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Hello and

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welcome to the

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history of China.

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Episode 278, The

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Treaty of Nartensk.

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I am a

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tomb. Whose tomb

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is a tomb? Whose

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tomb is this?

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The tomb of those

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who created it? Is this

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a spaceship? It used to

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be a spaceship, but now

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it is dead, and so

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it's a tomb. Who are

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you? Who is conversing with

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us? I am the tomb.

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It is the tomb speaking

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to you. I'm dead. You

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mean you're a ship whose

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crew died? In other words,

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you're the control system for

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the ship? There was

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no reply to this.

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We can see many

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other objects in this

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region of space. Are

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they also tombs? Most

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of them are tombs.

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The others will be

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tombs as soon. I

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don't know them all.

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Are you from far

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away? Or have you

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always been here? I'm

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from far away. There

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was no answer. Did

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you build this four-dimensional

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fragment? You told me

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you came from the

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sea. Did you build

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the sea? You're saying

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that for you, or

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at least for your

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creators, this four-dimensional space

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is like the sea for

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us? More like a puddle.

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The sea has gone dry. Why

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are so many ships or

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tombs? Gathered in such a small

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space. When

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the sea is drying, the fish

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have to gather into a puddle.

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The puddle is also drying, and

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all the fish are going to

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disappear. Are

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all the fish here? The

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fish responsible for drying out the sea

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is not here. We're

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sorry. What you said is really

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hard to understand. The fish who

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dried out the sea went on

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to land before they did this.

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They moved from one dark

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forest to another dark forest. Dark

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forest? What do you

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mean? The same thing you

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mean. Are you going

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to attack us? I am

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a tomb. I'm dead. I

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won't attack anyone. From

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Death's End by Leo

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Cixin Last

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time we left off with the battle

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royale between the Kangxi Emperor and Galdan

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Khan coming to a middle. Galdan

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was bruised and battered, his forces but

3:05

a shadow of their former selves in

3:07

the wake of the devastating Qing Offensive

3:09

of 1690, personally commanded by the Emperor. He

3:12

was down, yes, but not

3:14

yet out. And much

3:16

to the disappointment of the

3:18

Kangxi Emperor's unusually zealous drive to put

3:20

down Galdan once and for all, the

3:22

Qing government had found the limits of

3:24

its capacity to pursue an aggressive expedition

3:26

of conquest into the trackless wilds of

3:29

Central Asia, as one often

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does. And so it

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is here that we once again resume today. Though

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it couldn't by any stretch of the imagination

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be called a total victory for the

3:40

Kangxi Emperor, it nevertheless seems that even

3:43

a partial defeat of the Jengar state

3:45

to his west was enough for the

3:47

Qing proclamations to celebrate it as such.

3:50

Yet even that rested not

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on Qing efforts alone, but was

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thanks in large part due

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to Russian acquiescence. From

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Peter Perdue, quote, China

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and Russia signed the Treaty of

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Narchansk in 1689 and the

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Kyašta Trade Treaty in 1727. These

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treaties had decisive consequences for

4:09

Central Eurasian power relations. Their

4:12

most important effect was to reduce the

4:14

ambiguity of their frontier by eliminating

4:16

the unmapped zones. People

4:18

in between the two expanding agrarian

4:20

empires took advantage of the fluidity

4:22

of this zone to protect their

4:24

identities through shifting allegiances. After

4:27

1689, refugees, deserters, and tribespeople

4:29

had to be fixed as

4:31

subjects of either Russia or

4:33

China. Maps, surveyors, border

4:35

guards, and ethnographers began to determine

4:38

their identities and their movements. End

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quote. As

4:43

I read that passage, it really struck me just how

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relatively new, in the grand scheme

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of things at least, so

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many of our fundamental understandings and

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societal norms really are. And

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not just in China of course, but virtually

4:56

anywhere we look, just as Peter Purdue

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states here, that occurs in lockstep

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with the process of those areas of the

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map that were once labeled terra incognita being

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filled in. We

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think of the way we live, by

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which I mean as sedentary agrarian -based typically

5:11

urban dwelling non -nomads, which is more

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than like 99 % of us on earth

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at this point, as being

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normal. And there's

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certainly justification for that. At

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least if you're looking at it from the

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perspective of today. But you

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don't have to go back too terribly far

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in time, surprisingly close in fact, to

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find a point in any region or cultural

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sphere where that urban agrarian lifestyle

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was just one of several

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options on the table. And

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one could, in some cases choose

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to and others be more or

5:43

less forced into, abandoning one lifestyle for

5:45

another. Casting way

5:47

back into the past, when we look back

5:49

at the An Lushan Rebellion in the mid

5:51

8th century Tang dynasty, over the course of

5:53

which the tax records indicate that China lost

5:55

something like half of its overall population. What

5:58

did that really mean? Some,

6:01

many, died by either

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violence, starvation, illness, or any number

6:05

of other factors, of course. But

6:08

that doesn't account for everyone. It never

6:10

does. Many others, no

6:12

matter how thorough the attempt to

6:15

exterminate the populace of an area is,

6:17

some people just somehow survive. But

6:19

as is the case in the Anshu Rebellion,

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they fall off the tax records thereafter, seemingly

6:23

for the rest of whatever lives they might have

6:25

had. What came next for

6:27

them? Well, they lived,

6:30

quite literally, outside of the

6:32

law, in the woods, hills, and mountains,

6:34

in the very sense of Robin Hood and his

6:36

merry band of brigands. Outlaw,

6:38

neither beholden to nor protected by

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any organized state. We

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are at the point of our story where,

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around the world, the places where

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here there be monsters are beginning

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to be ever more swiftly filled

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in by survey lines, taxonomies, and

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tax receipts. In

6:55

some ways, perhaps, and it certainly

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framed this way by the instigating

6:59

expansionary empires across time and space, it

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is a great leap forward for

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the societies thus incorporated into

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the narrow imperial definition of society,

7:09

often technologically, materially, and legally,

7:11

at least at the

7:13

high watermark of that imperium.

