Ying Fusu

Compared to the Central Plains located in Northeast China, winter always arrives earlier and is colder in the Qin Chuan region.

It was only mid-to-late October when the vast city of Xianyang was already covered in a blanket of snow.

In the main hall of Xianyang Palace, Fusu, draped in a fur blanket and holding a hand warmer, was squatting in front of a huge map spread out on the ground.

Beside Fusu, Meng Yi, the newly appointed Physician, was gesturing on a map with a six-foot-long pole.

"Your Majesty, please take a look."

"Although Qinzhong is not surrounded by mountains on all sides, it can still be considered to be blessed by nature."

"—The Qinling Mountains separate us to the east and south, with only Hangu Pass and Wu Pass providing access."

"The west is also full of towering mountains and steep ridges, while to the north, Xiaoguan Pass serves as a barrier, separating Guanzhong from Longyou and the northern regions."

"East Hangu Pass, South Wuguan Pass, North Xiaoguan Pass—the area within these three passes is Qinzhong, also known as Guanzhong."

As Meng Yi finished speaking, Fu Su nodded slightly.

Their gaze was fixed on the map, on one of the three passes highlighted in red: Wuguan.

"Beixiaoguan Pass is located with the pass on the outside and the river on the inside."

"East Hangu Pass means that the river is outside and the pass is inside."

"Both are formidable passes, impregnable by a single man, and cannot be easily breached."

"But Wuguan..."

Fusu's intriguing remark prompted Meng Yi to nod repeatedly.

"Your Majesty is absolutely right."

"In the past, my elder brother... uh, Grand Tutor Meng said: Nanwu Pass is truly the most unreliable defense line in Qinzhong."

"The reason for this can be said to be long-standing."

"Firstly, since the reign of King Huiwen, the lands of Ba and Shu have been under the control of our Great Qin, and there has been no major enemy south of the pass."

"Although the southeastern Wu and Chu regions could bypass Wuguan Pass to covet Guanzhong, the journey was still long and arduous, and supplies were difficult to transport."

"Later, the First Emperor unified the six kingdoms, and the whole world came under the rule of Qin. Naturally, there were no more major enemies south of the Wu Pass that Qin needed to worry about or guard against."

"Not to mention Guannan—even Lingnan has become a prefecture of our Great Qin..."

...

Meng Yi's words were a straightforward and thorough analysis of the foundation and core of the Qin Dynasty: Guanzhong.

—As the former territory of the Qin state, the Guanzhong Plain will always be the Qin's most important stronghold.

In fact, let alone the present-day Qin Dynasty;

In the original history, even the later Liu Han Dynasty built its base and stronghold in Guanzhong.

The reason for this is what Meng Yi just mentioned: the Guanzhong Plain has a very advantageous strategic terrain.

Guanzhong is located in the middle of the "Chinese map", and can take into account the northern grasslands, the Central Plains of Guandong, the southeast coast, and the southwestern Sichuan and Chongqing areas.

No matter which direction the problem occurs in, Qinzhong, located at the "center of the map," can respond in the shortest possible time.

Whether it's sending troops north, south, or east out of Hangu Pass, it's not too far or troublesome.

Of course, this is from a positive, world-controlling perspective.

On the negative side, or rather, from a strategic defensive perspective, the strategic terrain of Guanzhong is also uniquely advantageous.

—The entire Guanzhong Plain is almost entirely surrounded by a natural barrier of mountains and rivers!

Especially the Qinling Mountains to the east and south, which were an insurmountable barrier to this era!

The only passages that could facilitate travel between the inside and outside of the pass, namely Hangu Pass and Wu Pass, were only narrow mountain streams in the undulating Qinling Mountains, barely wide enough for people and vehicles to pass through.

By building a checkpoint at the mouth of the ravine, one can easily achieve the effect of "one man can hold the pass against ten thousand".

Therefore, some people in later generations said that Qin's conquest of the six states and unification of the world was inevitable.

