"If you look at the map of China, you will see that the east and west are divided into three major steps, separated by natural chasms, and connected by two large rivers! In other words, there will be no real confrontation between the east and west of China, because the three major staircases are separated by natural chasms! Moreover, the east and west are separated by natural chasms. Fang won’t be divided because there is a big river connecting them! Even the broken bones are connected to the tendons!”
"However, there is no big river connecting the north and the south in China! There is a strong tendency to separate! For example, from the end of the Qin Dynasty when the Chu and Han Dynasties divided rivers to rule, to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, to the peace negotiations between the two Song Dynasties..."
"The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal greatly solved this problem! With its connection, the south and north of China gradually merged into one! Especially after the economic center of gravity moved southward in the Song Dynasty, millions of grains and materials were transported from the Jiangnan area to the north every year. Evacuate the whole country! Really turn the land of China into a chess game! What kind of impact will it have over the years?!"
"Think about it. Although the general trend of the world is that long-divided countries must unite and long-term united countries must divide, but since the completion of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, have there been far fewer eras of separatism? Has the era of unification become the mainstream?" Tang Jian asked.
Liang Jiangtao was startled and thought about it seriously, it seemed that this was really the case.
Before the Tang Dynasty, separatism and separatism often lasted for hundreds of years or even hundreds of years.
But after the Tang Dynasty, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms were a period of great chaos, which lasted only a few decades. After that, the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties were unified dynasties, which meant that there was chaos for a while when generations changed!
Liang Jiangtao's eyes shone with light, and he was touched.
It turns out that it is possible to think about problems from such a grand and lofty perspective!
China’s history and reality!
"Only with the geographical foundation can we create the economic foundation and determine the political, ideological, cultural and other superstructures. It was the emergence of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that completely consolidated the unified central dynasty!"
"Many people are looking for reasons why social unification has been deepening in Chinese history. Some people say that it has solved the contradiction between the central government and local separatism, and some people say that it has solved the contradiction between monarch power and prime minister power! But these are superficial phenomena, not fundamental. Reason! The root cause must be found from the geographical environment and must be understood dynamically. This is also the geographical environment determinism of the Western Enlightenment thinker Montesquieu. Now it seems to be quite reasonable and more consistent with historical materialism."
"Grandpa Tang, I understand. The poet Pi Rixiu once wrote a poem: After the death of the Sui Dynasty, this river has been dependent on Tongbo for thousands of miles. If there was no water palace dragon boat incident, Yu and Yu would not have much merit! The opening of the Grand Canal Juxtaposed with Dayu's achievements in flood control, it seems now that there is no exaggeration!"
There are diverse evaluations and interpretations of history. Some people even believe that the Grand Canal should not be built. The Sui Dynasty perished because of the Grand Canal, which also caused serious disasters to millions of workers.
This is caused by high differences in cognition.
From the perspective of the country and the nation, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is too important.
"Yes, in later generations, the Grand Canal continued to silt up. By the Qing Dynasty, only twenty-three out of ten sections of the river were still navigable. On the contrary, the politics became rigid, the culture was conservative, and the economy lost its vitality!"
"The development of ancient China revolved around water! If the Grand Canal is blocked and resources cannot flow effectively, the Yellow River Basin will be over-cultivated, resulting in floods, poor harvests, displaced people, political instability, and further harsh punishments and laws. Clamp down on ideas to suppress! In the end, conflicts cannot be contained, and dynasties change! Every time they change, the new dynasty will absorb the control methods of the previous dynasty and innovate them! So that in the end, a highly centralized but extremely rigid society like the Ming and Qing Dynasties appeared! All the vitality Loss! This is the development context of ancient Chinese politics, history and culture!"
"Just like a person who grows old, gets sick, and dies, he grows up, becomes prosperous, and slowly moves towards his twilight years. He no longer has any vitality and is about to leave this world."
"Many people talk about the number of qi. What is the number of qi? Qi is the force that drives a person's life, old age, illness and death. It runs through meridians. In Western science, it is the circulation of body fluids! And a country and a nation rely on the geographical environment to carry the number of qi! Just For China, it means these mountains and rivers! If the dragon veins are connected, the country will prosper!" Mr. Tang kept talking, with a sharp light in his eyes.
He has studied these things all his life!
Of course there is a lot of talk!
Liang Jiangtao's blood boiled when he heard this, and he continued to ask: "So, the geographical environment of a country and nation is extremely important to its ability to rise?"
"Of course you can say that! Many people will say that the most essential thing behind international competition is cultural competition! The rise of the West is due to the accumulation of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations, as well as the promotion of religious reform and enlightenment ideas. The reason for the rise of China is the accumulation of five thousand years of history and culture. These are all correct! But there is a more important reason behind it, and that is the geographical environment!"
"Why did China form a unified central dynasty? Because we are dominated by plains! Why did maritime civilization and commercial civilization arise in the West? It's because Europe lacks arable land but has abundant marine resources! If we don't sail and colonize, the country will be destroyed ! In the end, it is the geographical environment that determines the direction of civilization and culture! People are determined by the environment, so are countries and nations?"
"Why does a person succeed? Some people say that it is his ability, his courage, and his wisdom. This is like a country's system, economy, and culture. But there is another very important reason, and a more basic reason. , that is his body! The body and the mind influence each other! Sometimes, whether the mind is healthy and strong depends on whether the body is healthy! Like Hawking, there is only one in ten thousand, and it is not a reference. And a The natural environment of a country is like a person’s body! Of course, many of them are determined by God, that is, people’s talents and national endowments! It is fundamentally not based on people’s subjective will!”
"For example, Japan is a small country isolated overseas. Although it can become a powerful country through unscrupulous means and seize historical opportunities, it has its upper limit and bottleneck and will never be able to compete with the most powerful country in the world!"
"Only China can compete with the United States in the future! Taking into account its history, culture, territory, population, endowment, and environment, it is not impossible for China to surpass the United States one day in the future! This is Qi! However, this process is definitely not smooth sailing. Yes, you will definitely have to put in a lot of effort and endure a lot of labor pains!”
After Mr. Tang finished speaking, he stopped.
Liang Jiangtao was silent.
I was extremely shocked.
The fate of history emerges before our eyes.
He had never heard what Mr. Tang said before, and he had never thought about it.
But he knew that Mr. Tang was not talking nonsense!
From this perspective, explain the rise and fall of a country!
It seems to be deeper than political determinism, economic determinism and even cultural determinism!
Of course, he didn't dare to say that everything Mr. Tang said was right.
After all, his experience and wisdom are limited.
He could only write it all down and think about it later to verify it.
