In ancient times, criminals were sent back and forth thousands of miles. Why are many officials competing to be escorted?

Another rumor that I don't know who came up with. I really think the chief is going to "travel"!

There are several reasons to think that leaders will rush to escort prisoners into exile.

First of all, "free travel". Not only have a certain amount of money, but also the court is responsible for eating, drinking, housing and transportation along the way. Traveling is easy.

Usually working as a policeman in yamen, doing the lowest-level work, is bitter and tired, and can't earn much money. How easy it is to travel.

Families of designated criminals often bribe officials to make their journey easier.

……

It is a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word "exile" to think that it is easy to escort exiled prisoners.

Let's talk about officials first. The status of ancient officials was indeed not high, and some even had no fixed salary. But that doesn't mean they can't get the money! The chief belongs to the people in the government, and as long as he runs errands, he gets extra income. Chiefs can collect tea and horse fees from the parties aboveboard, and the income is very good. When they are not sent, they will ask prostitutes, butchers and some untouchable businessmen for money. Not much, but definitely enough.

Especially in some big cities, in addition to bowing to superiors, the chief officials earn a lot of money.

Are they willing to escort criminals? Nine times out of ten, I don't want to

The place where criminals go is not a tourist attraction. Either it is extremely cold in the north or it is a smoky place in Lingnan. In short, you can go anywhere with bad conditions.

These thousands of kilometers of distance depend on two legs. I won't talk about the danger of encountering tigers, leopards and wolves on the road. If you catch a cold and get sick in the rain, you will die.

In the consciousness of modern people, along the way, what are you afraid of today's county town and tomorrow's town? In fact, it is normal to walk for ten days and a half without seeing anyone. All supplies depend on the post offices along the road. If you really get sick halfway, you may really die there. ...

Some people may think that officials can walk slowly and consume a little. This is not allowed, for example, the criminal law of the Qing Dynasty stipulates: "It is limited to fifty miles a day, and if it is three thousand miles, it is limited to February; 2500 miles is limited to 50 days. " There is a time limit, and if you miss the time, you will be punished, including the official.

Whether you go north or south, the farther you go, the worse the environment and the more dangerous it is.

It's really bad luck that the accomplices "rescue" those fierce criminals halfway, and the chief officer's life is confessed. ...

As for the families of criminals, will they send some money? Most ordinary people have hollowed out their own money, so that the yamen can get a lighter sentence ... unless they commit a particularly serious case, the really rich families usually spend money to get a lighter sentence, and it is not their turn to be sent into exile.

In short, although transporting prisoners can get some money, it is too risky along the way. The director is unlikely to be in a hurry to take up such a thing.

So this is a rumor, completely underestimating the risk of ancient field trips.

This statement is obviously not in line with historical reality. First of all, let's learn what exile was like in ancient times.

In ancient times, exile was a felony after the death penalty. For the ancients, sometimes they would rather bear the punishment of death than the crime.

Exiles in different dynasties. In the history before the Song Dynasty, exile places were generally concentrated in Lingnan, Hainan or Shennongjia, Hubei.

In the Qing Dynasty, the exile place generally chosen was Ningguta or Northeast China in Xinjiang, not to mention the beautiful scenery in Xinjiang. Everyone has heard of Ningguta in many TV dramas. It is located in today's Heilongjiang Province, probably near the famous snow town.

Presumably, when you hear the words Hainan or Xiang Xue, you may suddenly have an idea that exile is not a punishment, but a reward.

But you may not know what ancient traffic was like.

Exile is second only to the death penalty.

In ancient times, there were no expressways, high-speed trains, trains or even national highways. There are rugged gravel roads, or no roads at all.

Under that condition, even riding a horse or riding a sedan chair, the taste is very uncomfortable, not to mention the feeling that exiled prisoners have to walk to the exile site with their feet.

It's a long way, almost a thousand miles. Just walk with your feet and think about it.

Besides, roads are often deserted, and exiles often face various problems.

