There are one hill and eight buildings in the Northern Prefecture of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Chapter 5373 A study on the origin of common people landowners
Chapter 5373 A study on the origin of common people landowners
Xuanwu smiled slightly: "So, Master Baihu wants to say that the country in the Warring States Period was very powerful, especially the government and the court had great control over the people, so to form such a large-scale connection among the people, find someone who can organize it
It’s not easy to find their leader, or to find a place for them to stay. If it really comes to pass, will they send troops to the country to eliminate them?”
Bai Hu nodded: "That's more or less what it means. The most important thing is that during the Warring States Period, countries were able to control the grassroots. Those in the countryside were often directly subordinate to the country's officials. In other words, even in the Chu State, nobles were in charge of local affairs.
Yes, these officials are also served by the retainers and tribes of the nobles, but the nobles will continue to take orders from the King of Chu. Generally speaking, the government has a strong control over the common people, unless there is a
The big lords directly want to separate themselves and stand on their own, otherwise it will be difficult to have a mountain village with tens of thousands of people. The only exception may be the mountain sects with transnational existence like the Mohist family."
Qinglong said in a deep voice: "To put it bluntly, during the Warring States Period, the army began to be filled by barbarians and common people in large numbers. However, the Baojia system at that time was for the army in wartime and for the people in peacetime.
Chief, the chiefs control the households in peacetime, and recruit men directly from the households to form the army in wartime. Lord Baihu, you want to say that because the gentry will not live in the countryside and are separated from these common people, so with
There's a gap between them, and that's the point you're trying to make, right?"
Baihu smiled slightly: "Lord Qinglong said it right. Because the war between the Warring States Period has reached the level of annihilation, the troops required are far more than those in the Spring and Autumn Period. Frequent conscription and recruiting only by relying on the original gentry are fundamental.
It was not enough. In the past, it was possible to adopt a large number of retainers and slaves through the nobles, and use these people to form an army to deal with the war. However, the lesson of the Jin Kingdom being divided up by the Shangqing nobles in the end made all the countries in the Warring States Period dare not use the big nobles anymore.
To manage the people and divide the land, except for the Chu State, all other countries have entered the age of military states. Through various reforms to become stronger, the country can directly control the people and recruit armies directly from the common people.
Or let them pay enough taxes to provide huge human resources, so the officials and schools are integrated, serving as corps commanders, commanders, and centurions in wartime, and in peacetime as security chiefs and village chiefs, and they are responsible for regulating the people.
This kind of collection and distribution model can be completed and a governance model in which the state directly controls the common people can be formed."
Suzaku frowned: "So, because the nobles didn't want to live in the countryside and didn't want to mix with the common people, they lost their usual management of these common people and lost their control over them in wartime?"
Baihu sighed: "Actually, it's not that the gentry didn't settle in the countryside at all. Many gentry had more than one descendant. The legitimate son inherited the family business and title, while the other bastards might not be able to stay in the city. Some of them went to their own families.
In the rural fiefdom controlled by one's name, being a small landowner and a lower-class gentry is just like being the head of the village in our manor and taking care of the affairs. However, these stewards are held by gentry and concubines."
Xuanwu said in a deep voice: "We are actually in the same pattern today. There is not much difference. The owners of many small estates are tributaries of our aristocratic families, the sons of the common people. The head of the village is in charge of these things because he is familiar with farming.
, people who know the inside story of the village are here to assist in the management, or in other words, they are the people who actually manage the operation."
Bai Hu nodded: "Yes, but in this case, in the countryside, after a long time, after two or three generations, after five servers, these nobles and common people often become common people, only
However, they are common people with some family property, or small landowners. This is the fundamental reason why the status of common people is gradually improving. Some poor and impoverished common people have no descendants because they died in war or were unable to marry wives and had no descendants.
, and these lower-class gentry gradually became commoner landlords, so that many in a village later had only one surname. Many villages were descended from a certain gentry and commoner a hundred years ago. In the end, the village chief
They became the legitimate sons and grandsons of the concubines of this noble clan. This situation of being related by blood, living in the same place for hundreds of years, and knowing everything about them was very conducive for these families to control the entire countryside. This is the origin of small landowners and common people landowners."
"And these common people landowners who were originally from the gentry are not like the common people and savages in the past, who are uneducated and illiterate. Although they are common people, at least they were from gentry families and have basic education.
, will also be allocated some collections of books, and more importantly, they can educate their descendants through these collections of books at home. Therefore, the most troublesome thing for the common people is the issue of culture and management capabilities, that is,
It was resolved. The reason why the Qin State was able to successfully destroy the six kingdoms was that Qin Shihuang gave appeasement policies to these common people landowners in various places, promising that if they surrendered without fighting, they could retain their power as local officials. Therefore, like Liu Bang
, local tycoons and commoner landowners like Wu Rui became local officials. This was also the fundamental reason why the Qin Dynasty later lacked grassroots control and was unable to cope with the uprisings of Chen Sheng, Wu Guang and others."
Xuanwu's eyes lit up and he said: "So, what you are saying is that it is actually part of the gentry, or most of the common people have separated and become new common people landlords, or even common people. Compared with
For those officials who were mainly veterans and had no education, they were more capable of management and gradually took control of the grassroots villages. The gentry inherited by the original sons of the gentry had stayed in the towns for a long time.
If we don’t work at the grassroots level, will we lose control of these villages?”
Baihu nodded and said: "Yes, this is almost the process. Moreover, after the Warring States Period, various countries began to reform and strengthen themselves, and began to restrict and reduce the fiefdoms of the great nobles and lords. A large number of family lands that originally belonged to the nobles were taken back to the state, along with
The lower-class gentry who originally belonged to the commoners of these gentry branches suddenly became commoner landlords, loyal only to the country, not to the original family, so the country could directly control the power of the gentry at the grassroots level through these people.
Greatly shrinking, of course, this is an inevitable measure to survive in the cruel Warring States Period. Countries that did not change their ways and strived to become strong were all wiped out."
"So we can see that during the Warring States Period, there were fewer and fewer big nobles and big landowners. Even for big nobles like the Four Young Masters, their retainers were fostered in the city, not scattered among the countryside." (End of Chapter)