The car shook, and Zhen Mi opened her eyes. She saw that she was leaning on the shoulder of Yuan Xi, who was sitting in front of Wei. Opposite her, Mrs. Wu was sitting with her eyes closed, and said sheepishly: "I'm asleep."
She twitched her nostrils and asked in confusion: "Why is there a vague smell?"
Mrs. Wu, who was pretending to be asleep, quietly clamped her legs together.
Yuan Xi opened the curtain and said with a smile: "Madam, look, the flowers outside are blooming."
What catches the eye are flowers all over the mountains and plains.
When Zhen Mi saw it, she was pleasantly surprised and said: "It's so beautiful!"
At this time, winter has just left and spring has just begun, and the first batch of flowers have already bloomed in the wind.
"In front of the Huangshi Pagoda, the river is east, and the spring light is lazy and leaning on the breeze. A cluster of peach blossoms blooms without an owner, and the lovely deep red loves the light red."
This is a pale pink mountain peach flower that grows close to the stems and blooms quietly on the branches, like the restrained and dignified Xiaojiabiyu.
"The small building listens to the spring rain all night, and the deep alley sells apricot flowers in the Ming Dynasty."
This is a white apricot flower, but the calyx is crimson. The contrast between the white petals and the crimson calyx is very sharp. It looks like a lady, with fair and charming appearance, gorgeous and noble service, making it unforgettable.
"The golden emerald calyx brings spring cold, how many yellow flowers are there?"
These are golden yellow winter jasmine, with branches like unkempt grass, growing in clumps on the ground, spreading all over the sky. Although they are low, they bloom wildly and wildly, blooming with vitality, just like those trying to survive in this difficult and troubled world.
The people are ordinary.
This wild flower looks the meanest, is the shortest in appearance, and has the largest number, but it has the most noble and sublime color.
Zhen Mi followed Yuan Xi's fingers and listened to his explanations one by one, and exclaimed: "My husband knows so much."
She turned her head, her eyes curled into crescent moons, "I follow my husband, and I can see many unforgettable scenery. I can't do that if I stay in Ye City."
Yuan Xi felt a little guilty when he saw Zhen Mi smiling brightly and resplendently. He secretly wiped his sweat and couldn't help but glance at Mrs. Wu secretly.
Mrs. Wu turned her head and looked out the window, feeling Yuan Xi's gaze, she felt resentful in her heart, even though she was pretending to be like him!
She turned her eyes to the apricot blossoms on the branches. In the middle of the blooming petals, there were wild bees flying up and down flexibly. The sweet nectar was dripping between the stamens, and suddenly she felt a little hot on her face.
Suddenly she felt disgusted and quickly stuck her head out of the window and retched.
Zhen Mi quickly leaned forward to caress her back, took out a silk handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to Mrs. Wu's mouth. Mrs. Wu quickly took it and wiped the corners of her mouth. Yuan Xi couldn't help coughing when she saw this action.
Mrs. Wu vomited for a while before she calmed down. She blushed and said, "I've lost my temper."
Zhen Mi smiled and said: "Madam, there is no need to blame yourself, it was all good things done by your husband."
Mrs. Yuan Xiwu had something on her mind, but now she didn't dare to answer the question, so she had to change the subject.
In the chaotic spring scenery, the carriage jolted slightly as it slowly approached Jicheng.
The so-called Ji character originated from Ji State in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Ji State was not far away from Yan State. Later Yan destroyed Ji and made its capital Jicheng, so later generations called Beijing the land of Yan Ji.
The name of Jicheng in Ji State should be derived from Ji Qiu, which is called Ji Qiu. It is named Ji Qiu because of the "mountain with many thistles and grasses". It is similar to Chu (Jing) State, where the place is named after grass and the country is named after place.
Jicheng at this time was also known as Jixian, which is the area around Beijing today, while Jizhou, Tianjin City in later generations, was hundreds of miles away from the Yongnu area where everyone set out.
In later generations, the distance could be reached in as little as an hour, but in this era, it would take ten days to walk alone.
Because the ancient road was too difficult to walk.
The ancient landscape was full of weeds and forests. What was even more troublesome was that there were many river branches and swamps everywhere, making it difficult to walk.
Therefore, the roads that are slightly walkable are all opened by people. Even so, when the weather is bad, the roads are muddy and it is often difficult to walk ten miles in a day.
Because there are so many rivers, roads are often cut off on both sides of the rivers, requiring wading to cross the rivers. The dry season in spring is better, but in summer, many roads will be cut off, which greatly affects production and life.
The team wandered around for a long time and finally found a place where they could cross the river. The stream was only about a foot deep. The driver jumped off his horse and drove the horse to pull the cart across the stream.
The soldiers behind took off their shoes, rolled up their trouser legs, and ran quickly across the icy cold stream to the shore. They were so cold that their teeth cracked. They sat on the shore and picked up a few clumps of weeds, wiped their feet slightly, and then put on their clothes.
Put on your shoes.
The team continued on the road. There were mountains and rivers along the way. There were several thatched huts on the hillside. Smoke rose from time to time. Yuan Xi realized that it made sense for the Ming Dynasty to make Beijing its capital.
Its rich water system is one reason why it is suitable as the starting point of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, but it cannot be ignored. This geographical location is indeed a battleground for military strategists.
Jicheng is located at the junction of the Yanshan Mountains and the North China Plain. In front of it is the pass for foreigners to go south, and behind is the vast plain. It naturally became an important pass that hindered the nomadic people from going south.
Moreover, most of the foreign threats faced by China come from the west and north. Because the west is blocked by the plateau, the cost of foreigners entering the Guanzhong area is very high, but the north is different.
