Xiongnu attack the Great Wall of China by unknown artist
"After Wang Hui made his unsuccessful attempt to ambush the Xiongnu at Mayi, peaceful relations with the Xiongnu came to an end and they began to invade and plunder the northern border. Armies had to be dispatched time and again and could not be disbanded, causing extreme hardship to the empire. As the conflicts became fiercer day by day, men set off to war carrying their packs of provisions, while those left behind at home had to send more and more goods to keep them supplied. Those at home and those on the frontier were kept busy guarding the empire and supplying rations until the common people were exhausted and began to look for some clever way to evade the laws. The funds of the government were soon used up and, in order to supply the deficiencies, it was agreed that men who presented goods would be appointed to official positions, and those who made appropriate contributions would be pardoned for their crimes. The old system of selecting officials on the basis of merit fell into disuse, and modesty and a sense of shame became rare qualities. Military achievement was now the key to advancement. The laws were made stricter and more detailed, and officials whose main job was to make a profit for the government for the first time appeared in office.
After this the Han generals every year led forces of 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry in attacks on the barbarians and the general of carriage and cavalry Wei Qin seized the region south of the bend of the Yellow River from the Xiongnu and fortified Shuofang.
At the same time the Han government was building the road through the region of the southwestern barbarians, employing a force of 20,000 or 30,000 laborers. Provisions for them had to be carried for a distance of 1,000 li, and of ten or more zhong sent out, only one picul, or less than one tenth of the original amount, reached its destination. In addition gifts of money were distributed to the inhabitants of Qiong and Po in order to win their support. Several years passed, however, and the road was still not completed. All the taxes from the region of Ba and Shu were insufficient to cover the expenses of the road, and it was decided to invite wealthy families to open up farms in the region of the southern barbarians; for any grain which they turned over to the government, they would be reimbursed in cash by the financial officers of the ministry of agriculture in the capital.
Four years later (124 BC) the general in chief Wei Qing, commanding six generals and an army of over 100,000, attacked the Xiongnu leader known as the Wise King of the Right, beheading or capturing 15,000 of the enemy. The following year Wei Qing again led six generals in another attack on the barbarians, beheading or capturing 19,000 men. Those who had beheaded or captured enemy soldiers were presented with gifts totaling over 200,000 catties of gold. Generous gifts were also given to the tens of thousands of enemy captives, and food and clothing were supplied to them by the government. The men and horses killed on the Han side amounted to over 100,000. In addition, there were the expenses for weapons and the cost of provisions transported to the armies.
By this time the reserves of cash stored up by the ministry of agriculture from earlier years had been exhausted and the revenue from taxes had likewise been used up, so that there was not enough money left to support the troops. When the officials reported this fact to the emperor, he replied: '...Let deliberations begin on a law to allow people to purchase honorary ranks and to buy mitigations of punishments or freedom from prohibitions against holding office.'
The officials responded by requesting the establishment of honorary official positions, to be known as 'ranks of military merit'. One grade of the rank was to be priced at 170,000 cash, the total value of the sale amounting to over 300,000 catties of gold. Among the purchasers of 'ranks of military merit', those of the guanshou or fifth grade or above were to be accorded the same privileges as regular government officials of the fifth lord class. Those guilty of some crime were to have two grades deducted from the ranks they purchased, but were allowed to purchase as high as leqing, the eighth grade. The purpose of this was to honor military achievements, but where such achievements were particularly numerous, the awards exceeded the limits set for the various grades, so that those with the most distinguished records were enfeoffed as marquises or appointed as high government officials. As a result, so many avenues to official position were opened and such confusion reigned that the whole system of government offices broke down in chaos.
After Gongsun Hong secured the post of chancellor because of his recommendations for correcting the conduct of ministers according to the principles of the Spring and Autumn Annals, and after Zhang Tang was made commandant of justice because of his enforcement of decisions on the basis of severe laws, the legal principle that anyone who allows a criminal act to go unreported is as guilty as the criminal himself came into being, and the law officials were busily engaged in conducting investigations of officials who ignored, impeded, or criticized the orders of the government.
The following year (122 BCE) the plans for revolt laid by the kings of Huainan, Hengshan, and Jiangdu came to light. The high ministers conducted a thorough investigation of everyone connected with the affair and ferreted out all the conspirators. Twenty or thirty thousand persons were tried and executed. The government authorities became increasingly cruel and exacting and the laws more precise and detailed than ever."
-Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (translated by Burton Watson)
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| Xiongnu attack the Great Wall of China by unknown artist. Istanbul Military Museum. |
Source:
Quote:
Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (translated by Burton Watson)
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