Rongquan has been in Xinjiang for almost ten years, and there are several more decades in his life, from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang, from Tianshan to Altai, from Huiyuan City to Lake Balkhash.
Except for the extremely dangerous southwest of the land under the jurisdiction of General Yili, he had never been to other larger cities.
In the eyes of Duoluo Guanlu and other four-nine city dandies, Xinjiang is a vast, mysterious and a bit out of place place, but in the eyes of Rong Quan, it is already his second hometown.
Don’t say that the ancients had a short-sighted view. In fact, even people in the 21st century, with convenient transportation and better television media that the ancients could not imagine, no one dares to say that they are well-informed.
China is so big that ordinary people in coastal areas, including ordinary civil servants, have a hard time imagining the customs and geography of the far western regions. You don’t know what people eat, what they wear, what their customs are, let alone what kind of culture they have. living habit.
You may be able to name one or two large cities, but you will never be able to remember the counties, towns, mountains, and passes below the cities.
Distance will always create huge differences in people's hearts, and this difference will bring a sense of mystery!
An important reason why Li Hongzhang attacked Zuo Zongtang and attempted to abandon Xinjiang was that it was a land of alienation and there was no enlightenment at all.
What it means is that it is impossible to rule here. It is not of the same mind as the Central Plains court. The people there think differently from the Central Plains.
In their eyes, limited funds must of course be invested in coastal defense. Keeping unruly land in distant frontiers is a burden.
He even used the example of the people in southern Xinjiang who were the thieves of Agubai, saying that they only had their faith in their hearts and had no sense of the imperial court's righteousness.
This is actually an important theoretical basis for the coastal defense faction to attack Zuo Zongtang's land defense faction. To be honest, it really deceived many people in the court.
When Rongquan was in the capital, he was also influenced by this kind of thinking. Standing on the guard post in the Forbidden City, he also imagined what Ili, which is tens of thousands of miles away, is like.
Are you really of the same mind as the Central Plains? Indeed, he had been shaken before!
But it wasn't until he came to this land in person that his ideas completely changed!
"Masters of the Imperial Envoy, I have nothing to say... Xinjiang cannot be lost, absolutely cannot be lost! Even if there is a loss of territory, the main pattern of three mountains and two basins cannot be destroyed!"
"When I was in Beijing, I used to think that this place was a barren land that was extremely poor... That's right. After Xinjiang was annexed to the territory, the imperial court did not ask for any tax from here..."
"The wealth of Xinjiang has been concentrated in the hands of the local kings of various ethnic groups in southern and northern Xinjiang, and some of it has been handed over to the Ili General's Mansion!"
"The only things that can be paid tribute to the court every year are horses, jade and other local specialties. The real taxes are not even a copper coin, so in the eyes of the court princes, Xinjiang is a barren land!"
"Wrong, absolutely wrong... This place and that place are barren lands, but this place is actually a treasure land that is extremely rich!"
"The locals have no money, but they own countless cattle, sheep, and horses... Although the agriculture in Xinjiang as a whole is not developed, in some areas, such as Hami, the fruits and melons produced are unmatched by the Central Plains!"
"There are also mineral deposits. Xinjiang's jade is paid tribute to the court every year, and each piece is worth ten thousand gold... But do you know? In the Hotan area of southern Xinjiang, there is a river where jade is accumulated!"
"Beijing's priceless treasures are just like garbage everywhere in the wasteland..."
"Not to mention gold, silver, iron, tin and other mineral deposits... As long as you search patiently, or even hire a prospecting team like foreigners, there is a lot of real gold and silver under the land of Xinjiang!"
"This is not a money-losing product. The court hasn't made any money here, which means we didn't manage it well!"
Seeing Rong Quan's distressed look, Guan Lu quickly went up and poured a bowl of wine, "General, moisten your mouth first... You are right, but Northern Xinjiang is easy to deal with. I also saw that these herders are very close to the imperial court." …”
"What about Southern Xinjiang? As far as I know, the eyes and hearts of the Protestants there are only their religion and not the imperial court!"
"Yes! The second thing I said is this... the matters in southern Xinjiang must be resolved as soon as possible. The sooner the better, if it is too late, it will be too late!"
Rongquan drank the wine in one gulp and said with red eyes, "The problem in southern Xinjiang is trouble. When Agubai invaded, those who believed in religion but not the court all followed and started to cause chaos..."
"But do those people really hate the imperial court? In fact, they are not...except for the foreigners here, the rest are us Manchu men. Let me say this from the bottom of my heart!"
"Although the people in southern Xinjiang are living a hard life, they are not oppressed by the imperial court. Our imperial court has not raised any taxes!"
"In comparison, the lives of the people in southern Xinjiang are much better than those of the Han people in the Central Plains. The amount of taxes is not that high at all. What makes life more miserable is that the living environment there is just like that..."
"Or simply they bully their own people and then use the court as a punching bag!"
"In addition, all the people believe in religion but not the court or the words of saints, so when outsiders instigate it, they will rebel as soon as they get excited!"
"Agubai entered Xinjiang in 1865 according to the foreign calendar. It has been five years now. On the surface, he is still powerful in these five years, but from my eyes, his end is not far away!"
"Why? It's because this person is cruel and murderous, and he doesn't understand economic construction!"
"What nickname did the British give him? He was called the Butcher of Central Asia. During his conquests, as long as he encountered a little resistance, he would end up massacring the city!"
"He doesn't just kill the heretics they call him. He also kills his own people. Any subordinate who dares to question his decision will only die!"
"The people who return to the tribe to believe in religion are not all fanatical lunatics. Many of them are peace-loving. They made suggestions to Agub and let him negotiate with the court..."
"First sign an armistice agreement, engage in trade and improve people's livelihood... But just because of such opinions, how many imams and religious people did Agub kill?"
"There are countless of them! What this lunatic wants is to fight, what he wants is to kill!"
"Haha... It's been five years. There has been no business travel to the Central Plains from southern Xinjiang for five years. Do you think about the miserable situation it will be in?"
With these words to wake up the dreamer, Doro stood up with a groan, "All you know is killing but no construction, all you know is preaching but no economics! Such a regime cannot last long!"
"That's right, there's nothing wrong at all... When I was in Ryukyu, I read some textbooks for their college students. There was a course called Business Dao in it, which was said to have been dictated by the head of state!"
"The head of state once said that the interests of business and the power of finance are invincible to mankind. Anyone who violates these basic rules will soon perish!"
"If Agubo keeps playing like this, he will indeed be close to death..."
