The beacon towers were mainly used to transmit information. At the same time, they also played a defensive role. On the entire Great Wall, the beacon towers had the highest defensive power. They could provide a strong defensive power to the soldiers guarding here, thus protecting the safety of the soldiers.
"Have you ever seen the beacon towers lit up with fireworks?"
Ang Lee asked.
Ang Lee had never seen such a scene. Or rather, he had only seen it in TV series in the future. Li Hanlu had lived in the north of the Great Wall for a long time, so she might have seen it before.
"Of course I have. More than ten years ago, when my father and I went south, as long as we were close to the Great Wall, there would be a beacon fire. The fireworks were so big that you could see it from dozens of miles away."
Li Hanlu said.
What she meant by going south was naturally going south to the Tang dynasty to rob. The ethnic minorities lived a hard life on the grassland. When they ran out of food, they could only go south to rob. The first obstacle they had to face when they went south was the Great Wall. Therefore, they often returned empty-handed.
"Since you often see the beacon fires, it seems that you have been to the Tang dynasty to rob many times before. How was your harvest? Did you come back with a full load every time? "
Ang Lee asked with a smile.
Li Hanlu shook her head with a smile and said, "The Tang dynasty was strong and powerful. How could our tribe have many opportunities? Most of the time, we stopped when we were ahead. Sometimes, we didn't get anything. That was a long time ago. What's the point of talking about it?"
Ang Lee smiled and didn't continue. However, Ang Lee was very clear about the situation of the beacon towers. According to the records of the literature in the future, there were many beacon towers along the Great Wall and they extended far away from the Great Wall.
According to the positions and functions of the beacon towers, they could be divided into four groups. The beacon towers in the depths of the desert were the frontline for sending out warnings. The beacon towers on both sides of the Great Wall transmitted information. The beacon towers leading from the Great Wall to the capital communicated with the central government of the dynasty. There was also a group of beacon towers that communicated with the local government and garrison near the Great Wall.
Many historical documents were lost. Take the system of the Ming Dynasty as an example. For example, if one smoke was raised and one cannon fired, it meant that there were about 100 enemies. If two smoke was raised, it meant that there were about 500 enemies. If more than 1,000 enemies raised three smoke, it meant that there were more than 80 beacon towers along the Great Wall. The average distance between them was about 3,000 meters, and the farthest one was less than 5,000 meters.
The Ming Dynasty had a large number of cannons. Therefore, in addition to releasing smoke, they would also use cannons to transmit information. In the dynasties before the Ming Dynasty, this was certainly not the case. In the absence of cannons, they could only use the method of releasing smoke during the day and lighting fires at night.
In truth, the construction of beacon towers predated the construction of the Great Wall. They were defensive structures that had appeared even earlier than the Great Wall, but after the Great Wall appeared, the beacon towers along the Great Wall were closely integrated with the Great Wall, becoming an important part of the Great Wall's defense system. Some of them were even built on the Great Wall itself. This was especially true in the Han Dynasty, when the Imperial Court attached great importance to the construction of beacon towers.
Beacon towers were called beacon towers in the Han Dynasty, and they were called beacon towers in the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, they were called smoke piers or piers. In the Ming Dynasty, they were called piers or piers. In the Ming Dynasty, they were called piers or piers. In the Ming Dynasty, they were called piers or piers. In the Ming Dynasty, the large piers could be used to defend against the enemy, while the small ones could only be used for observation and did not have the function of lighting beacons. Beacon towers were generally around ten li away from each other. In the Ming Dynasty, there were some that were around five li away from each other. When the soldiers guarding the towers discovered that the enemy was attacking, they would immediately light a beacon on the tower. When the neighboring towers saw the enemy, they would follow suit. This way, the enemy's information could be quickly transmitted to the central military department.
The Great Wall was not built randomly. Instead, it was built according to the terrain. Using the terrain to achieve the effect of one man holding the pass, ten thousand men would not be able to pass. This was the so-called 'using the terrain to control the pass'. This principle was an important experience in building the Great Wall. Emperor Qin had affirmed it, and then Sima Qian wrote it in the Records of the Grand Historian. After that, every dynasty built the Great Wall according to this principle. Every pass was built between two mountain valleys, or at the turning point of a river, or at the place where people had to pass through. In this way, not only could they control the dangerous areas, but they could also save manpower and materials to achieve the effect of "one man holding the pass, ten thousand men would not be able to pass".