First of all, if the road is remote, they can't find a house to live in at night, so they can only find a place to spend the night in the middle of nowhere.

I can't find anything fresh, so I can only eat the dry food prepared in the bag.

Then because ancient times were full of virgin forests, wild animals and robbers, personal safety was extremely dangerous.

Many people are too weak or can't stand the extreme changes in the natural environment, so many people lost their lives in exile.

Chief from beginning to end

And those leaders who were sent to exile prisoners, their feelings inside were not much better.

In ancient times, there were generally two kinds of officers who were taken as prisoners. The first is an officer who was taken as a prisoner from the starting point to the end point. Most of them were taken to the prisoners on foot.

An officer of this type has suffered a lot and has to lead the prisoners all the way. Although they are used to this kind of work, they wouldn't choose it if they could.

Historically, it may be true that prisoners' families gave them money to make officials treat prisoners well.

However, we must be clear that working in ordinary prisons, the families of prisoners will also give some money to officials in order to make prisoners feel better. It is wonderful for an official to settle down and work near his hometown, so why bother to travel thousands of miles?

So I think, if there is a choice, no officer is scrambling to do this kind of work.

An official who is only a few steps away from me

The second kind of officials are assistants in exile.

If an official and an exiled prisoner pass by the place where such an official is located, their job is to lead the official and the exiled person from the starting point through their own jurisdiction.

Then, before leaving your jurisdiction, go back to your head and finish your work.

They don't need to go through the whole process of exile, which is relatively easy.

As an official of this type, I don't think exiles have anything worth fighting for.

If the captives have anything valuable, or their families have prepared any money for them, they have been divided up by the leaders who came to them from the starting point. How does the second type of chief benefit?

Therefore, from the perspective of respecting history, I think that in ancient times, when distributing criminals, officials should not rush to lead the way. This is their job, but the work regulations must be implemented. If they are given a choice, they should be unwilling to undertake this kind of work of traveling thousands of miles back and forth.

Ancient criminals were sent thousands of miles, but officials did not follow them. As for the situation that many officials will earn money to accompany them, many people think it is profitable, but due to insufficient information, they can only speculate.

Exile was called exile in ancient times. When a prisoner is exiled, he will be escorted to the frontier by officials or sent to a deserted place to develop wasteland. In order to avoid being punished on the road, many prisoners will try their best to give certain benefits to the escort officers, which is why officials are scrambling to escort them.

Is that really the case?

Take the Tang Dynasty as an example. There were three kinds of exile in the Tang Dynasty according to the distance. They are two thousand li, two thousand five hundred li and three thousand li respectively. Some of these prisoners will be given a certain amount of hard labor, which is called "labor flow".

Officials in the Tang Dynasty should not blackmail prisoners when escorting them. The reason is that the exile in the Tang Dynasty can be redeemed, similar to the "atonement silver" invented by Xiao Shenyang.

The specific method is: exile for two thousand miles and spend 80 Jin of copper money to get away with it. It takes 90 Jin to exile 2500 Li. Three thousand Li needs one hundred Jin. According to this penalty and redemption policy, if the prisoner has money, it is estimated that it will be used to exonerate him, and the escorting officer will not get much oil and water at all.

Of course, there are also some people who say that if there is no property to bribe the chief executive during the escort, the chief executive will probably kill people to easily complete the task, so for their own safety, many people will leave some property to bribe the chief executive. However, this statement has no textual research at all, and it can only be said that it is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

After the Tang dynasty, almost all dynasties continued the practice of the Tang dynasty, and basically they could use property to avoid the punishment of exile. So there are only two kinds of people in exile, one is the poor at the bottom, and the other is the special political prisoners.

According to the normal theory, political prisoners with no future should be the target of extortion.

In the Qing Dynasty, after Lin Zexu went to Humen to destroy opium, due to the failure of the Qing army to fight against Britain, Daoguang Emperor took out his punching bag on Lin Zexu and ordered him to be exiled to Xinjiang. After receiving the imperial edict on June 28th, Lin Zexu set out on July 14. This trip is entirely at his own expense, so Lin Zexu needs to prepare his own belongings and necessities.

