Complete detailed information on Ziwu Valley (the valley road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong)

Ziwu Valley: In the south of Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province, it is a valley road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong, with a length of more than 300 kilometers. "Warring States Policy" Zhang Yi said that King Zhao and Qin Yijun blocked the Wu Road. Bao Biao noted: "There is Ziwu Valley in Chang'an. The North Mountain is Zi, the Nanshan is Wu, and the Wu Road is also the Qinnan Road." In the fifth year of the Western Han Dynasty (5 AD) ) Wang Mangtong Ziwu Road, from Duling to the Nanshan Mountains through Hanzhong, the south entrance is in today's Shiquan County. Zhuge Liang, Wei Yan, Cao Zhen, Huan Wen, Tang Xuanzong, Sun Chuanting, Gao Yingxiang, and Wang Yaowu were all associated with this place in history. Basic introduction Chinese name: Ziwu Valley Phonetic: zǐ wǔ gǔ/gǔ/yù Location: In the Qinling Mountains of present-day Shaanxi Province According to: "Three Kingdoms", "Chang'an Chronicle", "Yong Lu" and other must-reads before traveling, scenic spot updates, scenic spot introduction, key information ,Introduction, historical events, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Yan's plan, Introduction Phonetic: zǐ wǔ gǔ/gǔ/yù Interpretation: Valley name. In the Qinling Mountains of present-day Shaanxi Province, it is an important transportation road between Sichuan and Shaanxi. According to "Chang'an Chronicle", the valley is 660 miles long. The north mouth is called Zi, one hundred miles south of Xi'an Prefecture; the south mouth is called Wu, one hundred and sixty miles east of Fuyang County, Hanzhong. It starts in the Qinling Mountains in the southwest of Chang'an County, Shaanxi Province in the north and ends in Shiquan County in the south; the northern exit is called "Zikou" and the southern exit is called "Wukou". Historical events In ancient times, there were six main roads that crossed the Qinling Mountains to the southwest and surrounding areas. From west to east they were: Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, Ziwu Road, Kugu Road, and Wuguan Road. The Qinling area has high mountains and deep valleys. Although these six roads all occupy dangerous positions, they have still been broken down or smuggled through many times in wars throughout the ages. Among them, the Ziwu Road in the Ziwu Valley is one of the six ancient roads. The only dangerous fortress that has been attempted to smuggle over many times but has never been successful. Therefore, some historians lamented that "the Qinling Mountains have six paths, and Ziwu is the king." The geographical route of Ziwu Valley probably starts from Duling (southeast of today's Xi'an), then passes through the Qinling Mountains and reaches Hanzhong. It was opened in the Qin Dynasty. After being unknown for a hundred years, it first appeared on the war stage at the end of the Qin Dynasty. At that time, it was the period of "Liu Xiang's Struggle". Liu Bang was forced to go to Hanzhong and became the king of Han. It was through Ziwu Valley that , the difficulty of the road inspired the determination of the Han soldiers to fight against Xiang Yu. In the end, they fought back to Guanzhong and seized the world. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Sheng, the prefect of Hanzhong, wrote "Ode to the Stone Gate", praising the Ziwu Dao for inspiring the morale of the Han army soldiers: "The Emperor Gaozu was ordered, the Dao started from Ziwu, and it flourished in Hanzhong..." During the Three Kingdoms era, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, in 228 AD. Before the Northern Expedition, "Three Kingdoms" records that general Wei Yan once proposed the Ziwu Valley plan, "recruiting ten thousand soldiers to meet with Liang Yi Tao at Tongguan, just like the story of Han Xin." But Zhuge Liang thought this plan was too risky and rejected it. The very important reasons why Zhuge Liang did not adopt this strategy include the unpredictable and unpredictable weather in the Ziwu Valley area, as well as the difficult and dangerous geography. However, when Wei Yan said, "Go straight out from Baozhong, follow the Qinling Mountains to the east, and go to the north at Ziwu", it is very likely that he did not mean to send troops from the Ziwu Valley, but from the Tangluo Road. When Cao Zhen, the general of Cao Wei, attacked Shu, he clearly stated that he would march through Ziwu Valley, Xie Valley and other roads. However, due to continuous rainy weather and the cutoff of the plank road, it took Cao Zhen a month to cover half of the distance and he was forced to retreat. Wei Yan's strategy was later tried by others, but all failed. For example, when Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and Northern Expedition to the Former Qin Dynasty, he sneaked into the Ziwu Valley like Wei Yan, but was ambushed by the Qin army before leaving the valley. Although Ziwu Valley is famous for being difficult to navigate, historically, the road was smoothed out during the Tang Dynasty and became a shocking "highway". This period of history is related to the famous legend of "riding a mortal concubine and making her laugh". Because in the Tang Dynasty, Ziwu Road was given another name: Lychee Ancient Road. According to historical records: In 742 AD, in order to satisfy Yang Yuhuan's preference for eating fresh lychees, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued a decree to build a high-quality lychee garden in Fuzhou (now Fuling, Chongqing), repair the road from Fuzhou to Xi'an, and build a special post station from Fuzhou. People and horses were exchanged instead of goods, and the relay was quickly transmitted. A post road with a total length