In Chinese history, the regimes that ruled Middle-earth have won and destroyed each other several times in confrontations with the desert regimes, and the reasons for this have been controversial. This paper selects three pairs of more typical periods from these confrontation periods, tries to make an interpretation from the perspective of history, and sorts out the development laws and internal reasons behind them by understanding history for reference.
I. Middle-earth: Tang Dynasty, Kublai Khan, Qing Dynasty
In 617, Li Yuan rebelled against the Sui Emperor at Jinyang. In 618, the Tang Dynasty was established (Li Yuan was once made the Duke of Tang) and the capital was Chang'an. In 657, Emperor Gaozong of Tang appointed Su Dingfang as the grand commander of the Yili Dao March and led an army against the Western Turks. Su Dingfang led more than 10,000 people to defeat the 100,000 cavalry led by the Western Turk Shabaoluo Khan Ashina Helu west of the Tuoya River, and then took advantage of the snow day and night to directly pound the Golden Tooth Mountain to break the Ashina Helu Tooth Tent, Ashina Helu and his son fled to the Shiguo Suju City and were arrested, handed over by the king to the Tang army, and the Western Turk Khaganate was destroyed.
Above_Tang Dynasty territory
In 1206 AD, Genghis Khan established the Great Mongol State. In 1217, the Western Liao was destroyed, and the first western expedition was carried out in 1219 AD. In 1227 AD, the Western Xia was destroyed, and in 1234 the Jin Dynasty was destroyed. In 1236 AD, the Second Western Expedition (the First Son's Western Expedition) was carried out, and in 1252 AD, the Third Western Expedition was carried out. In 1260 AD, Kublai Khan ascended the throne at Kaiping (later Shangdu of the Yuan Dynasty), in 1261 AD he defeated Ali Buge (Ali Buge's right wing was defeated) at Ximu Tu'er, and in 1264 Ali Bugo surrendered due to the Ali Mali famine.
In 1616, Nurhaci, the leader of the Jurchen clan of Jianzhou, raised an army to establish Houjin. In 1636, Emperor Taiji, the eighth son of Nurhaci, changed the name of the country to Qing. In 1690, the Qing army defeated the Dzungar Khanate army at Ulan Butong. In 1696, the Qing army defeated the Dzungar army at Zhao modo. In 1731, the Qing army was defeated by the Dzungar army at Hetongpo. In 1735, the Qing Dynasty concluded a peace treaty with the Dzungar Khanate, bounded by Hangai Mountain, the Qing Dynasty in the east and the Dzungar Khanate in the west. In 1755, the Qing army attacked the Dzungar Khanate in two directions, north and south, and in 1759, the Dzungar Khanate was incorporated into the Qing Dynasty.
Qing Taizu Aisin Kyora Nurhaci (February 21, 1559 – September 30, 1626)?
2. Desert: Western Turk Khanate, Ali Buge, Dzungar Khanate
In 583 AD, the Turks split into east and west. In 642 AD, the Western Turk YibiruLu Khan invaded Yizhou of the Tang Dynasty and was defeated by Guo Xiaoke, the Protector of the Tang Dynasty.D., the Capital of Anxi. After the death of Emperor Taizong of Tang in 649, the former Governor of Tang Yaochi, Ashina Helu, rebelled and established himself as the Khan of Shabaoluo in western Turkistan. In 657, the Tang general Su Dingfang led an army against Ashina Helu, defeated the 100,000 cavalry of the Western Turk Khaganate west of the Tuoya River, and then broke the Ashina Helu tooth tent, Ashina Helu and his son fled to the Shi Kingdom and were arrested and handed over to the Tang army, and the Western Turk Khaganate was destroyed.
Above_Map of East and West Turks
In the summer of 1260, Ali Buge was proclaimed Great Khan in the Alta mountains, competing with Kublai Khan for the Khan's throne. In the autumn of that year, Ali's soldiers attacked Kublai Khan in two ways. The Eastern Route Army advanced to Helin shortly after being defeated by Kublai Khan and retreating to Gilligis, the Western Route Army left Guanlong and then returned north, and soon after advancing to Force Guanlong to be defeated by Kublai Khan's reinforcements. In the autumn of 1261, Ali Bu Ge again captured Helin and fought a decisive battle with Kublai Khan's army at Ximu Tu'er, and his right wing was defeated by Kublai Khan. In 1262, Ali Buge abandoned Helin due to poor grain and grass, and moved to Alimari. In 1264 AD, the killing of the Ili River valley combined with the resulting famine forced Ali Bugo to surrender.
Above_ Bo'er Only Jin Ali Bu Ge (c. 1219–1266)
In 1676, the Dzungar chief Kaldan defeated Öziltu Khan, the leader of the Weyrat (also known as Vara and Western Mongolia). In 1678, the Dzungar Khanate was established. In 1690, the Dzungar army invaded Khalkha, and met the Qing army led by Fu Quan, the Prince of Yu, at UlanButong, and retreated due to ammunition. In 1696, the Dzungar army was defeated by 100,000 Qing troops under the command of Qing Shengzu Xuanye at Zhao moduo, and the Gardan army committed suicide in defeat. The Dzungar Khanate entered its heyday after the ascension of Alabutan to the throne in 1698. In 1731, he defeated the Qing army led by Fu Erdan at Hetongpo.
