In the late Qing Dynasty, countless indemnities were paid for ceding territory, but why must Xinjiang not be lost?

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the cannonballs of the foreign powers opened the door of the Qing Dynasty. The land of China was full of smoke, and the Chinese nation's century-old national humiliation began. In order to stabilize the regime and maintain its rule, the Qing government continued to cede territory to pay compensation. Cixi gave up a large amount of land. Even the north of Heilongjiang, where the "Dragon Vein" in the eyes of the Qing government was located, was ceded to Tsarist Russia. But why did the Qing government have to recover Xinjiang, an uninhabited land?

Although the north of Heilongjiang is the place where the "Dragon Vein" is located in the eyes of the Qing government, most of the areas ruled by the Central Plains dynasties in China have not reached Jilin, and it is of no strategic value. Even if it is lost to the Qing government The comfort seemed to have no effect. In addition, the Qing government had long signed the "Treaty of Nerchinsk" with Tsarist Russia, and the two sides had already delineated obvious national lines. Unless Tsarist Russia was defeated through war, there was no possibility of regaining the lost territory. At that time, the Qing government was faced with dual pressures from the Taiping Army and the British and French forces, and was unable to regain the lost territory.

Although Xinjiang is an uninhabited land, it has extremely high strategic significance. There was a saying at that time: "To protect the capital, you must protect Mongolia, and to protect Mongolia, you must protect Xinjiang." This shows that Xinjiang is the basis for protecting the capital. Once Xinjiang is lost, there will be no strategic depth, and Tsarist Russia will soon be able to conquer the Shaanxi-Gansu region. In this way, the capital will lose its "doorway" and be directly exposed.

At that time, the Qing government canceled the 4 million taels of silver from the mainland to assist Xinjiang because of the empty treasury, which resulted in Xinjiang increasing taxes and causing riots in southern Xinjiang. It was entirely possible to go independent, but this would be in vain. It's cheaper for Tsarist Russia. Moreover, in the previous "Beijing Treaty", the Qing government ceded more than 400,000 square kilometers of land to Tsarist Russia, which has aroused great public dissatisfaction in the country. If Xinjiang's 150 square kilometers account for one-seventh of the total land area, If one territory was occupied by Tsarist Russia again, the territory of the Qing Dynasty would change, which might trigger another "Taiping Rebellion".

But at this time, Japan invaded Taiwan. Considering that the navy was still very weak, the Qing government immediately made concessions. After this, the famous "coastal defense" dispute occurred. Li Hongzhang's faction believed that Xinjiang was not important and could directly become a client state. The top priority was to concentrate manpower, material and financial resources to build coastal defense; Zuo Zongtang's faction believed that Xinjiang should be "sea defense". Equal emphasis".

So Zuo Zongtang repeatedly said: "To protect the capital, you must protect Mongolia, and to protect Mongolia, you must protect Xinjiang." Explaining the importance of Xinjiang to Cixi, Cixi heard that once the capital lost Xinjiang, it would be in jeopardy. If the capital When she was in danger, she had to run around for her own life. Coupled with Zuo Zongtang's determination to carry the coffin and go to war, Cixi saw the hope of regaining Xinjiang. Thinking of these Cixi began to support Zuo Zongtang to regain Xinjiang, so the Qing Dynasty wanted Recovering Xinjiang is inseparable from Zuo Zongtang’s persistence?

But after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1898, some people said that Li Hongzhang's coastal defense funds were insufficient because of the recovery of Xinjiang. Now it seems like a joke? I wonder what you think of "Li Hongzhang", "Zuo Zongtang" and the "Qing government"?