This place in Guizhou was called "Yelang" in ancient times. During the Warring States Period, the southwestern provinces of China were called "Southwest Yi", and the so-called Yi was of course somewhat contemptuous. At that time, there were four countries in the Southwest Yi: Ba, Shu, Yelang, and Dian. "Historical Records? Biography of the Southwest Yi" said, "How many kings of the Southwest Yi are long, and Yelang is the largest." Shiji also mentioned that the Western Han Dynasty sent envoys to Passing through Yelang in India, King Yelang asked, which one is bigger between the Han Dynasty and our country? Sima Qian wrote this incident in the historical records, which is the reason for "Yelang arrogant".

The ancient Yelang country basically coincides with the present Guizhou Province geographically, so the ancient Yelang is the present Guizhou, and the present Guizhou is the ancient Yelang.

After the Warring States period, the Southwestern Yi were gradually destroyed by the central government. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Yelang Kingdom returned to the Han Dynasty.

After the destruction of the Yelang Kingdom, the Yuan and Ming central regimes began to set up prefectures and government offices in Guizhou, but adopted a restraint policy for the grassroots, that is, the Tusi system, and the Tusi is equivalent to the county level. Chieftains are also called native officials, and native officials "have their own land, manage their people, command their soldiers, inherit their positions, rule their places, enter their ranks, and receive their titles". The chieftain system has been implemented for about seven hundred years, that is, seven centuries, since the Yuan Dynasty. The chieftain system has both good and bad effects.

In the Ming Dynasty, in order to guard against the southwestern barbarians and fear that they would cause chaos, a policy of "deploying north to south" was implemented, that is, a large number of troops and their families were transferred from the mainland to Guizhou to garrison, build cities, implement reclamation, and make them self-sufficient. This is the cause of a batch of ancient cities in Guizhou. I have been to Longli Ancient City and Qingyan Ancient City. These ancient cities are all left over from that era.

The ancient city of Longli is located in Jinping County in southeastern Guizhou. It was built in 1385. The soldiers stationed in Longli came from Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, Jiangsu and other provinces. These soldiers and their families were very loyal to the Ming Dynasty. They still claim to be citizens of the Ming Dynasty. They practiced Han culture and kept the cultural traditions and folk customs of their hometown. There are dragon and lion dances, and the architecture is still in the style of the Han Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty, so the locals call Longli an "island of Han culture". This is a very interesting phenomenon, and I am afraid it can only explain the advanced nature of Han culture for the Southwestern Yi.

Since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, a large number of inland people began to flow into Guizhou. They not only brought the advanced culture of the inland, but also advanced productivity. In the ancient city of Qingyan, there is the former residence of a champion of the Qing Dynasty, the champion is Zhao Yijiong. Zhao Yijiong is well-known in the southwest for his first-class results in the palace examination. He is the only champion in the history of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, and Zhao Yijiong's ancestral home is from Hunan.

Qingyan used to be a fortress, used to clamp down on the nearby Eight Fans and Twelve Divisions, and it was the southern gate of Guiyang, the provincial capital. Qingyan Castle was built by a Bouyei chieftain, Ban Lingui, with the approval of the imperial court. Ban Lingui was loyal to the central government and was praised by the imperial court for his military exploits. Therefore, the chieftain both reassured the court and worried. Tomorrow, the "An She Rebellion" broke out in the first year of Qi, which was launched by Shuixi Chieftain She Shehui and Tongzhi Chieftain An Bangyan, because they were dissatisfied with the Ming government's forced conscription. Other chieftains also participated in the Anshe Rebellion. A total of 100,000 soldiers were mobilized to surround Guiyang City into an iron bucket, resulting in the starvation of 200,000 people in the city. This is a relatively large event in the history of Guizhou.

In the old city of Qingyan, there is an old street of Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is very long. The old street is not straight, but twists and turns, up and down. In the middle of the old street is a stone road, which is very mottled after years of trampling. Today's old street is very prosperous, with colorful shops on both sides. Economy brings culture. In Qingyan City, there are many old buildings such as Qingyuan Palace, Christian Church, Qingyan Academy, and Wenchang Pavilion, as well as many small courtyards and mansions with colorful flowers made of stone slabs.

In addition to being a military fortress, Qingyan also has a commercial center, because it guarded a commercial road from the interior to the southwest in ancient times.

Zhenyuan, located in the southeast of Guizhou, is a famous historical town in Guizhou, which was very famous during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Zhenyuan was built in the Ming Dynasty, and it was the seat of Taoism and government for more than 700 years in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Zhenyuan was built between Wuyang River and Wuyang River, which is connected to Qingshui River in Hunan and finally flows into the Yangtze River. Therefore, it is an ancient waterway connecting Hunan and Guizhou. There are dozens of old piers in Zhenyuan City. At that time, there were thousands of sails on the Wuyang River and clouds flying up and down. There were countless inns, warehouses, clubs, academies, temples, and houses built by merchants on the shore. Pass Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou Province! Moreover, the scenery along the Wuyang River is beautiful, with high mountains and canyons, flying waterfalls and quiet lakes, all of which are fascinating. Therefore, most of the literati and elegant guests who came from Hunan by boat at that time abandoned their boats and landed here to watch and chant, which became a big trend at that time.

