Ge Jianxiong: The other side of the great power of the Celestial Empire

Although we used to hear how Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Kangxi, and Qianlong expanded their territory, and how vast the territory of ancient China was, such as the Tang Dynasty, which stretched from Korea in the east, the Aral Sea in the west, Lake Baikal in the north, and Vietnam in the south, and so on. However, it is generally thought that only when the country is weakened will it lose its territory, and only when a strong enemy presses the territory will it cede land and pay compensation, but they will not think of the other side of the great power of the Celestial Empire - in order to maintain the dignity of the "co-lord of the world", the emperor can unconditionally reward his territory to the surrounding subject countries, and some territories that have long belonged to China have become foreign countries today. The shape of modern Chinese territory has changed from a begonia leaf to a rooster, and it is not without this reason.

Not to mention far away, let's take the incident of Emperor Yongzheng, who has been hyped up by TV in recent years, as an example!

During the change of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Qing Dynasty was busy eliminating the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, and the Southern Ming Dynasty was in decline, which was difficult to sustain, and both sides had no time to take care of the border. Until the Qing Dynasty destroyed the Southern Ming Dynasty, Ping San Domain, and Taiwan, the political situation was stable, and entered the "Kangyong Prosperous Era", and the Annan Li Dynasty destroyed the Gaoping Mo clan and became a legitimate subject of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was satisfied with the "deference" of its subjects and the peace of affairs on the border, and never pursued the change of the border line of the previous dynasty, and actually recognized the status quo. However, Annam was resentful of the return of part of the land by the Mo regime to the Ming Dynasty and had always wanted to "recover". It's just that because of the strength of the Qing Dynasty, they didn't dare to act rashly, so they could only take the method of waiting for an opportunity to encroach.

In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), due to the mining of the copper mine in Fengchunli, Kaihua Prefecture, the Yunnan authorities checked the boundaries and found that Liuzhai in Xielu Village, which originally belonged to China, outside Ma Boxun, was encroached upon by Annan, so they sent Feng Yunzhong, the chief soldier of Kaihua Town, to investigate. According to Feng Yunzhong's report: "I personally went to the 129 miles below the lead factory in Duryu Factory, and found out that 34 villages, including Nanwolf, Mengkang, and Nanding, were also villages in the mainland, and were occupied by Jiaolu (the old name of Annam), not only six villages such as Madujia. According to the "Records of Kaihua Prefecture" and the words of the natives, it is a small stream in the old boundary under the mountain of this lead factory, that is, it is a gambling curse river. But this stream is so small that it should not be referred to as a river where it is separated from foreign countries. Re-check the "Yunnan Tongzhi Tukao" published in the 240 miles of Kaihua to Jiaolu Gambling Curse River as the boundary, because of the careful questioning of the local people over the capital of the factory more than 100 miles there is a big river, now the Jiaolu people call it the Anbian River, to the Taoist is exactly 240 miles, this side is the gambling curse river, this is the boundary of the party to meet." Gao Qizhuo, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Li Wei, the political envoy of Yunnan, deeply felt that "the copper mine matter is small, but the territory matter is big", so they played the Qing court in the spring of the third year of Yongzheng. Gao Qizhuo said that the Ming Dynasty had lost more than 120 li of land, but it was not known exactly when, and Yongzheng lost more than 40 li in more than 40 years three years ago. These circumstances were well known to the local magistrates, "those who have always known but not spoken about it, because the Duryu Factory produced silver and copper extensively, and because both the interior and foreign Yi were engaged in mining, the goods were easily consumed, and there were many traders, and the general army set up flood inspections to secretly extract personal gains." Due to the encroachment and occupation of the village of Neixilu at the foot of the lead factory (Xiaobaihe in the west of present-day Dulong, Maguan County) by Annam, the area under Vietnam's de facto control had penetrated into Chinese territory several miles away from Ma Bo Sum (present-day Maguan County). Gao Qizhuo advocated that "if the old boundary is used, the realm of 240 miles should be completely recovered, and the second factory of Jiaolu and Nandan are all in it", but he also predicted: "Jiaolu relies on this second factory for great profit, and it will be resisted, and it will be said that the ministers will try to make their mineral profits." At the same time, Gao Qizhuo sent Feng Yunzhong to lead the army to erect a monument and demarcate the boundary in Ma'anshan in Xielu Village, and send troops to garrison it. Sure enough, Annan also submitted a report on the matter in the name of the king.

