Zhikai went to Ba State by taking the route of Shangyu. He first went west from "Zhongjing", entered Zhengdi and then arrived at the "Wangji" area. He was traveling in the area that was once under the jurisdiction of the Zhou royal family.
The area once under the jurisdiction of the Zhou royal family fell into the hands of the Yuan Kingdom, but it was not the Yuan Kingdom that destroyed the Zhou royal family. It was the Chu Kingdom that nominally destroyed the Zhou royal family.
Once upon a time, the State of Chu did something "aspirational" and wanted to replace Emperor Zhou as the common ruler of the world. However, at that time, the State of Jin rose strongly and went through the "Hundred Years' War" without a winner. Of course, the cause of replacing Emperor Zhou was not accomplished.
In the end, the Zhou royal family died under the attack of the Chu army, but it was the Yuan Kingdom that deliberately indulged it, and it can even be said that the Yuan Kingdom added fuel to the flames.
The Chu State gained the reputation of destroying the Zhou royal family. The actual benefits were not gained at all, but it gave some Chu people some comfort.
Yuan Guo refused to gain the reputation of destroying the Zhou royal family, mainly because Zhiyao did not want to bear the reputation of being a rebellious minister. Everyone who needs to know what the actual situation is.
However, that's what happened. Although all the princes knew that the demise of the Zhou royal family was inseparable from the Yuan Kingdom, the fact was that the Chu army conquered "Luoyi" and killed the Zhou royal family's ministers. At most, they scolded the Yuan Kingdom for not saving them. , it is really impossible to pin the name of destroying the Zhou royal family on Yuan Guo's head.
The weakness of the Zhou royal family was entirely caused by itself, and its subsequent failure was also related to its credibility. From the princes to the people of the country, no one was willing to work for the Emperor of Zhou anymore. The reason why the Zhou royal family could survive for such a long time was purely because of the Jin Kingdom leading the princes to bear the burden. After resisting the challenge from the Chu State, it was the Jin State that later tried to intimidate the princes.
In the original history, after the Jin Kingdom was carved up by the Zhao, Wei and Han families, many small countries were annexed by their powerful neighbors in a very short period of time. The Zhou royal family was able to continue to survive with Zhao, Wei and South Korea still in name. It had something to do with the fact that the Emperor of Zhou was the master, but no princes could compete with Qin, and the Zhou royal family was immediately swept into the garbage heap of history.
Looking at it this way, one part of Spring and Autumn History and half part of Jin Dynasty Book is quite natural.
The Yuan Kingdom tried to annex the territory of the Zhou royal family in a low-key manner in order to dilute certain influences. From this point of view, Zhiyao has actually lived like what it should have been like in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
To put it bluntly, Zhiyao cherishes her reputation very much and is very afraid of having a bad reputation after her death.
"'Chengzhou' was renamed 'Luoyang', which is exactly what it was called." Zhikai stood on the city wall and looked at Luoshui in the west.
As the former direct jurisdiction of Emperor Zhou, the level of development in this area is actually very high.
After all, Ji Yiyi left the most developed land to himself at first, and only enfeoffed the corners. Although many princes were enfeoffed, the land needed to go through bloody battles to get it.
The Zhou royal family, which owns the best land, is getting worse and worse. Not only does it have no direction to expand, it is actually related to the fact that princes need to be enfeoffed again, princes have to give birth to sons and then enfeoff, and the system of enfeoffment from generation to generation is related.
There are endless descendants, how much property can the Zhou royal family have to divide it among themselves? Not to mention that they have experienced several civil strife.
Some Zhou emperors were unable to defeat the "Three Rongs" coalition when they wanted to expand, while other vassal states had increased their strength through repeated expansion. If they could survive in name only, it was considered that the ancestors of the Zhou royal family were virtuous.
After walking around "Luoyang", Zhikai found out that based on the local environment and geographical location, it seems that it is more suitable to be the capital of a powerful country than "Zhongjing"?
There is no doubt about this, otherwise why would the Zhou royal family choose to settle here after moving eastward.
There is a large plain here, especially after the Lu Hunrong, Yiluo Rong and Man clan were wiped out, the plain to the south is even wider and can be used for grazing and farming.
It is a large plain with continuous mountains in the northwest and southwest, a large river in the north as a natural barrier, and only an open land in the east. It is not difficult to build a defensive circle for the capital.
"Father said that in addition to 'Zhongjing', other companion capitals will be established. Maybe I should suggest that 'Luoyang' be included as an alternative?" Zhikai thought.
