In the late first month of the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, Fukang'an, who set out from Xining years ago, spent fifty days traveling five thousand miles and finally arrived in Lhasa.
Since the Qing Dynasty, there have been only two routes from the Central Plains to the snow-covered plateau. One is the Sichuan-Tibet Road, which runs from Chengdu via Jinchuan and Jinchuan, and takes Jiangka, Lumaling, and Mozhugong to Lhasa, with a total distance of 6,170 miles; the other is the Qinghai-Tibet Road, which exits from Xining and passes through Qinghai Lake, Tongtian River, Xingxiu Sea, and Kunlun The whole journey from the mountains and the cable bridge to Lhasa is 3,560 miles.
Even though it seems that the distance is much shorter by taking the Qinghai-Tibet Line, in fact this road is extremely difficult to walk. Even the Beihai Navy, which has rich logistical support, will be blinded when it comes!
In order to enter Tibet as soon as possible and find out the situation in advance, Fukang'an took 30 of his men and set off lightly this time. The more than 2,000 Sauron soldiers who stayed in Xining will later unite Taifei, Ying'a, and Ba in the Zhenghong Banner Guards. Under the leadership of Tulu guards Zhangjing Amantai, Morgenbao, Yinggui and others, they entered Tibet in five batches later; as for deputy He Lin, who led the Jianrui battalion to escort a large number of arms, he had just entered Gansu at this time. , no matter what, it will take March to enter Tibet.
Unexpectedly, he caught a cold just after passing the Riyue Mountain, which has an average altitude of 4,000 meters, and then suffered severe altitude sickness. After crossing the Tongtian River and resting for two days, we finally plunged into the vast snow-capped mountains and glaciers. We originally thought that the weather would get better after entering Tibet, but we encountered a snowstorm for days, and we almost didn't even have to pick up the cow dung for the fire.
Later, when they arrived at Chuzhagala, the horses fell down one after another, and there was no replacement horse at all! Fukang'an waited for three days in a row. Thanks to Chengde, the admiral of Sichuan who entered Tibet in advance, he sent Lin Jun, a salt and tea ceremony master, with horses to greet him. This relieved his urgent need.
After Fukang'an arrived at Laiding Temple, he first met the senior officials sent by the Dalai Lama to greet him. In order to prevent these Kalon officials from concealing anything, he first asked the Gorkhas individually about the causes of the two troubles, and sent a letter to Chengde, Mukden'a and other generals who had come to Tibet to take charge of the affairs in advance, asking them to report the issues between the Gorkhas and Gorkhas. Answer truthfully.
When he arrived in Lhasa, before meeting the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, he visited all over the place and talked with all the monks and officials who participated in the Tibetan peace talks. Only then did he finally understand the story of the looting of Tashilhunpo Monastery. It’s simply dumbfounding!
In August last year, the Kuo army invaded in large numbers, Dingri and Jilong fell one after another, and the Shigatse dzong city was besieged. Minister Baotai led his troops to escort the 10-year-old Seventh Panchen Hutuktu to break out of the siege and head to Lhasa, while leaving Zhongba Hutuktu, the general manager of Tashilhunpo Monastery, behind.
There are more than 3,000 lamas inside and outside Tashilhunpo Monastery, with sufficient weapons and food, and the temple is like a fortress. It is said that as long as you resist tenaciously, you may not lose. But who would have thought that the upper-level lamas headed by Jizhong Lama Norbu Zangdenpa actually put two notes of "war" and "no war" into tsampa pills and put them into the porcelain The game will be decided by drawing lots!
Needless to say, the result was "no fight". Later, the lamas performed divination again, and the result was actually "peace"!
Let me choke you! Before, Gorkha sent an envoy to ask for 300 gold ingots in ransom, but Galon treated them like a monkey and only gave 150 gold ingots, saying that one should be used as two flowers. This caused the regent of Gorkha, Bahadur. You were so angry that you invaded and robbed the people on a large scale.
Now that we are making peace, what were you doing earlier?