Along the way, provincial officials will send officials to escort. Of course, these officials will not go out of the province, but are only responsible for the escort mission in the province, so there will be no problem of traveling thousands of miles back and forth.

Of course, during this period, officials who have an old relationship with Lin Zexu on the road will also take special care. Whether these escorted officials will blackmail or whether Lin Zexu will reward them depends entirely on their mood and environment.

In addition to Lin Zexu, there were many exiled officials in Qing Dynasty, such as Zhang and Yu Xian in Guangxu period. These people have a certain amount of savings, and after being sent, they are equivalent to being sentenced to life imprisonment, and their future is bleak. According to common sense, they are likely to be blackmailed or bankrupt.

Of course, there is no way to investigate the specific situation. We just speculate based on some laws and events.

It is often seen on TV and books that some people who have broken the law have been sent far away, some have been drafted into the army, and some are in hard labor. Not to mention the hard work of the sending place, it is extremely painful to travel long distances.

Some people say that many courtiers like to escort assigned prisoners. Is it true?/You don't say.

No official likes "long-distance escort"

In ancient times, the traffic was poor. It will be very painful if an official is ordered to escort prisoners at a distant border.

First of all, happiness comes from traveling. At that time, there was no advanced means of transportation, and it was often done by two pairs of iron feet. Of course, sometimes there are carriages, mainly depending on the situation of the yamen. Whether there is a carriage or not, the road is very hard, and most officials are unwilling to go.

Secondly, the risks on the way are unpredictable, let alone wind and rain, let alone wolves, insects, tigers and leopards. Some carjackers may kill the chief directly. For example, the leader who escorted Lin Chong in Water Margin was almost cut by Lu. Therefore, as long as possible, no one wants to escort and send prisoners from far away.

Third, officials are human beings and have families. They may have old mothers, wives or three-year-old children. In short, there are very few officials who are completely single and have no attachments. It takes about six months to send prisoners to the distant frontier. Who wants to do such hard work?

Someone once said that there is oil and water on the road. It's true. Oil and water come from two parts, one is the "poverty fee" and the other is the bribe sent by the prisoner's family. However, compared with the long-term separation of relatives, these incomes and the great risks they face are nothing at all.

Therefore, it is false for officials to rush to escort "escorting prisoners on long trips".

However, there are still some tasks of "escorting distribution personnel", which officials still prefer. What happened?

There are always some dispatching tasks, which the chief prefers.

Dispatch, also known as "exile", is a kind of merciful punishment considered by the court. Generally speaking, there are frontier dispatches, and there are also troops or laborers exiled from nearby border crossings.

Frontier distribution, a trip of thousands of miles, such as Yili, Xinjiang, such as Lingnan, such as Ningguta in the northeast, especially Yili, Xinjiang, is extremely hard, and no one wants to go. Lin Zexu was sent to Yili in the Qing Dynasty, and the journey was miserable.

The nearby border crossings are generally along the Great Wall, which is much closer than the frontier (calculated by the capital), and the pain of the journey is much less.

Local officials prefer to escort "prisoners assigned to the border along the Great Wall" because the salary is good, there is extra oil and water (from prisoners' families) and the journey is short. In this case, the magistrates are very happy.

In addition, for another kind of long-distance escort, officials are more willing, that is, officials are only responsible for escorting to the next station or government, and the next government will continue to escort, just like a relay. Officers prefer to transport prisoners in this way, because only one section is sent, and the income is not bad. What are you waiting for if you don't grab such a job?

In ancient times, officials didn't like long-distance transportation and assigning prisoners because it was too hard and risky. At the same time, the ancient courtiers liked to escort prisoners who were sent to the middle distance (such as the border crossing along the Great Wall), and they also liked to escort prisoners who were far away and only walked a part of the way.

