Qin Dynasty's Border Defense Construction in the Hetao Region: A Great Contribution to China's Frontier Development

The Hetao region, called ""Henan Land"" during the Qin and Han Dynasties, was a transition zone between nomadic and farming peoples. The geographical position of the area was very important because it was bordered by Yinshan Mountain in the north and the Yellow River in the south. If the nomads occupied the Hetao area, they could drive in and attack the Guanzhong area, while the Central Plains Dynasty occupied the Hetao area to guard against the southward movement of the nomads by virtue of the dangers of the Yinshan Mountains. Therefore, the Hetao Plain has become a place where the Central Plains and the Steppe Peoples must fight for successive dynasties. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shihuang fully recognized the importance of the Hetao region, and thus spared no effort to spend huge manpower, material and financial resources to operate this area, making important contributions to the consolidation of China's borders. First, the northern invasion of Xiongnu and the recovery of the Hetao Plain The Hetao Plain, before the Qin Dynasty, was the activity area of Linhu, Louhou, Xiongnu, Beidi and other ethnic minorities. During the Warring States period, King Wuling of Zhao implemented the "HU Riding Archery" to build up a powerful cavalry, which eventually defeated all the minorities in the northern part of Zhao and set up the three counties of Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Dai. An important purpose of King Wuling of Zhao in occupying the Hetao region was to utilize the strategic advantage of the area's elevated position in order to deter the Qin state. At the end of the Warring States period, the Xiongnu tribe became stronger and stronger, and fought with the state of Zhao for the Hetao region many times. Li Mu, a famous general of the State of Zhao, defeated the Xiongnu's attacks in Hetao many times and became one of the Four Famous Generals of the Warring States period. King Wuling of Zhao When the state of Zhao was destroyed by the Qin Dynasty, the Xiongnu tribe took advantage of the opportunity to move southward to occupy the Hetao Plain, which in turn threatened the safety of the Central Plains once again. In 215 B.C., Emperor Qin Shi Huang toured the north until he reached Jieshi, and the problem of the Xiongnu's incursion attracted his attention. So Qin Shi Huang dispatched Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to fight against the Xiong Nu in the north, and eventually ""defeated the Xiong Nu in the north by 700 miles"" and "recovered the land south of Henan Province". In the following year, the Qin army also captured Gaoque, Yangshan and Beifu. After recovering the Hetao Plain, the Qin Dynasty established the Jiuhuan County and forty-four counties there. Hetao region In order to further develop the Hetao region and consolidate the border defense, Emperor Qin Shi Huang carried out the policy of immigrating real borders to the Hetao. For example, in 214 B.C., ""Migrate and banish, and actualize the first county"; in 212 B.C., ""Because of the migration of 30,000 liyi, 50,000 yunyang", ""Yifa banished and migrated to the border"; and in 211 B.C., " "30,000 families were moved to Beihe and Yuchong". These emigrants of the Qin dynasty included armies, garrisons, criminals, and the general population. The large-scale conduct of immigration promoted the development of the river-loop area and also provided labor for the construction of large-scale projects such as the Zidao and the Great Wall. The Qin Dynasty's policy of emigrating to the real border was borrowed by future generations, for example, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty emigrated 100,000 people to Henan Province after recovering the land there, which had a far-reaching influence on the development and defense of China's borders. Restoration of Jiuhuan County The construction of the Great Wall dates back to the Warring States period. In order to guard against the southward movement of nomads from the north, Qin, Zhao and Yan built many intermittent walls in the north. Among the Great Walls of these three countries, the Great Wall of Zhao is the most representative. After King Wu Ling of Zhao defeated the Linhu and Louhou ethnic groups, he built the Great Wall in the Hetao region and sent Li Mu to defend it, which made the Xiongnu "not dare to come near the Zhao border city". Ruins of the Great Wall of Zhao Qin had Longxi, Beidi and Shangxian counties, and built the Great Wall to reject Hu. King Wu Ling of Zhao also changed the customary hu clothes, practice riding and shooting, and broke Linhu and Lou Bao in the north. The Great Wall was built, from the generation and under the Yinshan Mountain, to the high que for the plug. And set Yunzhong, Yanmen and Dai County. ...... Yan also built the Great Wall, from Zuoyang to Xiangping. The county of Shanggu, Yuyang, right Beiping, Liaoxi, Liaodong County to reject Hu. At that time, the crown with the seven warring states, and the three sides in the Xiong Nu. Later, when Zhao general Li Mu, Xiong Nu did not dare to enter Zhao's border. --After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang tried to connect the original three sections of the Great Wall, so "because of the side mountains and dangerous winds and streams and valleys that can be repaired," to build the 10,000-mile Great Wall from Liaodong to Lintao. The construction of the Great Wall utilized a lot of people's power. The Records of the Grand Historian recorded that for the section on the present-day river, ""300,000 pawns were used", and the Huainanzi recorded that ""500,000 pawns were sent out, and Meng Gong and Yang Wengzi were made to build the Great Wall", where 300,000 and 500,000 both refer to the participating troops and the The total number of soldiers involved in the construction of the Great Wall. There were also a large number of criminals and people involved in the construction of the Great Wall during the Qin Dynasty, as Zhang Weihua wrote in his book, "The Great Wall of China: An Examination of