Why was Gansu once rich?

When it comes to the former wealth of Gansu, people invariably think that Sima Guang of the Northern Song Dynasty said in Zi Jian, Volume 2 16 that "it was at that time (in the 12th year of Tang Tianbao, your company, AD 753) that Sheng Qiang, China, went all the way to the west of Anyuanmen, confronting Yan and Sang Ma. The world said that every time John sent envoys to play, he often rode a white camel and flew 500 miles a day." This makes Gansu people very proud, and even has a feeling of pride.

This is also the case. Han and Tang Dynasties are the richest places in China. At that time, the Silk Road was opened by the Han Empire, and it was the frontier of opening up and trade, so it could not be rich. But why did Gansu become one of the poorest places in China?

Ten thousand people may have ten thousand answers to this question. Summarizing the history, it is not difficult to find that the "correct answer" is nothing more than three points: first, ecology; The second is war; The third is disaster.

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Ecology. Say it briefly.

Today's Gansu, especially the Longzhong area, which is known as the best in the world, is not optimistic about its ecological environment. Although some progress has been made in recent years due to measures such as returning farmland to forests and grasslands, there is still a long way to go in the process of restoration. As mentioned earlier, Gansu has been a good place for farming and grazing since ancient times, and there are cultural sites in Dadiwan dating back 8000 years. Archaeology has proved that more than 5000 years ago, 80% of the area here was covered by forests, with excellent ecology. But why did it become like this? As far as ecology is concerned, ecology is nothing more than two factors: one is man-made destruction; Second, the yellow land itself is prone to soil erosion.

Man-made destruction mainly comes from immigrants.

In order to consolidate the frontier, almost every dynasty immigrated to Gansu in large numbers. Immigrants came here to guard and fix the border in wartime, and they usually reclaimed a lot of land without restraint. In addition, the climate, agriculture, animal husbandry and soil erosion here are the main reasons for the deterioration of the ecological environment. It is said that relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to eat water, the landscape ecology is broken, what to eat? As the saying goes, "Jinshan Yinshan is not as good as green water and green hills."

Yellow soil itself is prone to soil erosion, which is a scientific fact, and I don't need to go into details. This is also one of the reasons for poverty in Gansu.

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War. Give a few examples.

The name Gansu started from Xixia, and we also started from Xixia. In history, the territory of Xixia was basically close to the time when Gansu had the largest area under its jurisdiction. Today, there is nothing wrong with many scholars talking about the splendid culture created here by the separatist regime, but this "splendid culture" was at the expense of the blood and even lives of the people in this area at that time.

Modern people estimate that the total population of Xixia is about 3 million, but this small separatist country actually has 500,000-700,000 troops. That is to say, one of the 4-6 people is a soldier. This concept is scary. Xixia even stipulated that men aged 15-70 should be soldiers, and some families without men would be cancelled.

The war seriously damaged the social economy at that time, and people were miserable for it.

After Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the issue of war never really stopped here. Even during the Republic of China, Ma Jiajun adopted a strict military service system to develop and strengthen its own strength, which made it difficult for the people to recuperate and the land unbearable. It is the second cause of poverty in Gansu.

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Disaster. Take the Republic of China as an example.

Today, there are still two unforgettable pains in the hearts of northwest people. One is the Great Famine in the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929); The second time was the Haiyuan earthquake in 1920. 1929 god's great famine, it hasn't rained for nearly two years, and the mice are too hungry to walk. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake created many firsts in China's modern history: the Central Geological Survey of Beiyang government at that time decided to establish the first seismic station in China immediately after the earthquake; The scientific investigation team conducted the earthquake site investigation at the first time; Submitted the first earthquake investigation report in the history of China; The first isoseismic map of China seismic belt was drawn. At the World Geological Congress held in Belgium, China scholars stood on the world platform for the first time to read papers related to Haiyuan earthquake. According to the compilation of historical data of China earthquake, the earthquake was felt all over the world, and nearly 300,000 people were killed, especially after the earthquake.

These are indelible scars and memories in Gansu and even the northwest. As far as the Gansu earthquake is concerned, there are three major earthquakes.

It is not difficult to find out from the Compilation of Historical Materials of Earthquakes in China that the earthquakes with magnitude 10, which suffered heavy casualties in China's history, have occurred in Gansu for four times. In addition to the Haiyuan earthquake mentioned above, an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 occurred in Wenxian County, Gansu Province on July 1879. 1927 On May 23rd, a strong earthquake of magnitude 8 occurred in Gulang, Gansu. 1932 65438+On February 25th, an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 occurred in Changmabao, Gansu.