Can the Great Wall really resist foreign enemies because it is so short?

We know that the Great Wall was a very famous military defense project in ancient China. Although it has lost its defensive significance to us now, what remains is only decorative, but we can't deny the real defensive role played by the Great Wall in ancient history. Without the Great Wall, history will be rewritten. However, the Great Wall we see now is actually very short. What can such a short Great Wall stop? Can it really resist the invasion of nomadic people?

The Great Wall not only has the function of military defense, but also has an important forgotten function. In fact, the Great Wall is not high and the mountains are high. But the problem is that the higher and steeper the mountain, the less necessary it is to build the Great Wall on it. Please think it over, don't you? As the picture shows, a war horse can't climb the mountain. It is enough to have a bright lamp to warn. Why build a continuous wall?

When people breathlessly climb the Wild Great Wall above steep peaks, they will feel the greatness of their ancestors and have a strong sense of doubt. A mountain hundreds of meters high is steep enough to intercept troops and horses. Is it necessary to raise the wall a few meters at the top of the mountain? And there are not only the Great Wall in the mountains, but also the thin Great Wall in the desert and grassland. Can this really stop the army from attacking? Can this Great Wall improve the speed of troop transport and ensure the advantage of mobility?

In the vast Gobi or grassland, find a place with few people to destroy a gap in the Great Wall, can't the army pass? In fact, it is not uncommon for nomadic people to "break through the side wall" in history. Therefore, it is not enough to explain these Great Wall phenomena only from the perspective of military defense. This must jump out of the thinking limitation of a single factor and introduce another key function of the Great Wall-economic blockade.

The gateway on the Great Wall has become a key point in the network and a gate to control commercial flow. When the pass was closed, trade was completely blocked. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, the post-Jin trade was closed because of the economic blockade. In the later period of Nurhachi, the price of rice in Liaodong soared to 820 silver, 920 cotton cloth and 220 python forging.

"It is good to defeat the enemy without fighting." Without using force, we can make the other side yield and achieve the strategic goal with the least casualties and the lowest price. This is the best way, and economic war can achieve this effect.

Economic war will bring economic depression and even social unrest to foreign enemies, making them unable to wage war. This is a very effective means of defense and attack. Just as Europe and the United States often impose trade sanctions on North Korea and Iran, making it impossible for the enemy to enhance its national strength and deterring them from acting rashly. As long as you figure this out, the three problems mentioned above will be solved immediately. The Great Wall, which is several meters high, is an effective trade barrier at the top of the mountain, in the grassland and in the desert.

Of course, this is by no means to deny or belittle the military defense function of the Great Wall. This paper is to supplement economic factors to analyze the Great Wall phenomenon that can not be explained by military defense alone. The relationship between military and economy is more like "wave-particle duality", which is a complementary relationship.

Why do prairie people need businessmen? There are many products on the grassland, such as horses, cattle and sheep, fur, medicinal materials and green and white salt. In the eyes of nomads, these things are everywhere and nothing rare. However, in the Central Plains, there is a great demand for these products, and the price difference between the two places is very considerable.

Many commodities in the Central Plains are also in short supply on grasslands, such as cloth, wine, tea, sugar, silk, porcelain, handicrafts, cosmetics and other commodities that need fine processing. These are very scarce for nomadic people, who are willing to exchange what they don't want for goods that they think are in short supply in the Central Plains.

In fact, in the eyes of many businessmen, business has no national boundaries. Where there is a price difference, there will be businessmen. This price difference gave birth to trade immigrants, and a large number of businessmen shuttled between the mainland and grassland in search of various trade opportunities. Frequent trade has gradually formed a trade network, and scattered settlements and villages and towns have been born along the network. This is the road of economic and ecological evolution in the natural state.

Khan on the grassland is the biggest supplier of goods to businessmen, and Khan exchanged grassland products for a large number of goods from the Central Plains. The biographies of the Southern Xiongnu in the Later Han Dynasty once recorded:

On the one hand, the goods Khan obtained from trade were for his own use, but more importantly, these goods were distributed to the leaders all over the grassland, because these goods were collected by Khan from all the leaders. There is a cooperative relationship between Khan and the leader, and investment inevitably requires profits and shares. With these incomes, leaders can maintain people's obedience and support on their own turf. Khan ruled local leaders in the same way.

According to historical records such as Manchu old files and Records of Emperor Taizong of Qing Dynasty, before and after the ceremony of Huang Taiji's accession to the throne, more than 3,000 pieces of silks and satins were consumed in making official uniforms to worship the Mongolian princes of the Eight Banners. Among them, only 305 pieces of silks and satins were given to 49 Mongolian princes in Horqin, Zalute and other departments 16. This is nothing for China, but it is a rare treasure, hard currency and huge expense for remote Liaodong, which does not produce silks and satins.

