ATPnovel Chapter 45 Qin Shi Huang builds the Great Wall?
Chapter 45 Qin Shi Huang builds the Great Wall?
Xingyang.
In the government office, the largest building had become Liu Bang's command center.
A huge sand table was placed in the center of the room. Liu Bang stood to the north, Zhang Liang to his right, and Chen Ping to his left. Generals Lü Ze, Xiahou Ying, Lu Wan, Zhou Bo, Lü Shizhi, Fan Kuai, Liu Fu, Liu Jiao, Liu Jia, and Guan Ying stood on either side.
Liu Ying was short and had short legs, so he couldn't see the sand table from the ground. He had to trouble Fan Kuai to sit on his shoulders so that they could look down at the sand table from a higher position. The geography and mountains on the sand table were centered on Xingyang, and the surrounding terrain was all visible.
"This is truly a treacherous place." Liu Ying glanced at the sand table and could clearly see that Xingyang was in a strategic location, easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as Xingyang was held, Xiang Yu would find it difficult to destroy Liu Bang.
Of course, it is conceivable that when Xiang Yu launched his westward campaign, he would have focused his attack on Xingyang.
This place will be a land of life and death.
If Liu Bang had held Xingyang, he would have been safe and sound.
If Xiang Yu captures Xingyang, he can then take Luoyang and enter Hangu Pass.
"Zifang, please." Liu Bang clasped his hands in a fist and bowed to Zhang Liang.
"It is my duty; I dare not accept such a generous gift from the King of Han." Zhang Liang returned the salute with clasped hands, his bright eyes sweeping over the generals: "With the defeat at Pengcheng, the King of Han has lost all 560,000 troops. This is the King of Han's weakest moment. If Xiang Yu seizes this opportunity to attack, the Han Dynasty will be in grave danger!"
This was obvious, and the generals had no objections.
"Although the King of Han has sent Sui He to force Ying Bu to rebel, it is still unknown whether it will succeed. If it succeeds, it can hold off Xiang Yu for several months, allowing the Han Dynasty to recover. If it fails, a life-or-death battle is imminent." Zhang Liang's gaze fell on the sand table, his right hand gripping a thin wooden stick as he pointed, "Therefore, we must prepare for Xiang Yu's imminent westward advance and prepare our defenses with utmost urgency."
"Good!" Everyone agreed.
There is still no news about how to force Ying Bu to rebel, and it is unknown whether it will succeed or not. The war can be prepared according to the most critical situation.
"When Xiang Yu comes west, he must first capture Xingyang before he can advance westward and take Luoyang." Zhang Liang pointed his wooden stick at a strategic location in front of Xingyang: "This battle will inevitably take place between Jing and Suo."
His tone rose slightly: "Jing refers to the capital city; Suo refers to Suoting. To the east between Jing and Suo is a plain, suitable for a large army to maneuver. Fighting them here would be disadvantageous for us. To the west of Jing and Suo are hills and mountains. As long as we hold these hills and mountain passes, we can stop Xiang Yu's westward advance."
"What a keen eye! The location selection is spot on." Liu Ying looked at Jing Suo and praised him inwardly.
Jingsuo is located east of Mount Song and Mount Mang, in a subsidence zone of these mountains, now hilly. To the east lies the Central Plains, a flat plain suitable for Xiang Yu's large army. Fighting Xiang Yu here would be disadvantageous for Liu Bang.
To the west, with Mount Song and Mount Mang at our backs, our rear is secure, allowing us to advance or retreat as needed. If the war goes well, we can launch a major eastward advance; if not, we can retreat to the hills and hold our ground.
"Among the hills and mountains, the State of Han built a Great Wall to defend against Qin." Zhang Liang pointed with his wooden stick to a figure resembling a giant dragon on the sand table, saying, "The Han Great Wall runs from Xingyang Juan County to Yangwu and Mixian. It is sturdy and easy to defend, difficult to attack. After Qin Shi Huang destroyed Han, it was abandoned. It only needs to be repaired and can be used again."
Chen Ping continued, "The King of Han brought back over 100,000 common people, which will come in handy. There is no need to conscript laborers from the rear."
Liu Bang said proudly, "When I left Xiayi, I knew that the common people would be of great use to me, so I took them with me."
Lu Ze and Xiahou Ying both rolled their eyes. "If Liu Ying hadn't persuaded you, would you have retreated?"
"The Great Wall? How come it's in Xingyang?" Liu Ying completely ignored Liu Bang, his eyes glued to the Great Wall of Han, unable to look away.
The Great Wall, a name that resonates far and wide, is known to everyone from children to the elderly.
Liu Ying only knew that the Great Wall was in the north and was used to defend against nomadic tribes from the north; he had never heard of the Great Wall in the Central Plains.
"Why can't the Great Wall be in Xingyang?" Zhang Liang looked at Liu Ying, his face full of confusion.
