According to the legend of Zheng Guoqu, how did a canal with a hidden plot make a great contribution to the reunification of Qin?

In 355 BC, feudal lords scuffled and the war became more dangerous. In the contest between Jin Ge Tiema and the world, the two countries began to reform almost at the same time.

South Korea, located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, is tightly besieged by other countries because of its small territory and weak national strength. It is under attack from all sides and is in a precarious state. Han Zhaohou wanted to change the status quo and appointed Shen Buhai to preside over political reform. In fifteen years, "the state is the rule, and the princes don't invade."

Qin, far away in the Central Plains, was the ancestor of the Zhou royal family. Even if he dominated Xirong, he did not get the favor of other princes. The Central Plains countries not only regarded it as barbarians, but also wanted to carve it up quickly. Qin Xiaogong, who just acceded to the throne, vowed to avenge his country, so he ordered the recruitment of talents from six countries. Patriot Shang Yang heard the news and entered Qin. Immediately, the monarch and his subjects joined hands to reform with an iron fist. After more than ten years of painstaking efforts, he crossed to the east, defeated the powerful state of Wei, and ceded territory for peace.

Map of Warring States Period, Making @ Ancient City

Although the political reform in Qin and Han Dynasties achieved the effect of enriching Qiang Bing, there were essential differences between them.

Shen Buhai's political reform emphasized "skill", and the essence of skill lies in people. Han Zhaohou has a keen eye and a clear head, and South Korea presents a vibrant scene. However, after Han Zhaohou's death, his successor was incompetent and South Korea suffered a devastating blow.

Shang Yang's political reform was based on the legal system, with clear rewards and punishments and ruthless outside the law. Even if the prince breaks the law, the monarch can't save it. The new law is deeply rooted in people's hearts. Even though Qin Xiaogong died, it still left a solid road to becoming a powerful country.

Therefore, in the next hundred years, Qin became more and more powerful, leaning towards the Central Plains, which made other vassal States talk about Qin. However, after a short period of prosperity, South Korea began to decline, from the smallest Warring States to the weakest Warring States.

Map of Warring States Period, Making @ Ancient City

One day in 246 BC, Han Huanhui sat on the sofa, listless and thoughtful.

He has a splitting headache at the thought of the state of Qin, and how to deal with Qin Jun, the man who is bound to Enemy at the Gates sooner or later, has become his lingering nightmare.

Han Huanhui Wang Yongyuan will never forget 16 years ago, when he cut off the connection between Shangdang County and Guodu and made Shangdang County Zhao, the luck and shadow flashed in his heart.

He is unwilling to hand over Shangdang, who occupies an important position in the world, and hopes to take the opportunity to "turn the country into a disaster and get rid of the danger of my survival."

Unexpectedly, he defeated Zhao in five months and killed 400,000 soldiers in Changping. At that time, the bones were vast, and Zhao, the only one who could fight Qin, was devastated, which surprised the governors.

Just three years ago, Lv Buwei, the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty, led an army to attack and destroy the Kingdom of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and went to fight South Korea with a magnificent Meng Ao. South Korea is unable to fight, so it has to propose peace.

Without the barrier of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, South Korea stood directly at the door of Qin's retreat. Every day, Han Huanhui was on pins and needles, thinking hard, and finally came up with a coup: making the enemy as weak as himself will usher in peace.

But let who use what reason to drag Qin into the water?

The mistake of opportunity is probably in an instant. If the Han dynasty would think of an engineer engaged in architecture and encourage Qin to repair Epang Palace crazily, it is not known whether some things will be rewritten. But Hui Wang thought of one of his own water experts, Zheng Guo.

Zheng Guo in the TV series Dafuqin

Han Huan Hui Wang gave Zheng Yi an important secret task to persuade Qin to build a large-scale water conservancy project and use this project to empty the other party's treasury (it can be seen that Han Huan Hui Wang is not completely ignorant, at least he knows that this is a waste of people and money).

Zheng went to the state of Qin and stood in the court of Qin. Opposite him is Ying Zheng, the King of Qin who just acceded to the throne. At this time, Ying Zheng was still a teenager of 14 years old!

It's just that this teenager is not an ordinary teenager. He has seen the cruelty of war and politics, and is more calm and rational than ordinary teenagers.

Suddenly I saw an inexplicable Korean asking Qin to overhaul the canal. Ying Zheng was not amused, but asked in detail, "Why build the canal?"

Zheng replied with confidence: "Although Qin is surrounded by Guanzhong Plain, its northern part is dry all the year round, and most areas are destitute, let alone farming. Qin is bent on the great cause of annexing the six countries, and needs many excellent troops. We need enough food and grass to raise soldiers. Only by building water conservancy can the barren beach be turned into fertile land, and the rear of Qin can be prepared. "

Ying Zheng nodded in agreement and asked, "How to repair the canal?"

Kan Kan, the state of Zheng, came: "There is water in the west, water in Luoshui in the east, and Guanzhong can be covered."