Zhenyuan is also a big place now, with a lot of traffic. At night, the banks of the Wuyang River are brightly lit, and the bakeries, jewelry stores, and snack bars lined up along the street are flickering with neon lights. The owner of the hotel where I stayed was from Chongqing, and he came to Zhenyuan to do business. On the wall of the reception hall of the hotel, there is a hand-painted map of Zhenyuan attractions, and the boss pointed out and introduced them to me one by one. He also printed maps and sold them to guests as handicrafts. In the early morning, the river is shrouded in mist, and the Qinglong Cave at the bend of the river and the Zhushou Bridge on the river are looming. not bad.

The tusi system began to decline during the Yongzheng Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty. Yongzheng felt that the Qing Dynasty was already very strong and could cancel the prison policy that had been implemented for nearly a thousand years. This is "returning the land to the stream". The so-called "reform the land and return to the locals" refers to changing the chieftains to the local officials, that is, officials appointed by the central government and who can be transferred here and there. Of course, the abolition of the chieftain system was not a one-size-fits-all, but a blunt knife cutting flesh. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, it was completely replaced by the county and township system.

After reforming the land, the Qing government carried out large-scale dredging of the main rivers in Guizhou to promote shipping and commerce. At the same time, a large number of inland people poured into Guizhou, and Guizhou's economy began to become prosperous.

The Chishui River has always been an important channel for water transport in Guizhou. It originated in Yunnan, meanders in northern Guizhou, and flows into the Hejiang River in Sichuan. Guizhou was short of salt. In the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court ordered Sichuan to supply salt to Guizhou. Rock salt was produced in northern Sichuan. The route to Guizhou was Chishui River. At that time, the trade and transportation of salt were all presided over by the government, and the government even sent troops to escort the transportation, so the salt was called official salt. This practice followed the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties until the early years of the Republic of China.

After the salt boat enters Chishui, it travels up the Chishui River, and then transfers to other waterways or land routes along the way, and sends them to various places in Guizhou. Therefore, a number of trade and transfer stations were set up along the way, and when the river was narrow and steep, large ships had to be transferred to small boats for barge, and trackers had to pull the fibers. With the rise of the salt industry, other trades also became popular, such as tea, grain, and mountain products. After that, a series of new towns emerged along the Chishui River, such as Datong, Bing'an, Tucheng, and Maotai. Because of the long history, these towns can naturally be called ancient towns.

There is a tourist road along the Chishui River, from Chishui to Maotai, there are countless scenery along the way, you can drive slowly to see it.

These ancient towns are all on the banks of the Chishui River, some have been defeated, and some are still prosperous, such as Maotai and Tucheng. Tucheng is a place that I turned around more carefully. People in Tucheng are trying to restore the hustle and bustle of Tucheng's heyday out of the need to attract tourists. It’s still sugar mills, weavers, wine shops, and paoge halls. I don’t want to say if they are imitated, but the seven meat and eight elements in history have been written.

During the heyday of Tucheng, there were eighteen gangs in the city, namely the Salt Gang, Tea Gang, Cloth Gang, Silver Gang, Wine Gang, Sugar Gang, Beggar Gang, Boat Gang and other industry gangs. What is commendable is that there are several museums in Tucheng, such as Guizhou Shipping Museum, Tucheng Salt Transportation Museum, Sidu Chishui Museum, etc., which contain rich historical materials.

In front of the Salt Transport Museum, I saw a large group of elementary school students, led by the teacher to visit. I heard the teacher introduce to the students:

Classmates, do you know why the salt we eat is called salt?

The students answered in various ways.

The teacher explained: Because the salt we eat comes from Pakistan!

The area under the jurisdiction of the Ba Kingdom in history is in the area of ​​northern Sichuan and the coast of the Jialing River, but it has disappeared for more than a thousand years.

Official salt drives the prosperity of the Chishui River, which was formed by several dynasties. At that time, the price of salt was priced in grains. Because it was not easy to transport salt, the price of salt was "taken from the grains. The grains are cheap every day and the salt is equal. Ten minutes is not easy for one bean, but six tans and four liters are one bell, and four liters are one bean. On the top is a bucket of rice and a catty of salt. This is introduced by the information of the Salt Transport Museum.

Phoebe is also grown along the Chishui River. In the Ming Dynasty, when the imperial court wanted to build an imperial palace in Beijing, it asked people to cut it down along the Chishui River, tie it into rafts, transport it along the Chishui River to the Yangtze River, and then transfer to the Grand Canal to Beijing. From the Yongle period to the Wanli period, more than 10,000 trees were felled successively, and a total of one million taels of silver was consumed.

