Zhongyuan immigrant grassland

Introduction: In fact, this has a lot to do with the differences in ancient civilizations, the gap in strength, the mode of war, the law of dynasty replacement cycle, and backward productive forces. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Dongyi, Xirong, Nanyue and Beidi were still under attack from all sides. Finally, with the growth of the dynasty, Dongyi, Nanyue and Xirong were pacified. Qin Mugong is more about himself? Destroy the country 12, expand thousands of miles, and then stop at Xirong? The achievement of climbing the overlord. The grassland people in the north, like the grassland reborn after blowing away, are constantly occupied by powerful grassland tribes from generation to generation. This made the northern grassland always a menace to the Central Plains dynasty, and we will elaborate on it according to the above factors.

China is a typical land power, and the eastern and southern seas with underdeveloped navigation in ancient times are national borders; The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the west is a natural national border, which not only became the edge of the expansion of the Central Plains dynasty, but also became the vision of conquerors such as Alexander in the west. Therefore, only generations of powerful nomadic tribes threatened the Central Plains dynasty. These tribes were not too high in altitude, but they were not suitable for farming the northern grasslands.

Civilization and climatic conditions determine that the nomadic forces in the northern grassland will become the confidant of the Central Plains Dynasty.

The ancient dynasty of China was a typical farming civilization and a land power. The territory of the Central Plains dynasty was constantly expanding through the radiation of civilization and the desire for agricultural land. In ancient China, when the national strength of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties was still relatively weak, there were threats around it: Xirong, Beidi, Dongyi and South Vietnam. In this case, Chinese ancestors gradually expanded their sphere of influence. After the conquest and assimilation of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the eastern region was integrated into China and pushed to the sea. After the efforts of Qin and Zhao, Xirong was completely pacified; After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, 500,000 legions were sent to South Vietnam, and the land of Baiyue was finally incorporated into Chinese territory.

Why can the east, west, north and south be incorporated into the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty, and the northern grassland will become a menace to the Central Plains Dynasty? In fact, a very important reason is that it is not suitable for farming: if it is suitable for farming, it would have defeated the nomadic regime with the strength of the heyday of the Central Plains Dynasty, and then a large number of immigrants cultivated it. In ancient times, a 400 mm isoprecipitation line divided the approximate range suitable for farming. In the climate zone approved according to the temperature, the approximate range of ancient dynasties was roughly outlined: Northeast China, North China, Jiangnan and Western Regions (warm temperate zone). If this standard is used to determine the core territory of each dynasty from the Han Dynasty, it is basically the same.

Because it is not suitable for farming, requisitioning grasslands means that input exceeds output. Even if it is as powerful as the temporary capture in the Han and Tang Dynasties, it is forced to quit because the continuous input is not worth the candle. Although the northern grassland is not suitable for farming, it is very suitable for grazing. Therefore, this cycle makes the rising nomadic forces in the grasslands become a big worry for the Central Plains dynasty.

The way of life and fighting of nomadic regime is one of the reasons for the hidden dangers of the Central Plains Dynasty.

As shown in the figure below, the areas suitable for nomadism are not endless. It is distributed in China, roughly in the area north of the Great Wall and south of the Siberian high latitude forest. Therefore, when the Xiongnu, Turkic, Rouran and other grassland overlords are defeated, and the latter declines, they will move westward along the nomadic areas in Central Asia and Eastern Europe and establish a new empire. For example, Attila Empire established by descendants of Huns and awar Empire established by descendants of Rouran.

Let's first analyze the reasons why the grassland regime threatened the Central Plains dynasty from the living habits and fighting methods of nomadic people. First of all, the wealth of nomadic people is the number of cattle and sheep. They make a living by eating and milk, and exchange necessary salt and other necessities. If the white disaster caused by snowstorm causes grassland shortage and large-scale reduction of cattle and sheep, it will cross the Great Wall and plunder the Central Plains dynasty; Of course, there are also self-sustaining and powerful forms like Xiongnu and Turkic. Even if there is no famine, it will also hit the Central Plains dynasty to plunder wealth and take the initiative to provoke war. For example, in the early Tang Dynasty, after forming an alliance with Weishui, Li Jie Khan of Turkey took the opportunity to invade the south and plundered a lot of wealth.

Let's talk about nomadic fighting methods first. Because nomads grew up on horseback, they can be said to be born warriors. Adequate war horses and elite cavalry often create the fighting style of grassland cavalry coming and going like the wind. In the era when the Central Plains Dynasty was dominated by infantry, the cavalry of grassland tribes was very mobile. To paraphrase, fight if you can, but you can't catch up if you run. In a word, the army of the Central Plains Dynasty can't stay on the grassland for a long time, but should hide in the grassland with higher latitude. The army of the Central Plains dynasty left and then came back, so this tactic based on strong mobility often made the Central Plains dynasty very headache.

Summary:

To sum up, the backward productive forces in ancient times, the lifestyle and tactics of nomadic regimes are all the reasons for the persistence of the northern border troubles. When the productive forces enter the industrial society, the development and utilization of energy and the wide application of thermal weapons make all this no longer a problem.