The emperor didn't send hungry soldiers, the army dispersed without food, and the army and horses didn't move food and grass first. China has many aphorisms about the importance of rations. No matter when and where, soldiers can only March and fight in heavy equipment if they eat well and sleep well. Although China is a big cooking country, all kinds of dishes are the patent of wealthy aristocratic families, which ordinary soldiers can't enjoy. The food in the military camp is monotonous. Now let's talk about those boring military camp diets.

The ancestor of Han nationality in China was a semi-nomadic, semi-fishing and hunting nationality, but since it entered the Central Plains from Qinghai, Gansu, the population has gradually increased and primitive agriculture has begun to develop.

Hunting was the main source of military food in Shang Dynasty. Hunting in Shang Dynasty was so large that hundreds of wild animals could be obtained by sending thousands of people at a time. Oracle Bone Inscriptions recorded a hunting, and merchants got 45 1 deer. By the Zhou Dynasty, hunting was even larger, and Zhou Wuwang had hunted tens of thousands of wild animals. Because of this, Wang Chaocai was able to expand its territory in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and gradually extended its territory to Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui and many other provinces.

After a life of semi-farming and semi-grazing in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Han nationality officially became a farming nation after the Warring States Period, and whole grains and some low-quality vegetables became the main diet of the people and the army.

Hungry or malnourished soldiers can't fight in armor.

Before the Song Dynasty, China ate the thickest porridge.

Generally speaking, the diet of the ancient army in China was crude, just staying at the level of eating. The Eighth Route Army-* * * has always called itself Xiaomi plus rifle, which has a historical origin. Millet, usually called millet, is called millet after hulling. China's ancient army was mostly at the level of millet and spear. The Qin dynasty was rich, and the millet was as small as a hill, which was 10 times richer than other parts of the world. Qin Law dared to record that there were granaries full of mangoku in Qin State, and even the granaries in Xianyang also stored 65,438+mangoku grain. It is such a powerful logistics supply that Qin Jun can fight with hundreds of thousands of armored troops and unify the whole country.

The earliest food ration practice was actually cooking porridge. Before the Song Dynasty, the common cooking utensils were pottery, and there were few iron pots. Pottery is best for porridge, not for cooking. Xia, Shang and Zhou cooked millet porridge instead of vegetable porridge. You need to add all kinds of wild vegetables, wild fruits, beans and even meat porridge to the porridge. As soon as the troops arrived at the meal, they set up an iron pot to cook porridge. It's just that the porridge at that time was very thick, so it was called thick.

As a military food, millet continued from ancient times to the Tang Dynasty. The main reason is that the political and military center of China is in the north, especially in the northwest. Secondly, millet is very easy to preserve. According to the documents of the Tang Dynasty, millet can be preserved for 9 years, while rice can only be preserved for 5 years. In fact, millet can be preserved for a longer period of time, and the food left in Chang 'an can still be eaten 20 years after the demise of the Sui Dynasty.

Ancient and modern agricultural technology is backward and the output is very low.

Before the Tang Dynasty, the canteen ate millet 1 soldier 1 day 1 bucket.

Long shelf life is the most important aspect of military food, and the taste is the least valued by the ancient army. Foods with long shelf life are also very suitable for ancient times with backward transportation. In ancient times, transportation was difficult. In order to avoid waste, the state has introduced many policies. For example, it was stipulated in the Sui Dynasty that anyone who stole more than 1 liter of grain would be beheaded and lose his family. Soldiers who abandoned Migu were beheaded. The army needs to establish supply warehouses on possible battlefields and marching routes. Food can be preserved for a long time, without worrying about expired damage or frequent updating.

How did the ancient army distribute rations? Qin Jun stipulates that for high-intensity work, half a barrel of millet is used for breakfast and one third for dinner. Standing guard and other tasks, one-third of the millet in the morning and evening. According to the regulations of the Han army, soldiers engaged in heavy physical activities enjoy 2 stones, 9 buckets, 3 liters of grain and 3 liters of salt every month. The Tang Dynasty stipulated that a soldier should give 2 liters of grain a day.

In Song Dynasty, the monthly salary of imperial soldiers was 2.5 stone, while that of Xiang army was 2 stone. In the later period, imperial soldiers only had 8 or 9 buckets of grain per month, and then brown rice was filled with rice, and small buckets were exchanged for big buckets. It was not until the end of the Southern Song Dynasty that rations were often in arrears. With the continuous reduction of rations, Song Jun's combat effectiveness also shows a downward trend. Not to mention meat and eggs and other non-staple food, how can you wear dozens of pounds of armor against the northern nomadic cavalry if you are not full?

