As we all know, China came from an agricultural nation and created a brilliant agricultural civilization. Of course, agricultural civilizations rely heavily on nature, such as climate, such as water conservancy.
There is a saying called "Xingshui Conservancy, then There Is Agricultural Work; There Is Agricultural Merit, and Then Yu Guo." This sentence succinctly states the relationship between water conservancy, agricultural production and the rise and fall of the country. In ancient times, the erosion of the flood was extremely terrible, ranging from national turmoil to destruction. This shows how important water conservancy is for a dynasty.
Chinese history has also produced many water-related stories and projects. The reason why Dayu was able to take over was that the water conservancy was good. Dujiangyan and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal are famous water conservancy projects in history. However, some people use water militarily.
For example, white up.
In that year, in order to attack the capital of the Chu State, Bai Qi presided over the construction of a water canal, which was called the "Killing Canal" by the people at that time, but now that past has gone, and now this "Killing Canal" has become the world's irrigation engineering heritage. But it is necessary to look back at the past.
In the later period of the Warring States, it basically evolved into a struggle for hegemony between the three kingdoms of Qin, Chu and Zhao, for the simple reason that the military strength of the Zhao state increased greatly through the military reform of Hufu riding and shooting. And the Chu State, because of its vast territory and depth, can also resist the Qin State.
In 279 BC, in order to achieve a breakthrough on the southern front, the State of Qin decided to make peace with the State of Zhao, hoping to relieve the threat from the north side during the attack on Chu by befriending the State of Zhao. The State of Zhao agreed to the peace of the State of Qin, so the State of Qin drove its chariot to the State of Chu, and soon Bai Qi led tens of thousands of Qin troops to attack Chu. This time, the strategic goal of the Qin army was the capital of the Chu state, Yingcheng.
Of course, if you want to take Yingcheng, you must first take Yan.
Yan, in the southeast of today's Yicheng, Hubei, located along the Han River, is the capital of the State of Chu, in the Spring and Autumn period was the seat of the State of Yan, when the State of Wu invaded the capital of Ying, the King of Chu Zhao moved the capital here, so it was called Yan Ying. Although it is the capital of Beidu, the location of Yancheng is very important, if Yancheng is lost, then the capital of the Chu State, Yingcheng, will also be in danger.
Therefore, in order to prevent the fall of Yingcheng, the Chu state dispatched troops and deployed a large number of troops. Because the Chu army was concentrated in Yancheng, Bai Qi encountered stubborn resistance here, and as a result, Bai Qi could not attack for a long time.
Bai Qi was originally a long-distance battle, not suitable for a protracted war with the other side, in order to take this place as soon as possible and achieve victory, Bai Qi thought of a poisonous plan, that is, water attack, not to lose is to kill the gods. Regarding the water offensive war of Bai Qi, many documents have recorded it.
The "Yuanhe County Atlas" records: "The Long Canal is twenty-six miles south of the county. Xi Qin made Bai attack Chu, leading the water of the Western Valley to the two roads, and competing to irrigate Yancheng. ”
The Chronicle of the Long Canal records that "in the twenty-eighth year of King Zhao of Qin (279 BC), He Bai attacked Chu Yan (present-day Yicheng). After Bai Qi led his troops into Yancheng, when the Chu state was heavily guarded and could not be attacked for a long time, he took advantage of the geographical appearance and terrain conditions of Yancheng and its surroundings to build a dam on the section of the Yishui (present-day Manhe), a tributary of the Han River next to The town of Wu'an, a hundred miles away from Yancheng, to dig ditches and dig ditches, and use water to replace the soldiers and divert water to break yan. ”
The "Notes on the Water Classic" records: "Xi Bai attacked Chu and led the water of the Western Mountains and the Long Valley, that is, water." The old fortress went to the city for a hundred miles, and the water from the west of the city flooded the east of the city, into the abyss, and now the iron is also. In the northeast corner of the city, the people followed the flow of water, and hundreds of thousands of people died in the east of the city, and the east of the city was smelly, because it was called a stinky pond."
