The period when the ancient military system was completely mature —— An analysis of the military system reform in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period

From the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty in 770 BC, Wang Ping Dong moved the capital to Luoyi (now Luoyang City), to the establishment of the Qin Dynasty in 22 1 BC, the history was called the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. According to the changes of political and economic structure, these 549 years can be divided into two historical stages: the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States Period (475-22 BC1year).

During the Spring and Autumn Period, slavery gradually disintegrated, feudalism gradually rose, and the military system also changed. The decline of the Zhou royal family made the major vassal States compete for hegemony and expand their troops, and Doctor Qing rose because of the expansion of military power. The development of agriculture has stimulated the desire of countries to occupy more land, and the nature of war has gradually changed from hegemony to mutual annexation. The expansion of the war scale and the extension of the war time have put forward urgent requirements for countries to expand the source of soldiers. The boundary between China soldiers and savages who only undertake labor has been gradually broken to adapt to the new war pattern.

During the Warring States period, the feudal economy developed rapidly, and the monarchs representing the interests of the emerging landlord class competed for reform and strength, and the military system also changed greatly. The boundary between the country and the wild was broken, the hereditary nobility of the clan declined, and the vassal state mainly implemented the county conscription system, with farmers as the main target. The vassal States generally established a unified national army, and the seven countries of Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei competed to enhance their military strength by various means, which intensified the war annexation and made the military systems of various countries look brand-new.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Emperor of Zhou gradually lost command of the armies of the vassal states. First of all, this is the control of the rulers of several big countries over the members of the alliance. In the Central Plains, Qi and Jin are two dominant countries, and Jin has been dominant for the longest time. Overlords can demand troops and pay from small and medium-sized vassal States, and disobedient ones will send troops to crusade.

As the army will be controlled by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the family of Doctor Qing will become stronger and stronger. After the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, the military leadership of many vassal States fell into the hands of Qiang Qing, and most of the public troops held by the monarch were divided up by Qiang Qing, and the ruling Qing Dafu became the supreme military commander of a country.

The prosperity of doctors in Qing dynasty intensified their struggle, and it became a prominent phenomenon that doctors took turns to take charge of national military power in Qing dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a military system with 10,000 people each. Big countries often have the right, middle and left armies, while Jin has six armies.

The basic organizational unit of the army is "ride", and the number of soldiers per ride has experienced a development process from 30 to 75. Every 75 passengers refer to 3 soldiers and 72 disciples on board. After the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, the followers of various vassal states increased to varying degrees.

Some vassal States and border minority countries have also established infantry other than vehicles. The southern countries such as Chu, Wu and Yue have seafarers of certain specifications, which are mostly used in inland rivers and lakes, and sometimes go to sea to fight.

During the Warring States period, countries formed centralized system one after another, and the monarch mastered the supreme leadership and command of the national army. Daily military and political officials and wartime generals are appointed by the monarch himself. The story of the monarch's strict control over the mobilization of troops and his expedition to the famous "Stealing symbols to save Zhao" shows that it is impossible to mobilize troops without military symbols.

The military attache system has two characteristics:

First, the civil and military departments were initially separated, and an independent military attache system appeared. During the Spring and Autumn Period, civil and military officials were not separated, with the general as a minister and the assistant as a doctor. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the emerging scholar-officials rose, which laid the foundation for the separation of civil and military affairs in the Warring States period. During the Warring States period, a hundred schools of thought contended, and the scribes lobbied freely, or entered the country as a relative, which was obviously different from the death of General Wu. Will be divided into posts, that is, civilian and military posts. In contrast, the civil service system began to take shape; Under the general, the military attache system began to form.

Second, the military attache system in different countries is different, and the military attache system in the same country has also changed in different periods. Such as qi, song and other countries, fu is a senior general; The level of Sima Zheng and Jin is slightly lower; Qin has only "county Sima" and is a junior military attache. The military attache system of Qin State, China's book has the system of generals, generals, 2,500 masters, 500 masters, 100 generals and captains, while Wei Liaozi's book Wuling has the system of generals, left and right generals, 10,000 generals, 1,000 generals, 100 generals and 1 general.

The change of military attache system can also explain the military establishment. For example, according to the military attache system in Shang Jun, we can know that during the period after Shang Yang's political reform, the organizational structure of Qin Jun was: 65438+ 10,000 people. 500 people? 100 people? Fifty people. During the Warring States period, the composition of arms also changed greatly. Infantry became the main arms, cavalry appeared in many countries, naval divisions developed further, and the status of chariots declined, even after cavalry.

The soldier training and military exercises in the Spring and Autumn Period basically followed the tradition of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Shooting and defense are the main daily lessons of warriors, but the later, the more people practice shooting and defense. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, people began to pay attention to the training of infantry.

