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Meng Tian's historical deeds, evaluation and introduction.

Meng Tian and his brother Meng Yi were the most effective assistants after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries. It is said in Historical Records that Qin Shihuang "respected the Montessori and believed in the virtuous", and "Ren Tian's diplomacy, Yi Chang's internal intrigue, which is called loyalty and trust, is not suitable for the general.

Dare to compete with it. " ①

Meng Tian was born in an unknown year and died in the 37th year of Qin Shihuang (2 10 BC). His ancestors came from Qi. Grandfather Meng Ao went from Qi State to Qin State, "being the King of Qin Zhao, the official is supreme". Later, in the first year of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, Meng Ao was General Qin. His father Wu Meng was appointed General Bi in the 23rd year of Qin Shihuang (224 BC). (2) Meng Tian's grandfather and father captured the city and attacked Korea, Zhao, Wei and Chu in the annexation war of Qin, and they made outstanding achievements, so they were called military families. Such a family and country naturally had a great influence on Meng Tian, who first studied prison law and worked as a prison palace. In the 26th year of Qin Shihuang (22 1), Meng Tian became a general and began his military career. At that time, the feudal war that lasted for 254 years was coming to an end, and the trend of reunification was a foregone conclusion. Except Qi, Yan, Zhao, Chu, Han and Wei, all the six Kanto countries that had been at war with Qin for many years were unified by Qin. In the war to finally destroy Qi, Meng Tian helped Wang Ben win in one fell swoop, forced the King of Qi to surrender, and helped the King of Qin to accomplish the great cause of reunifying the whole country militarily. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, it was ordered that "all the soldiers in the world gathered in Xianyang, thinking that Zhong Kui and Ren Jin were twelve, weighing a thousand stones and establishing a palace" (3), and a peaceful scene appeared.

Although the war in the Central Plains has been silent, the northern frontier of Qin is still not peaceful. So Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian to guard the northern frontier.

Northern Expulsion of Hungarian Slaves

Since the Warring States Period, three major ethnic groups have been active in northern China. Northeast China, namely Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, is called "East Lake"; The north, that is, parts of Mongolia, Ningxia and Shaanxi at home and abroad today, is called "Xiongnu"; The northwest, that is, today's Gansu and Qinghai areas, is called "Yue family". When Qin Shihuang fought in the Central Plains, these ethnic minorities took the opportunity to develop, which is the so-called "Donghu Qiangsheng Yueshi". Tou Man Khan, the leader of Xiongnu, led tribal troops to go deep along the Yellow River Hetao, and sometimes soldiers came only a few hundred miles away from Xianyang.

Xiongnu is a nomadic people, "a warrior can stab a bow with strength and be a rider". In combat: first, the attack is mainly based on scattered small units, and the forces in various places are "evenly matched"; Second, swim well and come and go quickly; Third, the battle is brave, but once the vanguard troops are defeated, it is not easy for the follow-up troops to withdraw; Fourth, it is shorter than tackling key problems and longer than field work.

Faced with these characteristics of Xiongnu army, there were different opinions in the imperial court about whether Meng Tian invaded Xiongnu in the north. Prime Minister Reese resolutely opposed Meng Tian's northward advance. He wrote to remonstrate, saying, "Husband and Xiongnu have no home in the battlements, so it is difficult to keep them and control them. Light soldiers go deep, and food and grass will be lost; Follow the texture, not the substance. If you can't get enough land, it will be profitable. If you meet someone, you can't fight and keep it. " (4) That is to say, the Huns have a vast territory, and if the soldiers are light and deep, the subsequent grain transportation will be absolutely impossible; If we move forward with large troops carrying food, it will not be conducive to the beginning of the battle; Moreover, even if we win, the barren land will be unprofitable and the people will be unable to defend. Just as Reese opposed Meng Tian's sending troops, Qin Shihuang suddenly got Qin Shu, played by Lu Sheng, which read: "Qin Wu." (1) Qin Shihuang mistakenly understood Qin Ershi's "Hu Hai" implied in the book as "North Lake", so regardless of Reese's opposition, he flatly ordered Meng Tian to lead the army north.

