On September 5, 1885, Zuo Zongtang, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, died of illness in Fujian at the age of 74. At the last moment of his life, Zuo Zongtang still offered advice to the country, but the rotten Qing government was terminally ill.
Zuo Zongtang's death was like a broken pillar for the Qing government, and the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu gave him the last dignity and respect, and held a high-level funeral for him.
Li Hongzhang, who has always disagreed with him, can't help but be sad: Thirty years of circulation, harmony and difference, indisputable but indisputable, only Mr. knows me; The nine edicts of Kunyao, the text is governed by the inside, and the military is governed by the outside, and the public is cherished for the world.
And Zeng Guofan, another famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, also had a very high opinion of Zuo Zongtang: In terms of military warfare, I am not as good as Zuo Zongtang; Loyal to the country, but also with Ji Gao as the crown. The country is fortunate to have Zuo Zongtang also.
Zuo Zongtang has made countless achievements in his life, he was born in troubled times, but he has a heart to serve the people. However, he failed to make the list three times, and many things were involuntarily.
In 1840, the Opium War broke out, the people were poisoned by opium, and the iron horses of the great powers trampled on the land of China. However, for the Opium War, Zuo Zongtang still proposed countermeasures such as "building more fireships and gunboats".
Although Zuo Zongtang has repeatedly failed to make the list, the brilliance of talented people cannot be hidden. Lin Zexu, who sold cigarettes in Humen, appreciated Zuo Zongtang very much, and the two had a huge difference in identity at that time, but they could talk all night, and Lin Zexu praised Zuo Zongtang as a "peerless genius".
What really made Zuo Zongtang famous was the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was very strong at the beginning, and soon formed a siege of Changsha. At the time of the critical survival, Hunan Governor Zhang Liangji had no good way to deal with it, at this time Zeng Guofan's staff Guo Songtao recommended Zuo Zongtang and promised that as long as Zuo Zongtang went out of the mountain, Changsha would not be lost.
In this way, Zuo Zongtang stood up at the time of the life and death of the Qing Dynasty, he braved the artillery fire to enter the city, and then arranged the city defense deployment in an orderly manner, and Changsha was impregnable.
Zhang Liangji was overjoyed when he saw Zuo Zongtang's outstanding talent, and entrusted all the military to Zuo Zongtang. His talent was fully displayed, and the Taiping army's previous attacks were all hindered here in Changsha, and it lasted three months and could not be attacked, and finally withdrew from the siege and went north.
Zuo Zongtang made his name, and in the following ten years, Zuo Zongtang became the biggest nemesis of the Taiping Army, and he himself rose step by step with the accumulation of military achievements, but he never forgot his principles.
If Zuo Zongtang continues like this, he will eventually become a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty. What really transformed him from a famous minister to a national hero was his efforts to recover Xinjiang despite public opinion.
In 1864, the Taiping Rebellion failed, but under the influence of the movement, powerful people in Xinjiang took the opportunity to rise, and at the same time, Tsarist Russia also eyed Xinjiang.
At that time, the Qing Dynasty was attacked by the enemy, and the coastal powers invaded, and Xinjiang took the opportunity to become more and more chaotic. It was not until 1867 that Agubo established the "Hongfu Han State" to formally secede Xinjiang, and Tsarist Russia also occupied Ili in Xinjiang in 1871.
The imperial court was divided into two factions on the Xinjiang issue, one of which was represented by Li Hongzhang, who believed that the most serious problem at that time was the issue of coastal defense, just in time for the Japanese invasion and occupation of Taiwan.
Therefore, Li Hongzhang and his faction believe that Xinjiang should be temporarily abandoned and coastal defense should be strengthened. In addition, Li Hongzhang also believes that the land in Xinjiang is barren and has no use value, which is one of the main reasons why he suggested abandoning Xinjiang.
In stark contrast, Zuo Zongtang believes that coastal defense is as important as border defense, and that Xinjiang is China's inherent territory, and if left unchecked, it will first chill ethnic minority areas.
Not only that, Tsarist Russia continued to infiltrate, and if the whole of Xinjiang fell into the hands of Tsarist Russia in the future, they would not be satisfied with one Xinjiang at that time, but the entire Qing Dynasty.
The final decision fell into the hands of Cixi, the de facto ruler of the Qing Dynasty.
Those who are familiar with modern history know that the Empress Dowager Cixi is one of the sinners in the history of humiliation in modern times, and she feels that Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang have a point in saying the Xinjiang issue. After weighing the pros and cons, she chose a compromise. That is, he agreed to send troops to Xinjiang, but there was no military salary, if you Zuo Zongtang had the ability, he would raise his own military salary to recover Xinjiang.
Cixi deserves to be called an old fritter, this move did not offend Li Hongzhang and met Zuo Zongtang's requirements. Fortunately, Zuo Zongtang is a person of flesh and blood and faith, he was not intimidated by difficulties, and really raised funds to recover Xinjiang by himself.
He borrowed money from the bank, found private businessmen to introduce him, and used everything he could, and finally barely raised enough military salaries. You can imagine the difficulties at that time.
In the end, after many difficulties and dangers, Xinjiang returned to the territory of the Qing Dynasty as it wished. Without Zuo Zongtang's insistence, the map of China today would probably have changed.
However, no matter how talented Zuo Zongtang is, no matter how talented he is, there is nothing he can do in the face of the terminally ill old man of the Qing Dynasty, he is like a general who destroys the country and fights fires everywhere, and finally dies in 1885 at the age of 74.
Zuo Zongtang was a person worthy of the admiration of all Chinese, but he was not taken seriously in later generations.
Zuo Zongtang's cemetery is located in Baizhu Village, Jumping Horse Town, Yuhua District, Changsha City, and is a cultural relics protection unit. But decades ago, there was little respect for the grave of the late Qing dynasty celebrity.
In 1975, Hunan Province built a highway, passing through Jumping Horse Town, just blocked by Zuo Zongtang's tomb in the middle, in order to save costs, the people at that time actually divided Zuo Zongtang's tomb into two, from the middle to build a road.
This is understandable, but two years later, the local government's approach was unacceptable, and they ordered Zuo Zongtang's tomb to be blown up, and the tombstone could be used as a paving stone.
The construction team really brought more than 100 kilograms of explosives, and quickly laid dozens of detonators, and after a "bang", a large hole was blown out of the originally hard burial chamber.
"Such a big official must have a lot of funeral goods, and if you grab a little, you will get rich!" Some local villagers with crooked thoughts took the opportunity to run into Zuo Zongtang's tomb, but they searched the entire tomb and found nothing of value, only some clothes and artifacts that had been torn.
The villagers were furious that they could not find anything valuable, so they poured all their anger on Zuo Zongtang's remains and knocked down his stone statue.
The impact of this incident on the local area is very bad, Zuo Zongtang is a historical celebrity, and he has made great contributions to China, which should be respected, and should not be treated as such.
The cemetery was treated roughly twice, which aroused the attention of the whole society, after all, Zuo Zongtang's name was too loud. The incident also alarmed the founding father General Wang Zhen, who was also from Hunan, and Zuo Zongtang was his predecessor and fellow countryman, and he was quite angry when he learned of this: How can this be true.
He personally asked the relevant local departments to immediately repair Zuo Zongtang's tomb and properly protect it in the future, Zuo Zongtang has contributed to the country, and future generations should give the highest respect.
Zuo Zongtang and General Wang Zhen have something in common, they both want to save the country in danger, the difference is that Zuo Zongtang was born at the wrong time, while Wang Zhen witnessed history.
No matter what, Zuo Zongtang is a great hero who is respected.
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