This ancient willow tree can be seen everywhere on this land. However, more than two thousand years ago, this area was covered with large tracts of elm forests. It is said that these elm trees were planted at that time for To resist the rapid invasion of the Huns' cavalry, these elm trees were planted by Qin Shihuang's 300,000-strong army and later by the soldiers of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The elm trees have disappeared and the willow trees have become ancient. Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty have long been wiped out, but a place name that is still used today is left here - Yulin. Yulin City is located in the northern part of Shaanxi Province, more than 700 kilometers away from the ancient city of Xi'an. It is adjacent to Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Ningxia and Gansu. It covers an area of ??more than 43,000 square kilometers and has a population of more than 3.4 million. Historically, Yulin has always been an ancient battlefield where the Central Plains regime and the northern nomads competed with each other. The Great Wall of Wei, Great Wall of Qin, Great Wall of Sui and Great Wall of Ming passed through here successively. On the Great Wall we saw that this huge pier is different in shape and scale from the Great Wall on both sides. This is what people call Wanli. Zhenbeitai, the first platform on the Great Wall. This huge pier is located on the Red Mountain in the north of Yulin City. The name of Zhenbeitai means the north of Wei Zhen. It is the largest lookout on the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty and an important military facility in Yulin. Its east and west sides are connected to the Great Wall. From here you can see the piers and platforms in the distance. Beacon tower and the intermittent and unclear earthen Great Wall. So, why did people build the Great Wall in Yulin at different times? What we can see in Yulin today is the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty. So can we still find the Wei Great Wall, the Qin Great Wall and the Sui Great Wall? The Qin Great Wall in Yulin is not the Great Wall built by Qin Shihuang, but was built before he unified the six kingdoms. It is called the Warring States Qin Great Wall. The Warring States Qin Great Wall was built on a small part of the Wei Great Wall. The Great Wall of the Sui Dynasty followed the Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty in the Warring States Period in considerable sections, and the latest Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty used the basis of the Great Wall of the Sui Dynasty in most sections. These four Great Walls were all built for the purpose of war defense at that time, and their general directions are also the same. Historically, there were four Great Walls crossing Yulin. Among them is the most famous Great Wall of Qin Dynasty. According to historical records, at least during the Qin Dynasty, Yulin was an important military town on the border, called Shangjun, and its administrative seat was Fushi. In fact, Yulin still retains this title, which is the name of a street. Most of the Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty has followed General Meng Tian and his 300,000 troops to sleep in the yellow sand. Even the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty appears to be fragmented. According to historical records, the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty is more than 700 kilometers long in Yulin. However, what is puzzling is that it only took 40,000 soldiers to build it in only three months. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty What methods were used to build the Great Wall? According to historical records, the Ming Dynasty's Great Wall garrison numbered about 50,000 people in the Zhenbeitai area. There must be many guards guarding the more than 700 kilometers of the Great Wall in Yulin. So where did they live? It turns out that there are 36 castles in Yulin facing the Great Wall in the distance. These 36 castles were the places where troops were stationed. So, can we still find them now? The old road from Yulin to Shenmu County was basically built along the direction of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty. Along the way we can see many beacon towers and castles on the mountains. After more than an hour of turbulence, we finally saw an ancient castle of considerable size and well-preserved - Jian'an Fort. Like the Great Wall, many castles in Yulin are built against mountains, often on top of mountains, making them easy to defend and difficult to attack. Four earthen walls and three city gates surrounded Jian'an Fort on the top of the mountain. Jian'an Fort was built in the 10th year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty. It is said that heavy troops were stationed here, and the surrounding city walls and gates were also very strong. Jian'an Fort is 185 meters long from east to west and 451 meters wide from north to south. The bell tower in the center of the castle is one hundred years older than Jian'an Fort, which shows that Jian'an Fort was built under the bell tower at that time. There are now thirty families in Jian'an Fort. Are they the descendants of the former garrison generals? The 36 forts along the Great Wall used to be important military sites. Most of their names have the meaning of peace and tranquility, such as Baoning Fort, Huaiyuan Fort, Jian'an Fort, etc. The fact that a military facility can have such a name expresses people's desire for peace and tranquility at that time. of prayer. The Great Wall and Thirty-six Forts built here in the Ming Dynasty played a role in defense and showing off force. Zhenbeitai was built later than the 700-mile Great Wall. It was built at the same time as Yulin during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. So was Zhenbeitai built to protect Yulin City? Standing on Zhenbei Terrace, you can have a panoramic view of dozens of miles around. No wonder it is the largest military observation post here, but at its feet there is a place where officials from both Mongolia and Han sides have friendly exchanges. The name of this small city in the northeast corner of Zhenbeitai is Xiangong City. Why is it called Xiangong City? It was mainly built for officials from both Mongolia and Han sides to offer offerings, give gifts, and negotiate border affairs. This Gongcheng and Zhenbeitai were built at the same time. Its construction shows that the border area in this area already had a peaceful atmosphere at that time. 800 meters southwest of Zhenbeitai, there is also the ruins of Yima City in the Ming Dynasty. According to Yulin Prefecture records, Yima City was one of the eleven Mongolian and Han folk trade places at that time, and it is also a historical witness of the harmonious coexistence of the Mongolian and Han peoples. At the same time as material exchanges, cultural exchanges are also taking place. Hongshixia was originally a famous temple in the Song Dynasty, and later became a place frequented by Mongolian and Chinese scholars. Many famous sayings about friendship between Mongolia and Han are engraved on the mountain, and many of them have been preserved. Precious handwriting of famous people.

