In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories about the zoning changes and economic development of various provinces in my country, such as Dezhou City in Shandong Province, Heze City , Liaocheng City , etc. Today, we talk about the zoning adjustment between Shandong Province and Hebei Province. In the mid-1950s, six counties in Shandong Province were placed under the management of Hebei Province. At the same time, five counties in Hebei Province were placed under the management of Shandong Province. So why does this happen? Today, we will talk about this issue.
First, let’s talk about various aspects of Shandong Province. The geographical location of Shandong Province is very important. In ancient warlords' melee or North-South confrontation, whether or not to capture Shandong was a top priority. First of all, after controlling Shandong, we obtained a steady supply of food and troops. The officers and soldiers from Shandong are brave, good at fighting and very powerful. From a geostrategic point of view, after the northern regime takes control of Shandong, it can not only defend northern and the Central Plains, but also go south and approach the two Huaihe Rivers.
The opposite is true for the southern regime. Once it captures Shandong, it will directly control the initiative in the war. Therefore, during the and Southern and Northern Dynasties periods, regimes such as Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen repeatedly organized large-scale Northern Expeditions, with the main goal of competing for the ownership of various parts of Shandong. For example, in the process of unifying the country in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da first attacked Shandong, and then attacked various parts of the Plains in two directions, thus quickly pacifying the north.
Shandong Province is my country's most populous, economic and food-producing province. Shandong people are simple and martial . Shandong has been the main recruiting area for soldiers in the past dynasties. For example, Cao Cao 's Qingzhou soldiers have always been one of the elite forces of Cao Wei regime. Shandong Province's grain output is very high and its varieties are very rich. For a long time, Shandong Province's grain output has ranked third in the country, second only to Heilongjiang Province and Henan Province.
In recent years, Shandong Province has actively developed the vegetable planting industry and established a series of vegetable bases. The complete supply system formed is called the "vegetable basket of the country." In many areas of Shandong Province, there are vegetable greenhouses everywhere. Especially in places such as , Weifang and , vegetable cultivation has reached a very large scale. In 2021, Shandong Province's total GDP4 reached 8.3 trillion, ranking third in the country after Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province.
At present, Shandong Province has a total of 16 prefecture-level cities under its jurisdiction, namely: Jinan City, Qingdao City , Zibo City , Zaozhuang City , Dongying City , Yantai City , Weifang City , Jining City , Tai'an City , Weihai City , Rizhao City , Binzhou City , Dezhou City, Liaocheng City, Linyi City, Heze City. Among them, Jinan City and Qingdao City are sub-provincial cities and one of the 15 sub-provincial cities in the country. It can be seen that Shandong Province’s comprehensive strength is very strong.
So, why are there zoning adjustments between Hebei Province and Shandong Province? In fact, the zoning adjustment between Hebei Province and Shandong Province occurred in the 1950s. At that time, five counties in Hebei Province were placed under the management of Shandong Province. At the same time, 6 counties in Shandong Province were placed under the management of Hebei Province. So, why did both parties have this large-scale zoning adjustment?
In fact, the divisional changes between the two provinces are related to the famous Grand Canal . During the rule of the Sui Dynasty, in order to strengthen the connection between the north and the south, exchange what was needed, and at the same time strengthen the management of various places in the south and south of the Yangtze River. Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty devoted all his efforts to excavating the famous Sui-Tang Grand Canal. The Grand Canal uses Luoyang City as its transshipment center, connecting the western part of my country, the Central Plains, Jiangnan, North China and other places, and plays a great role. Starting from the middle and late period of Tang Dynasty , the Luoyang section of the Grand Canal has basically stopped flowing.
Therefore, Kaifeng east of Luoyang has become a new transshipment center , known as the city surrounded by four rivers. In 1279, after the Yuan Dynasty unified the world, the capital of Yuan Dynasty was established. At this time, there was a very real problem for the Yuan Dynasty.The Grand Canal transports materials through Henan, which is a waste of time and materials. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty spent more than 10 years adjusting the channel of the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal no longer passes through Henan. The Grand Canal directly enters Shandong and Hebei from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places, and then enters Tongzhou near the capital.
