As we all know, the Qing Dynasty was the last feudal dynasty in China, and by the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the feudal imperial system was no longer able to maintain its rule, and the situation at that time was in chaos, there were Taiping Rebellions inside, natural disasters and man-made disasters were continuous, and there were countless strong enemies outside waiting to divide this huge cake, especially the vast territory of China, which made them salivate, among which the "Treaty of Nanjing", the "Treaty of Beijing" and the "Treaty of Maguan" were all raw and torn off a huge piece of "meat" from the land of Shenzhou. In modern times, China has lost 1.5 million territories in the north, Hong Kong and Macao have been forcibly leased, and Taiwan and the Penghu Archipelago have been occupied by Japan, which can be described as a bleakness, but it is in this grim form that we in China have recovered a piece of territory and have not let the enemy succeed, which is today's Ili and part of Xinjiang.
In 1865, with the support of the great powers, Agubai invaded China's Xinjiang region and established the "Zhedsar Khanate", and gradually encroached on most of Xinjiang, and then Tsarist Russia in the north of China directly sent troops to occupy the Ili region of Xinjiang, which was the country's northwest military affairs had eroded, the local army was not the enemy's opponent at all, and it was seen that a large area of territory would be occupied by the enemy.
After the matter was returned to the imperial court, some people in the imperial court, led by Li Hongzhang, believed that the northwest land was like a chicken rib, the territory was vast, and it was necessary to invest countless silver every year to consolidate the border defenses, and if they abandoned it, they could free up their hands and put their energy entirely on the defensive line along the southeast coast, as for the northwestern Xinjiang region, he would go, at most recognize them, and ask them to claim the title of subject, after all, there are precedents in Vietnam and other places, and this view will soon be supported by most of them.
But at this time, there was a person who stood up against it, he was zuo Zongtang, the leader of the Xiang Army, Zuo Zongtang, who had great talent and a stubborn personality, even the then Empress Dowager Cixi had to respect him for three points, he thought that even if the northwest region was abandoned, it would not allow the imperial court to get a breathing place, and the Xinjiang region was not a barren land, if it was carefully managed, it would definitely bring good benefits to the country. Zuo Zongtang ordered his men to carry a coffin to walk, expressing his determination to become a ren if he did not succeed, because of the correct strategy, the military and the people were united, and soon Zuo Zongtang recovered most of Xinjiang, and the "Zhedesar Khanate" was also destroyed, leaving only the Ili region occupied by Russia, so Zuo Zongtang ordered military pressure to be given while contacting and negotiating, and with the efforts of everyone, the two countries signed the "Ili Treaty" to recover the Ili region.
Today's Xinjiang region is already an important energy base in China, and only the oil resources and mineral resources surveyed are enough to use for a hundred years, all of which are clear decisions made by Zuo Zongtang at that time.