【Since the ancient soldier's home Chongjingzhou 8】Jiangzuo Big Town is no more than Jingyang
Text/Photo Zhang Weiping
The 10,000-hectare grain fields of the Jianghan Plain and the Dongting Lake area to the south constituted a large granary of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The land is fertile, the rivers are long, the lakes are flocked, the golden rice, the silver cotton, the fresh fish, etc., the local specialties are abundant.
Night view of the east gate of the ancient city of Jingzhou
More than 2,000 years ago, the Chu state of "the same soil" was moved to Jiangling, which was moved to Jiangling, and gradually became strong and prosperous, developing to "Chu Land thousands of miles", becoming a big country living in southern China.
The abundance of property and the convenience of boats must bring prosperity to commerce. Ancient books record that "the merchants of Jing County, the upper and the Dian, Qian, and the lower Wu and Yue.".
By the Han Dynasty, Jingzhou, as a shipping base in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, had developed into one of the top ten commercial cities in the country and ranked first among the major commercial cities in the south.
At that time, in order to take advantage of the good time of "wenjing rule" and give full play to the advantages of convenient water transportation, Jingzhou also established China's earliest trade association organization - "Zhongfang" commercial shipping, gathering a large number of merchants specializing in cargo transportation and transit trafficking.
The east gate and moat of the ancient city of Jingzhou
The opportunity of commercial development has made Jingzhou the largest commercial and trade center in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, with the hub status of Yangtze River shipping.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Jingzhou, where soldiers and families must fight, gradually came out of the shadow of war, continued the glory of the Han Dynasty, entered the golden age of historical development, and became the largest city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
History called it "Jiangzuo Big Town, No More Than Jingyang".
During the Tang Dynasty, Yizhou in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and Yangzhou in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River flourished in commerce. Jingzhou is among them, of course, it has become a link between the two places, which brings a large number of entrepot goods to Jingzhou shipping, and the function and role of Shashi Port as a relay port are becoming increasingly important.
"Shu Ma has not come for a long time, and Wu Yan has embraced Jingmen (referring to Jiangling)", which is the evidence of Shu Wu's commercial goods transiting in Shashi.
The trade between Shu and Guangdong also had to pass through Jingzhou to be reloaded in Shashi.
Upstream Shu brocade, Shu hemp, green linen cloth, tea leaves, medicinal herbs;
Sea salt downstream; ivory, precious stones, jadeite, etc. in the South China Sea are all entrepot commodities.
These rich commodities constitute the prosperous scene of Jingzhou's "merchants from all directions, Jia spokes, boats and cars gathered".
The east gate of the ancient city of Jingzhou
At that time, when Gao Jixing, the assassin of Jingzhou, declared himself emperor of Jingzhou to build the Southern Kingdom of Jingzhou, he knew very well that his military strength could not be compared with that of the great powers of the Central Plains.
Therefore, give full play to the advantages, vigorously support commercial development, so that Jingzhou's function as a material transportation transit station has been fully utilized, and the entire Jingnan kingdom has become the only way for the northern countries to trade with the southern countries of Wu, Shu, Chu and other countries.
The Tea Horse Ancient Road has always been unrelated to the wide and flat city, but this long ancient road in people's hearts has extended all the way to Jingzhou City.
The indigenous peoples of the northwest came along this ancient road, connecting the bustling city of Jingzhou with the desert of the Great Northwest.
Therefore, Jingnanguo specially set up an institution to preside over the tea horse "Tea Horse Division". Every year, tens of thousands of tea is traded. In its prime, it reached 20,000 to 30,000 horses.
From the public security gate out of the city is the Tongjiang Wharf
The horses exchanged for tea went down the Yangtze River and were sold to Ezhou, Jiangzhou, Chizhou and Jiankang.
During the Song Dynasty, Jingxiang was the front line of anti-Gold Resistance, and at this time, Shashi Port was even more "wanfang, department store ant gathering", continuing the prosperity of Gangneung Port's "boats and cars radiating, flourishing Jiayu".
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin first surrounded the Southern Tang with 100,000 elite soldiers, then captured the city of Jingzhou, occupied the state of Jingnan, and transferred a large amount of grain and grass from Jingzhou and other places to the song yingkou city that surrounded Jinling, and replenished the army with a large number of troops, thus winning the victory in attacking the Southern Tang.
Ancient Shashi Port
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Jingzhou Shashi Port developed with the development of shipping in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. It entered an unprecedented period of prosperity, and history said that its prosperity surpassed that of Beijing and Gusu. Due to the convenience of river transfer, Shashi Port is becoming more and more prosperous.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were many boats and boats, and the amount of cargo passing through the port was much larger than that in the Song and Yuan dynasties.
The "Miscellaneous Records of Guangyang" says: "In the Qing Dynasty, Shashi city was bordered by the Shu River in the west, Xianghan in the north, department stores were filled with hand blades, and Wanhang Scales were gathered", and Shashi "had ninety-nine lanes, each row occupied an alley, boats and cars spoke, and prospered in Jiayu".
Here, it swallows Sichuan grain and mountain goods, and lower nahuai salt seafood, and is also responsible for the distribution of goods and the transportation of trade in the Jianghan Plain in central Hubei.
Here, about 150,000 quintals of soil cloth are exported every year, and nearly 80,000 quintals of cotton are exported. The official grain intake is about 300,000 quintals.
In the seventh year of Yongzheng, the imperial court also moved the grain and salt judgment to Shashi, making Jingzhou's port status in the upper reaches of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River more prominent and important.
In 1876, the British drove the first outer ship into Shashi Port.
In 1895, the Japanese along the river suddenly discovered that this was a treasure of feng shui, so they forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Maguan, and Shashi Port was officially opened as one of the five major trade ports of the inland river.
The Japanese people's vision is indeed very poisonous.
Three years later, Miku Niguchi, Japanese Consul in Sashi, gave a clearer description of the importance of Sashi's geographical location in his Shashi Trade Annual Report:
"The terrain of Gaisha City is based on the impact of land and water, and when the incomparable water conservancy in the ports along the Yangtze River can make the goods gather and disperse freely. The shore is bustling with people, the undershore cargo ships are connected, the town has many rich families, and the land and water are solid, making people think that it is the Jiangling of the Three Kingdoms period. ”
In the Japanese language, the important strategic position of Jingzhou is clarified:
The first is the place where commerce flourishes;
The second is strategic locations.
Therefore, the British who passed through Jingzhou 19 years ago came back from Yichang and set up a consulate in Shashi. Later, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark also crossed Hankou and were stationed in Shashi. Even Mexico in South America has a consulate in Sand.
Nowadays, Jingzhou's commercial circulation and radiation function has been enhanced, and it has become an important commercial and trade center and logistics center in the Jianghan Plain.
In summary, Jingzhou's ancient civilization, important historical position, unique location, convenient transportation, rich products and thick culture have made it the focus of contention and the place where ancient warriors must compete.
"If you want to win the world, you must first get Jingzhou."
Jingjiang Shashi section and Jingzhou Yangtze River Bridge
In the future military struggle, we should not ignore the enlightenment that Jingzhou has given us as the capital of war. For example, the United States, its series of wars around the world are actually inseparable from the two points we have repeatedly said before:
Resources and transportation.
Today's China, to continue the economic development and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, is still inseparable from resources and transportation, and the army is still its strong backing.
As a demobilized soldier who has spent 16 years in the military, I have always had a natural sensitivity to war, so today, when I introduce the situation in Jingzhou and talk about the history of Jingzhou, I chose to use the perspective of war to explain.
The Yue King hooked the sword