Ang Lee felt that the Great Wall first had a strong defensive function. Then, on the basis of this defensive function, it developed a link between the agricultural and nomadic tribes.
Without the Great Wall, it would be more convenient for the agricultural and nomadic tribes to communicate with each other. However, the ferocious nomadic tribes would go south to ambush and plunder. They would not be able to trade with the agricultural tribes at all. Since they could rob a large amount of wealth with swords and sabers, why would they trade with their own cattle and sheep?
However, with the Great Wall, the situation was completely different. When the nomadic tribes went south, they would be blocked by the Great Wall. If they attacked forcefully, they would suffer great losses. If they suffered heavy losses every time they went south, no nomadic tribe would be able to afford it.
However, the daily life of the nomadic people required more resources than the price. Most of the resources had to be obtained from the farming people. Since the route of plundering to the south was no longer feasible, they could only adopt a gentler method, which was the so-called trade. They would use their surplus cattle, sheep, horses, and precious herbs to exchange for the food, salt, ironware, silk, tea leaves, and other items that they needed.
In other words, it was precisely because of the existence of the Great Wall that the surrounding nomadic tribes had no choice but to make peace with the agricultural tribes. They would use their own resources to exchange with the agricultural tribes, thus promoting the prosperity and stability of the two tribes. In this process, the huge role of the Great Wall was obvious.
The Great Wall was an extremely important piece of defense for the agricultural tribes, but it was not a bad thing for the nomads either. With the Great Wall, some of the nomads would restrain their ambitions and govern their tribes peacefully. They would not bring their own troops to the south to rob. Although robbing in the south could bring a lot of wealth, every time they went south, it meant that many of the tribal youths would be buried in foreign lands. A long period of war would not only harm the agricultural tribes, but also the nomads. It was not good for either side. If the Great Wall could make the two tribes reconcile, wouldn't it be a good thing for everyone?
With the Great Wall as a link, the contact between the agricultural tribes and the nomadic tribes became more and more frequent. The culture and ideology of the agricultural tribes subtly influenced the nomadic tribes on the grassland. As a result, the nomadic tribes yearned for it very much and began the process of Chinese assimilation. The direct benefit of this process was the unification of the world. Whether it was the agricultural tribes south of the Great Wall or the nomadic tribes north of the Great Wall, they all eventually became people of one country. For example, the Tang Empire was like this. Far north of the Great Wall was the territory of the Tang Empire. There were no enemies in the entire north.
Under such circumstances, the existence of the Great Wall seemed to be meaningless. However, taking the initiative to dismantle the Great Wall was also a costly and costly matter. Therefore, even if the Great Wall was no longer of much use, they would not take the initiative to dismantle it. Leaving it there was still a very good cultural attraction.
In addition, although the Great Wall was already a wall inside the Tang Empire, there were still some ambitious people among the nomadic tribes in the north who surrendered. They did not submit to the Tang Empire sincerely. They had no choice but to submit because of the powerful force of the Tang Empire. If there were any problems inside the Tang Empire, these nomadic tribes who had just surrendered were very likely to revolt. An Lushan in the History Mountain was a descendant of a nomadic tribe. After he surrendered to the Tang Empire, he was appointed as a very powerful Jiedushi. However, after he saw the Tang Empire repeatedly lose to Nanzhao, he resolutely decided to rebel against the Tang Empire. As a result, he caused great losses to the Tang Empire. Since then, the Tang Empire began to decline and could not recover until the moment of its destruction.
Therefore, in key positions, not only could the Great Wall not be dismantled, but it also had to be maintained to a certain extent. Only those walls that were really not needed would be left to fend for themselves without spending money on construction or maintenance.
"Every section of the Great Wall was built with the sweat of the common people. There are too many stories to tell. Just now, I told you the story of Meng Jiangnu crying on the Great Wall. There are many similar stories. Do you want to hear them, Madam?"
Ang Lee asked.
Li Hanlu nodded with a smile and said, "Of course, I want to hear them. Tell me a few."