7:16

But that is a steep trade -off,

7:18

and those unique aspects of culture

7:20

that are either traded in, or in

7:22

some particular cases, such as is

7:24

ongoing in Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and

7:26

now Hong Kong, enforced as the

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new standard of normality are wrestled back

7:31

only ever exceedingly rarely. Most

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are lost to time, cultural

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ephemera like a snowflake in the winds of

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winter night. Digression aside,

7:40

over the course of the latter

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century, as we've seen, Russo -Ching relations

7:44

had developed, but cautiously. Negotiations

7:47

had been both delicate and ongoing,

7:49

and with several armed flare -ups

7:51

when understandings had not been achieved

7:54

via diplomatic channels. Yet,

7:56

in spite of the seemingly bilateral nature

7:58

of this budding relation, there were

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in fact four major parties

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in play here. Apart

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from the obvious Chinese and Russian empires

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of course, there were also the Mongols

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and Jesuits to consider. All four

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quite influential across at least portions

8:13

of the region, and all with

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markedly different individual interests. It's

8:19

easy to lose sight of just

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how truly immense Asia is. Don't

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worry if you forgot it for a moment, you're in good

8:27

company. Napoleon Bonaparte found out

8:29

the hard way, as did his pale

8:31

Austrian imitator Hitler a century later. Well

8:34

before them, the likes of Alexander of

8:36

Macedon took a big chunk but ran out

8:38

of his men's patience. And

8:40

of course, smatter throughout or any number of

8:42

Chinese emperors who claimed dominion over the

8:44

totality of the continent and the

8:47

Mongols who ever so briefly achieved

8:49

the high score in the

8:51

century. But make no mistake, Asia

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is big. You just

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won't believe how vastly, hugely,

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mind -bogglingly big it is. I

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mean, you may think it's a long way down the road

9:03

to the chemists, but that's just peanuts to Asia. As

9:06

the 1600s ticked by, the two

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empires blindly groped toward one another through

9:11

the barren taiga and step -wilderness between

9:13

them. As they interacted

9:15

with the various minor settlements of peoples

9:17

and the otherwise largely empty vastness, both

9:19

came to realize that fixing such peoples

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along their borders in allegiance to themselves

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would be in their own best

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interests. Both, likewise,

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came to see the rising might of the

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Jengar Khanate smack dab in the middle as

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a clear and present danger to that expansionistic

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mission. Russia first

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became aware of Qing China as it

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moved east across the Siberian tundra. Word

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soon reached such explorers of the riches

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that awaited within the boundaries of the

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Qing Empire, and they thus sought

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to trade with it with their own

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chief commodities, all of which they'd found

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an abundant, nigh inexhaustible supply in Siberia, by

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which I mean the pelt of

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games such as Irmines, Black and

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Silver Foxes, Beavers, Otters, and... and most

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precious and sought after of all, Mink.

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As was typical, the Russians knew

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next to nothing about the civilization

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that they were seeking to trade with.

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But then, that hardly mattered, didn't

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it? Still, the little tidbits we

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get of their discoveries about China

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in this period are amusing. Wrote

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one member of the Russians sent

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caravan that failed in its mission

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to reach Beijing in 1608, quote,

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the Chinese used firearms, and people

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come from many lens to trade

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with them. and they wear golden

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robes, and to him, the Emperor,

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they bring all kinds of precious

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stones and other things out of

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many countries." End quote. Wow. They

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really are just like us. Over the

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course of the 17th century,

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Sino-Russian relations continued to

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develop, albeit in fits

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and starts. Nevertheless,

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by the 1680s, that had not

10:52

only boiled over into a series

10:54

of minor armed conflicts all

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their own, But by 1689, the two

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sides were sitting down for a round

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of everyone's favorite game, Diplomacy.

11:02

The primary chain concern by

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this point was in preventing the

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Russians from throwing their support behind

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the rising star of Galdan Khan.

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To that end, they agreed to meet

11:13

with the Russian embassy in July

11:16

of 1689 at Nurchinsk, the then

11:18

recently established administrative center

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of what is now

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Zabekalski Kri. So if you picture

11:24

a map... It's just a little

11:26

north of the eastern point where

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the modern borders of China, Mongolia,

11:30

and Russia intersect. The Russian emissary,

11:32

who we know as Golovin, along

11:34

with a retinue of about a

11:37

thousand attendants, met with seven

11:39

Qing ambassadors, the leader of

11:41

which was Songatu, and including

11:43

the two Jesuits we've previously

11:45

brought up, Gerbion, and Pereira,

11:47

as well as, quote, military

11:49

regiments, and Buddhist clergy numbering

11:51

at least 10,000, end quote.

11:53

The Qing representatives were, one at

11:56

all, high Manchu officials, including no

11:58

less than the Chinese uncle. of the

12:00

Kangxi emperor as well as the two

12:02

victorious commanders of the Qing victory

12:04

over the Russians at Fort Al -Bazin.

12:07

It was, to put it mildly,

12:10

something of an entire to -do. There

12:13

were, however, no Mongol princes

12:15

invited to attendance, a rather

12:17

stunning oversight considering the territory

12:19

in question. Nevertheless,

12:22

their quote -unquote hidden presence still

12:24

managed to influence two critical

12:26

issues of the negotiations, the

12:29

means of communication, and the

12:31

delineation of the border. Curiously,

12:35

and almost bizarrely, the language

12:37

of the negotiations was to be

12:39

conducted in Latin. Both

12:41

sides insisted that neither side's native language

12:44

was to be used so as to

12:46

give scrupulous lip service to the idea

12:48

of equality between the two parties. Thus,

12:51

though the Qing had Russian translators, they

12:53

refused to use them, and while

12:55

the Russians were willing to cast about for

12:57

a Manchu translator, they couldn't find any

12:59

competent enough for the task. Well,

13:03

alright, but still, why Latin?

13:06

Why not any number of other

13:08

languages that people actually use in

13:10

day -to -day life, especially amidst the

13:12

trackless expanses of the Eurasian steppe?

