Animal husbandry played an important role in the ancient agricultural economy. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the border counties in the west and north had vast land, sparse people, and abundant water and grass, which had good conditions for the development of animal husbandry. For example, "Historical Records. Biography of Huo Shi" said: "Longmen, Jieshi
In the north, there are many horses, cattle, and sheep." "Tianshui, Longxi, Beidi, Shangjun and Guanzhong have the same customs, but the west has the advantage of Qiangzhong, and the north has the livestock of Rong and Zhai, and animal husbandry is the most popular in the world." "Hanshu. Geography"
"Zhi" also said: "From the west of Wuwei...the land is vast and the people are sparse, and the water and grass are suitable for animal husbandry, so the livestock in Liangzhou are the most abundant in the world." In the western and northern regions of the Han Dynasty, in addition to a large number of government-run animal husbandry, there was also private private animal husbandry.
Industry. With the expansion of the animal husbandry base, the animal husbandry economy generally developed. At that time, large individual professional households focusing on animal husbandry emerged in some places. For example, according to records: "Wushiluo animal husbandry, selling to the public, asking for strange things."
, the King of the Rong gave him the remains from time to time. The King of the Rong paid him twice as much, and gave him livestock, until the grain was used to measure horses and oxen." (Note: "Historical Records" Volume 129 "Biography of Huo Zhi", "Han Shu" Volume 91 "Biography of Huo Zhi".
) "Ban Yi fell down the building to escape, killing thousands of horses, cattle and sheep... so there are many people in the north who use '一' as the character." (Note: "Hanshu" Volume 100, "Xu Zhuan".) "(Qiao)
Yao Cheng's government took advantage of the opportunity of opening up the frontier fortress and allowed its livestock to be raised. It has already produced thousands of horses, twice as many oxen, tens of thousands of sheep, and tens of thousands of grains." (Note: "Historical Records" Volume 129 "Biographies of Huozhi".) "Divination
Shi is a native of Henan...Shi went to the mountains to herd for more than ten years, bought more than a thousand sheep, and bought a farm and a house." (Note: "Hanshu" Volume 58 "Bu Shi Zhuan".) "(Ma Yuan) Because of his location
In the fields, there are thousands of cattle, horses and sheep, and tens of thousands of grains." (Note: "Book of the Later Han" Volume 24 "The Biography of Ma Yuan".)
The production of animal husbandry households in the Han Dynasty had several characteristics: First, the regional distribution continued to expand, gradually extending from the northwest to the Central Plains. Due to the long-term influence since the Zhou Dynasty, some places in the Central Plains also began to develop animal husbandry. For example, it is known in history as: Jizhou "livestock production"
"Suitable for cattle and sheep", Yuzhou and Yanzhou "Livestock are suitable for six disturbances." That is, they are suitable for the raising of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, dogs, chickens and other six livestock. The second is the development of the varieties and categories of livestock production. In addition to horses,
, as well as cattle, sheep, donkeys, mules, etc. Donkeys and mules were breeds that did not exist in the Central Plains before the Qin Dynasty, and were regarded as "exotic animals". After the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, "mules, donkeys, camels, etc.
"The animals and horses are all our livestock" (Note: "On Salt and Iron Theory. Liquong Chapter"). Furthermore, at that time, the animal husbandry specialized households produced large scale and large quantities. Some "livestocked as many cattle and horses as possible".
Some have "thousands of horses, cattle and sheep", and some have "thousands of horses, cattle and sheep". During the Taichu period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to conquer Dawan, he sent 60,000 troops out of Dunhuang, "and there were 100,000 cattle and 30,000 horses."
, donkeys, mules, and horses numbering in the tens of thousands" (Note: "Book of Han" Volume 61 "Biography of Li Guangli".). In addition to those raised by the government, many of these numerous livestock must be privately raised by the people.
One thing is that the purpose of professional household operations is clear. It is not to produce for self-sufficiency, but to sell and make profits through exchange. For example, Wushiluo is good at "animal husbandry" and "sells" his livestock to buy "exquisite things".
", and took the opportunity to offer it to the Rong King. After Bu Shi raised "thousands of sheep", he then "bought a farm and a house". It can be seen that their livestock operation was a kind of commodity production. At that time, there were "horse servants" and "ox servants"
Waiting for livestock brokers also shows that the commercialization trend of livestock farming has become obvious.
Horses and cattle have a special status and important economic value in animal husbandry. It is said in history: "Horses are the foundation of armor and soldiers, and the great use of the country." (Note: "Book of the Later Han" Volume 24 "The Biography of Ma Yuan".) "Cows are farmers.
The foundation is respected by the people and has the greatest use. It determines the strength of the country." (Note: Volume 837 of "Taiping Yulan" quoted from "Customs".) It is also said: "horses and oxen are used for farming.
