What is the "Alternative Farmland Law"? Why did it appear in the Western Han Dynasty? What is the role for the Western Han Dynasty?
For the feudal era in which the small-scale peasant economy dominated, the prosperity of agriculture was more related to the life and death of the whole country. The so-called "agricultural prosperity, national prosperity; If agriculture declines, the country will die. " Based on this, all the rulers of China attached great importance to the development of agriculture and regarded agriculture as the foundation of the country.
However, as we all know, the cultivated land in China has been in short supply since ancient times, and the cultivated land actually owned by the whole country has never been able to meet the needs of the whole people. So for the rulers at that time, how to meet the needs of most people with a small amount of land was the most important thing they needed to do. In order to achieve this goal, these rulers vigorously promoted the birth of advanced agricultural farming techniques, and borrowed advanced agricultural farming techniques to obtain higher grain output on a small amount of land, thus solving the problem of "supply exceeding demand".
Therefore, with their efforts, advanced farming techniques have emerged in China, such as field planting, deep ploughing, ploughing, ridge farming, regional farming and parental farming. What we are going to talk about today is an advanced farming technique which appeared in the Western Han Dynasty and played an important role in the agricultural history of China. This is the "alternative farming method".
What is the "Alternative Farmland Law"?
In the fourth year of conscription (89), Liang Wudi promulgated the Imperial Decree of Luntai. In this imperial edict, he said: "At present, the urgent task is to ban cruelty, stop giving gifts, and strive to resume agricultural production activities."
With the promulgation of this imperial edict, Han Ting began to gradually abandon the simple bellicose policy in the past and began to pay more attention to agricultural production.
That is, under such a policy, the "substitute farming method" appeared.
"Substitution of farmland" is a farming technique suitable for dry farming areas in the north, which was popularized by Soso captain Zhao Guo.
"If you can do this for the field, you will reap three kinds of crops per mu. When you get old, you say you will replace the fields "—— Records of Food and Goods in Hanshu"
The so-called "land substitution method" is to divide the cultivated land into ridges and ridges, both of which are 1 foot deep (1 foot in Han Dynasty is about 23 cm today), and the width of each 1 mu is 6 feet, which can accommodate three pits. Because in every production cycle, it will implement stubble exchange, that is, after the field with stubble in the first production cycle is reclaimed, the original stubble will become stubble, and in the second production cycle, stubble will become stubble, and then planting will continue at the bottom of stubble, so it is called.
About the content of "Dai Tianfa", there is a very detailed record in Hanshu Shihuozhi:
"Hou Ji began to grow crops, with two crops as the link, one foot wide and one foot deep, and one acre long. One crop is three crops, and one husband is three hundred crops, but it is planted in crops. A little grass grows on the leaves of the seedlings, because its soil adheres to the roots of the seedlings. So its poem says,' It's either clouds or spring, it's millet.' Cloud, weeding is also. Fu, attached to the root. The seedlings are slightly stronger, with roots attached to each pot, which are stronger than summer heat and deep roots, and can resist wind and drought, so they flourish. Convenient for cultivators to cultivate. Twelve husbands lead a field, a well and a house, so it is five hectares, and two cows are coupled. One-year-olds often earn more than Tian Tian, and good people are twice as much. Too often, too often, big farmers are good at making slaves, so as to make farm tools. 2000 Stone sent commanders, three elders, farmers and elders who are good at farming to learn how to cultivate seedlings. People suffer less than cattle, and die for wealth. So Pingdu Lingguang taught people to pull a plow. After playing, I think it is successful, teaching people to plow with mediocrity. The rate for many people is 30 days, and the minimum is 13 days, so that more fields can be reclaimed. After trying to leave the palace and die in the palace, I learned more than one in the next field. He ordered his family to help the public land and teach the border county and Juyan city. It was Houbiancheng, Hedong, Hongnong, Sanfu and Taichangmin who replaced the fields and got Gu Duo as easy as blowing off dust. "
In this record, Hanshu introduced in detail the technology, farm tools, areas and effects of "farming on behalf of others".
First of all, farming techniques
"Sow in the soup. If the seedlings grow on the leaves, a little grass will grow, because the soil is attached to the roots of the seedlings ... It is said that the seedlings are slightly stronger, and each tiller is attached to the roots, which is hotter and deeper than that in summer and can withstand the wind, wind and drought. In other words, the seeds of crops are sown in the furrows, and after the crops germinate, they are gradually removed from the ridges through "intertillage weeding" for many times.