Duke Mourn of Jin established himself as the official of Sima, and asked him to teach infantry and chariots to make the ranks harmonious and obedient. Sun Wu, a military strategist, even emphasized strengthening military strength through the training of foot soldiers. In Sun Tzu's Art of War, he pointed out that whoever has excellent weapons and well-trained foot soldiers will win the war.

The training of infantry focuses on the orderly queue and the change of formation, emphasizing that "those who stand forward bend over, those who sit forward kneel down, those who are heavy-hearted are afraid of it, so that the queue is dense for the enemy, and in case of crisis, they kneel down to calm their nerves."

Hunting is still the main form of military exercises in the Spring and Autumn Period, but it has increasingly become a special military exercise. Therefore, hunting activities are often directly called "soldiers in charge" and "simple riders". Hunting has few purposes except showing off martial arts.

By the Warring States period, the forms of wild hunting and military performances were basically abandoned. Military training has been standardized and specialized.

The so-called normalization means that troops have unified orders and procedures in peacetime training, paying attention to basic pace, queue and battle formation.

The so-called specialization means that different arms have different training plans and armies with different purposes have different training objectives. We should also pay attention to the selection of outstanding soldiers to form special elite troops, such as the "generals" of Qi, the "warriors" of Wei and the "sharp soldiers" of Qin.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, major countries expanded their armies one after another. The premise of military expansion is to expand the source of soldiers, change the old form of military service, and create and implement a new military service system. There are five main systems.

First, break the boundary between the state and barbarians, so that barbarians who do not accept military service but only accept hard labor can gradually perform military service.

In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the aliens conquered by the Zhou people lived in the wild in batches and served as serfs of the Zhou people, and their status was very low. In the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the development of the family of doctors in the Qing Dynasty, there were many fiefs of doctors in the original wild land, and many barbarians became barbarians, and some even married Zhou people, and their status gradually became equal to Zhou people. Some scattered savages are increasing day by day, forming a relatively strong settlement, and some vassal States have a large number of savage settlements near the capital.

These present conditions have enabled the vassals of big countries eager to expand their troops to find a very ready-made new source of troops. In 645 BC, the state of Jin became a state soldier and ordered a man to perform military service. Later, Qiu Jia by Lu, Qiu Fu by Zheng and Xiufu by Chu all contained the content of taking savages as soldiers to varying degrees. But the savage soldiers in the Spring and Autumn Period were only partial and intermittent.

Second, establish a world war system and establish a fixed source of troops for the country.

This is the township system of Qi State. Before the establishment of the Warring States System in Qi State, clan and noble warriors were the backbone of the army, and people in rural areas of China were recruited to serve as disciples in the face of war. Qi is a vast country with vast resources and few people, and there are only a few clan nobles. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the tradition of attaching importance to industry and commerce gradually formed. Over time, a number of industrial and commercial farmers settled in the vicinity of the capital.

Qi Huangong, with Guan Zhong as the prime minister, needs a large number of stable troops to dominate the Central Plains. So 15 scholar township was established, which is the hometown of the sergeant. All the residents of Shi Xiang, one from each family, sent troops to form a national standing army, and the rest of the able-bodied men were engaged in agriculture and military supplies. Therefore, Shi Xiang is also called the hometown of intellectuals and farmers. Scholar Jpua is a scholar who can't move out and become an industrial and commercial citizen. A disabled scholar can't join the army, and his disabled daughter can't get married. The purpose of these regulations is to ensure the good quality of scholars and their able-bodied men.

In this way, most of the villagers were recruited into the army as pawns from the time of the war, and they became 1 soldiers from generation to generation, which made Qi establish a stable right, middle and left army.

Third, change clan armed forces into family armed forces.

Since the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, Qing Dafu has generally replaced the monarch in military and political power. The clan organization is declining, and the clan aristocratic armed forces gradually lose their status as the main body of armed forces, and are replaced by the increasingly powerful QingDafu family armed forces.

The fundamental difference between clan armed forces and clan armed forces lies in the change of ties and members. Clan armed forces are linked by blood relationship, and their members are mainly clan nobles and children. Family armed forces are linked by the relationship between master and servant, and their members are mainly people of all colors and cities adopted by Dr. Qing, who are often not related to Dr. Qing.

In the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period, it was particularly common for Dr. Qing to train scholars, which was the origin of the recruitment system. Dr. Qing ordered the whole city to be a soldier. This is the conscription system.

Fourth, during the Warring States period, countries successively realized the county system and generally implemented the county conscription system.

County magistrate and county magistrate have the right to recruit men of school age in the county and can lead them to war. The important premise of the conscription system is to establish a household registration system throughout the country. At this point, the boundary between the country and the field was completely broken. Except for a few slaves and people with special status, most people are prepared by the state and have the obligation to perform military service.

All men are drafted into the army. The war is a little slow, and the elders may be standing armies; When a large-scale war breaks out, the rest of the men may also take part in the war.

