In 260 BC, the famous "Battle of Changping" took place in history. Qin and Zhao competed for Shangdang area. Lian Po, commander-in-chief of the Zhao army, stuck to the camp after the first defeat. Later, the prince of Zhao changed generals and Lian Po, and Zhao Kuo, who was good at boasting, was in charge. After learning the news, Qin secretly appointed Bai Qi as the commander-in-chief, lured Zhao to attack, cut off Zhao's back road with Indiana Jones, and cut off Zhao's contact with China. In order to prevent the Zhao army from breaking through, King Zhao of Qin personally rushed to Hanoi County near the battlefield, recruited all the local men 15 as soldiers, rushed to the front line and surrounded the Zhao army. The 400,000 Zhao troops were besieged for 46 days, but their many breakthroughs were intercepted by Qin Jun. Zhao Kuo was shot by Qin Jun in the breakout. Zhao Jun was finally forced to surrender. Ordered the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war, only 240 young soldiers returned to Zhao. Zhao lost as many as 450 thousand soldiers before and after, and more than half of them died when they were fully mobilized. Although it hit the gate of Handan, the capital of Zhao, it was also a spent force and was finally defeated by the allied forces of Chu, Wei and other countries. Five years later, Yan thought that all the young and middle-aged people of Zhao had died and their children had not yet grown up, so they sent troops to attack Zhao, but they were defeated by the resurrected veteran Lian Po of Zhao.

It can be seen from these wars that all countries implemented the national conscription system at that time, and any man had to work hard for the court, and even teenagers had to join the army when necessary. This comprehensive conscription system is similar to the modern compulsory military service system. The law stipulates that all men have the obligation to perform military service. They usually take turns to serve as soldiers for the imperial court and fight in wartime. "The Warring States Policy" records the powers of various countries listed by lobbyist Su Qin: the land of Qi is 2,000 Li, "hundreds of thousands of armour", and Linzi City has 70,000 households. When necessary, 200,000 soldiers can be recruited, that is, each family can send 3 troops; The land of Zhao is 2000 Li, which is also "hundreds of thousands of armour". If necessary, a million-strong army can be formed. Wei has 200,000 warriors, 200,000 warehouse heads who play an auxiliary role, and 65,438+10,000 disciples. South Korea is 900 Li, and there are also "hundreds of thousands of armour"; Yan is three thousand miles away, "with hundreds of thousands of armor"; Chu is five thousand miles away, "with a million armor"; Since Zhao Haoqi's time, Qin has had "a million soldiers and a million warriors". It is generally estimated that the total population during the Warring States period was around 20 million, and the total number of soldiers in these seven countries was nearly 5 million, which actually accounted for a quarter of the total population. Even with exaggerated elements, we can still see that the troop mobilization at that time was really "sweeping the floor for the soldiers." As mentioned in the book, Zhao Chang, commander-in-chief of the eastern part of Chu, said, "Knowing five feet and walking sixty feet" in this area can recruit 300,000 troops. At that time, teenagers were generally 6 feet tall and adults were 7 feet tall. It can be seen that men are all recruited as soldiers.

This is a military service system consistent with the national system and the form of war at that time. During the Warring States period, the county system was widely practiced in all countries, and the court could directly manage households. At this time, the war also has the nature of "total war". Countries are constantly competing for land and population resources by war, and the scale of the war is getting bigger and longer. At that time, the small-scale peasant economy developed under the impetus of ironware and Niu Geng technology was barely able to support this kind of conscription. During the Warring States period, the system of military title was widely implemented, and civilians could join the upper class by virtue of military service, which was the basic way for social members to flow upward at that time. At the same time, because the army will also get economic benefits, it can get all kinds of trophies such as land and slaves distributed by the state. Therefore, despite such great mobilization intensity, the military service system at that time did not cause serious social problems, nor did it seriously affect the agricultural development of various countries.

This comprehensive military service system established during the Warring States period is the most typical in Qin State. According to the data of Qin bamboo slips unearthed from the Qin Tomb in Sleeping Tiger Land, Yunmeng, Hubei Province, all men (about 17 years old) who are over 6 feet 5 inches tall in the area under the rule of Qin State must go to the government for military service registration, which is called "military service". The reason for registering by height may be that when the State of Qin expanded, it was too late to establish a complete household registration in the newly occupied areas. At that time, the determination of criminal responsibility, marriage and other civil capacity was based on height, and it was not until the sixteenth year of Qin Dynasty (23 1) that the "Year of Men's Books" was launched. All registrants must truthfully report their physical condition, and those who make false reports will be punished with a shield or A. Only men over 60 can apply for exemption from military service. Every registered man has to work hard for the government for a month every year, engaging in public works such as building cities, roads and bridges, or transporting materials. This is the so-called "corvee". Every man must also perform "military service" (military service), but generally speaking, only one person is recruited from each household at a time. The duration of military service is unknown. Judging from the chronology of the owner of the Qin tomb in Shuihudi, he was discharged after serving as a garrison soldier for four years, perhaps according to the needs of the war.

According to the bamboo slips of Qin Tomb in Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land, Hubei Province, "Fu Festival" is held in August every year. The time for issuing expropriation orders is not fixed. If the corvee does not start immediately after the corvee order is issued, it shall be punished with "zero salary"; Arriving at the designated place is "delayed" for 3 to 5 days, "delayed"; 6~ 10 days; If it's more than 10 days, it's a, but if you don't report after the garrison order is issued, it's a "surprise", and if you don't arrive at the designated place, it's a "no", which requires 50 slaps.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, when Guangwu Chen Sheng and Daze Township revolted, they once said that "if a pawn is defeated, the law will be cut", which may be a slogan to mobilize the masses. A wooden slip unearthed in Sleeping Tiger Land is a letter from two soldiers serving in Huaiyang, asking their families to "hurry" to bring them money to buy winter clothes. It seems that in addition to weapons, armor and food, active soldiers have to solve their own clothing problems.

