So, 's brave detective team headed by Su Wuming finally solved this strange case.
So, where is this magical Ninghuzhou today?
The Tang Dynasty did not have the administrative division of Ninghuzhou. So many netizens have a variety of guesses. Here, I also added some views of my , stripped the cocoon, and conducted analysis and speculation. When
Su Wuming was transferred from Nanzhou to Ninghuzhou from
in Henan Province, when Xiong Millennium, the prefect of Nanzhou, congratulated Su Wuming for his high rise, he said that Ninghu is Zhongzhou, which is conducive to future promotion.
Therefore, many people seized the phrase "Ninghu is Zhongzhou" and thought it was located in Henan.
Among the ancient Kyushu, Yuzhou (in the area of present-day Henan Province) is located in the center, so it is also called Zhongzhou. Later, it was also called Middle Earth and Central Plains.
However, the history of the thorns in "The Story of Tang Dynasty" does not refer to Henan, but the level of the state.
In the early Tang Dynasty, the whole country was divided into more than 300 states. In order to strengthen management and effectively allocate resources, these states are classified into three levels, and the main measure is to divide them into three levels: upper, middle and lower. The
classification criteria are the number of households, population, geographic location, and political, military, and economic importance of the state.
For example, it is recorded in "New Book of Tang: Election Records": "There are 80 students in Kyoto, 60 in each of the Grand Governor, the Central Governor's House, and Shangzhou, and 50 each in the Lower Governor's House and Zhongzhou." It is clear here. Said that there are differences between Shangzhou and Zhongzhou. Nanzhou in the "Story of Tang Dynasty" is located in the remote and wild land in the south, and it is in the list of Xiazhou. Ninghuzhou, on the other hand, has better conditions and is divided into Zhongzhou. When the ancient name "Zhongzhou" refers to the area of Henan Province, it refers to the area centered on Luoyang. In the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang was Dongdu, which belonged to Luozhou. Then in the story behind "The Story of the Tang Dynasty", Su Wuming was dispatched from Ninghuzhou to Luozhou Changshi, so why did he go all the way? !
recorded in the "Dali House" section of Yunnan Province
"Ming Yi Tong Zhi" Volume 86:
"Ming River and Ning Lake are five miles northwest of Langqiong County, and the water is like a mirror."
said Ning here The lake, also known as Ming River, is called Beipibi Lake in Eryuan County, Dali Prefecture, Yunnan Province today.
However, this place is located in the southwest frontier, and Nanzhou in "The Story of the Tang Dynasty" belongs to the wild land in the south, so it cannot be the "Zhongzhou" mentioned by Nanzhou Xiongshishi.
In the ancient inscriptions of
in Shanxi Province, there are characters such as ogre and tau, which refer to the later crocodile animals. During the Xia-Shang period, crocodiles were widely distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basin. A tribe that made a living by catching crocodiles and using crocodiles as totems formed the E country, located in the area of Xiangning County, Shanxi Province today.
Later, the state of E was weakened by the attack, so it moved south to Hubei and evolved into the state of Chu. This is why Hubei Province is abbreviated as "E". Many people don't know this uncommon historical fact, and they never imagined that there used to be a large number of crocodiles in the township of Ning County, located in the Loess Plateau. In fact, not only are there records in ancient books, but some cultural relics unearthed in Shanxi Province also have crocodile patterns on them.
The crocodile in Ninghuzhou in the "Story of Tang Dynasty", so some people think it is located in Xiangning County, Shanxi Province.
However, here are a few points, you can basically rule out that it is not Ninghuzhou:
First, the people of Eguo have been dealing with crocodiles as early as the Xia and Shang dynasties, and it has been more than 2,000 years since the Tang Dynasty. Are they still ignorant about crocodiles? , Worshiping as a god, can Tuo Shrine still deceive people and commit evil in the name of Tuo?
Second, since the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Xiangning County was subordinate to Cizhou, not Ninghuzhou. Third, Xiangning County of Shanxi Province borders Shaanxi Province, and is about 300 kilometers away from Xi'an, the capital of Tang Dynasty, Chang'an.It's a long way.
The prefect of the Tang Dynasty was a high-ranking member of the party, and the prefect of Ninghuzhou in the "Story of the Tang Dynasty" was killed and impersonated, so the central court officials and the prefect of Ninghuzhou traveled between , and the censor inspected Ninghuzhou, did find out no?
Then the only possibility is that Ninghuzhou is located in a remote location, and there are very few opportunities to meet with the officials of the central court, which reduces the risk of being exposed.
Fourth, when the Tang Dynasty writer Han Yu was demoted to the prefect of Chaozhou (today's Chaozhou, Guangdong Province), the area was still undeveloped in the wild Lingnan land, and crocodiles were infested. So Han Yu wrote an article " Crocodile ".