Tashilhunpo Monastery decided to send someone to sue for peace. Unexpectedly, the envoy was more desperate. He was afraid that he would be captured by the Kuo army like the Lama Diewo Zhajiaba in the "Chongdui Bloodshed Incident", so he walked to Ran back halfway...
This is great, more than 3,000 lamas have been tortured and have no fighting spirit, and they all run away; Zhongba Hutuktu suddenly became the bare commander, this is a slap in the face, run away!
So when thousands of Kuo troops entered Tashilhunpo Monastery, only nine elderly lamas were left in the temple who could not run away. After a massive looting, the golden book awarded to the Sixth Panchen Lama by Qianlong was not there. Got it!
Based on a series of events that happened later, Fukang'an concluded that compared with the Kuo troops on the east route who resisted the Sichuan army tenaciously, the Kuo troops on the west route were only interested in robbery and had very average combat effectiveness.
First of all, they besieged the official village of Shigatse Green Camp for eight days. Dusi garrison Xu Nanpeng only led 80 people to hold on, and the Kuo army failed to defeat it! Secondly, when these guys returned to China and crossed the Himalayas, more than 2,000 people were frozen to death, and their bodies were dumped in pits and valleys.
Fukang'an stayed in Lhasa for 27 days, conveying Qianlong's edict to the two major lamas and discussing official matters in detail. At this time, the Tibetan side did not know that the Qing government had lost sight of the Khalkha Mongols, so they had no objections to the emperor's decree and did not dare to violate it at all.
After that, Fukang'an went to Houzang and informed the upper-class people in various places to help raise army grain and comprador horses. Since Tibet produced saltpeter, sulfur, lead and other raw materials, he directly purchased gunpowder and lead shot locally. He also learned in detail about the rise and expansion of the Shah's kingdom, its territory and surrounding conditions, and the conflicts within the royal family from the prisoners captured by Chengde's troops.
Different from the history of another time and space, because the Qing government wanted to carve out a territory in the South Asian subcontinent this time and seek a way out, Fukang'an paid special attention to the surrounding areas close to Gorkha.
According to the prisoners' accounts, there is a place called "Gali Gada" near the south of Gorkha. Its people are the most violent and violent, and everyone is resentful. The Gorkha people call it "Pileng", which means evil people.
So in early February, when "General Fukang'an" sent a message to the vassal states surrounding southern Tibet, requesting a joint force to attack Gorkha, he brought "Pileng" with him. But what he didn't know was that this "Pileng" was not a tribe at all, but the British East India Company.
Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty purchased several sailing battleships from the East India Company in the past few years, and the British Admiralty also organized an officer corps to come to China for training, and participated in the Changxing Island naval battle, and were ravaged by the Northern Navy together with the Qing army, but Speaking of which, the Qing court was not clear about the distribution of British power in the South Asian subcontinent. Some officials even referred to the East India Company as the "Red-haired Country".
For example, on the 16th of the first lunar month earlier, Sun Shiyi, the governor of Sichuan, specifically reported the relevant situation in a memorial sent to the capital. The content of this memorial is that Sun Shiyi inquired about Yan Tingliang's journey to Yangbu, the capital of the Shah Kingdom. This person had been to Gorkha twice during the Tibetan-Korkha peace talks two years ago and had a certain understanding of the local situation. , and was also one of the important sources for the Qing court to learn about Gurkha intelligence.
"...According to Yan Tingliang, he has been to Gorkha twice. It takes about seven or eight days to walk from the Jilong exit to Yangbu. It takes about five or six days to walk south to the Red Hair Country, and beyond is the Western Ocean. Other The land of Gorkha is about eight to nine hundred miles from east to west and about seven hundred miles from south to south. There are more than 20 tribal areas bordering Gorkha..."
Sun Shiyi had been the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi for several years. The British East India Company had a trading post in Guangzhou. Even he was confused, let alone others.
The main reason for this situation is the strict control of geographical information by the Qing court. In addition, for the sake of "defense between Manchu and Han", the Manchu and Qing Dynasties strictly prohibited the elite Han scholars from having access to information related to border, military, defense and other matters related to Qing rule. The surviving geographical knowledge, relevant information and materials are concentrated in the inner court, and only Qianlong himself is qualified to access them.
