Anyone who has watched "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" should remember such a plot.
After Dong Zhuo became the ruler of Chang'an, he once ordered to build a 'Yiwu' more than 200 miles away from Chang'an City. This Hewu is a super strong military fortress, which houses countless treasures and beauties.
Moreover, Dong Zhuo also collected food that could be eaten for twenty years in this dock fort. At the same time, a large number of elite troops were dispatched to protect this military fortress.
After doing this, Dong Zhuo felt that this castle would be absolutely safe in the future, and he could enjoy the blessings inside. Therefore, when Wang Yun used a serial plan to let Diao Chan tempt Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo planned to take Diao Chan directly and hide in this dock, and never come out again.
It's a pity that what I didn't expect was that under Wang Yun's calculations, a farce in Fengyi Pavilion later caused Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo to completely turn against each other. In the end, the solid dock failed to save Dong Zhuo's life, and he was finally killed by Lu Bu.
For the classic episode of 'Beauty Trick', I believe that most people are not too unfamiliar. However, when everyone reads this story, they may have a question: Since Dong Zhuo already owns the entire Chang'an, why did he build such a dock fort? And then trap yourself in such a small place? Could this plot be made up by Luo Guanzhong himself?
Actually, it's really not made up.
In real history, there is actually no Diao Chan, and there is no beauty plan. But this kind of Hewu is indeed real! And after Dong Zhuo entered the main Guanzhong, he did think about hiding in Yiwu to protect himself.
As for why Dong Zhuo has such an idea, we actually have to start with the building itself.
According to the research of historians, the Wubao can actually be traced back to the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty defeated the Xiongnu, in order to better control the grassland, he built a number of 'Saiwai Leh Cities' on the line of the Great Wall.
These Lehs tend to be small in size. The side length of a city may be only one or two hundred meters, which is difficult to meet the living needs of a large number of people. Of course, this kind of Leh often does not need to let civilians live in it. Because the purpose of this city's existence is to have a small army stationed!
A city of Leh, in which a small army may be stationed, may be between a hundred and several hundred in size. At the same time, a large number of city defense weapons are arranged in the city, which can effectively prevent the enemy from attacking from the outside. And the purpose of the existence of this city is actually to deter the surrounding area.
Those small-scale Hun cavalry squads wanted to attack such a city, which was undoubtedly a fool's dream. If you want to really conquer this kind of small city in a short period of time, you must at least send a few thousand people. But the problem is that once the main force of the Huns of thousands of people is discovered, the main army of the Han Dynasty will also be dispatched at the same time, and then it will be time for Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to play!
As for organizing a few thousand people to besiege such a Leh for a long time, it is also unrealistic. Because once the Huns began to besiege the city, the Han troops stationed in the city would use various means to warn the outside world, such as lighting wolf smoke. And as soon as the rear knows the news, troops will be sent over to reinforce it immediately.
At that time, these Xiongnu people besieging the city will be waiting to be wiped out!
It was by virtue of this kind of Leh that in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, every time the Han Dynasty laid down a piece of grassland, it was able to quickly control this area and prevent the Huns from making a comeback. If it is said that Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were the strongest spears in the Han Dynasty at that time! Then the Great Wall with this Leh is the strongest shield of the Han Dynasty!
That is, since the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the value of this kind of small city has gradually become prominent.
In the previous wars of the Central Plains, everyone tended to pursue larger cities. For only when the city is larger and the walls are higher and stronger, can the city accommodate more people. Only when there are more people can the city have a stronger war capability.
But the appearance of this Leh has given everyone a new way of thinking. The presence of such a Leh is like a nail that is plunged directly into the enemy's territory. When backed by a powerful force, this kind of Leh only needs to consider the safety of a short period of time and wait for reinforcements to come!
The most important thing is that this kind of small Leh city is much cheaper to build than to build a large city! Moreover, at the same construction unit price, because the defensive area is relatively small, the defense power of this Leh unit will far exceed those big cities!
It is precisely because of these advantages that from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, this kind of Leh began to flourish rapidly.
Of course, during the entire period of stability in the Western Han Dynasty, the speed of the popularization of this Leh was not too fast. After all, the Han Dynasty was a great unified country at that time. In the absence of a state order, private individuals were not qualified to build such cities.
And the real rapid development of this Leh city was actually after the fall of the Western Han Dynasty.
To be precise, it was the period when Wang Mang's regime began to collapse and the Central Plains began to fight.
During the period when the two Han Dynasty alternated, the Central Plains region fought for a long time. As a result, many local heroes began to build a kind of defensive castle in order to resist passing bandits. This kind of castle is not necessarily too large, but it can accommodate all the people of the family.
As long as there are passing bandits who come to attack, the people of this powerful family will quickly retreat into the castle and actively organize defenses. As for the outside of the castle, there is generally nothing of value left, even if it is robbed, it doesn't matter. And the robbers can't take away such a thing as land.
This kind of castle, built by the landlord, was later called the Dock Fort.
As for the bandits, they besieged it for a long time and forcibly attacked the fort...... Sorry, this can't be! Because in the local region, even in the most chaotic times, there are often regional regimes. Once the bandits besiege the city for a long time, those separatist regimes will also come to suppress the bandits. At that time, these robbers will have to wait for death.
However, after the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the situation was different.
