In 1689, after the signing of the Treaty of Nebuchu between Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty, the border between the two sides in the east was stipulated, that is, the outer Khing'an Mountains.
This treaty cost the Qing Dynasty the loss of Transbaikalia, including Nebuchu. These places were originally natural pastures for the Mongols to graze, but they were ruthlessly occupied by the Russians.
And the Tsarist Russia also felt that after the signing of this treaty, it suffered a loss. Because they felt that the Heilongjiang River basin was discovered by them, but it was taken away by the Qing Dynasty by force, and this revenge was not revenge, even if it was more than a hundred years later, this account would have to be settled with the Qing Dynasty.
But before settling accounts, Tsarist Russia must definitely accumulate enough strength. After all, in the Battle of Yaxa, Tsarist Russia had already seen the power of the Qing Dynasty, and without full certainty, it was estimated that it would not be possible to seize the Heilongjiang River Valley.
Tsarist Russia learned the lessons of the Battle of Yaksa
In the Battle of Yaksa in 1685, the Qing Dynasty defeated a small army of several hundred people from Tsarist Russia with an army of two or three thousand men each time. It seems that more is bullying less, but the reality is that. Tsarist Russia also has a large population, and if they want revenge, they can mobilize a large army to the East!
After the two wars, there were eight or nine hundred people in Tsarist Russia, and only a few dozen people left in disarray. The Battle of Yaksa ended in a complete victory for the Qing Dynasty.
However, the intelligence of Tsarist Russia lies in the fact that they have earlier information about the East and have a broader macro perspective. They realized that the greatest opponent of the Qing Dynasty was not Tsarist Russia at all, but the Dzungar Khanate in the northwest.
Therefore, while negotiating, Tsarist Russia instigated the Dzungar Khanate to do things in the northwest. In this way, Emperor Kangxi had no time to take care of Tsarist Russia in the east, so he had to sign the "Treaty of Nebuchu" with it.
Originally, the Qing court planned to use the Lena River and Lake Baikal as the border between China and Russia, but as soon as the Dzungar Khanate made trouble, the Qing court had to hastily end the dispute and use the Outer Khingan Mountains as the border. Large areas of land in the north, such as the Transbaikal region, the Yakut settlement, the Chukotka settlement, etc., were thus occupied by Tsarist Russia.
Afterwards, Tsarist Russia also made a summary, and the main reasons why the Russian army was defeated in the Battle of Yaksa were as follows:
- First, the number of Russian troops was too small, and the number of Qing troops was huge. In cases where the gap in weapons is not too large, the number of people is an important criterion for judging victory or defeat.
- Second, the Russian army is lone and deep, and the backup is almost zero. On the other hand, the Qing army can not only dispatch a large number of men and horses at any time, but also have a steady stream of support.
- Third, the Russian army is fighting away, and the Qing army is fighting at home. The advantage of the home field is that the logistics supply is not worried at all, on the other hand, the Tsarist Russia, which is fighting away, basically has no so-called logistics, and eating and drinking are a big problem. The vast majority of the Russian troops in the city of Yaksa were starved to death.
It can be seen from this that if Tsarist Russia wants to win the Qing army in the east, the most important point is to develop the Russian territory in the east, so that Tsarist Russia can also taste the advantage of fighting at home.
After the signing of the Treaty of Kyakhta, Tsarist Russia began to trade frequently with the Qing Dynasty
It's easy to find a problem, but it's hard to solve it. Why? Because the conditions are limited.
- First of all, the territories of the East were just conquered by Tsarist Russia, and everything was not perfect. How easy is it for Tsarist Russia to develop well? If nothing else, just talk about the emigration of Russians, who wants to come?
- Secondly, most of Russia's territory in the East is the cold and freezing Siberian region, which is not very suitable for people to live.
- In addition, Russia itself is too far from the eastern territories. At that time, there were not only no railways, but also roads. The slightest carelessness will put your life on the way, and no one dares to try it easily.
- Also, even if the Russians come, what will they live on? Before the seizure of the Heilongjiang Valley, the pitiful arable land in Siberia alone could not support a few Russian peasants.
Therefore, even if it obtained a large amount of land from the east, Tsarist Russia would still not be able to manage it well in a short period of time, let alone fight the Qing army and seize more territory. Without population and industrial support, there would be no home field advantage, and there would still be no chance of winning the showdown with the Qing army.