Ang Lee thought for a moment and said, "Then tell me a few stories first! The first story is about the Ice Path Stone … "
Legend had it that a long, long time ago, the Emperor asked the craftsmen to build a tall fortress at a certain location on the Great Wall. In order to ensure that the fortress was sturdy, the stones used to build the fortress were long and heavy stones. They were chiseled from a stone mountain. These stones were very heavy and could not be lifted by four or five people. Carriages could not pull them either. Moreover, the mountain was high and the road was long, so it was very difficult to transport them. This made the craftsmen very anxious. The winter season was about to arrive, but more and more large stones were piled up on the mountain. Not a single stone could be transported to the fortress.
If the construction period was delayed, not being paid was a small matter. In the worst case scenario, they might even lose their lives. The craftsmen were sighing, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, there was a muffled thunder at the top of the mountain. A beautiful painting floated down from the white clouds. The craftsmen hurriedly caught it and saw a few lines of words on it. After reading it, they were enlightened and followed the instructions.
When the temperature dropped in winter, the craftsmen built a road from the mountain to the fortress. They poured water on the road. Under the cold wind, a thick layer of ice quickly formed on the road. Then, they placed stone strips on the ice road and transported them. In the end, the long and heavy stones were transported very smoothly to the fortress. Not only did they not delay the construction period, they even saved a lot of time. In order to thank the heavens for their protection, the craftsmen built a temple near the fortress to worship the gods. It became a place where the craftsmen had to visit after they finished their apprenticeship.
This short story reflected the wisdom of the people of Hua Xia. When the Great Wall was built, it was because of these wise people that the construction of the Great Wall could be completed quickly and well.
After listening to the first story, Li Hanlu suddenly remembered that Ang Lee had used ice and snow and skis to defeat her tribe's troops. At that time, Ang Lee used the ice and snow of nature to give his troops a great advantage. The speed of the infantry was faster than the cavalry, so they could fight more skillfully. The nomadic cavalry could do nothing about it.
After being praised by Li Hanlu, Ang Lee continued to tell the next story, which was called the City-Fixing Brick.
This story was even more interesting. When he told it, Ang Lee deliberately changed the time. After all, this story was in the Ming Dynasty. At this time, it was still in the Tang Dynasty. Naturally, the time had to be changed. It was said that at that time, there was a craftsman named Yi Kaizhan who was proficient in calculating. All the construction materials were very accurate and economical as long as they were calculated by him. The supervisor who supervised the construction of the fortress did not believe him, so he asked him to calculate how many bricks were needed to build the fortress. After careful calculation, Yi Kaizhan told the supervisor that 99,999 bricks were needed.
Of course, the supervisor did not believe it, but he could only prepare the bricks according to Yi Kaizhan's request. He told Yi Kaizhan that if one more or one less brick was found during the construction, he would be beheaded and all the craftsmen would be punished with three years of labor.
In the end, after the construction was completed, one more brick was found on the gate tower. After the supervisor found it, he was very happy and felt that it was a good opportunity. At least, he could deduct the wages of Yi Kaizhan and the craftsmen. However, Yi Kaizhan calmly told the supervisor that the extra brick was not really extra, but was placed by the immortals. It was the City-Fixing Brick. If it was moved, the gate tower would collapse.
Although this was just a bluff, the supervisor didn't dare to pursue the matter any further. He also didn't dare to let people move this extra brick. After all, if something happened, his head couldn't be guaranteed. He didn't want to take such a big risk.
"Husband, this supervisor is too timid. He believed what others said casually. It's the same as Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall. It's a lie."
Li Hanlu said with a smile after hearing the story of the City-Fixing Brick.
"The bricks were indeed a trick to deceive people. However, what the supervisor had to consider was not only whether this matter was true or false, but also the impact it would have on himself. Even if he was more daring and had people move the extra bricks away and the city wall did not collapse, the border city was used to defend against the nomads who came south. If one day the nomads came south and broke through the border city, they would loot the people and their belongings. Thus, although this matter had nothing to do with the supervisor and it was the border general who did not guard the city well, in order to escape punishment, the border general would very likely push the blame to the supervisor. He would say that something strange suddenly happened on the city wall during the defense and that it was because the bricks were moved away. Thus, in order to settle this matter, the Emperor would naturally make an example out of the supervisor. In this way, wouldn't the supervisor be unlucky?"
