What benefits did the Qin Dynasty built in Hetao bring to future generations?

Hetao area, known as "Henan land" in Qin and Han dynasties, is a transitional zone between nomadic and farming peoples. Because it faces Yinshan Mountain in the north and the Yellow River in the south, the geographical position is very important. If the nomadic people occupied the Hetao area, they could March in and attack the Guanzhong area, while the Central Plains Dynasty could stop the nomadic people from going south by virtue of the danger of Yinshan Mountain. Therefore, the Hetao Plain has become a battleground for the Central Plains and grassland nationalities in past dynasties. After Qin Shihuang established the Qin Dynasty, he had a full understanding of the importance of Hetao area, so he spared no expense in managing this area and made important contributions to the consolidation of China's frontier.

First, the northern expedition to Xiongnu and the recovery of Hetao Plain were the active areas of Hu Lin, Loufan, Xiongnu, Beidi and other ethnic minorities before Qin Dynasty. During the Warring States Period, King Wuling of Zhao promoted "Khufu Riding and Shooting", established a powerful cavalry, and finally defeated the ethnic minorities in the northern part of Zhao State, and established three counties: Yunzhong, Yanmen and Daishan. An important purpose of Zhao Wuling's occupation of Hetao area is to use the commanding strategic advantage here to deter Qin. At the end of the Warring States period, the Xiongnu became stronger and stronger, and there were many wars with Zhao for the Hetao area. Li Mu, a famous soldier of Zhao, repelled the Huns' attacks many times in Hetao and became one of the four famous soldiers in the Warring States Period.

King Wuling of Zhao

When the Qin Dynasty destroyed the State of Zhao, Xiongnu took the opportunity to go south and occupy the Hetao Plain, which once again threatened the security of the Central Plains. In 2 15 BC, Qin Shihuang visited the north until Jieshi, and the invasion of Xiongnu attracted Qin Shihuang's attention. So Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian to lead 300,000 troops to the northern expedition against Xiongnu, and finally "Xiongnu went 700 miles north" and "the land of Henan was taken over". The following year, Qin Jun captured Gaoque, Yangshan and Beifak. After the Qin Dynasty recovered the Hetao Plain, Jiuyuan County and Forty-four County were established here.

Hetao region

In order to further develop the Hetao area and consolidate the frontier defense, Qin Shihuang implemented the policy of emigrating to the Hetao area. For example, 2 14, "migration is the beginning of the county"; Before 2 12, "30,000 easy to stand, 50,000 Yunyang moved the capital" and "moved more and more"; 2 1 1 Years ago, "30,000 households moved to Beihe and Yuzhong". These immigrants in the Qin Dynasty included troops, garrisons, criminals and ordinary people. Large-scale migration has promoted the development of Hetao area and provided labor for the construction of large-scale projects such as Zidao and the Great Wall. Qin's policy of emigrating to the real frontier was used for reference by later generations. For example, 654.38 million people immigrated here after the land was reclaimed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which had a far-reaching impact on China's frontier development and defense.

Jiuyuan county repair

Second, the construction of the Great Wall can be traced back to the Warring States period. Qin, Zhao and Yan built many intermittent walls in the north to prevent the northern nomads from going south. Among the Great Walls of the Three Kingdoms, Zhao Great Wall is the most representative. King Wuling of Zhao defeated Hu Lin, Loufan and other nationalities, built the Great Wall in Hetao area, and sent Li Mu to guard it, which made the Huns "afraid to go near Zhao Bianjing".

Zhao Greatwall Ruins

The state of Qin has peace between Longxi and the north, and has also built the Great Wall to shut Hu out. King Wuling of Zhao also became vulgar, like Khufu, learned to ride and shoot, and broke the forests and floors in the north. Build the Great Wall, from generation to generation, under the shady mountain, to the highest point. Clouds, Wild Goose Gate, Dai Jun. ..... Yan also built the Great Wall, from Yang to Xiangping. Put it in Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, western Liaoning and Liaodong counties to refuse Hu. At that time, it was crowned the Seventh Warring States, while the Three Kingdoms bordered the Xiongnu. Later, when Li Mushi, the general of the State of Zhao, the Huns were afraid to enter the State of Zhao. -"Historical Records and Biography of Xiongnu"

After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang tried to connect the original three sections of the Great Wall, so he built the Great Wall of Wan Li from Liaodong to Lintao. There are many people's resources to build the Great Wall. History records that "300,000 soldiers are used in this section of the river", and Huainanzi records that "Meng Gong and Yang Wengzi will build the Great Wall because of the death of 500,000 soldiers". Here 300,000 and 500,000 refer to the total number of troops and garrisons involved. A large number of criminals and civilians also participated in the construction of the Great Wall in the Qin Dynasty. Zhang Weihua wrote in "Examination on the Establishment of the Great Wall in China": "There are always soldiers, guards and criminals, not less than one million people." It can be seen that the people's strength used to build the Great Wall is amazing.