13:14

Why not, say, conduct the meeting

13:17

in Mongolian, which was certainly the

13:19

most common trade language among the

13:21

vastly frontier peoples? And that's

13:23

where the critical question of who, specifically,

13:25

can insert themselves at

13:27

a critical moment at just the

13:30

right time to become the lynchpin

13:32

upon which global history frequently

13:34

but fleetingly swings. From

13:37

Purdue, quote, had

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inserted themselves as crucial mediators, they

13:42

could decide the terms, and the

13:44

language of communication. On

13:46

the first day of the

13:48

meeting, August 22nd, the envoys agreed in

13:50

principle to communicate in Latin. According

13:53

to Golovin's report, they believed that there

13:55

were not enough Mongolian translators and that

13:57

they were not reliable, so both sides

13:59

agreed that it would be more

14:01

objective to rely on the Jesuits'

14:03

Latin." Thus agreed,

14:05

the negotiations turned to the major issue

14:07

of the day, namely the

14:09

border question. The

14:12

Manchus claimed an initial position of establishing

14:14

a fixed border all the way at

14:16

Lake Baikal, which was way beyond,

14:18

it ought to be noted,

14:20

any maximum Chinese border ever. Yet,

14:23

the looming specter of sketchiness soon

14:25

came to overshadow the proceedings.

14:28

When the Russians countered that the border should

14:30

be drawn along the Amur River, they

14:33

heard in reply from the translators that the

14:35

Qing would threaten them with a storm of

14:37

swords in the form of military incursions

14:39

if they did not concede immediately

14:41

on this question. Taken

14:43

quite a back, the Russian emissaries

14:45

came to realize that it was

14:48

not the Qing diplomats, but rather

14:50

their Jesuit interpreters who were inserting

14:52

words into their translations in order

14:54

to alter the meaning. The

14:56

Russians then asked to switch languages

14:58

and converse in Mongolian instead, prompting

15:00

the Qing ambassadors to withdraw for

15:02

an extended discussion. When

15:05

they came back, they clarified that they

15:07

had, quote, only directed the Jesuits to

15:09

speak on the border issue and not

15:11

of military matters, end quote. Well,

15:13

that's not exactly the most

15:16

comforting of assurances, but, all right,

15:18

I guess. Time

15:20

and again, when the discussions deadlocked, the

15:22

Russians sought to bypass the Jesuits'

15:24

Latin and communicate directly with their Manchu

15:26

counterparts via their Mongolian translators. But

15:29

the Jesuits insisted that such translators were

15:31

incompetence, who would serve only to

15:33

botch such delicate negotiations. Purdue

15:36

notes, quote, The Jesuits also

15:38

told the Russians not to speak to

15:40

the Manchus in between negotiations, and they

15:42

told their own interpreters and Manchu

15:44

official assistants, Dargochi, never to

15:46

speak to the Russians alone in Mongolian. Mongolian

15:49

could certainly have served as a bridging

15:51

language just as easily as Latin. By

15:53

excluding it, the Jesuits put themselves in

15:56

the position of getting better terms for

15:58

the propagation of their religion

16:00

from sides. Both sides, end quote. Classic sense of

16:02

professional self-preservation, I say, tale as

16:04

old as translation, whether

16:07

about Mongolian versus Latin or

16:09

Google versus Bing versus hiring

16:11

a professional translator. Always double

16:13

check and always be aware of someone

16:15

or something that offers its service for

16:18

free. The Jesuits got the Russians

16:20

to promise their church favorable treatment

16:22

from the Tsar in exchange for

16:24

their supposed ability to dissuade the

16:26

kangxi emperor from war, end quote.

16:29

a stunningly dubious claim at absolute best.

16:31

From the Qing Empire, they were able to

16:33

obtain an edict of toleration from the

16:35

Imperial Throne as of 1692, as a

16:38

reward for them taking credit for not

16:40

just this, but many other successful treaty

16:42

negotiations. Again, from Purdue, in a hugely

16:45

revelatory phrasing, quote, in a

16:47

time-honored tradition of powerful mediators up

16:49

to Henry Kissingeringer in our own day,

16:51

they were determined to exclude any

16:54

communication channels outside themselves, outside

16:56

themselves. monopolizing the language and

16:58

the access of each side

17:00

to the other, they successfully

17:03

kept any Mongolian interests out

17:05

of the negotiation. And you know what?

17:07

That really seals it for me. Up to

17:09

that point, I was thinking to myself,

17:11

you know, I'm starting to think

17:13

that these Jesuits, Gherbilla, and

17:15

Pereira might not be being entirely

17:18

above board. But comparing them to

17:20

Henry's strange love Kissinger?

17:22

Oof. Fatality. One issue

17:24

that absolutely needed to be hammered

17:27

out was exactly where to draw

17:29

the new border between Asiatic overland

17:31

powers. Though negotiations were fraught,

17:33

ultimately it was agreed that it would

17:36

be set just north of the Amma

17:38

River along the nearest mountain range, with

17:40

the Russian fortress at Argunzk moved

17:42

north beyond it, but retaining their

17:44

access to the valuable salt and

17:46

mines north of the Argun. And

17:48

all it took to get them there from

17:51

the Qing side was the movement of

17:53

some 12,000 Qing troops to surround Nertensk,

17:55

as well as Mongols nominally under Russian

17:57

command, beginning to desert for Qing lines

17:59

in droves. Noves. Knowing that his position

18:01

was completely untenable, the Russian

18:03

emissary Golovine at last begrudgingly

18:06

gave into the terms pressed

18:08

by his Manchu counterparts, and in

18:10

time, a stayley with the terms of

18:12

this treaty would be erected along the

18:14

newly established Russo- Qing border. Quote,

18:16

losing his Mongolian tributaries would

18:18

have cost Golovine nearly all

18:21

of the tributaries currently under

18:23

Russian control. The Qing gave up

18:25

claims to land which it never controlled

18:27

in the first place. and by offering

18:29

trade access ensured that the Russians would

18:31

not support Galdan." End quote. Yet it

18:34

could hardly be argued in the grand

18:36

wash of these negotiations that it was

18:38

anyone other than the Jesuits, and through

18:40

them the Catholic Church overall, that got

18:42

the best end of the entire bargain.

