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CHAPTER XIII.

KEEN LUNG'S WARS AND CONQUESTS.

If there is room for difference of opinion as to whether Keen Lung was as great a sovereign as Kanghi, there is no doubt that he was the greater conqueror of the two, and this is the more remarkable as, unlike his grandfather, he never attempted to lead an army in the field, or to figure as a great general. It was his boast that he never entered upon a war without concluding it with the humiliation of his enemy, and the conquest of his country. Neither the power nor the numbers of his antagonists prevented his attaining complete success, and the persistency with which he pursued his enemies, and his purpose has never been surpassed. Nor were the obstacles of nature any bar to the triumphant progress of his arms. His soldiers crossed the Himalaya, and penetrated into the recesses of the Pamirs, establishing over that inaccessible region a sovereignty which remains a living force to this day. He solved the troublesome and everrecurring Central Asian question in the only way in which it could be settled for the dignity and security of China, by establishing his authority over all the tribes and races who had ever menaced them, and if his successors had only maintained the efficiency of the administration in Kuldja and Kashgaria, there is no reason to doubt that his solution would have proved permanent.

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Keen Lung did not act in the matter with undue precipitation; for immediately after his succession he was brought face to face with the fact that Galdan Chereng claimed and exercised an independent state. military reverses of the last year of Kanghi's reign, and the sustained apathy of Yung Ching encouraged and left undisturbed this assertion of independGaldan Chereng before his death had set up in Kashgaria a form of administration in dependence upon himself. He divided it between the four sons of one of its old chiefs, and as long as he lived he retained sufficient control over their acts, to prevent the outbreak of civil strife or a contest for power. But on his death in 1745, the old dissensions which had been so common a feature in the history of these states, broke out again and threatened to involve the border districts of the Empire as well, principally because the Chinese had withdrawn from Hami and Turfan. Even in Jungaria the death of Galdan Chereng proved the signal for the outbreak of rivalries and contentions. And among those of his relatives who succeeded in establishing their authority, none rose higher than the representative of the collateral branch of Ta Chereng. The son of Galdan Chereng, after enjoying a brief term of power, was deposed by an elder but half-brother, who usurped his place and ruled for several years, chiefly by the support of the Lamas, as monarch of Jungaria, under the style of

Dardsha. This insurrection and the violent scenes by which it was accompanied carried confusion throughout the tribes forming the confederacy. Dardsha was opposed by the faction headed by Davatsi, grandson of Ta Chereng, whose strength was derived solely from the support of a chief named Amursana. At first Dardsha was successful, but he soon experienced a reversal of fortune. He was slain in battle, and Davatsi recovered the undisputed sovereignty of Jungaria. But this triumph did not end the strife, for Amursana set himself up as an independent prince, and having played the part of king-maker, aspired to all the rank and power of King. He failed to make good these pretensions, and after a brief struggle with Davatsi he was compelled to flee for safety to China, and bore to the foot of Keen Lung's throne the tale of his wrongs, and his suggestions as to how he might recover his position for the advantage of the Chinese ruler. It was the arrival of Amursana at his court that first led Keen Lung to seriously entertain the idea of advancing into Central Asia. Keen Lung saw that a period of serious trouble was approaching in that quarter, that the Jungarian monarchy was an ephemeral creation, and that Davatsi, having got rid of his rival, was likely to combine his forces for an attack on Chinese territory. Keen Lung has himself instructed posterity as to the motives which induced him to take up the cause of Amursana. With some delicacy he suggests that he inherited this difficulty from his father whose vacillating policy and half-hearted measures had failed to provide a remedy for the evil, or in any degree to curb the aggressiveness of his neighbours. Keen Lung's policy was to be of an entirely different sort, but while formulating a bold and energetic policy, he also indicated that his success should be tempered with moderation. "If I draw the sword," he said, "it is that I may use it, but it shall be replaced in the scabbard when my object has been attained." When Keen Lung first ascended the throne he was resolved to pursue a pacific policy, and to leave the Eleuths to govern themselves—at least such was his declaration in his history of his relations with those people. But the restlessness of the Eleuths soon showed him that a stable peace was impossible, and that he must adopt sharp measures against them. Even then he declared that "his first intention was not to enter upon a war." It is uncertain what the result would have been if the arrogance and defiant attitude of Davatsi had not come to the aid of the arguments of Amursana. With the intention of exalting himself among his neighbours, he gave himself the airs of an equal to the Chinese ruler, and he sent an embassy to China, as if that country and his were completely on a par. The style of this mission and the language of the letter it bore roused the wrath of Keen Lung, who denounced Davatsi as a "traitor and usurper, who, full of a stupid pride, has dared to address me in his letter as he would his equal."