Great Wall Ruins of Qin Dynasty

It took a lot of manpower and financial resources to build the Great Wall. At that time, it was widely rumored among the people that "we should be cautious in giving birth to men and cautious in giving birth to women." No Great Wall, dead bodies everywhere. "There is also a legend that Meng Jiangnu cried the Great Wall because she disliked building it. It can be seen that the huge consumption of building the Great Wall makes people's grievances boil. Qin Shihuang also stationed 300,000 elite troops in the Hetao area, and sent Meng Tian, Li Xin, Fu Su and other important figures to guard here, which aggravated the situation of the country from light to heavy. Therefore, during the Guangwu Uprising in Chen Sheng, the Qin Dynasty did not send regular troops to suppress it.

However, Qin Shihuang's construction of the Great Wall can be said to be a crime for a while and a benefit for the future. Since then, Han, Wei, Tang and Ming built and consolidated Qin Changcheng, making the Great Wall a barrier to defend the Central Plains dynasty. Of course, the Great Wall has never been able to fundamentally solve the threat of ethnic invasion in the north.

Ming great wall

Third, road construction, transportation and communication are integrated with the Great Wall. Beacon tower is also called beacon tower. In the pre-Qin period, burning cigarettes during the day was called bonfire, and setting fire at night was called bonfire. This is the fastest way to spread military information in ancient times. Whenever there is an emergency in the frontier, border guards can light the wolf smoke, which spreads to the capital as quickly as batons. Qin law stipulates that "burning incense can be done without orders." In other words, you don't need a tiger symbol to light a bonfire.

beacon tower

However, the beacon system is only an alarm system, and it cannot transmit specific military information by itself. Such as enemy objects, numbers of people, operational orders, etc., cannot be spread. In order to enhance the mobility of coping with the crisis in the northern frontier, the Qin Dynasty built a transportation system leading to the Hetao area-the straight road. The straight road starts from Yunyang and ends in Jiuyuan County, Hetao Plain, with a total length of 700 kilometers. The main purpose of this route is "as a channel for transporting soldiers". Due to the complicated terrain along the way, the progress of the project is very slow. Until the death of Qin Shihuang, this straight road was not completed. 1974, people discovered the ancient city of Maji, the end of Qin Zhi Road in Inner Mongolia, and later discovered the ruins of Zhidao in Yan 'an and Yulin.

Schematic diagram of straight road

Straight roads can not only mobilize troops to Hetao area on a large scale and quickly, but also spread information. In the Qin Dynasty, pavilions and post stations were set up on the main roads of traffic, "one pavilion in ten miles, one post in five miles". The main duties of kiosks and posts are responsible for the dissemination of official documents, imperial edicts and letters, and maintaining road safety. In the pavilion, those with horses are called "post stations" and those with accommodation are called "delivery rooms". These are all to spread information and recruit labor. There are pavilions, pavilions, thieves and so on. , and there are specialized personnel to deliver official documents. The Qin Dynasty stipulated that urgent official documents must be sent immediately. Information kiosks and postal services facilitate the dissemination of information and ensure the safety of roads.

Zhidao site

Although the Qin dynasty soon perished, the straight road built by the Qin dynasty and the pavilion and post system created by it had a long-term impact on later generations. Historians believe that the straight road built by the Qin Dynasty was used until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and it was not abandoned until the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. Successive dynasties have inherited the postal system of the Qin Dynasty and developed it into the post or express delivery that people are familiar with today.

Ancient postal map

To sum up, Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian to the northern expedition to Xiongnu, and after recovering the Hetao Plain, he immigrated here, set up a county, established a military system with the Great Wall as the core, and consolidated the border defense. And build a straight road from Guanzhong to Jiuyuan County to strengthen the control of Hetao area. A series of measures taken by the Qin Dynasty were studied by successive dynasties. For example, after Emperor Wudi recovered Henan, he took similar measures. The governance of the Hetao area in the Qin Dynasty not only accelerated the frontier development and ethnic integration, but also made an indelible contribution to the consolidation of China's territory.