At this time, Yunzheng's attention is entirely on the Central Plains
The Central Plains is located in the four directions and can unite the whole world. The Central Plains is a land connected in all directions and is the hub of communication between the four directions. From the Central Plains to the surrounding areas, and from the surrounding areas to the Central Plains, it is very convenient. Its situation is closely related to the surrounding areas. Anything in the Central Plains must involve the four directions.
; If something happens in the four directions, it will definitely affect the Central Plains. Only if the Central Plains is stable can the four directions be stable; if there is chaos in the Central Plains, the situation in the four directions will inevitably fall apart.
However, at the beginning of the chaos in the world, because the Central Plains was vulnerable to enemies on all sides, the centrifugal force of the collapse of the four sides was enough to tear apart the situation in the Central Plains, making the Central Plains a turbulent intersection. The turbulent torrent was enough to destroy any efforts to defend the Central Plains. At this time, according to the
It is easy to conquer the dangerous and solid land of mountains and rivers in the four corners, but it is difficult to conquer the four battles of the Central Plains.
In the alternating changes of historical chaos, separation and merger, from governance to chaos, from merger to division, it is often difficult to occupy the four battle areas of the Central Plains, and it is often easy to occupy the four corners of the mountains and rivers; and in the stage from chaos to
Governance, from the stage of division and convergence, only those who get out of the four-corner struggle for the Central Plains will have a chance to conquer the world. If they still stick to one corner, it will be difficult to get rid of the situation of partial hegemony. In any overall competition, the Central Plains is a must-win place to conquer the world.
The Central Plains is the place that must be conquered; to stabilize the world, the Central Plains is the center of control. Only the Central Plains is the real arena for competition. Only the geographical conditions of the Central Plains extending in all directions can we achieve the situation of controlling all directions.
In terms of its own geographical situation, the Central Plains region can be roughly divided into four regions, each with different geographical conditions and different strategic significance. These four regions are: Sanchuan River Valley in the northwest, Nanyang Basin in the southwest, and the upper reaches of the Huaihe River in the southeast.
Northeastern Hanoi area
The Sanchuan River Valley is blocked by mountains on three sides, and the Yellow River runs across it in the north. It is almost surrounded by mountains and rivers. Luoyang City is located in it and is surrounded by mountains, forming dangerous obstacles. The rivers flow up and down and can be connected with the outside world. Most of the passes around Luoyang are built according to the dangerous mountains and rivers in the Sanchuan Valley: Tongguan
Blocking it to the west blocks the danger of Weihan; blocking its east side, Hulao blocks the passage between the northern foot of Songshan Mountain and the Yellow River; blocking its south side, Yique (now Longmen, Luoyang) blocks the passage of the Yihe River Valley between Songshan Mountain and Xiong'er Mountain;
Mengjin blocked its north and blocked the crossing of the Yellow River; Guangcheng Pass (today's Linxi) controlled the passage through the Ruhe River Valley, and Shenyuan Pass (today's southwest of Gongyi) controlled the passage from the direction of the Yinghe River. The Sanchuan Valley is between the east and west.
An important channel for communication, and its position is particularly important in the relationship between the east and the west. When establishing the capital in Guanzhong, the Sanchuan River Valley is often used to connect the east and west. However, if one bases oneself on the Central Plains and does not take Guanzhong for the time being, the Sanchuan River Valley is needed to prevent the central plains from advancing.
The Nanyang Basin is like a revolving door between Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Hubei and the Central Plains. It is accessible from all sides and can be attacked from all sides. From an overall perspective, the Nanyang Basin has the characteristics of stretching from east to west and meeting the north and south. Xiangyang and Nanyang are located in
The formation of these two important towns at the northern and southern ends of the basin represents the confrontation of interests between the north and the south in this area and the stalemate between the north and the south. During the confrontation between the north and the south, the north and the south often shared Xiangyang and Nanyang respectively. In the dispute between the east and the west, regardless of
Whether you are entering the Guanzhong or coming out from the Guanzhong, the Nanyang Basin is an attractive area.
