Comment on Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part IIb: Officials, Contractors and Professionals by 8roomsofelixir

In reply to Doctor Science.

The Qin method was simply state-enforced mass mobilization, similar to the Han method. In fact, the Han mobilization system was a direct continuation of the Qin system.

As for individual soldiers and their obligations, the Qin-Han system of huji (household register) divided the general population into several different categories (a kind of caste system), which could be summarized as three groups: officials, peasants, and the subalterns.

• Civilian officials would act as military officers in wartime. • Peasant soldiers composed the bulk of the army, with some of them having specific roles (such as specialized crossbowmen), but they usually had a 1-to 3-year rotation, and when peace returned, they would go back to farming; so this is not a standing/professional/long-service army. Their military service would also count towards their ranks in the 20-rank system (a type of socio-military ranks of honour for the whole society, which decides one's status and pay). • The subalterns consisted of what was considered the underclasses and outcastes at the time, including landless peasants, officials with a criminal record, son-in-law who belonged to the wife's household, and the entire merchant class and their families (yes, merchants were very low status even before Confucianism kicking in - in fact, the mass spread of Confucianism in Song times corresponded with the raising of the merchant class). Since these folks were the subalterns, their military service was seen as a punishment (謫戍, "punitive military service" or "punitive soldiers"). They were forced to have much longer military services (at least 5-10 years) than the regular peasants, and often served in harsh frontiers that normal soldiers could not withstand. They receive less pay, and their services also cannot count towards the ranks.

The problem with the Qin system was that everyone could be a "subaltern". Normal peasant soldiers received more pay and would be rotated out after 1-3 years, which means they were not suited for a prolonged campaign. But subaltern soldiers, with their much longer service time, were seen as a good fit. As a result, when the northern frontier (against the proto-Xiongnu) and the southern frontier (against the native Yue people) returned into the Qin Empire's Vietnam, many normal peasants were mobilized as 謫戍 "punitive soldiers" and forced to serve in much harsher conditions without any prospect of raising their rank. This was why many peasant-soldiers decided to join the rebellion that toppled the Qin Empire.