The History of the "Qing" Heavens - Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang's Xinjiang Dispute

Huanghuang Huaxia is rising, and people on the land of 9.6 million square kilometers live and work in peace and contentment and live happily. However, a hundred years ago, China was full of crises and crumbling, and at that time, China also emerged a number of ZTE celebrities, the most famous of which were Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Peng Yulin, Hu Linyi and so on.

And the story we are telling today is that it happened to Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, in the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865), Agubai invaded Xinjiang, and later established the "Zhedeshar Khanate", occupying most of Xinjiang, and in the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871), Tsarist Russia re-invaded Xinjiang Ili. At this time, the Qing court, which had just experienced the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Twister Army Uprising was crumbling, there were British and Russian tigers staring at the vast land of Xinjiang, inward, corruption and extravagance were prevalent, a country from top to bottom, almost lifeless, but it was under this internal and external troubles that Zuo Zongtang almost single-handedly recovered the entire Xinjiang, which was also rare, after 1840, in the confrontation with the great powers, the battle won.

However, it is not easy to recover a large Xinjiang, even when the politics were clear, it was very difficult to recover Xinjiang from Gansu in ancient times, and in the face of the almost hopeless government of the late Qing Dynasty, it was even more difficult to send troops to recover Xinjiang.

In 1871, the capture of Ili attracted the attention of the Qing court, the Qing court ordered Jing Lian, Cheng Lu and other troops to lead the army out of the pass, and ordered Zuo Zongtang to send troops to suppress, but at this time the Hui rebellion in Shaanxi and Gansu had not been completely calmed, Zuo Zongtang believed: "At this time, the xingshi is far away, not stable. However, he still sent Xu Zhanbiao to Suzhou in January 1872 (the eleventh year of Tongzhi). Zeng Guofan died in March of the same year, since then Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang have become the two most important people in the court, Li Hongzhang holds the Huai army, as well as the newly built water division, and Zuo Zongtang has a Chu army under his command to pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in March 1873 (the twelfth year of Tongzhi), Zuo Zongtang wrote to the prime minister Yamen, pointing out that "if you want to receive Ili, you must first conquer Urumqi." If the city of Urumqi is restored, "I Wei Weiyang", and then the tuntian is revitalized to ensure long-term logistical supply, and the tribes in Xinjiang are appeased to cultivate and graze as usual, "that is, they will not plough the plough, but they will not be able to commit crimes." The situation in Wucheng is solid, and then it is clearly stated that the size of the Ili I border is not allowed to be let go." If diplomacy fails and the Russian army is forced to engage, the Qing army may not be able to win. Zuo Zongtang clearly put forward the policy of first stabilizing Xinjiang and then preparing to reclaim Ili, pointing out the direction for the later recovery of Xinjiang.

Time came to May 1874, Japan invaded Taiwan, for a time the pressure of coastal defense increased sharply, the court finally broke out in the Sai defense led by Zuo Zongtang and li Hongzhang led by the coastal defense controversy, Li Hongzhang division cheng Zeng Guofan, when Xinjiang was invaded, Zeng Guofan once expressed "temporarily abandon the outside of the Guanwai, specially clear the Guannei", of course, this was also caused by the domestic twisting army turmoil at that time, the Serious Rebellion of the Hui people, but this also expressed the idea of some officials at that time, Xinjiang is a place outside the Guanwai, we should guard the Guannei exclusively. On the grounds of strengthening "coastal defense," Li Hongzhang advocated that "Xinjiang will not be restored, and there will be no harm to the vitality of the limbs," demanding that the troops in the border defense be withdrawn or withdrawn, and the clamor for abandoning Xinjiang is getting louder and louder. Qian Dingming, the governor of Henan, demanded that the "Yi Army" stationed on the Gansu front be transferred back to his own province, and he said bluntly: "Li Hongzhang, the governor directly under the governor, and his ministers have detailed this, thinking that it is only appropriate for Guanwai to advance slowly, and it is not appropriate to add troops to make a large-scale move, causing Yu to collapse." While acknowledging the "theory that strict preparations for Russia are particularly unpublished," Prince Yizhen praised "Li Hongzhang's request to temporarily suspend the Western Expedition as the highest policy" for a while, and Xinjiang seemed to be our outcast.

