At the beginning of the end of World War I, taking advantage of the loss of Russian reinforcements in Outer Mongolia, he led an army into Outer Mongolia in October 1919, forcing the Ruling Class of Outer Mongolia to agree to give up the so-called "autonomy", and after seven years, Outer Mongolia returned to The territory of China. Such a feat has caused great repercussions at home and abroad. Sun Yat-sen praised him and compared him to the famous Han Dynasty generals Chen Tang, Ban Chao, and Fu Jiezi. However, in hindsight, the control of the Chinese Beiyang government over Outer Mongolia was relatively weak, and after the Soviet regime was consolidated, Outer Mongolia was eventually controlled by it and completely separated from the Chinese map. However, what is less known is that the Altay region, which is located in the northernmost part of Xinjiang today, was part of Outer Mongolia for a long time, and in the early years of the Republic of China, in the northwestern frontier, a person of insight, seeing that the geographically important Altay region was at risk of being encircled and separated by Outer Mongolia, resolutely overcame various difficulties to send troops to recover Altay, and after obtaining the consent of the Beiyang government, altay was included in Xinjiang, completely cutting off the possibility of splitting this land equivalent to the size of Jiangsu, which can be described as indispensable. Compared with Xu Shuzheng's recovery of Outer Mongolia and then its loss, its contribution to national sovereignty is even higher than that of Xu Shuzheng, who is the former governor of Xinjiang, Yang Zengxin.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > the historical origin of Altay and Outer Mongolia</h1>
Altay, also known as Altai, covers an area of about 110,000 square kilometers, equivalent to the size of a Jiangsu Province, located in the northernmost part of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, and Outer Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia bordering the three countries, where the terrain is relatively high, there are many rivers, can be called Xinjiang's "water tower". From the perspective of historical origins, Altay is not closely related to Xinjiang, and does not belong to the geographical scope of the western region as mentioned in ancient times, but more to the scope of nomadic activities. During the Han Dynasty, it belonged to the "right land" of the Xiongnu, and during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was the fiefdom of the Powerful Huyan King of the Northern Xiongnu. After the decline of the Xiongnu, it was successively subordinated to the jurisdiction of the Xianbei, Rouran, Turkic, Tiele, Gelulu, Tangasi, Khitan and other ethnic groups. During the Song Dynasty, it was mainly controlled by tribes such as the Nai barbarians, and during the Yuan Dynasty, it was under the control of the Mongols. During the Ming Dynasty, it belonged to Western Mongolia. During the Qing Dynasty, the Outer Mongolia region was managed by the Kulun Affairs Minister, the Dingbian Left Deputy General, and the Counselor Minister of Kobdo, which was equivalent to three administrative units in the Outer Mongolia region. In 1761, the Qing government created The Minister of Counsellor Kobdo, who was responsible for administering Kobdo and Altay, under the control of General UriaSutai (the highest military and political governor in outer Mongolia in the Qing Dynasty).
Natural scenery in Altay
With the decline of the late Qing Dynasty, the expanding Tsarist Empire stared at large areas of land on the northwest frontier of the Qing Dynasty and began to use various opportunities to force the Qing government to cede land. In 1864, Russia forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the Treaty on the Survey and Division of the Northwest Frontier, which set aside 440,000 square kilometers of land on the northwest frontier, of which about a third belonged to General Ulyasutai, including part of the Altay region in the broad sense. Russia later established the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic here. In 1907, the Qing government decided to divide Kobdo and Altay (that is, the original Kobdo was divided into two parts, Kobdo and Altay), of which Altay set up a "Special Area of Altai", and the capital was Chenghua Temple, which was directly under the central government.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > outer Mongolia became independent, trying to incorporate Kobdo and Altay into the map</h1>
In October 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out, the Qing Dynasty collapsed and the Republic of China was established, taking advantage of this great prosperity, at the end of 1911, the Living Buddha Jebtsundamba of Outer Mongolia, at the instigation of the Tsarist Empire, declared himself emperor in Kulun and declared independence from China. The last Ulyasutai general, Kuifang, was expelled, and the situation in Outer Mongolia deteriorated dramatically. According to the territory outlined by the Tsarist Empire for the "Mongol State", of course, the Khalkha Mongol League should be the mainstay, and if conditions permit, the Kobdo and Altai regions in the western part of Outer Mongolia should also be included. To achieve this goal, the Outer Mongolian authorities repeatedly sent emissaries to the Kobdo and Altai regions to lobby the local Mongol princes in an attempt to persuade them to break away from China. However, the local Turgut Mongols rejected this "proposal" and were still willing to remain in The Chinese territory.
