The establishment of the conscription system in the Ming Dynasty

The fish scale book and the yellow book of taxation fully prove that there is a close relationship between land, population and corvee in the Ming Dynasty's service law principle, and the court can complete the collection of corvee. > > Under the management of effective administrative mechanisms, Lijia, Zafan, Jianfu and military service became the main items of corvee in the Ming Dynasty. > > The Ming Dynasty compiled the Fish Scale Book and the Yellow Book of Tax and Service, and took corresponding measures according to the specific situation, which not only ensured the court's tax revenue, but also enabled the normal recruitment of corvees. In the early Ming Dynasty, corvee service was relatively light. > > Through the fish scale register and the yellow tax register, we will find out the households that have escaped from the corvee, and supervise the fugitive households to resume their business and be exempted from the corvee for one year; if it is found that the old and weak cannot return to their hometowns, they will register their household registration on the spot and be granted land. Taxation based on land. > > The regulations on the age of corvee service in the Ming Dynasty were that people were considered adults at the age of 16 and began to serve, and were exempted from service until they were 60 years old. In terms of types of corvee, there are mainly Lijia, Zafan, Jian corvee and military service corvee. > > Lijia was a grassroots social organization in the Ming Dynasty. The li in the city is also called the square, and the one near the city is called the xiang. There are 110 households per mile. The Lijia system began to be implemented in some areas in the south of the Yangtze River in 1370. In 1387, on the initiative of Fan Min, the Minister of Household Affairs, it was implemented in urban and rural areas across the country. > > The 10 households with the most grain in a village are the village leaders, and the remaining 100 households are divided into 10 Jia, with Jia as the head. The li chief was responsible to the superior court, supervising the households he belonged to, making statistics on the growth and decline of the household's income, supervising the household's production matters, mediating civil disputes within the li, and ranking according to the yellow list of taxes and servitude in order of the amount of grain and property. Year of enlistment. In addition to the head of the li, each li also has the position of an old man, who is responsible for educating, persuading farmers, and hearing minor cases among the people. > > The number of li under the lijia system varies according to local conditions. In some places, one mile includes several villages, and in some places, one village is divided into several miles. > > Due to the differences in the rural environment at that time and the differences in local dialects, the name of the village also varied according to the situation in each place, and it was called by different names. For example, in the north, it is often called "she", and there are also special cases in Fujian where it is called "she". > > The corvée assigned to Lijia as a unit is called Lijia or Jiajia. There are two types: regular servants and miscellaneous servants. > > Lijia's official servant is an important servant that Lijia households should have. The main tasks of Lijia officials include the following three items: > > First, collect taxes and grain. Taxes include summer taxes and autumn taxes, and Lijia is responsible for collecting them in summer and autumn respectively. If there is a fugitive household in Lijia, taxes and grains will still be levied and Lijia will pay the compensation. > > The second is to handle tribute materials. It has been followed through the ages, and each place pays tribute with its products. In the Ming Dynasty, all the materials needed by the emperor and the military came from the people of Lijia and Kepai. Prefectures, prefectures, and counties in the north pay less tribute, while more tribute is paid in the south, especially in the Jiangnan region. If Paina's materials are not produced locally, households in Lijia must pay money to purchase them. > > The third is to support the public affairs of the court. The obedient servants in some local yamen, the jailers who guard criminals in prisons, the treasuries in charge of the official treasury, the Doujie in charge of official warehouses, business fields, and bureau courtyards all come from Lijia. Daily utensils for officials, items for school students, annual gifts and servants for township officials, local drinking ceremony expenses, travel expenses for students to take exams, building memorial arches for Jinshi and chaste women, gifts to passing officials, and support Lijia prepares the food and wine for the postman. > > After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, with the implementation of the One-whip Law, Lijia officials were gradually spread across acres of land, collected in exchange for silver, and recruited into service. The method of Lijia service was gradually abandoned, and Lijia gradually lost its original role. . > > Zafan is the corvee system that is different from regular service during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. Zafan mainly recruited civilians to build official residences, manage rivers and canals, build cities, and deliver official property, etc. > > The balance of miscellaneous servants is based on assets and labor. Because officials and gentry could be exempted from corvee service and powerful landlords could bribe the government, poor peasants were mostly responsible for miscellaneous labor. In the Ming Dynasty, people were assigned to work on irregular and miscellaneous errands based on the amount of food and property owned by households. > > The yellow list of taxes and servitudes classifies households into 3rd and 9th level. Anyone who encounters a corvée will be issued a list to check the severity, and the upper, middle, and lower levels will be assigned as errands. > > This type of miscellaneous service can be divided into Beijing service, government service, county service and royal service according to the objects of service. > > According to the nature of the service, it can be divided into those sent by the government, such as Zaoli, Menzi, Zhaifu, Shanfu, etc.; there are the tasks of collecting taxes and grains, such as household release, postal transfer, patrol, clerk, etc., and warehouse duties. The military services such as Kuzi, Douchi, etc.; the post office services include Guanfu, sailors, store clerks, soldiers, ferrymen, etc.; the prison services include prison guards, archers, jailers, guardsmen, Minzhuang, etc.; civil servants The duties include civilian husband, firewood husband, gate husband, dam husband, shallow husband, etc. > > As the recruitment of miscellaneous servants became more and more frequent, the law of equalizing corvee appeared during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty. That is to say, it is compiled and reviewed regularly, and in addition to the yellow tax roll, a uniform corvee roll is compiled, and the labor is divided equally based on the number of people with taxes and grain. > > Uniform corvee is called uniform corvee because it is organized according to household size and all people receive corvee service. In 1436, Jiangxi Qianshi created the law of equalizing corvee, which separated regular labor from miscellaneous labor and became a corvée system, which was implemented throughout the country during the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty. All provincial, prefecture, state, and county yamen's miscellaneous servants and miscellaneous labor discounts are all equal corvee.

