As the last absolute monarchical dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing Dynasty reached its peak during the Kangxi Period, with a land area of about 13.1 million square kilometers, from the Mongolian Nuwuliang Sea region and the southern Siberia in the north, to the South China Sea in the south, including "Qianli Shitang, Wanli Changsha, Zengmu Dark Sand", southwest to Tibet, Yunnan Province to northern Myanmar, Nankan, Jiangxinpo and other places, west through the Aral Sea and Onion Ridge region, northeast to the Outer Xing'an Mountains.
Calling Kangxi the Emperor is not an exaggeration at all. At the beginning, Kangxi's great achievements in addition to Aobai, cutting San Francisco, and pro-conquest of Gardan, etc., these great achievements can be passed on for hundreds of generations, and if nothing else, the land area of Kaldan alone has reached 7 million square kilometers, and Kangxi's three conquests of Kaldan have safeguarded the unity of the motherland and opposed the just war of national separatism.
The rise of Dzungar Mongol power
The Mongols are one of the ancient ethnic minorities in the north of China, and the Mongols are divided into two parts: East Mongolia and West Mongolia. Western Mongolia mainly includes the Mongols such as Dzungars, Durberts, Heshuots, Turbats and Huits. The Mongols of "Dzungar" mean "left wing". It is named after the "left" of the four divisions.
Dzungar was called "Wallachian" in the Yuan Dynasty, "Weyrat" in the Qing Dynasty, and during the Yuan Dynasty, around the shores of Lake Baikal, between the Selenge River and the Irtysh River, this is the ancestor of Dzungar, after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, this tribe was attached to Genghis Khan. Hui Yila helped Genghis Khan on his western expedition, Genghis Khan was very important to Hui Yila, and the two families also established a hereditary in-law relationship.
After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty unified the world, and the Huiyi Labu was renamed "Wala", although the Wala paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, the Wala developed from a half-hunt and half-pastoral to a nomadic people based on animal husbandry, and with the continuous strength of the Wala, the Wala formed the four major departments of Dzungar, Durbert, Turbat, and Heshuote.
The Ming dynasty collapsed, and when the Qing Dynasty came to beijing, the Dzungars in the Weyrat Mongols in the eastern and western Altai Mountains gradually became stronger. During the reign of Batur Huntaiji, the Dzungars gradually became stronger, defeating the surrounding Kazakhs and Bruts successively, ruling from the irtysh and ob rivers in the north to the Tianshan Mountains in the south, including the area south of Lake Balkhash.
During the Batur Guntaiji period, shunzhi seven years (1650) and shunzhi nine years (1652) twice sent envoys to Beijing to "pay tribute", and the later successors also interacted with the Qing Dynasty in a peaceful manner. In the fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1665), Batur Huntaiji died of illness and was succeeded by sangha. The Sangha did not wage war against the Qing Dynasty.
After the Dzungar Han king Kaldan seized power, he fought for years and expanded his territory continuously, with a land area of more than 7 million square kilometers
In the 10th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1671), the Sangha was killed by his half-brothers Cechen Khan and Batulu, and it was not long before Cechen Khan and Batulu were killed by his subordinates, and Batur Guntaiji's seventh son, Kaldan, returned from Tibet to seize power. After Kaldan seized power, in order to consolidate power, the political center of Dzungar, Buksel, was moved to the Ili Valley.
From the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1679), Kaldan began to fight for many years, like the Kazakhs, Burut, Nogai, Aksu, Ush, Kashgar, Yarkand and other places around the Dzungar Department, all of which were occupied by Kaldan, and the entire land area of Dzungar reached more than 7 million square kilometers.
The Kangxi Emperor personally conquered Gardan, the King of Dzungar Khan
During the reign of Kaldan, he finally embarked on the road of enemy of the Qing government, and in May of the twenty-ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1690), Gardan, in the name of pursuing Khalkha, led an army of 30,000 troops from Kulen Lake along the western foothills of the Daxing'an Mountains, pointing to Beijing. In July, the vanguard of the Qing Dynasty attacked the left road with Fuquan as the general of Fuyuan and Changning as the general of Anbei attacking the right road.
The Kangxi Emperor met gardan camel cavalry on the left road, at first the Qing army was defeated, fortunately the Qing army adjusted its deployment in time, with firearms as the front, the infantry followed, the cavalry flanks, Gardan died a lot of soldiers, Gardan saw that the situation was not good, adopted the strategy of slowing down the army, and sent emissaries to the Qing Dynasty to make peace.
After taking the opportunity to cross the Shalamulun River north and burn the night grass along the way, the result was a blessing in the middle of the plan, so that Kaldan escaped. Fu Quan also looked for Kaldan, and for several months he did not buy the news of Kaldan, and there was not enough grain and grass in the army at that time, so Fu quan took matters into his own hands and ordered the banshi to return to the dynasty. The Kangxi Emperor withdrew his dissatisfaction with Fuquan without asking for instructions, and decided to let him return to Beijing first to discuss the crime, and after Fuquan returned to Beijing, he showed Kangxi the situation of reconnaissance of Gardan, and the rebels confessed one by one, and Kangxi spared Fuquan.
In the thirty-third year of Kangxi (1693), the Qing Dynasty ZhaoGardan came to meet the alliance, Kaldan not only disobeyed, but also took the opportunity to attack Khalkha, Kangxi decided to lure Kaldan south, so he recruited a large number of Mongols familiar with the terrain as guides, equipped the army with 5 months of rations, and attacked Kaldan.
In the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi (1696), the Kangxi Emperor once again marched in person, the army attacked Gardan in three ways, the Kangxi Emperor personally led the Middle Route Army, when it was on the way, there were rumors that Tsarist Russia helped Kaldan to send troops, many ministers panicked and suggested that Kangxi stop marching, the university scholar Isan A and others advocated returning to the division, only the Fuyuan general Feyanguli advocated the enemy, Kangxi tried to defy the public opinion, insisted on attacking Gardan.
Kangxi Thirty-sixth Year (1702) Kangxi Emperor's third imperial conquest of Gardan, this pro-conquest is relatively smooth, many remnants of Kaldan heard that the Kangxi Emperor personally marched, have automatically surrendered, and even led the way to hunt down Kaldan, Kaldan in the case of rebellion, had to choose to take poison to commit suicide, the war between the Qing Dynasty and Gardan, lasted for eight years, and finally announced the end.
The Kangxi Emperor was great, he spared no effort to defeat Kaldan and recover 7 million square kilometers of land for China, in the face of the Jungar matter, Kangxi and Yongzheng did not actually solve the problem, and then fought piecemeal for nearly a hundred years, and then never had any trouble. Although there were many drawbacks in the late Kangxi Dynasty, as far as the kangxi emperor's previous deeds were concerned, it was natural to become a great emperor.