There were also Chinese people in the Qing Empire, and almost all the work throughout May focused on rewards and economic reconstruction after the end of the Western Region War!
The imperial court approved Zuo Zongtang's report on border guarding and also worked out the details of the rewards. Each of these border guarding soldiers was rewarded with a minimum of one hundred acres of land, and the entire army was awarded a reward of up to 15 million taels of silver.
Of course, it is impossible to provide such a large amount of money in one year. The imperial court and the border guarding army agreed to pay these border guarding soldiers in three years. With such a reward of more than 5 million yuan a year, the Qing Dynasty's own financial pressure was not that great.
Restructuring throughout Xinjiang! Before this war, Xinjiang's system was roughly divided into three parts. The area east of Dihua and close to Xingxingxia, such as Hami, Turpan, Zhenxi and other places, all implemented the county system because the Han population here is relatively large. There is no obstacle to promoting the Central Plains system.
The customs in northern Xinjiang are close to Mongolia, so the system is based on the Mongolian princes system. There are many Uighurs in southern Xinjiang, so the traditional Burke system is implemented.
Now that Zuo Zongtang's army has entered Xinjiang and defeated the two powerful enemies of Agub and Tsarist Russia, no one dares to oppose his orders at this time.
What kind of autonomy is there? All were directly changed to the county system, and the imperial court uniformly dispatched local officials. The capital of Xinjiang was set at Dihua, the hub of northern and southern Xinjiang, which was later known as Urumqi.
Not only military and political restructuring, but also local economic recovery is a very big problem. Fortunately, with the Western Region Investment Bank, Fan Jin has now become the largest god of wealth in the Western Region.
The Chinese had already started to prepare an exploration team half a year ago. They not only explored the mountains and rivers and drew maps, but this time Xiao Letian attached great importance to the bottom-up of the Western Regions.
The expert team of more than 200 people are all outstanding students and tutors trained by Chinese universities over the years. They include agricultural experts, water conservancy experts, prospecting teams, railway engineers, industrial inspection teams...
The most important task for these people after arriving in Xinjiang is to find out. Western Region Investment Bank gave Zuo Jigao too much financial support, but the money still has to be repaid with high interest.
How to pay it back? It means using the industrial system of the entire Western Region to pay back, using the minerals here to pay back, and using the control of the future railway to pay back!
The Western Region is too far away for the Chinese, and direct military control is unrealistic, so let’s use economic control first!
One hundred thousand Han veterans guarding the border, plus the capital operation of the Western Region Investment Bank, can form a super community of interests that controls the Western Region!
Xiao Letian calculated very shrewdly. He had many ways to make the hearts of these 100,000 Han veterans turn to the Chinese. Even if these 100,000 veterans failed, their children and descendants would still turn to the Chinese.
By then, the Western Region will be like a ripe tomato, ready to be picked!
People, property and property poured into the Western Region like the tide of the full moon. Under such a wave of investment, the Western Region actually formed a thirty-year economic boom period. It can be said to be a regional economic miracle at the end of the 19th century.
Zuo Jigao was busier now than during the war. All the pressure from civil and military affairs fell on his head. The court sent him telegrams one after another urging him to return to the capital to accept the emperor's reward, but unfortunately he couldn't get away.
On the one hand, there were too many things to do, and on the other hand, they were worried about the repeated villains of Rakshasa ghosts. It was not until the end of May that General Yili Rongquan finally sent good news that the Cossacks on the west side of Lake Balkhash finally withdrew.
It's true this time. They can't do anything if they don't withdraw. May is the warmest and most comfortable month in the Far East, including the Ural Mountains. They must return to their European garrisons this summer.
Tsarist Russia's fragile logistics capabilities and economy can no longer support the army hanging alone!
This time it was true, 90% of the army retreated, and the biggest military threat in the entire Western Region was finally lifted.
The biggest stone in Zuo Zongtang's heart fell to the ground, and he finally decided to return to Beijing! On June 1, Zuo Zongtang led 3,000 soldiers and escorted Agubai's son back to the capital from Dihua.
