Chapter 1,360 Dunhuang Posthumous Notes

After the Xia people overthrew the Zhang family, they also loosened their management of Guazhou, which brought prosperity to both places. After Su You arrived in Guazhou, he actually felt like he had traveled back to the Central Plains of the Tang Dynasty.

This feeling is correct, "Huarong and Huarong are all connected by one city." "Prosperity cannot be compared to the Central Plains."

With Qi Huan's letter and Su You's army in Qiu, the powerful locals in Guazhou made a small fortune by supplying military supplies. Many aristocratic families themselves were descendants of the Confucian scholars of Wuliang... The heads of the aristocratic families had moist eyes.

Oh, this is ridiculous, it turns out to be the feeling of returning to China and becoming the master...

Therefore, the enthusiasm was quite high. Several companies had trade relations with Shazhou and sent camels to lead the army to Shazhou.

In addition to Thousand Buddha Cave and Ten Thousand Buddhas Gorge, Guazhou also has the White Tiger Pass left behind by Xue Rengui during his expedition to the west.

Except for Baihu Pass, the army continued to advance. Tong Guan looked at the huge stacks of buildings on the Gobi and felt strange: "Are those the ruins of a big city?"

Su You explained: "It is a landform in the northwest, eroded by wind and rain. It looks like a magnificent city."

"The roads inside are complicated, and many caravans strayed into them to escape the wind and sand, and then lost their way."

"And because it is located at the center of the wind, when the strong wind howls inside, it will make sounds like ghosts crying and wolves howling, so the locals call it the Devil's City."

As a rural guide, Liu Yuzhi, a disciple of the Liu family in Guazhou, immediately handed over his hand: "The bachelor's knowledge is so extensive that he even knows all this."

Su You rode on the camel and shook his head: "But I have never seen the real scene. It turns out to be so shocking!"

After speaking, he patted the mount: "What a beast!"

The carrying capacity of camels is more than twice that of horses, and each camel can carry a load of 400 kilograms.

If it were to pull a chariot, it could pull three thousand kilograms, so Su You directly replaced half of the chariot's traction with camels.

This thing can carry such a heavy load and can travel hundreds of miles every day. The name "Ship of the Desert" is not earned for nothing.

Nowadays, Hebei giant mules have only been successfully bred. The most powerful ones can only weigh 300 kilograms. The really skinny camels are bigger than horses.

It also has a long lifespan, ranging from three to forty years, making it an important asset for herdsmen.

Now is the breeding season of camels, and Su You was lucky enough to witness a male camel fight.

It is also the reproductive period for female camels. They will leave the camel herd on their own, go to a leeward sand pit dozens of miles away to give birth to their calves, and then bring the calves back.

Fortunately, the castration technique from Tianfang has also been widely used on camels, so Su You can now ride safely.

The large fine cloth masks Su You distributed to the team finally came in handy to protect their breathing.

The Duke's thoughts were so meticulous that a group of Spanish generals couldn't help but shake their heads. It was simply breathtaking.

Shazhou, formerly known as Dunhuang, was once extremely prosperous.

This was once the hub of the Silk Road, the center and transit point for trade between China and the West.

Hu merchants from the Western Regions and Han merchants from the Central Plains gathered here to trade Central Plains silks, porcelain, treasures from the Western Regions, and northern camels and horses.

At the same time, the culture of the Central Plains, Buddhism, West Asia and Central Asia continued to spread to Dunhuang, where they gathered, collided and blended.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established Jiuquan and Wuwei counties in Hexi in the second year of Yuanshou. In the sixth year of Yuanding of the Han Dynasty, Jiuquan and Wuwei counties were separated into Dunhuang and Zhangye counties respectively.

From Lingju through Dunhuang to Yanze, the Great Wall and beacons were built, and Yang Pass and Yumen Pass were set up to ensure the smooth flow of the Silk Road.

In the Hexi region during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, feudal regimes such as Qianliang, Houliang, Southern Liang, Xiliang, and Northern Liang were successively established.

Li Hao took Dunhuang and proclaimed himself king and established the Xiliang Kingdom. Dunhuang became the capital for the first time in history.

After that, Liangzhou became the cultural center of the northwest, and Dunhuang became the center of Liangzhou culture.

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, heroes competed in the Central Plains, and Hexi became a relatively stable area. Confucian scholars and people from the Central Plains fled to Hexi for refuge, bringing advanced culture and production technology. Buddhism introduced by the Han and Wei dynasties flourished unprecedentedly in Dunhuang. Dunhuang is the center of Buddhism The passage and gateway to the east have become the center of Buddhism in the Hexi region.

In the second year of Jianyuan of the former Qin Dynasty, monk Lezun opened the first grotto to worship Buddha in the Daquan Valley at the foot of Sanwei Mountain, and the trend of building grottoes became popular.