The geographical conditions that can be relied upon in the east and south of Henan are mainly that the Huaihe River and its tributaries are between the Yellow River and the Dabie Mountains. From north to south, there are Bianhe River, Guohe River, Yinghe River, Ruhe River and the main trunk of the upper reaches of the Huaihe River. The sources of these rivers are spread out in a fan shape.
They all reach deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains, and flow downstream into the Huaihe River, thus becoming the main transportation route between the Central Plains and the Southeast. These rivers are used by both sides to fight and defend each other. They flow from the Central Plains to the Jianghuai River and to the southeast, and from the southeast to the Jianghuai River to reach the Central Plains.
, we can use these rivers as transport lines from the south of the Central Plains to the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. Going southward from the Bian and Si Rivers, we can go to Sikou, slightly east of Huaihe;
In addition to the direction of Huainan, this area relies on the Dabie Mountains to the south, and is surrounded by three passes: Wusheng, Pingjing and Huangxian, which protect the southern flank of the Central Plains.
The Hanoi area is located between the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River, leaning against the mountains in the north and blocking the river in the south.
The only way to travel between Hanoi; the second pass of Taihang is the Taihang Road in the Qin and Han Dynasties, with Tianjing Pass on it. The south of the pass is the Yangchangzaka Road in Taihang Mountain, which is the throat between Shangdang and Hanoi in Shanxi. Between Hanoi and Luoyang
The main passage is the Mengjin Ferry of the Yellow River in the Hanoi area between Shanxi and Henan, and between Guanzhong and Hebei.
Yangmengjin is the key point of attack and defense. The Hanoi area is in the east and west. It is the key point of communication. From Hanoi to Zhiguan, you can go to Guanzhong through Pujin; from Hanoi to Taihang Shandong, you can go to Hebei.
In the entire chessboard-shaped geographical pattern, if the Central Plains is its central hinterland, then Luoyang is the Tianyuan on this chessboard. In history, many regimes once used Luoyang as their capital. Although Luoyang was named among the four directions, its situation was
The so-called periphery of Luoyang can be said from several levels. The first level is the peripheral dangerous points of the Sanchuan River Valley, such as Chenggao, Weihan, Mengjin, Longmen, etc.; the second level is the four surrounding areas of Henan.
The surrounding areas include the Nanyang Basin in the southwest, the upper reaches of the Huaihe River in the southeast, the Hanoi area in the northeast, and the Sanchuan River Valley and the Xiaohan area in the northwest. These areas are the connection channels between the Central Plains and its periphery; if the field of view is further enlarged, its periphery can extend to Guanzhong
Luoyang, a major strategic location such as Hebei, Southeast and Jingxiang, is surrounded by these layers of peripherals. The location and geographical situation of the Central Plains determine to a large extent the characteristics of the offensive and defensive situation of the Central Plains. Attacking Luoyang and advancing in the Central Plains are a
This kind of progress is from the outside to the inside; the management of the Central Plains Defense is a kind of radiating from the inside to the outside with Luoyang as the center.
As for large-scale confrontations, such as the East-West Conflict and the North-South Confrontation, the Central Plains must be an intersection between the two sides. In the East-West Conflict, there must be an axis running through the North and South as the frontier area for both sides to compete; in the North-South Confrontation, there must be a transverse axis.
The east-west axis serves as the frontier zone for the confrontation between the two sides; the east-west conflict axis is roughly the eastern edge of the second step of China's terrain; the middle axis of the north-south confrontation is the line from the Huaihe River to the upper reaches of the Han River. The hinterland of the Central Plains with Luoyang as the center is the east-west axis.
The intersection area between the central axis of the struggle and the central axis of the North-South struggle. Therefore, whether it is the East-West struggle or the North-South confrontation, the Central Plains must be an intersection between the two sides.
Throughout the history of China, there have been changes in governance and chaos, and the general trend of the world has also been divided and changed. Usually, a unified dynasty disintegrates due to too many evils, and the world will fall apart, and a situation will develop into a situation where heroes compete for power. History is brewing in chaos.
new unity
Although the competition is in the Central Plains, the heroes who can really participate in the competition are not from the Central Plains, but tend to be in the Four Corners. In history, most of the forces that finally completed the great cause of unifying the world tended to be in the Four Corners. Similarly, those who finally completed the great cause of unifying the world in history tended to
Most of the forces originate from the four corners of the dangerous mountains and rivers. They first occupy one or two corners, accumulate strength, and then expand to the two wings. Then, they develop towards the Central Plains and conquer the world.