There is Hangu Pass now, but it is not the Hangu Pass that the Qin State used to hold back the princes during the Warring States Period. The current Hangu Pass was built by the Zhou royal family, and I went west from there.
Without Hangu Pass in Hexi, there would naturally be no Xianyang City. Moreover, different situations in different periods will have different needs.
Zhiyao's plan did not include the idea of building a pass in Hexi. Instead, he planned to build a capital in the plains of Qin.
For a unified country, why would it spend huge manpower and material resources to build passes in the hinterland of the territory? Unless there are signs of separatism in various places, or there are already passes, otherwise no ruler would do that.
After resting for three days in "Luoyang", Zhikai left and embarked on the road to Manshi.
The season has entered summer. They first walked along the north bank of Luoshui River, then reached the south bank of Luoshui River at a shoal, then crossed a grassland to the north bank of Yishui River, and then headed southwest all the way.
The scenery along the way is very primitive, you can occasionally encounter nomadic teams, and there are no fixed settlements in sight.
Of course, there were nomadic groups in the original country, mostly the Di people and the Rong people in the past. As time went on, the number of mixed-race people became more and more.
Zhikai looked at the local situation along the way and understood deeply why his father had always lamented that the population was too small.
Even in the highly developed Jin region, there is still a lot of usable but desolate land, especially in the northeast, which is the least developed.
That was after the river changed its course, and the impact of river erosion was still there.
Zhiyao has spent nearly thirty years transforming the environment there. The population has dug ditches for drainage, overgrazed cattle, and cut down trees. Due to the lack of manpower, the changes achieved are actually quite limited.
Historically, it took almost two hundred years for that area to lose its wetland characteristics, and then cities and villages began to appear one after another.
It took nearly a month and a half from leaving "Luoyang" to arriving at "Shangmi".
Zhikai met here with the envoys who had been waiting for Pakistan.
Next, they will take a boat across the Han River, which may take two to three hundred miles, until they can no longer go west by boat before landing.
Zhikai himself refused to take a boat because he was afraid of feeding fish somewhere. However, even though he was the prince, he still did not decide many things by his own will.
The envoy from Pakistan is named Yu Meng. He looks cute just by looking at his name, but he is actually a rough old man with dark skin.
It is impossible for Zhikai to go to Pakistan without understanding it in advance.
After the Yuan Kingdom occupied the territory of the Zhou royal family, they took over the Zhou royal family's collection room, which contained records about the Ba Kingdom.
However, the Zhou royal family's records of Ba are old materials from hundreds of years ago and cannot be used as a reference.
Zhikai's understanding of the country of Pakistan is that the original country sent people to collect intelligence in advance. Although the country of Pakistan is now a country, it is actually a loose tribal alliance.
There are so many tribes in Ba, most of whom live in the mountains and forests, that there are less than ten cities in the whole country.
Due to customs, Ba people like to have tattoos on their bodies, especially on their faces. Each pattern has its own meaning, representing which tribe you come from and your status in the tribe.
Zhikai saw that some of Yumeng's maids had tattoos on their chins, and to be honest, he couldn't accept it.
She is obviously a very pretty girl, but she has rows of spotted tattoos on her chin, which may represent her special status, but... Zhu Xia's aesthetics are really difficult to accept.
They landed at a place called "Valley". When Zhikai asked, they found out that they had traveled thousands of miles by intermittent water and land routes.
The original army was already stationed in this place called "Valley". When the local captain learned that Zhikai had arrived, he came to the ferry to greet him.
The season has entered late summer, and it will be autumn in seven or eight days.
Zhikai has not seen a city for more than two months. Although the city in "Valley" is small, it still looks very friendly.
In the current era, cities represent civilization, and the more cities there are, the more powerful the country is.
"Sure, let's meet the prince!" Zhicheng said and knelt down on one knee, followed by a large group of people who knelt on one knee.
Not long after Zhikai landed ashore, he felt a little unsteady when he walked.
Don’t really think that your steps will be wandering only after you sail on the sea and land on land. If you stay on the inland river for a few days and then land ashore, you will suddenly not be used to walking on land.
"Captain, please get up." Zhikai couldn't directly say that he wanted to go to the city quickly and take a good bath.
Zhicheng actually understands Zhikai's urgent needs very well, because he is also taking the same route.
In other words, Zhicheng and other people who entered Pakistan first encountered many more situations when they marched than Zhikai and others.
At that time, everything was in a primitive state, and some river sections were not dredged. There were no inns along the land, and sleeping in the open was commonplace.
Of the 3,000 original troops who entered Pakistan early, more than 300 people were missing when they arrived at their destination.
