Chapter 2304 Old ruts and repeating old ruts
Sometimes Fei Qian feels that the meaning of history is to make people repeat history, just like the purpose of the existence of old ruts is to make people repeat old ruts.
It’s like the water in the river in front of you. The water flows in the last moment, and then the water in the next moment keeps up.
Day after day, year after year, walking the same path, and then it will not be discovered until thousands of years later that there are some changes.
Feiqian stood on a high hill, looking at the endlessly flowing Yellow River below.
Well, it''s called Dahe now.
This is the last bend of the "Ji" bend of the Yellow River, and this is where Tongguan is located.
Tongguan was previously called "Tao Lin Sai". As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there is a record in "Zuo Zhuan" that "in the thirteenth year of Wengong, the Marquis of Jin envoy Zhan Jia was flawed, and saw Yishi County, Shanxi, guarding the fortress of the peach forest. 』
Tongguan as a whole is like a platform on the Loess Plateau, and if you want to walk on this platform, there is only one narrow **** that can be passed by bicycle, which is called the five-mile secret door.
The main body of the pass is built on this platform, called Linzhiyuan.
Fei Qian looked at the defense map of Tongguan, and then moved his eyes from the blueprint to the pass city wall and watchtower in the distance.
Of course, the most difficult pass in history is not Tongguan, but Qin Hangu Pass. Hangu Pass in Han Dynasty is not as dangerous and difficult to attack as Hangu Pass in Qin Dynasty.
The reason is of course soil erosion, just like the Tongguan in front of us. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, due to the erosion of the Yellow River and the accumulation of sediment, Tongguan finally became a pass system, like a water-filled skin bag. After a hole was broken, There are more and more holes, and more and more patches are applied.
Feiqian came to Tongguan because he heard the abnormal movement in Heluo, and the last time Feiqian came back from Hedong, he walked through Pubanjin and did not pass through Tongguan, so this time he came to inspect the construction of Tongguan And the specific situation is also the meaning as it should be.
The expansion project of Tongguan is basically almost done now. Although there are still some details that need to be continued, the overall framework has come out.
On the whole, Tongguan''s defense system is like two long and narrow corridors plus a huge step.
The first line of defense is in the middle of Huangxiangban. Resembling a "【" shape, there are four archery towers, with two front and two rear towering in the middle.
The south side of Huangxiangban is close to the plateau, with steep cliffs, and there is a high bank uplift between Jiahe River on the north side, which forms an isolated road that is close to the plateau in the south, borders Juejian in the north, and passes through a path in the middle. Therefore, Huangxiangban has become a The first natural barrier of Tongguan Fortress. (For those who don’t know the location of Huangxiangban, you can read the notes in this chapter at the end of the chapter)
The second line of defense is in front of the "Wuli Secret Gate" on Gaodi Pingyuan behind Huangxiangban. Generally speaking, it looks like an enlarged and elongated "C", with a relatively curved shape that completely covers the lower entrance of the "Five Mile Secret Door". There are also four towering arrow towers, which are relatively larger than the arrow towers on Huangxiangban, or it should be called "Arrow Tower".
Because of the limitation of the terrain, the relatively gentle **** of "Wuli Secret Gate" has become the only way to climb up the Linzhiyuan and enter the main body of Tongguan. The rest of the places are basically slopes of nearly 70 or 80 degrees, and some places are even 90 degrees or more than 90 degrees. Even rock climbing experts may not be able to walk, let alone ordinary soldiers.
In front of the ramp of Wuli Secret Gate, in the open space surrounded by the arc-shaped city wall and the archery tower, post stations and some military equipment are distributed, and there is also a smaller barracks, and the larger barracks is on Linzhiyuan. . This small barracks is specially stationed for the soldiers in charge of the five-mile secret door and Huangxiangban. Otherwise, the soldiers on duty will climb several five-mile secret doors every day, and their physical strength will be exhausted on the climb.
And Fei Qian is standing at the top of the five-mile secret door at the moment, and the main body of Tongguan City is not far from here, not only guarding the five-mile secret door, but also blocking the road leading to Tongshui Forbidden Ditch. the way.
West of the forbidden ditch is the Guanzhong Plain.
On the opposite side of Feiqian, across the torrential river, is the slightly famous Fenglingdu who fell in love at first sight and lost his life...
