Chapter 2304 Old Traits and Repeating Old Traits
? Sometimes Fei Qian feels that the meaning of history is to make people repeat history, just like the purpose of the existence of old mistakes is to make people repeat them.
It is like the water of the river in front of you. The water flows through it one moment, and then the water follows it the next moment.
?Day after day, year after year, walking the same path, and it will take thousands of years before you notice any changes.
Fei Qian stood high on the hill, looking at the endless flow of the Yellow River below the mountain.
?Hmm, now it’s called Dahe.
This is the last bend of the Yellow River, and this is Tongguan.
Tongguan was previously called "Taolinsai". As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was recorded in "Zuo Zhuan" that "in the 13th year of Duke Wen, the Marquis of Jin sent Zhan Jia to visit Yishi County in Shanxi Province to guard the fortress of Taolin. 』
Tongguan as a whole is like a platform on the Loess Plateau, and if you want to walk onto this platform, there is only a **** narrow enough for bicycles to pass, which is called the Five Mile Secret Door.
The main body of the pass is built on this platform, which is called Linzhi Plateau.
Fei Qian looked at the Tongguan defense map, and then moved his eyes from the map to the pass city wall and the watchtower in the distance.
Of course, the most difficult pass to attack in history is not Tongguan, but Qin Hangu Pass. Hangu Pass in the Han Dynasty is no longer as dangerous and difficult to attack as Hangu Pass in the Qin Dynasty.
The reason is of course soil erosion, just like Tongguan in front of us. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, due to the erosion of the Yellow River and the accumulation of silt, Tongguan eventually became a pass system, like a skin filled with water. After a hole was broken, There are more and more holes and more and more patches.
Fei Qian came to Tongguan because he heard the unusual noise in Heluo. And the last time Fei Qian came back from Hedong, he went through Pubanjin and did not pass through Tongguan, so this time he came to inspect the construction of Tongguan. and the specific circumstances are also appropriate.
The expansion project of Tongguan is basically completed now. Although there are still some details that need to be continued, the overall framework has been developed.
Overall, Tongguan''s defense system is like two long and narrow corridors plus a huge step.
The first line of defense is at the middle of Huangxiang Ban. It is similar to the shape of a "【"", with four arrow towers, two in front and two in back towering in the middle.
The south side of Huangxiang Ban is close to the plateau, with steep cliffs, and there is a high bank bulge between the river on the north side. This forms an isolated road with the plateau to the south, Juejian to the north, and a path in the middle. Therefore, Huangxiang Ban has become The first natural barrier of Tongguan Fortress. (Friends who are not sure about the location of Huangxiangban can refer to the chapter at the end of the chapter for notes)
The second line of defense is in front of the "Wuli Secret Gate" on the high ground behind Huangxiang Ban. Generally speaking, it looks like an enlarged and elongated "C", with a relatively curvature that completely covers the lower entrance of the "Wuli Secret Door". There are also four towering arrow towers, which are relatively larger than the arrow towers on Huangxiang Ban, or should be called "arrow towers".
?Due to terrain restrictions, the relatively gentle **** of the "Wuli Secret Gate" has become the only way to climb up Linzhi Plateau 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 climb, let alone ordinary soldiers.
In front of the ramp of Wuli Secret Gate, in the open space surrounded by arc-shaped city walls and arrow towers, there are post stations and some military equipment, as well as a smaller barracks. The larger barracks is on Linzhi Plateau. . This small barracks is specially stationed for the soldiers responsible for the Wuli Secret Gate and Huangxiang Slope. Otherwise, the soldiers on duty would have to climb several Wuli Secret Gates every day, and their physical strength would be exhausted on the climb.
At the moment, Fei Qian was standing at the top of the Wuli Secret Gate, and the main body of Tongguan City was not far from here. It not only guarded the Wuli Secret Gate, but also blocked the entrance to the Tongshui Forbidden ditch. the way.
To the west of the forbidden ditch is the Guanzhong Plain.
