Zuo Zongtang was one of the "famous ministers of Zhongxing" in the late Qing Dynasty, and he was famous in history for leading his army to retake Xinjiang. After being transferred to the governorship of Shaanxi and Gansu in 1876, he fought in the northwest for 14 years, not only in military merit, but also in the transportation, agriculture and even ecological environment of the northwest.
In order to strengthen the connection between the northwest and the xinjiang region and the interior, Zuo Zongtang personally planned and built a shaanxi-Gansu new avenue from Tongguan in the east to Xinjiang in the west, and across the northwest, and ordered that one or two million trees be planted along the way, leaving a large piece of green for the northwest and leaving a good sentence of "three thousand miles of newly planted willows, attracting the spring wind to Yuguan".
Planting trees is difficult
Greening in the northwest region of "high brine, many trees" can be described as an unprecedented initiative and difficulties in all aspects. The first thing to solve is the sapling problem. According to the records, "however, when searching for branches, crossing mountains and valleys, and carrying out hardships", it can be known that the saplings must be transferred from other provinces through long distances, most likely in the south, and traveled a long way with the Xiang army on the western expedition to Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang and other places.
Secondly, the northwest region is drought and rainy, the loess soil is loose, lack of water, and the survival rate of trees is low. The local people "live without land, have no money to make ends meet, and have spare energy to plant trees." Even though the government army spared no effort to plant some trees, because the local people did not have the habit of planting and protecting trees, the new trees were "stolen by the homeless people and trampled by livestock", and finally they failed.
To this end, Zuo Zongtang did not hesitate to use the power of the viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu, and first asked the local governments to treat the governance of the northwest as if they were building their own homeland, "Strictly ordering that planting trees should be an urgent task, and the soldiers of the Imperial Household Department should plant official trees as a matter of persuasion to the people." However, if you want to plant elm willows in the northwest, it is not enough to have determination, Zuo Zongtang's profound agronomy research, Chu Jun's rich experience in farming, and meticulous organization and protection are the keys to success.
Careful selection of saplings
According to the natural conditions of the northwestern provinces, Zuo Zongtang advocated a variety of poplar, willow and elm trees. Poplars and elms are hardy, drought tolerant, fast growing, adaptable, and resistant to harsh soil, and are good tree species for shelter forest; Willow trees are moisture tolerant, have deep roots, are easy to survive, and have a neutral soil, suitable for use as a protective embankment forest. He also proposed that Hexi is cold, and it is advisable to plant more poplar trees; Longnan and Longdong are more moderate, and it is advisable to have a variety of willow trees. In addition to determining the tree species according to the soil climate, Zuo Zongtang also emphasized the role of people and the management and protection of the later stage, "If the effort is made to create in the front, and the posterity knows how to cherish it, how can it not be destroyed?" "Oh all things are clean and tidy, and they are in man."
It is strictly forbidden for officials and people to destroy trees
Zuo Zongtang stipulated in the more fixed "Chu Military Camp System": "The eldest lady and others are not allowed to cut firewood outside ... If they do not comply, once they are found, the heavy ones will be punished correctly, and the light ones will be punished severely." And look up to the camp officer and sentry officer to teach the precepts at any time. "And"the groom should guard the horses, and must not eat the sprouts of the people." If the people are sprouting, no matter who sees them, they will lead the horses to the camp to report. The battalion officer of the battalion took out four hundred qianwen of the groom's rations and rewarded the man who sent the horse. Then find out that there is a certain amount of food, a certain amount of value, and also compensate the groom's money. The next repetition will be punished by two hundred grooms and doubled punishment. Camp officers should also be sincere at any time; Not a fool groom has had it either. The thoroughness of its regulations and the severity of its punishment all reflect Zuo Zongtang's heart to protect the tree.
Widely promote tree protection
In order to let the local people know the benefits of afforestation, Zuo Zongtang personally wrote the teachings and printed the benefits of tree planting into a book, which was widely publicized among the people everywhere. Later, when Zuo Zongtang was about to leave the northwest, he still did not forget to write a letter to Yang Changjun, who succeeded him as the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, instructing him to inherit the responsibility of protecting the trees, saying: "The trees planted on the East Lanzhou Road are as dense as wooden cities, and the rows are neat. The trees that are planted are all high on the hillside, and must be watered through three volts of heaven, so as not to wither away, and not to mix with bitter water, and to use water more frequently. "And if you are too long-armed, then there is no heaven and earth." The planting of trees and the opening of canals have not been discussed, and it is a pity. The county and the defense camp came to greet, that is, to add instructions."
Today, we have extensively carried out a series of measures such as returning farmland to forests and returning grazing land to grassland, which is actually to continue to fulfill Zuo Zongtang's last wish to benefit the northwest and the whole country with greening. To this day, we have planted willows for more than three thousand miles, attracting the spring breeze and not only the jade pass.