Chapter 583: Where can I ask the end of the world?
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.
What he didn't know was that this rapid march was the fastest in history. In the history of another time and space, this marching speed was not broken until more than a hundred years later by a team carrying a red star.
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, a total distance of 6,170 miles; the other is the Qinghai-Tibet Road
The road starts from the Xining exit, passes through Qinghai Lake, Tongtian River, Xingxiu Sea, Kunlun Mountains, and the Iron Cable Bridge to Lhasa, the total distance is 3,560 miles.
Even though it seems that the distance is much shorter if you take 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 out lightly this time. The more than 2,000 Sauron soldiers who stayed in Xining will later unite Taifei Ying'a, Ba and Ba in the Zhenghong Banner guard capital.
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 with an average altitude of 4,000 meters, and then suffered severe altitude sickness. After two days of rest after crossing the Tongtian River, he recovered, and then plunged into the vast snow-capped mountains and mountains.
Glacier. I originally thought that the weather would get better after entering Tibet, but we encountered a snowstorm for several 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 horse to replace them! Fukang'an waited for three days in a row. Fortunately, Chengde, the Sichuan admiral who entered Tibet in advance, sent Lin Jun, a salt tea master, to greet them with horses.
, this solved the 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 Gorkha separately about the reasons for the two troubles and sent a note to Chengde.
, Mukden'a and other generals who came to Tibet in advance to preside over the situation asked them to answer the issues between Tibet and the border truthfully.
When he arrived in Lhasa, before meeting the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, he visited various places and talked with all the monks and officials participating in the Tibetan peace talks. Only then did he finally understand the story of the looting of Tashilhunpo Monastery.
I was so angry that I couldn’t laugh or cry!
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. Baotai, the minister in charge of Tibet, led his troops to escort the 7th Panchen Hutuktu, who was only ten years old, to break out of the siege and go to Lhasa.
Zhongba Hutuktu, who was the general manager of Tashilhunpo Monastery, stayed 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 knows that the upper-level lamas headed by Jizhong Lama Norbu Zangdenpa will
Facing the invasion of the Kuo army, he actually put two notes "fight" and "no fight" into a tsampa pill, put them into a porcelain plate, and drew lots to decide!
Needless to say, the result was "no war". Then the lamas performed divination again, and the result was "make peace"!
Go ahead! 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 led to the Gorkha
Bahadur, the regent of Kabul, became angry and invaded and robbed the country 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 Lama Dewozhajiaba in the "Chongdui Bloodshed", so he walked to
Ran back halfway...
This was great. More than 3,000 lamas had been tortured and had no fighting spirit. They fled one after another. Zhongba Hutuktu suddenly became the bare commander. What a slap in the face. Let’s 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 who invaded were just for robbery and their combat effectiveness was very average.
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 was not defeated! Secondly, when these guys returned to China and crossed the Himalayas, more than 2,000 people were frozen to death.
People and corpses were dumped in pits and valleys.
Fukang'an stayed in Lhasa for 27 days, conveying Qianlong's edict to the two great 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 Mongolia issue, so they had no regard for the emperor's edict.
No matter what, I dare not violate it at all.
After that, Fukang'an went to Houzang and informed the upper-class figures in various places, ordering them to help raise food and fodder for the army and buy comprador horses. Since Tibet produced saltpeter, sulfur, lead and other raw materials, he directly purchased gunpowder and lead pellets locally.
From the prisoners captured by Chengde's troops, they learned in detail about the rise and expansion of the Shah's Kingdom, its territory and surrounding conditions, as well as the conflicts within the royal family.
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 person.
So in early February, when "General Fukang'an" sent a message to the vassal states around southern Tibet, requesting a joint attack on Gorkha, he brought "Pileng" with him. But what he didn't know was that this
"Pileng" is not a tribe at all, but the British East India Company.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Although the Manchus purchased several sailing battleships from the East India Company in the past few years, the British Admiralty also organized an officer corps to come to China for training, and they participated in it.
The Battle of Changxing Island was ravaged by the Northern Navy together with the Qing army. But speaking of it, 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 "Red Hair"
country".
For example, on the 16th day of the first lunar month earlier, Sun Shiyi, the governor of Sichuan, specifically reported on the relevant situation in a memorial sent to the capital. The content of this memorial was that Sun Shiyi inquired about the mission of the guard Yan Tingliang to Yangbu, the capital of the Shah Kingdom.
Passage: 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. He was also one of the important sources for the Qing government to learn about Gorkha 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 that is the Western Ocean.
The land of Gorkha is about 800 to 900 miles from east to west and about 700 miles from south to south. There are more than 20 tribal areas bordering Gorkha..."
How could it be said that 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 the border, military, defense and other matters related to the Qing rule.