In April 1875 (the first year of Guangxu), Zuo Zongtang proposed in the "Folding of the Situation of Fuchen Coastal Defense and Grain Transportation outside guanwai": "The east is coastal defense, the west is coastal defense, and the two are equally important"; it is impossible to "lift up the east side and fall to the west". Of course, the so-called "equal emphasis" is not the average use of force, but there is a priority and urgency. "If Xinjiang is not solid, Mongolia will not be protected." Not only Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi were invaded by Yu, but they could not prevent it, even if they were directly subordinate to Guanshan, there was no day to sleep. This passage clearly shows the status of Xinjiang in Zuo Zongtang's eyes, in his view, Xinjiang is the vanguard barrier of the entire western China, once Xinjiang is lost, the real western Shaanxi and Gansu and inner and outer Mongolia will be threatened, and then threaten the area directly under Beijing, and emphatically pointed out that if Xinjiang is not recovered, the Shaanxi-Gansu Qing army will be contained for a long time, not only can not reduce the salary of soldiers, help coastal defense, but also "withdraw from the fence, then I will retreat and advance", especially in the infiltration of Britain and Russia, and at that time, after the British conquered India, Also coveting the southern Xinjiang region of China north of the Karakoram Mountains, as well as the Tibet region, the Anglo-Indian authorities have repeatedly sent people into southern Xinjiang, so if they do not fight a victorious battle, then the country's Tibet, Xinjiang and other places are likely to be encroached upon all the time and eventually break away from the country. Wen Xiang, the military minister of the DPRK, agreed with Zuo Zhi and gave his full support, and Wang Wenshao, the governor of Hunan, also advocated the defense of Sai, believing: "At present, it is still appropriate to pay full attention to the northwest with all our might." Ding Baozhen and Wu Yuanbing also proposed that Tsarist Russia was a major problem for the Qing court. After much deliberation, Empress Dowager Cixi finally made up her mind, and in May 1875 (the first year of Guangxu), she issued an edict entrusting Zuo Zongtang to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang as the minister of Chincha, to exercise full authority over the three armies, to take the general Jin Shun as the deputy to handle military affairs, and to choose the opportunity to go out to suppress the rebellion in Xinjiang.

Here we ponder a question, why Empress Dowager Cixi finally decided to side with Zuo Zongtang, I think there are the following reasons, first, Zuo Zongtang has been active in the Shaanxi region of Gansu province since the beginning of the counter-rebellion of the Western Twister Army, and in the early 1870s, he sent people into Xinjiang to understand the specific conditions of the Xinjiang region in detail; second, the changes in the political environment at that time, in 1874, japan invaded Taiwan, the governor of Fujian Shen Baozhen brought troops into Taiwan, Shen Baozhen and others arrived in Taiwan, while negotiating with the Japanese army, while actively preparing for war. Due to the Japanese army's disobedience to Taiwan's water and soil, many soldiers died of illness. Japan considered that it could not conquer Taiwan in the short term, and finally withdrew from Taiwan at the end of that year, which also provided conditions for Zuo Zongtang to enter Xinjiang in 1875, third, the problem of Xinjiang was not just a Xinjiang problem, the Qing Dynasty at that time experienced the rebellion of the Shaanxi and Gansu Huimin, and there was also the rebellion of Agubai, reflecting the seriousness of ethnic contradictions within the Qing government at that time, if you do not take this opportunity to completely pacify Xinjiang to set an example, then in the future, Tibet, Mongolia, and Yunnan and other places, there may be such a country, fourth, If it is really as Zuo Zongtang said, then the chain reaction after the loss of Xinjiang will threaten the rule of the Qing government, which is also what the Qing government does not want to see, fifth, Zuo Zongtang's ability, so that Empress Dowager Cixi has some confidence in recovering Xinjiang, at that time there was "the world can not be without Hunan for a day, Hunan can not be without Zuo Zongtang for a day", even when Zeng Guofan was dying, he also said to Li Hongzhang, "In today's world, no one can be the right of the left season", which shows Zuo Zongtang's ability. It was precisely for the above reasons or more that Empress Dowager Cixi finally made up her mind to support Zuo Zongtang in comprehensively recovering Xinjiang.

Well, the short story of this issue is shared here, the next issue is "The History of Qingtian - Zuo Zongtang of the Second Trilogy of Xinjiang Recovers the Whole Territory of Xinjiang", so stay tuned