Smoke clouds in Mashikou, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province (I)

At the foot of the Great Wall, at the mouth of Sanjiegou, there is a village called Mashikou, a crow from three provinces. The village is very small, with less than 100 households, but its name can be found on maps at all levels from county to province, because it is the main crossing leading to the northwest under the dam, and its geographical position is very dangerous. The story of twists and turns once shown in the TV series "Going West", which was hit by CCTV, may be the reappearance of the old things here, because there are thousands of families who have gone west. People's hard footprints are branded here, and real life dramas are staged here.

In Huai 'an County Records, the name of Maxikou Village is described as follows: "Maxikou is located at the northwest of Dukoubao 10.7 km. Built in the Ming Dynasty, it was named after the establishment of the horse market. It was an important pass in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and was once stationed by Ganzong. "

Horse market, as its name implies, is a market with horses as the main exchange subject. Adding commercial elements to the Great Wall defense system is considered by many historians as a symbol of national harmony and common development. Indeed, it once brought developed commerce and wealth to the land of the Great Wall, and the trade inside and outside the Great Wall flourished. Livestock products such as horses outside the Great Wall enter the mainland through the horse market. The dignitaries in Beijing can enrich their flaunting capital, and the rich in the south have also added some exquisite leather goods to attract those flashy confidants. The great wall is rich in food, cloth, tea and other living materials, but also through the horse market to reach the extremely cold place beyond the Great Wall. Until today, the elders of Mashikou Village can still recall the brilliant trading scenes here decades ago. Many elders outside the Great Wall still retain the custom of entrusting people to buy daily necessities in Shanxi and Hebei within the Great Wall. However, when the top decision makers of the Ming Dynasty decided to open a horse market in Guanbao, the Great Wall, they probably didn't have much commercial sensitivity in their hearts. At the meeting, opinions were disputed. Some ministers bluntly said that this is "humiliating the country", which is not only unnecessary, but even "self-defeating", because "the horse of mutual market is enough for our army, and the husband has made peace, so there is no war. What will the horse do? " And he is also willing to damage his strong horse to me ... "It can be seen that the emergence of the horse market at that time was mostly helpless. (To be continued)