Drive south to Taihang Mountain and experience for yourself how difficult the road on Taihang Mountain is.

Crossing the Yellow River all the way from the central part of Henan, we will soon encounter such a huge problem: a tall and straight mountain peak, flat and smooth chest, solidified in front of us.

On the open North China Plain, if this mountain suddenly rises from the wheat field, it will cut off the road ahead cleanly with a flick of a finger.

This is the Taihang Mountain, which runs through the heart of China and stretches for nearly a thousand kilometers, connecting Yanshan Mountain on the top and Qinling Mountain on the bottom. It is the geographical dividing line between the North China Plain and the Loess Plateau, and it is also a natural leap from the third step to the second step in China.

The story of Gong Yu's moving mountains has been sung here for generations, but the voice that remains the most for generations is a heavy sigh.

It's hard to climb the Taihang Mountain, it's too difficult.

The reason why I want to drive to Taihang Mountain is quite similar to Bai Juyi's idea at that time. Moreover, in order to deeply perceive the dangers of mountain roads, we did not choose the best route for map navigation planning, but bypassed Songshan and went straight to Qinyang, and drove up the mountain from Shanwangzhuang Town at the foot of Taihang Mountain.

Although Taihang Mountain looks steep and unattainable, residents on both sides of the mountain are still looking for access through cracks in the crustal movement and deep valleys cut by rivers. Among them, there are eight passages, which have been used as traffic arteries connecting Shanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces in history, and people call them the Eight Dragons of Taihang (xíng).

At the moment, we are driving on the second Taihang Mountain from south to north, which is the only ancient road in Taihang Mountain that crosses Taihang Mountain along the ridge line. The huge gap from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain doomed its difficulties and twists. This is also the most convenient and important passage from Shangdang to Heluo in ancient times, and it has the reputation of "the first place for military strategists" and "the main road for business travel".

However, this is not the point. The direct reason that attracted us to Taihang Mountain was Cao Cao's "bitter and cold journey".

In the tenth year of Jian 'an (AD 205), the secretariat of Bingzhou attacked Cao, and repeatedly repelled Cao's attack in Huguan. In the second year, Cao Cao personally led an army and went deep into Taihang Mountain to conquer Gao Qian.

"Going north to Taihang Mountain", from the azimuth point of view, when Cao Cao left, it was Taihang Mountain. The mountain road from Changping Village to Wancheng Village in Taihang Mountain is less than 4 kilometers long, but the altitude directly climbs from 400 meters to 800 meters. The road is narrow and steep, winding and rugged, and it is vividly called "sheep intestine board".

It is this 4-kilometer-long narrow intestine that almost didn't force the tears of a generation of heroes out.

When we were about to set foot on Yangchangban, our trip also encountered setbacks.

Originally from Shanwangzhuang into Taihang Mountain, it was a neat asphalt road, but after Changping Village, the road conditions took a turn for the worse. After bumping in the pit for more than ten minutes, we broke into an operation area where we were chopping mountains and chiseling stones, and two giant excavators cut off the road! In desperation, I can only go back to Changping to make other plans.

In fact, the Taihang ancient road we are looking for has long been abandoned and the trace is hard to find. Now, connecting this passage is a provincial highway, the main task of which is to transport Shanxi's coal to Henan.

As can be seen from the rows of roadside shops in Changping Village, this passage of coal transportation in Shanxi must be very lively. But now, most of the stores have been abandoned, and only one restaurant is still struggling to operate. The boss said that the road ahead has been broken for a long time, but the map display on the Internet is open. It is estimated that they forgot to update it. ...

We looked at each other, speechless.

I really didn't expect the famous Taihang Ji to fall to this point. I think it is the traffic lifeline of southeast Shanxi and northwest Henan. What happens if it is cut off? The ancients were not without experiments:

In 263 BC, General Qin took Taihang in vain and Yewangyi (now Qinyang) in the following year, completely cutting off the contact between Shangdang County and Korea's Kudo (now Xinzheng). Shangdang County was forced to land in Zhao. Thus, the battle of Changping broke out between Qin and Zhao, which decided the historical trend of China after two thousand years.

Taihang Mountain didn't get through, so we had to go down the mountain regretfully and find another entrance into the mountain.

In wulongkou Town, Jiyuan, National Highway 208 and Erguang Expressway briefly meet and then go their separate ways. The high-speed bridge across the mountain close to the cliff appears from time to time, while the national highway winds up along the canyon and slowly goes up.