18:44

They gained the respect and trust of

18:47

Kangxi, who profusely thanked them for their

18:49

work and other favors that they had

18:51

performed for him, by opening the whole

18:54

of his empire to their missionary activities.

18:56

This was surely seen as a once

18:58

in a lifetime opportunity for the church.

19:00

Just imagine, an ocean of new converts

19:03

just waiting to be baptized into the

19:05

one true faith. Yet, in the end, it

19:07

would prove to be a far less

19:09

than achievable goal that the Jesuit organization

19:11

had set for itself. Like so

19:13

many others, individual and corporate,

19:16

secular and theological alike then

19:18

and now, they would find that China

19:20

is a far harder market to

19:22

effectively penetrate and corner than at

19:24

first seems. In the end, despite

19:27

their many efforts, they would never

19:29

succeed in converting either Manchus or

19:31

Chinese to their faith in any

19:34

significant numbers. Moreover, as their

19:36

favor was tied directly to the

19:38

good feelings of Kangxi himself, once

19:40

he died, so too did the

19:42

Jesuit star fade in China. At least,

19:45

for now. Meanwhile, it was surely Galdon

19:47

and the Mongols as a whole,

19:49

for that lost out the most on

19:51

the Treaty of Narchinsk. effectively boxed

19:54

out of the proceedings entirely by

19:56

the Jesuits as they were. Galdon was

19:58

himself to discover the unplanned and

20:00

effects of the treaty shortly after its conclusion.

20:03

In early 1690, he sent an

20:05

envoy to Galavin's home in Irkutsk

20:07

seeking his military support in Galdan's

20:09

upcoming attacks against the Kalkas. Quote,

20:12

since the Russians themselves had been attacked

20:14

by Tussietzukan, Galdan expected an allegiance

20:16

between their common enemy. End quote.

20:19

Galavin, however, pulled in, I was trying to call

20:21

you but it went straight to voicemail, explaining

20:24

that he'd sent riders with messages to Galdan

20:26

but they'd been unable to reach the

20:28

Khan and unfortunately that meant at this

20:30

point that the Russians were just plum

20:32

unable to offer the Jungar Khan any kind

20:34

of material aid. It

20:36

was, in effect, a very delicately put

20:39

Dear John letter, or maybe put

20:41

better here, Dear Khan letter. Quote,

20:43

after signing the treaty with the Manchus, Galavin

20:45

no longer had an interest in the

20:48

Jungar alliance. End quote. The

20:50

Kangxi Emperor, eventually learned about the

20:52

Jungar's meeting with the Russians and,

20:55

in classic Kangxi fashion, sent

20:57

a message to Galavin and the Russians

20:59

reminding them that, as per the terms

21:01

of their freshly inked treaty, the

21:03

Russians, aiding Galdan in any way,

21:05

shape, or form was, to use the

21:07

technical legal phrase, extremely not cash

21:09

money. Quote, Nirtansk

21:12

now served as the model for defining

21:14

obligations on the frontier and the

21:16

Qing had defined the terms. Galdan was

21:18

too late. End quote. Time

21:22

and again, over the course of the

21:24

1690s, Galdan would attempt to send missives

21:26

to the Russian diplomatic corps urgently. Galdan

21:29

would attempt to send missives to the

21:31

Russian diplomatic corps urgently requesting their

21:33

aid. Yet they, time

21:35

and again, refused to permit such embassies to

21:37

carry on to Moscow in order to present

21:39

their case to the Tsar himself. Ultimately,

21:43

and who can really blame them, the Tsar and

21:45

his ministers found it much more alluring

21:47

to remain on the good graces of the

21:49

Qing Empire than to squander such an

21:51

incomparable opportunity in order to help a dirty

21:53

hardscrabble little step archer nursing vast delusions

21:55

of grandeur. As such, it

21:57

might reasonably be said that the great

21:59

Qing victory in the course of

22:01

the Narcissus negotiations was to ensure that

22:03

the Jengar Khanate remained unable to recruit

22:06

Russia as a military ally in this clash

22:08

of kings in the Central Asian Highlands. And

22:11

so it was that this signing of

22:13

the treaty between Tsarist Russia and Great

22:15

Qing became the first treaty signed between

22:18

a Western power and China. It,

22:21

along with the Treaty of Kikta, would have

22:23

the double dubious honor of being

22:25

the only such treaty concluded with the

22:27

Western world that was conducted on

22:29

the basis of anything like equality between

22:31

the parties for more than 200

22:33

years thereafter. Markedly unlike

22:35

the massive diplomatic fiasco that would

22:37

be the McCarthy expedition late the next

22:39

century before Khan Xi's grandson the

22:41

Qianlong Emperor, there was no issue

22:43

like objections to kowtowing before the emperor

22:45

to hang up the successful diplomacy of

22:47

the exercise. Quote, as

22:50

in the later negotiations with other European

22:52

powers, the two sides had very different goals.

