Mobei can't carry out agricultural planting, and Han people are not used to herding horses and herding sheep.

so when the national strength is strong, it can support supplies. Maintain rule. If the national strength declines and the garrison cannot be maintained, it will inevitably affect effective control.

There is an old saying in China that "food is the most important thing for the people", and Sun Wusheng also said at the beginning of Sun Tzu's Art of War that "soldiers are important events of the country, and we must not ignore them". Combining these two meanings, it is enough to see the important role of military provisions in ancient military logistics, even in the success or failure of wars and the rise and fall of countries.

Today, people often use "millet plus rifle" to describe the hardship of wartime conditions. Little did they know that this humble and even shabby "coarse grain" has been the "top spot" of ancient military provisions for thousands of years. Why is it Xiaomi? This is closely related to the activities of the ancients. Before Sui and Tang Dynasties, the political and economic centers of China were all in the Yellow River valley, and the local area was just the traditional main producing area of millet. About 6, years ago, millet began to be widely popularized in the Central Plains. By the Shang Dynasty, millet had become the staple food of northern farming peoples, which was clearly recorded in the unearthed Oracle Bone Inscriptions. As we all know, only when a crop is widely planted among the people and reaches a surplus state can it become military food. From pre-Qin to Sui and Tang Dynasties, millet was the most suitable grain variety. However, rice has not been planted in large quantities. According to records, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the price of a bushel of rice could buy 2.5 bushels of millet, and eating rice was definitely a "luxury" in those years. How much did the ancient millet yield compete for? According to the history, during the political reform of Wei and Li Kui in the Warring States Period, under the condition of tithing (editor's note: paying one tenth of the yield per mu as tax), a family of five cultivated 1 mu of farmland, and the annual yield of millet was 95 stones, and the remaining 45 stones were converted into modern units of measurement, with an yield of about 79.41 Jin per mu, which reached 6% of that at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which was not easy more than 2, years ago.

It was with sufficient surplus grain that it was possible for the Warring States and Qin and Han Dynasties to fight in large armies with hundreds of thousands of people gathered at every turn. According to the Bamboo Slips of Qin Tomb in Sleeping Tiger Land, the State of Qin classified the stored millet into three categories: yellow, white and green, with 2, stones in Liyang warehouse and 1, stones in Xianyang warehouse. These mountains of millet have no intention of being an important capital for Qin to flatten the space and unify China. In the Han Dynasty, millet was widely planted. Chao Cuo, a politician in the Jingdi period, spoke highly of the strategic value of millet, such as "If you bring a million dollars, you will die of millet, and you will be able to keep it" and "If you are a millet, the king will make great use of it, which is the basic task of politics". Although the term "millet" here has become a general term for grain, it also highlights the importance of millet production in the Han Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty fought with the Xiongnu for a long time in northern Xinjiang. In order to prepare for the war, the governors of the Western Han Dynasty took many measures, the most important of which was to raise grain and horses. According to Hanshu? According to the Records of Foodstuffs, Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty once adopted Chao Cuo's words of "exchanging titles for food and grass" and raised "sufficient rations for the border guards at the age of five". The rations of officers and men are easy to handle, but the real problem is the breeding of war horses. In some ancient costume movies and TV plays, we can often see the footage of military horses grazing in the stables. In fact, in the early days of the Sino-Hungarian War, the concentrated feed eaten by the war horses of the Han army was all corn, because this was the only way to ensure the horses' physical strength. So, how big is the belly of a war horse? Hanshu? The Biography of Zhao Chongguo makes it clear: "The army and horses eat in January, and Tian Shi is one year old." "On Salt and Iron" also mentioned that "one horse fell down, and there were six people in the family, and one man died." One war horse will eat the rations of at least six people. In the early days of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, the country had more than 4, official horses, and the huge consumption of millet can be imagined. This situation continued until Zhang Qian went to the Western Regions and introduced alfalfa, an excellent forage grass of bloody BMW. In addition, the longevity of millet in the military also benefits from its good storage. Archaeologists found that there were 5, Jin of carbonized millet (millet) in one of the grain pits when excavating the site of Hanjiacang in Sui Dynasty, which should be surplus grain that has not been consumed in time. According to the records of the Tang Dynasty, millet can be stored for 9 years, and rice can only be stored for 5 years. The shelf life of millet is almost twice as long as that of rice. In fact, the storage time of millet may be longer. According to Old Tang Books? Biography of Ma Zhou records that the Chang 'an treasury left by the former was not exhausted until the 11th year of Tang Zhenguan, 2 years after the demise of Sui Dynasty. This advantage of millet is of great military significance. After all, the ancient transportation conditions were backward, and the garrison in remote areas could not be replenished for a long time.

