However, whether in backward ancient times or under the new agricultural level today, farmers are as hard as ever. At the most vulnerable time, farmers have been working, but they can't afford the heavy agricultural tax. In case of war, farmers must feed the whole army.
In this case, the life of farmers can be imagined. So, in everyone's impression, which period of farmers was the happiest? Not to mention the Tang Dynasty, which was not economically powerful, nor the Song Dynasty, which was culturally prosperous.
Photo: Still photos of hard farming life.
First, the main points of farming farmers in every era have to farm, but the living standards and happiness index of each era are different. Maybe everyone thinks that as long as the weather is good and the agricultural output is high, farmers will be happy. In fact, this is only the simplest factor. It is far more than this point that really affects farmers' living standards, and several other factors are also very important.
Photo: stills of farmers farming
1.？ The more stable the country is, the happier the farmers are.
In the past, many people thought that the stability of the country was not directly related to the people. However, through this disaster, everyone must have a new understanding of this issue. Faced with this epidemic test, we can see how close the relationship is.
If society works normally, every industry can work normally. However, the epidemic has trapped everyone at home, unable to work normally, and every industry will be affected.
In fact, the relationship between ancient farmers and society is the same as it is now. If the society is stable and there are no wars, bandits and plagues, the income of farmers will be relatively stable. On the contrary, if the country often goes to war and wants to eliminate bandits, it will cost a lot of money.
Who do you think will pay in the end? By the state? No, the final expenses are all arranged for farmers. The people finally got a little food, but in the end they gave most of it to the state, or even sold it upside down. How can farmers be happy?
Photo: Stills of ordinary people farming.
2.？ The higher the tax, the harder the farmers work.
Whether a country's tax revenue is heavy or not is the main factor affecting farmers' lives. In ancient times, if farmers didn't have to pay exorbitant taxes, their labor results would be relatively more, and farmers would have a better life if they were full.
On the other hand, if, as shown in the movie, the imperial court desperately taxes in advance, even more than ten years in advance, this situation is even more complicated. Taxation in advance is undoubtedly the biggest blow to farmers, and it is completely impossible to complete this task with farmers' income. If farmers can't complete the task, they need to borrow money from the state. This kind of lending has no bottom line. Even if farmers don't eat all their lives, they can't afford to repay their loans.
In short, once the court collects taxes in advance, the people will be completely unhappy. But it was not uncommon in ancient times, so farmers in most dynasties had a hard time.
Photo: stills of taxing the people
3.？ The higher the overall production level, the easier it is for farmers.
The so-called gross domestic product (GDP) includes both labor force and crop output. The reason why modern farmers are more relaxed than ancient times is that the labor force is replaced by machinery, and the seeds are improved into high yield. From this point, we can see that the level of GDP directly affects the progress of society and the comfort of farmers.
Photo: high-yield stills of crops
Second, the farming of each dynasty was very special compared with the Qin Dynasty, which was both the most powerful and the most fragile. This dynasty was the strongest because the Qin Dynasty changed the ancient social structure. The reason why it is the most fragile is that it decays so fast that it only takes fifteen years from the beginning to the end.
For fifteen years, Qin Shihuang has been fighting abroad and building large-scale buildings at home. Qin Shihuang did so much that his achievements were remembered. However, no one knows that all his achievements are based on increasing the burden on farmers.
In the Western Han Dynasty, the frontier wars were frequent, and the peasants' sufferings were even deeper than those in the Qin Dynasty. There is an ancient poem about the expedition in the Western Han Dynasty in the primary school textbook: "Joining the Army on the 15th", which says: Because there are too many wars in the Han Dynasty, anyone over the age of fifteen needs to be a soldier. At that time, a boy of about fifteen went to the army. When it's time to retire, he can't. He waited until his hair turned white and he couldn't move. When the soldier came home, he had no relatives, and all his relatives died.
This story seems exaggerated, but it also reflects the harm that the war brought to the people at that time. In addition, the land annexation system in the Western Han Dynasty made it impossible for farmers to escape their tragic fate.