After Qin unified the whole country, the army was not demobilized because of the end of large-scale war. But attack the Huns in the north and defend Wuling in the south. It is said that a total of 2.3 million people were recruited for military service, not including the number of corvees who provided labor. At that time, the population was about 20 million. The normal military service system is not enough to complete the manpower needed for the establishment of imperial rule, so there are a lot of "relegation" of specific objects. In 2 14 BC, "the deceased, husband and Jia family slightly took Lvliang as Guilin, Xiangjun and Nanhai County", that is, people who had a criminal record of escape and were despised by the secular. Later, it specially recruited "people who were treated unfairly by prison officials" to participate in the construction of the Great Wall or attack South Vietnam. It is said that according to the system at that time, the "left" (rich) in the village was recruited first, and then the "left" was recruited. Chen Sheng, Guangwu and other garrisons are said to be "left-handed" recruits. In the end, they took risks and launched an uprising, which received responses from all over the country and eventually overthrew the Qin Dynasty.

In 206 BC, when Liu Bang led the army to occupy Xianyang, Qin Dou, Xiao He first entered the palace to protect the household registration files of the Qin Dynasty, and retreated to Hanzhong area with these files, which became the basis for recruiting and organizing troops in various places in the future. After the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty, the military system of the Qin Dynasty was fully inherited, requiring all men to "learn Fu" at the age of 20 (later relaxed to 23) until the age of 56. The condition for exemption from military service (then called "re-service") is "strike service", that is, the height does not exceed 6 feet 2 inches; Serving as the "three elders" (township officials) at the county and township levels; He served in the army besieged by Emperor Gaozu Liu Bangping (top 200); Was rated as "filial piety"; A scholar who can pass, or a doctoral disciple of the "Doctor of Five Classics" established in the imperial court who studies with the doctor; The family has descendants over 90 years old; Someone who has provided horses and chariots for the country. In addition, the residents of Liu Bang's rich hometown, imperial clan and hero's home followed Liu Bang into the home of officials with more than 2,000 stone titles in Hanzhong base area. The residents with more than five doctorates were all "shepherds" of the country grazing horses. The residents who had just moved to the border and those who had just returned from exile were all "returning home" and exempted from military service. For those parents who died and mourned, they will be postponed.

There was a clear service period in the Han Dynasty. In 183 BC, it was first made clear that the service period of garrison soldiers was one year. The later system clearly stipulated that every man should perform military service twice for one year in peacetime during his military service. He served as a "regular army" in a designated station, and served as a soldier of various arms such as "material officer", "ship builder" and "knight". On another occasion, he was either transferred to the central guard "North and South Army" stationed in the capital as a "guard" or sent to the frontier as a "garrison". This service is actually calculated by the number of days. According to Han bamboo slips unearthed in Juyan and other places, there is a "daily record book" that records the performance of soldiers during their service, and they can be rewarded for meritorious service or overfulfilling their tasks. For example, a good shot can be "rewarded" 15 days; Those who complete the quota can "work for three days in two days" and so on, and the system is quite strict.

In addition to military service, all men have to bear the "multi-service" of serving the court for 30 days a year, which is called "multi-death". This kind of labor can be paid, but military service cannot be paid. Even the son of the prime minister still has to serve in the frontier.

Like the Qin dynasty, the Han dynasty also had "falling hair". The most famous one is the so-called "seven-subject imperial examination", that is, the centralized recruitment of criminal officials, fugitives, children, businessmen and descendants who are regarded as untouchables by social customs. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, criminals who committed capital crimes and fugitives from Beijing were recruited to fight North Korea, and "hooligans" from all over the country were recruited to fight Dawan.

Although the Eastern Han Dynasty still carried out a comprehensive conscription system in theory, in fact, Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty, was disarmed on a large scale, mainly relying on professional soldiers concentrated in the central government to maintain his rule, and did not regularly recruit soldiers. The conscription system gradually relaxed and tended to collapse in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Professional soldiers have become the main armed forces in frontier and inland areas. After the Yellow turban insurrectionary, most of the warlords who became independent were also professional soldiers.

This umbrella conscription system established in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties is no longer the main body of military service system in later generations. A comprehensive conscription system requires subjects to have a considerable sense of identity with the rulers, a certain will to fight together, the support of the economic base of yeomen, strict and effective laws, especially a ladder, which can provide soldiers with opportunities to improve their social status because of their service. Li He, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote: "Why don't people take Wu Gou and gather in fifty states of Guanshan Mountain? Please go to Lingyange temporarily, if you are a scholar Wan Huhou." Only when the meritorious military service is the main opportunity for civilians to step into the upper class of society, or even "Wan Huhou", can there be a comprehensive conscription system.

These conditions were quite lacking in later dynasties. Rulers switch around like merry-go-round, all for the glory of their surnames, and use harsh laws to drive people into battle. Poor farmers are simply unable to prepare all kinds of war materials. Once they lose the labor force at home, they lose the most important means of subsistence. Soldiers caught up in the battlefield rarely have the opportunity to get rich and enter the upper class, because studying as an official provides a safer way to rise, and in most subsequent dynasties, the status of military commanders is always behind that of civilian officials. When most people are unwilling to obey and abide by the law, it not only shows that the law itself is outrageous, but also difficult to implement smoothly.