It is a matter of course that the Sidu Chishui Museum is located in Tucheng, because the headquarters of the Red Army Sidu Chishui was located here. The museum was built in the mansion of a local rich man, and there was a big stage in the yard, which shows the wealth of the rich man. Sidu Chishui was commanded and carried out from here. At that time, the Zunyi Conference was held, Mao Zedong entered the command center, and Bogu and Li De were excluded, so they lived in two small courtyards remote by the river.

These ancient towns along the Chishui River have been prosperous for a long time, but after the Republic of China, the national government canceled the former salt clearing law, and the original four major salt companies closed down one after another. The order of trade and shipping, led by the industry, has shrunk, and the towns along the coast have also fallen from their heyday, and they are not as good as before.

I drove along the road along the Chishui River, browsing from town to town. Of course, the house is not old. The houses in the mountains of Guizhou have four beams and eight pillars. Eight pillars support four beams. But the history of the town is ancient. What survived for a long time are the stone slab paths, trampled by people and animals in the middle of the year, making the slabs very smooth and shining with the light of the years.

I also saw several special towns in Guizhou, such as "Pingtang Astronomical Town", which is where the Sky Eye is located. I rushed there specially, and I was quite excited, but I was a little nervous when I entered the town. The town is not big, but the road is very wide, but the speed limit is 20-40 kilometers, and there are surveillance cameras everywhere. Notices are posted everywhere: Do not use any wireless mobile devices within 5 kilometers from the Sky Eye. There are not many buildings, but they are huge and have strange shapes. There are not many pedestrians. To go to Tianyan, you must take the bus in the scenic spot, and you have to go through two security checks. You are not allowed to bring mobile phones and all other electronic products. There are 898 steps to climb to the viewing platform. But when I saw the eye of the sky with a diameter of 500 meters, I was shocked.

I picked up the car in Guiyang and arrived at Xifeng on the same day. Xifeng is only 100 kilometers away from Guiyang. I have heard about the Xifeng Concentration Camp for a long time. It is one of the three major concentration camps under the Kuomintang military command, and it is the largest one. During the Anti-Japanese War, there were many military organizations in Xifeng, with 20,000 personnel, while Xifeng Town had only 2,000 people at that time. Contrary to my imagination, Xifeng Concentration Camp looks like a garden on the outside, it is very big, with red willows and green flowers. But it is indeed a big prison, where a lot of torture and killing took place. I stopped for a long time in front of a photo, which was Xu Xiaoxuan's last words before his death:

Please tell the party that I have done everything the party taught me, and in the last few minutes of my life, I will still do so. I hope that the organization will always pay attention to party rectification, eliminate non-proletarian consciousness, and maintain the purity of the party.

Awe-inspiring righteousness!

I left the astronomical town and went to Libo. Libo is very famous in Guizhou. The introduction always said that it has an ancient town. But the actual ancient town is not an ancient town, it was built in recent years at a cost of several hundred million yuan. But the imitation is quite similar, but very depressed. Libo's Xiaoqikong is only a small landscape, such as gurgling water, far less magnificent than Jiabang terraced fields and Chishui waterfall.

Guizhou is a place inhabited by ethnic minorities, and ethnic minorities account for nearly half of its population, such as Dong, Commoner, Miao Gelao, Shui, Hui, Bai, Yao, Zhuang, She, Maonan, Manchu, Mongolian, and Qiang. The ethnic minorities live scattered in the vast mountains, and there are also some villages, some of which are very ancient. However, most of the officially announced famous scenic spots are said to be ancient building complexes and ancient villages. I have been to Matou Village in Kaiyang, Lajin Village in Libo, Qianhu Miao Village and Jiache Village in Rongjiang, all of which are ancient villages named by the state. It takes time to visit their culture, such as lifestyle, history, costumes, festivals, etc. You might as well take a look at the Guizhou Provincial Museum, where many writings and cultural relics of ethnic minorities in Guizhou are displayed, which is worth seeing.

Guizhou developed relatively late, just like the Manchu Qing ban in Northeast China. As a result, soil and water conservation is better. Guizhou is mostly a karst landform, with strange mountain shapes and green mountains and green waters everywhere, forming many natural wonders. Driving in the mountains of Guizhou is naturally refreshing. And Chishui, Chishui is a famous Danxia scenic spot, the Chishui waterfall is no less than Huangguoshu, and the red stone caves in Chishui are also amazing.

The mountain roads in Guizhou are very dangerous, with steep slopes and sharp turns. Although I am an experienced driver, I often feel anxious when walking this kind of road, so I try to go as fast as possible. Guizhou Expressway charges are very high. Some people explain that it is because of the high cost of constructing expressways in Guizhou, maybe.

Nanjiang Shili Gallery Qingyan Ming and Qing Street

Old Qingyan

Chishui Riverside

Chishui Waterfall

Tucheng

Guizhou Provincial Museum

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