Opposite Feiqian, across the surging river, is Fenglingdu, which was slightly famous in later generations...
It’s just that in this era, most of Fenglingdu is still submerged in the river. It will have to wait until the sediment slowly accumulates in hundreds of years before it can emerge from the water.
In the ever-changing world, some changes often change a lot of things.
Fei Qian looked back and saw the majestic Qinling Mountains standing on the horizon, while lush trees and ferns filled the entire field of vision. These ferns will slowly die during this and the next Little Ice Age, and the trees in Linzhi Plateau and the Niutou Plateau next door will gradually be cut down, and eventually they will become the kind of bare trees in later generations. dry fields, or degraded into a semi-desert state.
There is no other reason than that people need to eat.
In a sense, Chang''an is not suitable to become a huge population city.
The larger the population, the greater the demand. The huge population will turn Chang''an City into a bottomless pit of demand, endlessly devouring all surrounding resources. Once there is any disturbance, it will affect the change in the overall supply and demand ratio, thereby affecting the city''s supply and demand. People''s lives 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 did not build a new city wall in Chang''an.
Because even if a city wall is built, which is stronger than any current city, it will still be unable to withstand once a foreign enemy invades the city''s periphery. And what''s 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 had to rely on the city for defense, it meant that the defender was at an overall disadvantage in terms of strength. There is no doubt that in the age of cold weapons, city walls are extremely effective defensive measures, but the city walls cannot be relied upon solely for defense.
The purpose of war is to defeat the opponent or repel the opponent. For the ordinary people under the ruler''s jurisdiction, they undoubtedly hope that the ruler will defeat the opponent as soon as possible. The negative approach of waiting for the opponent to run out of food will bring destruction to the economy within the jurisdiction. Sexual blow.
?When the attacker realizes that it cannot win quickly, it will generally destroy the economic facilities outside the defender''s city. Behaviors such as looting are even more common.
As for giant cities like Chang''an, they are often the core of regional economies, with large populations and developed commerce. A city like this cannot support itself and needs surrounding areas to provide basic consumables such as food. Once it is besieged, it will first Causes great panic, and the chaos caused by this panic is often more destructive than foreign enemies.
?At the same time, city defense requires the requisition of a large amount of internal materials, such as demolishing houses inside the city wall, demolishing large houses to obtain rolling 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 cause the people to lose trust in the defender, giving the attacker the possibility to bribe the traitor. Cities are increasingly difficult to prevent this kind of destruction from within.
So to put it simply, Chang''an City should defend itself against enemies from the outside, rather than rely on the Chang''an City Wall for defense. Therefore, Tongguan, Wuguan, Sanguan, etc. are equivalent to the city walls of Chang''an. At least the enemy should be ensured outside these passes. It is possible to ensure that Chang''an and even Guanzhong will not be turbulent.
The basis for the stability of a regime is that the regime makes as few mistakes as possible, and even if errors occur, they will be corrected quickly. Only in this way will the people under this regime become more and more confident. , more and more sense of pride and belonging.
?This sense of pride and belonging is priceless!
Just like when Fei Qian was young, because a large number of "public intellectuals", "brick scholars", and "calling beasts" spared no effort to describe how ugly China is and how round the moon is abroad, many people, including Fei Qian when he was young, They have no sense of pride or belonging to China. In that era of chaos, it seems that whatever China does is criticized, whatever achievements it makes are not worth mentioning, and no matter what it develops, it is a waste of people and money...
In those years of confusing right and wrong, only the large amount of international capital that took advantage of opportunities to pour into China and the forces controlled by these capitals were worthy of praise from some public figures and media. "Business is the greatest charity" and "Business itself" "It is the greatest public welfare." How smart a person can use this sophistry to use an inverted relationship?
It was only now, when Fei Qian himself, as a hussar general, stood at Tongguan, with Chang''an in Guanzhong behind him and thousands of households, that he realized more deeply that in fact, the defense system of a country and a regime is not only in the On the material level, it also needs to be on the spiritual level. What a rare spiritual strength it is to move forward unswervingly in the midst of shouts and curses, even if you are stabbed, beaten, injured and humiliated, but still do not change your original intention, instead of lying flat like a bear!