In May 1912, in order to achieve the goal of controlling Kobdo and Altai, at the instigation of Tsarist Russia, the Outer Mongolian authorities gathered more than 4,000 soldiers and horses and marched into Kobdo under the leadership of the black lamas Danbi Gyaltsen and Marx Erzab, and Kobdo Counselor Pu Kun led hundreds of officers and soldiers to hold the city and sent messengers to Ask for help from Yang Zengxin, the governor of Xinjiang. At this time, the Beiyang government can only count on Yang Zengxin, and it is Yang Zengxin who controls the future and destiny of the Altay region at this time, which can be described as a fortunate thing for China.
Yang Zengxin
Yang Zengxin was a capable member, and Sven Hedin made this assessment of him: "Yang Zengxin is knowledgeable, far-sighted, ambitious, and flexible, and if he grows up in European society, he must be a great figure." "He is the last typical figure representing China's old society, old culture, old morality, and old traditions, and he has a natural sense of responsibility and mission for the country's territory, and he is also deeply aware of the extreme importance of defending Kobdo and Altay to stabilize Xinjiang."
Yang Zengxin decided to send troops to Kobdo and rush to kobdo's aid, but was fiercely opposed by the shogunate. Aides believe that sending troops to Kobdo at this time is futile and fruitless, and that it will not only fail to change Kobdo's fate, but will also lead to disaster in Xinjiang. However, known as "Zuo Zongtang Second" by later generations, Yang Zengxin, the new governor of Xinjiang, a traditional scholar-born scholar and doctor, believed that If Altay exists, Xinjiang can be guaranteed, and if Altay dies, Xinjiang will be difficult to survive alone.
Therefore, Yang Zengxin defied the consensus and decided to send troops to assist Kobdo. However, at that time, Xinjiang's people's strength was scarce and financial resources were insufficient, and most of the required funds needed to be "co-paid" by various provinces to cope. After the establishment of the Republic of China, the provinces fell into chaos, relying on the financial support of other provinces to continue, the Xinjiang government was in financial difficulties, and the troops were facing difficulties. At this time, fortunately, the 50,000 Xiangping silver sent by The Hunan overseer Tan Yanmin, Yang Zengxin took out half of it and used it as a military aid for Kobudo. Yang Zengxin chose the Mongol Prince Paletta as the commander-in-chief of the aid of Kobdo, leading more than 4,000 people into Kobdo.
In the process of marching, the Xinjiang reinforcements encountered various difficulties, the former governor Yuan Dahua's subordinate Wang Peilan did not cooperate, and the Ili Revolutionary Party reinforcements mutinied due to the grain and salary problem. Under the persuasion of Yang Zengxin to "fight against the Mongol bandits with all his might and put the national righteousness first", they were finally resolved, but due to the long distance, when the reinforcements approached Kobdo, they learned that the city of Kobdo had been captured by the Outer Mongolian army on August 20, and Pu Kun was forced by the Tsarist Russia to "recognize That Kobdo as a territory of Outer Mongolia" and was repatriated to the interior. Yang Zengxin sent a telegram to the central government to prepare to retake the city of Kobdo, but due to the intervention of Tsarist Russia and the limited strength of our own country, it could not be achieved.
After the Outer Mongolian army captured Kobdo, it continued to prepare to the west to capture Altay, and the central government sent a telegram ordering the Xinjiang reinforcements to turn to Aid Altay. In October 1912, reinforcements sent by Yang Zengxin arrived at Tsakhantunggu, which was located at the southern foothills of the Altai Mountains, and its strategic location was important, which was an important passage for Outer Mongolia to capture Altay. Around this area, in June 1913, the two armies broke out of war, xinjiang reinforcements won two victories, but because of the fear of Tsarist Russia's intervention in the incident, because Tsarist Russia issued a diplomatic note as early as the end of March 1913: "The Chinese army must not cross the north of the Altai Mountains", the Beiyang government ordered the Xinjiang army not to take advantage of the victory to pursue.
Due to the imminent outbreak of a major war in Europe at this time, Tsarist Russia was unwilling to open up a battlefield in the Asian region, coupled with the fact that the younger brother Outer Mongolia army was very indisputable, on November 5, 1913, China and Russia signed the "Sino-Russian Declaration Document" in Beijing, and Tsarist Russia recognized that the Altai region did not belong to the jurisdiction of Outer Mongolia, which guaranteed from the legal level that even if Outer Mongolia became independent from China again in the future, the Altay region would remain in China's territory.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" > was transferred to Xinjiang, and Altay remained in China forever</h1>
After the outbreak of the First World War, Tsarist Russia had no time to take care of the Asian region, the Russian army withdrew from Outer Mongolia, and the outbreak of the "October Revolution" made Russia's control over Outer Mongolia decline. Although Outer Mongolia once declared independence, due to internal contradictions, it quickly abolished its independence and changed it to "autonomy", and the Chinese central government at this time only enjoyed the status of "suzerainty", and Outer Mongolia was beyond its reach.
