Nixon had a very classic quote: "
What is not available on the battlefield, never expect to be obtained at the negotiating table. You can give in, you can still let, you let go to the end, the other party will not understand
。 This sentence is used to describe China in the late Qing Dynasty when dealing with the great powers, which is most appropriate. In the face of all kinds of treaties that humiliated the country, presumably the Qing court rulers at that time were numb: Who told us that we could not beat people, and it would be good for people to talk to you, and we still had room for bargaining? Naturally, man-made knives trick me into fish and meat, and whatever the great powers say is what they say, as long as the regime does not collapse, even if they know that signing an unequal treaty is equivalent to cutting meat and feeding a tiger, they can only exchange it for temporary peace, and they have no choice but to admit it.
But if you look at this famous saying from another angle, is it not that as long as you can get something on the battlefield, you will definitely get it on the negotiating table, at least it will not be too much of a loss? For the Qing court at that time, it was really not. In the case of negotiating the return of Ili with Tsarist Russia, it is really a big surprise. Obviously, God gave the Great Qing a famous general who was not born in the world
Liu Jintang,
Overcoming all kinds of unexpected difficulties, creating one war miracle after another, and beating the rebels who attacked Xinjiang rolled urine streams,
It smashed the Tsarist Russia's plot to disrupt Xinjiang and greatly increased the weight on the negotiating table, but when it came to the negotiations, it was as if it had lost the battle itself, and let the Tsarist Russia give and take what it wanted.
Is this the case?
It turned out that the emissaries sent by the Qing court were reverent, and in the face of the harsh conditions proposed by Tsarist Russia, they not only accepted them all, but also signed a funeral and humiliation without waiting for the approval of the imperial court
Treaty of Livadia (pictured above)
As if he had been sent by a defeated country to beg for peace, he completely ignored the results of Liu Jintang's previous victories on the battlefield through hardships. It is reasonable to say that the Qing court could have taken advantage of the battlefield victory to force the polar bear at the negotiating table to fulfill its promise to return Ili, but it turned out to be an international joke.
1. How humiliating is the Treaty of Livadia?
Let's first look at how outrageous this Treaty of Livadia is.
first
Cut the ground
。 According to the treaty, the Qing government recovered only parts of Ili, and the area west of the Khorgos River and the area around the Turks River Valley, which was the barrier to Ili and the most economically fertile, was occupied by Russia
。 As a result, the situation that Tsarist Russia "has the name of returning to the land" and the Qing Dynasty government "has no land".
For example, it is equivalent to the wallet being robbed to find a robber, and the robber takes the money and only gets back an empty wallet.
At the same time, the treaty does not stipulate that it will
The borders of Kashgar and Tarbahatai have been readjusted in accordance with the requirements of the Russian side. This means that in both regions, China will lose a large amount of territory.
second
reparations
。 The Qing government paid five million rubles (about 2.8 million taels of Kuping silver) as compensation for the Russian side's "military expenses for the custody of Ili".
third
Trade privileges
。 In addition, there are three annexes: the Articles of Association on Land Trade stipulate that Tsarist Russia may trade duty-free within a hundred miles of China's borders; the Sino-Russian Special Article on The Eucalyptus stipulates that Tsarist Russia may sail on the Songhua River to Burtuna and trade along the river; and the "Special Article on Military Expenses and Pensions" stipulates that the compensation of five million rubles can be paid within one year.
Through the Treaty of Livadia, Tsarist Russia acquired privileges and benefits that had been deliberately seized for a long time. All the terms of trade and commerce were made during the time of the Minister in China, Bhutze, while in Beijing."
Those who have asked the Prime Minister for many years and have not been able to get it
", this time reverent"
Accept it willingly, and ask for nothing
He actually agreed to these extortions that humiliated the country. As soon as the news of the signing of the "Rivadia Treaty" reached China, it caused a great shock, and the government and the public expressed strong condemnation of the lofty traitorous act.
