The concept of "more numbers" has been determined, which also determines the standard of "corvee" in Qin and Han Dynasties. Let's look at a sentence in "The Second Year of the Law and the Code of Corvee":
The county crossbow was shot for five days in each spring and autumn to serve (corvee).
That is to say, in the era of Emperor Gao and Empress Lu, the county would organize "more soldiers" to teach crossbow shooting, that is, military training, in spring and autumn every year. Each period had fifteen days, 15 days each, and a total of 30 days, which happened to be the "first watch". This is also the so-called "battle of Zhengzhi" in Qin and Han Dynasties.
This law also explains that the so-called "the Han Dynasty has been prosperous and has not been changed" is not a system of one year of regular service, but a one-month "corvee" campaign in counties and counties.
So, how long did the garrison battles in the Qin and early Han Dynasties last?
Yuelu Qin Bamboo slips "The Law of Guards" has the following three pieces of information:
The Law of Guards says: The Guardsmen are updated monthly. When a gentleman keeps his official post for more than forty years, it is the first watch to remove the garrison. Send troops to the garrison, live together and do not live in parallel, do not obey the law, and pay Erjia. While he was stationed at the office, his parents and wife died and were sent home for burial. Report to the county, and the county magistrate will do so within ten days.
The law of garrison says: If a lower lord wants to garrison on behalf of a higher lord, if a higher lord wants to garrison on behalf of a lower lord, and if no (no) lord wants to garrison on behalf of a noble, they are all allowed to do so. It is not allowed to replace each other with weak people and different counties.
[Not suitable for the generation] but good at the generation, get two armors; Although he should serve as the generation but not write to the official , the person who is mediocre and the person who replaces him will get one armor each.
The most important thing is the first one, which is "the garrison is updated monthly", that is to say, the service period of the border garrison is very clear in the Qin Dynasty law, which is one month.
In addition, in the laws and regulations embodied in the Qin bamboo slips, it is obvious that "people who take the city" or "county soldiers" are separated from "those who practice the county". Liye Qin bamboo slips 16-5a wooden slip records on the front:
In February of the twenty-seventh year, Bingzi Shuo Gengyin, the Dongting Shou Li called the county mistress, Shi Jia, the fake soldier Shi Gu, and the subordinate Wei: The order said: To convey the commission, you must first go to the city to make a pound, take the ministers and concubines, and live in debts to redeem debts. Do not stay for urgent matters, but Xing Yao. Today's Dongting soldiers lost Neishi, Ba, Nanjun, , and Cangwu. Those who lost armor soldiers should pass it on in many sections. You must first learn about those who ride in the city, serve as concubines, serve as soldiers in the city, ghosts, white cans, and redeem debts, are secretaries of government, are secret officials, and practice in the county. In Tianshi, I don’t want to prosper Guizhou. Jia, Gu, and Wei each have their own records of county soldiers, Tuli, Juzhi, Sikou, Yinguan, and Jiangengxian. If there are those who can be ordered to pass on armored soldiers, they can be passed on by county orders and the head of Guizhou will be prosperous. If the head of Guizhou is promoted, the provinces can be less and more prosperous. They are impeached and moved to the county. The county is in urgent need of laws and regulations. Jia, Gu and Wei submitted letters in the county. Jia, Gu and Wei made people walk day and night.
This is about the incident of transporting supplies in Dongting County of Qin Dynasty. According to the "order", prisoners, official slaves and maidservants should be sent to work first. Unless it is particularly urgent, corvee service can be set up and the head of Guizhou can be used.
To transport armored soldiers, you must first send out all "city soldiers" and various types of prisoners, officials and slaves, and even "people from Jiangen County" instead of recruiting additional troops from the head of Guizhou. Therefore, the Dongting County Governor ordered his subordinates to complete the task according to the list of "county soldiers", prisoners and "people from Jiangen County".
It can be seen that "Chengcheng soldiers" are "county soldiers".
See also the record of Liye Qin Slips:
In the 12th month of the 26th year of Guichou Shuo Ji Mao, Cang Shoujing dared to say: out of Xiliu, fifty square stones of rice, six buckets and less half a bucket; two stones of millet and millet, two stones of millet and millet, were sent to the five (five) Yang □□□□□ soldiers of Yiling who rode in the city. Today, there are twenty-nine coupons in the middle. Dare to speak. □Hand.
This is the "Zhongbian Certificate" issued by the warehouse supervisor of Qianling County to "Chengcheng Soldier" Yang Liangshi and Millet. The registered residence of this "Chengcheng Soldier" is in Yiling County, which does not belong to Dongting County, which Qianling County belongs to, but is under the jurisdiction of Nan County. In other words, when people in the Qin Dynasty served as county soldiers, they were not necessarily in the county where they were registered, but just not far away.
