King Qin swept Liuhe
The ancestors of the Qin State were originally border guards who guarded Xirong during the Shang Dynasty, and the Shang Dynasty sent them to guard the western frontier to prevent the Xirong people from harassing the Central Plains.
They have guarded the border for generations and have cultivated a mighty and powerful nation. Among them, there was a doctor named Qin Feizi, who was good at equestrianism and often trained cavalry, and was later sent to meet the leader of Xirong, and completed the task brilliantly.
The king of Shang took a fancy to his talents, and appointed him to manage the western frontier and have his own fief. This is the origin of the name "Qin".
Hundreds of years later, the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang Dynasty to dominate the Central Plains, and the Qin State also grew with the rise of the Zhou Dynasty.
During the reign of Qin Xianggong, the defeat of the Xirong army protected the border security of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and King Xuan of Zhou was very grateful, and promoted the rank of the Qin State and gave him more landDuring the reign of Qin Mugong, the strength of the Qin State increased greatly, and it rose among the vassal states, becoming one of the "Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period".
By the time of the Warring States Period, the world was in turmoil. The Qin state went through the reform movement, implementing reform measures such as privatization of land, emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce, and advocating force.
These measures greatly contributed to the economic development and military strength of the Qin state. For a time, Qin became the most powerful country in the Six Kingdoms.
Finally, Qin Shi Huang, who was the monarch at the time, ascended the throne, and he was an ambitious monarch determined to unify China.
After ten years of conquest, the Qin army was invincible, the land of the six countries one by one, in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang established the Qin Dynasty, in order to strengthen the centralization of power, he abolished the division of the feudal and changed the county.He stipulated the unification of writing, axle lengths, and weights and measures, so that the integration between regions would be accelerated. He also built the Great Wall to defend the northern border, digging canals for navigation, and connecting the northern and southern water systems. Under his rule, for the first time, a large empire appeared in China.
The establishment of the Qin Dynasty was the result of the joint efforts of the successive monarchs and people of the Qin State, especially the Qin Shi Huang himself, whose outstanding military talents and political foresight enabled the first time that China in nearly 500 years was unified into a huge empire.
The ancients said: "The sky is dead, the yellow sky should stand, the age is in Jiazi, and the world is lucky!" Qin Shi Huang is the "Yellow Sky", who single-handedly changed the situation in China for 2,000 years. It can really be said that people will win the day, and heroes will create the situation!
The Rise and Expansion of the Roman Republic
At the same time, the European region is a number of miniature countries, such as Greece and Sparta, the former has developed literature and art, and the latter has a relatively strong military force.The heyday of these city-states gave birth to the so-called "Greek miracles" and contributed significantly to human civilization. Among them, Macedonia, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, launched a large-scale conquest in the 4th century BC and established an empire spanning three continents.
But due to the lack of cultural and ideological unity.
1. Regional revolts, and the empire quickly collapsed after Alexander's death.
The rapid rise and fall of the Macedonian Empire is a microcosm of the changes in the geopolitical situation in Europe during this period, and its rapid expansion and vast territory can be called a miracle of the ancient world.
After the collapse of the Macedonian Empire, there was a gap in the European political landscape, and the Roman Republic gradually emerged as an emerging power.
The Romans were good at learning the legal system and military system of other countries, and gradually established a perfect state apparatus. After a few years of low-key development, Roman democracy was initially established, and the common people became the masters of the state, which laid the foundation for Rome's future strength.
After several conquests with Carthage, including the three Punic Wars, Rome gradually unified the western Mediterranean region, and its territory spanned Africa, Europe, and Asia, becoming a great power that dominated the Western world.Rome extended its advanced management model to various provinces, allowing Europe, Asia and Africa to merge, and became known as the "empire of the sea"., after eliminating a strong enemy in the Bosphorus, Rome was able to consolidate its hegemony in the Western world.
The rise and expansion of Rome reflected the process of growing a small country into a great power. It takes perseverance, judgment and tolerance to overcome the odds and win.
