The land of Bashu has always been a strategic place with dangerous terrain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and in ancient times, it was called a fudang pass, and the unique geographical location and geographical advantages of the land of Bashu protected its safety to a certain extent.
In the early days of ancient history, there were few military wars, and Li Bai once said in "Shu Dao Difficulty" that Erlai was forty-eight thousand years old and did not live with Qin Saitong.
In the pre-Qin period, the Bashu region did not interact with the Central Plains in terms of transportation, economic and political exchanges, especially before King Huiwen of Qin, the Bashu region was quite closed, a political group of its own, hindered by the level of science and technology and transportation conditions at that time, and there was no state conspiracy in the Central Plains to carry out a plot against the Bashu region, and this calm lasted until the era of King Huiwen of Qin.
Although technology and transportation were still not very developed at that time, even in the way of "connecting the heavenly ladder stone stacks", King Huiwen of Qin was determined to swallow Bashu, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to send the famous general Sima Wrong thousands of miles across the Qinling Mountains, and also gave up Zhang Yi's initiative to attack Korea.
So, why did King Huiwen of Qin attach so much importance to the land of Bashu? What is the practical value of the land of Bashu for the Central Plains? In this article, we will focus on analyzing this problem and seeing why King Huiwen of Qin had to annex Bashu no matter what the price he paid.
First of all, the agricultural value of the Bashu region is very high, in fact, the entire ancient China is based on the development model of agricultural economy, although the status of agricultural groups in the entire political group is not high, but the social value they created is the highest in the feudal era, and it is also the basis for supporting the development of a country.
Whether in the early era of filial piety or jiupin Zhongzheng, or in the era when the imperial examination system was later created, all government officials in the state needed the agricultural nation to be supported through taxes and servitude.
In ancient history, the development of agriculture is a very important aspect of a country, the overall national economic operation needs to be supported by the agricultural economy, therefore, for the places that are crucial to the development of the agricultural economy, they are the objects of key development, and the land of Bashu is one of them.
In terms of agricultural resources, the Bashu region has unique advantages, fertile soil and developed animal husbandry, which is crucial to supporting the economic development of the entire country.
Since the Shang martingale transformation law, the Qin state has implemented a policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, so the qin state's attention to agriculture is far higher than that of other industries, and it is far heavier than other countries, so for such a place where the development of agriculture is crucial, the Qin state will not miss it in any way.
Secondly, at that time, the Qin state had just developed and grown, and the Shang martingale transformation method before the implementation of King Huiwen had not yet been completely consolidated and implemented, and at this time, the Qin state was extremely in need of external expansion and needed to develop and expand its own strength.
In view of this situation, the Qin state must choose a target to attack, in addition to the land of Bashu is the six kingdoms of Shandong, but although the strength of the six kingdoms of Shandong is not balanced, each of them is also a country with relatively rich historical resources, even if it is South Korea pointed out by Zhang Yi, it is not very easy to take.
South Korea once carried out a change of law at the same time as the State of Qin, and South Korea also prospered for a time after the change of law, plus South Korea sat on the largest iron mountain in the world at that time, and had a unique advantage in the development of military equipment.
Although South Korea's land area is relatively small and its national strength is relatively weak compared to other countries, it is not easy to win. In addition, the strategic location of South Korea is very important, located in the heart of the Central Plains, with many countries have neighbors, geographically embedded between the Wei and Zhao states.
That is to say, for the State of Wei and the State of Zhao, although Korea could not become stronger, it absolutely could not perish, especially not to annex their fierce enemy the State of Qin, otherwise it would be equivalent to inserting a sharp knife in their hearts, which was extremely unfavorable to the development of Korea and the State of Wei.
If the State of Qin attacks Korea without authorization, then it will definitely face not only one country in Korea, but at least three countries. Compared with South Korea, the land of Bashu does not have such a problem, because the geographical conditions are relatively closed, although the land of Bashu is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is difficult to seek support when it is interfered with by the outside world, so compared with the attack on South Korea, the land of Bashu is more cost-effective.
Moreover, the land of Bashu has a waterway to the Chu state, which can enhance the deterrent power of the Qin army to the Chu state, the strength of the Chu state in the Warring States era has always been very strong, the early Warring States has always been the largest country in terms of territorial area, with a large population and a large land, so the Chu state has always been a strong competitor of the Qin state and a confidant of the Qin state.
The State of Qin has been looking for ways to curb the development of the State of Chu since the change of law, and the waterways of the Land of Bashu are one of them. Therefore, for the Qin state, the land of Bashu not only has an agricultural role, but also plays a crucial role in the game with the State of Chu, and taking the land of Bashu means that the State of Qin can get more advantages and cards in the competition with the State of Chu.