Everyone may think that the great Qing Dynasty, how can it be sent to such an unreliable guy to talk about it? So who is Chonghou, and how did he negotiate with Tsarist Russia under a good situation?
2. Lofty background and experience
Chonghou, surnamed Wanyan,
Descendants of the Jin Dynasty royal family
, the ancestor is Kim Sejong completed Yan Yong. Manchurian yellow flag man, the father is the governor of the river, the brother is the punishment department Shangshu, a proper son of a famous and prestigious family born with a golden spoon to add the second generation of officials. In fact
Chonghou is not a frog at the bottom of the well who knows nothing about foreign countries, he is also one of the important representatives of the foreign affairs movement, and his previous performance is still remarkable.
The lofty Yilu Hengtong had an important relationship with prince Gong Yishi's appreciation of him. After the defeat in the Second Opium War, the Qing government was forced to establish a minister of trade between the north and the south ports. From 1860 to 1870, Chonghou served as minister of trade and commerce between the three ports of North China for ten years at the recommendation of Yi Bi. During his tenure as Minister of Trade and Commerce of the Three Ports,
Chonghou has more contact with Westerners
And saw with his own eyes the power of the Western guns. This makes Chonghou aware of the gap between Chinese and foreign military forces.
Instead of resisting Western technology like conservative officials such as Wu Ren, he launched a foreign affairs campaign.
Secondly, Chonghou set up modern factories such as the Machine Manufacturing Bureau and the Iron Works in Tianjin. Chonghou was ordered by Yi Bi to plan the establishment of a machine manufacturing bureau in Tianjin. In 1867, the Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau was established, which was divided into two bureaus, East and West, mainly producing gunpowder, artillery, ships and so on.
The Tianjin Machine Manufacturing Bureau (pictured below) was also the largest modern military factory in North China at that time.
Until 1870, in order to deal with the aftermath of the Tianjin teaching case, Chonghou stepped down as the Minister of Trade and Commerce of the Three Mouths, and was appointed by the Qing government as the Minister of Chincha to go to France to apologize for his sins, starting his career as a diplomat. Supposedly, this was a thankless task, both to win the understanding of France and not to damage the face of the court too much. However, Chonghou still did not fail in his mission, completed the task relatively satisfactorily, preserved the dignity of the Qing court, and left a good impression on Cixi who was brave in his duties. Therefore, chonghou was immediately reused by the imperial court after returning to China, and was immediately promoted to general of Shengjing.
At this time, Zuo Zongtang and Liu Jintang won a great victory in their march into Xinjiang, and most of the territory returned to the territory of the Qing court, leaving only a corner of Ili to negotiate with Tsarist Russia to achieve full success. However, the Manchurian nobles in the imperial court did not want the Han bureaucracy to monopolize the recovery of Xinjiang, after all, at this moment, the Qing court had almost completely relied on the Han militia militarily, resulting in the gradual decline of the Manchus politically, and the provinces supervised more than half of the Han bureaucrats, which made the Qing court feel that the tail was not lost. If the recovery of Ili is still the credit of the Han, then the upper echelons of the Qing court are unacceptable, so the Manchus must win this honor.
However, the Eight Banners disciples in the imperial court could do nothing but raise cages and birds, and it was not easy to come up with this reverence, not only did foreign affairs, but also went abroad to deal with foreigners, the reputation was not bad, and it looked quite capable, so Cixi appointed Chonghou as a plenipotentiary representative and went to Russia to negotiate the return of Ili.
3. How is a traitorous treaty signed?
Because Tsarist Russia had previously taken advantage of the internal and external troubles of the Qing Dynasty and seized a lot of territory by looting and looting, it was originally extremely contemptuous of the Qing Dynasty, but because Liu Jintang fought too beautifully in Xinjiang, Chonghou received high-level diplomatic courtesy.
When Chonghou arrived in St. Petersburg, the Russians, as plenipotentiarys, immediately held a grand welcoming ceremony: they rode in royal carriages, inspected the honor guard, and held a grand royal ball, which received Chonghou exactly according to the standards of welcoming envoys from Western powers. It seems that the outstanding performance of Zuo Zongtang's army on the battlefield has significantly improved the international status of the Qing Dynasty and has the confidence to negotiate.