Yongzheng's instructions surprised the ministers:

The way to govern the world, to divide the territory and the soft distance, the soft distance is particularly important. And the way of softness, to fear the power and Huaide comparison, Huaide is particularly important. According to Songdu Ryu, Nandan and other places in the Ming Dynasty have been owned by the Annan Kingdom for a long time, and non-Iraq dared to occupy it in our dynasty. The Annan Kingdom has been submissive and commendable for generations, and it should be rewarded, so why should it compete with the land that has been lost for a long time? And if the land is favorable, how can the Celestial Empire compete with the small states for profit? If it is not profitable, then why should it fight. The only way to live in my heart is to be honest and upright, and to regard both China and foreign countries as innocent, and the two places bordering each other are the most suitable place, and to gather them quietly, not in vain to secure the people, but also to settle the people, that is, to take the creek as the boundary, why should it hurt?

Yongzheng's meaning is very clear, these lands were occupied by Annan in the Ming Dynasty, not taken from the Qing Dynasty, and did not hurt the dignity of the Qing Dynasty. Annan is "obedient for many generations," and the reward is not enough, so why bother with a small amount of land? Yongzheng regards himself as the "co-master of the world" and believes that both sides are his own people. If the disputed area is favorable, how can the Celestial Empire compete with the small state for profit? If it is not profitable, why should it fight? In short, let Annan occupy it.

Gao Qizhuo's "sacred heart of the emperor who looks up to the emperor and is upright, and sees both China and foreign countries", naturally did not dare to have "the idea of greedy profit and good fortune", and had to give up the plan to recover all the lost territory and withdraw to the Qing army stationed in Xielu Village. However, he believes that "within the creek at the foot of the lead factory, there is a grain amount to rely on in the soil field, and there is a pond foundation to rely on in the territory, and it has only been lost for more than 40 years, and there are many people in the other place who know it, so the creek should be the boundary." At the end of the third year of Yongzheng, he was ordered to inform Annan: "Spread Huangren from the territory beyond the small river at the foot of the lead factory, and Annan will not be cleared", and sent Pan Yunmin, the prefect of Guangnan, to the border to survey the boundary between the two sides with Hu Piji, a member of the Annan boundary survey committee, and Wu Gongzai. In the process of demarcating the boundary, Pan Yunmin insisted on taking the small river at the foot of the lead factory mountain as the boundary, citing the chronicles, grain books, and "the people of Liuzhai (in Fengchunli) are now dressed in narrow-sleeved clothes"; Hu and Wu "insisted that this place was the old territory of the Islamic State" and refused to return the Liuzhai they had invaded, and the two sides continued to dispute. In the fourth year of Yongzheng, Gao Qizhuo, who was about to be transferred to the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian, played Yongzheng, saying that it was "difficult to tolerate silence" about the situation, and asked the successor to continue to negotiate.

According to his successor, Ortai, Pan Yunmin and Wu Gongzai had already surveyed that "it is only 129 miles from the lead factory mountain stream to Kaihua Mansion", and it is obviously not "the so-called gambling curse river in ancient times". Because the Chinese side has "received an edict and has a glimpse of the situation in the lead factory mountain, the two mountains are high and the river runs through the middle, and the two mountains are in danger and the Chinese and foreign countries are completely clear, and they have established a boundary in the vicinity because of the discussion, and they no longer seek deeply", but instead of "being grateful to heaven" and "fearing the future" for the major concessions made by the Chinese side, Annan "wants to merge with the interior of the mountain and takes advantage of it." He believed that "the territory of the mainland country is as vast as the sunrise in the sea, and the black bullets are not important." However, Annan did not appreciate the emperor's "benevolence in life," "a slight lack of deference," and "fear of authority but not virtue," and advocated "setting up boundaries to subdue his heart, and restraining his troops to deter his courage."

However, in the summer of that year, Ortai received an edict from Yongzheng to the king of Annan, allowing the demarcation of the border under the lead mountain. He had no choice but to follow Yongzheng's intentions and claim that Annan "did not disobey him," but because Li Wei "used the excuse of inspecting the mining plant as an excuse, he was not in general, so he was taken lightly"; although Gao Qizhuo "acted tactfully and hoped to convince his heart," the king of Annan "did not believe it more and more, thinking that it was absolutely not a holy idea," so that he "hesitated to disobey." He believed that once "the day when King Annam was enshrined," he would inevitably "regret himself and abide by it."