In August 1918 and January 1919, Chen Yi, the envoy of Kulundu (the highest military and political commander stationed in Outer Mongolia), twice wrote to the Beiyang government, expounding the necessity of Altai's transfer to Xinjiang from the perspectives of economy, military, resources, location and social development, and discussing in detail the "Ten Benefits" of transferring Altai to Xinjiang, as well as the "two dangers" of internal and external troubles faced by Altai.
In Xinjiang, in 1918, at the instigation of the Mongol Prince Palta and others, the three ministries of Mongolia to which Altay belonged were jointly submitted to Xinjiang by the prince Belle, and submitted to the government of the Republic of China, requesting that Altay be transferred to Xinjiang and changed to Xinjiang Ashan Road. After receiving the opinion that the local Mongol tribes were willing to submit, Yang Zengxin also wrote to the Beiyang government to express the idea of Altai's incorporation into Xinjiang, but at this time, the Beiyang government was busy with internal factional struggles and still did not comment.
However, a mutiny accelerated the process of Altay's conversion. In 1919, due to insufficient military pay, the Altai garrison mutinied, occupied the Altai Office at Chenghua Temple, and telegraphed the whole country to declare "independence". When the news came, the whole country was shocked, and Yang Zengxin ordered the supplementary Dao Yin Zhouwuxue to quickly go to Altai to appease the rebels, and in the name of going out to discuss matters, he trapped his leader and shot him on the spot, quelling the Altai Mutiny. This mutiny made the Beiyang government begin to pay attention to the status of Altay.
On June 1, 1919, the Beiyang government officially announced the abolition of the Office of the Governor of Altai, the establishment of Ashan Road in the Altay region and its incorporation into the jurisdiction of Xinjiang, stationed in Chenghua Temple (now Altai Town, Altai City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region), with 2 administrative bureaus under its jurisdiction, and 1 league, 3 departments, and 10 banners. In 1924, it had jurisdiction over 4 counties, 1 administrative bureau, 1 league, 3 departments, and 10 banners. In June 1924, it was renamed Ashan District. Altay has remained in China ever since.
In the late Qing Dynasty, due to the weakening of national strength, the Qing government was no longer able to take care of the frontier areas. Around the time of the Xinhai Revolution, upper-class figures in Outer Mongolia, instigated by Tsarist Russia, declared independence and tried to bring Kobdo and Altay under their control. Yang Zengxin, then the governor of Xinjiang, proceeded from the overall situation, vigorously defied the public opinion, sent troops to assist Kobdo and Altay, and under the interference of the Tsarist and Beiyang governments, although he did not recover Kobdo, which was occupied by the Outer Mongolian authorities, he defeated the Outer Mongolian army that tried to march into Altay, defended the Altay region, and forced Tsarist Russia to recognize that Altay did not belong to the jurisdiction of Outer Mongolia. In order to completely retain Altay in the territory of China, Yang Zengxin, together with other patriots, repeatedly called for the transfer of Altay to Xinjiang, forming a established jurisdiction and completely cutting off Outer Mongolia's non-division of Altay's thoughts. Eventually, the Beiyang government agreed to incorporate the Altay region into Xinjiang to date. As a warlord figure who ruled Xinjiang for 17 years, although Yang Zengxin also had the act of killing revolutionaries, yang Zengxin, who was deeply influenced by traditional culture and was born as a scholar, inherited Zuo Zongtang's legacy and successfully preserved altai, a strategically important frontier land, and indirectly preserved Xinjiang, which is a great credit.
However, it is a pity that Yang Zengxin did not get a good death. In July 1928, when the Nationalist government had basically unified the whole country, Yang Zengxin was planning to send a telegram to recognize the Nanjing government, and on July 7, 1928, Fan Yaonan, then the director of the Xinjiang Military Affairs Department and Dihua Daoyin, killed Yang Zengxin at the first graduation ceremony of the Xinjiang Russian Law and Politics School, and shot Yang Zengxin to death, yang Zengxin was 66 years old.
After Yang Zengxin's death, due to the endless war, the body was transferred to the interior through Soviet Siberia and buried on the north side of the Nansha River in Shahe Town, Changping District, a northern suburb of Beijing.