According to scientific research, this new species of prehistoric crocodile was the only giant reptile that was "cannibal" in ancient China, but it became extinct later. It was named "Chinese Hanyu crocodile" by researchers.
Then, if there were still a large number of crocodiles living in Xiangning County, Shanxi Province during the Tang Dynasty, and the criminals used this to harm one party, such a strange and big case will inevitably spread in the court and the public and be recorded in the history books.
This also shows that, perhaps due to climate change and changes in the local ecological environment, Xiangning County in the Tang Dynasty was no longer suitable for crocodiles to survive.
in Jiangsu-Zhejiang area
's "Tang Dynasty Strange Stories" in the history of Xiong Xiong said that Ninghuzhou is Zhongzhou, and the previous sentence also said that it is "located in the rich and prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River".
Let's take a look at where "the rich and prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River" refers to.
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, for the first time in Chinese history, the national political center was moved from the Yellow River Basin to the Yangtze River Basin, and the capital was in Jiankang (now Nanjing). Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties built their capitals here one after another, so Nanjing is known as the "Ancient Capital of the Six Dynasties".
As a result, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River have been rapidly developed. After the opening of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty, the Jiangnan area became increasingly prosperous. By the time of the Tang Dynasty, the economic center of the country had moved southward, and the prosperity and prosperity of the south of the Yangtze River had become prominent.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Jiangnan was used as a synonym for " Yangzhou " in " Yugong ". In the early Tang Dynasty, the whole country was divided into ten supervision areas, including Jiangnan Road and Jiangnan Road, and the jurisdiction included the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas.
and Nanjing is referred to as "Ning" for short, and there is Huzhou (now Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province) under Jiangnan Road.
In terms of natural conditions, the climate in the south of the Yangtze River is warm and humid, the rivers are mostly the Yangtze River system, and the lakes and swamps are densely covered. There is a kind of crocodile living in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, called Tulong, Zhu Polong , and later scientifically named Tu, Chinese alligator , which is a unique crocodile in China.
In terms of geographical traffic, Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas are more than 1,000 kilometers away from Chang'an, the capital of Tang Dynasty. The prefect of Ninghuzhou was killed and impersonated, and the Tuo Shrine, in the name of Tuo God, bullied and abused people's lives, so there was a lot of room for development.
Therefore, it is very likely that the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas are called Ninghuzhou and Zhongzhou in the "Story of the Tang Dynasty". The story material of
in Hunan Province
's "Story of the Tang Dynasty", from the Tang Dynasty's strange notes "Youyang Zazu", " Unique Zhi" and so on. This point of , both the original author and the director have said publicly.
recorded a story of "The God of Tuo" in "Unique Chi: Appendices". The original version is to the effect:
Li Qiu of the Tang Dynasty was appointed as the prefect of Shaozhou. When passing through Dongting Lake, he was suppressed by Jiang Tuo in the beach. . Jiang Tuo transformed into a human figure and assumed office as Li Sandpiper, serving as an official for several years.
Later, the matter was exposed by a Taoist priest , who rescued Li Sandpiper. The governor of Yuezhou, Zhang said, took the matter to the court and sent a boat to escort Li Sandpiper to Shaozhou to take office.
There were two Shaozhou successively set up in the Tang Dynasty. The first one was set at the time of Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty, in Yuanqu County, Shanxi Province, but it was abandoned a few years later. The second is when Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty changed Nanliangzhou to Shaozhou; when Tang Xuanzong changed to Shaoyang County, it was later restored to Shaozhou, and its jurisdiction was in the area of Shaoyang City, Hunan Province.
Judging from the story recorded in "Unique Chi: Appendix", after passing through Dongting Lake to take office in Shaozhou, the nearby Yuezhou is today's Yueyang City by the Dongting Lake. Obviously, Shaozhou here is the area of Shaoyang City, Hunan Province.
In ancient China, Jiangnan was the concept of the geographical area. In a narrow sense, "Jiangnan" refers to the area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but this was after the Song Dynasty; in a broad sense, "Jiangnan" refers to the vast area south of the Yangtze River, including today's Hunan Province.
Shaoyang is located in the subtropical zone, with abundant rain and dense streams and rivers, which is in line with the natural environment for crocodiles to survive. In terms of geographical traffic, Shaoyang is nearly 2,000 kilometers away from Chang'an, the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. The prefect of Ninghuzhou was killed and impersonated, and the outlaws used the God of Tui to harm one side, so there was a lot of room for exertion. However, there is a problem. Shaoyang is located in the transition zone between the hills in the south of the Yangtze River and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It is surrounded by the Nanling Mountains and the Xuefeng Mountains. In ancient times, it belonged to the southern wild land.
Then it is not "located in a rich and prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River" as Xiong Shishi said, and it is unlikely to be divided into Zhongzhou.
After reading the above analysis, where do you think Ninghuzhou is located in "Story of the Tang Dynasty"?
