Xuzhou in Jiangsu and Xiangyang in Hubei are all famous places of contention in history. There are places that must be contested, there are also places that are not disputed, and the most famous place of indisputable should be Fujian, which is located on the southeast coast.
Whether it is from the pattern of a unified dynasty or the pattern of large dynasties in the south (such as the Southern Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty), Fujian's geographical location is too far southeast. Even the southern dynasties, which were destined to be in southern Jiangsu or northern Zhejiang, were fighting over Jingxiang and Jiangxi, and Fujian's gains and losses would not even affect the overall situation to a considerable extent.
Fujian is geographically a relatively closed area. It is bordered by the Strait to the east, Wuyi Mountain to the west to Jiangxi, XianxiaLing and Donggong Mountain to the north near Zhejiang, and tortoiseshell Mountain and Boshan Mountain to guangdong in the south. We do not look at Fujian from the perspective of the world, only in the specific area of Fujian's "indisputable land", is there a place that must be contested?
There really is, that is, the current Yanping District of Nanping City.
Briefly introduce the situation in Nanping City. Nanping City is located in the northwest of Fujian Province, bordering Jiangxi Province to the northwest and Zhejiang Province to the northeast, with an area of about 26,300 square kilometers.
Since the establishment of Nanping City, the main urban area has been placed in Yanping District, which is at the southeast end of Nanping City. However, in 2014, the state approved the relocation of the main urban area of Nanping City to Jianyang District in the north, and Yanping District is no longer the main urban area of Nanping City. However, after the five dynasties of the Southern Tang Dynasty destroyed the Min State, Yanping District was the main urban area of Nanping (then known as Nanjian Prefecture, which did not include Jianzhou at that time). During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the southern part of Nanping City was called Yanping Province, which was an important town in the land of Bamin.
Yanping's geographical location is too critical for Fujian.
Fujian is a mountainous province, and like Guizhou, there is a saying that "eight mountains, one water and one field".
There are many mountains in Fujian, but there are not many large rivers, and the largest river in Fujian is naturally the Minjiang River. Fujian is referred to as Min, that is, it originates from the Minjiang River.
The Minjiang River is a very characteristic river, it has three tributaries of "equal status", fan-shaped distribution. To the north is Jianxi (upstream is Chongyang Creek), in the middle is Futun Creek (which joins Jinxi), and to the south is Shaxi (Upper Swimming Jiulong Creek), and the famous ShaXian is located on the banks of Shaxi. The confluence of Futun Creek and Shaxi continues to flow eastward, and not far away it joins the North-South Jianxi Creek. The confluence is in Yanping District. Since Yanping, this large river formed by the confluence of three streams is called the Minjiang River, which runs through the mountains in a slight northwest-southeast direction and joins the sea near Mawei in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province. Fujian built many mountains, ancient traffic is inconvenient, and to save costs, the most convenient is to navigate the Minjiang River.
The importance of Yanping's strategic position at the confluence of the Three Streams and the beginning of the Minjiang River is self-evident.
Ancient strategists also attached great importance to Yanping's special geographical location in the Fujian region. "The danger of Yanping sandwiching two streams (after the confluence of Jianxi and Shaxi and Futun Creek) can control the mountains before and after, which is the key to water and land, and the main point of Fujian." Yanping confluence of the three streams, and then to the east can be in the mountains and steep mountains with the Minjiang River directly to Fuzhou. Since the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Fuzhou has been the central city of the Fujian region. The Tang Dynasty set up Fujian Observers, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of Min, and the center of rule was in Fuzhou. Extending to the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Fuzhou's status as the capital of Fujian was unshakable. Even now, Xiamen is a sub-provincial city, Quanzhou's GDP is higher than Fuzhou's, and Fuzhou is still the capital of Fujian Province.
If a force in ancient times had already controlled Fuzhou, in order to hold Fuzhou, it was necessary to control Yanping in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River. Otherwise, if the gate is open, it is as difficult to hold on to Chengdu and lose Hanzhong. On the other hand, if there is a force that controls Yanping, it can defend the danger of Sanxi to the west and Fuzhou along the river to the east.
Fuzhou is the core city in Fujian. "If you want to get all of Fujian, you must first get Fuzhou; if you want to get Fuzhou, you must first get Yanping."
Fuzhou is mountainous, and only the coastal area has a few plains, which are the most economically developed in Fujian and have remained so since the Tang Dynasty. Coincidentally, the coast of Fujian is bounded by Fuzhou, the coast north of Fuzhou is more mountainous and less plain, and the coast south of Fuzhou is more plain. In other words, if there was a force to control Fuzhou, his army could march along the plains south of Fuzhou, and it would be easier to take coastal cities such as Putian, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou. From the above analysis, it can be seen that Yanping played a pivotal strategic position in the ancient Fujian region.
In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, the general Chen Youding controlled Fujian and did not want to surrender Zhu Yuanzhang, preferring to observe the festival for the Yuan Dynasty.
The center of Chen Youding's rule was in Yanping, because Chen Youding knew that as long as Yanping was held, the prefectures of Fu, Quan, and Zhang could be defended. After the Ming army broke through Shanguan in Wuyi Mountain, Chen Youding divided the army into two, one defending Fuzhou, and the other leading the other to defend Yanping, still fighting this plan. Chen Youding's stubborn defense of Yanping brought great trouble to the Ming army. The Ming army had no choice but to take the sea route to attack Fuzhou first, and after conquering Fuzhou, then attack Yanping. The Ming army could not take Yanping, the gate of Fuzhou was opened, and the coastal states were difficult to defend. Yanping's terrain is dangerous, with the advantages of three streams and one river, and Chen Youding is ready to die in Yanping. The generals asked to go out of the city to fight the Ming army, but Chen Youding refused. Only for the general situation of the world (then in 1368), coupled with Chen Youding's lack of ability to care for soldiers and soldiers, people's hearts were confused, and the Ming army was able to attack quickly.
Only when the Ming army conquered Yanping did it get the most critical key to stabilizing the whole province of Fujian.