To the north of Jixian County, just outside the Great Wall, the nomadic people lived in pursuit of water and grass. However, in ancient times, cattle and horses were highly dependent on grassland for grazing, and the condition of the grassland was extremely dependent on the weather.
If the climate becomes colder, the pastures will not be able to produce enough forage, and nomads will enter the country to plunder under the threat of survival.
This is a matter of life and death. In the face of this, there is no moral agreement or good neighborliness.
This is also the reason why the people in the border areas are tough, especially in Youzhou, where they will face horse thieves and bandits day and night. Weak people cannot survive here.
As a unified dynasty, resisting foreign enemies is one of its important tasks.
Especially in the Western Han Dynasty, the policy when the dynasty was established was to resist the southward invasion of the Xiongnu outside the Great Wall. For this reason, Liu Bang even moved the original capital of Luoyang to Chang'an.
Otherwise, it's because Chang'an is closer to the Xiongnu invasion route.
The reason why it took so much effort involves problems that all Chinese dynasties had to face during the unification of China.
How many roads are there between north and south in the vast territory of China?
The answer is, four.
The first one is to go south from Chang'an, cross the Qinling Mountains, enter Hanzhong, and enter Yizhou via the Shu Road.
The second line is from Xu County (Xudu) in the Central Plains to the south, passing through the square gap between Funiu Mountain and Tongbai Mountain, from Nanyang to Xiangyang in Jingzhou, passing through the Han River to the Yangtze River, and entering the Jiangnan region.
The third and fourth routes both take the Huaihe Plain.
The former went from Shouchun to Hefei, passed through Chaohu and crossed the Yangtze River near Liyang. The crossing point at this time was the place where Yuan Shu, Sun Ce and Liu Yao attacked and confronted.
The latter is also the last one, which is to go south along the waterway from Xuzhou, cross the river near Guangling, and reach Wu County, which is now controlled by Yuan Xi!
Except for these four roads, other roads are not suitable for large-scale population movements and marches. If you want to find another way, you can only go through the wilderness, which is a narrow escape.
Just like the Ziwu Valley, it is difficult to find water sources, the terrain is complex, and there is basically no logistics. The possibility of walking out of the mountains through it is almost certain to be fatal, but it is almost impossible.
Only by understanding these four routes can we understand that the battle between the north and the south among the princes of the world revolves around the town crossings on these four routes. The locations on these routes can be called battlegrounds for military strategists!
The most important one is the second road from the Central Plains to Jingzhou. To the north of Jingzhou is a huge basin with the Yangtze River running through it. Along the Yangtze River, one can reach Bashu in the west, Wuhui in the east, and Luoyang, the Xudu capital, in the north.
It is the most important key node for communication between the north and the south.
Whoever occupies Jingzhou will be able to advance and covet the world; whoever retreats will be divided in all directions, and no one can get around it.
That's why the princes from all sides planned to occupy Jingzhou, and many twists and turns and unexpected stories happened around it.
The north and south of China are so difficult to reach, and if foreigners invade the north, there will be even fewer roads to take.
From west to east, the Tianshan Mountains, Qilian Mountains, Yinshan Mountains, and Yanshan Mountains completely formed a line of defense. Most of the time, foreigners could only go south through two gaps.
The first one is the Helan Mountain Gap going south to Chang'an.
This is the reason why Liu Bang moved his capital to Chang'an, because Chang'an was on the front line and could recruit troops and food on the spot at any time instead of transporting it all the way from Luoyang.
The second one is Jicheng in front of Yuan Xi, and the gap in the Yanshan Mountains to the north.
The Han Dynasty adopted the policy of using Hu to control Hu. In Youzhou, they used the local Wuhuan Xianbei to defend against the Xianbei nomadic tribes outside the pass. In Bingzhou, they used the Southern Xiongnu to defend against the Northern Xiongnu. After two hundred years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was quite effective.
Only Yuan Xi knew that the seemingly solid dam was actually riddled with holes corroded by countless ants. Once it reached the critical point, it would collapse, and the ensuing flood would sweep across the world.
The aftermath of these five chaos in China raged for hundreds of years, with people wailing and lives in ruins. It was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that it gradually subsided, but the damage caused will remain in history and memories forever.
This opened a Pandora's box for the foreigners, allowing them to realize how simple and easy it was to invade the Central Plains from Youzhou south. Since then, the iron hooves have been raging, and under the torrent, life in the north has been devastated, and there is little peace.
As a result, Youzhou became a place where foreign dragons and dragons moved southward, and disasters started from this in all dynasties.
From the Tang to the Song Dynasty, no effective countermeasures were found. It reached its peak in the Yuan Dynasty, when Mongolian cavalry traveled across the country.
It took a thousand years for the Ming Dynasty to wake up and move the capital from Jianye to Beijing. After that, China no longer needed to transport troops and food across thousands of miles to resist foreigners from the north. Instead, the emperor guarded the country, just like when Liu Bangli
In Chang'an.
Yuan Xi couldn't help but feel excited when he thought of this. He stood up excitedly, but he forgot that the carriage was low and hit his head on the top of the wall.
Zhen Mi and Mrs. Wu looked at Yuan Xi in surprise. Yuan Xi covered his head and said with a smile: "I thought of something very important."
Although the Ming Dynasty also failed in the end, it would be better to start from now on for a thousand years. Regardless of the final result, he wanted to try to see if he could redirect the ruthless torrent of history.
Jicheng was faintly visible in the distance, and rows of black spots appeared on the horizon. As the two sides gradually approached, Yuan Xi took out his telescope and took a look. The leader was none other than Zhao Yun.
He jumped out of the carriage, galloped forward, and laughed loudly: "Brother Zilong, long time no see!"