Ang Lee said.
Li Hanlu nodded and agreed, "Husband, you are right. The supervisor is not timid, he is very shrewd!"
"Yes, all the officials are shrewd, especially the low-ranking officials. Otherwise, they would not be able to have a foothold in the officialdom."
Ang Lee said and continued to tell the following story.
First, he told the story of the goat carrying the bricks, which was about the construction of the city wall on the ridge. Because dozens of pavilions of different sizes and many battlements were built on the ridge, the number of bricks used was very large. At that time, the construction conditions were very poor. There was no lifting equipment and it was all done by hand. At that time, the bricks used to build the border city were all fired in a place forty miles away. After the bricks were fired, they were pulled by ox-carts to the border city and then carried up by hand. Because the city wall was high, the only horse path that could go up and down had a steep slope. It was very difficult to go up and down. Although many people were sent to carry the bricks up the wall and they were all exhausted, the supply of bricks still could not meet the demand. The progress of the project was seriously affected. At this time, a shepherd boy came here to play with his sheep. When he saw this scene, he had an idea. He untied his belt, tied a brick on each end and put it on the goat. Then, he patted the goat's back with his hand. The agile goat trotted up the wall with the bricks. People were surprised and happy to see this. They followed suit and a large number of bricks were quickly transported up the wall.
This story also reflected the wisdom of the people at the bottom. In a place with bad terrain, it was difficult for people and horses to pass through, let alone vehicles. However, the goat's climbing ability was far better than that of humans. It could even walk freely on the cliff. Using the goat to carry the bricks up the mountain was undoubtedly a very good way to solve the transportation problem. Such a good way was summed up by the common people step by step in practice. It was the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people.
The later story was similar to the story of the goat carrying the bricks. It was also the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people. It was said that in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period before Qin Shi Huang, there was a King Yan. His territory was small, he had few soldiers and horses and he was weak. He was in danger of being eaten by his neighboring country at any time. In order to protect his territory, the King Yan recruited the common people and built a high wall on the mountain top at the border of his territory to prevent the invasion of foreign enemies.
Because there was no lime at that time, the stone and bricks he built the wall were all covered with mud. In order to race against time and build the wall as soon as possible, he ordered that the workers would not stop work in the winter. When the weather was cold, they had to use hot water to mix the mud. Therefore, the common people carried a big iron pot to the construction site and propped it up with three stones. They added firewood and boiled the water.
After a long time, a big hole was burned in the iron pot. All the water in the pot leaked out and the fire under the pot was extinguished. However, the common people were surprised to find that when the water was sprinkled on the stones in the pot, the hot stones would explode when they came in contact with the water, causing a lot of white flour to explode. The common people found it strange. Someone mixed the white flour with water and felt that it was more moist and sticky than mud. He then rubbed it on the stone strips and the cracks of the bricks.
The next day, the common people found that the stone strips and the cracks of the bricks that were rubbed with the white flour were much stronger than the ones that were rubbed with mud. The people of Yan were inspired. From then on, they burned lime to rub the cracks of the city wall.
Later, Qin Shi Huang unified China. In order to prevent the Chinese people from being conquered by the Xiongnu, he imitated the King Yan's method and built the Great Wall of China. When construction began, he issued a decree to let the original people of Yan take over the work of burning lime. Therefore, the lime used to build the city was all burned by the people of Yan. Wherever the Great Wall was built, the ash would be burned on the hillside. The quality of the ash burned was very good. It was called Wan Nian Ash by later generations, which meant that it would not deteriorate for ten thousand years.
After the Great Wall was built, the common people returned to their respective places. Because the people of Yan contributed greatly by burning the ash, Qin Shi Huang took the gold and silver and built a town for the people of Yan to live in. This town was called Yan Jing, which was the capital of China in the future.
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