Development of Ancient India
At the same time that King Yingzheng of Qin swept Liuhe and unified China, ancient India was also undergoing earth-shaking changes. The Indian subcontinent at the time was under the rule of the Mauryan Empire, a powerful empire based on slavery.
Chandragupta, the founder of the Mauryan Empire, was originally a peacock merchant who seized the throne of Magadha by virtue of his wealth and powerBased on this, the Mauryan Empire continued to expand its territory, making it one of the most influential empires in India and the world at that time.
Its territory was more than half that of the Qin Dynasty, and it basically ruled the entire Indian subcontinent, becoming the largest dynasty in ancient Indian history.
In the heyday of the Mauryan Empire, its national strength was strong, its economy was prosperous, and its culture and art developed unprecedentedly.
Famous Indian epics such as the Magabharata and the Ramayana were written during this periodThe art of the cave monasteries of the Mauryan Dynasty has reached unprecedented achievements, leaving a large number of outstanding artistic treasures for future generations.
These cave monasteries, such as the Ajanta Caves and the Ellora Caves, are a testament to the Mauryan Empire's artistic and cultural achievements with their majestic artistic shapes and exquisite carvings.
However, as a typical slave empire, the Mauryan Empire had many internal contradictions and problems. The development of the slave economy led to the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor, and the aggravation of social contradictions, which made the rule of the Mauryan Empire unstable.
Despite this, the rise of the Mauryan Empire brought rare peace and stability to ancient India, which created favorable conditions for the rise and spread of Buddhism.
After Ashoka converted to Buddhism in his later years, Buddhism began to flourish rapidly in India and gradually became one of the three major religions in the world.
Emperor Ashoka himself left a good reputation as "the best Buddhist person" in historyHe was a strong supporter of Buddhism and promoted its teachings throughout the country.
Under his leadership, Buddhism developed rapidly, and at the same time, Ashoka also advocated "moral ethics", emphasizing that people should abide by moral norms and respect the rights of others, which was of great significance to Indian society at that time.
Japan's path to enlightenment
But the funny thing is,At that time, Japan was still in the Yayoi period, and the living conditions were similar to those of wild people, which lasted for 550 yearsThe Japanese live an extremely backward life, without their own language and writing, living in simple grass huts, living on hunting, and most of them are poorly clothed.
The harsh natural environment has put great pressure on the survival of the Japanese people, with fierce beasts raging, disease epidemics, and some natural disasters leading to many deaths.
The Japanese diet is also relatively primitive, and they have just learned to grill food over fire, but wood is scarce, so most of the time they eat it raw.
The whole society resembles a pack of wild beasts, and can only communicate with each other through simple calls. In this pristine land, the Japanese live in isolation.
They huddled in simple grass huts, enduring the bitter cold and heat, the cries of children mingled with the howls of wild beasts.The men go hunting in the mountains and forests during the day, and the women pick some wild fruits by the river to survive, they have no trace of civilization and are one with nature.
Until the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu was ordered by Qin Shi Huang to lead more than 3,000 volunteers to the sea in search of the elixir of life.
After many days of wandering on the vast sea, they finally came to a small island called "Sunrise Country" - that is, Japan was still very backward at that time.
Xu Fu was very surprised when he saw the scene of this place, this beautiful island country actually lived a group of "wild people in the mountains".
In order to win the trust of these "wild people", Xu Fu first taught them how to grow food, so that they settled down and no longer moved around.
Later, he taught the techniques of hunting and tool making, and completely freed the Japanese from their primitive state of life.
Xu Fu then created a set of Japanese characters and compiled a work similar to an encyclopedia. This laid the foundation for the birth of the Japanese language and the Japanese language.
Since then, Japan has embarked on the path of a civilized society. Chinese culture played a role in Japan's enlightenment, which led to its rapid development and eventual emergence as a great power in the East.Xu Fu's voyage opened the door to exchanges between the two countries and rewrote the fate of this obscure island nation.