"Historical Records Biography of Wang Jian of Tian Lei" "When he is over fifteen years old, he is known as a long history"; Wei Ce's Warring States Policy "The Battle of Wei's Notes on the Victory of Hundreds of Counties"; The warring States policy Chu ce "notes five feet to sixty"; The records of these large-scale conscription have a word "noted". He who knows, is also. Not only is the service age relaxed to 15-60 years old, but the height standard is only 5 feet, and all men of this height join the army at this age. This shows that the conscription system implemented during the Warring States period has great flexibility. Sometimes, even the strong women and the old and the weak are woven together to participate in the battle of guarding the city.

Fifth, in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the standing army, many countries have begun to implement the system of raising and selecting troops.

The targets of recruitment are basically soldiers in the armed forces and young people who are obliged to perform military service according to law. The latter will not be recruited into the army, but will certainly be enlisted in a large-scale war. Therefore, the conscription in the Warring States period was only the bud of the conscription system, not a strict conscription system.

During the Warring States period, not only the vast majority of weavers Ding Zhuang were mobilized in the unified war, but also those who did not weave were mobilized in the war meat grinder. The so-called unregistered families mainly refer to foreign refugees and those who are deprived of their citizenship because of illegal orders.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the accumulation of military supplies and the accumulation of troops developed simultaneously. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the "tax" of marching troops often included both chariots and horses, as well as weapons and soldiers. For example, Lu Zhi's "A Mountain of Armor" not only allows troops to be sent out in the wild, but also allows horses, chariots and horses to come out from the wild at the same time.

The situation in Qi is different. Every family in Shi Xiang has 1 person, and the rest of the able-bodied men use the income from production to ensure the daily needs of soldiers; Serfs in the wild must ensure an adequate supply of military supplies, such as wood for making cars and feed for horses. Residents of industrial and commercial towns either "compare materials" to build chariots and weapons, or "the city is cheap and expensive" to increase capital and pay in proportion.

In the late Spring and Autumn Period, due to great changes in the original villages and Nomura organizations, the population in various places changed easily and the loss was serious. Many countries no longer tax by administrative units such as Qiudian, but by mu, that is, those with more fields pay more taxes and those with less fields pay less taxes.

The accumulation of military supplies in the Warring States period followed the characteristics of tax and service integration in the Spring and Autumn Period, but it was different. The broad masses of the people bear both military service and military tax, and the Qin state stipulates that "households" are the basic units for collecting military tax. In addition to conscription, conscripts must also bring their own clothes and food.

Food and clothing are provided by the soldiers themselves, and the military tax collected by the state is mainly used to buy weapons for chariots and horses. During the Warring States period, weapons developed by leaps and bounds, mainly manifested in the rapid development of iron weapons, the wide use of strong bows and crossbows, the diversification of siege equipment, and the obvious improvement of the quality of chariots and warships. Various vassal States generally established "treasuries" (that is, arsenals) to control and store weapons, and some treasuries were also responsible for checking the quality of weapons.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, military management experienced a transition from classical to rule of law.

Classical management means mainly use rituals and vows to restrain soldiers. However, the changes in the war situation and the composition of the army in the Spring and Autumn Period made the classic management methods seem slow and outdated. It is imperative to formulate written laws and some specific military regulations.

In 5 13 BC, the state of Jin "cast a punishment tripod, and the book model did it." Although the criminal book published by the State of Jin is not a special military law, it must contain military-related contents. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Wu put forward: "Legalism, restraint, official way, and main use." "Qu system" refers to the system of military organization and military strength strengthening, "official road" refers to the system of commanding military strength, and "main use" refers to the system of military strength accumulation. The legalization of these systems is one of the necessary conditions for a country to achieve strategic victory. Sun Wu's proposition, based on a certain reality, shows that the military management at that time may have basically realized the transformation from classical to legal system.

By the Warring States period, Sun Wu's thoughts had been fully practiced and developed. In the accumulation of military power, countries generally establish the conscription system in counties by law, define the age and physical conditions for starting and ending military service, punish those who evade military service according to law, and stipulate the collection, management and use of military supplies by law.

In the command of the army, countries have successively established systems that are proud of their military achievements. For example, when Shang Yang of Qin State reformed, there were 20 "ranks"; Establish the compilation method of soldiers' ranks and the corresponding military command system; Establish the operation and control law of "all camp their gullies and clear their blockades"; Establish different command and dispatch systems for offensive operations and guarding city operations.

In strengthening military strength, there are strict training methods at ordinary times. For example, Woods of Ice emphasizes: "Every change is a habit, and it is to teach its soldiers." "Sun Bin's Art of War and Military Intelligence" takes "rhinoceros and good deeds" as the motto.

In wartime, there is strict battlefield discipline, and the army generally adopts the method of sitting in the right place. If you run away, lose or surrender to the enemy, all the generals and soldiers should sit in pairs.

In short, all countries implement the rule of law to varying degrees, "making people afraid of heavy punishment and then underestimating their enemies abroad."