As we all know, my country's provincial divisions appeared in the Yuan Dynasty. After continuous adjustments and improvements in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, in the middle period of the rule of the and Qing dynasties, the general divisional pattern of the inland provinces was basically formed. Driven by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal , a series of important cities have emerged on both sides of the Grand Canal. For example, Linqing Prefecture in Shandong Province has the reputation of being "the most prosperous county in Qi and the most prosperous in the two capitals". Due to river erosion, displacement and other reasons, by the late Qing Dynasty, the land on both sides of the Grand Canal had become intertwined in the border area of Hebei and Shandong.
For example, some land is located on the west side of the Grand Canal, but it is managed by Shandong Province. Part of the land is on the east side of the Grand Canal, but is managed by Hebei Province. Due to a series of reasons including disrepair and the flight of river workers, the Grand Canal experienced many problems such as embankment collapse, increased silt, and reduced transportation capacity in the late Qing Dynasty. Coupled with the destruction of the Nian Army and Taiping Army , the transportation capacity of the Grand Canal further declined. At this time, the Qing Dynasty was facing various internal and external troubles and was unable to repair the Grand Canal.
At the same time, in order to continue transporting grain, porcelain, silk and other items from Jiangnan and other places, the Qing Dynasty started "grain shipping". All materials in Jiangnan are no longer transported through the Grand Canal. Instead, they are shipped from Jiangnan and other places and directly transported to Tianjin and other places by sea. In such an environment, the originally bustling Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal gradually declined.
In 1912, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, our country entered a complex stage of warlord warfare. Warlords in various places have repeatedly fought melees, causing great damage to the economies of various places. As for the Grand Canal, warlords from all over the country simply did not have the energy or ability to manage it. In the blink of an eye, we arrived at the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. With the end of large-scale wars, our country entered the stage of post-war reconstruction, recuperation, and economic development. At that time, various large-scale projects had begun one after another, such as regulating the Huaihe River, regulating the Huaihe River, regulating Hongze Lake, etc.
In order to recreate the prosperity of the Grand Canal in the past, my country began to invest a lot of manpower and material resources in managing the Grand Canal, such as widening the embankments, dredging the river channels, etc. However, the jurisdictional relationship on both sides of the Grand Canal is very complicated, forming an intertwined pattern. Shandong and Hebei provinces have prepared a large amount of equipment and equipment and recruited a large number of young and middle-aged people. All forces need to be coordinated and deployed.
In order to better manage the Grand Canal, in the summer of 1952, zoning adjustments were made between Hebei Province and Shandong Province. Five counties in Hebei Province including En County, Xiajin County , Wucheng County, Guantao County along the Grand Canal are included in the management of Shandong Province. In other words, it is equivalent to the loss of 5 counties in Hebei Province. At the same time, six counties in Shandong Province, including Wuqiao County, Dongguang County, Nanpi County, Yanshan County, Qingyun County, and Ningjin County, were included in the management of Hebei Province. The division between the two provinces has been adjusted, which is equivalent to "exchanging land."
After the division between the two provinces was adjusted, the division pattern has been maintained for more than 10 years. In the blink of an eye, in the mid-1960s, the work of regulating the Grand Canal entered its second stage. Out of practical needs, Shandong Province placed its Guantao County and several towns in Linqing City to the west of the Grand Canal under the management of Hebei Province. After these towns were incorporated into Hebei Province, Linxi County was established as a county to the west of Linqing City, and was under the management of Xingtai District, Hebei Province.
In order to make up for the losses of Shandong Province, Hebei Province returned its Qingyun County and Ningjin County to Shandong Province for management. Perhaps you have discovered that Guantao County was added to Shandong Province from Hebei Province in 1952, while Qingyun County and Ningjin County were added to Hebei Province from Shandong Province in 1952. After more than 10 years, these counties were once again returned to their original owners.In fact, similar to this kind of zoning adjustment, similar situations occurred in many provinces in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
There are many more stories about the zoning adjustments in various regions in our country. The author will talk to you slowly in future articles.