The record on the "Minutes of Reading the History of Fang Public Opinion" reads: "The long canal is forty miles west of Yicheng County, also known as Luochuan, also known as Yanshui, also known as Baiqi Canal, that is, wild water." In the twenty-eighth year of The King of Qin Zhao, He sent Bai qi to attack Chu and go to Yan Baili to exhaust it, and the water was used as a canal to irrigate Yan. ”
Based on the above historical data, we can easily conclude that this canal was originally used for military purposes, that is, to attack the chu state of Chu province and the capital of Yan.
Bai Qi first diverted water from the West Mountain. The water here refers to the Changgu Water, also known as Yanshui, which is a tributary of the Han River. At the same time, Bai Qi built a dam like a barrage lake a hundred miles away from the city to intercept the storage of water.
Subsequently, Bai Qi ordered the soldiers to dig a diversion canal. When the water reaches a certain level, it begins to release water. Huge amounts of river water rushed down, flooding Yancheng at once, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians, and there were corpses floating everywhere in the city. After the water receded, the stench emitted by the soaking and decay of dead bodies filled the eastern part of the city, so it was called the eastern part of the city as a stinky pond. The Baiqi Canal is also known as the "Killing Canal".
The Battle of Yancheng in Qinchu was one of the fiercest and most brutal battles in history.
After capturing Yancheng, the Qin army only took a short rest, supplied grain and grass and military resources, and then killed the capital of the Chu state, Yingdu, and soon The capital of Yingdu fell, and the king of Chu fled in a hurry. Bai Qi, in desperation, captured Xiling (西陵, in present-day Yichang, Hubei) and burned the tomb of King Chu Xian in the Yiling area.
After that, the Qin army successively captured Jingling (around present-day Qianjiang) and then went to Anlu (around present-day Yunmeng and Anlu), taking most of the Jianghan region into its pockets. To the south, it captured Wu County, Qianzhong County, and even Dongting Lake, and occupied the area along the lake.
After capturing the territory, Qin set up Nan Commandery (南郡) in Places such as Jiying, the chu homeland, and appointed officials to govern. The State of Chu has since lost its status as a great power. Bai Qi was also given the title of "Wu'an Jun" because of this battle, and Yancheng became the southern county of the Qin state. Due to a large-scale extermination and sparse population, the Qin state had to replenish the population of this place and "forgive the sinners and move to three places." This can also reflect from the side that this place has indeed experienced a great extinction.
Although Bai Qi originally built the channel to kill people, after the war, people soon discovered the value of the channel. They are based on the Baiqi Canal and connected into a farmland irrigation canal, named "Baiqi Canal".
This long canal runs from Xiejiatai in Nanzhang County in the west to Zhengji Town in Yicheng City (around Chu Huangcheng) in the east, winding for 49 kilometers, known as the "100-mile Long Canal". By the Northern Wei Dynasty, the canal was expanded to become a large irrigation area with irrigation capacity of 10,000 mu. According to the Book of Wei, "The white canal is irrigated for three thousand hectares, the anointing is good and fertile, and the soil is more fertile." ”
Today, the Baiqi Canal runs from Xiejiatai, 3.5 kilometers west of Zhangwu'an Town in the south, to the hanshui River near the island near Chihu Village in Zhengji Town, Yicheng City, in the east, with a total length of nearly 50 kilometers. It still irrigates more than 300,000 mu of fertile land in the Yicheng Plain.
On August 13, 2018, it was successfully declared as a World Heritage Site of Irrigation Engineering and awarded a medal. The "First Canal of Huaxia" Baiqi Canal has become the first World Irrigation Engineering Heritage Site in Hubei Province.
Although the Baiqi Canal is now beneficial to the people, we still cannot forget the causes and consequences of this canal. After all, this was exchanged for 100,000 lives.
Friends, welcome to pay attention!