Just like the current Han Dynasty, there is also the spiritual power of the Han Dynasty. One Han is worth five barbarians!
Han people have this sense of pride and belonging!
Even though the Eastern Han Dynasty has already shaken the situation, in history, Cao Cao still said nothing, fighting both the Eastern Hu and the Western Qiang without any compromise!
Looking back at those people in later generations, they knelt down before being beaten...
"My lord..." Xu Chu, who was standing behind Fei Qian, gestured slightly, "Over there... there''s someone coming..." Fei Qian turned his head and looked, nodded slightly, turned around, and returned to Tongguan city.
The people who came were the ones who knelt down before being beaten, and then not only ate their food, but also cursed at their mothers...
Hongnong Yang.
In later generations, when Fei Qian saw Yang Xiu die because of the word "tasteless", he couldn''t help but feel a little emotional. However, as he grew older, especially now that he was standing in the perspective of a ruler, he could not help but sigh. When I looked at it, I discovered something else.
The Yang family of Yang Xiu is the Hongnong Yang family. He is the fourth generation and the third Duke. He is the only high-ranking government official left in the Han Dynasty. There are all kinds of names, which may be enough to spread out 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 backward. Even if the Yang family had a brief resurgence in the Western Jin Dynasty, it was a return to glory.
??When Fei Qian stepped forward to clear the way, leading Pang Tong and others, dragging Wei Duan, Yang Xiu and others forward, Wei Duan still knew how to follow obediently and not make any trouble, 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 was caught in the dispute 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 an entire country that is larger and more complex than Chang''an City, what is the most critical?
Still stable.
Only if 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 or establishing Cao Zhi is that establishing the eldest son is a stable standard, while establishing a virtuous person is an unstable standard. When Cao Cao couldn''t come up with a better solution, only by establishing Cao Pi would he not go down the same path as Yuan Shao and Liu Biao.
?So Yang Xiu really thinks that Cao Zhi assisted and encouraged Cao Zhi because he was a virtuous person?
Not necessarily.
Because when others give Cao Pi ideas, they are really giving them advice. But when Yang Xiu gave Cao Zhi an idea, he simply wrote an answer and asked Cao Zhi to copy it...
Is this behavior really for Cao Zhi’s good?
??Of course there is another theory, that is, Yang Xiu was not only involved in the struggle for Cao Zhi''s heir, but may also be related to Wei Zhi''s rebellion at that time. If this statement is true, then is it the same as Yang Xiu picking up the bowl to eat, and then not only scolding his mother after eating, but also preparing to throw the bowl?
Just like now, Yang Xiu is not only enjoying the dividends from the Shandong-Shanxi trade, but also secretly smuggling. It can be said that most of Heluo''s profits come from Shanxi, but Yang Xiu still wants more, or feels that Yang deserves more.
?Hence, Fei Qian went to Tongguan to inspect the construction of the city wall defenses, and on the other hand, he called Yang Xiu...
?Fei Qian’s pattern is to talk things out first and punish them without teaching them. This is not a good habit. As for those who are stupid after telling them, then no one can blame anyone.
??The reason why he returned to the main city of Tongguan was because he didn''t want Yang Xiu to think that Fei Qian was greeting him...
??Although there is a high probability that Yang Xiu would not dare to think this way, what if it gives this guy an illusion? It''s like a "tasteless" thing. It’s unbelievable that when Yang Xiu was so proud and said it was useless, he still felt that he was quite beautiful...
??Yang Xiu lowered his head to pay homage. Although his face remained unchanged, his hands and feet were a little trembling, he was trembling, strong and timid.
?Knowing that something is wrong and not doing it are two completely different concepts, just like piracy. Does Yang Xiuzhi know that some of his things are wrong? I knew it, but I did it anyway.