According to the operational characteristics of Xiongnu army, Meng Tian adopted a very cautious attitude and a correct operational policy. His basic principles are: first, defeat the fierce flames of the enemy with a powerful offensive, seize important locations, and control the border blockade; Then build a city and stick to it, treat guests with the Lord, defend and attack. In the thirty-second year of Qin Shihuang (2 15 BC), Meng Tian led 300,000 troops, starting from Xianyang and heading north along the Yellow River. Along the way, "the whole army was defeated and the general was killed by Lu Khan" (2), which forced the Xiongnu tribes to surrender one after another and quickly occupied Yuzhong (now Ejinhoro Banner in Inner Mongolia and Yulin in Shaanxi). Khan saw Qin clever and fled to the north. Meng Tian led the army at a high speed, and pursued it. "The Huns were only more than 700 Li" (3), and seized all the areas on the south bank of the Yellow River (also known as "Henan Land"). In the second year, Meng Tian led an army to cross the Yellow River in the north, occupied Gaoque (now south of Chao Ge Banner in Inner Mongolia) and Beifang (now Wujiahe area in Inner Mongolia), and then controlled the tunnel between Yinshan and Yangshan. The Huns, who were badly hit by Qin Jun, went far north, and the people "dare not go south to herd horses, and the scholars dare not bow down". Meng Tian "sublime huns" (5) from now on.

In more than a year, Meng Tian chased the Xiongnu in the north and won a great victory, which not only "conquered thousands of miles" for Qin, but also controlled the frontier fortress and stabilized the northern frontier defense in the early Qin Dynasty.

Strategies for defending the border

After Meng Tian defeated Xiongnu by war and controlled Yinshan, he entered Shang Jun (now southeast of Yulin County, Shaanxi Province) and began to control the border defense. Its main activities are: First, emigrating to farm and developing the frontier; The second is to connect the Great Wall built by various countries during the Warring States Period; The third is "through the straight road"-opening the road from the frontier to the capital.

Meng Tian led the army to open up the "Henan land", although it is thousands of miles wide, but the land is vast and sparsely populated, "the land is solid and salty, with no food" and the land is barren. A large number of troops are stationed on the border thousands of miles away from Xianyang, and it is very difficult to supply military supplies. This is what Reese said: "If you can't get enough land for profit, you can't keep it when you meet its people." In order to solve the problem of military supplies, Meng Tian has always paid attention to the development of the frontier in the process of defending the frontier. He divided all the newly reclaimed land into forty-four counties (thirty-four counties), with both officials and officials; And a large number of "sinners" moved from the mainland to farm, which made the agricultural and animal husbandry production in this area develop to a certain extent. The implementation of this "immigration policy" has increased the population in the border area north of Xianyang and played an important role in consolidating the frontier.

At the same time, Meng Tian also commanded all the men in the world to build in the dangerous areas of the border and built a series of ramparts. In recent years, three defense zones have been built in the northern frontier of Xianyang. The first road is located between Yinshan and Yangshan on the north bank of the Yellow River. The second road starts from the west of Jiuyuan County and connects with Zhao Great Wall along the east of the yinshan mountains. The third is the restored Old Great Wall of Qin. On this basis, Meng Tian also used a lot of manpower to expand the Great Wall eastward along the long border. At that time, besides Qin Changcheng, there were Yan Great Wall and Zhao Great Wall in the Warring States Period in northern Qin. Meng Tian ordered it to be renovated, and at the same time, it was re-expanded along the broader border of the Qin Dynasty. The newly-built Great Wall embodies the wisdom and sweat of the working people at that time. "Because of the terrain, it was blocked by insurance." (3) majestic and winding, starting from Lintao (Min County, Gansu Province) in the west and extending more than 10,000 miles in the east. This is the world-famous "Great Wall of Wan Li".