Later, in midsummer, the crops grew up gradually, and the soil on the ridge was consumed and turned into flat land. At this time, the roots of crops in the furrows are buried by deep soil, firmly rooted in the soil, unaffected by drought and wind disasters, and thrive until harvest.
The practice of digging deep ditches and sowing crop seeds in deep ditches adopted by "Tian Dai method" can not only ensure that crops are not affected by wind and rain in deep ditches, but also reduce the evaporation of water in the soil and raise the ground temperature to cope with the cold climate, thus ensuring that seeds can get enough water in the growth process and are not affected by high temperature and cold weather.
Then, after the seeds germinate, with the shelter of the deep ditch, the seedlings can not only avoid the interference of wind and sand, but also avoid the long-term direct sunlight in high temperature weather, thus reducing the evaporation of water in the leaves and making the seedlings absorb more water and grow sturdily.
Finally, after the seedlings are unearthed, the soil and weeds on the ridge are buried in the furrow because the "field substitution method" advocates continuous "intertillage weeding", and because only the diseased parts are operated during the weeding process, the water loss in the soil cultivation process can be obviously reduced, so that the soil moisture can be maintained to the maximum extent. In this way, under the nourishment of sufficient water, the root system of seedlings will become very firm and firmly rooted in the soil. Together with the growing "strong" root system of seedlings, it can perfectly resist the attack of strong winds, and it will not easily lodging, which can also make crops grow healthily and sturdily.
At the same time, due to the adoption of the "field substitution method", in each production cycle, the positions of ridges will be interchanged, and seeds will be planted in ridges and ditches every time, so that the land can be used in turn. The ridges and ditches that were originally used to grow crops have been recuperated, and the ridges and terraces that were originally recuperated have been used, so that the fertility of this land can be effectively restored and the productivity of this land can be maximized. There will be no premature impoverishment of the land due to excessive use of soil fertility, as Le Shu said in historical records, "The soil is barren, the vegetation is not long, ... the gas is poor, and the organism is sterile". If the land is barren, the consequence is that the land becomes wasteland and agriculture can no longer be planted.
In this way, from the point of view that "land substitution method" can make the best use of land production capacity and make the planted crops have good wind resistance and drought resistance, it is indeed very suitable for land cultivation in dry farming areas in the north. The popularization of "field substitution method" in dry farming areas in the north can not only indirectly restore the fertility of barren land in the north, but also solve the problem of low grain yield caused by less rainfall and windy weather in the north to some extent.
Second, farm tools.
The use of new farm tools is the most important content in the "land substitution law". At that time, in order to give full play to the effect of "land substitution method", Zhao spared no effort to promote the use of new farm tools while promoting advanced farming techniques. "He grows everything with ease", and the new farm tools promoted by Zhao State are practical and convenient. According to Han Shu and the theory of political science, there are at least two kinds of new agricultural tools popularized by Zhao, namely "combined plough" and "three-legged hammer".
The first is the "coupled plow". "Lian Li" is a new type of agricultural tool invented by Zhao Guo, the captain of Soso. According to Mr. Fu's book "Chinese Economic History", the coupled plow is "two plows plowed side by side, each plow is held by one person, one cow pulls, and the other pulls two cows, so it is called two cows and three people". It is a kind of plow that two cows pull together and three people operate, that is, one person leads the cows, one person helps the plow shaft and one person helps the plow. Because the "coupled plow" invented by Zhao added plow walls, it can be used for deep ploughing, turning soil and ridging at the same time. At that time, people used this kind of "combined plow" to plow a furrow one foot deep and one foot wide as required by the "land replacement method".
Followed by "three-legged cymbals." "Three-legged cymbals" is a new type of agricultural tool invented by Zhao Guo, a captain of Sousu, on the basis of the existing one-legged cymbals and two-legged cymbals. According to "Political Theory", "Emperor Wu took Zhao as a captain, searched for millet and taught the people to farm. The method includes three plows, one cow and one species, and all plows are ready. " A "three-legged plow" consists of three plows, and there are three ditchers under the plow. When sowing, a cow pulls a plow, and the furrow opener of the plow will dig a ditch 8 cm deep in the ground.
At that time, these two new farm tools invented by Zhao greatly improved the farming speed of the "substitute farmland method". According to political theory, at that time, farmers could sow 667 mu of land a day with a "three-legged hoe", and under the control of three people, the "coupled plow" could also complete the task of plowing 345 mu a season.