, go out to fight." (Note: "Book of Jin" Volume 26 "Shi Huo Zhi".) At that time, due to the long-term war in border counties, horses were needed to develop cavalry; driving transportation and using plows required "oxen"; and sacrifices
Meat requires the use of sheep. Therefore, horses, cattle, sheep, etc. became bulk commodities in the Han Dynasty, and the trading phenomenon was extremely common. For example, according to the "Han Slips" record: "In July Yiyou of the second year of Yuanyan, Juyan ordered Shang Chengzhong to move to his place.
Wang Feng, the chief of the pavilion at Hejin Pass of the county road, sent an edict to buy a horse-riding wine spring." (Note: "Juyan Han Bamboo Bamboo Bamboo Bamboo Bamboo Bamboo Slips" 1703A.); "The book says: Zhang Zong, a man from Dachangli, charged Juyanjia Canal with capturing Zhao, the tunnel chief.
"Xuanma Qianfan 4920" (Note: "Juyan Han Slips A and B" 2291, 2292.); "Already edited the left part of Zhongqu, Shi Huangshang bought a horse with his personal wealth" (Note:
: "Explanation of Han Slips at Xuanquan in Dunhuang", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2001 edition, page 131.); "Prime Minister Jianshe Xingxing buys horses for the county" (Note: "Wooden Slips and Bamboo Slips from Han Tomb No. 9, Fenghuang Mountain, Jiangling, Hubei",
See "Collection of Scattered Slips and Slips" by Li Junming and others, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1990 edition, p.
); "Two hundred and fifty were spent to buy a sheep" (Note: "Juyan New Slips"). From the "Juyan Han Slips", it can be seen that at that time, "horses", "horses" and "oxen" were sold in the market.
There are many records of "buying horses and cattle" and "buying sheep", indicating that transactions were frequent.
In the Han Dynasty, there were different records on the market prices of horses and cattle, which often varied from time to time and place. Generally speaking, the price in border counties was lower than that in the mainland. The price of horses in border counties, according to "Juyan Han Slips A and B" records
"Using five horses can lead to 20,000", "Qi Ping Zong's horses can reach 7,000". "Liusha Falling Slips" has "One horse can reach 9,000" (Note: "Liusha Falling Slips" Volume 2 "Tunshu Cong Can's Textual Research and Interpretation Book"
It is known that the price of each horse is between 4,000 and 9,000. The price of horses in the mainland, during wars or famine years, has soared to tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars per horse, and even "
"A horse is worth a hundred gold." This fact is recorded in "Historical Records Pingzhunshu", "Hanshu Records of Emperor Wu", "Book of Later Han Dynasty Du Lin Biography", "Books of Later Han Dynasty" and "Books of Later Han Dynasties". The price of cattle is generally higher than that of horses.
The price is lower. "Juyan Han Slips" records "Use two oxen, five thousand directly", "Serve two oxen, six thousand", each head costs 2,500 to 3,000 yuan. And the price of cattle recorded in "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic" is respectively
The price of sheep is 1200, 1800, 3700 yuan. According to the "Juyan Han Slips", the price of sheep is: "Two sheep are worth five hundred."
"A sheep has a big female and Lejun brother buys a thousand from the spring", "Two hundred and fifty are given to buy a sheep". "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic": "A sheep has a value of twenty-one-twenty-one gold", "The price of a sheep is five hundred", "
The price of sheep is 150 yuan, etc., each head is 250, 500, and 150 yuan respectively. Judging from the price of horses, cattle and sheep, there is a huge difference between different places.
In order to facilitate the measurement of the economic benefits of livestock husbandry households, the calculation is based on the mid-range price. If a horse costs 7,000 yen, a cow costs 3,000 yen, and a sheep costs 250 yen. Then there is "a thousand horses, twice that amount of cattle, and ten thousand sheep".
Qiao Yao's total income can reach more than 16.5 million yuan. Its assets are astonishing! As for Ban Yi, who has "thousands of horses, cattle and sheep", and Wushi Luo, who has "horses and cattle with the most grain", after their livestock is sold
, the profit should be even more considerable. In addition, Sima Qian made another estimation method in "Historical Records of Huo Shi Biography". He said that he had "two hundred hoofs for land herding horses", "thousands of ox hoofs and horns", and "thousands of feet".
"Sheep", "and thousands of households", that is, after excluding the cost of one million, the annual profit income is 200,000 yuan. Although the price calculation is slightly different from the examples we listed above, it also shows that the horses of professional livestock households
Cattle and sheep, after deducting the livestock tax through market distribution, still have great economic benefits, that is, an investment of 1 million can earn a profit of 200,000 yuan.