Building castles or beacon towers was also chosen in dangerous areas. As for building the city wall, it was even more to make full use of the terrain. For example, the Great Wall of Juyong Pass and Badaling in the future were built along the back of the mountain ridge. Some areas looked very steep from the outside of the city wall, but the inside was very flat, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. In Liaoning, the Great Wall of Liaodong Town in the Ming Dynasty was called the Mountain Wall, which was made of steep cliffs. By slightly cutting off the cliffs, the Great Wall became the Great Wall. There were also some places that were completely made of dangerous cliffs and precipices. Rivers and lakes were used as natural barriers.
"Madam, do you know why the people of the Central Plains built the Great Wall?"
Ang Lee asked.
Li Hanlu replied, "Naturally, it's to defend against the nomadic cavalry from the north."
Ang Lee nodded and said, "Madam, you're right. The nomadic cavalry comes and goes without a trace. They're very difficult to deal with. Other than building the Great Wall, there's no other way to deal with them. After all, the nomadic cavalry has a great advantage in fighting in the wild. If it's to defend the city, the Central Plains' infantry has an even greater advantage. The nomadic cavalry's advantage will be gone."
The nomadic cavalry ran all over the place and fought guerrilla warfare. On the other hand, the Central Plains mainly consisted of infantrymen. It was too difficult for them to pursue and annihilate the nomadic cavalry. In fact, they might not even be able to complete such a mission. Only by building a defensive Great Wall could they complete this mission.
In addition, the Great Wall was also the dividing line between China's farming and nomadic tribes. It should be known that the entire Hua Xia was mainly divided into two major regions, east and west, and three zones, north and south. The two major regions started from the Xinganling Mountains in the north, went through the Yan Mountains, the Yin Mountains, the Helan Mountains, and the Min Mountains to the Hengduan Mountains. To the east was the agricultural economic development zone, and to the west was the animal husbandry economic development zone.
The three zones were the paddy field agricultural economic development zone to the south of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River. To the north of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River, to the south of the Yin Mountains and the Yan Mountains, and to the northeast plain, was the dry crop agricultural economic development zone. To the north of the Yin Mountains and the west of the Helan Mountains, was the animal husbandry economic development zone.
The natural layout of the two regions and three zones formed the two major economic and cultural types of Hua Xia's ancient agriculture and animal husbandry. The Great Wall zone included most of the dry crop agricultural economic development zone and the animal husbandry economic development zone, forming a complete and independent economic system. The economy was based on agriculture, and animal husbandry was an important supplement to agriculture. The two economies were interdependent and complementary. The culture was dominated by agriculture. The two cultures of agriculture and animal husbandry infiltrated and absorbed each other, constantly converging and radiating.
In the process of historical development, agriculture first developed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and became the core of China's agricultural economy and culture. It also became the center of the country's economic and cultural exchange. In the entire animal husbandry economic zone, the grassland of Inner Mongolia west of the Xinganling Mountains and north of the Yin Mountains developed into the core of the animal husbandry economy and culture with its unique conditions. The Great Wall was located at the natural intersection of these two economic and cultural centers. It was the product of a certain economic development foundation. The Great Wall not only separated the two economies and cultures, but also connected them together.
The ancient economic and cultural structure of the Great Wall zone, as well as the structure of the ancient ethnic groups, determined that the relationship between the agricultural and animal husbandry economic regions of Hua Xia was concentrated along the Great Wall. The unification of the agricultural and animal husbandry economies and cultures was also carried out along the Great Wall. The unification of the agricultural and animal husbandry economies was also carried out along the Great Wall. Whether it was the political, economic, and cultural cooperation between the ethnic groups, or the military and political struggles between the ethnic groups, they were all carried out along the Great Wall. It had played an important role in the formation and development of the main ethnic group, the relationship between the main ethnic group and the various ethnic groups in the Great Wall zone, and even the formation and development of the entire Chinese nation. This was because the ancient economic system of China was divided into two, and the unification of the agricultural and animal husbandry economies was determined.
Ang Lee naturally could not tell Li Hanlu such a complicated theory. This woman was relatively simple-minded, and such professional knowledge was not something she could understand.