> > The household rules are set based on the number of people and the amount of tax and grain, and servants are assigned to each household. Those with more Dingliang are classified as upper households, and are classified as "heavy difference"; those with the second largest grain are classified as middle households, and are classified as "medium difference"; those with less grain are classified as lower households, and are classified as "lower difference"; one household may be assigned one difference, or number difference, and there are also several households*** Make up a bad one. > > The order of rounds is often scheduled at the same time as the league, once every 10 years or every three to five years. The term of service is in the fifth year after the completion of full-time service in Lijia. In terms of specific implementation, there are slight differences between the north and the south. The south uses Dingtian as the benchmark, while the north uses Dingliang as the benchmark. > > There are strong differences and silver differences in the average labor. During the Hongzhi and Zhengde years, those who served in person were called Licha; those who were provided by individual households or paid in currency were called Yincha. Later, laborers often paid in silver, so the scope of the silver difference became wider and wider. > > Those who are weak must serve in person, and then they are allowed to recruit people to serve on their behalf. Common titles include servants, jailers, gatekeepers, grooms, and postmasters, etc. Most of them were in the local area, and the gentry had the privilege of being exempted from service. >> During the Hongzhi and Zhengde years, the Banking Bank, that is, the service households paid bank servants, and the household spreads were equal to those of the servants every year. The main items include annual tribute, horses, fodder, working food, firewood, and discounts for cooks, etc. Most of them are paid by the subordinate households and sent to distant places. > > The Weisuo system was the most important military system in the Ming Dynasty. It was founded by Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. Its concept came from the Fubing system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the mid-Ming Dynasty, there were methods of forcing people to join the army, but they were in the minority, and the guard system was still the most important military system. > > The health institute was first proposed by Zhang Chang, the Minister of Household Affairs in the Yuan Dynasty. In 1384, military guards were established at various military locations across the country. There are 5,600 troops in the First Guard, and there are units such as Qianhu Station, Baihu Station, General Banner, and Small Banner in order. Each guard station is under the Fifth Army Governor's Office and also under the Ministry of War. It can be mobilized for military expeditions when necessary. The matter will be returned to the guardhouse. > > The garrison of garrison troops was an important part of the garrison military system in the Ming Dynasty. According to the regulations, three parts of the troops from the border areas were to defend the city and seven parts were to farm the crops; two parts of the troops from the interior were to defend the city and eight parts were to farm the crops. Each soldier was granted a share of land, and the government provided cattle, farm tools and seeds, and collected grain according to the share. From Hongwu to Yongle years, there were about 800,000 hectares of military settlements across the country. > > In addition to a large number of military garrisons, commercial garrisons were also implemented as a means of subsidy. That is, according to the Kaizhong method, merchants recruited people to cultivate wasteland in the border areas and paid grain to supplement the military rations. Thanks to the implementation of military camps, military rations were guaranteed and border defenses were consolidated. > > Military households refer to households whose household registration belongs to the military register. The initial sources are: first, the original military households in the Yuan Dynasty; second, households of active soldiers. This was further established after the compilation of the Yellow Book in 1388. > > Military households are hereditary and strictly managed. It is very difficult to remove military status. Generally speaking, it is impossible to remove military status unless the household is extinct, someone in the family becomes a high-ranking official, or the emperor pardons it. Later, there was a method of enrolling those who were exiled for crimes into the military, which was called the Enjun or the Immortal Army. > > The main obligation of a military household is to send one man to the guard station to serve as a soldier, which is called the main army. The other sons are called Yu Ding or Jun Yu. When the main army goes to the guard station, at least one Yu Ding must accompany him. Help them live. > > The imperial court gave more land to military households, and the regular army was exempted from all military service. The remaining ding in the camp and the one under the original place of origin were also exempted from military service, so as to ensure their livelihood and provide for the living of the regular army. For example, Luo Qing, the founder of Luo Jiao, who influenced all secret folk religions, was originally