In the pre-Qin era, in order to connect the many water systems in China, starting from the Spring and Autumn Period, Chinese ancestors began to dig canals in various water systems for various purposes.
At the beginning of the 6th century BC, the Chu State, the original overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, dug Yangshui in the Jianghan Plain. From the Shashi area of the Yangtze River to the Shayang area of the Han River, it connected the Han River and the Yangtze River, greatly shortening the time from the Han River to the Han River.
The voyage of the Yangtze River. This is the earliest recorded canal project in China. During the Western Jin Dynasty, in order to strengthen the connection between the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the capital city of Luoyang, this canal was excavated again and renamed the Yangxia Waterway.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Wu, located in the Yangtze River Delta, built many canals for political and military hegemony and domestic economic development. At that time, the capital of the State of Wu was in today's Suzhou, and its main enemies were Chu in the west and Yue in the south.
.In order to attack Chu, Yue and Wu, they dug Xuxi and Xupu.
Xuxi started from Yixing, Jiangsu Province in later generations, passed through Liyang and Gaochun, connected with Shuiyang River, and entered the Yangtze River from Wuhu, connecting the Taihu water system with the Yangtze River. Xupu was about between Jinshan (Shanghai) and Jiashan (Zhejiang) in later generations, and collected
The water in the upper reaches of Taihu Lake flows eastward into the sea through Dianshan Lake and Maohu Lake, connecting Taihu Lake and the East China Sea.
The navigation of Xuxi and Xupu contributed to Wu's defeat of Chu and Yue in 486 BC. After Chu and Yue were merged into Wu's territory, Qi in the north became Wu's main rival for hegemony.
In order to conquer Qi, Wu built a canal from Suzhou to Yangzhou, moved the capital to Han (later Yangzhou), and dug the famous Hangou in 485 BC. The Hangou ran from Yangzhou to the northeast, passing through Sheyang Lake to Huai'an.
Entering the Huaihe River, it was the first to connect the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River. The excavation of the canal promoted the economic development of the Wu State, turning it from weak to strong, dominating the country for a while, and becoming "the canal connecting the three rivers and five lakes". "We cannot abandon the canal in one day."
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In the early Warring States period, the Wei State was strong and prosperous and moved its capital to Kaifeng, Henan Province. In 361 BC, the Wei State dug a gap connecting the Yellow River and the Huaihe River.
The above-mentioned Yangshui, Xuxi, Xupu, Hangou and Honggou are the earliest artificial canal projects in China during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Some of these ancient canals may have been lost in the dust of history in later generations, but some can still be seen.
There are some traces or they are still in use. However, in the pre-Qin era, most of these canals were operating well. These canals connected the Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and the southeast coast. Together with numerous natural rivers, they formed a huge waterway transportation network.
It played a significant role in the economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the south in ancient times.
After the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the First Emperor unified the world. In order to pacify the South Vietnam, for military reasons, he ordered Shu County Supervisor Shi Lu (who had the power to supervise a county and had the same official position as the county governor and county lieutenant) and three other craftsmen.
One of the two most famous canals in Chinese history was excavated, the Ling Canal. In addition to the Ling Canal, the other canal was the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal excavated by Yang Guang, the later Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty.
The Ling Canal was excavated from 221 BC to 214 BC. It connected the Xiangjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, and the Guijiang River, a tributary of the Pearl River.
The water level of the Lijiang River is high and the water level of the Xiangjiang River is low. How to make the north water of the Xiangjiang River flow over the slope to the south and flow to the Lijiang River for connection may be very simple in later generations. However, in the pre-Qin Dynasty, there were no accurate measuring instruments, no excavation machinery, and no explosive gunpowder.
The height of the terrain can be determined by visual inspection and foot testing. If you can only use iron cones and iron drills to drill out stones, and use shovels to dig channels, you can imagine how difficult it is to dig the Ling Canal.
It was under such simple conditions that Shi Lu and others spent three years exploring, visual inspecting, and transporting to complete this magnificent water conservancy project system with a complete structure.
The excavation of the Ling Canal played a vital role in the Qin Dynasty's pacification of Lingnan. It was also the most convenient passage between the Central Plains and South Vietnam, which greatly promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between South Vietnam and the Central Plains.
In 210 BC, in order to strengthen his rule over the Chu region, the First Emperor sent 3,000 prisoners from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, to Danyang. Following the hilly terrain, he dug a curved river channel from the southeast to the Xu River dug by the State of Wu to Kuaiji County.
Wu County (later Suzhou, Jiangsu). A new waterway was dug southwest from Chongde, Zhejiang, to Qiantang (later Hangzhou, Zhejiang). This canal was called the Dantu Waterway. The Dantu Waterway also established the direction of the Jiangnan Canal in the Sui Dynasty.
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Xiang Yu's 100,000 troops and more than 30,000 laborers set out from Quyang on September 14th and took two days to reach Zhongli. Then the army floated from Hangou to Xuyi County in Donghai County (later Xuyi County, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province) and cruised
More than 50 Nanyue ships in Kuaiji entered Hangou directly from the Yangtze River and sent Xiang Yu a large number of crossbow arrows for the Qin crossbow from Wu County.
These crossbow arrows were made by the Yu clan members who had taken refuge in Xiang Liang in Kuaiji County for Xiang Liang's army. After all, Ziying could provide Qin crossbows to Xiang Liang, but it was obviously impossible to provide too many crossbow arrows. Compared with the complicated Qin crossbows,
, the production of crossbow arrows is extremely simple.