We have reason to say that Zhenbeitai is not only a defensive building, but also a ostentatious and decorative building. At the same time, it is also a building symbolizing peace. We cannot but say that this is the progress of an era. The top floor of Zhenbeitai was the place where the top generals of the garrison used to observe. To the south of it is the current Yulin City where the military center was located. According to historical records, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, Yulin was just a small military fortress. The military command center at that time was in Suide, with heavy troops stationed there. When there was a war situation in Yulin, people were sent to Suide to report the news. However, Suide was far away from Yulin. After more than 200 miles, by the time the reinforcements arrived in Yulin, the Mongolian cavalry had already left after plundering. Therefore, during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, the command center was moved to Yulin. From then on, this fortress acropolis became one of the nine important towns in northern Xinjiang during the Ming Dynasty. With the establishment of Yulin's military status, soldiers from all over the world moved to Yulin, the population grew rapidly, and Yulin experienced three expansions. People in Yulin are accustomed to calling the area within the city wall the Old City. The Old City now accounts for only one-half of the entire Yulin City, and an important commercial center has taken shape on the west side of the Old City. Walking on the streets of the old city of Yulin, we felt a little puzzled. How could there be so many exquisite courtyard houses in a place outside the Great Wall and a border area where people are used to living in cave dwellings? Their layout and style are very similar to those of Beijing's courtyard houses. So what's going on? It is very similar to Beijing, so people also call Yulin "Little Beijing". The writer Lu Han of Lu Ershi Alley was originally from Shanxi. Because his ancestors had a civil servant and a military officer, this street was called Lu Ershi Alley. Walking in the streets of Yulin, a northern city close to the desert, we actually heard a kind of music with a Jiangnan flavor. According to local people, it is called Yulin Xiaoqu. In 2005, Yulin Xiaoqu was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage. Yulin Xiaoqu is a kind of folk art without makeup and performance, with melodious singing. It is said that during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Tan Jicong, a native of Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, brought the silk and bamboo music from his hometown here during his tenure in Yulin. It was loved by the officials and people in the south. During festivals, There is a scene in Yulin where "the whole building is filled with the sound of music in the middle of the night". The generals from Beijing and Tianjin left courtyard houses in Yulin, officials from the south of the Yangtze River brought Yulin ditties, and the traditional Chinese medicine shops throughout the streets and alleys of Yulin came from all over the country. Why is this? It turns out that since Yulin was designated as an important nine-border town in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had issued an edict to have medical personnel from all over the country provide uniform support. Under this situation, Yulin suddenly gathered many Chinese medicine doctors from all over the country. These doctors were treating the soldiers' injuries and external injuries. , and also treated diseases for local people. Today, the people of Yulin still firmly believe in traditional Chinese medicine. Zhang Zheng comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine, and his ancestors are not from Yulin. His father is a famous doctor in Yulin, and he once treated Wang Zhen. It is said that his father's medicine cured Wang Zhen's chronic illness that had not been cured for a long time. In a sense, Yulin should be an immigrant city. It has been influenced by the culture from the north and the south, and it also maintains some local traditional habits. For example, Yulin people love to eat tofu. The tofu here is famous in the northwest. Tofu made from high-quality soybeans and natural spring water is the pride of Yulin people. It is said that two emperors once wrote poems praising Yulin tofu. Yulin not only has a variety of specialty snacks, but its long history has also left behind a number of precious treasures - Yulin dialect. The Yulin dialect belongs to the Jin dialect and is currently the only dialect area in the north that is independent of the Mandarin area. It records sounds from ancient times and provides valuable living materials for a series of studies related to dialects. Today's Zhenbeitai has long become a tourist attraction for people. "How many things have happened through the ages." The undulating Great Wall in the distance is being eroded by the years. There are no longer horses neighing here, and tall beacon towers stand alone. There. The smoke has long since dissipated, replaced by piles of coal fire towers that people lit during the festival to symbolize peace and auspiciousness. There are coal, oil and natural gas resources buried underground in Yulin. Nowadays, Yulin's natural gas has been connected to many big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, playing a huge role in the construction of the motherland. At the same time, the development of energy has also brought benefits to the local people. greater benefits. Standing on the Zhenbei platform, we can see the trains running on the railway and the cars on the highway in the distance, continuously transporting the underground treasures here. This former important border town has now become a world-famous Chinese energy base. Known as "China's Kuwait".