The Ming army invented perforated sesame cakes, and everyone could carry a pile of cakes and March to fight.

Pancakes, rice and tea became the staple food of Song Mingjun.

Generally speaking, bread and steamed bread became military food very late. Because flour processing was difficult, and people didn't know the fermentation technology at that time, dry food was dead noodles. Since the Han Dynasty, people in China began to eat noodles, which were then called soup cakes. After the Han and Wei Dynasties, boiled noodles were mushy, and pimples became the most commonly used way to eat.

It's inconvenient to bring both soup cakes and sticky noodles. Only dry food is the best convenient food. As the saying goes, "the husband eats thousands of miles, and the scholar is hungry; After the firewood, the teacher was not satisfied. The situation goes deep into the enemy-occupied area, and the flight can't pass ... People can pack three buckets of dry food and can use it for dozens of days. " Carrying dry food is the best way for the army to fight.

China's army's favorite military food pie appeared later, and there were scones in China in the Han Dynasty, which were occasionally eaten by the people. When the army goes out to war, dry food and cooked food are generally preferred as rations. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, biscuits and cakes became rations. In the Tang Dynasty, cavalry units were established to fight against nomadic peoples such as Turkic and Uighur in the north and northwest. Reduce logistics transportation, carry dry food supplemented by milk from fishing and hunting livestock, and make a long-distance trip to Wan Li. During the Song Dynasty's campaign, the whole city was ordered to divide dry food and baked wheat cakes and give soldiers tea, wine, firewood and water. When Song Jun went to war, he marched with rice cakes, miscellaneous cakes, wrinkled skin rice, hard salt and sauce. The most famous military dry food in ancient China was called "Guo Kui Cake".

Sesame cakes were updated and developed in the Ming Dynasty, which enabled the Ming army to pursue the enemy in the mountainous woodland for a long time. Bake round cakes with charcoal fire, crisp and salty, poke holes in the middle and string them together with ropes. Convenient for soldiers to carry and eat, this is a compressed biscuit of the Ming Dynasty.

Another practice of the Ming army is to use 1 stone rice for dry rice for transportation. You can soak rice in hot water when eating. This is the instant noodles of the Ming Dynasty. The ancient Japanese army also had the habit of eating rice in soup. Ming army field non-staple food is to mash three liters of fermented beans with five liters of salt, twist them into cakes and dry them in the sun. When you want to eat, peel a jujube core to eat instead of pickles.

In ancient times, fighting depended on strength. The picture shows a Qing dynasty official practicing playing with stone locks.

There was a big feast with soy sauce when the troops distributed rations.

Since ancient times, the staple food of China's army has been millet, rice and wheat. It looks good, but the worst thing about the ancient army was non-staple food. Ordinary soldiers have no chance and often get dizzy. Fresh meat and vegetables are very scarce in the military camp, and the soldiers' non-staple food is mainly two kinds, soy sauce and pickles.

Sauce has a history of at least 4,000 years in China, and it is recorded in Zhou's cookbook that "there are as many as 20 jars of sauce". In the Han Dynasty, the Han army stationed in the frontier fortress was rationed with 2 grains of 2 doubs of sauce, but in the Qin Dynasty, it was 1 doumi with half a liter of sauce. Sauce has always been the main condiment of China ancient army.

Salt is the source of human strength. As the saying goes, "if you don't drink kimchi soup for three days, your feet will be Dangdang." Therefore, salty salt is also an important part of military food. Each soldier of the Han army has 3 liters of salt ration, which can mainly make bacon, salted fish and various pickles. Tang Jun gives 2 liters of millet and half of salt every day. Seven stones and two buckets of grain a year.

Generally, there is a big meal when the army goes out to war. For example, Tang Jun's banquet is very rich, and there must be wine. The wine is full of sword dancing and drums whistling. Musical instruments such as silk and bamboo are not allowed to be used, which will make soldiers depressed. The menu for the banquet includes 2 liters of wine, 2 Jin of beef, 5 rice, 2 pancakes, one person 1 steamed bread, and 1 steamed cake. One loose seed, three pieces of soup, five pieces of vegetables, head and hoof of cattle and sheep, sheep liver in sauce, pig liver in sauce, one third of salt, half of sauce, ginger 1, onion 3 and vinegar. As can be seen from the banquet menu, Tang Jun mainly comes from Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other western regions.

