In 215 BC, Qin Shi Huang sent the alchemist Lu Sheng to find the elixir of life, but Lu Sheng returned to Qin Shi Huang with a prophecy"Hu Ye, the deceased Qin"。Hearing this, Qin Shi Huang immediately realized that this was referring to the Xiongnu in the north.
He sent Meng Tian to lead an army of 300,000 to the north to attack the Xiongnu, and mobilized a large number of people to build the Great Wall to resist the Xiongnu's southward advance.
Although Qin Shi Huang's conquest of the Xiongnu seems to be due to prophecy, a study of the pattern of the world at that time will find that it also stems from the pattern of the world at that time.
Therefore, Qin Shi Huang's conquest of the Xiongnu to build the Great Wall has only half of the relationship with the prophecy.
Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms and created an unprecedented state, becoming the most powerful man in the world at that time. He had great wealth, palaces, and servants, and no one could match him.
The whole six kingdoms belonged to him, and the people were at his disposal. However, by this time, Qin Shi Huang had lost himself and no longer sought to annex the Six Kingdoms, but longed for immortality and forever maintained what he had now.
At the beginning of his reign, he sent a large number of alchemists in search of the elixir of life, and he himself began to indulge in spiritual practice. During Qin Shi Huang's life, his pursuit of immortality seemed to be more important than his emphasis on the country.
However, there is one thing that Qin Shi Huang values more than immortality, and that is the rivers and mountains he has conquered. This piece of country embodies the painstaking efforts of the ancestors of the Qin State, if you lose this country, what is the point of immortality?
The country is the cornerstone of his status, without the country, he is not even as good as those lowly people.
As a result, the phrase "Hu Ye, the Dead Qin" woke up the fluttering Qin Shi Huang, and he immediately realized that he had been ignoring a serious problem that could have unforeseen consequences if not corrected in time.
In the late Warring States period, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, and the Zhao and Yan countries in the north deliberately ignored the existence of nomads. The nomads took advantage of the opportunity to grow and formed a force that could compete with the Central Plains Dynasty.
These nomads have an ancient tradition, that is, once their power grows, they will inevitably invade the Central Plains in the south.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, he considered the nomads of the north to be worth mentioning, however"Hu Ye, the deceased Qin"'s prophecy made him realize the seriousness of the problem.
The nomads are known for their excellent riding and archery skills and strong martial spirit.
The Great Wall, once known as the pride and symbol of the Chinese nation, is not only a line of defense, but also a deterrent to nomads.
However, now that there is no Great Wall as a line of defense, if the nomads gather strength and move south, the consequences will be unimaginable, and may even lead to the destruction of the country.
Qin Shi Huang was well aware of this, and he sent 300,000 Qin troops to the north, driving the Xiongnu out of the Great Wall, and building the Great Wall to resist the Xiongnu, so as to avoid the danger of losing the country. One might ask, why didn't Qin Shi Huang directly annihilate the Xiongnu and capture the territory of the Xiongnu?
In fact, this is not because Qin Shi Huang did not want to, but because the Xiongnu were composed of various nomadic peoples, and they did not have a fixed territory. All the steppes of the north are their territory.
The distance between the steppe and the Central Plains is quite long, and if there is a long-term war with them, the battle line is bound to be very long.
This is why Zhu Di made five expeditions to Mongolia that year, and every time he conquered Mongolia, he had to prepare for about half a year in terms of grain, grass and military supplies, and the most important thing was that he ran back helplessly after the fight, and waited until they harassed and provoked before attacking again.
It's not that Zhu Di doesn't want to do it all at once, but he can't do it at all.
The way of survival of nomads is to be accompanied by cattle, sheep and horses, and choose to escape when they encounter danger. In ancient warfare, soldiers needed to bring enough logistical supplies, and the longer the battle line, the more soldiers were needed.
Although the Central Plains Dynasty had a large number of human resources, it would face a huge threat once it was cut off by the nomads during the war.
In order to prevent this from happening, both Qin Shi Huang and later the Central Plains Dynasty chose to build the Great Wall to strengthen its military use to resist the southward movement of nomads.
Qin Shi Huang has been away from us for more than 2,000 years, and most of the Great Wall he built back then has disappeared. However, most of the Great Wall we see today was built by the Ming or later dynasties.
Qin Shi Huang once conquered the Xiongnu and built the Great Wall, although it cost a lot of people's labor and anointing, but merit and evil coexisted. Although the process is painful, it guarantees eternal peace.
Therefore, we should not deny Qin Shi Huang for this reason, but should affirm his merits.