After arriving at the station, we were stationed for only about a year, during which we suffered more than 200 non-combat casualties.
The loss of five hundred soldiers, based on the combat effectiveness of the original army, if they were lost in the battle with the princes, could at least take away more than two thousand troops of the princes. As a result, the original army fell during the march and the subsequent acclimatization.
above.
This is the result of the original country's medical system slowly taking shape and the use of various traditional Chinese medicines. Otherwise, non-combat casualties would have been even more serious.
Only Zhicheng's troops accounted for one-sixth of the non-battle casualties, and the losses of the remaining troops entering Pakistan were not included.
Pioneering is like that. It is destined to face various difficulties. The forerunners have suffered all the hardships, while the later generations enjoy the convenience created by the ancestors.
In terms of geographical location, this "valley" is located in the south of the Qinling Mountains, and was later named Hanzhong City.
The naming of Zhuxia is very particular. If it is called "gu", it must be a valley surrounded by mountains, and the number of plants in it is simply frightening.
It can be seen that there are many tree stumps around the small town. It seems that after the former army came, they cut down the trees in an organized and large-scale manner in order to transform the environment more suitable for human habitation.
Zhicheng reported many things to Zhikai, the most important of which was the details of the channel opened by Pakistan.
The channel opened by the Ba Kingdom has no name. It has many names in later generations, the most famous of which are "Jiange Road" or "Golden Bull Road".
The original country did not resort to the trick of "offering a golden cow" to trick Pakistan into expending huge manpower and material resources to open a channel. It only promised the Pakistani Congress to station troops to ensure safety.
This is also due to the current relationship of "simple folk customs". Pakistan is still at the stage of keeping its word with the Central Plains.
The Qin State needed to play tricks, mainly because the atmosphere at that time had completely changed. The same thing was that the Ba people were just as easy to deceive.
"So, most of the passages are plank roads?" Zhikai has never seen a plank road with his own eyes and has no relevant concepts.
Zhicheng said: "Our department is monitoring the outpost in the Valley, and Ohara has deployed more than 5,000 people within the passage."
Pakistan trusts the original country, but the original country is worried about Pakistan. Who can they reason with?
After entering the city, Zhikai would still ask when he didn't understand something: "So much lime?"
Zhicheng smiled sadly when he heard this and replied: "Pest control."
Insects? Even one or two thousand years later, Bashu is still famous for its abundance of insects.
Zhikai entered the city and saw that almost all the buildings were made of bamboo. Out of curiosity, he asked a lot of questions.
They often see patches of bamboo forest along the way, but Zhikai really doesn't know how local people usually use bamboo to build buildings.
"Snake!!!" Zhikai had just entered the building where he was staying. He looked up and saw a snake with a green head hanging down from the beam, and a body with green and black armor markings. He was really frightened, and subconsciously drew his sword and killed it.
past.
The blade was very sharp, and the snake split into two parts in a flash. The two parts of the snake fell to the ground and were still twisting and rolling.
Zhicheng was stunned for a moment, then apologized: "I didn't tell the prince that there is a local custom of 'house snakes'."
That's a kind of black-browed elaphe. They actually don't attack people. Their diet is mice, frogs and other snakes.
Zhikai learned about the characteristics of the "house snake", but he still couldn't accept it.
"Ba Di, every household in Shu has a domestic snake to prevent rodent damage. If there are no domestic snakes..." Zhicheng looked at Zhikai in embarrassment, not knowing what to say next.
Currently, there are no cats in the land of Zhuxia, and most of the natural enemies of mice come from dogs and geese. Therefore, the saying "dogs meddle in other people's business" is obviously not applicable.
There are no good anti-rat measures in other places. Badi, Shu, Wu, Yue and some areas of Chu actually have the habit of raising snakes, especially Badi and Shu.
How else can we say that we have to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles? It’s not that Zhikai has never read relevant information. No matter how many times he reads it, it is not as impressive as his own personal experience, and he also truly understands the importance of a specific nature.
sex.
However, Zhikai was really not used to snakes in the place where he rested. He endured the discomfort for a few days, until one night he felt something crawling across his face and completely refused to have a snake in the place where he stayed.
Understandable, right? If you didn’t grow up in that kind of environment, if you were woken up by a snake crawling on your face while sleeping, and you didn’t just slap it, you would be considered mentally capable enough.
Zhikai didn't want to have that kind of life experience at all. He thought that it was just like that before he really entered the hinterland of Pakistan. What if he really went there?
"Does Ohara really need a place like this?" Zhikai has been thinking about this question recently.