To put it bluntly, in peacetime, the grassland empire is a big company, whose main task is to produce, earn money and distribute money to maintain the operation of the whole organization, and businessmen are their most valued trading partners. Among them, the most successful businessman is Jinshang Group. They not only did business in Jiubian in the Ming Dynasty, but also had close trade with Mongolia and Houjin. For example, the silks and satins consumed by Huang Taiji when he ascended the throne mainly came from Shanxi merchants.

How does the Great Wall reconstruct the economic ecology?

During the war, the central plains dynasty inevitably weakened and disintegrated the power of grassland tribes, relying on military strikes on the one hand and economic strikes on the other. When it comes to the economic blow, many people's first reaction is the economic blockade. By prohibiting the goods from the Central Plains from flowing into the grasslands, Khan and the leaders can be weakened.

But the problem is that if the government bans trade, it will immediately make the market scarce, thus pushing up commodity prices. The government thinks that its ban can stop trade, but it also widens the price difference of trade.

When businessmen find that smuggling can make considerable profits, they must venture to find new trade channels and bypass the blockade to smuggle. Don't underestimate the wisdom and climbing ability of businessmen. Although mountains can stop horses, they may not be able to stop businessmen.

Businessmen's horses, cows and camels can cross thousands of meters of snow-capped ice fields and shuttle between cliffs, so hundreds of meters of mountains can't beat businessmen at all. Even if the cattle and horses can't turn over, you can still hire porters to carry them on your shoulders. As long as you can pass the customs, someone will naturally pick you up. It can be said that the wisdom of businessmen is infinite.

Whether it is mountains, grasslands or Gobi, it can't stop the footsteps of "profiteers bypassing Vietnam". If the government finds that the new passage is blocked, businessmen will explore more secret passages from the mountains. A new trade network will be gradually formed, and the economic ecology will be automatically repaired. Moreover, the more the government strengthens the blockade, the higher the difference in commodity prices, and the stronger the motivation for businessmen to explore the road, because the more profits they get.

At the beginning of the Ming Great Wall, a large number of passes, forts and beacon towers were built for military defense, one after another, and the side walls were intermittent and incoherent, leaving many loopholes for businessmen to drill. Without a coherent Great Wall to contain businessmen, it is difficult for the government to achieve economic blockade. If an economic blockade is to be carried out, it is necessary to connect these side walls and towers, and gradually connect the separated points into lines and connect them, so that there is no loophole to drill. This is the Great Wall of Wan Li that we see now.

The perfection and coherence of the Great Wall is a great killer to end businessmen's exploration of the road. Because the continuous Great Wall, coupled with the early warning and patrol of the beacon system, can effectively prevent the behavior of "profiteers bypassing". Businessmen have families and businesses. They are not criminals or military forces. It's okay to sneak around. If you cross the Great Wall or destroy it, you will lose your life. No one can take the risk.

With the Great Wall, businessmen have to pass through the pass to enter the grassland. Later, everyone came to the pass to trade, and the pass became a port to open up a mutual market. The Fu Xuan Town Records during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty recorded the Zhangjiakou area.

The Great Wall makes it difficult for businessmen to smuggle goods and evade taxes. Therefore, in government finance, the portal of monopoly trade can also obtain considerable tariff income, which is also the source of funds for local connection and daily operation and maintenance.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Mei Guozhen called the goods traded in the northern frontier areas "Duan Bu, fox skins, all kinds of groceries, from Suzhou, Hangzhou and Huguang, from Linqing to Lugou Wantong in Tianjin, with unknown taxes and even heavy taxes in the market". Rich businessmen refused to do this deal because of their meager profits.

As descendants, we only saw the results after the connection, but we couldn't see the construction and connection process of the Great Wall, so there were many puzzling questions. It's like we have a developed brain, but we don't know how the brain intelligence comes from. We must rely on all kinds of evidence to restore this evolutionary process bit by bit.

Therefore, the Great Wall is the result of both military and economic factors, and either factor is very important. But only one factor cannot explain all the phenomena. Just like the economic factors emphasized here, it can only explain the consistency and "so short" of the side wall, but can't explain the design of other defense systems.

Thanks to @ yekesaid, the information he provided perfected the process. For more details, please read Why the Great Wall Can Stop So Short. -The answer of Yek Saeed.

In addition, the Great Wall has an unexpected side effect. Without the activities of businessmen, the ecosystem inside and outside the Great Wall will also change greatly.

How does the Great Wall rebuild the natural ecology? As mentioned above, merchants have established trade networks, and there will be gathering points and villages and towns on these network nodes. People in residential areas can provide accommodation, catering and other services for businessmen coming and going, and at the same time, they can also get necessities such as salt, tea and cloth. Just like the place where water flows, the vegetation will be lush, and the place where people flow will also form a gathering point, where people can settle down.

But once the Great Wall cuts off the merchant's trade network, many villages and towns far away from the pass will gradually shrink, and the disappearance of human activities will also reduce the damage to vegetation. With the establishment of the Great Wall, the commercial road opened by businessmen between mountains will be gradually submerged by vegetation.