And the fact is also the same, since the Qin state took the land of Bashu, it has stabilized the entire south politically, the Chu state does not dare to act rashly, and the Qin state will not be sneaked from behind by the Chu army, so the Qin state can allocate more energy to oppose the six kingdoms of Shandong, laying a solid foundation for subsequent development.
Later, Li Bing of Shu County presided over the construction of Dujiangyan, and then repaired and improved the boardwalk, and the Qin State even migrated tens of thousands of Qin households into the development of Shu land, and it was also since then that the land of Bashu had the title of the country of Tianfu, and had made greater progress in agriculture and animal husbandry.
In addition, the political situation in the land of Bashu at that time was very poor, which was also an important reason why Sima Mistaken chose to attack Bashu, he believed that the land of Bashu was ruled by barbarians, and the form of rule was as brutal as Xia Jie and Shangxi, but at that time, people believed that ruling the world required both moral integrity and ability, and it was necessary to implement benevolent government and ensure the people's livelihood in order to maintain the country's long-term peace and stability, so it was just and appropriate to attack a country that did not administer benevolent government.
In this way, the Qin army is not only famous for its division, but also can fall into a reputation of benevolence and righteousness, and in this way it will not fall into the truth and will not provoke the criticism of other countries.
For the people at that time, the people in the Central Plains itself had a kind of discrimination against the barbarians in the west, and attacking the land of Bashu would not attract too much attention from others, and Bashu could not ask for help from the outside world, and the attack was bound to be relatively simple.
Finally, in fact, the country that covets the land of Bashu is not only the Qin State, but also the Zhao State, which has been developing with a mixture of agriculture and animal husbandry in the north, and the Zhao State is also a strong competitor of the Qin State, and the Zhao State has been in the inferior position in the development of the agricultural economy because of the complexity of the domestic terrain, which makes the economic strength of the Zhao State have been half dead.
The living conditions of the Zhao state are very difficult, there is a tiger-eyed Qin state in the south, the Xiongnu in the north have been interfering, and the neighboring Yan state is not at peace, so the Zhao state is extremely in need of growing under pressure.
For the State of Zhao, the land of Bashu is also a very good object of expansion, although the Zhao State's attempt to plot Bashu is much more difficult than the Qin State, but from some wild history materials, the State of Zhao is not without half a heart.
We know that the later Zhao State carried out the Hufu Riding Archery Transformation Method, and the military strength increased sharply, although this was not the same era as King Huiwen of Qin, but this shows that the Zhao State was very talented and flexible in military strength, and for the Qin State, the Zhao State must be a potential opponent.
In this way, the north and south sides of the Qin state are fierce enemies, and the development of the Qin state is in a very unfavorable environment, very vulnerable to external interference.
For the Qin state, the land of Bashu was not only the object of strategic expansion, but also a back road for the Qin state. This back road consists of two aspects.
First, it was able to provide grain and grass when the resources of the Qin State were scarce, such as the Battle of Changping that occurred in the later qin Zhaoxiang king era, when the qin state and the zhao state had a three-year confrontation, and both sides almost ran out of grain, but later, the qin state transported grain and grass to the country through the land of Bashu, and timely supplied the grain and grass resources on the front line of the war, which also became the last straw for the qin state to overwhelm the zhao state, because the zhao state obviously did not have rich logistical support, so in that game, the zhao state finally ended in a fiasco.
On the other hand, the State of Qin itself is a semi-agricultural and half-pastoral agricultural tribe living in the land of Longxi, for them, if the current territory of the State of Qin is threatened and unable to resist foreign attacks, then they can also retreat to the Bashu region to recuperate and recuperate, not to lose all, therefore, for the Qin State, Bashu is not only a guarantee for the future, but also a retreat.
In summary, we can know that the significance of the Bashu region for the Qin state is very far-reaching, it can not only ensure the supply of grain and grass resources in the Qin state in the war, so that the Qin army does not need to worry about logistical support on the battlefield, but also become a strategic support for the subsequent development of the Qin state.
In addition, after annexing the land of Bashu, the Qin state planted a sharp blade behind the Chu state, which was not only able to prevent the Chu state from sneaking attacks, but also to gain the upper hand in the battle against Chu, preventing the powerful enemy from causing greater danger to the subsequent hegemony.
Even though the scientific and technological conditions and transportation conditions at that time were not developed, the Qin state still chose to annex Bashu in order to lay a solid foundation for the subsequent hegemony.