The Qin, Western Han, Sui (the level of Sui inheritance can be traced back to the Western Wei and Northern Zhou) and the Tang Dynasty all used Guanzhong as the basis to unify the world and advance from Guanzhong to conquer the world. The unification of Qin set a precedent, and its process of conquering the world is also the most typical.
, the unification of the Western Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties largely followed the same path as the Qin: its foundation was in Guanzhong, its expansion was on both wings, and the decisive battle was in the Central Plains
Liu Xiu of the Eastern Han Dynasty set a precedent of conquering the world from Hebei. Liu Xiu broke away from the Gengshi Emperor in Hebei and established himself on his own. He first occupied Hebei, with Hanoi as the base, then Henan, and Luoyang, which he established as the capital. Then he sent four generals to pacify the four directions.
Unify the world; as for the Yuan and Qing Dynasties that have not yet appeared, they started from outside the Great Wall, and after taking over the Central Plains, they also took Hebei as their base.
This solidified Yunzheng's strategic thinking of taking Hebei as his base, then advancing into the Central Plains, and then conquering the four regions to pacify the world.
As for Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, he set a precedent for unifying the world from the southeast. Zhu Yuanzhang occupied Jinling, pacified Chen Youliang in the west, and controlled the upper reaches of Jingxiang. He defeated Zhang Shicheng in the east and consolidated the three Wus to basically pacify Jiangnan.
After encircling Henan and taking Henan, they then went north to capture most of the capital, expel the Mongolian forces, and unify the world. Sichuan is located in the southwest corner. The regime established in Sichuan has never completed the great task of unifying the world in history. There are other reasons for this.
Zheng has also analyzed it carefully during this period.
Those who occupy the four corners of the land with dangerous mountains and rivers can pacify the four directions and unify the world; secondly, they can separate one party and dominate for a while. When the conditions for unification are not mature, occupying the four corners can establish local order and achieve one party's hegemony.
Take the historical period of great division and great turmoil in the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties as an example. Most of the separatist regimes established during this period were in Guanlong, Hebei and Sichuan. Especially in Guanlong and Hebei, most of the regimes were established in Guanzhong. Excluding those national
Regimes include Qin, Western Han, Xin (Wang Mang), Sui and Tang, as well as the Green Forest Regime, the Red Eyebrow Regime, the Former Zhao, the Former Qin, the Later Qin, and the Xia (Helian Bobo) during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and the Northern Dynasties period.
The Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, Daqi in the late Tang Dynasty (Huang Chao, did not appear in this history), Dashun (Li Zicheng) in the late Ming Dynasty and other regimes. In addition, in the chaos, the regimes of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Jin Dynasty also moved to Guanzhong, not to mention those
Smaller and short-term separatist groups, such as Li Maozhen in the late Tang Dynasty, Li Siji in the late Yuan Dynasty, etc.
The regime established in Hebei, except for those national regimes such as Yuan, Ming, and Qing, there are many regimes named after Yan and Zhao. There are many regimes named after Yan, including Yan during the Warring States Period, Yan at the end of Qin (Han Guang),
Yan (Zang Tu) at the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, Yan (Peng Chong) at the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the former Yan and the later Yan established by the Murong tribe of Xianbei during the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Yan at the end of the Tang Dynasty (Liu Rengong, did not appear), etc. named after Zhao
The political power included Zhao during the Warring States Period, Zhao (Wu Chen) at the end of Qin Dynasty, Zhao during the Chu-Han Dynasty (King Zhao Xie), Later Zhao during the Sixteen Kingdoms, etc. In addition, there was also Wei (Ran Min) during the Sixteen Kingdoms
), the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi in the Northern Dynasties, the Xia (Dou Jiande) in the late Sui Dynasty, etc.
The political regimes established in the southeast include Wu and Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period, Sun Wu in the Three Kingdoms, Song, Qi, Liang, Chen in the Eastern Jin, Southern Dynasties, and Wu in the early Tang Dynasty (Wu was established successively by Li Zineng and Du Fuwei)
, Song Dynasty (Fu Gong'er), Southern Tang Dynasty, Wu Yue, Southern Song Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (none of them appeared), Zhou Dynasty (Zhang Shicheng) at the end of Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty (early period) and Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, etc.
