Chapter 497 The Qinling Mountains are majestic
It is said that Zhuge Kongming sent Chen Long to the south gate of Chang'an, where he met the young man Zhong Hui who had been waiting for a long time. Zhong Hui was well-dressed and well-equipped, with a strong bow hanging on his back, and he controlled the horse like a tiger descending from the mountain. He wanted to follow Chen Long to the west. In his words, he was not afraid of the dragon's pond and the tiger's den, and was willing to lead the horse and ride on it. Chen Long was overjoyed and ran away with Zhong Hui. Looking at the young Zhuge Liang behind him, jealousy welled up in his heart. Who is the lord's favorite?
Zhuge Liang shook his head and turned around, but suddenly there was the sound of hoofbeats behind him. When he turned around, he saw that it was his master and Zhong Hui coming back on horseback. Zhuge Liang was overjoyed and thought that his master had changed his mind and no longer wanted Zhong Hui to leave the boy behind. around. Chen Long came to Kong Ming's side, reined in his horse, and said loudly: "I almost forgot something. Send me a military order and ask Zhong Yao to send people back to Xiangyang, take Zhang Zhongjing to Chang'an to set up a medical clinic, treat Huyan Yuanhai, and teach apprentices. , prevent epidemics, treat civilians, and those below the civilian level are exempted from medical fees.”
Zhuge Liang thought that this was what happened, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed, and nodded in agreement. Chen Long shouted: "Kong Ming, the great things of the world are entrusted to you now, don't let me down!" He turned his horse in a circle, and did not look back this time. He and Zhong Hui rode straight towards the westbound road. .
Several flowers bloom, one on each side. Major events in the world are mysterious and unpredictable. Let's see Chen Long and Zhong Hui riding for more than thirty miles. The road has reached the end and branched out into two small roads. Chen Long took a quick glance and found the mark of the Qinglong Army early. Along one of the small roads, Keep running.
In the distance were the shadows of majestic mountains. In a daze, Chen Long recalled the days when he and Taohua walked out of the mountains. They were surrounded by the roar of insects and beasts, and they were already deep into the surrounding old forests. Zhong Hui has been obsessed with military affairs since he was a child, so he naturally knows some geography and knows that he has entered the Qinling area.
The Qinling Mountains are an east-west mountain range that runs across central China. It is divided into the Qinling Mountains in the narrow sense and the Qinling Mountains in the broad sense. In a narrow sense, the Qinling Mountains are limited to the mountains in southern Shaanxi Province, between the Weihe River and the Hanjiang River, bounded by the Bahe and Danjiang River valleys in the east and ending with the Jialing River in the west. In a broad sense, the Qinling Mountains start from Baishi Mountain in the north of Lintan County, Gansu Province in the west, and enter Shaanxi via Maiji Mountain in the south of Tianshui in the east. It is divided into three branches at the junction of Shaanxi and Henan. The northern branch is Weishan Mountain, and the middle branch is Xiong'er Mountain. The southern branch is Funiu Mountain. With a total length of more than 1,600 kilometers, it is the watershed between the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River, and the Jialing River and Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.
Since ancient times, the line between the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River has been considered the dividing line between the north and south of mainland China. In the north of the Qinling Mountains, the cold wave can drive straight in, and rivers and lakes freeze in winter. Whenever winter comes, the north wind blows, and most of the trees will lose their leaves. Most of the leaves that do not lose their leaves are needle-shaped, which is called coniferous forest. Since the annual precipitation in the northern region is less and most of the precipitation is concentrated in the summer, the amount of water in the rivers is not large and the water level changes greatly. The flood season is only formed in the summer and the time is relatively short. The sand content of the rivers is large, and the animals and plants raised are They are also relatively drought-tolerant, with animals such as tame donkeys, fine horses, goats, musk deer and even rhinos, and plants such as tangerine, sandalwood, pears, chestnuts, persimmons, grapes, etc. The cultivated land is dry land, and the main crops are wheat and cereals. South of the Qinling Mountains, on the contrary, the Hanzhong Basin and the Sichuan Basin are less affected by cold air, so the rivers do not freeze, the water system is developed, and boating is convenient. The vegetation is mainly evergreen broad-leaved forest, and there are many kinds of animals, including national treasures such as the giant panda. Unique species and plants include citrus, tea, tung tree, loquat, bamboo, etc. The cultivated land is mainly paddy fields, and the crops are mainly rice, sugar cane, tea, etc. As the saying goes, "Wheat in the north and rice in the south, boats in the south and horses in the north."