The surviving geographical knowledge, relevant information and materials were concentrated in the inner court, and only Qianlong himself was 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 included in 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 Qingchuang War first, and then Macartney visited China. At that time, in order to find out whether the British provided assistance in the Qingchuang War, the Qing government specially asked the Red-haired
Macartney was asked about the relationship between three seemingly unrelated forces: China, India and India. Although Macartney denied this issue without knowing anything about the war, the Qing court still passed the investigation
The interrogation of Erkha prisoners of war confirmed that the Red Haired Kingdom was British India. 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 about to tour Mount Wutai, ordered the minister of military 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. Along with it, He was responsible for escorting military supplies.
Lin was also promoted two days later, from deputy commander of the Han Army in Zhenglan Banner to deputy commander of Manchuria in Xiangbai Banner.
You must know that since the Manchus entered the customs, there were only ten people who were awarded the position of "Fuyuan General", including Fukang'an. Except for a few mediocre ones, they all shouldered the responsibility of opening up territories.
Although Qianlong said in his edict that it was for the majesty and respect of the imperial court, to make people fearful and to break the courage of thieves, he also used this to clarify to the Minister of Military and Aircraft and Fukang'an the overall strategy of the war against Gorkha, which was to "increase pain and increase the number of troops."
Kill them to destroy their country and seize all their 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, General Soldier Mukeden'a, and Green Battalion General Zhang Zhiyuan have led 3,000 soldiers and horses composed of Tengpai soldiers, Jinchuan native soldiers and Green Battalion troops to enter Tibet first, and will be followed by 5,000 Jinchuan soldiers.
The 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 troops led by He Lin, the Minister of Affairs in Tibet.
Two thousand Jianrui battalions, five hundred and eight banners firearms battalions, Qinghai thirty-nine tribesmen, and a small number of Eight Banners Mongolian soldiers, etc.
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 the proposal of using troops to attack far away. This was mainly because the Jinchuan native soldiers among the Sichuan troops were far more brave than the Yunnan-Guizhou troops. The previous "
The "Battle of Jinchuan and Jinchuan" is enough to prove that these soldiers are fully adapted to fighting in alpine areas and have strong rock climbing ability. You must know that the Dajianlu area on the Sichuan-Tibet line is full of mountains, difficult for horses to walk, and there are sheep intestines along the way.
Only the Jinchuan soldiers regarded the mountain road as if it were flat ground.
In terms of the preparation of logistical supplies, the Qing government also exerted great efforts. After more than a month of fundraising, Fukang'an and Chengde were able to provide Tibet with the existing 140,000 shi of grain reserves and the number of cattle and sheep.
The army's consumption in the past year. In addition, in the direction of the Qinghai-Tibet Line, the Governor of Shaanxi and Gansu Lebao and the Minister of Qinghai Affairs Kuishu were ordered to prepare rides, livestock, grain, firewood, stations, guides and other matters; the Sichuan-Tibet Line
According to the direction, Sichuan Governor Sun Shiyi and Counselor Huiling were ordered to prepare grain 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, 800,000 taels donated by He Yonghe, a businessman from Zhejiang and Zhejiang, and 800,000 taels donated by merchants in Sichuan.
, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Huguang collect official apportionments called "bangtie 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 sent to Chengde said that the Tibetans had betrayed their preamble and refused to give money, 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 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 way. 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 allow it to be violated! Now I have been ordered to lead the army to collect, and 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, Fukangan also sent a Baleb businessman to sneak back to Gorkha, and planned a divisive plan to overthrow the royal family, but failed.
Until then, the Gorkhas, who had not taken the Qing army seriously at first, finally felt something was wrong. On one hand, they strengthened fortifications in Jilong, Rongha and even the adjacent Nyalam area, preparing for desperate resistance; on the other hand, they
The main forces that will fight in the Garhwal area and the Kingdom of Sikkim are gradually withdrawing.
In April, in order to avoid the expansion of the war, Gurkha Regent Bahadur sent an envoy to Tibet and released a Qing soldier who had been detained before, and also brought gifts to "General Fuyuan". However, Gurkha Fang
What I don’t know is that the Manchu Qing Dynasty’s current war was to destroy their country and seize their territory; they couldn’t even think about the previous thing of awe-stricken and acknowledging crimes and offering 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 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 Lin left Shigatse and rushed to Lazi to supervise the transportation of military supplies to Zongkha.
On April 25th, Fukang'an and the others set off from Lazi and arrived at Dililanggu on the 27th. Sichuan Admiral Cheng Dezheng was leading troops to station here. After that, they went to Rongjia and Nyalam separately.
After checking the terrain and the military fortifications, we finally decided to attack Jilong and Baleb as the main directions, and decided to launch the attack in early May.
At this time, Kuo Fang 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. In the view of Regent Bahadur, due to the long-term "customary customs" adopted by the Qing government in border areas,
The laissez-faire policy of "establishing rule" means that there will be no heavy deployment of troops to support Tibet. 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 and see how things progress.
But what they didn't know was that a fleet consisting of the renovated Thor and Beihai No. 1 and Beihai No. 2 had set off from Beihai Town in late March. After a short supply stop in Ryukyu and Hoi An, at this time
It is only two days away from the local governance, the French stronghold in India.
The ancient South Asian subcontinent is destined to be turned upside down by Beihai Town.