After Liu Xiu unified the world, the most important thing Liu Xiu did was to completely dismantle the dock forts in various places. The reason is simple! Because of these dock forts, the defense is too strong. Relying on these dock forts, those places are powerful and easy to rebel, which is obviously not conducive to the rule of the country.
Under Liu Xiu's iron-fisted management, later, most of the dock forts in the Eastern Han Dynasty were indeed demolished. At the same time, however, there were several areas of the dock forts, which were gradually preserved.
These areas are: the border of Youzhou, Bingzhou and Liangzhou.
These three areas can save the dock fort for a simple reason. Because these places are on the border of the Eastern Han Dynasty, they often have to face the attacks of nomads. On the side of Youzhou, you need to face Xianbei and Wuhuan; On the side of Bingzhou, you need to face the Xiongnu directly; On the Liangzhou side, it is necessary to face the Xiongnu and Xiqiang.
In the face of such nomadic attacks, the dock fort is undoubtedly the best defensive weapon. So later, these dock forts on the border were also preserved. Not only has it been preserved, but it has become more and more advanced!
In this way, after the development of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty, by the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, these dock forts on the border had developed into extremely powerful war fortresses!
And when Dong Zhuo was young, he grew up in such an environment.
If we look through Dong Zhuo's resume, we will find that Dong Zhuo lived in Liangzhou for a long time when he was a teenager. Later, after joining the army, he also fought in the Liangzhou area for a long time. After he became a high-level general, he basically fought in Liangzhou, Bingzhou and Youzhou for a long time!
This kind of resume makes Dong Zhuo's war thinking a little different.
In Dong Zhuo's concept, this kind of small-scale dock fort is the strongest weapon of war! As long as there is enough food stored inside and an army of several thousand people is stationed, even if tens of thousands of people attack the city outside, they will not be able to enter at all! Living in this kind of place obviously makes Dong Zhuo feel more secure.
In contrast, it is a big city like Chang'an, which makes Dong Zhuo very worried. Although Chang'an City is very large, the city defense is also very strong. But inside Chang'an City, Dong Zhuo can't fully control it. In Chang'an City, there are still many people and officials. When the time comes to war, they tend to become a burden of war.
It was out of this psychology that after Dong Zhuo moved the capital, he immediately ordered to build a dock fort around Chang'an. According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", it is recorded that in the first three years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo built a dock in Yi, which is seven zhang high and thick, and Chang'an City, called "Long Live Dock", known as "Yiwu". Treasures are gathered in the dock, and the valley is stored for 30 years.
A wall is seven feet high, and there is also a war fortress that houses thirty years of grain inside...... The safety of this fortress is really conceivable.
But again, the cost of building such a war fortress is staggering. According to historical records, in order to build this Yiwu, there were as many as 250,000 people who were recruited! As for the cost of other materials, as well as the collection of various treasures, beauties, and food, the value is even more unimaginable.
However, for a long time, everyone didn't know much about the details of this dock. The reason is very simple, because after Dong Zhuo's defeat, this Yiwu was directly destroyed. So much so that since the Three Kingdoms era, basically no one has seen the true appearance of this Wuwu, and everyone can only feel it from the text.
It was not until modern times, after the efforts of archaeologists, that everyone finally found the ruins of this Yiwu. Finally, everyone determined the existence of Yiwu in the wheat field of Liuxiang Village, Changxing Town, Meixian County today.
After the excavation of archaeologists, everyone finally found that the scale of this famous historical Haowu is actually not large. The whole of the Dock is approximately a square. The side length of the surrounding wall is only about 160 meters. Even compared with the Eastern Han Dynasty county of the same era, it is still much smaller.
If it is compared to modern times, the Yiwu that Dong Zhuo built with all his might is actually as big as the playground of many primary and secondary schools.
Of course, for Dong Zhuo at that time, this kind of security that Yiwu could provide was definitely enough. At least in Dong Zhuo's opinion, if someone wants to attack him, even if he gathers tens of thousands of people, he will not be able to defeat Yiwu in a short time. And once it is a long time, the surrounding armies will come to their rescue.
In addition, because of the interior of the Dock, there is enough food in the store. Even if you are besieged for a long time, you are not afraid!
Therefore, after the construction of the Hewu was completed at that time, Dong Zhuo transferred 3,000 elites to guard the Yiwu. Then he took the beauty and hid directly in the dock to enjoy life.
In fact, from a tactical point of view, there is really no problem with the Yiwu built by Dong Zhuo. Just looking at the defense capability of war, the defense capability of Yiwu is indeed super strong. If there is really an army attacking, Dong Zhuo can also hold on for a long time!
But strategically, Dong Zhuo's choice is too bad!
Dong Zhuo ignored the most crucial point: the army is dependent on power. Once Dong Zhuo lost control of the outside world and lost power, how could those soldiers below continue to listen to him? Moreover, once he left Chang'an City, how could those officials in Chang'an City continue to obey his orders?
And what happened later just confirmed this.
Soon after Dong Zhuo left Chang'an, some officials led by Situ Wang Yun began to act quickly. In the end, they co-opted Lu Bu and directly assassinated Dong Zhuo.
And when Dong Zhuo was assassinated, the existence of that Hewu seemed to be a huge irony.
When a powerful minister loses power and loses the hearts of the people, no matter how powerful the fortress of war is, it is just an empty shell.