Shuttling through the bottom of the valley, the cliffs on both sides hold us in the avalanche, and the huge shadows cast by the mountains cover the whole road. High-risk and high-risk rocks are like soldiers on guard, which makes people wonder: Should there be an ambush ahead?

After several twists and turns, the road surface has risen from the bottom of the valley unconsciously. Looking around, the land is flat and the houses are in a trance, as if they were in the New World.

We have reached the top of Taihang Mountain.

Taihang Mountain is an almost flat-topped mountain, which is unique. Although there are thousands of hills and valleys on the top of the mountain, there are also large areas of arable land, and life is magnanimous and not cramped at all.

The villages are arranged along the highway, clean and orderly. Once you notice the style and pattern of a residential building, the houses below are just like copying and pasting, and they are all behind.

The wheat seedlings in the terraced fields grow silently. By the time we got up the mountain, the peach blossoms at the foot of the mountain had withered. On Taihang Mountain, colorful flowers all over the mountains remind us that spring has just arrived here.

In the evening, we persevered in the opposite direction and reached the courtyard gate, the commanding height of Taihang Mountain, before sunset.

Tianjingguan village exists in criss-crossing mountain roads and residential buildings, and from the outside, it doesn't smell like a cold world.

An inconspicuous sign at the fork in the road led us into an alley, turned the corner and suddenly appeared an open platform. We want to capture the traces of ancient wars, but we are faced with a gentle Confucius.

Although there are countless emperors, generals and literati who have been to Tianjingguan, the most famous "passer-by" here is Confucius who may never have arrived.

Legend has it that when Confucius traveled around the world, he was blocked by a child who was building a stone castle at the border of Jin State.

Confucius said: I'm sorry, son, let my carriage pass.

The children said, didn't you see my city? There are only cars around the city, and there is no city to let cars.

Frightened, Confucius quickly got off the bus, bowed to the children and ordered the coachman to walk around the city.

When I walked into the yard again, suddenly a squirrel ran out and saluted Confucius. Confucius is a little uneasy now: children and small animals in the state of Jin are so smart and polite. What am I going to talk about? Go home.

People always like to pass on the past glory more vividly with some anecdotes. Therefore, a village in front of Tianjingguan was named "Lanche Village", and the rut marks on Qingshi Road in Tianjingguan were also named "Confucius Rutting".

Regarding "Confucius got into the car", the version in the history books painted a completely opposite picture.

According to the Confucius Family History Book, in 493 BC, Confucius left Wei, which was not reused, and prepared to go west to Jin to try his luck again. When he arrived at the Yellow River, he heard that Zhao Jianzi of the State of Jin had just killed two clever doctors, so he lamented by the river and returned angrily.

So Confucius got into the car because the world was in danger and people were in danger.

And Tianjingguan, as a battleground for military strategists, how many sinister people have seen?

According to statistics, there have been more than 40 wars that have affected Tianjingguan since ancient times, and more than 600,000 soldiers were killed in the battle of Changping alone.

It can be recalled that when wars broke out one after another and there were disputes among heroes, smoke filled the courtyard and the sound of killing was deafening. There are always some people who choose to stay between wars. The wheel of history has run over them, they toss and turn, endure survival, and the war is repeating itself. They built new homes on the ruins again and again.

"Taihang Mountain goes to Yun Shenchu, who will build a female wall in the cloud?" Gradually, because of the concentration of population, this pass has a village atmosphere. Who would have thought that there would be a market near the top of the mountain after going through thousands of difficulties and dangers and crossing the rugged narrow narrow narrow narrow narrow intestines?

Therefore, in a peaceful day, business travelers and officials traveling from the south to the north always stop to have a rest, have some hot tea, eat some hot meals, and then find a clean post office to have a good sleep.

At that time, Tianjingguan was no longer a daunting pass, but a warm harbor full of expectations on the dangerous ancient road.

But now, the suffering and prosperity of the past have collapsed with the houses that nobody cares about.

Standing by the ancient pagoda tree on the top of the mountain, I looked around. The flowing expressway just passed through the Tianjingguan underground, and the 208 National Road also turned a corner to Jincheng not far away. In the traffic planning of the new era, the courtyard gate is chosen and abandoned, just like the ancient Taihang road, which can only become the remains of people looking for a secluded place.

