My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 663 The Clash of Civilizations

In the second year after Ying Zheng proclaimed himself emperor, which was also the year when he was in his childhood and was offering sacrifices to the gods on Mount Tai, Qin Shi Huang appointed Taiwei Tu Sui as the chief general and Zhao Tuo as the deputy general to lead an army of 50 to conquer Baiyue. Because Baiyue was scattered all over the country and was still in the tribal era, the Qin army was divided into five routes:
The first route was to march eastward from present-day Jiangxi to capture Dong'ou and Minyue;
The second and third routes were to attack Nanyue. The second route passed through present-day Nanchang, crossed the Dayu Mountains and entered northern Guangdong. The third route passed through present-day Changsha and followed the Qitian Mountains directly to Panyu.

The fourth and fifth routes entered Guangxi and attacked Xiou. The fourth route entered present-day Hexian County via Mengzhuling, and the fifth route entered present-day Guilin via Yuechengling.

Ying Zheng made such arrangements so that if the Qin army encountered a powerful enemy, they could gather forces and attack.

At that time, Qin Shihuang gave China a nice-sounding name, combining the word "Zhong" which means the center of the world and the word "Hua" which means the difference between Chinese and barbarians - hence the name "Zhonghua".

At the same time, he began to lay the foundation for China's basic territory since the establishment of the centralized system.

Regarding the attack on Nanyue recorded in history books, it became the focus of either praise or criticism by scholars and literati in later generations. However, they would usually only use four words to describe it, that is - taking the Baiyue in the south.

But the hardships, blood and lives paid behind these four words, the real price paid is chilling.

In the later years of his reign, Ying Zheng was immersed in his great victory. He was proud, complacent, and arrogant. Although he was not a fool, his overwhelming power made him forget his original intention.

For example, in the South Vietnam War, Ying Zheng used all means necessary without regard for the bottom line.

The war initiated by his decree brought huge harm to the indigenous people who originally lived in the Baiyue area and even the entire Qin State's 500,000 troops!

This war, which has brought huge damage to both Qin and Baiyue, is now entering a white-hot stage.

The first route of the Qin army attacked the Baiyue, and the war went relatively smoothly. The 10 Qin troops that attacked the Dong'ou and Minyue areas (mainly in present-day Fujian) captured Dong'ou and Minyue in the same year.

Of course, this group of Qin troops was the last among the five groups of Qin troops to join the Guangdong and Guangxi battlefield. At present, they are stationed in Fujian and Zhejiang after conquering Fujian and Zhejiang.

When Qin attacked Baiyue, it initially intended to continue the same strategy it used to attack the six states, that is, to annex them while sending garrisons to guard the rear.

After Li Xin's defeat and the embarrassment he brought to Ying Zheng in front of the world, Ying Zheng took this as a warning and did not dare to relax his control over the newly conquered territory behind the front line.

Therefore, after the first army successfully conquered the area of ​​Fujian and Zhejiang, they stationed there and started to develop the southern region. While promoting the Qin's writing, system, culture, language, tools, and laws to the Nanyue area, the vast number of Nanyue Fujian and Zhejiang natives were also slowly communicating with the Qin people.

Because this war went relatively smoothly, the Qin army's first route did not suffer too many casualties.

And these 100,000 troops, like the lucky ones favored by God, do not need to participate in the subsequent deep advance.

In recent years, while Ying Zheng was busy thinking about how to live a comfortable life in the harem, going to Mount Tai to appoint a tree as the fifth doctor, thinking about finding that little beauty tonight, and how to deal with Fusu, the Qin army and the indigenous people in the Nanyue area started a confrontation of weapons and ideology.

Ying Zheng's life not only formed a huge contrast with the lives of common people in his country, but most people became his slaves, and the area of ​​Nanyue almost became a purgatory on earth.

It should be noted that from ancient times to the Qin Dynasty, the coastal area south of the Yangtze River was the land of Baiyue, and the indigenous tribes living here were called Yue people by the people in the Central Plains before the Qin Dynasty.

In that era, "Yue" and "Yue" were used interchangeably, and the Yue people were also called the Yue people. Because they had many branches and tribes, they were called "Bai Yue".

But the Baiyue themselves were not an ethnic community. Their descendants had different ancestors, including Dayu (Han), Xiong Wang (Jing), Buluotuo (Zhuang), Paolongkou (Li), and so on.

The Baiyue tribes were roughly divided into several parts, including the Dongyue (also known as Dong'ou or Ouyue) tribe, the Minyue tribe, the Nanyue (also known as Nanyue) tribe, the Xiou tribe (some say Xiou is a branch of Nanyue), and the Luoyue tribe. Among them, the Dongyue tribe, the Minyue tribe, and the Nanyue tribe were the ancestors of the Han nationality, while the Xiou tribe and the Luoyue tribe were the ancestors of the Jing nationality, the Li nationality and other ethnic groups.