Having determined on the Central Asian campaign, Keen Lung's military preparations were commensurate with the importance and magnitude of the undertaking. He collected an army of 150,000 men, including the picked Manchu Banners and the celebrated Solon contingent, each of whom was said to be worth ten other soldiers. The command of this army was given to Panti, the best of the Manchu generals, and Amursana, who accompanied it, received a seal and the honorary title of Great General. But Keen Lung superintended all the operations of the war, and took credit to himself for its successful issue. On this point his own words should be read, "Although on account of the very great distance

separating this place from the seat of war, I have not found it possible to take the field in person, I can say, nevertheless, that I have taken part in this campaign. I have been, as it were, at a game of chess; I have arranged all the pieces, and I have caused them to be moved as was most appropriate." Within the short period of five months this large army had crossed the desert, and penetrated into the recesses of the Ili region, where Davatsi indulged a belief as to his own security. Once that belief was broken he abandoned the hope of resistance. His power crumbled away at the first contact with the Manchu legions, and Davatsi himself was conveyed as a prisoner to Pekin. Keen Lung himself said of his army that, "confident of marching to victory they break cheerfully through every obstacle; they arrive, terror had gone before them. Scarcely have they time to bend a bow or draw an arrow, when everything submits to them. They give the law, Davatsi is a prisoner, he is sent into my presence." Thus, by the aid of a Chinese army, Amursana recovered what he represented, though with doubtful accuracy, to be his birthright, but on finding himself in possession of the privileges which he claimed he gave reins to his ambition and again allowed his thoughts to run on the idea of independence to which he had aspired as the rival of Davatsi. A personal significance was given to these sentiments by the favourable reception accorded by Keen Lung to Davatsi, who was granted titles and a pension, and whom the impatient disposition of Amursana magnified into a rival that Chinese policy might some day play off against himself.

The triumph of Amursana, by the aid of the Chinese, did not bring tranquillity to Central Asia. He was not contented with the position to which the friendship of Keen Lung had raised him, and placing too high an estimate on his own ability and resources he was inclined to dispute the accepted opinion that all his success was due to the Chinese army. On the termination of the campaign the major portion of that army returned to China, but Panti was left with a select contingent, partly to support Amursana, and partly to secure the restoration of China's authority. Amursana, however, considered that the presence of this force detracted from the dignity of his position. Having risen to the greatness he coveted, Amursana meditated casting aside the prop by which he had risen, but before he took an irretraceable step he resolved to make use of the Chinese forces for extending his authority south of the Tian Shan range into Kashgaria. With some hesitation Panti lent him 500 Chinese soldiers, and with their aid the Eleuth prince captured the cities of Kashgar and Yarkand, and set up a chief named Barhanuddin Khoja as his nominee. This success confirmed Amursana in his good opinion of himself and his resources, and when Keen Lung, who had grown mistrustful of his good faith, summoned him to Pekin he resolved to throw off the mask and his allegiance to China. At this supreme moment of his fate not the least thought of gratitude to the Chinese Emperor, who had made him what he was, seems to have entered his mind. He determined not merely to disregard the summons to Pekin and to proclaim his independence, but also to show the extent of his hostility by adding to his defiance an act of treachery. Before he fully revealed his plans he surprised the Chinese garrison and massacred it to the last man; the valiant Panti, who had gained his victories for him, being executed by the public executioner. As the dependent of Keen Lung, not less than as the ally of Davatsi, Amursana allowed his overweening pretensions to lead him into an erroneous

path, in which, when trying to attain the highest summit of ambition, he failed to preserve the very solid and gratifying position he had acquired as the friend of the Eleuth Chief, or the representative of the great Chinese ruler. The fruits of Keen Lung's sacrifices and policy were thus as rapidly destroyed as they had been acquired. The first half of the year 1755 had sufficed to give tranquillity to Central Asia, and to replace a hostile potentate with a friendly, and the next half saw this peace upset, and the old sense of insecurity and uncertainty revived by an ambitious prince who thought nothing of the claims of humanity or of a superficial gratitude. The massacre of Panti and his soldiers seemed to signify a triumph in the eyes of Amursana, whereas that act of black and inexcusable treachery really heralded his overthrow and ruin.