Although millet was always the "master's meal" of the army from Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was not a national food crop. It was only influenced by many factors such as the political center of Chinese civilization at that time, the military center of gravity, the level of productivity, the government guidance and so on that millet firmly occupied the position of the military staple food. As the economic center of gravity moved southward in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the wheat and rice producing areas continued to expand, and rice flour gradually replaced millet and became the first choice for military food. Before the early Tang Dynasty, wheat in the northern region was still in a secondary position compared with millet, and it was even classified as "miscellaneous grains" when taxes were levied. However, since the mid-Tang Dynasty, the scope of wheat planting has expanded rapidly from east to west and south. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people in the north were already "half wheat" at the dinner table. In the south, through the development of dynasties, by the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the productivity level of Jiangnan had made great progress. Double-cropping rice in southern China was widely planted in the Tang Dynasty, and there was also a double cropping system of rice and wheat rotation. Since then, a large number of rice has been transported to the north, and together with wheat, it has become the main body of military food in later generations. Interestingly, the popularization speed of wheat and rice products is closely related to the unique eating habits of the north and the south, except for the constraints of farming techniques and natural conditions, and the habits are sometimes "stubborn". According to Zeng Xiongsheng, a scholar, the ancients used cooking to process staple foods, that is, millet or rice was made into rice or porridge. However, the "wheat rice" made by this method was difficult to swallow for northerners who used to eat millet or southerners who used to eat rice. In ancient books, there was a record that Liang Jun, who was composed of southerners, suffered from low morale and decreased combat effectiveness because of eating "wheat rice" during the war between Qi and Liang Dynasties in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and Liang Jun's trick to turn defeat into victory was also very simple-rice and stewed duck. Some people may ask, why not grind wheat into flour? That's no wonder the ancients. According to research, until the Southern Song Dynasty, the wheat produced in many areas was still "soft and tasteless" and "sticky and inedible", which was obviously not suitable for processing into pasta. However, with the improvement of varieties and the progress of flour processing technology, the rotor army "developed" more and more delicious and delicious wheat rations, leaving many interesting allusions. Like the steamed bread widely eaten by people today, it was born in the army at the beginning. It is said that Zhuge Liang, on his way back to the division to pacify the rebellion in southern Xinjiang, passed through Lushui. In order to calm the grievances in the water and not to sacrifice his head, he asked the chef to make it into the shape of a head with flour and throw it into the river. Since then, there has been a food called steamed bread. Another example is Guo Kui. According to the Records of Wuzhi County in Henan Province, during the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu led the troops to guard Bo Wang, which was in the autumn drought and water shortage, making it difficult to cook, and his morale was floating. Guan Yu Feima sent someone to plead with Zhuge Liang and wanted to abandon the city. I didn't know that Zhuge Liang's reply was a kind of water-saving food practice-"use more dry noodles, mix a little water, synthesize lumps, make them in a big pot, eat them as helmets, and burn the soldiers." Guan Yu did the same thing, and the pancakes were helmet-shaped, crisp and crisp. Because of the little moisture, they remained unchanged for a long time, especially suitable for military consumption. The three countries competed for hegemony and the Central Plains, and the practice of Guo Kui spread. There is also the "Light Cake" named after Qi Jiguang. Due to the looting of the enemy, the Ming army followed and chased it, and it was too late to bury the pot and cook. Qi Jiguang then ordered the firemen to make small round cakes with flour and bake them with charcoal fire. The cakes were golden in color, crisp and salty, with small holes punched in the middle and strung with ropes for the soldiers to take with them.

ancient non-staple foods were far less diverse and delicious than today. In ancient times when the preservation technology was not developed, it was a luxury to eat fresh vegetables and meat in the army. Unless it can be replenished on the spot, most of the time, I am afraid that only pickled food will accompany every meal with the soldiers who are fighting outside. According to its material, it can be divided into meat and vegetables.