"Madam, do you know why the nomadic cavalry always go south to plunder? Is it because they don't have enough food? Or is there another reason? "
Ang Lee asked.
Li Hanlu replied, "Naturally, it's because they don't have enough food. If they have enough food, no one would go south to plunder. Husband, you should know that as long as there is a war in the south, there will always be casualties. They risk their lives to plunder food, so it's only natural that they do so after they are hungry."
Ang Lee nodded in agreement.
The main reason the nomads went south was indeed because they were hungry. And the reason for their hunger was because the nomads owned animal husbandry. It was a single-production industry that was very unstable. As a result, they had a strong dependence on agriculture, which caused the two economies and cultures to be imbalanced. It could even lead to serious confrontations, which could lead to large-scale wars.
The single-production and instability of animal husbandry was inherent. As long as there was a drought in the grasslands, or extremely cold weather in winter, or even a sudden plague, it could be a huge blow to animal husbandry, causing heavy casualties to the cattle and sheep. The nomads' main source of food was the cattle and sheep. If the cattle and sheep died on a large scale, the nomads would naturally go hungry.
Such natural disasters happened frequently. Every time such natural disasters happened, the nomads who lacked food would set their sights on the rich Central Plains. Then, they would go down south to snatch the food.
In fact, the farmers would also encounter various natural and man-made disasters, such as droughts, floods, locusts, and so on. The number of these disasters might be much more than the nomads. But the food of the farmers was different from the food of the nomads. Once the cattle and sheep of the nomads died, they wouldn't be able to finish them in a short period of time. The food of the farmers, on the other hand, could be preserved for many years.
Although the meat of the cattle and sheep could also be made into dried meat, its preservation period couldn't be compared to that of food. In addition, the Central Plains was vast. If one area suffered a disaster and ran out of food, the other areas could still provide support to that area to tide over the difficulties. But once the nomads were affected by a disaster, most of the time, all of them were affected, and there was no way for them to receive support from the neighboring tribes. It was already good enough that they didn't add insult to injury. Therefore, going south to plunder the food of the Central Plains border people was a very good method.
And the tribes that the ancient nomads left behind were groups of soldiers and people, as well as the nomads who practiced riding and shooting from a young age. It was very easy for them to form a military advantage. When they entered the agricultural areas to plunder, they would cause great damage to the agricultural areas.
The construction and existence of the Great Wall served to separate the farmers and the herders, thereby increasing the ability to resist the attacks of the livestock farmers so that they wouldn't be able to succeed easily. Thus, it was beneficial to protect the agricultural economy and advanced production methods of the Central Plains, which was beneficial to the development and accumulation of social productivity and feudal civilization.
In addition, agriculture and animal husbandry were interdependent, needed, and promoted each other. The agricultural economy not only needed the animal husbandry to provide them with animal power for farming, transportation, war horses, livestock, fur, precious medicinal materials, and other animal and material resources, but also needed to constantly sell agricultural and sideline products and handicraft products to the animal husbandry economic zone. This made the animal husbandry economic zone an important commodity market for the agricultural economy zone. The animal husbandry economic zone not only needed the agricultural economy zone to provide food, cloth, iron, gold, silver, pottery, and other handicraft products, but also needed to sell their own fur, medicinal materials, and other products. This promoted the continuous trade between the two economies along the Great Wall.
From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many of the passes along the Great Wall had historically become the trading centers of the two major economic and cultural systems of agriculture and animal husbandry. In addition, under special circumstances, the plunder between the two ethnic groups caused the agricultural and animal husbandry products to be distributed along the Great Wall. The Great Wall had become the largest trade market, supply, and distribution base in China. In the process of historical development, many of the passes had gradually developed into important towns along the Great Wall. From this, it could be seen that the Great Wall not only ensured the normal development of the agricultural and animal husbandry economies, but also provided a place and convenience for the exchange and complementation between the two economies. It also played an important role in mediating the development of the agricultural and animal husbandry economies. In this sense, the Great Wall was the convergence line of the agricultural and animal husbandry economies. Therefore, the Great Wall not only served to separate the two economies and cultures, but it also shouldered the heavy responsibility of tightly linking the two economies and cultures together.
The long Great Wall originally seemed to be used to separate the agricultural and animal husbandry economies, but in fact, it also played the role of a link between the agricultural and animal husbandry economies. This made people sigh.
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