Study on the Issue of the Escape of Military Households during the Construction of the Great Wall Brickwork in the Ming Dynasty—Taking Jizhen as a Sample
The Jiajing,Longqing,and Wanli periods were significant for the extensive brickwork on the Ming Great Wall,with the Jizhen section being particularly massive.Military households played crucial roles in various aspects of this labor ser-vice.However,the heavy burden and exploitation led to a severe increase in their escape.They either fled back to their origi-nal hometowns,sought refuge in government and aristocratic services to avoid oppression,or resorted to banditry and escaped into Mongolian territories beyond the border,directly impacting the Ming dynasty's governance.To address the problem of es-caping military households,the Ming court implemented measures such as clearing registers,conscription,recruiting soldiers,and repopulating the border labor force.Additionally,they sought to prevent escapes through both strict and lenient measures,including information registration,stringent apprehension,and improving treatment.Despite these efforts,the problem remained unresolved as these measures only patched up the existing system.
万方数据