of more than 1,000 kilometers was built specifically for the transportation of lychees. This section of the ancient road starts from Fuzhou, passes through Xuanhan, Wanyuan, Tongjiang and other places, and finally enters Ziwu Road to Chang'an. Although the quality of lychees produced in Shu is not as good as that produced in Lingnan, compared with paying tribute from Lingnan, the journey can be saved by one or two thousand miles. Therefore, the Lychee Ancient Road became the most prosperous post road in the Tang Dynasty. So, how long did it take to get from Chongqing to Xi'an? This ancient road gave people a shocking answer: it only takes 7 days. According to the "Jiudian of the Tang Dynasty" records: In the Tang Dynasty, tens of thousands of people were used to set up a post road every 20 miles, and then the picked lychees were kept fresh through local methods and then put into cages and mounted on horses (such as sealing the lychees with leaves in bamboo tubes ), changing a person every twenty miles and a horse every sixty miles, traveling day and night, ensuring that fresh lychees can be delivered to Chang'an within seven days and seven nights. The speed of the ancient road is staggering, but in fact, the efficiency of this road is built by people with their flesh and blood and even their lives. In order to transport lychees, transport personnel often "kill people and horses on the road". Tong Yanshu, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, wrote about the sadness of the postman at that time in the poem "Ziwu Valley·Yaomuguan": "Marquis Wu refused to march, and the Lord of the Tang Dynasty translated the teachings of Gongli. Today, the road is smooth for thousands of miles, but who knows It's like a jade ring opening.

"Today in the Ziwu Valley, you can still see many remnants of the ancient Lychee Road, such as the horse blocking wall, the drinking manger, the pass wall, the camp board, etc., all of which still exist in the mountains and Qinling Mountains, with long stone stairs and stone slabs. The road has been roughened and mottled by the years. Walking along it, you can feel the weight and desolation of history. Perhaps influenced by the heroic spirit of the Great Qinling Mountains, people living in the valley seem to have inherited a kind of pride in their bones since they were born. I have a strong personality, just as the folk song here sings: "The folk songs come to the top of the mountain, and the king of hell is worried when he sees me." Confucius dismounted his horse when he saw me, and the emperor bowed his head when he saw me. "In the Ming Dynasty, people in the mountains once formed an army. Because they were brave and good at fighting, they were called "the three ace armies in the late Ming Dynasty" by later generations - the Qin Army (the other two were Guan Ning Cavalry and Tianxiong Army). Among these three armies, the Qin Army ranks second only to the Guan Ning Cavalry. Historians have commented that the Guan Ning Cavalry is strong because of its strong maneuverability, and the Tianxiong Army is good at fighting because of its unity. The source of the Qin Army's combat effectiveness is precisely this. It is because of the personality given to the soldiers by the Daqin Mountains. The most prominent example is Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang, who even lost his life in the Ziwu Valley in the ninth year of Chongzhen. In July 1636), King Chuang Gao Yingxiang led all the main forces into Ziwu Valley, trying to sneak across here, and then attacked Xi'an to occupy Shaanxi. However, he first ignored the weather and steep roads in Ziwu Valley: due to the narrow road and heavy rain, Gao Yingxiang's Tens of thousands of troops marched for several days and were only halfway through the journey. They were exhausted and suffered heavy material losses. When he finally reached the Heishui Valley in the Ziwu Valley, he found that there were already 20,000 Ming troops ambushed here. So he waited patiently in the Heishui Valley of the Ziwu Valley because the commander-in-chief Sun Chuanting knew that after the arduous trek through the Ziwu Valley, Gao Yingxiang and his troops who appeared in front of him were very vulnerable. The two armies met and immediately started fighting. Gao Yingxiang led. The Ming army launched many assaults, but because the Ming army in Ziwu Valley was too fierce, and many of the soldiers were locals who were familiar with the terrain, Gao Yingxiang's attack was completely useless - the Ming army, men, women, old and young, all went into battle and could be mobilized with just a shout. A group of relatives, even if the defense line is broken down every time, will gather again soon... In the end, the two sides fought fiercely for four days, and Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang who had dominated the world for seven years, was captured, and his life ended on December 12, 1936. On August 1, in Xi'an, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng detained Chiang Kai-shek, who went to urge him to suppress the Communist Party, and more than ten military and political officials who accompanied him to Xi'an. As a result, the Xi'an Incident broke out, and a new force was stationed in Shaanxi. Under the leadership of the division commander, they were ordered to go out of Ziwu Valley and attack the "King Qin" in Hanzhong. Since the incident on the way was resolved peacefully, the division was immediately stationed in Hanzhong. The division's designation was: the 51st Division of the National Revolutionary Army, and the division commander's name was Wang Yaowu. . Romance of the Three Kingdoms During the Three Kingdoms period, when Zhuge Liang went out to Qishan to regain the Central Plains, Wei Yan suggested