It should be said that Chonghou took a good hand of cards at this time, and his luck was bursting. Why? Because at the time
Russia paid a huge price in the Tenth Russo-Turkish War, with an empty treasury and the inability to wage war in Xinjiang and the Qing court.
And at this moment Russia is unprecedentedly isolated in the international community, the British are looking for trouble everywhere, the negotiations have failed, the gains of the war have been almost lost, and the country has also fallen into a crisis. Because of the shame of failure, Jean
Tsar Alexander II
His ruling authority was shaken, and assassinations against him were repeated.
In a good situation, Chonghou's brain was short-circuited, and he actually lost this deck of cards. Originally, the Russian bottom card could be returned to Ili in its entirety, but it required the Qing court to bleed 2.5 million rubles, and as for other benefits, it could be fought for, and if it could not be won, it would be counted. But the talk became a partial return to Ili, compensation of 5 million rubles, along the line from Ili to Jiayuguan, the full opening of trade routes, the establishment of consulates, this gap is not too big?
At this time, the Russians were also inexplicable, and at first they only asked for a price, but soon found that Chonghou would not bargain! The Russians said that it was okay to return Ili, and that the first offenders of the Russian merchant groups that had previously been targeted in northern Xinjiang would be punished
Xu Xuegong
After asking for guilt, Chonghou immediately asked the country to do the same, and as a result, the leader of the militia group who recovered Xinjiang had been incorporated as a hero of the Qing army generals
He was immediately removed from office.
This stunned the Russians, and suddenly discovered that the envoy of the other side was actually a diplomatic idiot. This unexpected discovery surprised them, so they immediately changed their faces and revised the content of the negotiations, and then more unreasonable demands were raised, and Chonghou almost completely laughed. The most important thing is famous
Kaufmann Line
, proposed by Kaufmann, governor of Russian Turkistan
The three sides around Ili City, north and southwest, almost all of them were assigned to Tsarist Russia, leaving only a lonely Ili City and a only eastward passage to the Qing Dynasty
。
It is reasonable to say that Chonghou is after all a foreign official, how much has he seen the world, recruited a foreign gun team, opened the Tianjin Machinery Bureau, and is not the first time to go abroad, how can he suddenly become so stupid?
4. Lofty character defects
We might as well try to analyze it from the experience of this second generation of officials before. Reverent treatment of the year
Tianjin Lesson Plan
，
The French consul was very prosperous
He once scolded Chonghou like a grandson to the point of bloodshed, and even pulled out his pistol and fired a shot at the vase behind Chonghou when his demands were not satisfied! The vase shattered to the ground, and the ejected fragments scratched Chonghou, but Chonghou did not erupt at all, and still stood still with a wooden face, as if it was not him who was injured. You must know that the ancestors of the reverence were invincible, crossed the desert and destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty
Golden Vulture
Yikes! How come Chonghou's body is not bloody at all?! If the Golden Vulture had known about the underground, I am afraid that he would have crawled out of the grave and slammed this indisputable descendant!
Combined with the background of a noble and prestigious family and the resume of the road, we seem to be able to draw the following conclusion from this: this person's life is too smooth, not to mention the birth with a golden spoon, and it is still smooth sailing in the sinister officialdom. Therefore, in the face of power and pressure, such a person is most likely to be helpless and short-circuited. The same is the bureaucrat of the Western-style faction,
Chonghou and Zuo Zongtang are fundamentally different.
In the face of western guns and advanced technology,
Zuo Zongtang admitted that foreigners have many places worth learning, but their own country is not useless, and there is no need to be vain. And Chonghou is not, the experience of doing foreign affairs before, just makes him have a sense of psychological fear, feel that daqing is inferior to people everywhere, and consciously shortens himself in the face of foreigners before they open their mouths.
He was still facing a polar bear known for its greed and domineering, and he originally thought it was the reverence of picking peaches, but he suddenly became like a poor worm and was slaughtered!
