Research On Several Issues Of Warehouse Management In Northwest Border Area Of Han Dynasty

The granary work in the northwest border area of the Han Dynasty is complicated.In addition to basic duties such as grain storage and distribution,it also needs to be responsible for off-site rationing and food transportation in other places;sometimes it may also take care of matters not directly related to grain.This can be analyzed from both the geographical and sectoral perspectives.As far as the region is concerned,the jurisdiction of a granary in a certain area is not limited to the area in which it is located,and the rationing activities of personnel in other areas are sometimes also within its responsibility.Since it is inconvenient to carry raw food and cooking utensils for processing outside,and cooked food that can be eaten directly is valuable military supplies in the border areas,obtaining food in the routed areas is the most common way of rationing for government officials.This method requires the official’s area to compensate the area through which food is provided to make up for additional local food expenditures.At the same time,it is also necessary to confirm the amount of food consumed by the person in order to deduct his outside food from his monthly food ration.In the actual process of rationing and compensating,there may be some conflicts,as well as communication and coordination between different regions and institutions.This situation is called off-site rationing.The rules for grain compensation in off-site rationing are not limited to officials,and other people in this capacity also follow this norm when they go out.In addition to feeding off-site,food transportation is also related to food agencies.At least in the western Han border area,transporting bulk food is different from transporting other debris such as weapons and tools.The standard specification for bulk grain transportation in the government-operated transportation industry is 25 Dashi per vehicle.It is convenient for the government to set up standardized transportation specifications for the settlement of transportation expenses for the wage laborers involved in the grain transportation.The transportation specifications set at the 25 Dashi are a reflection of the actual carrying capacity of grain transport vehicles at that time.Unlike the transportation of sundries,which mainly uses unicycles,bulk food transport that mostly relies on two-wheeled carts requires multiple workers to complete,so the organization of food transport is stronger than the former,and the management of individual workers It is not as rigorous as the former.For long-distance personnel to communicate and coordinate food compensation along with the area where the personnel belong,manage transportation such as cattle,horses,vehicles,etc.,and dispatch officials and organize laborers to carry out bulk grain transportation with certain specifications.These work seem to have nothing to do with the granary,but they are an extension of the traditional granary work such as grain storage and distribution,just involving a relatively wide area.As far as the department is concerned,the daily duties of warehouse officials are not all food-related tasks.When necessary,the chiefs of some local grain warehouse agencies can also perform other local administrative and military tasks.This kind of phenomenon follows certain rules and habits,and is not random.Therefore,concurrent activities between different departments can be used as an angle to investigate the position of the warehouse officials.The granary system and the arsenal system are very similar in terms of document structure and writing style,and the nature of the work reflected in them is similar.In the existing material records,almost all the arsenal system involves material management work,and most of these tasks are handled by their own duties.The warehouse officer is not only responsible for the management and distribution of food,but may also perform other administrative and military tasks in the border area,which obviously covers a larger area than the arsenal official.The officers of warehouse officials in administrative and military work is often achieved through concurrent operations.It can be seen that,in theory,warehouse officials should focus on food work,but in the records left at the time of the actual work,they often concurrently performed the affairs of other departments,and their participation was wider than similar institutions.The grain production capacity in the border areas is relatively limited compared to the inland areas,and the pressure on food is high.Therefore,at least the warehouse officials in the border areas of the Western Han Dynasty,as reflected in the Northwest Han Bamboo Slips,tend to have a wider range of affairs and a higher status than other similar departments.The organization and management of laborers,the situation of acting as a warehouse officer,and the administrative records in Qin slips have many similarities with those in the Han dynasty.The legal literature in the Qin dynasty can also be consistent with the Han slips.Of course,the warehouse administration in the Han Dynasty was not a direct copy of the Qin system,but in general,the grain warehouses,grain management systems,and some specific specifications in the Han Dynasty were mostly inherited from the Qin system.The scope of work of the Qin and Han Granary is far wider than that of simple grain storage and distribution,and the position of the warehouse official in local administration is also more important than that of other department officials.