It''s just that in this era, most of Fenglingdu is still submerged in the big river, and it won''t come out of the water until the sediment slowly accumulates hundreds of years later.
As time goes by, a few changes often change a lot of things.
Fei Qian looked back and saw the majestic Qinling Mountains standing on the horizon, while the lush trees and fern shrubs filled the entire field of vision. These ferns will slowly die in this and the next Little Ice Age, and the trees in Linzhiyuan and the next-door Niutouyuan will be gradually cut down, and eventually become the bare ones of later generations. dry fields, or degenerate into a semi-desert state.
There is no other reason, people have to eat.
In a sense, Chang''an is not suitable for becoming a huge population city.
The larger the population, the greater the demand. The huge population will cause Chang''an City to become a bottomless pit of demand, endlessly devouring all the surrounding resources, and once the wind blows, it will affect the change of the overall supply and demand ratio, thus affecting the city. People''s lives, which in turn lead to fluctuations in living conditions, and this fluctuation will lead to changes in people''s hearts...
This is also the reason why Fei Qian didn''t build the new city wall of Chang''an.
Because even if the city wall is built, it is stronger than any current city. Once foreign enemies invade the city, it will not be able to withstand it. What is interesting is that the source of this unbearable pressure does not come from the outside. , but more from within the city.
In the era of cold weapons, when the defender has to rely on the city for defense, it means that the defender is at a disadvantage overall in terms of strength. There is no doubt that in the era of cold weapons, the city wall is an extremely effective defensive measure, but the city wall must not be used for defense alone.
The purpose of war is to defeat the opponent, or repel the opponent. For the ordinary people under the ruler, they undoubtedly hope that the ruler will defeat the opponent as soon as possible, and the passive practice of waiting for the opponent to run out of food will bring ruin to the economy in the jurisdiction **** blow.
When the attacker realizes that he cannot win quickly, he will generally destroy the economic facilities outside the defender''s city, and behaviors such as looting are even more normal.
As for a giant city like Chang''an, it is often the core of the regional economy, with a large population and developed commerce. A city like this cannot support itself, and needs the surrounding areas to provide food and other basic consumables. Once it is besieged, it will first Great panic is caused, and the chaos caused by this panic is often more destructive than foreign enemies.
At the same time, city defense needs to confiscate a large amount of materials inside, such as demolishing houses inside the city wall, demolishing large houses to obtain logs, etc. This kind of expropriation will definitely start from the dissidents in the city, or the people at the bottom, and this kind of behavior will also make the people lose their trust in the defenders, and make it possible for the attackers to buy traitors. The city, the more difficult it is to prevent this kind of destruction from within.
So to put it simply, Chang''an City should keep the enemy out, rather than relying on the Chang''an City Wall for defense. Therefore, Tongguan, Wuguan, Sanguan, etc. are equivalent to Chang''an''s city walls. It is possible to ensure that Chang''an and even Guanzhong will not be turbulent.
And the basis for the stability of a regime is that the regime has as few mistakes as possible, and even if there are mistakes, they will be corrected quickly, so that the people under this regime will become more and more confident , with a growing sense of pride and belonging.
This sense of pride and belonging is priceless!
Just like when Feiqian was young, because a large number of "common knowledge", "bricks" and "beasts" spared no effort to describe how ugly China is and how round the moon is abroad, so many people, including young Feiqian, None of them have any sense of pride and belonging to Huaxia. In that chaotic era, it seems that whatever Huaxia does, it is full of criticism, and what achievements it makes are not worth mentioning. No matter what it develops, it is a waste of people and money...
In those years when black and white were turned upside down, only a large number of international capitals pouring into China through opportunities and the forces controlled by these capitals are worthy of praise by some public knowledge and media. "Business is the greatest charity", "Business itself It is the greatest public good.” How shrewd is this sophistry that can be made with reversed relationships?
Until now, when Fei Qian himself, as a Hussar general, stood at Tongguan, behind him was Chang''an in Guanzhong, where thousands of households lived, he realized more deeply that in fact, the defense system of a country or a regime is not only in the The physical level also needs to be on the spiritual level. That kind of unswervingly moving forward in the midst of yelling and scolding, even if you are stabbed, beaten, injured and humiliated, you still do not change your original intention, instead of lying flat like a bear, what a rare spiritual strength!