22:55

The Russians wanted trade, while the

22:57

Chinese wanted security. But

22:59

unlike the 19th century unequal treaties, each

23:01

side gained what it needed

23:03

without inflicting unacceptable losses on the

23:05

other, end quote. For

23:08

Russia, that compromise took the form of

23:10

promotion of their lucrative fur trade, even

23:12

at the cost of potentially missing out

23:14

on some of that imperial honor and

23:17

military glory. For

23:19

Qing China, it took the form of preceding

23:21

land claims it held for ritual purposes,

23:23

in exchange for Russian neutrality in the wars

23:25

against the Jungars, as should be obvious

23:27

by now, were sure to come. From

23:30

a historiographical perspective, it is interesting to

23:32

note that the Treaty of Narchance

23:34

has been dramatically politicized by both Russia

23:36

and China in the centuries following

23:38

its signing. From Purdue,

23:41

quote, until the Sino -Soviet

23:43

split of the 1960s, Russian and

23:45

Chinese historians interpreted the treaties as

23:47

the roots of the Fraternal Alliance

23:49

of the 1950s, the only

23:51

successful equal treaties between China and the

23:53

West, end quote. The

23:56

cooling of political relations in the

23:58

60s, however, necessitated a dramatic reframing

24:00

of the importance of the Treaty

24:02

of Nertensk. Soviet and later Russian

24:04

historians have come to view Nertensk

24:06

as indeed an unequal treaty for

24:08

themselves, having gotten in their estimation

24:10

the shorter end of the stick,

24:13

and that it was forced upon

24:15

them by dishonest Manchus who were

24:17

only interested in their own aggressive

24:19

expansionism. China, meanwhile, reframed their historical

24:21

interpretation of the outcome at Nertensk,

24:24

as the Russians being the same

24:26

old, same old... treacherous imperialists who

24:28

signed the treaties but continued to

24:31

give significant aid to the Mongol state.

24:33

Even more recently, Chinese partisans

24:35

have taken to their own

24:38

version of the winally relitigating

24:40

ancient centuries-defunct treaties spiel and

24:42

taken to themselves calling the Treaty

24:44

of Nachinsk one of the infamous

24:47

unequal treaties conducted against China

24:49

by the West. Quote, because China

24:51

gave up claims to large parts

24:53

of Eastern Siberia purportedly occupied by

24:55

Chinese, i.e. Tunguzic, peoples, end quote.

24:57

And to both of them, I reply,

24:59

have either of you looked in the mirror

25:02

lately? The irony meter is kind

25:04

of maxing out. There would be, in all,

25:06

a lull of about six years between

25:08

Kangxi's first and second campaigns

25:10

against Galdan Khan. In that

25:12

interim, the Qing Emperor short

25:15

up his border defenses and maneuvered

25:17

his troops in such a fashion

25:19

as to maximally isolate the Jungar

25:22

Khan. Galdan, for his part, used

25:24

the time attempting to both rebuild

25:26

his shattered forces and ensure the

25:28

continuing support of the Dalai Lama

25:30

for his cause. In public, both rulers

25:32

expressed their deep and ongoing commitment

25:35

to upholding the peace between the

25:37

two powers. Yet behind the scenes,

25:39

neither truly expected it to last,

25:41

and were actively planning for the

25:43

inevitable resumption of hostilities. Both also

25:46

seemed to know that it would be the

25:48

highlands of Tibet that would be the focal

25:50

point of the war to come. Kangji

25:53

remained privately committed to

25:55

his solemn pledge to

25:57

quote-unquote exterminate Galdon root.

25:59

and branch, yet was forced to

26:01

acknowledge that, hold up as he was, way

26:04

out in the hinterlands of Hobdo, the Khan

26:06

was effectively out of even

26:08

great chings formidable reach. Until he

26:10

either managed to lure the wily

26:13

galdan close enough to attack, or

26:15

else short up the underpinnings of

26:17

his military's offensive logistical capabilities, for

26:19

all his sound and fury, the

26:22

mighty kungsi emperor was forced to

26:24

sit on a perpetually defensive and

26:26

reactive footing. Such a state of

26:28

affairs was quite simply unacceptable.

26:30

And so, it would be that Kangxi

26:32

began the monumental task that

26:34

is the absolute make-or-break question

26:37

for any organization, and yet all

26:39

too often unglamorous and completely unsung.

26:41

That is, the restructuring formatting

26:43

of an outdated logistical system

26:46

in order to effectively meet

26:48

emergent and unanticipated challenges. It

26:51

would prove to be a renovation so

26:53

sweeping and vast that it would take

26:55

far longer than the lifespan Kangxi had

26:57

left to him. In fact, its culmination

26:59

would not be fully apparent until

27:02

the reign of Kangxi's grandson, the

27:04

Chanlong emperor, who would undertake the

27:06

final cataclysmic destruction of the Jungar

27:09

state more than six decades later.

27:11

Galdan, meanwhile, continued to face his

27:13

own unique challenges. Because as

27:15

we've seen, time and again, Pretty

27:17

much whenever they're the folks of the

27:20

episode, the Mongols in general have

27:22

a persistent and systemic problem.

27:24

One might think of it as almost

27:26

one of the Sive bonuses unique to

27:28

any faction, except it's a negative

27:30

trait. But the trait I'm talking about

27:32

is their perennially fractious nature.

27:34

It takes someone akin to a force

27:37

of nature, like a tamagen Borgen, coming

27:39

into the world, and then beating the

27:41

rest of them enough to submit his

27:43

rule. But as soon as that rock star generational

27:45

leader heads off to the great pasturage in

27:47

the great blue sky, you can pretty much

27:49

start counting down the seconds until

27:51

significant chunks of the connet begin

27:54

breaking off and declaring their renewed

27:56

independence. Game-wise, it would be like every time

27:58

your leader dies, some of your city... and regions

28:00

risk declaring independence and

28:03

becoming hostile in PC city states.

28:05

So pretty much exactly like

28:07

crusader kings, come to think of it.

28:09

Now as you'll recall, Galdon was, while

28:11

he still clinked to life and nominal

28:13

power, it was only by the very

28:16

edges of his fingernails at this point.

28:18

He was defeated, which meant that he

28:20

was weak, which meant that it was

28:22

an excellent time to jump ships

28:24

and abandoned that clearly sinking vessel.

