Great Warriors of Sui and Tang Dynasties

Chapter 971

In the middle of May, the emperor passed Tongguan.

The emperor rode his horse on the Tongguan plateau, and looked at the surging water of the Yellow River not far away, feeling very moved.This place controls the key points of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan, and the situation is dangerous, with the Qinling Mountains in the south and the Yellow River in the north.

The Wei and Luo rivers meet the Yellow River and flow down, near Huayue in the west, surrounded by mountains and peaks.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is the new pass that is being built. When the new pass is built, Tongguan's defenses will be stronger, and one man will guard the pass and ten thousand will not open it."

Tongguan now has two pass cities. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao set up Tongguan in the first year of Jian'an (196) in order to prevent the military chaos in Guanxi, and abandoned Hangu Pass at the same time.

Tongguan City in the Han Dynasty was built on the plateau south of the Yellow River. The plateau is a unique terrain in the loess belt, with high protrusions and surrounding valleys, making the plateau like a platform.

Hantong Pass was built on the plateau because the road leading to Guanzhong at that time had to pass through the plateau.

However, there is a Forbidden Valley Trail in the southeast of the plateau. Although the road is small and dangerous, it can still pass through the customs. Later, the imperial court established this valley as a Forbidden Valley, and it was not allowed to pass through. For defense, Twelve City was built in the valley.

However, the characteristic of the Yellow River is that it is changeable and carries a lot of sediment.

In the Han Dynasty, the south bank of the Yellow River in the north of Tongguan was a steep cliff, but in the Sui Dynasty, a large area of ​​river beach had been accumulated on the south bank, so there was a new way to enter Guanzhong without having to cross the plateau.

Therefore, in the Sui Dynasty, a new Tongguan city was built on the edge of the plateau near the river bank.

But after all, this Guancheng was still built on the plateau. Although it was condescending, it did not directly block the road on the south bank of the Yellow River.

Therefore, now the imperial court decided to build a pass city in the north of Tongguan Pass in the Sui Dynasty, directly on the south bank of the Yellow River under the plateau, connecting the Yellow River to the north and the plateau in the south, directly blocking all the roads.

Although it is not a time of chaotic wars, after the construction of Xintongguan, it can also play a role in combating smuggling, collecting tariffs, and collecting fugitives and slaves.

"At the mouth of the Forbidden Valley, we also added a military fort to guard it. On the plateau, Hantong Pass was retained and changed to a garrison fort."

Luo Cheng nodded. Tongguan, which was once known as the first dangerous pass, has greatly reduced its role under the current situation of the unification of the north, but it will still be the three major traffic routes of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan. It is still very necessary to strengthen control of.

Pass Tongguan and enter Guanzhong.

When the car arrived in Chang'an City, countless soldiers and civilians came to welcome him.

The prime ministers of the Zhengshitang arrived in Chang'an ahead of schedule, and they prepared a grand entry ceremony.Luo Cheng also cooperated, this was his first time entering the customs, and it was necessary to show the power of the imperial court and the authority of the emperor.

The imperial army and internal army who accompanied them rested outside the city for three days, and put on brand new military robes, polished weapons, and even the horses were shiny.

On the day of entering the city, the army was in order and the flags were fluttering.

The emperor rode on a golden horse drawn by twelve horses, driven by Pei Xingyan and Laizheng, two ten thousand enemies.

Luo Cheng was dressed in a golden helmet and armor, like a god. As soon as he appeared, countless Chang'an soldiers and civilians cheered in unison, cheering and celebrating the arrival of the God of War.

Suzaku Street is very wide, fifty feet wide.

An elite army of imperial guards drove through the street, both sides of the street were surrounded by soldiers and civilians, and everyone stood up to watch, all in amazement.

All the way into the Tai Chi Palace.

As soon as he entered the palace, Luo Cheng issued an edict that all the maids in Chang'an Taiji Palace and other palaces in Guanzhong, who had reached the age of 25, be released.The palace people who have reached the age of fifty are also released from the palace, and a nursing home is built outside the palace to support these elderly palace people.

As soon as this decree came out, countless palace people in the palace were stunned.

Many white-haired palace people still entered the palace at the beginning of the founding emperor, and some even came in during the Northern Zhou Dynasty. , These people have stayed in the palace for a lifetime, from young girls to white-haired chicken skin.

Now, the emperor actually wanted to let them out of the palace and take care of them for the elderly, it was unbelievable.

The second thing the emperor did when he entered Chang'an was to decree to sell all the confiscated mansions of the rebellious parties who had previously participated in the conspiracy.

The third matter, the emperor dismissed the previous censor's report that the management of Chang'an City has been chaotic recently. Many officials and people open windows and doors facing the street, which is not in compliance with the system, and there are even illegal behaviors such as vendors walking along the street.The emperor ordered that, while retaining the Lifang system, the officials and civilians facing the street were allowed to open doors and windows to the street, and the houses facing the street were allowed to be converted into shops for lease and sale, merchants were allowed to open shops along the street, and vendors were also allowed to set up stalls in designated blocks for sale. merchandise.

As long as it is not operating on the road, not operating without a license, and not defacing the streets, etc., it is allowed.

When this decree was announced, the officials of the Manchu Dynasty even exclaimed, and the people of the whole city cheered.

You know, before this, there were markets in cities and cities, and all the shops were concentrated in special markets. For example, Chang'an had two major markets, East Market and West Market, and Luoyang had three major markets, South Market, West Market, and North Market. .

Merchants have to concentrate in the market to do business, and even a special line area is divided in the market, and the lines are all operated together.

But the common people are actually in each square area. This square area is like a community in later generations. It is closed and isolated. There are square doors and square walls. Windows, only officials and nobles who have reached a very high level have the privilege to open doors and windows on the walls of the square.

It is even more forbidden to sell and set up stalls along the street.

The street is for walking, the market is for doing business and buying and selling things, and the square area is only for people to live in.

Such a design is easy to manage and conducive to defense, but it is not very convenient.

For example, the residents of Chang'an City had to go to the East and West cities to buy groceries, and the people living in Nancheng had to walk several miles to buy groceries in the morning.

Moreover, the gates of the city gates and squares are not open until dawn, and once it is dark, they are not allowed to go out of the gates to the streets.

All kinds of regulations make life extremely inconvenient for the people living in a huge city like Chang'an.

But now, after seeing the depression of Chang'an City, the emperor made this decree.

The common people are allowed to break the restrictions of the square area, open doors and windows on the walls of the square, allow shops to be set up along the street, and even allow vendors to sell stalls in designated blocks.

All of this is extremely inconsistent with the design concept of Chang'an City, completely disrupting the city's defense and management functions, but the emperor insisted on seeing it.

The old city concept was still too restrictive, and he preferred the market culture of Song and Ming Dynasties.

At the same time, the emperor ordered that all the hundreds of large and small Buddhist temples and Taoist temples in Chang'an City be moved out, and the original Buddhist temples and Taoist temples were converted into academies, orphanages, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.

There are one hundred and eight squares in Chang'an, and one Daxingshan Temple occupies one square, which is too much.

(End of this chapter)