—This is because the territory of the Qin state has an extremely advantageous strategic terrain;

If the Qin people wanted to take the initiative to fight, they would either go east out of Hangu Pass or south to Wuguan Pass—in the end, they could not be stopped.

The Qin people did not want to fight. With Hangu Pass and Wu Pass locked, the six states could not invade at all, and the flames of war could not reach the heart of Qin.

In contrast, the Qin army, after marching east out of Hangu Pass and crossing the Yellow River, had essentially already stepped onto the borders of other states.

Whether to fight, how to fight, where to fight, and when to fight are all up to Qin.

Moreover, they always fought on the lands of the six states, and almost never on Qin territory.

The importance of preventing the flames of war from reaching one's homeland has become a consensus in later generations.

—As long as the war doesn't reach our homeland, the worst-case scenario is a Pyrrhic victory; we're unlikely to lose.

Conversely, if the war always breaks out on home soil—on one's own doorstep—the most optimistic scenario is still a Pyrrhic victory.

There is absolutely no possibility of an easy victory, nor is there any possibility of strategic gain.

A Pyrrhic victory is nothing more than injuring the enemy by 800 while losing 1,000 of your own.

The only problem is that the other side only has 800, while we have 1200.

The enemy is all dead, and I still have two hundred left. This is a Pyrrhic victory.

The new-era eagle nation knows best how satisfying it is for war to break out on foreign soil.

The feeling of war always burning on home soil, at best only able to seek a 'pyrrhic victory', was something Fusu, as a Chinese and a descendant of Yan and Huang, naturally understood all too well.

Considering all of the above, it can be said that every war between Qin and the other six states during the Warring States period was essentially an asymmetric war of a similar concept.

With its stronghold in Guanzhong, Qin was virtually invincible, and at worst, it could achieve a Pyrrhic victory.

For example, in the Battle of Changping between Qin and Zhao, if we include the subsequent events, the outcome was roughly a Pyrrhic victory for Qin and a crushing defeat for Zhao.

In contrast, the six states could only hope for a Pyrrhic victory at best—they dared not hope for a complete victory, but only hoped to hurt the Qin people and drive them back to Hangu Pass so that they could live a few more years in peace.

In his previous life, when Fusu learned about this history, he once felt that during the Warring States period, the Qin Dynasty was like a sealed-away abyss monster to the other states.

—He was there, 'sealed' in the Demon Abyss: Qin Zhong.

No one dared to even think about going in. They were just hoping that the seal wouldn't be loosened, the entrance to the Demon Abyss wouldn't be opened, and that the demons known as "Qin the Tiger and Wolf" wouldn't come out to wreak havoc on the world. That would be a blessing.

If this continues, not only will the Qin Dynasty, building upon the legacy of six generations, produce another ambitious First Emperor;

Even with a methodical, gradual approach to encroachment, the ultimate result would inevitably be Qin's unification of the country.

—I have absolutely no idea how I can lose!

With Guanzhong in our hands, how could we possibly lose?!

Clearly, the Liu Han dynasty in history was also aware of this problem.

After ascending the throne through the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang quickly adopted Xiao He's suggestion to move the capital from Luoyang outside Hangu Pass back to the vicinity of Xianyang in Guanzhong, and built Chang'an, the capital of Han.

Why?

Guanzhong is great!

"It can be attacked or defended" is not enough to describe how good Guanzhong is!

To be precise, it should be: to enter, to be able to enter at any time and quickly;

You can withdraw freely and with peace of mind.

You can attack freely, or defend tenaciously – that's equally effective.

Even if the whole world rebels, there still needs to be a Hegemon Xiang Yu in the east—at Hangu Pass—to lure the Qin army to the east, and then Liu Bang can take a sneak attack by going around Wuguan Pass, in order to barely overthrow the Qin dynasty!

Historically, the Qin Dynasty, which lasted only two generations and one reign, was so corrupt that it was still able to hold on for three years under the combined efforts of Xiang Yu and Emperor Gaozu.

The strategic advantages of Guanzhong played a crucial role in this.