Soon after, the king of Annam sent a letter to Ortai, saying that when Pan Yunmin surveyed the border, he "aided one or two nong people to rent and trace duckweed, and pointed out that they were inland native households; and he also cited the manuscript chronicles without any evidence of floodland" as evidence, and he complained that Annan was "the light of the sun and the moon did not shine under the raspberry", and expressed his belief that Emperor Yongzheng would be deceived by the local officials in Yunnan and let the "plot of civilization to occupy (the territory of Annam)" succeed. Sure enough, that is, "the members went to the sky to listen to the heavens and beg for relief." Although Ortai had attributed the blame for the dispute to Li Wei and Gao Qizhuo's mishandling, he was surprised that Annan, who had "no disobedience," would react in such a way. Emperor Yongzheng was even more surprised by this, and when he received the letter, he criticized "incomprehensible, unreasonable, I didn't expect him to be so obsessed!" and then approved Ortai's suggestion to "set up a boundary at the foot of the lead factory mountain as soon as possible", but "it is not allowed to inflict less humiliation, and it is not allowed to bring soldiers with him, so that Peter can make excuses, and the scale must be magnificent to be observant, and the project must be solid and long-lasting"; he also repeatedly told Ortai that Nan Tianxiang, the chief soldier of Kaihua Town, was "more than clever" and that it was inevitable that "he was young and unfamiliar" and "he should not be allowed to specialize in everything", so as not to cause conflicts due to improper handling.

Ortai was instructed to reply to the king of Annam, and refuted it on the basis of reason, pointing out that the "Yunnan Tongzhi" quoted by the Chinese side was an official revision, which was no different from the classic book that "the ancient princes relied on to defend their feudal territory", and could be used as a basis. It's just that the emperor "remembered that your country was obedient for many generations, specially gifted, and frequently issued warm decrees, and then withdrew the personnel stationed in Xielu Village, and then restored to the lead factory 80 miles outside the mountain", Annan should be "grateful and happy, respectfully obeyed", but first "invaded the territory and crossed the territory", and then "arrogant and rude", so "even if the holy grace is lenient and still wants to be whole", he is "responsible for the closure of the territory", and it is difficult to "forbear", and when it is absolutely necessary, "it is not allowed to treat each other with the whole army".

On the first day of the eighth month of the fourth year of Yongzheng, Pan Yunmin was ordered to build a border at the foot of the lead factory mountain, and he led the craftsmen and husbands to set up the banner of "building a boundary and building a pass by order", "advocating the raising of artillery and starting the ground"; while Nan Tianxiang was ordered to "concise and elite soldiers" and "not move". At first, the Annan side gathered more than 5,000 people at Duryu Pass, and then "added guns and cannons to camp on the opposite side of the lead factory mountain" and "set up additional card rooms," which made it seem like facing a great enemy; later, seeing that Pan Yunmin had waved the banner of "following orders" to build the pass, "the name is justified, and there is not a single soldier, and there is no excuse," he gradually withdrew his troops. On the 10th day of October, the new pass was completed, including 3 customs towers, 1 lookout room, 1 chimney pier, 4 forts and the wall of the gate, the wooden city, etc., the monument was erected in front of the pass, and the book "built the boundary of the Kaihua Mansion of Yunnan Province"; the big stone wall next to the pass was inscribed: "On the fourth day of the fifth month of the fourth year of Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, the boundary was established in the lead factory mountain, and the villages and villages within the river water flow were all in the middle earth, and the outer Yi was not allowed to cross the border to intrude. "Each village path and road erect six monuments, each book: Qin in the holy decree in the lead factory river area to establish a boundary and build a pass, all merchants come and go through the pass, not from the mountain path road privately, if you dare to disobey, the military service bundle to take the solution is not a loan." Emperor Yongzheng, who had always been worried that the establishment of customs and boundaries would lead to armed conflicts, was quite surprised when he learned of this incident, and Zhu criticized and said: "This matter is even more strange, and it is also out of my hope, and I laughed at it, but I still dare not believe it." He seems to have forgotten the basic fact that the land that Annan is fighting for originally belonged to China.

After the establishment of the border, Ortai and Nantianxiang consulted, and sent 100 officers and soldiers from the Kaihua town standard, led by a member of the garrison, stationed in Xinguan, the lead factory, and moved 100 Qing troops originally stationed in Majie to defend Ma'anshan. Considering that "the border areas of the outer feudal domains should be heavily pressurized, but when the border was initially demarcated and the pass was set up, the king of Annam was suspicious and fearful, and if Kaihua added troops to the pass, Annan would definitely increase the flood outside the pass, and prevent each other, or cause trouble", Ortai advocated that it was not appropriate to add troops outside the above-mentioned defense plan. This suggestion was quickly approved by Yongzheng, that is, he should still put good-neighborliness above all else, and prudently handle border affairs so as not to cause misunderstandings and conflicts.