From a geographical perspective, some scholars examined a total of 43 cases of garrison soldiers’ origins in Dongting County found on Liye Qin bamboo slips. found that among them Chengcheng soldiers, Tunshu soldiers, and Tunsu soldiers were all from Nanjun and Bajun, that is, near Dongting County; while there were 11 cases of Gengshu soldiers and Gengshu soldiers, all from "Chengfu County".(See You Yifei: "Dongting County as Seen on Liye Qin Bamboo Slips - One Case Study of the Qin-Han County System in the Warring States Period", Jianbo.com, September 29, 2015)
Another scholar added that in addition to Chengfu County, there are still "Yulou County", "Liu County" and "Yuxian" places of origin. However, Yu County The garrison soldiers from Lou County should have moved to Ling County on official duties, not to garrison posts. However, Chengfu County and Liu County both belong to Sichuan County ("Hanshu" is written as Sishui County), while Yu County belongs to Dang County. The specific situation is difficult to analyze. (See Yang Xianyun: "On a piece of "Garrisoning" material in "Liye Qin Slips (2)", Jianbo.com, May 19, 2018)
In this regard, perhaps it can provide us with some understanding of the "Garrisoning for one year" in the history books. The specific material that distinguishes "Garrison" from "Garrison" is just that the existing data cannot directly prove whether the renewal period of "Garrison" in the Qin Dynasty was one year or one month. However, since it is named after garrison, it should follow the principle of "Garrisoners update monthly" stipulated in the "Garrison Law", and there will be no law violations and become "one year old".
However, "punishment garrison", "support garrison" and redemption garrison are completely different things.
There is such a case in the Yuelu Qin Bamboo Slips "Zoujing Shu":
On the first day of the fifth month, Zhouling Shouwan, Chengyue, Shi Huolun, Gui, Suo, etc. each redeemed their tattoos. Gui and Xingshu Hengshan County are each three years old, to be treated as 狋 (dharma); first prepare for redemption.
On the one hand, it is the time limit. The time unit of the penalty garrison is "years", that is, "years" . The known "surrender garrison" and "redemption garrison" in Liye Qin bamboo slips mostly lasted for more than 2 years.
Another example is Yunmeng Qin's bamboo slips "Qin Code Miscellanies" which clearly stipulates:
Those who do not report to the army but report to the army will be paid two armors, the law is abolished; if they are not officials, they will be guarded for two years. When soldiers buy (sell) and pass through the county, the garrison is two years old. The same carriage, the Dun (tun) chief, and the servants are not told, the garrison is one year old.
On the other hand, the location of "punishment garrison" has specified targets. Yuelu Qin Slips record:
Wan asked for permission and ordered the county to punish those who served as garrison. Taiyuan was assigned to Sichuan County; Dongjun , Shenchuan and Yingchuan were assigned to Jianghu County ; Nanyang , Hanoi Jiujiang County ...
... Taiyuan is in Sichuan County; Dongjun, Shenchuan, and Yingchuan are in Jianghu County; Nanyang
Hanoi is in Jiujiang County; Nanjun and Shangdangbangdao are responsible for guarding the east coast, and Hengshan County is in charge.
Therefore, in Zhouling, the territory of Nanjun County above, criminals were punished and sent to Hengshan County. However, during a specific period of time, the surnames were concentrated in a certain county. For example, from the 33rd to the 35th year of the First Emperor of Qin, a large number of scribes from Yingchuan County served in Qianling County.
It can be seen that no matter what kind of "garrison" it is, the source correspondence at the county level is based on its different nature. In terms of geographical distance, it is not too far. The so-called "border garrison" does not seem to be a real "extreme border". The principle of "monthly updates of garrison officers" in the Qin Dynasty's "Garrison Law" is not impossible to achieve.
In short, the stipulated speed for transporting materials in the Qin and Han Dynasties, according to the "Two Years of Laws and Regulations of Corvene", is:
Every matter is lost, a heavy truck can travel fifty miles a day, an empty truck can travel seventy miles, and an empty truck can travel eighty miles.
When the Qin and Han garrison soldiers went and returned, there was a saying that they were "in the same car", and they needed to bring their own rations, so it was possible to carry a heavy car or walk on foot. Theoretically, one month could cover 1,500 miles with a heavy car, 2,400 miles on foot, and a round trip of 3,000-4,800 miles. The journey took 2 months, and the border guarding took 1 month. It coincided with the time of the "three shifts" mentioned above, and at least there was no pressure on paper.
To sum up, the Qin Dynasty’s forced labor system should be:
The first one is to practice shooting in the county for 30 days, without one update (a regular soldier);
The second one , garrisoning the border for 1 month and traveling for 2 months (border garrison);
the third one, the prefectures and counties are stationed and the guards prepare corvee envoys (corvees);
the fourth one is serving as city soldiers, that is, city defenders (garrison soldiers, county soldiers).
