Speaking of Charcili, many people in China will be very unfamiliar, and not many people even know about its region, Xinjiang Province.
It is precisely because of people's strangeness that it shows its mystery, which is like a "paradise" and is known as "China's last pure land and rare natural gene pool". Looking back at history, Charles was only taken back by our country in 1998, how was it lost and recovered at that time?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > everyone is drunk and awake - Zuo Zongtang</h1>
Today, both from the perspective of geography and biodiversity, Charcili is a place to protect. However, in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, due to the weakness and incompetence of the Qing court, this land was ceded to Tsarist Russia as part of the "concession" part of the regulations on the loss of power and humiliation.
Xinjiang, the largest province in China, was in chaos in the mid-19th century under the influence of the Taiping Rebellion and the Shaanxi-Gansu Hui rebellion.
In 1865, just as the Qing government gathered the strength of the whole country to quell the Taiping Rebellion. Just when there was a respite, in the northwest of China, Agubai, known as the "Butcher of Central Asia", invaded Xinjiang, China, with the encouragement and support of the British, and defeated tens of thousands of Qing troops defending the city with only more than a thousand iron horses.
On the one hand, Agubai burned and looted the local area, forcing the local people to convert to Islam. Taxes were increased and colonial rule began. On one side, the Tsarist government sent troops to occupy Ili, and by 1870, 1.6 million square kilometers of Xinjiang were occupied by Tsarist Russia and Agubai.
At this time, it was already the middle and late period of the Qing Dynasty, and since the Opium War opened the closed door, the great powers began to divide China. At this time, the Qing Dynasty was invaded on both the east and west sides of the country, so there was a dispute between "coastal defense" and "sai defense" within the imperial court. Simply put, it is the dispute between sea power and land power.
Needless to say, there were many important places of commerce and trade along the coast, and the importance of a region in Xinjiang was not agreed upon by all imperial court officials at that time. Within the imperial court, officials such as Zuo Zongtang realized that the situation in Xinjiang was very serious, that the forces of Agubai and Tsarist Russia had taken root here, and that if they did not use force to reclaim Xinjiang now, they would probably not have this ability in the future.
Officials who advocate "coastal defense" can be said to have "near-term worries" but lack "far-sightedness"; they see the "current situation" in Xinjiang: deserts, long roads, barren land, sparse population, spending a lot of financial resources of the Qing government but not showing their due "value". First, all energy was invested in the east, and the other was not to fight with Russia and Britain.
It didn't sound unreasonable, but at that time, there was a man who was more far-sighted than everyone else, and he was Zuo Zongtang, who had made great contributions to the recovery of Xinjiang.
In 1875, Zuo Zongtang, who was supervising the western expedition, handed a letter to the Qing court and stated his views. His vision can be described as thoughtful, and he does not simply advocate "coastal defense" or "Cypriot defense", but analyzes the Xinjiang issue from an overall perspective. Roughly speaking, he elaborated on the necessity of recovering Xinjiang from five aspects:
First of all, if Xinjiang is lost, the border defense of the Qing court can only retreat to Ximenguan, where the land is barren and the climate is harsh, and it is difficult to achieve "tuntian cultivation war". If Ximen Pass becomes a border guard and troops are stationed here, then all military supplies will have to be transferred from the Central Plains, and the distance is inconvenient, and this garrison is bound to become a burden on the interior.
Second, although Xinjiang is vast and sparsely populated, it is the best barrier to stop Western forces from advancing eastward. If this treasure land is occupied, it means that the iron hooves of the great powers can easily go all the way to the east and then occupy the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, at which time the hinterland of the Central Plains will be threatened, and the land will be in turmoil and the people will not be able to survive.
Third, although Xinjiang has deserts, its western part has areas with abundant products and fertile soil, and in the inland far from the sea, those who have water sources have the world, and they have defended this place, and the local area can be completely self-sufficient and save a lot of military salaries, at least much better than guarding the Ximen Pass.
Fourth, the Qing court was able to achieve a century of stability in Xinjiang, mainly thanks to the "three mountains and two basins" terrain, the advantage of this terrain is "easy to defend and difficult to attack", just like a gate in the northwest of China. Now that Russia is getting stronger, we should be more prepared. In the case of Xinjiang being defended, the favorable terrain of the vast and sparsely populated territory made Russia dare not act rashly, and it was easier for us to defend the hinterland.
