In ancient times, people in Jianghu killed people, but the government didn't care?

Did Jianghu really exist in ancient times?

Even if such a concept does exist, it is probably a group of gangsters and outlaws.

The underworld exists in every era, isn’t it now also “sweeping out gangsters and eradicating evil”? Influenced by martial arts novels, we always yearn for the heroes in adult fairy tales who eradicate evil and uphold justice, but are also unrestrained and unrestrained.

But does a figure like the Condor Hero Guo Jing really exist in real history?

The Guo Xie, Zhu Jia, and Ju Meng in the knight-errant biographies of Sima Qian's "Historical Records" are actually powerful people traveling in the gray area of ??the law where black and white prevail. They can neither represent justice nor justice. Justice will be served without cause.

The so-called Jianghu people are mostly restless elements in society. In the city, they are idle and bullying gang members. They form cliques, and while bullying and extorting ordinary citizens, they are also responsible for doing dirty work for the government and powerful people. They often act as thugs for local powerful people. To a certain extent, it also plays a role in the stability of social order. It’s not that the government doesn’t care about them killing people, but if they specifically deal with a certain gangster who kills people, it will inevitably cause greater urban unrest.

You must know that most officials in ancient times sought wealth, power, and justice. It was just a part-time job, depending on their mood, the size of the "evil force", or whether it threatened their own black hat. At the same time, the assessment of local officials mainly focuses on three aspects, one is taxation, the other is morality, and the third is public security. However, these three important indicators will be affected to some extent by these gangsters.

If the power of these people does not fundamentally shake the interests of the officials, and as long as they do not set fire to the murders and are measured and do not cause panic or turmoil, then most of the officials will turn a blind eye. After all, the yamen has a lot to deal with, and the cases are piling up, and without the current criminal investigation technology, it can't be dealt with.

It’s not that the government doesn’t care, it just depends on whether the government’s authority and interests are violated by these gangsters. If not, then it’s better to turn a major issue into a trivial matter.

As for the green forest thieves who roared in the mountains and forests outside the city, the government was even more incapable of doing so. These green forest thieves are true outlaws. They occupy the mountain and are kings, but they do not rebel. There is really nothing they can do against the government where administrative and military power is basically concentrated at the county level.

If you are small in strength, you will send troops to suppress the laboring masses. This cost requires local financial support. At the same time, the local banditry is also a serious accusation for the official's personal assessment. If you can pacify it, everything will be easy. , and it can also increase political performance, but those bandits are basically locals, familiar with the operation of the government and the local topography, and are good at guerrilla warfare. It is not easy for the government and army to eliminate them. Therefore, the government's attitude towards these bandits is that as long as they don't cause anger and resentment, they can probably coexist with them, and even collude with them to a certain extent.

In ancient societies where the rule of man was far greater than the rule of law, and the law basically served the powerful officials, as long as there was no big trouble, killing the people of Guizhou was not a big problem, but if it was done, it should not be done. Man, we really need to get to the bottom of this. Unfortunately, in ancient times, those who needed justice were often those who were favored by the court's laws and the government.

Jianghu is a joke, and knights are just fairy tales.