At the beginning of the fifth year of Yongzheng, the king of Annam sent a letter to the governor of Liangguang, no longer criticizing the credibility of the chronicles, but quoting Gao Qizhuo and others out of context, confusing the big and small gambling curses, denying the reliability of the "tax book" and "Tangji", and changing his hardline attitude, only accusing the "invasion of territory and crossing the territory" and "condemnation of crimes" in the Ortai Consultative Speech, saying that "such words seem to be treated in a state that disobeys the order, and the body of the Holy Dynasty is soft, I am afraid that it is better to tolerate it" and request a presentation on behalf of the transcript. Therefore, the former Qing court had ordered the governor of Liangguang to be appeased, and if Annan requested the manuscript to be sent to the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou Ortai due to the border issue, "he should be sent to the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou Ortai to change his career", but he should still "treat his envoys with courtesy" when returning the concerto. The two Guangxi sides obeyed the order to return the manuscript and replied to enlighten: "My emperor is far away, and he is brave in all directions", and Annan "is favored by the world, Su Zhao is obedient, and the boundary should be calm, abide by the edict, and be sincere in everything."

Annan had to send a letter to Ortai asking for a turnaround, and his tone was more tactful, saying that "his country has always been submissive" and that he was not a "state that disobeyed his orders". Ortai sent back the manuscript and refuted it in a reply: "The Lile expedition came from the Son of Heaven, and the land was cut by the dynasty, and the people of the land were not privately owned, so the given was a vassal state, and the harvest was the king's land." Regardless of whether it is actually an invasion of Vietnam, fortunately the grace of Heshu will not be investigated, that is, it is not the mainland, and it wants to be included in the territory, so as to clear the territory and fight for peace?" He further quoted the full text of Gao Qizhuo's speech, refuted Annan's practice of "falsely extracting one or two sentences as evidence", and affirmed that he should have collected "240 miles of land as much as possible, but the edict has been issued, and he will not dare to violate it, and will tolerate it" in order to wait for the country to "rehabilitate" and advise Annan not to covet the size of the land and "forget the long-term plan of the country." Annan is like "a separate chapter for Chen Shengde, thanking God", he "from the present generation". When presenting the draft of Annan's letter and reply, Ortai told Yongzheng that if Annan "repents of his sins and complains, he should not make any arguments; if he still does not know how to change his ways, he will be as rebellious as before", that is, "on the one hand, on the one hand, on the other hand, he will reorganize the army, respectfully ask for the holy decree, and take Annan directly."

After receiving Ortai's reply and the return of the recital, Annan's attitude changed from justification to confrontation, in an attempt to arouse the dissatisfaction of the Qing court with the Yunnan magistrates. On June 16 of the fifth year of Yongzheng, Nan Tianxiang sent someone to bring the edict of Emperor Yongzheng to the capital of Annan, and its local official Huang Wensui said that "the king of the mainland is writing, and the official documents of the Heavenly Dynasty are not allowed to be accepted without permission, and the king dares to greet him." Moreover, the governor sent back this chapter to the mainland, and wrote a letter to apply for it, so the king of the mainland did not accept all the official documents of Yunnan", and refused to accept it. But he also said that he would send someone to ask the king, and it would be two months before he heard back. Nan Tianxiang immediately reported to Ortai: "My own flesh and blood martial artist will want to take Du Ryu directly, and his curtain will be instructed to strategize." Ortai, who has always advocated "both virtue and power," also suggested that if Annan still did not receive the edict two months later, then "the resistance to adversity is obvious, and the national system is closed, so how can we bear it?" However, he also believes that the matter of sending troops "can be achieved in a few months, and tens of thousands of troops will be paid millions of dollars, but they will not be able to defend their land and their people, and they will never dare to make great achievements." Still less dare "Meng Lang to engage in it." He advocated that the Guangdong side should openly inquire and secretly listen to the situation, in order to "make no mistake in the matter"; If Annan "apologizes for his sins and loses his sincerity, he will order the capital to divide the land in the middle of the land, intercept all walks of life, and then take the class teacher; if there is more disobedience, then add troops and select generals, and advance at the same time, which is bound to destroy the country and change the land.