If you often climb mountains, you will notice a phenomenon. Although some mountain roads can be walked in winter, they will be covered with various plants in summer and become impassable. If this road is barren all the year round, lush vegetation will gradually cover the whole road until it is completely impassable.

The existence of the Great Wall makes no man's land appear along the Great Wall. Without people, there is no easy road. This is the restoration of the Great Wall to the natural ecology. Of course, this is an incidental effect, not a purposeful behavior.

During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Hu Song mentioned in Answering Zhai Zhongcheng's Border Affairs that, to some extent, this wild ecology can also play a role in resisting the enemy, because in this place, the distant enemy can neither get supplies nor March. The enemy is helpless in the face of lush plants, even if the fighting capacity is strong.

Of course, this may only apply to mountain ecology. If it is desert or grassland, no vegetation can stop the enemy. Only the lack of people can put some pressure on the enemy's logistics.

Is the economic blockade really effective for the enemy? In the short term, it can be said that it is very effective. The central plains dynasty often used this method to balance the forces of all parties in the northern grassland. But the problem is that this strategy of "controlling foreign countries with foreign countries" also destroyed the trust between the northern grassland nationalities and the Central Plains dynasty. For example, after Qin Long's collegiate bench, the Ming Dynasty began to support the Mongolian people's right-wing forces and open trade with them, which kept the northwest border of the Ming Dynasty relatively stable for decades.

However, because the Ming Dynasty pursued the strategy of "controlling foreign countries with foreign countries", it continued to suppress the left-wing Chahar department of Mongolia and refused to hold a trade fair, which kept Liaodong in a state of war until the Wanli period.

After the rise of Jurchen, the Ming Dynasty imposed an economic blockade on the late Jin Dynasty, and began to win over the Mongolian left-wing Li Dan Khan to fight against the late Jin Dynasty in Liaodong. However, at the critical moment, he betrayed Chahar when he fell, and reached an alliance with Huang Taiji at the gate, which eventually led to the full withdrawal of Mongolian ministries and the establishment of the Manchu-Mongolian Alliance.

Not only the Great Wall, but also the economic blockade thought of the Ming Dynasty. The closed-door policy eventually led to Japan's serious invasion in the southeast coast. Once the sea ban is relaxed, the number of Japanese pirates will soon be greatly reduced. What do you think is going on? Is military strike really the most effective way to maintain peace? There is a special issue of chinese national geography that reveals the truth about the enemy. I suggest you go and have a look.

The tension of "invading south and advancing north" proves that the economic blockade is not invalid, but effective enough to become the cause of war. Later, the Qing dynasty also used the idea of economic blockade to restrict trade with western powers, trying to make them submit.

1727, China and Russia signed the Treaty of Chaktu to establish a mutual market in Chaktu, Outer Mongolia. Because of the problems in Russia and Zhungeer, 1744 and 1792 closed for ten times. 1839, Daoguang issued a decree to Lin Zexu, who banned smoking in Guangdong, saying: "If there is any repetition in the future, we should show our military strength, cut off tea and rhubarb, and never allow trade. Stubborn people know what they are afraid of. "

Everyone knows the ending of the story. The idea of economic blockade inherited from the Great Wall can indeed effectively control and attack the enemy, but if it is not used well, it will also become the fuse to induce war and go to the opposite side.

The real wise man is Li Hongzhang decades later. In 1872, he pointed out that the whole article is grand and pragmatic, with profound insights beyond the times, and should be included in the teaching materials.

He predicted, "An Jian can't stand on his own feet after hundreds of years?" , too accurate! In the second half of the memorial, he put forward many concrete plans to learn from the West and Qiang Bing, a rich country. Facts have proved that most of them are correct. Although Li Hongzhang's military efforts, such as Beiyang Navy, were completely annihilated in the Sino-Japanese War, his economic efforts, such as China Merchants Bank, China Merchants Bank and Ping An Insurance, which we are familiar with today, all developed from China Merchants Bank more than 40 years ago.

Does modern society still need the Great Wall?

It is said that the engineering code of the Berlin Wall is "China Great Wall II". Kennedy once commented on the Berlin Wall: "This is the first wall in human history that is not to guard against foreign enemies, but to guard against its own people." From the point of view of military defense, the Great Wall does guard against foreign enemies, but from the point of view of economic blockade, in order to effectively blockade, it is necessary to connect the Great Wall and limit the exchanges between our own people and foreign enemies. In this way, the Berlin Wall is not the first wall to guard against its own people.

In addition, the border is also a modern Great Wall. Governments not only control exchanges at home and abroad through borders, but also obtain huge import and export tariffs through customs at border ports. It is precisely because of defense, blockade, taxation and other purposes that the Great Wall has not disappeared in modern society. It still affects our lives, but exists in different names and forms.

conclusion

Economic blockade is a double-edged sword, and both sides lose.