Everyone thinks that Director Gu is a fat job. In fact, there is also a division of labor between officers, and there are also contempt chains within different types.

When listening to storytelling, I often hear the expression "three class officials". Which three classes are they?

Soap class, fast class, strong class.

Soaps can be understood as a group of people shouting "mighty" on both sides during the trial. In addition to hitting other people's boards in court, they also act as ceremonial work to clear the way. They are the "children" in Class Three, because they are not allowed to be selected. Their wages are higher and they are at the top of the internal contempt chain.

Fast moving can be simply understood as being quick, being born as an errand boy, needing to fight with bad guys, with a high risk factor, and often having to undertake the task of collecting taxes. This is a little extra money, but more for attracting people to scold, which is regarded as the middle link of the contempt chain.

Zhuangban is the worst, guarding a warehouse and prison, and escorting prisoners to the distribution place when necessary. The most bitter and tired belongs to the bottom of the contempt chain.

After reading the classification of chief officers, I probably understand how incredible it is that many chief officers are scrambling to escort prisoners, because even in the internal ranking of Zhuang class, being a guard is relatively leisure, and maybe there are some legal extra money. No one will rush to be a prisoner's escort, which is purely to escape.

How terrible is this escort work?

Needless to say, the description of "Water Margin" is infinite, and the possibility of being intercepted by criminal accomplices is also infinite. Relatively wealthy criminals can bring higher profits, which is the real danger to face, and the cost performance is too low.

After thanking the bandits for not killing, you have to face other risks on the road. There is no need to mention natural risks, such as walking in the rain and jumping out of white-fronted bugs. In ancient times, without antibiotics, once there was some trauma, or acclimatization, or even headache and brain fever, people would die.

If the road is not smooth because of the weather, and you don't walk 50 miles every day, you will be delayed in reaching your destination. What awaits you is the punishment of the official staff of the reception department. It's light to get slapped, but it's serious to join a criminal group directly, and I don't want to go home anymore.

The saddest thing is that it is enough for the offender to go once, but he has to go back and forth and suffer double punishment. Do you think it's easy to go to Ningguta?

Don't treat the off-duty job as a public tour, and the prisoners will be reimbursed if their food and accommodation are above three stars. The prisoner is so rich that he can't wait to hire you a sedan chair. If it is such a wonderful job, they should despise the top of the chain!

I don't know where I saw the information, and the first mate who sent the prisoner rushed to go. In fact, in my opinion, this is not a good job. Not only will no one rush to go, but they will shirk each other. As for who to send, it is estimated that it is the worst two in the unit.

In ancient China, officials were treated differently. Officials are officials, and officials are officials. Their grades vary greatly. The officers are embarrassed, and most of them are not even officials. In today's words, the contract workers are fully funded by the government and have not been formally established.

You may think that when transporting prisoners, the government will reimburse them for food and drink along the way, as well as additional subsidies. By the way, if you are lucky, there will be "filial piety" from the prisoners' families. Why not? In fact, this statement is all wet.

First of all, chiefs are generally in the city, with the support of the court behind them. Although the salary is not necessarily high, it is very respectable. No matter whether you walk the streets or set up stalls, no matter whether you are a small landlord or a big gentry, you will need them to some extent. Usually "kickbacks" are also indispensable. Blackmail a few prostitutes or loan sharks at will, and money will come in like running water.

Secondly, exile was an extremely serious crime in ancient times. If ordinary poor families can pay bribes, they will also give the judge some benefits when sentencing, and eventually they will be exiled, which proves that they can't afford to spend money up and down, and the chief executive naturally loses the opportunity to earn extra money. If it is a big family, the exiled people are basically victims of politics, not just one person, but the whole family may be exiled. Where will anyone help them spend money to eliminate disasters?

And in ancient times, traffic was not as developed as we are now. The journey of thousands of miles depends on your own feet step by step, and even an iron man will probably peel a layer of skin. Moreover, the place to go is either a bitter and cold place or a smoking place. Although many places have become tourist attractions now, they were barren in ancient times and there were no people in thousands of miles. How can it be like what we are pursuing now? There is always a heart and a foot on the road?

