In the ancient Chinese mainland, regions had different development potentials in terms of resources, population area and natural barriers; the Qin State in the Warring States Period relied on the 800-mile Qinchuan Plain, and it was a waste of time. The barren and impoverished western Qinland developed into the region with the greatest development potential among the seven kingdoms, and Qin also relied on it to achieve its grand goal of unifying the world. So, in the history of our country, which areas have huge development potential, or have a very strategic position, and separatist control here is equivalent to having the power to dominate the world?
Eight Hundred Miles of Qinchuan? An imperial capital since ancient times? Chinese roots
Speaking of the areas with the greatest potential for development, we must first mention the Qinchuan Plain, which is now the center of Shaanxi Plains, what many people don't know is that the Qinchuan area has formed a terrain feature surrounded by mountains and rivers with a vast plain in the center, which has strategic value for advancing, attacking, retreating and defending.
Not only that, the transportation in the Qinchuan area is also particularly developed. Basically, goods and commodities from Shu, Liangzhou, and the Central Plains area can be transported easily and smoothly. Why is the transportation so convenient? Since the surrounding terrain is defensive, why can transportation be so convenient?
There are dangerous mountains and rivers around Qinchuan, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. This is also because they come from several large gorges in the Qinchuan area. The mountains and rivers in the Qinchuan Plain are very dangerous, but they are relatively large. Like the God of Nature, God has designed several entrance and exit canyons for these ring-shaped mountains for transportation. As long as the rulers of the Qinchuan area can guard a few canyons, they can not only defend themselves against enemies, but also defend themselves. It is truly a miracle. Choose a place.
This is nothing. The food and mineral output of the Qinchuan Plain are extremely superior. It can even be said that the rulers here are able to be self-sufficient even if they adopt seclusion, and their lives are very comfortable, because The grain products here are very high-yielding every year, and there are also a lot of minerals.
To put it simply, after occupying this place and sending elite troops to guard several gorges, it is basically difficult for foreign enemies to enter; in addition, the Qin people are very bloody and hardworking. During the war, All the Qin people went to battle to kill the enemy. In peacetime, all the Qin people planted food. Therefore, the Qinchuan Plain has the right time, place and people; and it is also the core area of ??the Silk Road, and goods from Western countries basically have to pass through. Here, for this reason, the Xi'an area in the Qinchuan Plain became the capital of many dynasties.
The Central Plains region? The birthplace of Chinese civilization
In ancient times, the Central Plains region only represented the area south of the Yellow River and the north of the Yangtze River. In ancient times, the area represented by this region was generally Henan, Shandong and parts of Hubei, Anhui, and Jiangsu. These areas are where ancient Chinese scholars and military commanders gathered, and are also the birthplaces of Chinese civilization.
The most important thing about the Central Plains region is not its resources, food and finance, but its people. The Central Plains region was the most populous region in the country in ancient times, and even one Central Plains region accounted for 60% of China’s population. ; With people, there will be productivity and military power, and with people, there will be all kinds of talents.
The Central Plains region relies on talents to conquer the world. Therefore, the Central Plains region relies on people and people to conquer the world. If the entire Central Plains region is twisted into a rope, then the world will basically be settled, and even the Qinchuan region will not be able to resist. The military power in the Central Plains region is the advantage of having more people. Even if you have a good geographical situation and strong development potential, but I have more people and more high-quality talents, I can drag you to death just by relying on people.
The Central Plains region can be said to be the region with the greatest development potential and the ability to unify the world in ancient China. Basically occupying this area, you are almost not far away from unifying the world; however, the advantages of the Central Plains are very obvious, and the disadvantages are also very obvious. Obviously, few people from China can bring the Central Plains together in troubled times.
There are really very few people, because the Central Plains region not only has a large population, but the problem it brings is that the social group is extremely complex. It is filled with various aristocratic families and aristocratic forces. Although there are many scholars, there are not many scholars. It caused a lot of trouble and was inconvenient to manage. It was also for this reason that most of the rulers of the Central Plains region used this area as a food rear area, a talent pool, and a military resource pool, so the consequences were extremely complicated.
The Land of Youyan? Guard the North Gate of the Core Area of ??the Central Plains
When many people watch Chinese history, they are often very unfamiliar with the Land of Youyan. When mentioning the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, many people People only know that it is in the north, but they don’t know the specific location. How important is it? If I put it another way, everyone will understand. The Youyan area is today's Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, part of Inner Mongolia, and part of Hebei. If I change it to this way, you may be able to understand it.
But there is still a doubt, isn’t the land of Youyan located in the far north? The north is threatened by powerful ethnic minority cavalry. How can this be the area with the greatest development potential? Regarding this issue, everyone may have been misunderstood by the Warring States Period. During the Warring States Period, the Yan State occupied the land of Youyan, but it was the weakest country. The climate conditions and farming conditions of the Yan State were far inferior to those of several vassal states in the Central Plains. .
It blocked the cavalry of the nomadic people and provided the Central Plains with a place for war horses and swallows. It has been a tug-of-war between farming civilization and nomadic civilization since ancient times. After the development of the Sui Dynasty, it has become a geomantic treasure land. ;Although this place is bordered by foreign races, risks and opportunities are present. Do we know what kind of arms the Central Plains Empire is most afraid of? It's the cavalry!
