Chapter 47 Recover Xinjiang

It's not that the court didn't know about Agubo's troubles in Xinjiang, and it wasn't that he wasn't angry, but it was just that he couldn't do anything to deal with this foreign hooligan. By 1874, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Nian Army, and the Hui rebellion had all passed away, and the imperial court finally had time to think about things in Xinjiang. However, there are two different opinions among the ministers on how to deal with Agubai's aggressive behavior: one is the minority represented by Zuo Zongtang, and the other is the majority represented by Li Er.There was a big war of words between the two factions.

Zuo Zongtang's minority said: Xinjiang is the first line of defense in the Northwest, and it guards Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi that shield Beijing.Tsarist Russia, one of the main enemies of our country, has always been uneasy and kind to Xinjiang, so we advocate that we should use force to expel the aggressor Yaguba now, recover Xinjiang, and make Xinjiang the front line to defend against Tsarist Russia's attack. According to their claims, this faction is called the Seifang faction. Li Er's majority said: Recovering Xinjiang is not so important and urgent, we should put Xinjiang aside for the time being and concentrate on naval construction.Because Beijing is close to the coast, while Xinjiang is far from Beijing.Moreover, the great powers have repeatedly invaded the Qing Dynasty. Which time did they not come here by transporting troops by water?

In the same way, this faction also has a title called Haiphong faction. Here are two more words.The reason why Li Er advocated delaying the recovery of Xinjiang was not because he disliked Zuo Zongtang, but for other reasons. In 1874, Japan invaded Taiwan, but the imperial court had no ships to expel it. In the end, it could only exchange 500,000 taels of silver for the Japanese army to withdraw from Taiwan.This made Li Er feel both humiliated and anxious, so he advocated giving priority to the construction of coastal defense. Zuo Zongtang disagreed with Li Er's opinion.He said: Most of the big powers who came by water only have trade disputes with us, and they are not as dangerous as Russia coveting our territory.With such a covetous neighbor like Russia, if Xinjiang is not protected, Qinghai will be in danger, Shaanxi and Gansu will be in danger, Shanxi will be in danger, Shanxi will be in danger, Zhili will be in danger, Zhili will be in danger, Tianjin will be in danger, Tianjin will be in danger, Isn't Beijing in danger?

Li Er also went on to say: If the coast is not protected, Shandong will be in danger, if Shandong is in danger, Zhili will be in danger, if Zhili is in danger, the capital will be in danger. Zuo Zongtang saw that Li Er was also quite able to get around, so he said: I actually mean that coastal defense is as important as fortress defense. We must grasp with both hands and be tough with both hands. Li Er said: You still grab it with both hands, be careful that you won't be able to catch any of them.Have you calculated how much money is needed to recover Xinjiang?At least tens of millions of taels of silver, where to get so much silver now.Besides, the land in Xinjiang is barren, and it is not worth spending such a high price to regain it.Moreover, Xinjiang is surrounded by strong neighbors, and it cannot stick to it for a long time, and it will cost a lot of money to stick to it for a long time.I advocate the postponement of the recovery of Xinjiang not to give up the land that our ancestors have won through hundreds of battles, but to temporarily preserve our strength so that we can regain it in one fell swoop when we become stronger.

Li Er's meaning is very clear, that is, the recovery of Xinjiang did not help the Qing government at that time, and it had no practical significance, but it would cost more money. Li Er also has another suggestion, saying that we can support the local ethnic minority tribal leaders in Xinjiang and let them and Aguba establish their own small kingdoms in Xinjiang, while we turn them all into vassal states and let them pay tribute to the court. Suppress the Russians for the court. Zuo Zongtang sneered at Li Er's statement, and retorted: Xinjiang is rich in products and a lot of minerals.He also brought out the righteousness of Confucius and Mencius, saying that the land of the ancestors should not be lost.

What these two people said was righteous, and if many young people heard it today, their blood would boil with excitement. As Zuo Zongtang and Li Er, the two great men, quarreled, their supporters gradually joined the big mouth battle, and the national curses and fists flew together, and the saliva shared the same color. In fact, the propositions of the two factions are reasonable, but the problem is that the court does not have enough money.If the imperial court supported the Saifang faction, the Haiphong faction would have no money, and vice versa.The problem of money was never a small problem, so this big battle lasted until May 1875.

Cixi saw that the officials put down their work and came out to quarrel without doing their jobs, so she had to stand up to represent the central government and kill this unhealthy trend. Empress Dowager Cixi issued a decree: What Zuo Zongtang saw was true, and ordered the imperial envoy to supervise the military affairs in Xinjiang.In other words, Cixi agreed with Zuo Zongtang's opinion, and the central government agreed to take back Xinjiang by force!Does Cixi's statement mean that Li Hongzhang's coastal defense faction lost?Break it down later. In April 1876, the 65-year-old Zuo Zongtang sent troops to Xinjiang with his own coffin.

The subordinate said: My lord, is it unlucky for you to do so? Zuo Zongtang replied: When a man is on the battlefield, he will advance and never retreat. It is the right way to die on the battlefield. Besides, my coffin is ready, isn't it better than hastily wrapping a corpse in horse skin (horse leather wrapping)? A year later, Zuo Zongtang regained the territory of Xinjiang except Yili from Aguba, and Aguba committed suicide. Five years later, Zeng Guofan's eldest son, Zeng Jize, negotiated with Russia to take back Ili.Of course, behind the success of Zeng Jize's negotiations is Zuo Zongtang's resolute military struggle. Protests cannot and will not solve any problems. Diplomatic negotiations must be backed by struggle. Negotiations without struggle will not win after all.

The recovery of Xinjiang made Wan Qing feel very proud! The recovery of Xinjiang is the most glorious stroke in the sunset picture of the late Qing Dynasty! The recovery of Xinjiang is a great contribution made by Zuo Zongtang, a passionate man, to the territorial integrity of the country! Generally speaking, using the watery quantifier "huge" to describe the size of the contribution is somewhat flattering, but the recovery of Xinjiang can be an exception, because the size of Zuo Zongtang's contribution can be measured by the size of Xinjiang's territory. The land of 100,000 square kilometers is equivalent to the sum of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui and Liaoning.How big would you say his contribution was?

Whether the contribution is great or not, I guess Zuo Zongtang, a maha, wouldn't care too much, but history will always remember Zuo Zongtang's peerless feats! Of course, behind the recovery of Xinjiang is Zuo Zongtang's firm will and extraordinary efforts, the sacrifice of countless unknown soldiers, and the money spent in vain.Some say 80 million taels of silver was spent in this battle, while others say it cost 40 million taels of silver.In any case, after this battle was over, the court borrowed a lot of foreign debts, and its finances were stretched.