Because of interests, because of emotions, and because of the reasons that Yang Xiu thought he was right before, he did the wrong thing, and then stood in front of Fei Qian.
Yang Xiu had long heard that Tongguan was being rebuilt, but it was only through word of mouth that it was difficult to truly appreciate the majesty and danger of it. Now that he was walking along and seeing it with his own eyes, he realized that the Tongguan in his imagination was already very difficult to conquer, and Now I feel that I thought it was simple before. What kind of pass is this? It''s like a natural chasm!
Fei Qian pointed to the seat next to him and asked Yang Xiu to sit down.
?Yang Xiu thanked him and sat down.
Sit upright.
? ? If we look at etiquette alone, these children of the gentry, especially the children of the rich families, are indeed excellent. Whether it is in terms of manners or behavior, it is basically like standard actions.
"Dezu..." Fei Qian smiled slightly, "How about visiting Tongguan along the way?" 』
?Yang Xiu straightened his waist, cupped his hands and said, "Coming along the way, I saw the rosy glow of Tongguan, like the garden of Yuanyuan, and the cloud caps of mountain rosy clouds, like the floating clear sky." Slowly advancing, the general''s trumpet, the sound of golden drums, and the six battalions. They obey orders and prohibitions, but they dare not be careful. There are many swords and spears, and they have long tassels. Their soldiers are very strong. 』
"Looking at the terrain of Tongguan, it bears the platform of the Qinling Mountains, relies on the wind of the big river, carries the Jingwei River and the rich currents, and holds the Shoushan Mountain in Zhongnan. The heavy city and the pass are like a rainbow and a beam. It can control thousands of people outside and control the inside. Chang''an will last for thousands of years. Guanzhong Mingtang, Lantian is on the left, and the golden lock is in front. Qi Lian is close to Feng Yi, and the territory is close to Qiyang. The land is very favorable. 』
“The stability of Tongguan is like the stability of mountains and rivers. I hereby congratulate Hussar!” 』
Fei Qian chuckled.
? ? If sorted 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 many times it depends on how to behave, rather than how to write superficial articles.
『What can you tell if you call Dezu here today? Fei Qian said.
?Yang Xiu hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "I don''t know, please let me know..."
『Really don’t know? Fei Qian still smiled, "Then Dezu can go back after drinking this cup of tea..."
In an instant, the sweat on Yang Xiu''s forehead suddenly appeared, then rolled down and hit the mat he was sitting on, leaving a circular mark.
??Does Yang Xiu really not know what he has done?
But people always take chances.
How about luck? Basically, everyone has some, more or less.
For example, knowing that it is illegal but still doing it, knowing that it is wrong but still doing it, most of them are caused by this kind of psychology, and then because of certain words such as "maybe", "maybe", "in case", etc., To bet on that extremely slim possibility...
Just like Yang Xiu is betting on his affairs at the moment, Fei Qian doesn''t know "maybe", "maybe", or "what if"? So if you don''t bring it upon yourself, wouldn''t you be at a disadvantage?
Or maybe when Yang Xiu faced the pressure from Fei Qian, under the tension and anxiety, in order to prevent himself from having a mental breakdown, he comforted himself with the mentality of luck, "maybe", "maybe" "What if" it''s not that bad and the situation won''t get worse?
But when Fei Qian said that he would let Yang Xiu go after drinking tea, Yang Xiu did not dare to continue gambling. Yang Xiu was afraid that turning around and leaving like this would be tantamount to a complete break with Fei Qian, and he might face more troubles, a more embarrassing situation in the future, and 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 troops in Guanzhong and near Tongguan is not something that Yang Xiu can easily compete with. On the other hand, For help, Cao Cao focused on Youbei again, and then Yang Xiu also heard that Jiangdong was also attacking Cao Cao, so whether Cao Cao could survive smoothly is also a big question...
In such a situation, Yang Xiu swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then left the table and fell to the ground, giving in, "I... I am guilty..."
(End of this chapter)