For example, "Haiguo Wenjianlu", written in the eighth year of Yongzheng's reign, introduced in detail the situation of the British East India Company's three colonies in Bengal, Surat, and Bombay, and clearly pointed out the British colonies in the Indian subcontinent. The northernmost point borders Tibet. However, this book was later compiled into the "Sikuquanshu" and was no longer allowed to be circulated among the people.
In the history of another time and space, there was the second Qing Dynasty War first, and then Macartney’s visit to China. At that time, in order to find out whether the British were assisting in the Qing Dynasty War, the Qing government specifically asked Macartney about the relationship between three seemingly unrelated forces: the Red Haired Kingdom, Pileng and British India. Although Macartney denied this issue without knowing anything about the war, the Qing court still determined that the Red-haired Kingdom was British India through the interrogation of Gurkha prisoners of war. Two years later, Qianlong once again confirmed this judgment through correspondence with King George III.
In mid-March, Qianlong, who had just visited the Western Tombs of the Qing Dynasty and was preparing to tour Mount Wutai, ordered the Minister of Military and Aircraft to confer Fu Kang'an the title of "General Fuyuan." As soon as the news came out, it shocked the government and the public. By the way, He Lin, who was responsible for escorting military supplies, was promoted two days later, from deputy commander of the Han Army of Zhenglan Banner to deputy commander of Manchuria of Xiangbai Banner.
We must know that since the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the customs, there were only ten people who were awarded the position of "Fuyuan General", including Fukang'an. Except for a few who are doing nothing, they all shoulder the responsibility of opening up territories.
Although Qianlong said in his edict that it was for the majesty and respect of the imperial court, it made people fearful and thieves were discouraged. But he also used this to clarify to the Minister of Military and Aircraft and Fukang'an his overall strategy for the war against Gorkha, which was to "increase annihilation to destroy the country and seize all its land."
In order to achieve this combat goal, the Qing government did its best in terms of the number of troops and materials and military expenditures.
In terms of the deployment of troops, Sichuan Admiral Chengde, Commander-in-Chief Mukeden'a, and Green Camp Commander Zhang Zhiyuan have led 3,000 soldiers and horses composed of Tengpai soldiers, Jinchuan native soldiers, and Green Battalions to Tibet first, and will be followed by 5,000 Jinchuan troops. Native soldiers arrived one after another along the Sichuan-Tibet Line. In the direction of the Qinghai-Tibet line, in addition to the 1,500 Sauron soldiers led by Tai Fei Ying'a and the 100 Batulu guard Zhang Jing, there were also the 2,000 Jianrui battalion and 500 Jianrui battalions led by the Minister of Affairs in Tibet He Lin. The Eight Banners Firearms Battalion, Qinghai Thirty-Nine Tribes Fan Soldiers, and a small number of Eight Banners Mongolian soldiers.
As a result, the total strength of the two groups is expected to exceed 18,000.
Originally, someone in the court suggested recruiting troops from Yunnan and Guizhou, but after careful consideration, Qianlong rejected this proposal to invade far away areas. This is mainly because the Jinchuan native soldiers among the Sichuan soldiers are far more courageous than the Yunnan-Guizhou soldiers. The previous "Battle of Jinchuan and Jinchuan" is enough to prove it. These native soldiers are fully adapted to fighting in alpine areas and have strong rock climbing abilities. You must know that the Dajianlu area on the Sichuan-Tibet line is full of mountains, making it difficult for horses to walk, and there are Yangchang mountain roads along the way. Only the Jinchuan soldiers regard it as flat ground.
In terms of preparation of logistical supplies, the Qing court also exerted all its strength. After more than a month of fundraising, Fukang'an and Chengde were able to use the existing 140,000 shi of grain reserves and the number of cattle and sheep in Tibet to supply the army for nearly a year. In addition, in the direction of the Qinghai-Tibet line, Governor Lebao of Shaanxi-Gansu and Qinghai Minister Kuishu were ordered to prepare in advance matters such as riding, transporting livestock, grain and fodder, firewood, stations, guides, etc.; in the direction of the Sichuan-Tibet line, Governor-General of Sichuan Sun Shiyi, Counselor Huiling was ordered to prepare food and grass.