Although the regime established in Sichuan did not complete the great cause of unifying the world, there was no historical period of division and turmoil in Sichuan where independent separatist regimes did not appear. Regimes established in Sichuan include Ba and Shu during the Warring States Period, and the Sichuan regime at the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The Chengjia regime (Gongsun Shu), the Shu Han regime during the Three Kingdoms period (Liu Bei), the Cheng Han regime at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty (Li Xiong), the Shu regime during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (Jiao Zong), the former Shu regime during the Five Dynasties (Wang Jian), the later Shu regime (
Meng Zhixiang), Shu in the Northern Song Dynasty (Li Shun and Wang Junmin established Shu successively), Xia in the late Yuan Dynasty (Ming Yuzhen), etc.
Although the comprehensive conditions of the four sides are not as good as those of the four corners, in times of chaos, it is easy to form separatist forces and establish separatist regimes based on their geographical situation. Moreover, because of its convenient connections with surrounding areas, it is often easy to have a great impact, especially in places like Shanxi and Shandong.
In such a place, Shanxi is located between Guanzhong and Hebei, overlooking the Central Plains, and it is connected to the north of the Great Wall. It is easy for ethnic minorities to penetrate and have a particularly great impact. A considerable part of the separatist regimes in Shanxi were founded by ethnic minorities. Historically, they were established in Shanxi.
It is not uncommon for political power to overthrow the Central Plains regime, such as the Xiongnu Liu Han's fall to the Western Jin Dynasty, the Later Tang Dynasty's fall to the Later Liang Dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty's fall to the Later Tang Dynasty, etc. Shandong is located between the north and the south. After China's political center of gravity moved eastward, the connection between the political center of gravity and the economic center of gravity became even more important.
In the connecting zone, the impact of the separatist rule of Shandong is also relatively large.
With the evolution of historical trends, the status and strategic significance of different regions have changed. The trend of China's political center of gravity moving from west to east illustrates this. In the era when the political center of gravity was in Guanzhong, the status of Guanzhong was self-evident; later, after experiencing
After a period of oscillation, the political center of gravity moved to Hebei. This process was accompanied by the decline of Guanzhong's status, and the rise of Hebei's status also had a certain impact on the status of other regions. For example, in the era when the political center of gravity was located in Guanzhong, Hubei
It is the link between the northwest and the southeast, and its status is relatively important; after the political center of gravity moved to Hebei, as the status of Guanzhong declined, the status of Hubei also declined, while Shandong became the hub of the connection between the political and economic centers of gravity between the north and the south.
, a very important position
This is in terms of the general trend. In fact, no matter when, the status and strategic significance of different regions are not fixed, but vary with the overall political and military situation at that time.
The current actual situation is that the political status of Hebei and Guanzhong is not as good as that of the Central Plains, but they still have a decisive position. However, regardless of Hebei or Guanzhong, as long as they get the Central Plains, they will immediately be in a strategic advantage of being able to advance and attack, and retreat and defend. This is why
Zheng naturally knew it very well, so the Yun family's strategy for the Central Plains was already on the string and had to be launched.
The only question at this time is, at this time, what will the Zhou family do? Is it to send troops to Henan to support Lin Xu and fight against the Yun family to the end? Or is it to take advantage of the quarrel between officials, thieves and snipe clams in Sichuan to suddenly send troops south to take advantage of it?
Bashu then fought from the west to the east and faced off with the Yun family who might have taken control of the Central Plains at that time. It is unknown at this time.
Yunzheng is now quite resigned to the Zhou family's movements. If you go south to capture Sichuan, I will quickly capture the Central Plains to establish the foundation of hegemony. If you leave Hangu in the east, what will I fear? If you don't leave Guanzhong, you will occupy the base.
With the current strength of our troops, I may not be able to capture the dangers of mountains and rivers. If you really leave the tortoise shell and come out, why shouldn’t I capture them together? With the strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army in field operations, I, Yunzheng, am confident that the world will never be the same again.
