; doctoral disciples, other people who have mastered the classics and special people. Those who were allowed to be reinstated by imperial edicts; those who gave birth to children, were in mourning, and were temporarily reinstated due to natural disasters or military calamities; those who had made contributions to river control or the people in places where the emperor was patrolling were temporarily exempted from military service, etc.
Big businessmen or nobles could also buy civilian titles with money, and then be exempted from corvee service. In this way, the obligation of corvee service in the Han Dynasty actually fell on farmers below the middle class.
??In addition to the grassroots rat, dog, and dog messengers, their hands...
Hearing the scribe''s question, the old farmer looked at the good crops growing in the field. A smile appeared on his wrinkled face and said: "If God can take care of it, it should be okay..."
“Then this road...doesn’t require corvee work?”
??The old farmer laughed and said, "That was built by Xianbei slaves!" He looked quite proud of himself. These old people have been harassed by barbarians, burned, killed, and looted. Now seeing that the once tyrannical Xianbei people have become coolies, I naturally feel a little relieved...
“Then the Xianbei slaves actually obeyed?” They actually used Xianbei people to build the road! There are many barbarians who are cruel, do not understand the principles, are not transformed into kings, and do not obey discipline. How can they not resist?
??The old farmer chuckled and said, "Hu people are also human beings. They all have one head and one mouth... If you go further, sir, you will see..."
The scribe said oh, then took some five baht money from his pocket and put it on the edge of the field. He said, "Thank you for clarifying my doubts. I''ll take my leave."
The old farmer looked at the scribe who had walked away, and then at the five-baht coins on the edge of the field. He shook his head, then casually took the coins into his arms and muttered something...
Let’s copy a piece of Liu Yong’s lyrics, hehe...
What does it mean to be a successful person...
Renzong and others are all low...
"Teacher-teacher-student Yanye, Xiangxiang and I have a lot of love. An''ana has been in harmony for a long time, and the four of them are beaten into one. Fortunately, I was in a hurry and didn''t pay, so it took a lot of time to write new words. I wrote them several times and moved them again, and the word "tragedy" Keep me in mind."
(End of this chapter)