Ying Zheng pondered for a moment and asked, "How long is it altogether? When will it be completed? "

Zheng Guo replied: "About three hundred Li, ranging from seven or eight years to more than ten years."

There was silence in the court, and then there was a controversial commotion. According to Zheng's thinking, the state of Qin needs to devote all its efforts to building the canal, so as to greatly curb the eastward movement. It is difficult to weigh the pros and cons. Only Ying Zheng was in high spirits, accepted the suggestion with the courage peculiar to teenagers, and ordered Zheng to take charge of the project and start construction as soon as possible.

Schematic diagram of Zheng Guoqu location, making @ Ancient City.

Qin didn't make a move. In fact, Qin has realized the happiness brought by excellent water conservancy projects.

Before Ying Zheng ascended the throne, Li Bing and his son, the prefect of Shu County, had built Dujiangyan, making Chengdu Plain an important granary of Qin State.

Qin people never imagined that Dujiangyan is still a world-famous water conservancy myth today after more than two thousand years.

What they didn't expect was that Qin actually won the second water conservancy initiative in one fell swoop.

When the news of Qin's construction of the Grand Canal reached South Korea, Wang Huanhui was in high spirits. But it is hard for him to imagine that the gurgling water in the distance is also ringing the death knell of South Korea.

When Zheng went to Qin as a spy, a blueprint for water control in his heart slowly opened.

Qin terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. Irrigation canals only need to use this terrain to make the main canal extend eastward along the northern foot, overlooking all irrigation areas.

More importantly, the Jinghe River is mixed with a large amount of sediment. Zheng blocked up the land with high sediment content, so that a large area of saline-alkali land was washed by the river and covered with fertile sediment, thus turning it into fertile farmland.

For such a project that benefits the people, the people all praise and describe it like this:

Irrigation and fertilization, planting my millet.

A well-fed teacher, a mouth of hundreds of millions.

Zheng doesn't know whether the state of Qin will decline because of a long canal, but what he sees is that the people have gained prosperity and joy through their own efforts, which is also the heaviest reward for a water conservancy worker.

The scene of canal restoration in TV series Dafuqin

However, nearly half way through the project, the plot of canal repair "exhausted Qin" still reached Ying Zheng's ears. Ying Zheng was furious and decided to kill the spy Zheng, but Zheng said frankly:

"Although the first minister has a room to hide, it is also the interest of the Qin Dynasty. I am Han Yan's life for several years, but Qin Jian's eternal work. "

Serve you right! Zheng Can unified China. After all, people are young, but they are long-sighted and generous.

After hearing Zheng's statement, Ying Zheng clapped his hands and gave full support to Zheng, and it was repaired. Tired is my business, and repairing the canal is your business!

In 236 years ago, the canal was built, and once saline-alkali wasteland irrigated Cheng Liangtian. According to historical records, "the land irrigated by brine is more than 40,000 hectares, and the harvest is one mu, so Guanzhong is fertile and there is no bad year."

The Guanzhong Plain became a land of abundance again, and the king of Qin was very happy. Zheng's original intention of building the canal was not investigated, but it was generously named the canal.

Adequate food, the country is rich and strong, the past is not forgotten, and talents are reused. The trend of Qin reunifying the whole country is unstoppable.

In 230 BC, the king of Qin launched a war of national subjugation, and the first target was South Korea. One hundred thousand Qin Jun conquered the capital of South Korea (now Xinzheng, Henan), captured Wang Han 'an, occupied the whole territory of South Korea, and South Korea perished.

The order of Qin's destruction of the six countries

As the earliest water conservancy project in China, Zheng Guoqu laid a solid economic foundation for Qin to unify the world at the end of the Warring States Period. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the rich Qinchuan irrigated by Zheng Guoqu was the main granary of Chang 'an.

Today, we can still find the remains of Zheng Guoqu canal head in the north bank of Jinghe River in Jingyang County, Shaanxi Province. The gurgling water flows through the valley and sings for thousands of years.

Jinghe gorge

Due to the siltation of Jinghe River, the head of Zheng Guoqu Canal has been continuously improved over the years. After Qin Dynasty, all previous dynasties built water conservancy facilities based on Zheng Guoqu, and diverted water from Jinghe River for irrigation. The famous ones are Baigong Canal in Han Dynasty, Fengli Canal in Song Dynasty, Wangqu Canal in Yuan Dynasty and Guanghui Canal in Ming Dynasty.

1930 65438+February, in order to alleviate the drought in Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province decided to rebuild the irrigation project of diverting water from Jing in the former site of Zheng Guoqu. The project, presided over by Mr. Li Yizhi, a water conservancy expert, lasted nearly two years and was a Jinghui Canal. After the founding of New China, the Jinghui Canal has been built and repaired many times, and the surging Jinghe River still irrigates a large area of land in Guanzhong.

Although there is not much overlap between these restored canals and Zheng Guoqu, they can actually be regarded as the continuation of Zheng Guoqu, the outstanding intellectual achievements of the Chinese nation, and the empathy of the people for the country for more than 2,000 years, enriching the people and strengthening the country.