"Didn't they say that Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall?" Liu Ying found Zhang Liang's question incomprehensible.
"Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall? Is that true?" Zhang Liang asked, puzzled.
"Who told you that Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall?" Liu Bang stared at Liu Ying with wide eyes.
All eyes were on Liu Ying, and everyone was puzzled.
"Qin Shi Huang didn't build the Great Wall?" Liu Ying felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
In later generations, everyone knew that Qin Shi Huang's construction of the Great Wall consumed countless resources and depleted the nation's wealth. This led to Chen Sheng and Wu Guang's uprising in Dazexiang, which was met with widespread support, ultimately resulting in the downfall of the Qin Dynasty.
Liu Bang, Zhang Liang, and other participants in the anti-Qin movement actually told Liu Ying that Qin Shi Huang did not build the Great Wall.
Liu Ying felt that her view of history had been refreshed.
"You're not going to say that Qin Shi Huang ordered Meng Tian to renovate the Great Wall, but that Qin Shi Huang actually built the Great Wall?" Chen Ping was the first to realize.
"Rebuild the Great Wall?" Liu Ying was confused. "Meng Tian didn't repair the Great Wall?"
"The claim that Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall is a rumor." Chen Ping shook his head: "Qin Shi Huang never built the Great Wall. After he conquered the six states, he ordered Meng Tian to renovate the northern Great Wall to make it more suitable for the needs of war, rather than starting from scratch to build a Great Wall."
"The Great Wall of the North? What's that?" Liu Ying was even more confused.
Having only heard of the Great Wall, Liu Ying had never heard of the Northern Great Wall; this was the first time he had heard of it.
"Even the prince doesn't know this?" Zhang Liang was somewhat speechless. He said, "The Great Wall is just a name we like to use. There are actually other names, such as Fangcheng. Because of their different geographical locations, they are divided into the Southern Great Wall and the Northern Great Wall."
The Southern Great Wall? This was the first time Liu Ying had heard this term.
Zhang Liang explained to Liu Ying: "The earliest Great Wall can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was built to defend against the nomadic Yanyun people from the north. After that, the vassal states began to build the Great Wall on a large scale. The State of Chu built Fangcheng in Nanyang, which stretched for more than two thousand li."
"The State of Chu also built the Great Wall?" Liu Ying found it unbelievable, but seeing Zhang Liang's serious expression, and since Liu Bang and the others did not deny it, it must be true.
The State of Chu did indeed build a wall, but it wasn't called the Great Wall; it was called the Fangcheng. Construction began before King Huai of Chu, and it was distributed across the northwest, north, and eastern edges of the Nanyang Basin, as well as the Dabie Mountains area around Xinyang.
Used to prevent attacks from the Central Plains.
In particular, the powerful state of Jin in the Central Plains was the hegemon of the land during the Spring and Autumn Period, the strongest state in the Central Plains, and the only formidable enemy of Chu. To prevent an attack from Jin, Chu built Fangcheng (Square City).
At that time, the core area of the Chu state was the Nanyang Basin. This is because the Chu state developed from this area.
The Nanyang Basin is surrounded by mountains on three sides, but the area bordering the Central Plains has no mountains to defend. Therefore, the State of Chu built Fangcheng, making the Nanyang Basin defensible on all four sides and extremely stable.
"During the reign of King Xuan of Qi, he built a Great Wall on the mountain ridges, stretching over a thousand li from the sea in the east to Jizhou in the west, to defend against Chu," Zhang Liang continued to explain to Liu Ying.
The Qi Great Wall stretches from Changqing District in Jinan in the west to Huangdao Economic Development Zone in Qingdao in the east, traversing the Shandong Peninsula.
This was to guard against the powerful state of Chu.
"After Wei moved its capital to Daliang, it built two sections of the Great Wall, one in the west to defend against Qin and the other in the south to defend against Chu," Zhang Liang added.
The Great Wall of Wei was built by King Hui of Wei. At that time, after the reforms of Shang Yang, the Qin state rose to power in the west and was very strong. It defeated the Wei state and caused its army to be wiped out. King Hui of Wei then moved the capital of Wei from Anyi to Daliang.
They built the Great Wall in the west to defend against the Qin state.
However, because the capital was moved to Daliang, located in the heart of the Central Plains and threatened by the State of Chu, the southern border wall of the State of Wei was built south of Daliang, in the area from southeast of present-day Yuanyang County, Henan Province to Xinmi City.
"Add the Han Great Wall, and you have the Southern Great Wall." Zhang Liang explained the definition of the Southern Great Wall: "After Qin Shi Huang conquered the six states, the Southern Great Wall was no longer needed and was abolished."
"Then what about the Northern Great Wall?" Liu Ying finally understood what the Southern Great Wall was all about, and then asked about the Northern Great Wall.