At the end of the pre-Qin era, it was hard for the time traveler Fusu to imagine that the areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi, which would be prosperous and developed two thousand years later, were actually an extremely backward primitive tribe on the continent two thousand years ago.

Its civilization is even closer to that of the primitive people in the tropical rain forests around the equator. People wear grass skirts around their lower bodies and live as a family in straw huts or bamboo houses.

This completely undeveloped area is actually a barren land in the eyes of the people in the Central Plains, whose civilization is relatively advanced. The people living here are all uncivilized.

The Qin people who drove here treated the indigenous people here with contempt, as if they were some kind of higher-level beings.

The Qin people wore apron cloth, wrapped in heavy armor, and equipped with ornaments representing military rank and military branch.

The Baiyue people wore aprons made of palm leaves, smeared brightly colored paint on their foreheads, decorated their heads with bird feathers, and most of their leaders used tiger fur as their external decorations.

As long as the Nanyue people ensured that the fire did not go out and wild beasts did not invade at night, they would not worry about anything else.

There are different rules between their different tribes, and wars occasionally break out, either for food or for women.

In order to prolong their lives, entrust their property to others, and complete the important task of reproduction, both the people of the Central Plains and the Baiyue people were the same.

It's just that the people of the Central Plains have a clear hierarchy, a distinction between insiders and outsiders. They set countless rules for themselves, but they never abide by them.

The Baiyue people only have simple clan rules, but everyone can abide by them.

Of course, when the children of the Central Plains grow up, they will no longer go to their mother's room at night; but it is different for the barbarians. They have no ethical constraints. A few palm leaves can't cover anything on a man or a woman.

People in the Central Plains turn off the lights at night, but the Baiyue people keep their tents wide open, welcoming anyone of a different gender into the tent.

The people of the Central Plains have a language system that has ensured basic similarity in sound, form and meaning for thousands of years.

The Baiyue tribe, on the other hand, was able to pass down their civilization intermittently through word of mouth. Even within a small family, they had their own unique pronunciation system.

This is the tribe.

People in the Central Plains called them Southern Barbarians because they often lived with tigers and were half-naked or had no clothes at all.

The southern barbarians would occasionally look northward while standing on the rocks, and would also feel confused. Why are they wrapped in so many things? Aren't they hot?

People in the Central Plains did not like the decorations of the Baiyue people. They thought that wearing all kinds of colorful clothes, like a peacock, was too ostentatious, very indecent and without substance.

The Baiyue people did not like the Central Plains people. They had large leaves given by God, but they did not use them. Instead, they used complicated procedures to make the long grass into silk and then made it into cloth. As for other clothes, it was even more difficult to make.

To the Baiyue people, it was foolish to give up the natural gift from God and do everything by themselves.

The people of the Central Plains have long, thin eyes, most of whose pupils are filled with desire, as well as fear of nature and poisonous snakes.

The Baiyue people have eyes that seem to be filled with water, and at night they are as bright as the stars in the sky. Their skin is dark, and the breast milk of women is exposed, and they are allowed to droop naturally, and are only wrapped with leaves.

The men walked around with their younger brothers hanging around.

Their life is peaceful and comfortable.

We survive on the gifts from heaven and earth, and we are grateful to the sun, the moon, and the rivers around us.

The civilization of Jingchu has some connection with them.

They hold a reverent attitude towards the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, plants, and even ghosts. They often sing songs to praise nature, the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, plants, and even ghosts.

The people in the Central Plains do not sing praises to gods or nature, they sing praises to people and emotions.

The Central Plains has the Book of Songs, and Jingchu has the Nine Songs.

In addition to singing praises, the Baiyue people at that time also frequently held sacrifices to express their gratitude to heaven and earth.

This simple reverence for nature influences the survival beliefs and habits of the Baiyue people.

When the Qin chariots crossed the Yangtze River and arrived in Jingchu, it was destined to be a confrontation between civilizations.

Perhaps this is the retribution of the Baiyue people themselves. As human beings, we should be different from wild beasts and animals.

I mean, be a human being.

The Baiyue people could not tolerate the rude Qin people using sharp crossbows to kill their compatriots and parents one by one.

What’s even more hateful is that people in the Central Plains have no reverence for nature.

They are so abominable and only know how to take from nature.

When they come across tall bushes, they burn them; when they come across mushrooms, they pull them up by the roots and eat them without thinking about the next year.

Occasionally, when they came across tall and straight trees, they would cut them down overnight and transport them to cities in the north.

Because their great 'Queen Bee' was lying on the couch like a noble lady in the Xianyang Palace, waiting for her 'good children' to come and serve their 'greedy queen'.

The Baiyue area had rich material resources, but the tools used by the Baiyue people were relatively backward compared to those in the Central Plains.