It is like the present Han Dynasty, but also has the spiritual power of the Han Dynasty itself, one Han can beat five Hu!
Han people have this sense of pride and belonging!
Even though the Eastern Han Dynasty has been tossed and tossed to the point of collapse at the moment, Cao Cao still does not say anything in history, fighting the Eastern Hu and the Western Qiang without any compromise!
In contrast to those people in later generations, they knelt down before hitting them...
『My lord…』 Xu Chu who was standing behind Feiqian gave a slight signal, “Over there…someone is coming…”
Fei Qian turned his head to take a look, nodded slightly, got on his horse, and returned to Tongguan City.
The person who came was the big man who knelt down before hitting him, and then not only ate, but also scolded his mother...
Hongnong Yang.
In later generations, when Fei Qian saw Yang Xiu''s death because of the word "chicken ribs", he couldn''t help feeling a little bit emotional, but as he gradually grew older, especially now that he was standing in the perspective of a ruler. When I looked at it, I found something else.
Yang Xiu''s Yang family is the Hongnong Yang family, the fourth generation and the third lord, the only remaining high-level yamen in the Han dynasty, etc., all the names are listed, which may be enough to spread two or three miles of land, but there are A reality that Yang Xiu didn''t realize at all was that the Hongnong Yang family was already dragging the times back. Even in the Western Jin Dynasty, the Yang family had a brief resurgence, but it was also a type of backlight.
When Feiqian cleared the way ahead, led Pang Tong and others, and dragged Wei Duan and Yang Xiu and others all the way forward, Wei Duan still knew how to follow obediently, not messing around, but what was Yang Xiu doing?
The same is true in history.
Cao Cao wanted to kill Yang Xiu. One of the more recognized factors is that Yang Xiu fell into the struggle between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, and he was on the side of advocating Cao Zhi.
For a city as big as Chang''an, what is the most important thing?
Stablize.
So for a political system, for a whole country that is bigger and more complex than Chang''an City, what is the most important thing?
is still stable.
Only the common people can live a stable life, otherwise no matter how good the plan is, it will not be implemented. The biggest difference between establishing Cao Pi and establishing Cao Zhi is that establishing the eldest son is a stable standard, while establishing a virtuous is an unstable standard. When Cao Cao didn''t come up with a better solution, only by establishing Cao Pi would he not follow the old path of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao.
So Yang Xiu really thinks that Cao Zhi was assisted and advocated because of his talents?
Not necessarily.
Because someone else gave Cao Pi an idea, it was really an idea, and Yang Xiu’s idea for Cao Zhi was to simply write an answer for Cao Zhi to copy...
This kind of behavior is really for the good of Cao Zhi?
Of course, there is another theory, that is, Yang Xiu was not only caught in the struggle for Cao Zhi''s heir, but also may be related to Wei Xi''s conspiracy at that time. If this statement is true, then is Yang Xiu equivalent to picking up the bowl to eat, and then not only scolding his mother after eating, but also planning to drop the bowl?
Just like at the moment, Yang Xiu is not only enjoying the dividends from the trade between Shandong and Shanxi, but also secretly smuggling. It can be said that most of Heluo’s profit comes from Shanxi, but Yang Xiu still wants more, or feels that Young deserves more.
Therefore, Feiqian came to Tongguan to inspect the construction of the city wall defense, and on the other hand, he called Yang Xiu...
Fei Qian’s mode is to say things first, and to punish people without teaching, which is not a good habit. As for those who are stupid after speaking, then no one can blame anyone.
The reason why I went back to the main city of Tongguan was also because I didn’t want Yang Xiu to think that Fei Qian was welcoming him...
Although there is a high probability that Yang Xiu would not dare to think so, what if he gave this guy an illusion? It''s like a "chicken rib" thing. Can''t say that when Yang Xiu proudly said that he was tasteless, Yang Xiu still thought he was pretty...
Yang Xiu bowed his head to pay respects, although his expression remained unchanged, his hands and feet trembled a little, trembling, stiff and timid.
Knowing that something is wrong and not doing this wrong thing are two completely different concepts, just like piracy. Does Yang Xiu know that some of his things are wrong? I know, but I still do it.
