Why didn t the ancient felons be killed directly, but chose to be sent to the frontier?

In ancient times, a person who committed a heavy sentence was generally unable to escape death and would be executed, but some ancient ** would make such a trial when trying more serious criminals, that is, "thorn word distribution frontier", even some more vicious murderers, but also distribution frontier. Lin Chong in "Water Margin" was framed by Gao Taiwei, and was later assassinated in Cangzhou.

In ancient times, after committing serious crimes, prisoners had to be handed over to the government for trial, and after all the results of the trial were known, some people would be sentenced to death, and some others would be sent to the frontier. Although it seems that the thorn with the frontier can be used without death, but in ancient times, the frontier was a bitter cold place far from the capital, and there was a lack of transportation, so prisoners needed to walk through it step by step, and there were even many people who died on the road before they reached their destination. Even if the prisoner is lucky enough to make it to the place of exile, it is deserted and empty, and he will fall ill because of the harsh living conditions here, and eventually he will not escape death.

Therefore, it is better to suffer before death than to die happily.

Some prisoners had a lot of money at home, so they secretly stuffed some money and bribed the soldiers who were escorting them, so that the soldiers would take a little care of the prisoner, send him a little closer, or put him in a place where there were people. Under normal circumstances, if no money is received, the soldiers will find a place to release the prisoner and leave it alone. And they don't worry about the prisoners being able to run back at all, because there is a lack of water and food along the way, and it is a question of whether they can survive, let alone go back.

And put some criminals in the frontier, on the one hand, you can use the Han people to slowly understand each other with the ethnic minorities, and you can also carry out some border construction and act as free labor. It doesn't matter if they die of exhaustion from working there, because those people are fellons in the first place, and this is a kind of labor reform.

The ancients may have thought that the distribution of frontiers was an incomparably longer torture for prisoners than the death penalty, and that there were many things that needed to be done by coolies in ancient times.

Because those who are sent to the frontier feel worse than other punishments, and those who are assigned to the frontier are likely to starve to death halfway, and the ancient frontier is very miserable, and even if they do, it is desolate.

This is also the ancient monarch in order to reflect his own humanity, not to kill people at will. People's lives, to receive from parents, is very precious, the geographical environment of the ancient frontier is relatively poor, sent to the frontier, not long to live.

Serious criminals must still be sentenced to death, and only those who are slightly lighter will be distributed, because the frontier also needs defenders or coolies to work to clear the wasteland, and ordinary people will basically not choose, and these prisoners who do not commit crimes to death are the most suitable candidates.

Because the road to the frontier is very far away, and in ancient times, the traffic was not very convenient, there were many felons who died halfway, and there were very few suspects in the frontier area.

This is because the ancients wanted to torture these felons in this way, and they also wanted to make these felons suffer in this way, to torture them little by little, and to consume their will to repentance and patience, which was even more uncomfortable than immediate execution.

This is because after being exiled to the frontier, the quality of life is relatively poor, and it is easy to encounter wild animals, and this is also a more painful psychological torture.

In fact, generally speaking, exile and the like should already be relatively light in addition to the heaviest punishment, generally speaking, they go to more remote places, and in ancient living conditions, transportation conditions, the world is scattered, and the fact is that it is very difficult to return to hunger.

In many ancient TV dramas, or historical records, it is often seen that people who have committed serious crimes are sentenced to 3,000 miles of frontier. Especially in "Water Margin", many heroes were sent to the frontier because of crimes, and the imperial court would send a few officials to escort them, and they would walk to the distribution area on two legs along the way, not to mention the dangers along the way, how much food would need to be consumed on the road! Then the question is, it would be good to lock up the criminals directly, or kill them, why do you want to escort them to the frontier for thousands of miles and distribute thousands of miles?

Actually, the reason is not so simple.

In ancient times, prisoners were generally sent to the frontier, and with the household registration, armor protection and transportation conditions at that time, basically, there was little possibility of returning to the frontier, which was almost equivalent to the death penalty. Under normal circumstances, no one wants to go, so many exiles in ancient times, that was actually to fill the army, and in the Ming Dynasty, the exile was basically to go to the border to fill the army and enrich the frontier garrison.

One of the most important ways is to increase the proportion of Han people in these places, and when Han people occupy the majority, it will be easier to manage. Therefore, the general state adopts the method of reclamation, stationing troops in these places, and cultivating famine. However, the Han people are a relatively inseparable race from their homeland, and the Han people rarely take the initiative to migrate, especially to these poor mountains and rivers.

Therefore, the government used this method, that is, to let the prisoners go to the frontier to increase the proportion of Han Chinese.

In addition, putting the offender of a felony in a remote area without killing him can also show the "mercy and generosity" of the ruler. Moreover, for the state, the prisoners have to provide them with food every day, and it costs a lot of financial resources every year, but if the prisoners are distributed to the frontier, the prisoners can open up wasteland and cultivate land in the frontier, and the food obtained can not only be used for them to eat, but the rest can also be handed over to the state, which is very cost-effective.

The second is the border areas, which are not as good as the development of the hinterland, and people naturally will not run to the border areas, so there are few people, but the border areas cannot be released, and someone has to watchSo they were sent to the frontier, and the environment in that place was not good and life was not good, which was also a punishment for them.

The construction of the third frontier also depends on them, and the emperor allocates a lot of money to the frontier every yearLet them fill up the number, it is free labor, so why not do it?

Because the population in ancient times was small, the distribution of felons to the frontier to clear the wasteland could also make effective use of manpower.

Because it is easy to kill felons, it makes more sense to keep them to work on the frontier, just because there is a shortage of manpower.

When we watch ancient film and television works, we will find a very strange phenomenon, the same people who have committed heinous crimes, why some people will be beheaded at noon gate to show the public, while some people have to be sent to the border areas. In fact, it is very meaningful that the rulers do not put them to death. First of all, the prisoners can be placed there to realize the flow of population, thereby reducing the expenditure of **, and on the other hand, it also allows this part of the prisoners to open up territory for the country.

First, death on the way to distribution has to say that our ancestors are very smart, the ancient people of our country like to do face projects, do not like to show themselves too bloodthirsty and ruthless. In the face of some criminals, they will be sent to the frontier, also to preserve their good name. Second, they know that the frontier is a long way to go, and that it is full of difficulties.

Many of the exiled prisoners died on the road before they could reach the border. So this is also indirectly the ancient felons were directly executed on the spot. <>

Second, the addresses where the prisoners were exiled by the imperial court to work in the frontier were all in some wild areas, and basically they were mainly ethnic minorities. Putting the Han criminals there, to a certain extent, can sinicize these ethnic minorities, thereby enhancing the dominance of the Han people. On the other hand, these prisoners who were exiled to the border area can also be used for border defense construction projects.

For example, when Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall, these prisoners were used as labor, even on the construction site, and the court would not suffer a big loss if they died of exhaustion. Moreover, the distribution of these people to areas outside the capital can reduce the financial expenditure of the state to a certain extent, and there is no need for additional expenses to support these prisoners. <>

3. The foresight of the ancientsThe ancient emperors believed that those who killed their heads at every turn were suspected of tyrants, so in order not to damage their reputation, they could solve the problem with the best of both worlds, so they came up with such a good policy as distributing the frontier, which could not only demonstrate their benevolence and righteousness, but also allow them to build for the country.