Moreover, their reverence for plants, mountains and rivers makes them respect the miracles created by heaven and earth - minerals, salt ponds, mountains, springs, everything - and they will not destroy them.

Their reverence for heaven and earth enabled them to protect the resources in the Baiyue area very well.

The area where the Baiyue tribes lived had a mild climate, abundant rainfall, rich resources, and a vast territory, but it was far away from the Central Plains because it was blocked by mountains and the Five Ridges.

Around the Warring States Period, two major states, Xiou and Luoyue, appeared in most parts of Guangxi and parts of Guangdong.

This was the heyday of the states in the Lingnan region.

It’s just that social development in the Lingnan region is extremely unbalanced, especially in Guangdong, which has been a place where multiple cultures converge and coexist since the ancient times.

During the ancient kingdom period, the northern, northwestern and western parts of Guangdong were roughly the areas ruled by the ancient Cangwu Kingdom, while the eastern and northeastern parts of Guangdong were the ancient kingdoms built by the Minyue and Wuyue ethnic groups.

In a sense, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the social economy and culture of Guangdong may have been higher than that of Guangxi, mainly because it was a place where multiple ethnic groups and cultures gathered.

Only through cultural exchanges can there be progress and improvement, and the exchange of production technology will inevitably promote economic development. This is an inevitable trend of historical development.

However, precisely because it is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural confluence area, there is no political entity that can command the various small countries, and the entire society is a loose structure of numerous countries.

Unlike the Guangxi region, a relatively unified pattern of two major states, Xiou and Luoyue, emerged around the Warring States Period.

This combination of geographical structure and historical factors led to the fact that in the original history, when Qin Shihuang unified Lingnan, he was able to quickly conquer Guangdong in the first phase without encountering any major resistance. However, it took six years to conquer Guangxi, and at the cost of "hundreds of thousands of corpses and bloodshed", he was able to unify Guangxi and Vietnam.

At this moment, Fusu was heading to Nanyue.

The Central Plains and the Baiyue civilization, which had never been developed on a large scale, had already formed a blood feud in the flames of war.

Both parties are in great pain at the same time.

The first route of the Qin army made contact with Nanyue and successfully pacified Dong'ou and Minyue, and established Minzhong County in this area. However, the other four routes of the Qin army were affected by geographical and natural factors, and their marching and food supply were very difficult.

There were about 50 people in the Baiyue region, including roughly 5 young and middle-aged men fit for combat. The Baiyue army was a coalition, with the Xiou Kingdom as the main body.

Although the Baiyue natives were few in number and their weapons were backward, they were very resistant and even willing to fight with wild beasts. The fighting was extremely fierce.

After occupying the Guangdong area, Qin attacked Baiyue in the second year. The war progressed slowly and there were heavy casualties.

People are like this. When people of other races die, their mood won’t fluctuate much.

But when all the dead were their own brothers, the Qin people became collectively angry.

Tu Sui, the main general in charge of the entire campaign against Baiyue, became irritable and killed some innocent Baiyue natives indiscriminately, which aroused the indignation of the local people and led to the assassination of the general of Qin!

The Qin army was like being stuck in a quagmire, having difficulty moving forward. Later, because their food supply route was destroyed by the Baiyue army, the two sides entered a state of confrontation.

This battle was the first war between Qin and Baiyue, and also the most intense one. The Qin army had 50 soldiers killed 30, and the Baiyue army had 5 soldiers, but in the end there were less than 6000 soldiers left.

The troops mobilized by the Qin army in this war were still mainly the troops that had previously destroyed the State of Chu. However, in order to adapt to fighting in the south, there were no less than 50 former Chu troops among the 10 Qin army.

From this perspective, it is clear why Ying Zheng would use any means necessary to attack Nanyue.

In fact, the backlash of the military merit system made it difficult for Ying Zheng to suppress it for a time, so he needed a tough nut to crack down on the Qin army's morale.

Not only that, there were so many surrendered soldiers in Chu, even if hundreds of thousands of them were mining and hundreds of thousands of them were building tombs, there were still many manpower left.

Ying Zheng was not as kind as Fusu. In his opinion, as long as these people were alive, they would become a threat to him.

In order to allow himself to rest assured, he chose to use the most cruel method and let these guys gnaw on the hard bones of Baiyue.

[I want to discuss something with you readers. I plan to update two chapters every day in the future, each chapter will be 3000+. But I always lack motivation. Although I sometimes get up early, I don’t have the motivation to write when I turn on the computer.

So I hope that all readers can leave more comments when reading books.

If there are ten comments per person on the latest chapter every day, I will update 6,000 for everyone. Otherwise, I can only write without motivation and passion every day, and everyone will read the plot in a slow manner.

I hope the readers will cooperate. Jiaojiao bows. 】

(End of this chapter)