The Ili River is a very important water system in Xinjiang. It originates from the Tianshan Mountains and merges with many rivers to the west to directly flow into Lake Balkhash!
The entire river has carved out a very fertile and fertile valley among the mountains and plateaus of Central Asia, where many civilizations have thrived in history.
During the Han Dynasty, the capital of the Wusun Kingdom in the Western Regions was built on this fertile land.
From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty, this was China's territory, and Lake Balkhash became the farthest and most traditional boundary lake of Chinese civilization to the west.
On the west bank of Lake Balkhash, no matter how the nation changes or the regime changes, it has nothing to do with Han civilization. The Chinese have never claimed sovereignty there.
But the east bank of Lake Balkhash and the entire Ili River Basin have always been the inherent territory in the hearts of the Chinese people. It is the homeland where the souls of countless Han pioneers are buried!
But it is a pity that in 1864, the year when Xiao Letian just crossed over, the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia signed an agreement, and Lake Balkhash was cut off.
The current border between the Qing Dynasty and Tsarist Russia is not the sea-like lake, but the desert on the east coast!
The snow water of the Tianshan Mountains nourished the Ili River and merged into Lake Balkhash. However, the Yi Bohai recorded in ancient Chinese books is no longer the land of China.
Along the long Ili River, there is a small town called Kapchagai. The river section here has abundant water and excellent geographical conditions. It has been a favorite gathering place for herders, farmers, and businessmen since ancient times.
This is still nominally the territory of the Qing Dynasty at this moment. Seeing the water of the Ili River means that the expedition team has escaped from the most dangerous area.
"Town, we saw the city wall..."
The outpost of the expedition team cheered excitedly in the snow and wind. Finally, in the evening, they felt that Capuchia was covered and finally reached a safe place.
Explorer Mussel Baker also said with lingering fear, "We finally passed through the territory of Aguba. When we crossed the southern border, my heart was in my throat..."
The regime established by Agub in Xinjiang was called the Zhedeshar Khanate, and its territory was divided by the Tianshan Mountains. The South Road of the Tianshan Mountains all the way to the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains became his territory.
Here he established an extreme political-religious military dictatorship, firmly controlled all the wealthy lands in southern Xinjiang, and funded the Qing Dynasty's rebellion in the northwest.
However, under Zuo Zongtang's strong suppression, a large number of rebels began to flee to Agubai's territory. Even this Central Asian careerist wanted to get involved in the northern Xinjiang area north of the Tianshan Mountains.
Thanks to the fact that the ethnic minorities in northern Xinjiang mostly believe in shamanism and Tibetan Buddhism and had their hearts turn to them after the Qing Dynasty’s Western Expeditions, Agubai did not take advantage of them.
After several years of melee, the Tianshan Mountains became the dividing line between the two major forces in northern and southern Xinjiang. The ethnic minorities in northern Xinjiang struggled to guard the last safe zone for the Qing Dynasty.
Doro and Guan Lu saw the Central Asian cavalry approaching the expedition several times, and even had their guns misfired several times, but the British flag saved them at the critical moment.
What's more, Gordon is still a British knight and belongs to a famous noble. Aguba was not willing to make the conflict bigger, so he never killed him.
However, it is not difficult to see the hidden influence of Agub and others behind the attacks by tribal people that have appeared one after another in Afghanistan.
After all, Central Asia is the birthplace of British influence. Gordon and Mussel did not dare to say that it was 100% successful. It was not until today that they saw the Ili River and the small town by the river that they finally put their hearts in their stomachs.
"Children, we have entered the city... This is already the land of the Qing Dynasty. Mr. Doluo, Mr. Guan Lu, you are home..."
Got home! One sentence made all the guards stunned. At that moment, there seemed to be an electric current surging from their chests!
Home! It really does feel like home. You can actually hear people speaking Chinese loudly here, and the shop signs also have Chinese characters.
Although this is the far-off Western Region, tens of thousands of miles away from the Forty-Nine City and beyond the Pass, a place that would never even be dreamed of, the Manchus would never have imagined that this place would have any emotional entanglements with them.
But it's also strange. As long as they stand here and tell you that this is the boundary of China and this is the Qing Dynasty, their tears will fall down.
Following the wind and snow, it froze into ice slag!
It took three and a half months from India to the Western Regions, from summer to winter. They suffered so much and almost lost their lives so many times.
We finally arrived home today. Several guards rolled off their horses, knelt on the ground and started sobbing.
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..From the land of the foreign devils...and then to India...and then to some bullshit Central Asia...I'm finally home, I'm home..."
The defenders at the city gate looked at these strange British expeditions, and then at the sobbing Chinese man with braids kneeling on the ground, and were suddenly stunned.
"My dear mother! One of our own? Look, the one with braids...is from the Qing Dynasty!"
"Ancestor, how did you come from the south? How did you get here?"
The veteran with gray braids walked over holding a long gun, "May I ask...where are you from? Where are you from the Qing Dynasty? What do you do?"
The wrinkles on the veteran's face are almost as high as those in the ravines of the Tianshan Mountains. His gray hair is blown by the wind, and his tattered cotton-padded jackets all have patches with the word "Courage" from Green Camp on them.
"Old... old man... we are from Beijing!" Guan Lu said tremblingly.
"What? Beijing!" The veteran suddenly exclaimed, and then blocked his mouth tightly as if he was afraid that others would hear him.
"Really or not? I'm from Baoding Prefecture, Zhili Province... I've traveled tens of thousands of miles, and I actually saw my fellow villagers!" Tears fell as he spoke.
"From Baoding Prefecture? Why are you here? Isn't this place under the jurisdiction of the prairie princes of Northern Xinjiang?"
"Hey... don't mention it. I committed a crime in my hometown and killed an evil slave of a landlord. Later, the county magistrate saw that I was pitiful and couldn't get around me, so he sent me here..."
"I was only nineteen when I got here, and now I'm seventy-three..."
"Oh my god, why are you seventy-three still standing guard?" Doro went up to help the old man. At this moment, there was no longer any contempt between the Manchus and the Han.
On this border tens of thousands of miles away, meeting a person who can speak Chinese is like a relative.
The veteran grabbed their hands and whispered, "My surname is Hu, please call me Hu Laosan..."
"Okay, Uncle Hu, let's call you uncle!"
"Hey... I don't dare to do it. I don't dare to do it. You are all nobles in silk and satin. I can't afford it..." After saying this, Hu Laosan wiped his tears.
How could Duoluo and Guan Lu look down on such dirty and poor Han people in the past when they were in Sijiu City? At that time in Beijing, such old men were all despicable slaves.
But in Kapchagai on the banks of the Ili River, they shouted from the bottom of their hearts, "Uncle... you deserve it... we call you uncle, you deserve it!"
"Good boy... follow me, you have to escape tonight... go quickly, go quickly!"