Three. agricultural region
According to Hanshu, Zhao was planted in the open space inside the outer wall of the palace. Then, after the experiment got the effect that "there are many fields in the valley, and the mu is one hectare more" (that is, the grain yield of the land cultivated by the "substitute farmland method" is at least one stone higher than that cultivated by the ordinary method), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty immediately sent a letter to kanto region to promote it, and ordered the Guanzhong regional chief to guide the county magistrate, the three elders, Tian Li and those who understand agricultural technology to use new farm tools and learn the substitute farmland method.
Later, due to the remarkable effect of Dai Tianfa, "Houbian City, Hedong, Hongnong, Sanfu and Taichangmin all replaced farmland" and "Dai Tianfa" was extended to border cities such as Shang Jun, Shuofang and Xihe, as well as Hexi, Hedong, Hongnong and Sanfu.
Fourth, the effect of farming.
The effect of "substitute farmland method" is remarkable, which can be seen from the evaluation of "Gu Duo as easy as blowing off dust" in Hanshu.
At that time, people in the areas where the "farming by substitution" method was implemented used this advanced farming technology, and the effect of "crossing fields three times a year, making people believe" was obtained, that is, the grain planted was 25% higher than that planted by ordinary farming methods, and if the rules of the "farming by substitution" method were completely followed, the yield could even be doubled.
When was the "Dai Tian Fa" implemented?
For the specific time when the "Dai Tianfa" was implemented, there is no specific record in the history books, but from the records in Hanshu, we can probably infer the time when it was implemented:
"In the last years of Liang Wudi, he regretted conquering, but he named the Prime Minister the rich man. The next imperial edict said: "The urgent task for the party is to strengthen agriculture." Take Zhao Guo as the search captain. –History of Hanshu Food
According to Records of Food in the History of Han Dynasty, Zhao implemented Dai Tianfa after "taking the Prime Minister as the rich man" and "taking Zhao as a captain to search for millet". According to historical records, in the fourth year of Zheng He (the first 89 years), Tian "the rich man" succeeded Liu Quli as prime minister. During this period, Sang Hongyang held the post of "Captain Sousu", and it was not until the second year of Yuan Dynasty (the first 87 years) that the post of "Captain Sousu" became vacant. Later, according to "The Last Years of Emperor Wu", Zhao Yuyuan took over the post of "Su" in the second year (the first 87 years) because Emperor Wu died on March 29 this year.
As can be seen from the above, the implementation of Dai Tianfa will not be earlier than the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (the first 87 years), but it is obvious that the large-scale implementation of Dai Tianfa should be in the early years of Emperor Zhao. After all, Zhao died shortly after he took over as "DuDu Su", so large-scale implementation can only be carried out in the early days of Emperor Zhao.
Why was the "Dai Tian Fa" practiced during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Zhao?
First of all, we need to know that the "land substitution method" is not a simple farming technique, but an agricultural production technique closely related to the military action in the Western Han Dynasty. It appeared in the Western Han Dynasty to meet the needs of the military war at that time and the military food demand of the Western Han Dynasty, not to meet the food demand of the domestic society.
As we all know, the expedition of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the last ten years led to the recruitment of a large number of young laborers, which seriously overdrawn the people's strength and brought domestic economic and agricultural activities to a standstill. Then, in his later years, Emperor Wu was overjoyed and spent huge sums of money to build one luxurious palace after another. In addition, the Yellow River flooded in his later years, and natural disasters such as drought, locust plague, flood and wind disaster also occurred frequently, which made the Western Han Dynasty face serious financial and food shortages.
It can be said that due to the wrong policies of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in his later years, coupled with the large-scale and frequent occurrence of natural disasters that cannot be changed by human resources at this time, the prosperity of the Western Han Dynasty has changed from the once prosperous scene of "there is millet in Taicang, and there is money in it" to the tragic situation of "the world is abandoned and people eat each other again".
However, even so, in his later years, Emperor Wu never gave up the idea of conquering Xiongnu. He always wanted to drive the Huns out of the north completely, so as to unify the northern territory. But as mentioned above, at this time, both economy and agriculture in the Western Han Dynasty could no longer support the war behavior of the Western Han Dynasty. At this time, if Liang Wudi tries to continue his foreign campaign without changing this situation, there is only one outcome facing the Western Han Dynasty, that is, a large-scale peasant uprising, which will affect the rule of the Western Han Dynasty and even destroy it.