5. The reaction of the imperial court
At the beginning, the Manchu officials in the court, receiving a respectful call, heard that Russia was willing to return Ili, all of them were happy, and in order to avoid being competed for by the Han Courtiers, they also planned to skip Zuo Zongtang and send the Manchu official Xi Lun to receive Ili. However, not long after, Prince Gong, nicknamed "Devil Six", found that something was wrong, and when he saw chonghou send back a report, almost all the Russians wanted, chonghou gave what he wanted, with years of diplomatic experience, old and spicy official intuition, Prince Gong knew that if this went on, I was afraid that something would happen. Hurrying to cut with reverence became his top priority.
As Chonghou sent back more telegrams (pictured above), Prince Gong's heart became more and more afraid. After thinking hard, he suddenly thought of a clever trick, collective decision-making, risk sharing, and taking the opportunity to get rid of the golden cicada. So he began to send a copy of every telegram sent back by Chonghou to Zuo Zongtang, asking him to take the decision, so as not to take responsibility for himself in the future. However, in this way, it takes time for the telegram to be exchanged, and how long will it take to pass on the imperial court and then to the left marshal? The broccoli is cold!
Chonghou, who has not received clear instructions from Beijing for a long time, has gone to Crimea
Rivadia Palace (pictured below)
In the presence of the Tsar, a treaty between the two countries was signed. The treaty was so humiliating that it was a defeat, and even Russian Foreign Minister Geers could not believe that it was true after it was signed. When the treaty reached Beijing, public opinion in the government and the public immediately burst into an uproar, and the opposition was gathered from all directions like snowflakes on Lafayette's desk.
The Qing court faced unprecedented pressure, on the one hand, this was obviously a traitorous treaty that absolutely could not be recognized. On the other hand, Chonghou was a plenipotentiary appointed by the Qing court, does not speak count? This is untenable internationally, and in the unlikely event that Russia becomes angry and goes to war in an all-out way, it is not a joke. But blessings are not only good, and misfortunes are not alone. Something happened again in the east! At this moment, Japan has jumped out again, and the Ryukyu Kingdom is about to be annexed!
He Ruzhang, the ambassador of the Qing Dynasty to Japan, sent an urgent telegram, and the situation was serious, and he asked the imperial court to quickly come up with an idea. At this time, a group of Ryukyu officials landed in Fujian and came to the Great Qing to file a complaint against the imperial court, Ryukyu officials
Mao Jingchang, Cai Dading, Lin Shigong
The three were then sent by Fujian officials to the prime minister in Beijing, Yamen, where they handed over a petition saying that the lord of the country and Shizi had been captured by the Japanese, and asked the Qing government to uphold justice and send troops to Ryukyu.
In this way, when the shrunken-headed turtle can't do it, it must be given an explanation. The Great Qing Dynasty court quarreled again with the main battle and the absence of troops. Strategically speaking, Ryukyu is a barrier to Taiwan, and its strategic position is extremely important, and a few years ago, the Japanese sent troops to Taiwan. The most important thing is to make Korea and Vietnam, which are also vassal states of the Great Qing Dynasty, feel cold, and make Mongolia and Tibet, which are directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, delusional, and the consequences of this matter are very serious, and the Great Qing State cannot but respond!
When it rained even when it was leaking, the matter of Ryukyu could not turn its face to the Russians, but this bitter fruit, Daqing really could not swallow. However, if you want to turn your face and not recognize the treaty, you will not be able to take care of both ends with limited strength, then you will not be able to control Ryukyu. In this way, the Qing court undoubtedly lost its majesty as a suzerainty, chilled the hearts of many vassal states, and allowed Japan to gain inches and future troubles. Lafayette was undecided for a while! So in the face of this dilemma, how will the Qing court finally make decisions?
To find out what happens next, look at the next breakdown. If you think the article is readable, please pay attention to the literary history salon of The Body. What do you think, welcome to speak freely below, look forward to your advice!