In terms of raising military expenses, in addition to the 3 million taels allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs, there were also 500,000 taels donated by Changlu salt merchants and Shandong businessmen, and 800,000 taels donated by He Yonghe, a businessman from Zhejiang and Zhejiang. , Yunnan, Guizhou, and Huguang levy government apportionments called "bang post money."
In late March, Fukang'an sent someone to issue an edict to Bahadur, the regent of Gorkha, in a very tough tone:
"...The letter you received from Chengde stated that the Tibetans had betrayed their preamble and refused to give silver, so they were quarreling over details. You should report the actual situation to the minister of tomorrow's station in Tibet, and wait for investigation, or stationed in Tibet. If the minister does not apply for justice, he should also report it to the governor, general, etc., and he will judge you impartially. Moreover, since you have sent a leader to pay tribute, you want to send a leader to pay tribute to the emperor in a formal manner. Who can send people to stop you? , how dare you call your troops to occupy the border, destroy and loot Tashilhunbu! Don’t you think that the land of Wei Zang is the land of the Celestial Empire, how can you not allow it to be violated! Now I have been ordered to unite the army to seize the details of money and debt that you have discussed before. It’s not worth arguing with, and it’s definitely not like we’ve been able to make peace with you before!”
During this period, Fukang'an also sent a Baleb businessman to sneak back to Gorkha, and planned a divisive plan to subvert the royal family, but failed.
Until then, the Gurkhas, who had not taken the Qing army seriously at first, finally felt something was wrong. On the one hand, they strengthened fortifications in Jilong, Rongha and even the adjacent Nyalam area, preparing for desperate resistance; on the other hand, they gradually withdrew the main forces fighting in the Garhwal area and the Kingdom of Sikkim.
In April, in order to avoid the expansion of the war, Bahadur, the regent of Gorkha, sent an envoy to Tibet and released a Qing soldier who had been detained before, and also brought gifts to "General Fuyuan". However, what Kuofang didn't know was that the Manchu Qing's war was to destroy their country and seize their territory; they couldn't even think about the previous thing of awe-inspiring, admitting guilt, and presenting a petition for peace.
Fukang'an threw back six gifts including gold damask, telescope, cloth and felt on the spot, and sternly refuted the envoy.
In early April, officers and soldiers from Xining have entered Tibet one after another. The Solundaur army and the troops led by He Lin, which Fukang'an relies on the most, have arrived in Shigatse; Because Bing walked to Lhasa, it would take almost late April to reach Houzang.
On April 18, Fukang'an, Taifei Ying'a, and He Lin left Shigatse and rushed to Lazi to supervise the transportation of military rations to Zongkha.
On April 25th, Fukang'an and his three men set off from Lazi and arrived at Dililanggu on the 27th, where Cheng De, the admiral of Sichuan, was stationed here with his troops. After that, several of them went separately to Rongjia and Nyalam to check the terrain and military fortifications. Finally, they decided to focus on Jilong and Baleb, and planned to launch an attack in early May.
At this time, Kuofang was still kept in the dark. They thought that there were only a small number of Qing and Tibetan troops on the opposite side, and there was no need to be afraid at all. In the view of Prince Regent Bahadur, due to the Qing government's long-term laissez-faire policy of "establishing governance according to customs" in border areas, it would not deploy heavy troops to support Tibet at all. Since there are no heavy troops, how can the opponent be blocked outside the country by relying on the natural dangers of the Himalayas.
On the other side, after receiving Fukang'an's message, the British in Bangladesh decided not to get involved in the matter and wait to see how the situation progressed.
But what they didn't know was that a fleet consisting of the renovated Thor and Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 had set off from Beihai Town in late March. After short supply stops in Ryukyu and Hoi An, at this time It is only two days away from local governance, the French stronghold in India.
The ancient South Asian subcontinent is destined to be turned upside down by Beihai Town.
