In the long river of history, there are too many"If"Let the reverie be infinite. For example, if Emperor Qianlong had been more ambitious, perhaps China's territory would have been much larger than it is now. This is not fiction, but a little-known historical truth - the Kazakh Khanate once offered to submit to the Qing Dynasty, but was rejected by the Qianlong Emperor. Why is that? Today, let's uncover this secret buried in the dust of history.
In 1757, a story of territory and power unfolded. The Kazakh Khanate monarch, Abula Khan, submitted a letter of submission to the Qianlong Emperor, expressing his willingness to lead his subjects to become part of the Qing Dynasty. This land area is huge, the size of Xinjiang and a half! It is conceivable that if this land is included in the territory, China's land area will expand dramatically.
However, Emperor Qianlong did not agree to this request, what are the complex considerations behind this? Was it his lack of desire to conquer, or was there something else hidden?
Let's first look at the situation of the Kazakh Khanate at that time. Besieged between the Russian Empire, the Qing Dynasty and the Dzungaria, and with constant internal strife, the country is embattled. When receiving news of the Qianlong Emperor's troops, Abul Khan had to abandon his ally, the Dzungar Khan Amur Sana, to show his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty.
Why did Emperor Qianlong refuse this seemingly perfect request for submission? Actually, he wasn't unimpressed. After receiving the letter of return, Emperor Qianlong was in a happy mood and even issued an edict, believing that this was God's blessing to the Qing Dynasty. Eventually, however, he decided to make the Kazakh Khanate a vassal state, rather than being incorporated into the territory directly.
The reasons for this are complex. First of all, since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, frontier governance has been a thorny issue. From the Xiongnu in the Han Dynasty to the Dzungar in the Qing Dynasty, border security has always been a major concern for the country. Although the Qing Dynasty unified the world, in order to eliminate the anti-Qing and Ming restoration forces, the war with Dzungaria lasted for nearly 70 years, costing the country a lot of manpower and financial resources.
Secondly, the geographical location of the Kazakh Khanate was remote, which made it extremely inconvenient to manage. If it is included in the territory, it means that the frontier of the Qing Dynasty will extend thousands of miles to the west, which is a huge challenge to maintaining the security and stability of the country. Diplomatic expenditures and labor costs will also increase significantly, which is obviously not a good deal for the Qing Dynasty at that time.
Although Emperor Qianlong's decision deprived the Qing Dynasty of the opportunity for expansion, from another point of view, it was a wise move for the sake of the country. History has no ifs, only results. Emperor Qianlong's choice was perhaps the most reasonable decision based on the actual situation of the country at that time.
Although this history has passed, it leaves us with eternal reflections. Does territorial expansion mean the strength of the state? Have we fully considered the costs of management and governance? Every choice in history is worth pondering.
And so our story comes to an end. The long river of history rolls forward, and every decision is engraved with the imprint of the times. And we, as witnesses today, should not only remember these histories, but also draw wisdom from them to provide a reference for future choices.