its Establishment," "The total number of soldiers and soldiers in the army and the criminal banishment, when counted, was not less than several million people." It can be seen that the construction of the Great Wall utilized a staggering amount of people's power. Ruins of the Great Wall of Qin The cost of building the Great Wall in terms of people and money was huge, and it was rumored that, "Don't be careful when you give birth to a boy, and don't use breastfeeding when you give birth to a girl. If you don't see the Great Wall, the corpses will be on each other's backs". Folk also loathed the construction of the Great Wall and appeared Meng Jiangnu weeping Great Wall legend. It can be seen that the construction of the Great Wall of the huge consumption has made the people's grievances boiling. Qin Shi Huang also stationed 300,000 elite troops in the Hetao region and sent important figures such as Meng Tian, Li Xin and Gongzi Fusu to guard the area, which aggravated the situation of the country being lighter on the inside and heavier on the outside. Therefore, when Chen Sheng and Wu Guang revolted, the Qin Dynasty did not have any regular army to suppress them. However, the construction of the Great Wall by Qin Shi Huang was a crime at the time and a benefit for the future. Since then, the Han, Wei, Tang and Ming dynasties have built and consolidated the Great Wall on the basis of the Qin Great Wall, making it a barrier for the defense of the Central Plains. Of course, the Great Wall was never able to solve the threat of invasion by the northern peoples. The Ming Great Wall, road construction and communication and the Great Wall as a whole is the beacon flint system. Beacon flints are also commonly known as beacon towers. In the pre-Qin era, burning smoke in the daytime was called beacon, and setting fire at night was called flint. This was the fastest means of spreading military information in ancient times. Whenever there was an emergency at the frontier, the frontier soldiers could light the wolf smoke, which quickly spread to the capital like a baton. The law of the Qin Dynasty stipulated that "burnt flints and flints were to be lit, even though there was no need for a decree." That is to say, a tiger's talisman was not needed to light a beacon fire. The Beacon Tower However, the beacon flint system was only a warning system, it could not transmit specific military information by itself. For example, enemy objects, numbers and battle orders could not be transmitted. In order to enhance mobility in response to the crisis on the northern frontier, the Qin Dynasty built the Straight Road, a transportation system to the Hetao region. The Straight Road started at Yunyang and ended at Jiuhuan County in the Hetao Plain, with a total length of 700 kilometers. The main purpose of the route was to "serve as a corridor for the transportation of troops". As the terrain along the route was very complicated, the progress of the project was very slow and the Straight Path remained unfinished until the death of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.In 1974, the ancient city of Ma Chi, the end point of the Qin Straight Path, was discovered in Inner Mongolia, and the ruins of the Straight Path were later discovered in Yan'an, Yulin and other places. Schematic diagram of the Straight Road The Straight Road was used not only for large-scale and rapid mobilization of armies to the Loop, but also for information dissemination. During the Qin Dynasty, pavilions and mails were set up along the main roads, "one pavilion for ten miles and one mail for five miles". The main duties of the pavilion and post were to be responsible for the dissemination of official documents, edicts and letters and the defense of the roads. At the pavilions, those with horses were called ""post stations"" and those with lodgings were called ""transmission houses"". These served for the dissemination of information and the enlistment of laborers. Pavilions had pavilion chiefs, pavilion fathers, and begging thieves, while there were specialized personnel for the specific transmission of official documents. In the Qin Dynasty, it was stipulated that in the case of urgent documents, they had to be sent out immediately. The setting up of pavilions facilitated the dissemination of information and ensured the safety of the roads. Ruins of the Straight Roads Although the Qin Dynasty died soon after, the straight roads built by the Qin Dynasty and the pavilion and postal system created by the Qin Dynasty had a long-lasting influence on future generations. Historians believe that the straight roads built by the Qin Dynasty were still in use until the Sui and Tang dynasties, and were not abandoned until the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. And successive dynasties inherited the Qin Dynasty's pavilion post system, which developed into what is known today as the postal service or express delivery. Ancient Postal Maps To sum up, after sending Mengtian to conquer the Xiongnu and recover the Hetao Plain, Emperor Qin Shi Huang consolidated the border defense by migrating people to the area, setting up counties, and constructing a military system with the Great Wall as the core. It also built a direct road from Guanzhong to Jiuhuan County to strengthen its control over the Hetao region. The Qin Dynasty's series of measures were studied by successive dynasties, such as Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, who implemented similar measures after recovering Henan Province. The Qin Dynasty's management of the Hetao region not only accelerated frontier development and ethnic integration, but also made an indelible contribution to the consolidation of China's boundaries. References Lin Jianming, "History of the Qin and Han Dynasties" Wang Zijin, "Qin and Han Frontier Problems" Recommended Reading Were Yunnan and Guizhou the boundaries of the Qin Dynasty? The Qin and Han Dynasties were the first to have an official selection system, and the first to have an official selection system, and the second to have an official selection system. 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