People familiar with Chinese history know a very important fact, that is, the ancient Central Plains Dynasty, will spend a lot of effort to manage the Western Regions, that is, today's Xinjiang Gansu and other regions, since the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, many Central Plains Dynasties have established rule in the Xinjiang region, such as the Two Han Dynasties of the Western Regions Protectorate, Cao Wei and the Western Jin Dynasty also controlled the Western Regions, the Tang Dynasty also set up the Anxi Capital Protectorate and other rules of the Western Regions, the Song Dynasty when the Western Regions were under the control of the Liao, the Yuan Dynasty naturally needless to say, the Qing Dynasty laid our current territory, Even in the late Qing Dynasty, Zuo Zongtang had the feat of recovering Xinjiang. The entire Qing Dynasty was completely controlled by kangxi yongzheng qianlong, and it can be said that these dynasties invested a lot of manpower and material resources to rule the northwest region.
On the contrary, it is also far from the core ruling area of our Central Plains Dynasty in Southeast Asia, but there are few Central Plains Dynasties to send troops to fight, often only through the form of tribute to rule, even if Qin Shi Huang sent Zhao Tuo to recover Lingnan, did not enter Southeast Asia, Ming Chengzu occupied Annam, but also because of the results of rebellion within Annam, so for Southeast Asia, which is rich in products, why did our ancient Central Plains Dynasty not pay attention to it, but vigorously operated on the northwest desert?
In fact, the reasons for this are mainly in the following aspects.
First, the threat to the Central Plains Dynasty was different.
From the Qin and Han dynasties to the end of the Qing Dynasty, the biggest threat to the Central Plains Dynasty is often from the north, such as the Xiongnu in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Xianbei and other ethnic groups in the Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Turks in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Khitan Jurchens in the Two Song Dynasties, the Mongols in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, etc. Looking at the ruling core of these dynasties, basically in the north, naturally more attention is paid to the north, whether it is the northeast or the northwest, these areas are the activity areas of the nomadic people, and naturally require the Central Plains Dynasty to invest a lot of manpower and material resources. Especially controlling the Xinjiang region means that the nomadic peoples in the north have basically been driven away, so we see that the Xiongnu and the Turks are like this, they had to be forced to move west, so the geographical location of the Xinjiang region is very important, and it can get the role of the Gongwei Jingshi, especially the dynasty that has the capital of Xi'an or Luoyang.
On the contrary, Southeast Asia is too far away from our Central Plains, and the pressure of the ethnic minorities in the south to the Central Plains Dynasty is not great, whether it is the two Han Dynasties or the Sui and Tang Dynasties, or even the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the center of gravity of the troops is not in the south, and in the north, that is, these ethnic minorities around us are no threat to the Central Plains Dynasty, let alone Southeast Asia?
Second, the degree of economic development is different.
In ancient times, the Central Plains region is the most economically developed area, that is, the current Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei and Shandong regions, this situation was not completely changed until the Southern Song Dynasty, when the Yangtze River Basin was not well developed, until the Three Kingdoms period Sun Quan was able to vigorously develop, but also only stayed in Jiangdong and the Yangtze River, the ancestors of the Eastern Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, The son of the Han Jing Emperor Liu Fa was sealed in changsha, which was a barren land at that time. Not to mention the two guangzhou and Southeast Asia further south. Moreover, Southeast Asia has a large number of jungles, economic development is very backward, how can the rulers pay attention, plus the humid and hot environment of Southeast Asia, it is not liked by the rulers of the Central Plains in the north.
It is precisely because the economy cannot develop, and the ancient dynasties have attached importance to agricultural development, resulting in our southern region and Southeast Asia being a barren land for a long time, naturally it can not attract the interest of the rulers, on the contrary, because the north and the Central Plains Dynasty contact earlier, there are more military conflicts between the two sides, resulting in the "Three Norths" area being reclaimed earlier, such as the Liaodong region, the Hetao Plain area, and even the Gansu region, and as early as the Han Dynasty, there was a system of Tuntian, and Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty even moved a large number of people into the Gansu region. Coupled with the continuous expansion of the population in the Central Plains, a large amount of arable land is needed to cultivate, so the northern region will be valued by the rulers, on the contrary, Southeast Asia is not suitable for large-scale reclamation, which also leads to the development of the northwest is much higher than that of Southeast Asia.
Third, the topographical factor.
The terrain in the north is relatively flat, although the northwest region has the desert next door, but the terrain is not so complicated, it is convenient for large-scale use of troops, and the southern region and even Southeast Asia, the terrain is very complex, there are many mountains, plus the river network is also more, it is not suitable for large-scale use of troops, not to mention the ancient period, even in the Period of World War II, the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Southeast Asia is also dead and wounded, many of them have been swallowed up by the harsh environment of the jungle, which is still so after more than two thousand years of local development. Not to mention the ancient times, so we can see that in the northern region, the rulers are more inclined to directly occupy the rule, while the Southeast Asian region often pays tribute and becomes a vassal state of the Central Plains Dynasty.
Fourth, the important influence of the Silk Roads.
In ancient times, the world's most developed civilization, in addition to our Chinese civilization, that is, located in West Asia and the Mediterranean coastal area, like the Roman Empire we are familiar with, the Persian Empire, etc., so that the East and west need to communicate, it also gave birth to the famous Silk Road, and Xinjiang is just in the two major civilizations on the road to exchanges, for such an important geographical location, the Central Plains Dynasty wants to maintain communication between the East and the West, naturally it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to control the Xinjiang region, Therefore, before the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty was bound to die in the northwest in order to maintain the Silk Road, so both the Two Han Dynasties and the Sui and Tang Dynasties vigorously used troops to the northwest or the north.
But when it came to the Northern Song Dynasty, because the Song Dynasty could not control the northwest, it naturally lost the conditions for maintaining the Silk Road, and the northwest was controlled under the control of the Western Xia and the Liao, so the Song Dynasty vigorously developed the shipbuilding industry for the communication between the East and the West, so that through Southeast Asia and South Asia from the sea to the West Asia Middle East, this is also the Maritime Silk Road, until After Zheng He went to the Western Ocean, because of the rampant pirates in the coastal areas, the Ming and Qing Dynasties implemented a sea ban policy, resulting in less communication between the Central Plains Dynasty and Southeast Asia. Naturally, Southeast Asia rarely entered the eyes of rulers.
In fact, the core problem of this problem is that the threat they bring to the Central Plains Dynasty is different, the nomadic peoples of the northern steppes have been the greatest threat to the Central Plains Dynasty since ancient times, because once their cavalry breaks through our defense line, they can drive straight into the Central Plains, which is also the most important reason for the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, and even during the Tang Dynasty, when Li Shimin had just ascended the throne, the cavalry of the Eastern Turks directly broke through the frontier defense line and directly arrived at the north bank of the Weishui River, threatening the tang Dynasty's ruling center Chang'an. Under such unfavorable conditions, Li Shimin also had to compromise and spend money to buy peace, and signed a humiliating alliance with the Eastern Turks, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Mongol tribes were the greatest threat to the Central Plains regime, which was also determined by the characteristics of cavalry.
Coupled with the fact that the development of the northern region is better than that of the south, including Southeast Asia, and the influence of the Silk Road, so the rulers are more willing to control the northwest, and the different attitudes of the rulers of the late Qing Dynasty to Guangxi and Xinjiang can also see the importance of Xinjiang for national defense and security at this moment, so controlling the northwest can limit the development of the nomadic peoples in the north and reduce their threat to the Central Plains regime. In ancient times, it was a truth that it was backward for a long time.