After the Northern Wei Dynasty destroyed the Northern Liang Dynasty and occupied Hexi Province, the government became stable and Buddhism became popular. From then until the Sui Dynasty, ninety caves were built on a grand scale, with murals and painted sculptures, and the craftsmanship was very exquisite.

In the powerful Tang Dynasty, the economy and culture were highly prosperous. More than a thousand caves were opened in the Mogao Grottoes, and the murals and statues reached their peak artistic level.

The "Anshi Rebellion" caused the Tang Dynasty to turn from prosperity to decline, and Tubo took advantage of the situation to occupy Hexi.

Later, the Han Zhang Yichao rebelled and occupied Hexi and Longyou, and Dunhuang was re-attached to the Tang Dynasty.

In the second year of Tianyou's reign, Zhang Chengfeng proclaimed himself the Emperor in White and established the Jinshan Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty. Later, the Jinshan Kingdom was destroyed and Zhang's heirs were extinct. Cao Yijin, the governor of Shasha, took charge of the military envoy.

During the reign of the Cao family, he won over local prominent families, developed production, promoted education, and improved relations with surrounding ethnic groups, thus maintaining a stable and peaceful situation in Hexi.

Until the Dangxiang tribe rose up and dominated Hexi, for fifty or sixty years, because the Xixia rulers believed in Buddhism, Dunhuang not only did not retreat, but also maintained the level of "people's wealth is no different from that of the Central Plains" since the Han Dynasty.

Up to now, even the Xixia people have opened fifty or sixty caves here.

Today's Crescent Moon Spring is many times larger than it was a thousand years ago, and the caves are still well preserved. There are thousands in total, which are also countless times more spectacular than the more than 200 caves that have survived in later generations.

On the camel, Su You looked at the splendid bamboos and the wonders of Buddhist caves in the valleys on both sides. He took a deep breath and said, "We're finally here..."

Li Yong and Sun Neng were also shocked by this scene and were speechless.

Tong Guan saw the top of the mountain from the edge of the spring: "God, how much does this cost..."

Su You controlled the camel to kneel down and slid down from the hump: "Stay there, there's something big going on!"

Today's court is particularly controversial, with conservatives expressing doubts about whether Xixia can be occupied by the Song Dynasty.

Sima Guang once wrote to Su You, believing that places like Shazhou and Guazhou were reclaimed by Emperor Wu and ended up being enemies. From a geopolitical perspective, the Song Dynasty could now control the area and defend Lanzhou, and the situation was already very comfortable. .

In fact, the Song Dynasty had better not spend too much energy in Ningxia. After all, there was a behemoth in Hebei - the Liao Kingdom.

If the barbarians want to trade, you can let them come to Lanzhou.

In history, Sima Guang was called a traitor because he gave up several forts that the Xia people frequently fought for.

But it is an indisputable fact that the war in Shaanxi was serious at that time.

Studying his memorials, it turns out that Sima Guang was not someone who did not pay attention to military construction. For example, he had already made similar suggestions to the court before Wang Anshi introduced the law.

Shaanxi is his hometown, and he must be more sympathetic to the deep suffering in Shaanxi than those from the south like Wang Anshi and Zhang Dun.

Therefore, in real history, Sima Guang, due to his lack of strategic vision, after comparing the strengths of the two countries, believed that it was impossible for the Song Dynasty to defeat the Xia people, so he gave up several gains.

However, his administrative ability was also poor, so although he achieved short-term peace, he was not able to use this precious time to improve the situation of the Song Dynasty. At most, he could save Zhao Xu's family fortune.

Today's situation is far better than that of the same period in history. Nineteen years after Suyou continued to promote the reforms of the Shaanxi Road Reformists, the situation in Shaanxi has undergone earth-shaking changes.

Although Sima Guang was a little worried about the imperial court taking over Xixia, he still wrote to Su You first. After all, Su You was the one in charge of the overall situation and had always achieved good results.

After Su You received the letter, he realized that Sima Guang was not fighting alone, but that he represented the thoughts of a group of people.

This group of people have high vision and low skill, but they are knowledgeable, their cultural level is the pinnacle of the Song Dynasty, and they have always cared and cared for themselves.

These people are his allies. To change their thinking, the fastest way to cut through the mess is to make this Shazhou, which is more than 10,000 miles away from the administrative center of the Song Dynasty, valuable enough to shake their souls!

That is cultural value, irreplaceable cultural value!

Dunhuang posthumous notes.

It dates from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the present day.

During this period, it experienced more than ten dynasties, including the Three Kingdoms, Two Jins, Five Liangs, Liang, Chen, Northern Wei, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui, Tang, Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Zhou, Guiyijun, Shazhou Huijuan, and Xixia.

Whenever war breaks out, countless cultural classics and archives, whether official or private, are intentionally or unintentionally sealed in these Buddhist caves.

Among them, those written in Chinese and with chronological records, which are missing from the current literature, are particularly valuable.
Chapter completed!