28:26

The fatal individualism, or divisions between

28:29

the Jungar and Kalka Mongols,

28:31

and within the Jungars themselves,

28:33

prevented any joint action by

28:35

them against the Qing regime. These divisions,

28:37

arising in the 1690s, ultimately caused

28:39

the destruction of the Jungar people

28:41

in the mid-18th century. As would

28:44

be immortally put, half a world

28:46

away, round about the mid-18th century,

28:48

by noted non-mongle, body francophile, and

28:50

fellow national herder of cats, Benjamin

28:52

Franklin, quote, Gentlemen, we must

28:55

all hang together, or we shall

28:57

most assuredly hang separately." Galdan was

28:59

about to find out the truth of

29:01

that saying, first hand. Putting aside his

29:03

anger at the failure of his soldiers

29:06

to capture the Jungar Khan, the

29:08

Kangsi Emperor took the space afforded

29:10

him by Galdan's flight to shore

29:12

up his support among the Kolkamangels

29:15

already in his orbit. As such,

29:17

shortly after his victory at

29:19

Ulan Butong, Kangxi decreed that

29:21

in order to better establish order

29:23

and discipline among his Kalka subjects,

29:26

he would meet them, yes, all of

29:28

them, at Dolanor, where they would

29:30

be established as banner armies

29:32

and then permanently resettled in

29:34

predesignated locations. Very briefly, Dolanor,

29:37

which means seven lakes, is the

29:39

modern name of the town on

29:41

the southern edge of inner Mongolia

29:43

that way back in the Yuan

29:45

dynasty had been established as Shangdu,

29:47

the summer capital by Kubai Khan.

29:50

or, put somewhat more poetically, in

29:52

Xanadu did Kuba Khan a stately

29:54

pleasure-dome decree. Despite the objections

29:56

of his courtiers, who cited severe weather

29:58

and the dangers of travel beyond the

30:00

right wall. Kangxi nonetheless set

30:02

out yet again from Beijing

30:05

on May 9, 1691. In

30:08

true royal litter party -trained fashion, he

30:10

first held a grand hunt, euphemized

30:12

as military exercise, presumably to keep

30:14

the wives from complaining, am I

30:16

right my fellow cash eggs? Up

30:18

top. In spite

30:20

of their misgivings, the trip proved

30:22

uneventful for the imperial retinue, and

30:24

it arrived intact, hardy, and on

30:26

time, a fortnight later at Dolan

30:28

Nor, some 250 kilometers north of

30:30

the capital. The Kalkas

30:33

awaited. Before setting

30:35

out, Kangxi, ever the micromanager, sent ahead

30:37

a clear order of precedence for

30:39

the Jebzong Danba Kutuktu, along with other

30:41

notable headmen such as Tusiatu Khan,

30:43

Chechen Khan, and the younger brother of

30:46

Jasak Tukan in the first rank. All

30:49

in all, some 550 Kalka Mongol

30:51

leaders were active participants in

30:53

the proceedings, which involved enough choreography,

30:55

blocking, and lion's rehearsal necessary

30:57

to make one's headspin. Kangxi

31:00

well understood that his Kalka subjects

31:02

were naturally fractious, but also

31:04

drawn to overt power. Thus,

31:07

by having been drawn into their

31:09

entranessian conflict, and then curb

31:11

stomping the opposition, Kangxi had earned

31:14

the right to arbitrate such

31:16

personal disputes as he saw fit

31:18

as the, in essence, victorious

31:20

Khan, as was Mongol tradition. Less

31:23

clear is if the Kalkas truly

31:25

understood that, in the Manchu

31:27

Qing tradition, any such ruling was

31:29

considered permanent and perpetual in

31:31

nature, and not just to the

31:33

individual sovereign, but to the

31:36

state itself. The meeting

31:38

lasted for six days, beginning with

31:40

a huge banquet and military parade aimed

31:42

at overalling the Kalka subjects with

31:44

the might and majesty of Great Qing.

31:47

From Purdue, quote, The

31:49

firing of cannon and the display of

31:51

firearms caused them to tremble with fear

31:53

and admiration. A total

31:55

of 64 small cannon and eight mortars

31:57

were placed in the visiting Mongol camps. The

32:00

Emperor himself, armed on horseback, led

32:02

the demonstration of 70 pieces of

32:04

artillery. He asked Gherbillon if Europeans

32:07

also made great voyages, and complained

32:09

that the Manchus were receiving inferior

32:11

guns from Jesuit sources. End quote.

32:13

Then it was time for his

32:15

speech, and Kangshi had opted to

32:18

give a real barn burner. He

32:20

outright stated that both to Sietu

32:22

Khan and the Khotu had committed

32:24

crimes. and that Galdon's invasion had

32:26

been brought about by to see

32:29

I too messing around and finding

32:31

out, which had led to the

32:33

destruction of his state and the

32:35

death of many members of his

32:37

own family. It was only, and

32:40

he must have really hammered this

32:42

part home, only, because of his

32:44

generous and magnanimous nature that he

32:46

had deigned to stoop down and

32:48

rescued both of them and their

32:51

people from the consequences of their

32:53

own benighted barbarism. Taking up the

32:55

ching man's burden, indeed. With perfectly

32:57

choreographed timing, both to Sietu Khan

33:00

and the Jabzong-Dangba Kutuktu threw themselves

33:02

at the feet of Kangxi's mobile

33:04

throne, declaring that they had foolishly

33:06

committed grave errors and begged the

33:08

Emperor's forgiveness. Kangxi then pardoned them,

33:11

and, one better, gave them both

33:13

feefs and monchu titles, in exchange

33:15

for their owes of loyalty and

33:17

pledges to maintain the peace. From

33:19

Purdue, quote, In the Emperor's view,

33:22

the Kalkas were a disorderly people

33:24

in need of discipline, or fadu.

33:26

Enrolling them in banners kept their

33:28

territories distinctly separated, avoiding pastureland conflicts.