In 1735, he forced Emperor Yinchen of the Qing Dynasty (yongzheng) to sign a peace treaty and obtain the land west of Hangai Mountain. After the death of Gardanze zero in 1745, the Dzungar Khanate went into decline. In 1755, Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty (qianlong) ordered the Qing army to attack the Dzungar Khanate in two directions, north and south, defeating the Dzungar Khan Dawaqi at Gedeng Mountain, and Dawaqi fled to Ush and was captured and presented to the Qing army. Amul Sana, the grandson of Alamoutan, rebelled against the Qing Dynasty in his homeland of Dzungar shortly afterwards, and in 1757 AD, Amir Sana fled to Tsarist Russia and died of smallpox, and his body was returned to the Qing Dynasty. In the same year, Hezhuo rebelled on the south road of Tianshan, which was pacified by the Qing army in 1759, and the Dzungar Khanate was completely incorporated into the Qing Dynasty.
Above_The Mongol ministries in the early Qing Dynasty (Chahar Ministry, Moxi Dzungar Ministry)
Why has Middle-earth been able to defeat the desert in history?
1. Political reasons
Looking back at history, we can find that in the above examples, thanks to the centralized system, the Middle-earth regime was able to concentrate the elite of the whole country more than the desert when mobilizing troops.
From the Tang Dynasty's perfect "three provinces and six ministries system" and the three-level system of provinces, prefectures and counties, to the budding of the provincial system before the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, and then to the peak of imperial power with the establishment of the Military Aircraft Department during the Qing Dynasty, the continuous strengthening of the centralized system enabled the Middle-earth regime to always gather the strength of the whole country to defeat the desert regime through protracted battles.
2. Economic reasons
In contrast, the nomadic economy of the desert regime is more subject to the weather, and if there is a harvest failure, it may cause economic and even political instability.
Above_Junggar Basin
3. Cultural reasons
Culturally, after the Tang Dynasty's "three religions in one", the rise of Song Dynasty science, the rise of the Ming Dynasty's Eight Strands and "Mind Studies", and the Qing Dynasty's "Literal Prison", the Thinking of the Middle-earth Regime was more unified than that of the Desert Regime.
In contrast, the infighting between the Western Turk Khanate of Ebirulu and the Khan of TheLilu, the infighting between Ali Bugo and Aruku, and the infighting between the Dzungar Khanate of Dawazi and Amir Sana all put the Desert regime at a disadvantage in the contest with the Middle-earth regime.
In addition, the continuous development of science and technology to the emergence of a number of summative works such as the "Compendium of Materia Medica", "Complete Book of Agricultural Administration", and "Tiangong Kaiwu" in the Ming and Qing dynasties also helped the Middle-earth regime to improve its comprehensive national strength and lay the foundation for defeating the desert regime.
4. Diplomatic reasons
Diplomatically, the foreign policy of the Middle-Trosson regime is also an important reason for the Defeat of the Desert by the Middle-Turkish Regime. Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, accumulated high prestige for the Tang Dynasty because he was elected "Heavenly Khan", which not only enabled Su Dingfang to get the assistance of Hui hui when he later attacked Ashina Helu, but also enabled Ashina Helu to be successfully arrested and sent to the Tang Dynasty after he fled to shiguo.
The Qing Dynasty created the image of the "Heavenly Dynasty and The Kingdom of Heaven" through the policy of "Huairou Yuanren", so that the Qing army could get assists from the Kazakh Khanate in Central Asia when attacking Dawazi, and the two-sided attack accelerated the rout of Dawazi. Later, thanks to his influence, Dawazi was arrested and handed over to the Qing Dynasty.
Above_Map of the North China Plain
5. Geographical reasons
Geographically, the North China Plain is one of the three major plains in the country, rich in coal and iron ore resources, flat terrain, deep soil layer, and vast land area; the high temperature period is consistent with the rainy period, and the water and heat are well coordinated; there are many sunny days in autumn, the light conditions are better, the agricultural production history is long, and the winter wheat, peanuts and cotton are abundant.
The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which belong to the three major plains of the country, are also the lowest plains in China, with vast plains, crisscrossed by rivers, dotted with lakes, sufficient irrigation water sources, and moderate rain in late spring and early summer, which is more beneficial to rice growth.
Compared with the Middle-earth regime can provide a stable supply of food and clothing (for warmth), the northwest region where the desert regime is located is dry, the winter is cold and dry, the summer high temperature precipitation is scarce, the temperature difference is very large, the soil is mainly desert and saline soil, the inland rivers are mostly seasonal, it is difficult to match the Middle-earth regime in terms of supply, so it is inferior to the Middle-earth regime in terms of comprehensive national strength, and it is not difficult to understand that it is finally defeated.
4. Summary
In summary, in the competition between Middle-earth and the desert in ancient China, thanks to the advantages of politics, economy, culture, diplomacy, geography and other aspects, Middle-earth was able to defeat the desert through protracted war and finally complete the national unification.
Text: MengqiRen
References: Book of Sui, Old Book of Tang, New Book of Tang, History of the Yuan, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, History of the Dzungar Khanate, General History of the Mongols
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author