At this time, Han Xin had already passed Guangling City in Donghai County (later Guangling District of Yangzhou City), and was preparing to lead his army along Hangou to Dantu Waterway and then go directly south to attack Kuaiji County and Zhiwu County.
Feng Jie set off from Fuli County in Surabaya (later near Suzhou City, Anhui Province), and entered Jiujiang County from Zhongli to pacify the eastern part of Jiujiang.
Strictly speaking, Xuyi should be exactly in the middle between Fuli and Guangling. The distance from Fuli to Xuyi is almost the same as the distance from Guangling to Xuyi. It's just because Feng Jie and Han Xin attacked from different directions, so after receiving the emperor's order, the two
When the army marched to suppress Xiang Yu's army, which was preparing to march north from the East China Sea into Shandong and other places, the scouts of Feng Jie's army soon discovered the location of Xiang Yu's army.
At this time, Feng Jie was only more than fifty miles away from Xiang Yu's army, but Han Xin's one hundred thousand army, which had turned around and marched north to look for Xiang Yu, was nearly a hundred and fifty miles away from Xiang Yu's location.
When Han Xin's scouts discovered the location of Xiang Yu's army, Feng Jie had already led the 100,000 Qin troops under his command to change direction. He first headed east to block Xiang Yu's only way to the north, and then moved south to press towards where Xiang Yu's army was.
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Then Feng Jie reported the discovery of the location of Xiang Yu's army to Hu Hai, and at the same time sent a letter to Han Xin that he wanted to join forces with Han Xin to eat Xiang Yu's army.
Although Feng Jie despised Han Xin, especially after the incident of Han Xin being humiliated by his crotch spread out, Feng Jie despised him even more, and the two had a quarrel because of Wei Bao's rebellion in Hedong County, but Feng Jie could not say anything.
A veteran who has led the army for many years will naturally not be able to make small sacrifices at this juncture. Even if he really wants to take care of Xiang Yu by himself, that is just a thought on his part.
He knew very well the harm Xiang Yu could cause if he escaped to Shandong and other places.
Feng Jie was also very aware of the strength of his soldiers and the strength of Xiang Yu's army. Hu Hai had clearly stated Xiang Yu's strength in several letters to them.
Because of this, Feng Jie took the initiative to send a message to Han Xin, expressing his intention to join forces with Han Xin to deal with Xiang Yu's army before Xu Chuang's tens of thousands of Qinglong troops arrived.
He believed that any of the 200,000 troops of himself and Han Xin could not stop Xiang Yu if they encountered Xiang Yu alone, and would even be defeated by Xiang Yu.
It's not that Feng Jie doesn't have confidence in the strength of his army or that he has a high opinion of the strength of Xiang Yu's army. It's just a fact.
Feng Jie led his army and set up camp twenty miles away from Xiang Yu's army. He did not want to confront Xiang Yu at this time. As long as Xiang Yu did not attack, he planned to confront Xiang Yu until Han Xin's army arrived.
In that case, Xiang Yu will definitely be defeated when two armies of 200,000 are attacked from behind.
Feng Jie thought well. When Han Xin received his message, he had already mobilized his army to move north quickly and rushed towards Xuyi.
On the first day, just as Feng Jie thought, Xiang Yu found out that the Qin army blocking his way north was a little unsure. Apart from frequent scouts and spying, Xiang Yu did not make any moves.
Xiang Yu and Zhang Liang did not expect that such a Qin army of no less than 100,000 people would appear in the East China Sea, which was supposed to be empty of troops. Moreover, it happened to appear on their only way to the north.
Of course, Xiang Yu can take a detour, but now that there is such a Qin army watching, who knows if more Qin troops will be coming. If the detour ends up being surrounded by the Qin army, then
Just looking for death.
Fortunately, although he lost a lot of scouts this day, Xiang Yu finally figured out which Qin army the Qin army on the opposite side was. It was one of the two Qin army camps that was supposed to be stationed on the other side of Shouchun.
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After all, the Chu army scouts had fought against the two Qin armies, Feng Jie and Han Xin, not once or twice. It cannot be said that both sides knew the basics, at least they knew the flags and other symbols very well.
It is good to find out the identity of the Qin army, but a new problem has arisen. The Qin army, which was supposed to be attacked by Xiang Liang in Shouchun, came to the East China Sea, and it was still in front of his own army, so at least it was with Xiang Yu's army.
Only by leaving the camp and heading east can we get here.
Could it be that the Qin army on the other side of Shouchun only had one hundred thousand soldiers left?
Unfortunately, the happiness of Xiang Yu, Zhang Liang and others did not last long.
When Xiang Yu heard the news that Xiang Liang's 300,000-strong army had been wiped out in less than two hours on the north bank of the Huaihe River, and that Xiang Liang, Fan Zeng and other generals were captured alive by the Qin army, he thought he was there.
After hearing hallucinations, Xiang Yu asked the Jiangdong disciple who escaped and was covered in blood three times in a row. After all of them got the same answer, Xiang Yu collapsed on the copper case in despair.
All along, Xiang Yu didn't have to think too much no matter what he did. What to do and how to do it were all well arranged by Xiang Liang. If it was just that the 300,000-strong army was annihilated, Xiang Yu might not even take it to heart.
If you run out of soldiers, you can recruit them again. The most indispensable thing in this world is people. But Xiang Liang is gone, which means that Xiang Yu's biggest support is gone.
Everything from now on will depend on him!
The next day, which was September 18th, the first year of the Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu and Zhang Liang, who had spent the night together in the big tent, walked out of the big tent hand in hand and launched a brazen attack on Feng Jie's camp! (To be continued. If
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