33:30

Each Khan kept his title. The

33:33

younger brother of the murdered Jassak

33:35

to Khan succeeded to his position,

33:37

with the title approved by the

33:39

Qing. Qing officials took over the

33:42

final authority for granting titles of

33:44

leadership among the Kalkas. This was

33:46

certainly not to say that the

33:48

Kalkas did not themselves benefit from

33:50

this, what else are you really

33:53

going to call it, submission, indirect

33:55

and material ways. Foremost among many

33:57

of their minds would have been

33:59

the stabilization of food supplies, which

34:01

the Qing were only too ready

34:04

to relieve. They were also showered in

34:06

newly created titles for their authority

34:08

status within the Qing apparatus. Yet

34:10

for all that, they gave up much and

34:12

more. Perhaps most importantly to

34:14

their overall culture and way of life,

34:17

much as the Great Plains tribes of

34:19

the American Midwest during the course of

34:21

westward expansion and conquest, they were

34:24

restricted for the very first time from their

34:26

right to move at will. Now,

34:28

this is often an easy point to

34:30

simply gloss over. After all, to

34:32

most of us, we probably don't

34:35

really think about our right to

34:37

freedom of movement very often. It's

34:39

just so innate, isn't it? Of

34:41

course, you have the right to move. Get

34:43

a better job. Move, don't like

34:45

it here, just move. House being

34:48

subsumed by rising ocean waters, just

34:50

sell it to Aquaman and move.

34:52

But that is actually not the

34:54

case in China. Even today. From

34:56

both a technical and very much

34:59

legal standpoint, there is no actual

35:01

right for anyone to be

35:03

anywhere outside of their home area

35:05

as printed on their Huco National

35:08

ID. Now it's not typically

35:10

enforced on most people most of

35:12

the time. From day to day, you

35:14

do have the freedom of movements, typically,

35:17

but that by no means makes it

35:19

a right. Police can, and have, and

35:21

do, sweets through the cities

35:23

and round up people. homeless

35:25

beggars prostitutes the overall underclass of

35:28

society who drift in from elsewhere

35:30

and effectively deport them back

35:32

to the rural western interior

35:34

of the country. So they stop

35:36

bothering the nice city folk and making

35:38

the place look bad. In modern China

35:41

there are entire administrative regions

35:43

where without special permission you're

35:46

simply not allowed to go. To bet is

35:48

one of them. Even more recently than

35:50

that... I'll just briefly bring up

35:52

the widespread and open-ended total

35:54

city lockdowns in 2002 that

35:56

froze tens of millions in

35:58

place for months. end. I

36:01

was among them. My point

36:03

is, the Chinese bent toward

36:05

regulating the movement of its

36:07

populace is both long -standing and

36:09

ongoing. No wonder then

36:11

that it was such a difficult

36:13

prospect for a people like the

36:16

Mongols to truly accede and come

36:18

to terms with a changeover to

36:20

that kind of highly regulated bureaucratically

36:22

administered lifestyle. If your

36:24

entire life, indeed

36:26

lifestyle and culture, was shaped

36:28

entirely on the prospect of personal autonomy

36:30

and the freedom to roam, even

36:33

the most expansive and luxurious of

36:35

sedentary living will quickly start to

36:37

feel like the gilded cage that

36:39

it is. Now, if

36:41

they wished to move pastureland,

36:43

they would need to be pre

36:46

-planned, approved, organized, and strictly supervised

36:48

by Manchu officials and soldiers. So

36:51

too were the Kalkos compelled to now

36:53

cede yet more authority to the Qing

36:55

over its ongoing feud with the Dalai

36:57

Lama and his followers, such as Galdan. Kangxi

37:01

sent word to the Tibetan leader

37:03

informing him of Qing's great success

37:05

in bringing much -needed peace, justice, and

37:07

security to the Kalkos. In

37:10

the same note, he warned that any

37:12

violation on the part of Galdan of

37:14

his pact to leave the Kalkos the

37:16

hell alone would result in the Kangxi

37:18

emperor issuing an order of Jiao Mie. And

37:21

that specific verbiage is

37:23

quite important here, Jiao

37:26

Mie, because it translates most

37:28

directly as exterminate.

37:31

These are the sorts of

37:33

pieces of evidence that we look

37:36

for in events like the

37:38

Nuremberg trials or the IMTFE to

37:40

show conclusively that these sorts

37:42

of decisions, the choice to commit

37:44

a war of genocide, was

37:47

not undertaken blindly or accidentally, but

37:49

with deliberate and premeditated malice. There's

37:52

no alternate way to understand

37:55

a word like exterminate, which

37:58

is why Usually, political

38:00

figures will twist themselves into pretzels to

38:02

avoid ever saying anything of the

38:04

sort. It's very rare that we get

38:07

actual documentation of an extermination order

38:09

because typically those committing it are either

38:11

smart enough to not take notes

38:13

on a criminal conspiracy at all, or

38:15

else at least destroy the evidence

38:17

after the fact. Only the truly stupid,

38:20

or those who are pretty sure

38:22

they can just out and out get

38:24

away with it are ever so

38:26

hubristically confident as to actually write this

38:28

stuff down and then keep it.