However, Liang Wudi, who advocated force all his life, obviously could not make him give up foreign wars. Therefore, for Emperor Wu, the only thing he can do is to find ways to change the dilemma of lack of money and food without increasing the burden of people paying money and food, and at the same time solve the huge money and food expenses needed for foreign wars. Only by solving this problem can Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty maintain his ambition to go abroad without affecting the rule of the Western Han Dynasty.
Therefore, it is in this historical background that the Law of Substitution for Farming came into being. As an advanced farming technique, the "land substitution method" can carry out the principle of "Gu Duo can get more than one acre" and "Gu Duo can get twice the result with half the effort", which is suitable for farming in dry farming areas in the north, making it possible for the Western Han Dynasty to continue to carry out the strategy of the war against Hungary. In this way, it is not difficult to understand why the "Dai Tian Fa" was vigorously promoted in the last years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the early years of Zhao Han, because it could meet the needs of foreign wars in the Western Han Dynasty.
What is the function of "Alternative Farmland Law"?
As mentioned above, the purpose of implementing the "land substitution law" in the Western Han Dynasty is to meet the needs of the western Han Dynasty's foreign war, so its most important role is to meet the needs of the army's rations and military horse feed. According to Hanshu, the main areas where Dai Tianfa was implemented were Frontier County, Hexi, Hedong, Hongnong and Sanfu. At that time, these areas were all facing the military threat of Xiongnu, such as Hexi, which has been at the forefront of the Sino-Hungarian war since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took over this place from Xiongnu. Therefore, in order to deal with the military threat of the Huns, the Western Han Dynasty stationed a large number of troops in these places for a long time.
However, the presence of heavy troops in these places can ensure the absolute control of these areas by the Western Han Dynasty, but at the same time it will inevitably increase the burden of the Western Han Dynasty. The soldiers stationed here need a lot of rations every day. At the same time, because most of these troops are used to guard against Huns, cavalry is essential. Because the Western Han Dynasty had strict requirements on the feeding of military horses, they were fed with rations. In this way, the military forces needed by the Western Han Dynasty and the rations to be supplied are unimaginable to others.
At the beginning, based on the wealth of the Western Han Dynasty, Han Ting could barely afford the rations needed by these troops. However, with the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the national treasury of the Western Han Dynasty became increasingly empty, which obviously could not support the huge supply of rations. Therefore, for the Western Han Dynasty, the only way to maintain the supply of military food for this huge army is to engage in military camps and let the army support itself.
At that time, Han Ting used the "land replacement method" which could be cultivated in the arid areas in the north and "get twice the result with half the effort" to implement military camps in order to obtain huge rations and war horse feed needed by the army. According to the bamboo slips of Juyan, there is a "Dai Tiancang" in the northwest to store surplus grain from Dai Tiancang. We can see that the implementation effect of "Dai Tianfa" in these areas is quite remarkable, and it really helped the border guards of the Western Han Dynasty to obtain the rations they needed.
Generally speaking, the appearance of "Dai Tianlu" had a far-reaching impact on China and the Western Han Dynasty. First of all, for China, because of the characteristics of intensive cultivation, such as deep ploughing, soil conservation, irrigation, land saving, drought resistance, lodging prevention, and light energy utilization, its appearance marked the beginning of the transformation from extensive cultivation to intensive cultivation in ancient China. Since then, China's agricultural farming technology has borrowed from the advanced concept of "substitute farming method" and its intensive cultivation characteristics. At the same time, the new farm tools such as "combined plough" and "three-legged hammer" produced with the "land substitution law" made the development of agricultural productivity in feudal society in China reach a new level.
Secondly, as far as the Western Han Dynasty is concerned, the advantage of the "substitute farmland method" is that it not only helps the Western Han Dynasty to greatly alleviate the increasingly serious food shortage problem, but also enables the Western Han Dynasty to firmly rule the world. At the same time, the most important thing is that the method of "getting twice the result with half the effort" can basically meet the military needs of the Western Han Dynasty for the Xiongnu, so the strategy of cutting off the Xiongnu's suffering can be continued. It is precisely because the Western Han Dynasty maintained a high-pressure situation for the Xiongnu, but it did not relax its repression, which finally made the Xiongnu have no chance to turn over again, and the Western Han Dynasty was able to completely solve the Xiongnu's suffering.