Western countries invade our country, their main purpose is to obtain economic benefits, followed by the occupation of land, after all, to occupy the land, we must consider the issue of town guard and rule, these are things that consume the government's manpower, material resources and financial resources, if we reach a cooperation agreement with them and ensure their interests, presumably they will not go to great lengths to attack China.
Once a war is launched, it will have a great impact on the commercial activities currently being carried out, and the original trade policy may also be invalidated, which will not be beneficial to them, and they will certainly not want to lose their vested interests in China. In this way, it is imperative to recover Xinjiang.
Zuo Zongtang's exposition, under the circumstances at that time, had to be said to be very far-sighted, he attached equal importance to "coastal defense" and "Sai defense", and the more imminent insight of "Sai defense" was deeply supported by Wen Xiang, a major minister of the imperial court, and under Wen Xiang's appeal, there was soon the support of some enlightened ministers, and the Qing government finally made up its mind to recover Xinjiang, so in 1875 zuo Zongtang was appointed to Xinjiang to take charge of the military affairs of recovering Xinjiang.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > the loss of Charles</h1>
Recovering Xinjiang can be said to be the only feat in the humiliating history of the late Qing Dynasty. But even this can not completely extinguish the fact that the Qing government lost power and humiliated the country, although the battle to recover Xinjiang won back most of the territory of Xinjiang, but Charcili was lost in the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty. Zuo Zongtang, who was 64 years old at the time, carried the coffin all the way to show his determination to recover the territory in one fell swoop.
Zuo Zongtang of the Old Ji Futuo adopted the battle plan of "first north and then south", that is, to recover northern Xinjiang first and then southern Xinjiang. The reason for this, Zuo Zongtang has his reasons, the terrain of northern Xinjiang is vast, the land is fertile, after preemptively occupying here, the supply of troops can be replenished locally, so that it can be adjusted as soon as possible to restore combat capabilities.
In terms of specific tactics, Zuo Zongtang, who was scheming and calculating, adopted the strategy of "slowly advancing in a rapid battle," and the purpose of "slow advance" was to give the army enough time to make preparations for the war, and to go all the way to raise military salaries, hoard grain and grass, and train soldiers.
And they planted poplar trees all the way, leaving three thousand willows in the desolate northwest. No wonder some people wrote poems praising him at that time: "Three thousand miles of newly planted willows have attracted the spring wind to the jade pass." The so-called "urgent battle" means that when the battle starts, it is unexpectedly and quickly decided to quickly recover the lost land.
From June to November 1876, Zuo Zongtang's troops successfully recaptured the northern Xinjiang region occupied by Agubai, and in the winter, he ordered the army to suspend its march and recuperate.
In the spring of the following year, Zuo Zongtang led a large army to southern Xinjiang, all the way to the success, and finally in January 1878 all the recovery of the southern Xinjiang region, this feat of a year and a half of xinjiang collection caused a sensation at the time, the British commented that Zuo Zongtang's western expeditionary army was "basically similar to the army of a European power". After the defeat, Agubai committed suicide in despair.
After the elimination of Agubai's power, the Ili region of Xinjiang was still occupied by Tsarist Russia. At that time, the national strength was very different, Zuo Zongtang did not dare to rush to war, his fear was not unreasonable, at that time, Russia, and the support of Britain, even if his army won the war, it is not easy to say that it will usher in a greater invasion after the western powers join forces.
Therefore, after weighing it up again and again, Zuo Zongtang played the imperial court: for the Ili issue, he did not dare to use force hastily, and suggested that the imperial court send officials to use diplomatic means to solve it.
Because the employment policy at that time was "Fenghao Old Family", that is, the use of Manchu magnates, so in July 1878, Guanyan Chonghou was sent to negotiate with Tsarist Russia, in the eyes of the Qing court, Guanyan Chonghou was a rare person who had ever appeared in foreign affairs, and must be a diplomatic talent.
The result was very humiliating, and The complete Yan Chonghou, who did not understand diplomacy, did not carefully study the negotiation plan, and only looked at the first article of the treaty, "Willing to return Ili to China", and did not look at it anymore, and hastily signed the humiliating "Treaty of Livadia": Tsarist Russia returned Ili, but acquired a large area of territory on the east side of Ili, and Russian merchants went to Xinjiang, Mongolia and other places to do business all tax-free, opening Tianjin, Hankou, Xi'an and other land trade ports.