38:30

And yes, here we are. In the

38:32

face of such an overwhelmingly existential

38:35

threat so openly made, and followed up

38:37

as it were with material inducements

38:39

of lavish gifts from the Qing to

38:41

the Dalai Lama's courts to drive

38:43

a wedge between him and Galdan, what

38:45

could Galdan and his meeker band

38:48

of Jungars do but beat a hasty

38:50

retreat as far away from the

38:52

wrathful gaze of the Kangxi emperor as

38:54

their mounts would allow. Exhausted,

38:57

underprovisioned, and with morale close to breaking,

39:00

they made their way first north of

39:02

Dolanor, hoping to replenish their own badly

39:04

depleted stocks of horses with some that

39:06

perhaps they could lift off of the

39:08

Kalkas. But when those efforts failed, the

39:10

Jungars were forced to continue, in a

39:12

truly humiliating state of affairs for a

39:14

Mongol warrior, on foot. West

39:17

was their next heading through the

39:19

Ordos loop wrapped by the Yellow River's

39:21

great northward bend. Yet they would

39:23

find that, though the Imperial Qing army's

39:25

lack -sufficient supply logistics to be able

39:27

to effectively pursue his forces into

39:29

the wilds beyond the Yellow River, they

39:31

were very much able to keep

39:33

the Jungars out of the valuable Ordos

39:35

region. Failed now a second time,

39:37

Galdan and his people had no choice

39:39

but to make fur kobdo in

39:41

the far west of Mongolia. In

39:44

spite of several plans drawn up to

39:46

attempt to track him down, he had

39:48

once again put himself beyond the reach

39:50

of Qing authority. There he could exist

39:52

in a somewhat stable standoff, with his

39:54

Jungars able to threaten and harass the

39:56

important trade city of Hami in the

39:59

Gansu corridor. Too remote for the

40:01

Qing to be able to directly defend

40:03

it, but they could station sufficient troops

40:05

in the garrison at Ganjo in surprisingly

40:07

distant Jiangxi province, by the way, but

40:09

nevertheless part of the Silk Road network,

40:11

to keep Galdan from growing bold enough

40:13

to actually attack in force. Purdue makes

40:16

special note of the importance of

40:18

provisions to the overall leemings and

40:20

loyalties of the factions that existed

40:22

in the rapidly shrinking shrinking liminal

40:24

spaces between Great Cheng and Russia.

40:26

Access to sufficient food and

40:28

supplies would often be the major

40:31

determining factor for what was even

40:33

possible, much less advisable, to all

40:35

parties in the steplands. For the jungars,

40:38

the loss of almost all of

40:40

their herds of sheep and cattle

40:42

would mean that they needed to

40:44

settle down and farm, even fish,

40:46

simply to survive. Demobilizing them from

40:48

launching any kind of retaliatory

40:50

military strike, until they could,

40:53

as is every adjutant's constant

40:55

concern, get those additional supply

40:57

depots required. Thus, in order

40:59

to stave off their ability to

41:02

access enough grain to rebuild their

41:04

once considerable strength, Qing

41:06

officials proposed plans to

41:08

confiscate the grain from

41:10

the Muslims of Hami and keep

41:13

it all for safe keeping at

41:15

the military garrison of the

41:17

Jaiyu Pass of the Great Wall, which

41:19

is, get this, more than 600 kilometers

41:22

or 375 miles away. I mean, imagine

41:24

being the guy who thought storing

41:26

everyone's food 600 kilometers away was

41:28

a good idea. Suffice it to

41:31

say, that one never did make it

41:33

out of the blueprint stage. As hungry

41:35

to hunt down Galdan as he was,

41:37

the Kangshi Emperor was forced to

41:40

concede that at least for the

41:42

time being, there was very little

41:44

he could actually do to pursue

41:46

his Jungar nemesis out past the

41:48

ends of the earth. Again from Purdue,

41:50

quote, Most of their concerns during

41:52

this period were about reducing the

41:55

size of frontier garrisons in order

41:57

to economize on supplies. Repeatedly,

41:59

average to move... of small units out

42:01

beyond interior forts ran up

42:03

against limited supplies of grain

42:05

and horses. In addition, the

42:07

new Mongol allies, many of

42:09

them, desperate refugees from the

42:11

battlefields, required relief grain. Food was

42:13

a useful weapon in the contest

42:15

for control of the Mongols, but

42:18

even the huge Chinese agrarian

42:20

economy could deliver only limited

42:22

amounts to the frontiers." Yet they

42:24

did have other methods to induce the

42:26

wily Jungar Khan. Kangji sent envoys

42:29

to Galdan, telling him that

42:31

he would offer to play the

42:33

peacemaker between him and his

42:35

longstanding enemy, Tsawang Rabdan,

42:37

of the Kalkas. In exchange

42:39

for Galdan's submission to the Cesarante

42:42

of Great Ching, quote, Your animals

42:44

are all gone, you have nothing to eat,

42:47

said the emissary to Galdan. Men

42:49

are dying from extreme want,

42:51

end quote. For his part, Galdan

42:53

rejected this offer, and sent

42:55

the emissary packing. Unharmed. But

42:58

in a twist of fate, soon thereafter,

43:00

an incident broke out between the

43:02

Qing emissary sent to meet with

43:05

Tsawang Rabdan, Galdan's nemesis, and one

43:07

of Galdan's jungar subordinates in the

43:10

streets of Hami. Now, whatever the

43:12

nature of this disagreement, it ended

43:14

up with the Qing envoy being

43:16

cut down then and there, and

43:18

of course, the Kangxi Emperor personally

43:21

leveling blame for the murder on

43:23

Galdan directly, in spite of the

43:25

Khan's attestations of his ignorance of

43:27

and innocence in this deadly confrontation.

43:30

In the meantime, Saong Rob-on had been

43:32

in secret communications with the

43:34

Qing court and sent military

43:36

gifts to Kong-Shi, thus managing

43:38

to secure his own private

43:40

deal between Qing and the Kalkas.

43:42

In that sense, at least, it

43:45

was successful in further reducing Jungar

43:47

power and influence over their brethren

43:49

Mongols. Now that the Kalkas and the

43:52

favor of the Dalai Lama besides had

43:54

been detached from Gaudon's cause and folded

43:56

into Qing tributary protection as well as

43:58

peeling off a massive chunk of the

44:01

Jungar's homeland. Yet, once again, it could

44:03

not be counted as a total

44:05

victory, as Galdan yet remained outside

44:07

Kongshe's imperial grasp. And that is where

44:09

we will leave things this time. Next time,

44:11

we will do our level best to finish

44:13

up at last the tale of Galdan Khan

44:16

Khan and the beginning of the end of

44:18

the Jungar Khanate altogether. All that with the

44:20

Battle of Jao motto, as well

44:22

as the after effects and the

44:24

legacy of historical revisionism by the

44:27

Qing imperial court. and, as we've

44:29

already noted, subsequent regimes. As to

44:31

the meaning, an actual conduct of

44:34

Kongshe's clearly personal vendetta against Galdan

44:36

and his roving band of Jungar

44:38

herdsmen, and what it would mean

44:41

for the future histories of the

44:43

Middle Kingdom and its Central

44:45

Asian neighbors. Thanks for listening.