Text: Yougu (Author's original authorization)
After the fiasco of Liu Bei Yiling, he had no face to return to Chengdu to see the ministers, and he was stationed in Baidi City. He died of illness in the second year and left Zhuge Liang. At this time, the strength of the Shu Han regime was severely injured, domestic and foreign affairs were troubled, and "Yizhou was exhausted." Zhuge Liang recuperated and concentrated on economic development. Finally, in the fourth year after the Yiling War, that is, in 225 AD, the national strength was restored to the extent that he could send troops to the outside world. Zhuge Liang decided to assemble his army to march south to completely solve the "Nanbarb" problem.
Originally, the relationship between the Shuhan regime and the ethnic minorities in the southwest was relatively friendly. Zhuge Liang said clearly in the "Longzhong Pairs": "The west is in harmony with Zhurong, and the south is in harmony with Vietnam." After Liu Bei became emperor, his attitude towards ethnic minorities was to appease, and this policy was also very effective. During the Yiling War, ethnic minority leader Samok led his army to help. However, after the death of Shamo Ke, the powerful minority leader Meng Huo was born. The Shu Han national power was empty. Meng Huo was wooed by the Cao Wei regime and started chaos in the south, which troubled Zhuge Liang.
So, Zhuge Liang's southern conquest of Menghuo was just because Menghuo made trouble? Let's take a look at the map of the Shuhan control area.
From the picture, the area of Shuhan seems to be quite large, including part of the Hanzhong Valley in southern Shaanxi today, the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. However, as we said earlier, the core area of the Shuhan regime is the Sichuan Basin, especially the Chengdu Plain, and its rule over the south is not strong. The Chengdu Plain has a small space and limited development potential. If things continue like this, let alone Beiding Central Plains, it would be very difficult to resist the attacks of the Cao Wei and Sun Wu regimes. Therefore, Zhuge Liang's southern campaign should have no shortage of considerations for expanding the living space of the Shuhan regime. Specifically, it is to conquer with force first, then implement the friendly policy, and apply both grace and prestige, slowly driving the economic development here, expanding the space for maneuvering of the Shu Han regime, and enhancing the strength to compete with the Cao Wei regime.
But the road to the South Expedition is destined to be very difficult and dangerous. The climate there is hot and humid, the forest is dense, and there are many insects and snakes. It is a "barren land, a land of miasma". "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" used up to four chapters to portray this Southern Expedition. Although there are many fictions in it, the difficulty of the Southern Expedition is absolutely true. In the first battle between the two sides, Zhuge Liang won, and Meng Huo retreated to the south bank of Lushui. "As much as possible, the boat rafts are on the south bank, and the earth city is built in the area. The land is surrounded by mountains and cliffs. The enemy's buildings are erected high. Dealing with it.” Meng Huo wanted to rely on the natural dangers of Lushui and the advantages of the terrain to make it difficult for Zhuge Liang's army to live long. Zhuge Liang's countermeasure was to send Matai to cross the river at the shallow Shakou water in the lower reaches of Lushui River and cut off the Menghuoliang Road. When the Ma Dai army saw the shallow water, most of them couldn't get off the raft, so they waded through the water, but died of bleeding from their noses and mouths. I asked the natives, it turned out that the weather was hot, "poisonous gas is rising, and if someone crosses the water, it will be poisoned." The native said that when the night is still and the water is cold, the raft can only be crossed after eating. According to this method, Ma Dai crossed Lushui and broke the Menghuoliang Road.
So, where is Lushui? Is it really poisonous during the day?
Lushui is the Jinsha River, a section of the main stream of the Yangtze River. The section from Yushu in Qinghai to Yibin in Sichuan is called the Jinsha River (as shown in the figure below). It is named after the yellow sandy soil in the river, and some people think it is rich in gold. Named, also known as Shengshui, Flooding, and Lushui.
The main stream of the Jinsha River is 2308 kilometers long, with an average flow rate of 4,920 cubic meters per second at the estuary. The Jinsha River is a typical canyon-type river. The gorge is continuous within 1,174 kilometers from Shiqu to Jinjiang Street. The area below Jinjiang Street is still dominated by canyons. The Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan is 16 kilometers long and the river width is only 30. The height difference between the ridge and valley is more than 3,000 meters and the drop is 200 meters. It is one of the deep gorges in the world. The Jinsha River is famous for its rapids and rapids. There are more than 400 large rapids in the section from Xinshi Town to Jinjiang Street, which is more than a thousand kilometers away. The main stream has a drop of 3,300 meters and a maximum flow rate of more than 7 meters per second. It is the key river section for hydropower development in my country.
Obviously, with such a large flow and velocity, it is definitely impossible for the Ma Dai army to wade across the river in reality. However, the water volume of the Jinsha River has changed significantly, with the flood-to-dry water level ratio as high as 19-30 times. Among them, the water volume from July to September accounted for 50-60% of the whole year. According to Zhuge Liang's "Biao of the Master", the crossing of Lu in May is equivalent to June in the solar calendar. If the southwest monsoon comes late that year, the force is very weak and there is very little precipitation, the Jinsha River will beAt the low water level, I found a place to cross the river with a slow flow rate. Some people even seem to feel that the water is shallow and can be waded. Perhaps this is possible.
So, is Lushui really poisonous?
Although the vegetation along the Jinsha River is dense, if the remains of animals and plants undergo anaerobic decomposition, gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, methane and carbon dioxide may be produced, among which hydrogen sulfide is highly toxic. However, the Jinsha River has a large amount of water and a fast flow rate, even if there is a trace of toxic gas, it is not enough to cause poisoning. However, if it is other slow-flowing rivers in the local area, where the remains of animals and plants decompose at high temperatures, if it happens to be a small basin, toxic gases accumulate in the river, the water is stirred, and the toxic gases escape and cause people to be poisoned, it is not impossible. .
Zhuge Liang later won the squad and went to Lushui again. "Suddenly, the clouds fell together and the strong wind suddenly rose. The soldiers could not cross." Meng Huo believes that this is a rampant misfortune, requiring 49 heads, black cattle and white sheep to sacrifice. Zhuge Liang naturally refused to kill people, so he "slaughtered cows and horses, mixed the dough as an agent, shaped the head, and replaced it with meat such as cattle and sheep." Xin Zilai, Dong Jue burst into tears after reading the sacrificial text, the Sanjun, Meng Huo and others There were tears everywhere, "I saw thousands of ghosts faintly in the cloud and mist, all scattered with the wind." Of course, this description of the romance is not enough to believe. However, according to the story, the time for reading the sacrificial text is September 1st, and the solar calendar should be the end of September or the beginning of October. At that time, Lushui was in the flood period, the water was rushing and the waves were big, and it was difficult to cross the river. The story may be based on this shadow in reality. Art processing.
