There were also wanted warrants in ancient times, but was it really useful in ancient times?

In ancient times, the wanted order was a means for the imperial court to hunt down criminals. In modern times, due to advanced technology and photography technology, the people on the wanted list will be easily identified by us. But this technology did not exist in ancient times, and the ancients could only rely on portraits to investigate clues. However, famous painters who draw well don't specialize in this line, so it's hard to recognize ancient wanted orders, and it's hard to recognize some criminals as long as they change their faces a little. But in ancient times, people still used the method of wanted order, and the effect was very good. Basically, all the criminals who issued wanted notices were arrested. Why?

In fact, there was no portrait in the earliest wanted order. From the Warring States to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people wrote with bamboo slips. At that time, the paper had not been improved, and only bamboo slips were used. It is difficult to draw a portrait on bamboo slips, but if there is no portrait, wouldn't the criminals at that time be hunted down? Of course not. In ancient times, if a case happened, some clues about the case would be written on bamboo slips and then posted. Then according to the crime scene, it is presumed to be an acquaintance or an enemy. After questioning everyone's confession in turn, the murderer was sentenced to arrest. ?

We have seen many TV dramas with criminal investigation themes, which are often impressed by the superb handling methods of the police. Criminals can't escape by means of fingerprints or online wanted orders. Will we think that in ancient times when the conditions were so bad and there was no national public security system, could the ancients really arrest people with a wanted order? In fact, we often see portraits on ancient wanted orders, all of which are simple portraits drawn by people according to descriptions. It can be said that these portraits are actually very abstract, and they are outlined with just a few strokes. Some criminals can't even see that they are themselves. In this case, is it possible for the suspect to be caught? ?

This method is not very efficient in our view now. We can imagine that if a foreigner fled the city directly after committing a crime, he would not find it. In fact, martial law was very strict at night in ancient times, and it was difficult to see others except official patrols and night watchman. Murder at night can easily alarm patrol officers. If the case has a great impact, the government will set up checkpoints at the entrance of the city to check people entering and leaving the city one by one.

With paper, portraits of criminals began to appear on the wanted list, and it was easier to hunt down criminals than before. Moreover, in ancient times, knowing the names of criminals would save a lot of trouble, because there were taxes everywhere in ancient times and the names of taxpayers were recorded. If you directly check the local tax information until the name, you can find the information you want. ?

If these criminals see their wanted warrants, change their hairstyles slightly or shave their beards, will they not even recognize their relatives around them? How can we catch it? In fact, we can think of these problems, but will the government not think of them? If the wanted order is really so lame, how can the government insist? The ancient wanted order actually had a formal name, that is, the document of sea arrest, which means it is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack, but the ancient government did catch many criminals in this way.

In this sea arrest document, not only the name, ancestral home, home address and appearance of the prisoner will be written, but also the portrait of the prisoner will be attached. Although the portrait is abstract, the most important thing for the government to issue this wanted order is not the portrait above. It can be said that the portrait is not the most important information on the wanted order. You may rarely know that there was an ID card in ancient times, and the ancestral home system has existed since ancient times. It is also for this reason that many historians can look through materials when they understand historical figures, but these materials have different names at different times, but they can accurately understand everyone by virtue of this, just like ID cards. ?

In ancient times, in fact, most people never went out of the city, and in ancient times, taxes were very strict, accurate to everyone's head. In ancient times, there was a system of sitting together, that is, if a person committed a crime at home, if other family members said not to report it, it would be equivalent to a criminal act, because few people had been out of the city in ancient times. Similarly, few strangers came to a city in ancient times. If a stranger comes to a city, he will be sent to the government if the explanation is not clear. Of course, these are actually some protective measures, and the key to catching annoying people depends on the last sentence on the wanted order: the insider reports to the government, and once it is verified, how much will be rewarded. ?

Therefore, this sentence is the key to the arrest warrant. In ancient times, there were hundreds or thousands of silver prizes like this every time. For an ordinary person, this money can be said to be hard to earn in a lifetime. We can put ourselves in others' shoes. If we are insiders, facing such a reward is like winning the lottery. What are we going to do? If we find the suspect, we will definitely take the risk.