Yongzheng's reflection is completely different. When he read that Nan Tianxiang wanted to take the capital directly, he instructed that "it cannot be done, and it cannot be done"; when he said that Ortai said that Annan would not welcome the edict for two months, that is, he would prepare for the use of troops to "resist adversity," he instructed: "It should be made clear that it should be held only if it is necessary to resist adversity"; but he could not bear to "restore the old system of the Han and Tang dynasties" in Annan, that is, to restore it to an administrative region under the direct rule of China. Yongzheng even thought that this matter was completely due to the improper handling of Gao Qizhuo and others, as long as it "did not damage the national body", it would be okay to give dozens of miles of land to Annan:

I am not the first in the world, the origin of this matter is in me, the day Gao Qizhuo held this matter, if the first please and move early without incident, should not be held at the same time, the original has not been heard, the country has arrived, I know also. And because of the rudeness of the first Annan Kingdom, and because of the fact that Gao Qiqi was very rude, and because he had no choice but to ask for the boundary of the Forty Mile Lead Factory River, he took over, and there was also a last resort. As soon as I saw the king's recital that day, I knew that this matter would be provoked, and then I played it several times, so I had an edict of "out of my hope". I plan two or four times, it is better to send an angel to affirm the righteousness of the matter, and there will be few disrespects, I should be forbearing, and then learn and enlighten in detail. If you must be obsessed with this size of territory, which is the land of Iraq for hundreds of years, and you should not do anything in theory, you will give him this dozens of miles of land, which will not affect the national body, but also show my benevolence? If the envoys sent to Yunnan Road, they were afraid that Yi would be too far away and would be useless, so I ordered to go to Yunnan and ask Qing about this plot one by one, so that Yi and others would go from Guangxi Road to the other side to give a lecture, so that they could be fine. At this time, you can only prepare for the things that are deducted, and you don't dare to do it; if you have this matter, you can only respond to it, and you can't take it directly. I am happy and contented in my life, and I don't have any harm to the affairs of the people, and I don't dare to think of great joy. If you can't bear to do anything, you will have a big plan, and if you are indulgent and indulgent, and if you have anything disrespectful and lawless, you can sue the gods and levy it. Now that is the matter of establishing the boundary, it can only be entrusted to the good, and the Qing is well informed, and it can be done in accordance with the order, and only the good is the right. This purpose was also secretly recorded with Hao Yulin and Nan Tianxiang, and they observed it.

However, the news of the "martial law in the north" had already made Annan "suspicious at home and abroad," and the ruling Zheng clan on the one hand "strictly punished the border officials not to act rashly," and on the other hand, they sent people to receive the edict and submitted the national letter to "the truth that the past words and deeds are afraid of the sky." On the sixth day of October in the fifth year of Yongzheng, Ruan Zhongyi, the right attendant of the Ministry of Industry of Annan, and Ruan Xiao, the waiting system of the Hanlin Academy, led more than 60 officials and more than 300 soldiers, "respecting the Dragon Pavilion and the guard of honor, forming a team out of the (Duryu) Pass, and greeting the decree of heaven". Huang Wensui, who refused to receive the edict at the beginning, was taken back as a scapegoat for punishment.

After Yongzheng heard the news, Zhu criticized "I am deeply pleased" on Ortai's recital, and instructed that "the Qin mission does not need to be sent", and Hang Yilu, the deputy envoy of the Qin mission, and Ren Lanzhi, the cabinet scholar, who had arrived in Kunming, stayed in Kunming temporarily. At the beginning of the sixth year of Yongzheng, King Annan's Chen Xie table was delivered to Yongzheng:

On the second day of the first month of December, the ministers received the edict, burned incense and read it, and liked and feared the merger. The Weichuan Prefecture of the Thief State borders the Kaihua Prefecture of Yunnan, and was originally bounded by the Gambling River, that is, the small river under Ma Boxun. Xuan Feng edict, ordering the withdrawal of personnel from Xielu Village and other places, do not discuss the place where the boundary is established, and look up to the mercy of the light, and the joy is endless. Now the edict is set in the lead factory mountain and small river boundary, the minister should not be afraid of the grace of preferential treatment, with insatiable hope, self-dry national code, the minister is close to the sky, deep wood valley. At present, the lead factory mountain has been set up by the prefect of Guangnan to close the gate, build houses, and erect boundary monuments. The ministers have been dedicated to the world, to the Holy Dynasty, and the Holy Zuren Emperor has been soft for more than 60 years. And the thin sea is not the land of the ministers, how dare the ministers of this forty miles mind, there is a look? Zi Helunyin, the message is sincere, the ministers feel the grace of the saints, and they are happy and happy, and they wish that all directions will give their lives, and the longevity will be boundless, and the holy dynasty will be peaceful for thousands of years, and the subjects will pay tribute for thousands of years.

