Chapter 32 Reflections on the Xiongnu Invasion of Qin
A dynasty and a country are susceptible to external influences. The same is true during the Warring States period, and Yingji became like this at this time because of this.
It can be said that in history for the ancient Central Plains Dynasty, there is a threat that always exists, that is, the threat of the northern ethnic minorities, you must know that these ethnic groups are nomadic tribes, they are born a group of warriors galloping on the battlefield, such a situation can be said to have never been broken in ancient China, like we know that the dog Rong who perished in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Qin and Han dynasties were able to threaten the Xiongnu of the Central Plains Dynasty, and later the Turkic, Khitan, Jurchen and Mongolian, etc., some of these ethnic groups entered the Central Plains, Some fled under the attack of powerful regimes, such as the northwest, and of course, some ethnic groups were able to establish political power and coexist with the Central Plains Dynasty, which was a very clear situation in the Song Dynasty.
It can be said that there have been three great turmoil in the history of Europe brought by the nomadic peoples of Asia, and two of them have a very important relationship with the Central Plains Dynasty in history, because it is the counterattack of the ancients that makes these two peoples have to stay away from their homeland, and then they came to this place in Europe to give them disasters to come and go, these two peoples are the Xiongnu and Turkic, of course, most of them were wiped out by our Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. But even the remaining remnants of the centaurs were still able to give them so much influence, and even many countries perished because of this, which can be seen that they were strong at that time, and we were able to wipe out such a powerful nation, doesn't it prove that our country is actually more powerful?
Therefore, when many people look up to some powerful empires in the West, don't forget that they have also suffered a lot of defeats in the hands of our defeated generals, so they have not come to our country, otherwise they would have been beaten to the ground, of course, they should be more grateful for the barriers of these deserts and other terrain in Central and Western Asia, otherwise with the strength of the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, they may have reached their territory long ago.
But I don't know if they have a doubt, that is, about the Xiongnu, you must know that the Xiongnu must be a relatively big threat to the Qin and Han dynasties, especially for the Han Dynasty, they have to adhere to the policy of peace for many years, so as to ensure that their northern frontier is in a relatively harmonious state, until the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, after the country's strength is absolutely strong, it can launch a large-scale extermination of the Xiongnu. But during the Warring States Period, China's seven great powers were all in this process of confrontation, so why didn't this powerful Xiongnu have a large-scale invasion of the Central Plains like the later Western Jin Dynasty?
Could it be that the strength of the Seven Kingdoms at that time was so strong? However, Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries after the unification, and only abandoned and sent Meng Tian to occupy the Hetao area, but he could not annihilate the Xiongnu in one fell swoop, which in itself shows that the strength of the Warring States period is definitely not as strong as the combat effectiveness of the Qin Dynasty, otherwise there would not be a thing of the world being unified by the Qin State, so in the case of the division of the Warring States, why did the Xiongnu not bring any trouble to these regimes?
It can be said that any nation must have a rising process, which is a law that no one can violate, and at that time, the strength of the Xiongnu was just strong, so the willingness to start a war itself was very small, because at this time their internal is still relatively scattered, and if there is no one or several strong leaders to lead, basically in a state of scattered sand, their strength will not be revealed, of course, it has a lot to do with their environment, Because the ethnic groups or tribes that existed in the northern grasslands at that time were definitely not only the Xiongnu family, so the battles between them for the grasslands would definitely not be very rare.
In addition, although the strength of every country at that time was not particularly strong, especially in such a divided situation, but we still can't underestimate the strength of these vassal states, first of all, the Qin State is close to the northwest, it can be said that the establishment of their country is to grow and grow in the battle with these nomads, so the Qin State will be so strong, and after the Shang Dynasty reform, the strength of this country is becoming stronger day by day, So even in the face of a challenge from a force like the Huns, they will not be afraid, which has a lot to do with their strength.
Zhao is also in this situation, when King Zhao Wuling, it was to see the strength of the Xiongnu, so he learned from them to fight in cavalry and archery, so the Zhao army was able to become strong so quickly, you must know that the Zhao army at that time was the only army that could bring a threat to the Qin army, of course, the Xiongnu's tactics they must be thorough, so when facing them, they will not be at an absolute disadvantage, you must know that at the end of the Warring States period, the Zhao State at that time experienced the fiasco of Changping, but Li Mu, the famous general of Zhao State, was still able to break the 100,000 army of the Xiongnu, so such an action made the Xiongnu dare not easily come over to provoke Zhao State.
Even if it is the relatively weak Yan State in these countries of the Warring States, it can not let these Xiongnu underestimate it, and even their territory has expanded to the current Korean Peninsula, it can be said that none of these countries in the Warring States are weak, and some are only a relative weakness of strength between them, otherwise this Qin State will not go through the hard work of seven generations of monarchs to finally complete the unification in the hands of Qin Shi Huang Yingzheng, Therefore, it is no problem to deal with the Xiongnu with the strength of Qin or Zhao and Yan at this time, but it is impossible to completely eliminate them, because the cavalry at this time is still relatively small, and the Central Plains Dynasty still uses infantry to fight is the main way.
Of course, in response to the constant harassment of the Xiongnu, Qin, Zhao and Yan built their own Great Walls along the mountains and rivers in their respective northern frontiers and areas close to the Xiongnu to resist the invasion of the Xiongnu, so that they did not have to use a large number of troops on the northern frontier, because their important task was still in the competition for the seven countries, so it was impossible to invest huge strength in the northern frontier.
Therefore, the Great Wall at this time was also a good way to effectively prevent the invasion of the Xiongnu, so after Qin Shi Huang unified the six countries, he also sent the general Meng Tian to support the construction of the Great Wall, of course, they used the Great Wall of Qin Zhaoyan, which existed before, so there would not be such a big project.
The treatment of the Xiongnu in various places is also different, and the Xiongnu's invasion of Qin is gradually sounding the alarm this time? This time, Qin Guo also wanted to settle it once and for all, because the ending was promoted, and the result was the same, so he himself Yingji asked his son to seek a more perfect solution?