The unique geographical location has given the Qinling Mountains an important military status. Since ancient times, the Qinling Mountains have been an important military passage and a battleground for military strategists. There are five main roads that cross the Qinling Mountains. From west to east, they are the Qishan Road, the Chencang Road, the Baoxie Road, the Tangluo Road, and the Ziwu Road. Their arrangement and combination with the four passages passing through the Daba Mountains formed the main passages through Sichuan and Shaanxi in ancient times. .
In these five passages, there are many famous battles throughout the ages that are true or false. Building the plank road openly and crossing Chencang secretly, or "going out from Ziwu in the light, visiting Chencang secretly", was Liu Bang's plan by General Han Xin to avoid Yong Wang Zhanghan's frontal defense, and took the opportunity to "secretly cross Chencang" from the old road, and unexpectedly defeated Yong Wang Zhanghan and Sai from the side. King Sima Xin and King Zhai Dong Yi defeated the Three Qin Dynasties in one fell swoop and captured the treasured land of Guanzhong. After roughly defining the Three Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang could compete with Xiang Yu for the world by relying on the fertile and physically superior Guanzhong area.
Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley plot in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was not successful because Zhuge Liang was always cautious in using troops and was unwilling to risk his troops lightly. Military strategists and fans throughout the history felt it was a pity that this plot was rejected. In fact, the Ziwu Valley route is indeed the fastest route recently. At that time, the number of Wei troops stationed in Chang'an City was only tens of thousands. As long as Wei Yan could seize military fortresses such as Wuguan and Tongguan, and hold on to wait for reinforcements, it would be possible to achieve its strategic goals. If Zhuge Liang wins Chang'an, he will start a real world war with the Wei Kingdom. But the risk of doing so is undoubtedly huge. As long as a powerful force blocks the Ziwu Valley passage, Wei Yan will die without a burial place. Therefore, due to the instability of backup and allies, Zhuge Liang finally chose the slow and steady Qishan Road to capture Tianshui and Xu Tu Changan, which ultimately failed.
In the subsequent history of China, it was ravaged many times by the northern nomads, resulting in many evocative stories of resistance to the Jin, Liao and Yuan Dynasties. The Qinling Mountains were an important line of defense against foreign aggression. The Southern Song Dynasty relied on Wu Jie and Wu Lin to defend the Qinling line and led the battles of Heshangyuan and Xianrenguan to crush the fierce Jin army's strategic intention to invade Sichuan from the south and move eastward along the river, thus stabilizing the regime's position. It was thanks to the famous Southern Song general Zhang Jun that he took advantage of the situation. In order to strengthen the border defense, the three passes of Wuxiuguan, Xianrenguan and Qifangguan were established in Yanbian, creating the famous three-pass defense. Among them, Xianren Pass is the most dangerous because it leads to Tubo in the north, Shuzhong and Hanzhong in the west, and Qiwei in the east. In addition to the three passes, there are five more states, namely Jiezhou, Chengzhou, Fengzhou, Xihe state, and Tianshuijun. In the geographical background of the Southern Song Dynasty, when Guanzhong, northern Shaanxi and other places north of the Qinling Mountains were basically lost, the three passes and five states were actually It became the front line in the Sichuan-Shaanxi War Zone of the Southern Song Dynasty to resist the enemy's march southward, and was known as Shukou.
In the ninth year of Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty, Gao Yingxiang led his army out of Hanzhong, returned to Shaanxi, and planned to attack Xi'an. When he arrived at Heishui Valley, he was ambushed by Ming general Sun Chuanting. He was defeated, captured and died. Gao Yingxiang's army was annihilated by Sun Chuanting in the Heishui Valley area of Ziwu Road proposed by Wei Yan. It can be seen that Wei Yan's strategy may not be successful in one fell swoop, and it is more likely to fail.
Chen Long and Zhong Hui rode along the mountain road. The terrain was undulating. They could see Taibai Peak, the main peak of the Qinling Mountains, in the distance. They looked down at the Weihe Plain like a flock of chickens. After running along the road for a long time, we finally reached a mountain platform and found the mark left by Lu Chang and an abandoned carriage.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