Finally, the public security in ancient times was not very good. Even in the heyday of unification, there are inevitably thieves and robbers. They regard the mountain as the king, have no money to give it, and their butcher knives are unambiguous. And I often walk for a day without seeing anyone, so I have to live in the wind, eat and sleep. If you meet wild animals like tigers or hungry wolves again, you probably won't sleep well at night.

Therefore, don't be superstitious about how happy the officials who escorted prisoners in ancient times were. In fact, in most cases, they have to do so. Who doesn't want his wife and children to be hot at home? If you put your life on the line for a few errands, wouldn't it be worth the loss?

In fact, the images of ancient criminals being exiled and officials scrambling to be escorted mostly come from film and television dramas, which are artistically processed and exaggerated.

The criminal exile of ancient people is generally a serious crime. According to the severity of the crime, the distance and place of exile are different. However, in most cases, the exile is a wild land, with desolate frontiers and extremely poor living conditions.

In ancient times, there were no such developed means of transportation and road infrastructure construction. Escorting exiled prisoners basically depends on walking, and it is very normal for many elderly and infirm prisoners to be exhausted in exile. Because exile is generally calculated in thousands of miles, two thousand miles and three thousand miles. Let's not go ahead, just say that riding a horse takes a long time.

It is obviously a chore to escort prisoners. Of course, there are also some rich people or friends who take care of them, and they may give some bribes to officials who escort exiled prisoners, so that they can do things cheaply on the road and take care of them more. There is such a situation. But more prisoners sentenced to exile usually have property with them. So there is no money to bribe the director.

Moreover, it may take half a year or more to escort prisoners back and forth, and you have to live in the wind and sleep every day. And it is quite painful to prevent prisoners from escaping or bandits. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be a rush to escort prisoners.

Competing to go is decided according to the difference of transporting prisoners. In ancient times, escorting prisoners was definitely a chore. If you are planning to travel at public expense, you should give up this idea as soon as possible, because you should not think about eating, drinking and having fun. If you visit the original scenery of the countryside, you can consider it.

Officials in ancient yamen were not included in the sequence of ancient civil servants. Because they are not in the official administrative establishment of the state, most of them have no official salary, and the salary is completely paid by the county grandfather himself. However, it is indeed the dream of many people to be a fast-catcher and an official in yamen. The reason is very simple, although studying, taking exams and being an official are the last word in ancient times. However, in real life, many people can't afford to read. Even if they can afford to read, there is no guarantee that they will all be admitted to Shangguan. Therefore, many people settle for second best and choose to be officials in yamen, and the chief executive is one of them.

In ancient times, although the scholar was admitted to the imperial examination and obtained an official position, he had no administrative experience at all. When these officials go to local offices, they have to recruit people who are familiar with the local situation to do things for themselves, and the leading official is one of them. Although these officials are not officials, they can completely rely on the power of the government, not only to enrich themselves, but also to be recognized by the people in the process of arresting criminals, and they also have great prestige among the people. Therefore, the official position in ancient times was not high, but it was also a good job. Song Wu in Water Margin fell to the ground when he learned that the county grandfather wanted to be the county magistrate of Dangyanggu County, which is why he was so grateful to the county grandfather.

Get down to business. If the prisoner escorted by the chief has money at home, he will be managed from top to bottom. Please pay more attention to the prisoners along the way, sir. The director is naturally happy to make a lot of money. However, if the prisoner's family is poor, the officer will not only get any benefits, but also worry that the prisoner will have an accident on the road and will be jointly and severally liable. After all, he is a Jianghu hero. In case of robbing a prison car, he will not only have no money, but even lose his life.

