Today, the History Encyclopedia editor brings you the stories of the nine ancient tribes. Interested readers can follow the History Encyclopedia editor to take a look together. Why didn’t the nine tribes escape quickly when ancient emperors ordered their execution?
The most tragic massacre that we often hear about in ancient times was the extermination of nine clans, but in the actual implementation process, there were often cases of extermination of more than ten clans, such as in the Tang Dynasty. The tragic situation is indescribable and difficult to describe with words.
In the final analysis, a large part of the reason for annihilating the entire clan is to avoid future troubles and prevent any unforeseen circumstances. In history, there have been several typical cases, such as “Kang’s Zhongxing” and “Zhao’s Zhongxing”, which are two well-known ones. They were both descendants of the same race who did not kill them completely, escaped the net, and eventually rose from the ground and made a comeback.
In view of this, people with imperial power usually have to exterminate the entire race in order to avoid future troubles, and are not allowed to leave any branch or person behind, so as not to harm their power. Although it was well understood that the exterminated race would face very tragic consequences, at that time, there were rarely cases of fugitives. Why is this? Do people regard death as their own and fear death? Not really.
The first reason is that there may be survivors. Although the command is to exterminate the entire clan, in the actual execution process, it often leaves certain special groups open. For example, some elderly people, as well as children, women, and even disabled people, may be spared from this massacre. As such incidents often occur, people want to take a chance. What if they are really spared?
The second reason is that I don’t have time to escape. The emperor wants you to die, but you have to die no matter what, and you don’t even know when you will die. Therefore, civil and military officials are trembling every day, ready to die at any time. As soon as the command is given, there is no time for you to escape. It’s not surprising that some courtiers were even killed on their way to court or retreat. Even family members had already been attacked and killed by executioners, and they were killed before even leaving the house. What’s the point of escaping?
The third reason is that there is no escape at all. Although the security system in ancient times was not as developed as it is today, the ancients also invented a good way to catch fish that escaped the net. For example, in the registered residence system, everyone must have a lead when going out, which is equivalent to the current pass. Without this thing, one can’t go without half a step, let alone get the lead. No way! In addition, the system of collusion was implemented at that time, and the consequences of sheltering criminals were even worse. Therefore, if one was not on guard, they could be reported, which was really difficult. It was impossible to escape even if one wanted to.
So, based on the above three reasons, the eliminated ethnic groups basically choose not to escape, after all, the fate of being caught back is even worse, so why should they escape? On the contrary, if you stay and face the difficulties head-on, maybe there will be a glimmer of hope!