a garrison soldier. He later left the army after finding someone to replace him. > > Soldiers are mostly distributed far away from their place of origin and dispersed. Regular soldiers serving in the garrison can bring their wives with them to facilitate a stable life and have children. Each soldier has a house, a field, and a fixed monthly ration. However, in actual situations, the distribution is often insufficient. When marching, rations are issued, and the clothes must be provided by themselves. The weapons are produced by craftsmen of the court. > > The sergeants in the camp are divided into two parts: garrison and field. The ratio is variable and they are rotated on time. The field is fixed to hand over grain to supply the garrison and officials. The goal is to raise troops without consuming the court's financial resources. > > After Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, it became common for guards officers to occupy military fields and private soldiers to cultivate them. This goal became increasingly difficult to achieve. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, coupled with serious border troubles and an urgent need for troops, the court switched to a recruitment system. > > There is room for selection when recruiting soldiers, and young adults are fully qualified to be selected. Recruiting soldiers is different from the garrison army. They are not hereditary and can come and go relatively freely. The salary of recruited soldiers is double or even several times higher than that of the guards. Recruiting soldiers comes from the common people. Although soldiers are abundant, the shortage can be filled at any time to keep the army full; if it is not needed, it can be reduced at any time to save military expenses. In short, the recruitment system is more conducive to establishing an elite force that is good at recruiting and fighting. > > [Sidenote] > > Fan Min was a native of Lingbao, Henan Province. Politicians of the Ming Dynasty. In 1380, when he was awarded the title of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Ming Taizu ordered Fan Min to compile a yellow book because the corvee service was uneven. Fan Min was later responsible for formulating the system of corvées and village chiefs. It provided an administrative basis for taxation and levy in the Ming Dynasty. > > Shengyuan is commonly known as scholar. They are scholars who have passed the academy examination and obtained admission qualifications. They are also the lowest level of scholar-bureaucrats. Students from prefectures, prefectures and counties are also called students. There are also names such as tribute students and supervisor students, which are collectively referred to as all students. > > Qianshi: Officials in ancient my country. In the Jin Dynasty, the Ministry of Justice first had the post of Qian Shi, who was responsible for judging official affairs. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Department of Sustaining Government and Integrity, the Department of Xuanfu, and the Department of Appeasement all had affairs.

It was still used in the Ming Dynasty, and the governor, commander, inspection, Xuanwei, Xuanfu, etc. all had Qianshi. In the early Qing Dynasty, the position of Qianshi was still used. >> Zhang Chang was the Minister of Household Affairs during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he served as an envoy to surrender, but was detained by Zhu Yuanzhang. After his death, he became an official in the Ming Dynasty and went to Zhongshu Province to participate in political affairs. However, Zhang Chang "lived in the south of the Yangtze River and thought about the north" and wrote a letter to someone to look for his son in Beiyuan. He was reported by Yang Xian and punished. >> Luo Religion Luo Qing, a guard soldier in the middle of the Ming Dynasty in my country, combined Zen Buddhism, Taoism and Lao-Zhuang Thought with many teachings in Taoism and added tradition to form a folk religion. It is also known as Wuwei Religion and Luozu Religion. The founding date is 1482. Luo Jiao has simple thoughts and simple teachings. It is a highly systematic religion. > > Luo Qing (1442-1527). A native of Jimo, Shandong Province in the Ming Dynasty, he was a soldier and the founder of religion. Later generations of disciples called him Luozu, also known as "the ancestor of Wuwei". Its teachings are also commonly known as Luo Jiao, Luo Taoism, Luo Zu Jiao, and Wuwei Jiao. As soon as Luo Jiao came out, almost all folk religions were influenced by him and regarded him as the ancestor. > > [Reading link] > > Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply proud of the military garrison. He once boasted: "I raise millions of soldiers without costing the people a grain of rice." > > After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu organized the army The task is divided into two parts: one part is defensive training, which is called the conduct flag army, which is a combat force; the other part is farming, which is called the camp planting flag army, which is a production force. > > The imperial court allocated enough idle state-owned land to the production troops. In addition, cattle, farm tools, and seeds were also supplied by the imperial court. The Tunzhong Banner Army not only produced a large amount of grain and other strategic materials for the imperial court, but also completed the task of guarding the border.