But the Russians have a keen eye for discovery. They felt that since it was difficult to attract a large number of Russians to the East by agriculture, what about commerce?
The Qing Dynasty was rich in things and people, with countless goods. To this end, Tsarist Russia began to build a trade route between the East and the West.
In 1727, the Treaty of Brensky between Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty established the border between the two sides in the central part of the country. The following year, the two sides signed the Kyakhta Treaty, which further demarcated the eastern and central borders of the two sides. The entire Outer Northeast and Outer Mongolia were all included in the sphere of influence of the Qing Dynasty.
At the same time, the Qing Dynasty also opened up Kyakhta in Outer Mongolia as a trade point between Qing and Russia, and the Qing and Russian sides formed a very large trade market within their respective territories. Since then, it has become a trading place of Qing Russia, also known as a trading city.
Kyakhta trade helped Tsarist Russia stabilize the situation in the East
At the end of the 18th century, after learning that the Qing Dynasty had destroyed the Dzungar Khanate, the Turghut tribe chose to escape from the Russian shackles and return to the embrace of the Qing Dynasty, embarking on a long journey to the east.
At that time, Russia was ruled by Empress Catherine II, who had little defeat in her life, seizing 460,000 square kilometers of land for Tsarist Russia, including the Crimean Peninsula, a strategic point on the Black Sea.
After learning that the Turks had returned, she immediately sent a large army to pursue them, and there were many stumbling blocks for the Turks along the way. But in the end, the Turks returned to the bosom of China and entered the territory of Xinjiang.
At this time, Catherine II once wrote a letter threatening Qianlong, demanding that Qianlong hand over the Turk Special Ministry. As a result, Qianlong smiled and directly closed the Kyakhta trade market.
Catherine II was completely panicked at this time, because the Qing Dynasty's tea, silk, porcelain and other commodities could bring a steady stream of income to Tsarist Russia, and the Kyakhta trade point almost accounted for the vast majority of Tsarist Russia's trade share in the east.
Once this place is closed, the annual financial losses of Tsarist Russia are incalculable. Even if Catherine II didn't care, it was impossible for the major nobles of Tsarist Russia to be indifferent, after all, it was silver for nothing. For this reason, the Russian nobles put pressure on the tsar, and the tsar had to bow his arrogant head to Qianlong and give up the pursuit of the Turghut tribe into China.
From this incident, we can see the importance of the Kyakhta trade point to Tsarist Russia. It was precisely because of Kyakhta that Tsarist Russia was able to send a steady stream of Russians to the East to do business and work as coolies. Over time, a large number of Russians naturally chose to settle in the territory of the East. Therefore, in the 18th century, an important condition that attracted Russians to settle in the East was the smooth trade of Kyakhta.
Yongzheng: I never expected it
It is estimated that Yongzheng never dreamed that a treaty he signed with Tsarist Russia would help Tsarist Russia so much. Just imagine, if the Russians could not get the profits of trade in the East, would they have gone to the East to settle in those days?
I think there is a high probability that it will not be, because there is not much arable land here, the weather is cold, and the materials are scarce, so why do ordinary Russians come here? Drink the Northwest Wind?
If a large number of Russians did not come to settle in the East, it would be much more difficult for Tsarist Russia to hold on to the territory in the East. They had to spend a huge amount of military money every year to organize a large number of men and horses to garrison the major fortresses in the east.
This land of Siberia, before the mining of mineral deposits, basically did not make any profit for Tsarist Russia except for the fur business. Moreover, at the end of the 18th century, the fur animals of Siberia were almost wiped out by the Russians, and this trade could no longer be done.
So holding Siberia, at least for a hundred or two hundred years, is a matter of serious losses. After all, in the case of inconvenient transportation, Tsarist Russia did not dare to rashly launch an attack on the Qing Dynasty. Unable to conquer the city, and facing huge losses for a long time, I think they will most likely give up this barren land.
However, Yongzheng used Kyakhta to open a convenient door to the East for Tsarist Russia. This door provided the basic conditions for the survival of the Russians in the East. So the question is, why did Yongzheng have to open this door for the Russians? Everyone is welcome to discuss.