It was getting dark, so we gave up the idea of going back from the patio to find Yangchangban Road. Because if the purpose of this trip is to explore dangerous roads, then there are more dangerous roads behind.

The most rugged place on Taihang Mountain is the junction of Henan and Shanxi, where towering cliffs and unfathomable canyons can be seen everywhere.

What is even more amazing is that no matter at the top or bottom of the cliff, as long as there is flat land, there will be people living.

Looking at these detached houses on the Wangmang Ridge at the top of the South Taihang Mountain, a question naturally rises from my heart:

At a certain moment in history, who crossed the mountains and ventured to this secluded place, cultivated land, quarried stones and built houses, and took root here, and never left for generations?

Shangdang Highland is in the middle of Taihang Mountain, and a series of ancient towns are arranged at the foot of the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain. These two areas have always been the core areas of wars and disputes.

Although the square space in the deep mountain canyon is barren and closed, it can provide one of the most precious things in troubled times: stability.

But now that the world is peaceful, why not move out?

Actually, as long as you go down and have a look, you can solve this doubt.

There are mountains to snuggle up to, springs to nourish, fields to cultivate, flowers to watch, electricity and internet. Everything is like a paradise except for no road. ...

It's not that there is no road at all. In ancient times, the passage connecting these villages with the outside world was a more dangerous path than the narrow intestine board, which was called "ant ladder".

This road can only be climbed with both hands and feet, and it is difficult for people and animals to pass.

After the founding of New China, the villagers here, inspired by the spirit of "Dare to call the sun and the moon for a new day", picked up steel hammers, put ropes on them, and carried explosives on their backs, ready to carve a road on a steep cliff that would allow cars to drive into the village.

Ordinary Panshan Highway can meander upward along gentle mountain, but the vertical cliff on Taihang Mountain does not give people a gentle option. After countless attempts, a difficult and stubborn decision finally began to break the wall.

The road is embedded in the cliff, like a cave connecting the foot of the mountain and the top of the mountain. Open a skylight on the cave every few tens of meters, so that driving in the cave will not be so dark.

When the sunlight falling into the cave lit up the whole road like a relay, people trapped in Taihang Mountain were bombarded by the king for the first time.

Please watch on the horizontal screen.

Flying in the air above the cliff and winding through the rocks, this is the wall-hung highway.

There are seven such roads in Taihang Mountain, one in Guoliang Village and Huilong Village in Huixian County, Henan Province 1, one in Hongtiguan and Bati Village in Pingshun County, Shanxi Province 1, and three in Lingchuan County, Shanxi Province, which are located in Xiyagou, Kunshan Village and Liu Quan Township respectively.

Xiyagou wall-hung highway, which is the most difficult to dig, failed three times in four attempts. It took 30 years before and after, and finally an unprecedented "Panya Highway" was opened on a narrow cliff.

How many people's efforts and dreams are carried by these bumpy roads? Every cut stone is the hope of connecting with the world.

However, when we are full of enthusiasm to find these miracles created by human beings, we are once again hindered.

We went through the Wangmang Ridge Tunnel to the bottom of Xiyagou Valley, but we couldn't get out of the mountain through the wall-hanging highway. We went to the top of Shenlong Bay along the newly opened sightseeing passage, but we couldn't get down to Bati Village through the wall-hung highway.

It turns out that these two expressway closed renovations may become the same popular tourist punch-in places as the wall-hung expressway in Guo Liang in a year or two.

Moving on, we noticed such a phenomenon:

Almost all the wall-hung expressway, which once had high hopes, are gradually losing their traffic attributes and being redefined as tourism resources. Instead, it is a mountain tunnel excavated by modern machinery.

A 10-kilometer-long tunnel completely puts the memory of ladders and gullies on the distant mountain wall.

What we have seen along this road seems to be a kind of decline: Taihang Mountain is no longer the only thoroughfare between the north and the south, Yangchangban has long lost its trace in the grass, Tianjingguan has gradually declined in time, and the wall-hung highway that has only appeared for half a century is about to retreat behind the scenes.

But isn't the decline of the dangerous road the rise of the smooth road? This country is erasing the topographic differences caused by Taihang Mountain in people's minds with powerful construction forces. And the ancient fable "A foolish man and a mountain" will eventually be realized in another way through the efforts of children and grandchildren.

May every step we take be Ma Pingchuan.

Pay attention to earth travelers, don't miss good articles!