In order to strengthen the communication between the frontier and the mainland, Meng Tian also recruited a large number of laborers and opened up the equator from Xianyang to the north. According to historical records, "Meng Tian reaches Jiuyuan (now northwest of Baotou City), Yunyang (now northwest of Chunhua County, Shaanxi Province) and reaches a mountain valley of 1,800 miles". It is unclear whether this equator, which is almost connected with the hinterland of Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi today, was completed in those years when Meng Tian was guarding the border. But it is a part of Meng Tian's entire border defense system, and there is no problem. Its development links Xianyang, the capital of Beijing, with the northern border, and the soldiers and civilians in the border areas usually settle down and farm; Once the police and the Great Wall guards light a bonfire, the generals can make arrangements according to the enemy's situation; And along Chechidao, mainland troops can be recruited quickly. This has enhanced the mobility of the border guards.

Meng Tian's frontier defense measures have played a great role in the stability of the Qin frontier. However, hundreds of years of warlord war had just ended and the people were very poor. "Men's lack of cultivation is chaff, while women's lack of spinning is cover-up". In this case of hunger everywhere, "the road to a dead end" (3) still uses such huge manpower and material resources, which is far beyond people's affordability. During this period, "Ding Nan was defeated by Jia, and Ding Nv turned defeat into victory, which was miserable". The feudal rulers also used extremely cruel means to squeeze the people, enslave and torture the workers, causing countless deaths and injuries to the people guarding the border. This is, after all, the embodiment of Meng Tian's class nature. But as far as military function is concerned, Meng Tian's construction of the Great Wall played a certain role in preventing the invasion of northern minorities by feudal dynasties at that time and later. Strict father, a famous minister in the Western Han Dynasty, called the Great Wall "the base of destroying Hu" (5); Yu Zijun, Minister of Border Affairs of the Ming Dynasty, called the Great Wall "a soldier who defeated others without fighting" and so on. Military strategists of all ages praised its role.

Meng Tian was the favorite of Qin Shihuang, because he was a man who was "honored to drive in the north and traveled thousands of miles in Yuzhong", which relieved the threat of Xiongnu. Before he died, Qin Shihuang specially wrote a suicide note to his eldest son Fuxi, asking him to "lead troops to Meng Tian" and leave the relieving of the entire Qin Dynasty safely in Meng Tian's hands. But after the death of Qin Shihuang, eunuch Zhao Gao hijacked Qin Ershi and Hu Hai to usurp power and killed Fu Su. And expect that everything is "not as good as Meng Tian" (2), so in a large number of so old Zhongliang at the same time, first hurt Meng Tian's younger brother Meng Yi, and false biography of Qin Shihuang, forcing Meng Tian to commit suicide. Meng Tian, who spent ten years in the frontier, was puzzled by the emperor's "book". He wanted to state his opinion in a letter, and advised II to "think of everyone from the Tao" (3), but the messenger did not accept it. In the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shihuang (2 10 BC), Meng Tian was forced to die in Yangzhou (now the west of Suide County, Shaanxi Province).

To annotate ...

① ② Biography of Historical Records and Meng Tian. (3) the history as a mirror volume seven, twenty-six years of qin shi huang. Pool, the columns on both sides of the ancient clock frame. ① ② ③ Historical Records Biography of Xiongnu. (4) Historical Records Biography of Hou Fu. (1) "History as a Mirror" Volume 7, thirty-two years of Qin Shihuang. (2) Historical Records: Biography of Ping Jin's Left Father. ③ ④ Historical Records of Qin Shihuang. (5) "History as a Mirror" Volume 7, thirty-three years of Qin Shihuang. ⑥ Historical Records Biography of Hou Fu. (1) Historical Records Biography of Ping Jin Hou. (2) Historical Records and Biography of Xiongnu. (3) the history as a mirror, volume seven, Qin Shihuang 33 to 34 years. (1) "History as a Mirror" Volume 7, thirty-five years of Qin Shihuang. ② ④ Historical Records Biography of Hengshan Mountain in Huainan. ③ ⑤ Historical Records Biography of Master Hou. ⑥ See the minutes of reading historical records. ⑦ Historical Records of Xiang Yu. ① ② Biography of Historical Records and Reese. (3) Biography of Historical Records and Meng Tian.