In ancient times, exiled female prisoners traveled thousands of miles back and forth, why did the officials compete for escort?Social Truth Revealed
We read all the books to present a different history.
Readers who like to watch costume dramas should know that there are many kinds of punishments in ancient times that are not as humane as modern punishments, but are easier to torture prisoners to achieve shocking effects, which is a two-way torture for the soul and the body. Therefore, according to this logic, many punishments in ancient times were mainly aimed at mentally crushing the offender so that he/she could make it"Life cannot live, death cannot die"Exile, in particular, is the most physically and mentally torturous punishment for people.
According to historical records, the exile first originated at the end of the clan society, when Emperor Yao exiled Gonggong to Youzhou. With the development of history, the legal system became more and more perfect, and in the Sui and Tang dynasties, exile was officially incorporated into the criminal law. One might say that exile is not much better than the death penalty. It may not seem painful today, but in ancient times, it was one of the most terrible punishments for criminals. Even those who were sentenced to exile in ancient times preferred the death penalty to exile.
The places where criminals were exiled varied from dynasty to dynasty, but were usually in remote and inhospitable places. For example, in the Song Dynasty, criminals were mostly exiled to Guangdong and Hainan provinces;In the Qing Dynasty, most of the criminals were exiled to the northeast outside the Shanhai Pass;Fellons were exiled to Ningguta. When the exiled convicts arrive at their destination, they have only two options to choose from: either to defend the border or to reclaim the wilderness, but no matter which path they choose, they are living in dire straits. Since transportation was not as developed in ancient times as it is now, all exiled prisoners had to walk thousands of kilometers on foot with chains and suffer terribly. This is why many criminals, after learning that they have been sentenced to exile, decide to commit suicide, knowing that exile means that they will only be able to spend the rest of their lives in remote places, that they will suffer endless physical and mental torture, and that it is better to end their lives than to live like this.
But it is surprising that the old judges were so keen to accompany the deported prisoners, especially the female ones. It is not difficult to see from the costume drama that even if there is a good prisoner car, ** must always follow behind when escorting the prisoner, send the prisoner to the prison, ** must also return the same way. From this point of view, even modern people with convenient transportation are afraid that no one is willing to do such a chore, so why should judges go to the trouble of escorting deported prisoners?Ziyuan believes that there are three main reasons.
First of all, escorting prisoners is more comfortable than ordinary work. In the Qing Dynasty, civil officials did not belong to the official system, they belonged to what was called"Supernumerary"of supernumerary personnel. Therefore, their status in the ** sector is not high. Not only are they overworked, underpaid, but they have little to no time off. They had to get up early and return late every day, and they also had to participate in activities such as going to court, interrogation, execution, and arresting prisoners, and they also had to perform tasks for the masters in the yamen. After all, the emperor is far away, no one is in charge, everything is under control, and the salary is still paid, so why not do it?
Second, probationers can earn more money than their regular wage. We know that most of the deportees are family members of felons who have committed serious crimes, and their families are not wealthy. In order to prevent judges from deliberately making things difficult for expelled prisoners, the families of prisoners will naturally bribe judges with large sums of money to make them take more care of the expelled prisoners. It has to be said that this is also a social reality. Judges' salaries are not high, as they are paid out of pocket by the provincial or county governors, and the families of prisoners are given much more than what they would earn in a year in the judge's office. In particular, the family members of female prisoners, in order to prevent female prisoners from being harassed by cavemen on the road, often give more red envelopes, so that the cavemen are more motivated to escort female prisoners.
Third, it is actually more comfortable to accompany an exiled prisoner than to go on a business trip. Nowadays, the *** who accompanied the exiled prisoners are all on business trips, of course, all the expenses are borne by the finances, and ** can also take this opportunity to eat better. In addition, most of the exiles were rich and powerful, and they could not bear the pain of exile, so their families often provided them with chariots, horses, and servants to ensure that they would not be tortured during their journeys. Therefore, the accompanying ** naturally followed the prisoners to enjoy the favor, and they could travel to and from the prison in a horse-drawn carriage. In contrast, the advantages of escorting exiled prisoners obviously outweigh the disadvantages, and the ** escorting prisoners is naturally happy.