What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Regarding Zuo Zongtang's deeds, I think everyone will not be unfamiliar, we have learned in junior high school textbooks, he is one of the four major Zhongxing celebrities in the late Qing Dynasty, zuo Zongtang's greatest achievement in life is to recover Xinjiang, now Xinjiang territory is about 1.6 million square kilometers, if Zuo Zongtang did not recover this piece of land, China's territory would have to be removed a large piece.
When Agubai occupied Xinjiang, at first Li Hongzhang and others all felt that this land should be done or not, anyway, there were very few people, and the taxes paid were small, but Zuo Zongtang saw that after a hundred years, he understood the truth that the land could not be lost, and he urged Empress Dowager Cixi to recover Xinjiang, and Empress Dowager Cixi finally agreed.
Although Cixi promised to let Zuo Zongtang go to recover Xinjiang, but she was just lip service, as for the military expenses, grain and other things needed to go out on the expedition, Zuo Zongtang needed to directly think of a way, Cixi did not care, the imperial court did not care about these, Zuo Zongtang did this successfully, it was nothing, if he failed, he would lose the majesty of the Qing Dynasty, and he would be punished when he returned, but Zuo Zongtang still had no remorse.
With the help of Hu Xueyan, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, Zuo Zongtang finally got a loan and paid enough for the army, and just when Zuo Zongtang was planning to go on a campaign, the British also intervened in this matter, and he persuaded Zuo Zongtang that he could regard the place occupied by Agubai as a vassal state of China, there was no need to drive people out and leave a way back for them, but Zuo Zongtang did not listen to these advices and resolutely decided to drive Agubai out of China's territory.
In 1880, Zuo Zongtang set out with soldiers and a coffin, saying that if he did not recover Xinjiang, he would die outside, and sure enough, Agubai was frightened by Zuo Zongtang's momentum, and finally Xinjiang was successfully recovered, Zuo Zongtang became a national hero in history because China recovered this large area of territory, and followed him to set Xinjiang as a province and belong to China forever.
Zuo Zongtang's recovery of Xinjiang may be known to everyone, but even Taiwan is related to Zuo Zongtang, perhaps not many people know, in 1885, when Zuo Zongtang was already infected, even so, but he was still concerned about the major affairs of the state, he was sick on the bed, and also made two concerts to the imperial court, one was to request the establishment of a coastal defense minister, and the other was to change the Fujian inspectorate to the Taiwan inspector, that is, to establish Taiwan as a province.
Later, the imperial court agreed with Zuo Zongtang's proposition, so Taiwan became a province of China, and the Prime Minister's Naval Affairs Gate was established in Taiwan, and Taiwan was a province in China, which originally began with Zuo Zongtang, and although Zuo Zongtang's contribution was not as good as the recovery of Xinjiang, it also made an indelible contribution to history.