Because of profit, because of emotions, because of some reasons that Yang Xiu thought he was right before, he did something wrong, and then when he stood in front of Fei Qian, he would inevitably have a calm face and feel uneasy in his heart.
Yang Xiu had long heard that Tongguan was being rebuilt, but it was only through word of mouth, so it was difficult to truly understand the majesty and majesty of it. Now he walked all the way, and after witnessing it with his own eyes, he realized that Tongguan in his imagination was already very difficult to conquer. Now I feel that I still thought simple before, what kind of pass is this, it is like a natural moat!
Fei Qian pointed to the seat beside him and told Yang Xiu to sit down.
Yang Xiu thanked him and sat down.
Sit upright.
In terms of etiquette alone, these children of the gentry, especially the children of the big clan, are indeed excellent. Whether it is in terms of manners or manners, basically they are like standard actions.
『Dezu...』 Fei Qian smiled slightly, 『How about Guantong Pass this way? 』
Yang Xiu straightened his waist, cupped his hands and said: "Come here today, see the glow of Tongguan, like a courtyard of Yuan Yuan, and the crown of mountains and clouds, like floating clear." Slowly advance, the general''s trumpet, the sound of golden drums, three times and six battalions. Orders and prohibitions, dare not be cautious, swords and guns are everywhere, long tassels are long, and their soldiers are very strong. 』
"Looking at the topography of Tongguan Pass, it bears the platform of Qinling Mountains, relies on the wind of the great river, carries the rich streams of Jingwei and Weiwei, embraces the Shoushan Mountain in Zhongnan, and has many cities and passes. It is like a rainbow like a beam. Guanzhong Mingtang, Lantian Zuopu, Jinsuo Qianzhang. Qi is connected to Feng Yi, and Xinjiang is connected to Qiyang, so the land is very advantageous. 』
『The stability of Tongguan is like the solidity of mountains and rivers. Xiu hereby congratulates the hussars! 』
Fei Qian chuckled.
If you rank according to the ability to write articles, Yang Xiu can at least be ranked in the top ten of the current big men, but the problem is that often things depend on how to be a person, not how to write superficial articles.
『Call Dezu here today, what do you know? ’ Fei Qian said.
Yang Xiu hesitated for a moment, then bowed his head and said: "I don''t know, please make it clear..."
"really do not know? ’ Fei Qian was still smiling, “Then Dezu can go back after drinking this cup of tea…”
In an instant, the sweat on Yang Xiu''s forehead started from scratch, then rolled down and hit the mat he was sitting on, creating a circular imprint.
Did Yang Xiu really not know what he did?
But people always have luck.
Lucky luck, basically, everyone has some, more or less.
For example, knowing that it is an illegal act but still doing it, knowing that it is a mistake but still committing it, most of it is caused by this kind of psychology, and then because of some words such as "maybe", "maybe", "in case", etc., To bet on the extremely slim odds...
It’s like Yang Xiu at the moment, just betting on his affairs, Fei Qian doesn’t know "maybe", "maybe", "what if"? Then if you don''t call yourself, wouldn''t you be at a disadvantage?
Or when Yang Xiu faced the pressure from Fei Qian, under the tension and anxiety, in order not to let himself have a mental breakdown, he comforted himself with a fluke mentality, "maybe", "maybe" ", "What if" is not so bad, the situation will not worsen?
But when Fei Qian said to let Yang Xiu go after drinking tea, Yang Xiu didn''t dare to continue gambling. Yang Xiu was afraid that after turning around and leaving like this, it would be equivalent to a complete break with Fei Qian, and he might face more troubles and embarrassing situations in the future, and he might even be directly attacked by Fei Qian''s soldiers in the next step...
Although at this stage, Yang Xiu also knows that Fei Qian is using troops in Longyou, but even so, the strength of Fei Qian''s soldiers in Guanzhong and Tongguan is not something Yang Xiu can easily contend with. Helping, Cao Cao focused on Youbei again, and Yang Xiu also heard that Jiangdong was also fighting Cao Cao, so whether Cao Cao can survive smoothly is also a big question...
Under such a situation, Yang Xiu swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then left the table and kowtowed to the ground, confessed, "Minister, you are guilty..."
(end of this chapter)