It is difficult for ordinary soldiers and junior officers to enjoy such rich dishes.

The nomadic people's air-dried meat 1 cow was replaced by 20 kg air-dried meat.

The most important military food for nomadic people and fishing and hunting people in the north is air-dried meat. After a cow is killed, a few hundred catties of beef are air-dried and turned into a dozen catties of dried meat, which is carried with you in case of war. It is equivalent to a soldier marching with 1 head of beef, which can be eaten for several months. The specific method is to air-dry fresh beef 1 year until all beef is stuffed into the bladder of a cow. At this time, these cows' bladders become food bags. Soldiers can start with 1 package or several packages of beef jerky.

The protein of these air-dried beef jerky is many times that of ordinary meat, and a small piece can meet the needs of human survival. Where you can rest, you can also cook soup with small pieces of dried meat, and then have some tea and milk food. The overall nutrition is rich and comprehensive. Nomads and fishing and hunting cavalry simply don't need rear logistics to transport food, nor do they need non-staple food such as green vegetables and bean paste.

It is through this fast food rich in nutrition and calories that nomadic people and fishing and hunting cavalry can repeatedly break into the Central Plains. Attacking towns on a large scale for a long time. Bacon is a high-quality military food that both the Central Plains dynasty army and the northern nomadic fishing and hunting army like. Only in the Central Plains Army, this is very rare.

Limited by the backward productivity, it is not easy to eat the most common tofu. The picture shows people making tofu in the Qing Dynasty.

Kill the enemy, do jerky, kill the beautiful concubine, and comfort the soldiers.

The cruelest thing about ancient rations was eating people. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yuan Shao besieged Dongwuyang, and the food in the city was cut off, from rats to saddles. Finally, the garrison commander Cang Hong personally killed his concubine to feed the soldiers. This is just a small beginning. During the pre-construction period, in a battle in Chang 'an, the defenders beheaded 1800 enemy troops who attacked the city, and then the bodies of these enemy troops became rations. The officer also took the human flesh home for his wife to eat.

Not only eat the enemy, but also our own people can eat it at the last minute. General Xue of the Tang Dynasty led 14000 soldiers to attack Mobei, but in vain, and there was no food on the way back. The whole army killed each other. After the final invasion, only one twentieth of the original troops remained.

The most shocking event happened in Suiyang, which was guarded by Zhang Xun. Zhang Xun used thousands of Tang Jun to stop the siege of An Lushan's army here. During the siege war that lasted for several months, the city suffered its first food shortage. After the food was finished, the soldiers began to eat horses. After the horse was finished, there were more than 30,000 old people and children in eat woman. Surprisingly, although Tang Jun knew that there were no reinforcements outside and no food and grass inside, he would die here, but there was no traitor. Finally, the city was broken, and there were 60 thousand soldiers and civilians in the city, only 400 people survived.

In 893, Li Keyong conquered Tianchang and killed ten thousand enemies. After that, he made the enemy's body into bacon and carried it with him as dry meat. 1233, Song Jun attacked 8 Jin Army around Tang Dynasty, and the city ran out of food. Wu Heihan, the general of the Jin army, killed his concubine for the soldiers to eat. However, the soldiers did not have enough to eat, and they rushed to kill other wives and children in Uzbekistan. In the city, even 8 8 jin j coach Fu Cha was killed by his men to eat meat. There were many cases of cannibalism in ancient wars. Here are just a few examples.

Grain cattle team in Qing dynasty.

Troops with good food generally have strong combat effectiveness, and vice versa.

From the quantity and quality of diet, we can also see the combat effectiveness of the army in various dynasties and periods. Troops with good combat effectiveness must have good food quantity and quality. Troops with poor combat effectiveness must be miserable in terms of food quality and quantity. Generally speaking, in the early days of the establishment of the Central Plains Dynasty, when the people were safe, the weather was good, and the troops were sufficient and even the elite could distribute double rations, the combat effectiveness was outstanding. At the end of the dynasty, * * * corruption, famine, military food plummeted, soldiers disheveled, hungry. I can't pull my bow, I can't walk in March, I can't put on my armor, I can't swing my knife and spear. There will be all kinds of things, the defeat will be like a mountain, and the dynasty will fall.