The grasslands in the Youyan area are very easy to raise grassland war horses, and there is a Great Wall blocking the Youyan area. When nomadic people invade, they must first give up their war horses. In history, nomadic people invaded from Shanxi. After entering, it is basically difficult to reach the land of Youyan without breaking through the Shanxi area. Therefore, the land of Youyan actually suffers the least invasion.
What's more, there are not only Mongols in this area, but also Xianbei, Jurchens, and Koreans, and these peoples are all peoples on horseback. It is not uncommon to hire cavalry in the Youyan area. After the Tang Dynasty, many rulers relied on this place to raise war horses, and on the other hand, they relied on this place to attract nomadic cavalry to form their own cavalry troops.
The land of Youyan influenced the direction of the Song Dynasty for hundreds of years; in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di relied on the Duoyan Three Guards and the Mongolian cavalry to seize the throne from his nephew. The deterrent effect of the cavalry on the battlefield was extremely terrifying. Yes, there have been many dynasties that have changed in history. They were all nomadic peoples in the north who relied on the superiority of cavalry to invade and occupy the Central Plains. Not to mention the distant ones, since the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Kingdom, and the Manchu Dynasty The Eight Banners are also.
The disadvantages of Youyan Land are obvious. It lacks strategic depth. However, the disadvantages of Youyan Land are also obvious. First of all, this place is too remote and the Han population is small. Secondly, the transportation is not convenient, and there is no sea transportation. During this period, if the Youyan area wanted to go south, it had to attack Hebei first, so it was greatly restricted; the strategic depth of the area was also less, and there was no buffer zone at all. The enemy could reach Yanjing on the first day and Jinzhou on the second day. You can reach Shenyang on the third day.
So, the land of Youyan, which lacks strategic depth, can only concentrate all the elites in the Yanjing area. As long as it is defended here, the country can basically be considered very safe; but in history, the Jurchens The Koreans liked to invade the land of Youyan. Although most of the periods ended in failure, only a few powerful invasions established the Jin Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
It is rare in history that the southern army unified the world. We need to remember that Bashu and Jingxiang were united. Both of them must be in the hands of one political power before they can plot the Central Plains; in ancient China, the northern army was far away. Far stronger than the southern army, the southern army's weakness, war weariness, and contentment have led to the southern Han people's combat effectiveness being insufficient.
Basically, the armies that divide the south rarely have the strength to unify the Central Plains; if they do, then only the strength of Jingxiang and Bashu can unite the Central Plains.
At this point, many people will wonder, why is the Jiangnan region so rich and prosperous that it cannot dominate the world?
Speaking of Jiangnan, if we look at the entire history of China, which country or dynasty can rely on Jiangnan to dominate the world? Basically there was none. If there was, it was only during the Zhu Yuanzhang period. However, at that time, the northern part of the Yuan Empire was completely in chaos, which gave the southern region an opportunity to develop. Apart from this, there is almost no record of unification in the Jiangnan region.
If you want to unify the world, you must have both Jingxiang and Bashu (the land of abundance)
As for the Jingxiang and Bashu regions, it is impossible to unify the world if they are separate regions. Although the land of Jingxiang has the transportation and strategic advantages to conquer the world, without the rear supply of food and personnel, the land of Jingxiang will only become a springboard for the northern rulers to conquer the world. If we talk about Bashu alone, it does not have the power to dominate the world. Liu Bang was lucky and met Han Xin, an outstanding person. In other eras, Bashu had no record of unifying the world. Then the combination of the two is completely different.
Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Dui" records: "Jingzhou borders Han and Mian in the north, stretches out to the South China Sea, connects Wuhui in the east, and connects Ba and Shu in the west. It is a country that uses military force; Yizhou is a dangerous fortress with fertile fields thousands of miles away. The land of Tianfu, Gaozu used it to become an emperor; if there are Jing and Yi across the road, protect the rocks and block them, make peace with the Rong in the west, pacify the Yiyue in the south, and cultivate political principles in the country; if there is a change in the world, order the army of Jingzhou to march towards Wan and Luo, if the general leads the Yizhou people out of Qinchuan, hegemony will be achieved and the Han Dynasty will prosper. ?
Zhuge Liang has a very thorough analysis of the advantages of the alliance between Jingxiang and Bashu; Jingzhou is a strategic location into the Central Plains, and Bashu is a powerful food supply and soldier supply. As long as it develops for a few years, its strength will be reduced. After the army is strong, the army can be sent from Jingzhou and Bashu can be used as supplies. It is completely possible to dominate the world.
And in the Jingchu area, you can conquer Jiangnan to the east. The navy of Jingchu is no worse than Jiangnan in history. You can conquer the Central Plains to the north, and you can conquer Yongliang to the west. If the strength allows, all three armies can go into battle together. Then the Central Plains region can definitely be conquered, because the population of Bashu plus Jingxiang is very huge, and the food of Bashu can support Jingzhou's war for many years. Therefore, the alliance between Bashu and Jingxiang is the most advantageous to unify the world.
End
In ancient Chinese society, especially the cold weapon era, geographical location, topography, dangerous mountains and rivers, talent factors, manpower factors, and the number of war horses can all affect the outcome of the war. Victory or defeat; wars between countries in ancient times were not only about tactics, strategies and national strength, but sometimes also about the comprehensive strength of the region, which put higher requirements on geopolitical advantages. In the art of war, those who are rich in resources or transportation Convenience, or strategic locations that are easy to defend and difficult to attack, are often the first issues that rulers consider. This is the true art of ancient Chinese warfare.