The impression produced by this event was profound, and when Amursana followed up the blow by spreading abroad rumours of the magnitude of his designs they obtained some credence even among the Mongols. Encouraged by this success he sought to rally those tribes to his side by imputing sinister intentions to Keen Lung. His emissaries declared that Keen Lung wished to deprive them all of their rank and authority, and that he had summoned Amursana to Pekin only for the purpose of deposing him. They also represented that their master, Amursana, like a true desert chief, preferred his liberty to everything else, and sooner than trust himself within the toils of the Emperor had bidden him defiance, and raised between them an inexpiable cause of hostility. To complete the quarrel, Amursana declared himself King of the Eleuths, and absolutely independent of China. But the energy and indignation of Keen Lung soon exposed the hollowness of these designs, and the inadequacy of Amursana's power and capacity to make good his pretensions. He was proved to be a very unworthy successor of the Great Galdan. Some of his ministers wished Keen Lung to accept the overthrow of his plans, to condone the murder of Panti, and to have done with a "useless and disastrous war;" but Keen Lung did not allow himself to be swayed by their advice. The blood of his slaughtered soldiers called for a complete revenge, the objects of his policy demanded that Amursana should be deposed from the position of defiance and independence which he had assumed, and the reputation and fair fame of China rendered it absolutely imperative that a reverse suffered in the field should be as openly and as signally retrieved. For each and all of these reasons Keen Lung rejected the counsels of the timid as advice unworthy of their race and country, and collected another army larger than that which had placed him on his throne, to hurl Amursana from the supremacy which had not satisfied him and which he had grossly abused. The armies of Keen Lung traversed the Gobi desert and arrived in Central Asia, but the incapacity of his generals prevented the campaigns having those decisive results which he expected. The autocratic Chinese ruler treated his generals who failed like the fickle French Republic. The penalty of failure was a public execution. Keen Lung would accept nothing short of the capture of Amursana as evidence of his victory, and Amursana escaped to the Kirghiz. His celerity or ingenuity cost the lives of four respectable Chinese generals, two of whom were executed at Pekin and two were slain by brigands on their way there to share the same fate. Emboldened by the inability of the Chinese to capture him, Amursana again assembled an army and pursued the retiring Chinese across the desert, where he succeeded in inflicting no inconsider

able loss upon them. In fact, it appears that the whole Chinese army was only saved from destruction by one brigade, under an heroic commander, devoting itself to destruction.

Yet, not for such disappointments and disasters as these did Keen Lung give up his policy or alter the line of action, in the wisdom of which he fully believed. The failure of his plans was due to the incompetence of his generals, and not to any flaw in his policy. He was engaged in the search for a new commander when fortune so far declared itself in his favour that one of his officers revealed the possession of exceptional capacity, and of a courage out of the common mould. When the Chinese army retired before Amursana one corps maintained its position and successfully defied him, thanks to the capacity of its commander, Tchaohoei. Tchaohoei not merely held his ground, but drew up a scheme for regaining all that had been lost in Central Asia, and Keen Lung was so impressed by it that he at once resolved to entrust the execution of his policy to the only officer who had shown any military capacity. Two fresh armies were sent to the Ili, and placed, on their arrival there, under the command of Tchaohoei, who was exhorted, above all things, to capture Amursana, dead or alive. Tchaohoei at once assumed the offensive, and as Amursana was abandoned by his followers as soon as they saw that China was putting forth the whole of her strength, he had no alternative but once more to flee for shelter to the Kirghiz. But the conditions imposed by Keen Lung were so rigorous that Tchaohoei realised that the capture of Amursana was essential to his gaining the confidence and gratitude of his master. He, therefore, sent his best lieutenant, Fouta, to pursue the Eleuth prince. Fouta pursued Amursana with the energy of one who has to gain his spurs, and he almost succeeded in effecting his capture, but Amursana just made his escape in time across the frontier into Russian territory. But Keen Lung was not satisfied with this result, and he sent both to Fouta and Tchaohoei to rest satisfied with nothing short of the capture of Amursana. The close of that unfortunate prince's career was near at hand, although it was not ended by the act of the Chinese officers. As Keen Lung himself wrote, it was due to natural causes, for "an irritated heaven hastened the time of its vengeance, and a pestilent malady slit the black thread of his life." Amursana died in Russian territory of a fever, and when the Chinese demanded of their neighbours that his body should be surrendered they refused, on the ground that enmity should cease with death, but Fouta was able to report to his sovereign that he had seen with his own eyes the mortal remains of the Eleuth chief who had first been the humble friend and then the bitter foe of the Manchu ruler.

Notwithstanding the completeness of Tchaohoei's success from a military point of view, the peace party at Pekin again urged on Keen Lung the advisability of abandoning the whole enterprise and withdrawing from Central Asia. They said that "the kingdom of the Eleuths is too remote from the centre of our authority for us to be able to long govern it. Let us therefore abandon it to the care of whoever wishes to take it. What matters it to the glory of the Middle Kingdom these uncultivated lands and a people more than half savage?" But the advice of these timid counsellers carried no weight with Keen Lung, who described them as "sunk in the bosom of repose, to whom indolence and ease supply the place of all the virtues, and of whose absurd representations I made as little count as they deserved." Keen Lung decided to administer the country