that he lead his troops through the small road of Ziwu Valley and let Kong Ming lead the large army through the main road. If Xiahou Mao, the prefect of Chang'an, was not a general, Wei Yan could kill him. He was caught off guard and could get to the west of Xianyang. However, Zhuge Liang was cautious and worried that the risk would be too great, so he insisted on marching from the main road. During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, "six out of Qishan" to attack Wei Yan in the north. The strategy of "(soldiers) marching out of Ziwu Valley" was proposed for the first time, but Zhuge Liang did not adopt it. This is described in history books and novels. The history books are from Pei Song's annotation "The Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms·Shu·Liu Pengliao Li Liu Wei Yang Biography". "Wei Lue": Xiahou Mao was the general of Anxi and the town of Chang'an. Liang Yu Nanzheng discussed with his subordinates. Yan said: "I heard that Xiahou Mao, the young master, is the son-in-law. He is timid and has no plan. Now we have five thousand elite soldiers and five thousand grains. We will go straight out from Baozhong, follow the Qinling Mountains to the east, and go north at Ziwu. We can reach Chang'an in only ten days. When Mao heard that Yan was about to arrive, he would escape by boat. There are only censors and prefects in Jingzhao in Chang'an, and Hengmen's mansions and scattered people's valleys are sufficient for Zhou's food. It will take more than twenty days to gather together in the east, and the Duke will be able to reach it if he comes from Xiegu. In this way, the west of Xianyang can be determined in one fell swoop. "Liang thought that the county was in danger, so it was better to make peace with the open road. He could capture Longyou in a level way and defeat everything without any danger, so there was no need to delay the plan. Wei Yan's plan There are two main versions of Wei Yan's plan to sneak attack Guanzhong: "Wei Yan" The records of "Three Kingdoms Shu Shu·Liu Pengliao Li Liu Wei Yang" have been mentioned in the "Three Kingdoms Wei Yan Biography": "Every time Yan came out, he often wanted to recruit tens of thousands of troops, which was different from Liang. The Taoist meeting at Tongguan is like the story of Han Xin, which was made public but not allowed. Yan often calls being bright a coward, and sighs that he hates himself for not having enough use. "The first half of the two versions are the same. They roughly use 10,000 light troops to sneak out of Ziwu Valley to attack Guanzhong. The difference is in the second half: the first version plans to occupy the Chang'an area and wait for Zhuge Liang's main force to come from Xie Valley. The goal of the rendezvous is to capture the Guanzhong area west of Xianyang in one fell swoop; the second version is to seize the Tongguan natural barrier and deny reinforcements to the Wei army. Prior to this, most articles and information believed that the first version was Wei Yan's plan. However, this is not the case for the following reasons: 1. The first version was unreasonable in military terms, so it was widely criticized because according to the first version, even if Wei Yan's plan was completely successful, it would only control the west of Guanzhong. half part.

When the reinforcements from the Central Plains of Wei State arrive, they will surely start a fierce battle with the Shu Army in the plains near Chang'an, which is very detrimental to the Shu Army, which is good at mountain warfare; 2. There are no dangerous points to defend in the Chang'an area, which is very disadvantageous for the Shu Army who are good at mountain warfare. For Wei Yan, who has rich actual combat experience, he will not be unclear about the outcome of a decisive battle with the Wei army dominated by cavalry and heavy infantry in such terrain; 3. Once Guanzhong becomes a battlefield, neither side can rely on local supplies of food and grass. 100,000 Shu The army's food and grass needed to be supplied by crossing the Qinling Mountains from Hanzhong. The Wei army can rely on Hedong and the Central Plains for supplies (there is Weihe River water transportation), which is more convenient (Cao Cao relied on grain and grass from Hedong when tackling key problems), so the Shu army will not last long; 3. Wei Yan wants to follow the model of Han Xin in the Western Han Dynasty. The battle should be to capture Guanzhong. (This will be discussed in the historical comparison) 4. Chang'an is the Xijing of Wei State and the administrative seat of Yongzhou. The city wall alone is 80 miles long. Even if Wei Yan defeated or drove away the Wei garrison and occupied Chang'an, he could not hold it at all. 5. Capturing Chang'an can only cut off the escape route of the Wei army in Guanzhong, but it cannot block the reinforcements. Therefore, the first version of Wei Yan's plan was very unreasonable from a military point of view. The second version of Wei Yan's plan completely avoided these problems. Therefore, I believe that the sneak attack plan in Guanzhong recorded in "The Biography of Wei Yan in the Three Kingdoms" is the real plan proposed by Wei Yan to Zhuge Liang - the second version of the plan, which is more in line with military and historical laws. This plan is: sneak attack on Guanzhong - use light troops to quickly leave the Ziwu Valley to Chang'an, without attacking Chang'an, and quickly move eastward to seize Tongguan and other dangerous places. The army will leave the Xie Valley to attack various places in Guanzhong, and rendezvous with the Ziwu Valley troops as soon as possible to hold on to Tongguan and Tongguan. Wuguan and other dangerous points were directly captured in Guanzhong, and the Wei army was blocked from outside the pass.