In ancient China, once someone committed a crime but did not reach the level of death penalty, he would likely be exiled to remote areas. The ancients paid great attention to returning to their roots. Once they were exiled to the cold and bitter area, they would probably not be able to return to their hometown throughout their lives. It can be said that they were murdering and heartbroken.
Of course, this is not the purpose of exiling prisoners, but to ensure local safety, exile prisoners who are extremely guilty to remote areas, and to fill the local population, which is the best choice for the rulers. The history of exile was very long. After thousands of years of development and changes, it was finally abolished in the late Qing Dynasty.
The scope and region of exile of each dynasty are different. This depends on the size of the dynasty's rule, and the places where exiled in the Qing Dynasty changed. In the early Qing Dynasty, the exile areas were concentrated in the Northeast. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the population outbreak caused an increase in land pressure, so the areas where the prisoners were exiled became a sparsely populated northwest region. Of course, when we read the Qing Dynasty archives, we often find that many officials who were investigated were exiled to serve in front of the Northwest Army.
So there are two types of exiled to the northwest region, exile and sent off criminals.
It is generally difficult to return to the mainland again if they send off criminals. Therefore, the court stipulated that as long as they take the initiative to farm in the local area with their families for three or five years, they can get a local household registration to settle down, which is equivalent to having a second chance. If you are unwilling to farm, you can choose to work in a lead factory or mining coal. Anyway, you have a lot of physical work and many choices. There is also a more unlucky one, that is, you can serve as slaves to the soldiers who farm.
The remaining two more difficult ones are to make contributions and then leave the slave and join the army to eat the public meal, and to have any great joys in the emperor.
If we don’t look at the last two, we can find that the different choices between criminals are determined by the degree of crime. The most common way for criminals with minor crimes is to go to the local area to farm, and they are also the relatively freest one among them. The worst thing is that they are sent to slaves. They work with the soldiers who are farming, but they do not have their own wealth, cannot eat public food, and they even have to be supervised and controlled at any time. Of course, the crimes they committed are also very serious.
Of course, they also have the opportunity to be reborn. If they do not make mistakes and are lazy in the local area, they can get a new household registration in just ten years, and they don’t have to be slaves or servants.
But what should I do if I really want to return to my hometown? Then you need to have worked hard in the local area for ten years, over 70 years old or too ill to work anymore, and you can get an amnesty and return to your hometown. But in ancient times, seventy was an old age, not to mention on the harsh frontiers. Years of hard work will inevitably make the chance of living to the age of seventy very slim.
There is also a kind of person who works in a lead factory. They can settle for local people in five years. If the crime is not serious, they can return to their hometown to reunite with their families in eight years. If those who have money at home can also buy it with money, donate 30 taels of silver to the lead factory every year, and you can go home as long as you donate it for the years specified by the government. However, this condition is also very harsh, and most people do not have this economic strength.
The third type is more realistic, which is to apply for the people after you have worked hard for five years, and then work in the lead factory for ten years, so that you can get the qualification to go home. However, if the crime is serious, there is no chance to go home. At most, you can settle down in the local area.
But then again, most of the exiled areas are very difficult. Not to mention the problems of being unacceptable to the local environment, just that food, clothing, exile can be said to be one of the very serious tortures.