That is to say, except for the nominal recovery of Ili, in fact the momentum of Russian control over Ili and even northwest China has increased unabated. After the signing of such a treaty of mourning power and humiliating the country, not only did domestic public opinion rebuke Yan Chonghou for mourning his rights and insulting the country, but even the Qing government ordered that Chonghou be dismissed from his post and strictly punished, convicted and imprisoned, and beheaded after the autumn. However, Chonghou spent 300,000 silver to buy a life and lived until 1893.
Later, the Qing government sent Zeng Jize, the eldest son of Zeng Guofan, to negotiate, and Zeng Jize was not willing to show weakness, his attitude was tough, and he argued according to reason, this negotiation was a rare victory in the diplomatic history of the late Qing Dynasty, and he let Russia spit out what was imported.
So in February 1881 and the Qing government signed the "Sino-Russian Ili Treaty", although this is still an unequal treaty, but compared to the treaty signed by Chonghou, this has been considered to have recovered some benefits, of course, Russia occupies more than 70,000 square meters of land in China, including Charcili, since then, Charcili has been outside the territory of the motherland.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > lost and recovered ecological treasure trove</h1>
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union more than a hundred years later and the establishment of the United Nations in Kazakhstan, China was a powerful and rising country instead of a hundred years ago.
Kazakhstan, as a newly independent small country in Central Asia, urgently needs to establish good diplomacy with neighboring powers, so in 1998 Kazakhstan took the initiative to establish diplomatic relations with China, as a gift, Kazakhstan returned 220 square kilometers of territory in the Charsiri region and 5800 hectares of land in Alashankou to China, and a hundred years later, Charsiri was able to officially return to the embrace of the motherland.
The Chinese people are very unfamiliar with Charcili, because it has long belonged to the military dispute area, sparsely populated, its total area is about 314 square kilometers, of which the west is the middle and high mountain belt, the central part is the middle and low mountainous areas, and the east is the low mountains and the desert plain Gobi Belt.
In the past hundred years or so, this land has disappeared from the territory of our country due to historical reasons, and it was not until more than 20 years ago that our country was transferred back from Kazakhstan during the border survey with Kazakhstan.
CCTV once filmed documentaries here, labeling Charcili as "the last clean land", which, although sparsely populated, is a paradise for animals and plants, and is really a rare treasure for modern biological science research.
According to the survey, it retains the extremely rare primitive mountain ecosystem in Xinjiang and even the whole country, and the animal and plant resources are very rich, which is the concentrated distribution area of rare biological species in China. There are more than 40 species of wild animals under national key protection such as antelope, pan sheep, brown bears, snow leopards and other wild animals under national key protection, including extremely precious species such as saiga antelope.
Located in the northern mountains of Bole City, Xinjiang, Charcili is just over the Alatau Mountains, and first-time visitors will be attracted and shocked by the more than 100 kinds of wildflowers blooming on the meadows here. It seems to be a human wonderland: the mountains are full of flowers, bees and butterflies are dancing, and under the background of the jungle, snow peaks, white clouds, and blue sky, the world is full of purple and red, forming a beautiful brocade.
And its beauty is not only purple and red, walking into the hinterland, you will find a green world that cannot be described in words, and the warm climate makes the herbs of Charcili like a huge green carpet. In spring, summer, autumn and winter, Charcili shows magnificent beauty in each season, and visitors who come here listen to the feelings of the soul and the call of the wild, and the body and mind seem to become pure after being washed by nature.
The road into Charlesiri is not easy to walk, the winding roads are winding and narrow, the off-road vehicles drive along one-way lanes, and in the valley, there is an endless abyss at a glance. And the more the car drives to the mountain, the steeper the road, rising vertically from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain for more than 1,600 meters, but in such a steep, hidden in the beauty of nature.
Along the winding road, you can not only see the so-called "desert smoke and smoke" scenery, but also appreciate the green world of "Yerba Buena Parrot Island", and the unknown scenery makes you full of surprises and expectations all the time.
In order to protect such a spiritual land, the officers and soldiers of the Bortala Military Sub-district in Xinjiang have long shouldered the heavy responsibility of guarding the tranquility of the border, and they are the "ecological guardians" of Charcili.
There are only two kinds of buildings in the Charcili region: the outpost of the army and the ranger of the protected area, they are the residents of this green treasure house, according to statistics, the total population here is only 46 people, the population density is about 0.1 people per square kilometer, these young officers and soldiers and forest rangers, with their youth stationed in the border of the motherland, stationed in this lost treasure land.