What do you mean, build a paved road?

It is to hide the real intention behind the superficial action, confuse the other side with obvious action, make the enemy have an illusion and ignore his real intention, thus winning by surprise. Sometimes, "clear path" can be omitted and "darkness" can be used alone.

The darkness of Chencang is real. The Biography of Historical Records of Huaiyin Hou said that when Liu Bang was going to send troops from Hanzhong to attack Xiang Yu, General Han Xin secretly made a detour to attack Chen Cang and won.

Whether there is a real historical event in the Ming-xiu plank road is still inconclusive. The theory of "Ming Xiu Plank Road" originated from Yuan Zaju, and there was no such record before. When Han went through the customs, there was no record of "building a plank road in the Ming Dynasty". In fact, Fan Kuai, Guan Ying and others led the troops to pretend to attack Longxi area from Qishan Road, and Han Xin attacked Chencang from the old road (also known as Chencang Road), thus seizing the land in Guanzhong.

Extended data:

Allusions to "Building Ming Dow Talent Chencang"

After Xiang Yu claimed to be the overlord of the western Chu, he enfeoffed the territory to the princes, among which Ba, Shu and Hanzhong counties were enfeoffed to Liu Bang and established as Hanwang. On the way to expand the territory, Liu Bang ordered his men to burn the plank road just to show Xiang Yu that he had no intention of expanding eastward.

After gaining a certain strength, Liu Bang seized the opportunity to move eastward quickly. His ambition was to compete with Xiang Yu, and Han Xin made a plan of "building plank roads and hiding positions". Chencang is the only place for Liu Bang to enter Guanzhong. There are steep mountains between the two places, and Wang Yong and Zhang Han are heavily guarded.

According to Han Xin's plan, Liu Bang sent Fan Kuai, the most trusted general, to lead 10,000 people to repair the 500-mile plank road, which was repaired within one month under military orders. Of course, such a huge project cannot be completed even in three years. It is this that confuses and paralyzes Chen Cang's defenders. Zhang Han, the brave king of Chencang, never imagined that Liu Bang's elite troops actually touched the unknown path and attacked Chencang over mountains and mountains.

Liu bang successfully advanced into Guanzhong and gained a firm foothold through "the road to success", which opened the curtain for his career in the Han Dynasty.

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Ming Xiu plank road dark Chen Cang