Emperor Yongzheng thought that this article was "grateful and repentant, and the meaning of the words is pious", so he "gave the king a special grace and rewarded the king with forty miles of the land found out by the governors of Yunnan", and sent Hang Yilu and Ren Lanzhi to proclaim it; as for whether there is a difference between the big and small gambling curse rivers, and whether Annam has invaded Chinese territory, it is completely uninvestigated.

At this point, a four-year border dispute has effectively ended. Although even Ortai objected: "The country of Annan has been robbed repeatedly, and it has not been for many generations, so it has become a habit of greed and cunning. Today and Ming have invaded the inner territory, vainly thinking that the years are far away, and once they are questioned and turned against the evidence, they claim to be subdued, and they dare to be presumptuous, and they say that the chronicles of the Celestial Empire are not enough to rely on, and if you try to think about the existing chronicles in Yunnan, what has happened to the people on whom the country has relied on them? Although they have repeatedly complained and cannot clearly defend themselves, then their feelings and falsity can be known. Now that the land of 40 miles has been restored, it is still possible to retreat from the existing pass, and it has nothing to do with it, so who can theorize? The ministers are afraid that the nearby chieftains will follow suit, and they will inevitably provoke in a few decades. "But the decree has been made, and only the formalities have to be fulfilled.

Knowing that Hang Yilu and Ren Lanzhi were about to come to "give land", Han Liangfu, the governor of Guangxi, said that "I am grateful for the grace of heaven and overjoyed", and sent Fan Qianyi and others to "welcome the angels". On May 24, the sixth year of Yongzheng, Hang and Ren went out of the customs and arrived at the mansion accompanied by Annan officials. In this regard, Hang and Ren paid great attention to maintaining the dignity of the Celestial Empire, insisting on waiting for three kneels and nine prostrations. On June 16, in the ceremony of three kneeling and nine bowing, Hang Yilu read out the edict of "land grant", and the "land grant" officially took effect.

On 18 October, the two sides demarcated the border, and Wu Shikun, the prefect of the Kaihua Prefecture of the Yunnan Bureau, Wang Wudang, the guerrilla of the Zhongying of the Kaihua Town, and Ruan Huirun, the attendant of the Annan Military Department, and Ruan Gongyin, the Guozi Sacrifice Wine, respectively erected monuments on both sides of the small river outside Mabaixun, and the inscription on the north bank briefly described the process of "giving the land", which drew a successful end to this incident: "From now on, the border will be forever solid, and hundreds of millions of years will be rested in Futi. The inscription on the south bank does not accept this feeling, but only records that "the state boundary of Weichuan in Xuanguang Town, Annan Kingdom, is based on the gambling curse river".

Yongzheng's generosity "gift", the southern boundary of Yunnan Kaihua Mansion has shrunk by 120 miles, because of the difference in terrain, some sections are more than that. "From now on, the border will be forever solid", which is just wishful thinking of the Qing Dynasty, and soon the southern border disputes of Lin'an Province broke out again.

Naturally, we don't have to blindly blame Yongzheng, no matter what historians say, he is not an inactive emperor after all. However, in the minds of Yongzheng and the vast majority of civil and military officials at that time, the Qing Dynasty was the "world", the emperor was the co-lord of the world, and Annan and other countries were all vassals, but the emperor was unwilling to rule directly, so they could either take their land into the possession of the Celestial Empire (although in fact rarely did so), or give the land directly under the Celestial Empire to the vassals and let them guard the land for the Celestial Empire, called "Shou in Siyi". It is precisely because the dignity of the Celestial Empire and the obedience of the vassals are more important than the territory that in this dispute, Yongzheng and the ministers paid more attention to Annan's attitude. The reason why Ortai opposed Yongzheng's decision to "grant land" was mainly because he was concerned about Annan's future attitude and the consequences of "the nearby chieftain's efficiency was particularly effective". And once Yongzheng makes a decision, the ministers will only have the share of singing the praises of holiness. In a history of China's land loss, although most of them are the result of invasion and forcible occupation by foreign enemies, there are also generous rewards from the great powers of the Celestial Empire, or they are not taken seriously at all, so that a large number of territories are lost inexplicably, and it is not even clear how they were lost.

This is a historical lesson that we should always remember.

Source: "Ge Jianxiong's Collected Works"