Here is a real case. During the Tianshun period of the Ming Dynasty, a scholar broke the law and was sent to work in a military camp. His wife couldn't bear to be separated from him and was determined to go where he was sent. Let alone the suffering along the way. An official who escorted them saw that the scholar's wife was beautiful, so he had a bad heart. He wanted to rape the scholar's wife, and the scholar's wife insulted and beat the scholar without following the official. The scholar's wife can't give in to the official's arrogance. When he arrived at the distribution site, the official in charge asked him to be a scribe, where he drafted copies because the scholar was literate. One day, an official sent by a superior to rehabilitate unjust imprisonment came here, and the scholar immediately reported the evil deeds of the chief to himself and his wife. The official reported to Ming Yingzong that Ming Yingzong was furious when he learned about it. He ordered the principal involved to be beheaded, and other relevant personnel gave different punishments, and intended to improve the legal system to prevent such incidents from happening again.

This statement is false! In ancient times, prisoners were escorted for no more than 300 miles, and then handed over to the next batch of officials for escort. Normally, the county is in charge of the government, and then the government is in charge of the province, and they collectively escort. For example, those who are escorted thousands of miles away to be expelled from the army are escorted by a government official or a broken door. This kind of escort often gathers a large group of prisoners, usually dozens or hundreds, and sends troops to escort them in a unified way. We often see a group of people handcuffed, which is also to save resources and prevent prisoners from escaping and being robbed.

In ancient times, due to low productivity, the population of each region was very small, and a county might have tens of thousands of people. It is obviously very difficult for such a county to support so many office workers. The number of public officials is quite limited, maybe dozens. Under normal circumstances, there will be two heads and 40 people. These 40-odd people have to take charge of daily public security to catch thieves, guard the county government, and send people to guard the cell, which is a scarce thing in itself. What can a prisoner do if he is escorted thousands of miles away and travels back and forth for more than half a year? Therefore, the disposal method at that time was that the county government sent the prisoners to the government station after conviction and judgment, and the government station was escorted to the provincial capital. Yaotai yamen sent people to escort these people to all parts of the country.

Generally speaking, the county government is not too far away from the government, maybe 100 miles to about 200 miles, rarely more than 300 miles, and then escorted to the government prison, and can go back after delivery. According to the ancient limit of walking 40~60 miles a day, the round-trip time is 5~ 10 days. In ancient times, it was closed every ten days, and ordinary officials would go back and forth within nine days, otherwise the holidays would be confiscated. So it is not difficult to understand why the prisoners' families want to send money to officers. This is to let them walk slowly and don't worry, otherwise the prisoners will feel very uncomfortable.

First of all, in ancient times, criminals were escorted by officials, but this task is not something that officials can compete for. Obviously, it is a rumor that officials scramble to escort exiled prisoners, which is imagined by modern people themselves.

Many people think that escorting exiled prisoners has a gray income, but it is not!

Many people think that officials will struggle to escort prisoners because it involves gray income, that is, the families of exiled prisoners will take care of them, but the fact is not as beautiful as we thought. Prisoners sent into exile in ancient times belong to exile, which is generally not enough to be sentenced to death, but many of them are civilians. If the nobles involved in exile, their property has basically been looted, so the exiled prisoners generally do not have a lot of property to honor the escort leader!

Escorting exiled prisoners is not an easy task, and it is very risky!

In ancient times, escorting prisoners was not as simple as it is now, and it took thousands of miles, so escorting exiled prisoners was not an easy task, but a hard work. And there are many risks in escorting exiled prisoners. Exiled prisoners are generally exiled to remote border areas. Entering the barren land is an unruly place. On the way to escort, they are likely to pass through areas where no one is there for a few days, or they may encounter risks such as bandits. Moreover, the court may blame the prisoners who were escorted into exile for meeting robbers, or failing to arrive at their destination on time because of the weather and other reasons!

Therefore, escorting exiled prisoners is not a good job. We won't travel around with the money of the imperial court as we imagined, and we won't have a lot of gray income. It is possible that the filial piety of prisoners' families is not enough for them to earn more on duty in one day. Therefore, no chief will fight to escort exiled prisoners. The topic mentioned should be a rumor!