Duoluo, Guan Lu and others also followed the commander back to Beijing, leaving Liu Jintang and others to govern the Western Region for the time being.
On the day Zuo Zongtang returned to Beijing, thousands of people in Dihua Prefecture came out of the city to see him off. Regardless of nationality or belief, everyone sincerely admired the old commander.
Human beings are like this. Their emotions must rely on comparison to explode. To judge the quality of anything, comparison is required.
If there had not been the war of Agubai's invasion of Xinjiang, the ethnic minorities in the Western Regions would still be deeply wary of the Han people, and they would not emotionally identify with Han warlords such as Zuo Zongtang.
But these people were dumbfounded by Agub's perverse behavior. They had never seen such a greedy, arrogant, bloody and cruel person, because Agub was a local warlord and he had not received a truly systematic education.
Whether it is modern finance or economics, he has not even learned much about the governance of the Middle Ages.
He is just a robber who doesn't understand construction or how to create wealth. When he has no money, he will rob the people. When he has no food or women, it is still the same word, rob!
The robbery was so intense that even the religious Uighurs couldn't bear it and began to resist, and then they killed and suppressed it, thus forming a bloody cycle of degeneration.
Even if Zuo Zongtang had not entered Xinjiang, this kind of person would not have been able to survive for long, because their economy has collapsed.
When the plundering was at its most ferocious, these bandits would even rob shovels, pots, nails and other iron tools from people's homes. They would demolish people's adobe houses and steal the wood inside. They could do such despicable things.
With such a cruel rule, it is conceivable that when the people encountered the reasonable Zuo Zongtang's army, the excitement was beyond words.
Zuo Zongtang was strict in running the army, plundering the people, and even used military resources to take care of the lives of the poor.
And Western Region Investment Bank has strong financial resources to invest, so the two can compare and decide!
Apart from anything else, wherever the Western Region Investment Bank goes, it will repair roads and wells first, and then transport food for disaster relief, so that the hungry people will suddenly have a way to survive.
When Zuo Zongtang left Dihua, the dilapidated post road had been widened and repaired when he came, and the famous Zuogong willow was planted on both sides of the road, and all of this was brought by the Han people!
There were 40,000 to 50,000 people seeing him off, and there was a steady flow of people coming from afar. Zuo Jigao looked at everything in front of him, and even though he was old, virtuous, and well-informed, he was moved.
At such an age, my eye sockets suddenly filled with sore tears!
"You can't do it! What a shame... I just did what I had to do. How can I be so loved by the people..."
"Go back... everyone, go back..."
The people who saw him off brought more than ten carts of gifts to Zuo Zongtang, including raisins, dried honeydew melons, carpets, woolen fabrics, gold and silver handicrafts... all of which were raised voluntarily by the people of Dihua.
"Commander...when will you come back after you return to the capital? We are waiting for you..."
The old man Su who said this was not being polite. They really scared Aguba. Seeing Zuo Zongtang, he really felt safe.
Zuo Zongtang secretly sighed in his heart, where can I come back? The court hopes that I will leave my army as far away as possible. I am afraid I will retire in the capital forever this time.
But looking at the eager people, the words "not coming back" are really hard to say.
"I...I will come back, but the capital is far away. It will take three or four months to get there. I don't know when I will come back..."
"No! Marshal, you have to come back. You can't leave us alone..."
Zuo Zongtang looked up at the sky, holding back the tears, and finally said with a smile, "The court is busy with things, so I may be delayed for a while... maybe three years! I will be back in three years..."
"Don't worry, I'll leave a hundred thousand soldiers behind and ask them to help you guard the Western Region...so that no foreign enemies can come in again!"
Beside Zuo Gongliu, we reluctantly said goodbye, but this farewell turned out to be an eternal farewell. Zuo Zongtang never returned to Xinjiang in his life!
Only his soldiers who guarded the border and their descendants are left here, as well as Zuo Gongliu, who lives on for generations!
