Investigation And Research On The Fortress Of Zuli River Basin In Northern Song

Zuli River basin is now located in Anding District,Dingxi City,Huining County,Baiyin City,Jingyuan County,Gansu Province.In the Northern Song Dynasty,the Zuli River basin was located in the middle of Xihelanhui Road,including the Tongyuan Army,Dingxi City and Huizhou.Because most of them are loess gully areas,the geographical environment is relatively complex,and the valley area landform is flat and close to the water source.This area was repeatedly contested for the Song and Xia,so a series of military castles were built in this area.Through field investigation,it is found that the Zuli River Basin has nine fortress in Anxi,Pingx,Yundouping,Huichuan,Ganquan,Xinquan,Tong’an and the surrounding Huairong and Liuzhou.The fortress in the Zuli River basin are mostly built on relatively flat terraces on both sides of the valley.The fortress are basically in a regular square layout,but the walls of some castles will be slightly curved with the terrain.Except for the iron douping fort,all the other fortress walls have basic military fortifications such as horse face and corner pier,reflecting the attributes of its military defense fort village.Through field investigation,it was found that there are seven Northern Song fortress sites in the Zuli River basin,namely,Anxi Cheng,Pingxi Zhai,Yundouping,Huichuan Cheng,Ganquan Bao,Xinquan Zhai,and Tongan Zhai,and two fortress sites in the surrounding areas,namely,Huairong Bao and Liuzhou Cheng,were investigated and supported by evidence.Most of the fortresses in the Zulie River basin were built on relatively flat terraces on both sides of the river valley,and the fortresses were basically in a regular square layout,but some of the fortress walls were slightly curved with the terrain.Except for the Yundouping,all the other fortresses were built with basic military fortifications such as horse faces and corner piers,reflecting their attributes as military defense forts.During the Northern Song Dynasty,fortresses in the Zulie River basin were built on different scales according to their geographical location and strategic position in the area.Fortresses occupying important geographical and strategic positions were built on a larger scale than those merely used as articulated and cantonment fortresses.Among them,the larger and more established ones were Dingxi,Anxi,and Huichuan,followed by Pingxi and Xinquan,and the smallest one was Yundouping.At the same time,combining the characteristics of the forts themselves,it is concluded that the forts in this region had both the military offensive function of recovering minorities and attacking and defending against the Xixia,and the military logistical function of cantonment and farming protection and transporting food and grass,and the function of the forts also deepened and reformed with the change of the policy toward Xia,the formation of the defense system and the needs of their own development,gradually changing from the initial singularity to diversity,and the forts in the Zuli River basin completely The function of the fortress in the Zuli River valley was completely developed in the middle and late Song Dynasty.The fortress was not only used as a single military facility for defense and attack,but also formed a fortress defense system by several fortresses for defense and attack,which was of great significance for the border expansion activities of the Northern Song Dynasty.The successful construction of the fortress defense system in the Zuli River basin was of great significance to the development of the border defense,transportation,regional politics and economy,and the entire northwestern defense area of the Xihe Road.The successful construction of the Zuli River fortress defense system connected the border areas of Xihe,Jing Yuan and Qinfeng,narrowed the defense area of Xihe Road,formed a three-way joint defense,facilitated military conquest,and improved the transportation situation in the area,built a well-developed road network,strengthened the connection between troops,and guaranteed the stability of front-line supplies.At the same time,the centralized construction of forts in this area has strengthened the agricultural development of the Zuli River basin,promoted the integration of the Fan Han people,and promoted the formation of regional political and economic centers.