From the Eastern Han Dynasty, pickled fish and meat were collectively referred to as Fu, and they were divided into two types due to different practices: the pickled fish became Bao, also known as "pickled"; Salted and dried is called "owl" (sound the same as "think"). According to Jia Sixie's "Qi Min Yao Shu", the new carp in spring and autumn should be selected to make the fish, and then the scales should be cut into fish pieces that are "two inches long, one inch wide and five minutes thick". After soaking and removing blood, the salt should be evenly sprinkled, and the water should be killed in a cage, and then the cooked japonica rice with cornus, orange peel and good wine should be used to make the pickling material "Nan". When the white slurry precipitates, you're done. When it comes to cured meat, we can't help but mention the famous Jinhua ham. According to legend, Zong Ze, the general who fought against gold in the Southern Song Dynasty, was from Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. Because of the difficulty in supplying food before the army, Zong Ze often asked villagers to make bacon and transport it to the front, and presented it to Song Gaozong for tasting. The emperor saw that the bacon was as bright red as fire, so he gave it the name "ham".

from the above, it is not difficult to see that although the catfish is delicious, its processing process is quite complicated. Compared with the time-consuming and laborious pickled products, the production of dried meat (called "preserved" in ancient times, with the same sound as "caressing") is much simpler. Just break beef, sheep, roe deer and venison into pieces, soak them in blood, soak them in salt and pepper powder, and then dry them in the shade. Finally, there is a trick to beat them with a wooden stick to make them firm. Inner Mongolia produces a kind of air-dried beef jerky, which is euphemistically called "Genghis Khan's military food". The author once tasted it in high school. This kind of dried beef is cut into long strips, which is very chewy and very full. Of course, not everyone in the ancient army could eat meat, even hunting along the way didn't help. Ordinary foot soldiers could only start a meatless diet before or after the decisive battle, while the diet of emperors and princes was much better. For example, there is a famous story about pickled fish in history: Qin Shihuang was seriously ill when he visited the Dune Palace in the east. When Prime Minister Reese and Zhongche House ordered Zhao Gao to usurp the throne of Hu Hai, they used the "abalone" carried by the army to cover up the smell of the corpse, so as to keep it a secret. The "abalone" mentioned here has nothing to do with the rare delicacies that are now as famous as bird's nest and shark's fin, but salted fish that is spoiled by high temperature after salting. With regard to vegetable ration, there was no customization in ancient times. Except for the self-sufficient army in Tuntian, most of the time, vegetables and fruits were also "special food" for senior generals. Since the army lacks meat and fresh vegetables, how did the ancients solve the problem of non-staple food in the army? So "sauce" came into being. Sauce in the pre-Qin period mainly refers to meat marinated with salt. During this period, there were also special characters to represent different sauces, such as the extension beside the word fish, which means fish sauce; The word moon is extended next to it, which means meat sauce. In the Han Dynasty, with the introduction of soybean, soybean paste appeared and soon became an important non-staple food of the army. There are many ancient documents about this. In Dunhuang Han bamboo slips, there are data reflecting the consumption of sauce by soldiers in Hexi frontier: "three cups of wine, two cups of millet, and two cups of sauce", and there are corresponding records in the Law of Passing on Food in the Qin Dynasty: "half a cup of glutinous rice, one quarter liter of sauce" was provided to the officials under the imperial history; Those who are below the title of "Bugeng" will enjoy the treatment of "a bucket of rice and half a liter of sauce". It can be seen that sauce was not only widely eaten by soldiers at that time, but also formulated the corresponding ration standards according to their status and position. Interestingly, the bean paste also has a nickname "Lei doesn't make sauce". This was originally a saying that you can't make meat sauce in rainy days to prevent mildew and deterioration. However, because bean products are prone to flatulence, people's abdominal flatulence sounds like thunder after eating bean sauce, so "Lei doesn't make sauce" has become the nickname of bean sauce. According to the records in Qi Min Yao Shu, the nutritional value of these pickled products is not high, and the preservation method mainly depends on fermentation and a lot of salt. It should be pointed out that salt, as an important strategic material in ancient times, also had a strict supply system. For example, in the army of the Han Dynasty, soldiers were rationed with 3 liters of salt per month. Under the condition of backward medicine and lack of nutrition at that time, salt was not so much a common condiment as an important source of the army's combat effectiveness.