Preface
Speaking of traitors in the history of the late Qing Dynasty, I believe that the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is Li Hongzhang, who signed the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" and other treaties that humiliated the country. But in fact, there is another traitor in Chinese history, he is Aixin Jueluo Yishan.
However, later generations have mixed reviews of Yishan's life, and because of Li Hongzhang's involvement, he has left very shallow traces in history, making people selectively forget this clan relative who aggravated the disaster of the Qing Dynasty.
1. Trust is there
Aixin Jueluo Yishan He is the nephew of Emperor Daoguang and the cousin of Emperor Xianfeng, and it can be said that his identity indicates his extraordinary life. No matter when the dynasty is xenophobic, "non-our race, its heart will be different", especially on the eve of the Opium War, when the Qing Dynasty was in crisis, compared with some Han generals, Daoguang naturally believed in the Qing Dynasty's clan more.
I have to say that Yishan still made a lot of military exploits for the Qing Dynasty when he was young, and of course, it is precisely because of this that Daoguang trusts him very much.
In the seventh year of Daoguang, Yishan went out to quell Zhang Ge's rebellion, and Yishan was promoted soon after the end, of course, it was precisely because of this battle that Yishan gradually came to Daoguang's eyes, and then released him.
still remembers the aforementioned that Yishan made great contributions in quelling the rebellion, so Daoguang asked Yishan to stay in Xinjiang to deal with the rest of the matter. And it has just experienced war, and Xinjiang at this time is also a mess. It is worth mentioning that Yishan made immortal achievements during his time in Xinjiang.
It not only helped the local people to restore their daily lives, but also cultivated hundreds of thousands of acres of land under his leadership. We all know the situation in Xinjiang, and most of Xinjiang during the Qing Dynasty was wasteland, which is why Li Hongzhang gave up Xinjiang back then.
I believe that this can also see the achievements made by Yishan in Xinjiang, and this alone is enough for him to be rewarded by Daoguang. Yishan's actions in Xinjiang are far more than that, and Yishan has also taken action to safeguard the integrity of China's territory. At that time, neighboring countries had been constantly harassing the border, and Yishan had repeatedly sent troops to defend against foreign enemies when he was in Xinjiang.
But it is worth mentioning that these achievements were all made when Yishan was young, and when the Opium War broke out, Yishan was already over half a hundred years old, and his energy and spirit were far less than back then.
Coming to 1840, when the First Opium War broke out, it goes without saying that Emperor Daoguang was an emperor who did not want to fight. But at this time, it is no longer possible to not fight. But who to let go is also a question, at this moment he remembered Yishan, who had made great achievements on the battlefield in Xinjiang, and Yishan and Daoguang were still related, which made Daoguang more at ease.
Entrusted with a heavy task by Daoguang, Yishan was also very excited, and when he was about to set off, Yishan also boasted to Daoguang that he would go to Haikou, and bluntly said that he would definitely beat the British army to nothing. He also appreciated his ambition and said bluntly that he would definitely succeed.
It can be said that some of the two of them at this time are too optimistic, whether it is Yishan or Daoguang. Daoguang is still a little naïve, the Qing army has been defeated and retreated, why would he believe that Yishan will definitely destroy the British army. After all, the gap between the two sides in weapons at that time was not small.
Yishan, who had made a military order in Daoguang, set off immediately, but after arriving in Guangzhou, Yishan forgot about the Haikou boasted in front of Daoguang in a blink of an eye. When he really arrived at the front line, Yishan clearly realized the strength of the British army, and watched the Qing army retreat step by step, and Yishan's heart began to be timid.
Second, the ability is not good
It can be said that after having a timid mentality, Yishan is even less concerned about the war. After that, I didn't go out, and I stayed in the house all day to enjoy myself, and there were still soldiers of the Qing army fighting bloodily on the frontline battlefield at this time.
If you don't go out, you don't have to do it, but why should you refuse when your colleagues ask for help? The veteran Guan Tianpei has repeatedly sent letters asking Yishan to send troops to help, but without exception Yishan refused. At this time, Yishan was in the rear, but he refused to send troops to aid Guan Tianpei on the grounds that the army wanted to protect him.
In the end, Guan Tianpei was isolated and helpless, and all the soldiers who were guarding Humen were killed.
It can be said that the people were most affected by the war, and the local army and the people watched the British army wantonly occupy their homeland and asked for their lives to go to the battlefield to resist the British army. But Yishan refused, and Lin Zexu, who heard about it, personally approached Yishan, hoping that he could agree to let the local army participate in the anti-Japanese war.
But not only was he rejected, but he was also reprimanded by Yishan, after all, in Yishan's opinion, the local army wanted to go to the battlefield with bad intentions and wanted to rebel. In the subsequent compromises to Daoguang, Yishan even described the Guangdong army as the enemy, saying that they were the biggest hidden danger of the Qing Dynasty, and it can be said that Yishan was so prioritizing and urgent, and the defeat of the Qing army was also justified.
Of course, Yishan was not inactive, and then he commanded the army to attack the British army, but unfortunately ended in failure.
It was this battle that made Yishan completely lose confidence. Only five days later, Yishan surrendered to the British, and Guangzhou fell into British hands.
Defeat was a cost, and the first unequal treaty in Chinese history was born. Of course, Yishan didn't dare to tell Daoguang truthfully about what he did in Guangzhou. After all, Daoguang's original order was to recover Hong Kong, and Yishan not only did not dare to carry out the order to attack the British army himself, but also feared that other patriotic soldiers would attack the British army and annoy them.
Of course, this defeat also made Daoguang feel cold to him, in fact, it stands to reason that he should be punished more heavily, but who called him a clan relative, he was released after only one year of imprisonment. Of course, it can also be seen that Yishan's current ability is indeed not good, but it is incomprehensible that Yishan has been reused again.
3. Sign privately
Soon after, Yishan was reinstated and sent to Xinjiang, which directly caused huge losses to the Qing Dynasty. With China's defeat in the Opium War, other countries also took notice of China. Russia wants a piece of the pie at this time. Just stationed on the frontier is Yishan, who talks about the change of color.
It can be said that at the beginning, just the Russian side sent someone to talk, which had already made Yishan so frightened, that he immediately said that there was no way to refuse the request of the Russians, and it was better to agree to them appropriately. Note here that Yishan's excerpt is appropriate, but when he negotiated with Russia, he did not refuse to come, and all Russian demands were agreed.
It can be said that the Qing Dynasty handed over this matter to Yishan with full responsibility, and he had the ability to change it, but he did not. Since then, the two sides have signed their first treaty. Only four years later, Russia found Yishan again.
At this time, after Yishan finished opening up Yili and other places in Xinjiang, he came to the Northeast to plague again. This time it was the "Aihui Treaty" that had the most land cessed in modern history. It is worth mentioning here that the Qing government did not recognize this treaty, because there was no emperor's chapter on it, simply put, Yishan himself negotiated with Russia, and it is no wonder that Russia called him a "close friend".
Here, the Qing government also punished Yishan's behavior and dismissed him. It is worth mentioning that after the signing of the Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty, Yishan was reused. At that time, the Qing government was beaten to Beijing, and the previous "Aihui Treaty" could only be recognized, so Yishan was innocent again.
epilogue
In fact, in private, Yishan is also implicated in the Russian side, it can be said that the Chinese territory sold from Yishan alone is more than one million square kilometers, of course, the Russian side will not treat their good friend badly, and the Russian side has given Yishan a lot of benefits.