What is the Treaty of Nerchinsk?

The strength shown by the Qing army in the two Yaksa Wars finally made the Tsarist Russian government accept the peace negotiation proposal put forward by the Qing court.

The dispatch of Chinese and Russian diplomatic missions and the purpose of their respective negotiations.

On the second day of the first lunar month in the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi (January 29, 1686), the Tsar sent Golovin, the imperial minister and governor of Bryansk, as the special envoy with full power for negotiations, and Vlasov, the warlord of Nerchinsk, as the special envoy. The Russian delegation also included several officers, more than 500 musketeers, and 1,400 soldiers. The negotiation plan formulated by the tsarist government for the Golovin mission was: insist on demarcating the boundaries by the Heilongjiang, Niuman River and Jingqili River; refuse to withdraw troops from Nerchinsk and Yaksa; require the Qing court to compensate for the losses in the Yaksa war; try to make The Khalkha Mongols supported Russia in the conflict between the Qing and Russia. And Golovin was instructed: If the Qing court "adheres to its original position, makes no concessions, and is unwilling to conclude a peace treaty based on the above conditions, the ambassador must act in accordance with the orders of His Majesty the Tsar and the military instructions of the Siberian Ministry."

In August of the 26th year of Kangxi (1687), the Golovin delegation arrived at Erkou City (today's Irkutsk) west of Lake Baikal. On August 24, Golovin received the second instruction from the Tsarist government on the demarcation of the border. The Russian government was defeated in the war with Turkey in the spring of that year and had no time to visit eastward, so it sent an order to Golovin and others. If they could not reach an agreement with Heilongjiang as the boundary, they would use Yaksa as the boundary. They told the mission to "never start a war and cause Bloodshed”.

Golovin learned that the Qing army had retreated from Yaksa, so he delayed contacting the Qing court and stayed in the Lake Baikal area to trick the Khalkha Mongols into surrendering to Russia. After Golovin's attempt to expand failed, he launched an attack on the Mongolian and Sauron tribes in the area and plundered them. At the urging of the Qing court, Golovin's representatives arrived in Beijing on February 23, the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi's reign (March 24, 1688), and asked the Qing government to send a reciprocal mission to Chuku on the border. Baixing (about 700 miles north of Ulaanbaatar) for negotiations.

In March of the 27th year of Kangxi's reign, the Qing court appointed Suo'etu, the minister of internal bodyguards, Tong Guogang, Tong Guogang, Shangshu of the Lifan Yuan, Maqi, the imperial censor of the Zuodu of the Ducha Yuan, and Hu Military commander Ma La and others formed a negotiating team for the Sino-Russian boundary negotiation. Dutong Langtan and others led the Eight Banners' 200 forwards, 400 guard troops, and 200 firearms battalions to accompany them, and appointed missionaries Xu Risheng (Portuguese) and Zhang Cheng (French) as interpreters for the group. On the second day of May, the Qing negotiating delegation left Beijing. Before leaving, Kangxi told Suo'etu and others: "The Heilongjiang River is the most concise place. From the Heilongjiang River you can go down to the Songhua River, and from the Songhua River you can go down to the Nenjiang River; going south, you can connect to the Kurhan River and Wula, Ningguta, Xibei, Horqin, Suolun, Daur and other places; if you go to the Heilongjiang estuary, you can reach the sea, and the Henggun, Niuman and other rivers and the Jingqili River estuary all merge into the Heilongjiang River, and are connected to the left and right sides of the river. I belong to the land where the peoples of Oroqen, Qiler, Bilal, and Hezhe and Feiyala live. If we don't take them all, I think the people on the border will never be safe. Every river and every stream is my own land, and I cannot leave it behind in Russia.” "If Russia complies with the order," "delimit its borders with it and allow it to trade envoys; otherwise, you will return and it will be inconvenient to negotiate peace with it."

Suo'etu, Tong Guogang and others Soon after leaving Beijing, a war broke out between the Mongolian Erut tribe and the Khalkha tribe. In May of that year, the Junggar tribe, one of the Four Guards of Erut, crossed the Hangai Mountains and launched a massive attack on the Khalkha tribe. The various tribes in Khalkha abandoned their tents, horses, camels, cattle and sheep and fled southward. The Qing Dynasty's envoys were blocked from going north. On May 25 of that year, Kangxi ordered Suo'etu and others to temporarily station themselves in Karen and inform the Russian mission of the reason for the delay. Soon after, Russian envoy Golovin sent a letter to the Qing court, suggesting that another location should be chosen for negotiations. In view of this, Kangxi recalled Suo'etu, Tong Guogang and others.

Golovin took advantage of the Dzunghar tribe's attack to force Khalkha to surrender to Russia. After being refused, he sent troops from Udinsk to attack various Khalkha tribes and killed Mongolians on the banks of the Silok River. There were more than 200 people, and more than 1,200 Mongolian households were forced to change their nationality to Russian citizenship. Golovin sent envoys to various ministries in Khalkha to persuade them to surrender, asking the nobles of each ministry to "cooperate with His Majesty the Tsar's army to fight", "provide as many horses and camels as possible", and "always submit to the noble autocratic rule of His Majesty the Tsar". Each noble will pay an annual Deliver fifty cattle, fifty sheep, etc. to Russia. The Russian mission had no time to attend to the negotiations. It was not until the leap month of the 28th year of Kangxi (May 1689) that, at the urging of the Qing court, an agreement was reached to hold Sino-Russian negotiations in Nerchinsk. Departing from Beijing on the 6th.

China-Russia Nerchinsk Negotiations.

In view of the northern border crisis caused by the eastern invasion of Junggar, Kangxi decided to make greater concessions in the Sino-Russian border negotiations and changed the original "Nerchinsk border" to "Er The Guna River is the boundary", giving up Nerchinsk and taking back Yaksa.

On June 15, the twenty-eighth year of Kangxi's reign, Suo'etu, Tong Guogang and others arrived in Nerchinsk. Before the Russian mission arrived at the meeting place, Suo'etu sent a letter urging Golovin. The letter was handed over to the Russian Governor in Nerchinsk. According to Zhang Cheng’s recollection in his diary, the content of the letter was as follows: “We have done everything we can to arrive in accordance with their requirements, but the strange thing is that they don’t even have confirmation of their arrival. If they do not arrive, we shall have to cross the river to find a more spacious and convenient encampment than our present encampment, which is too small and will soon run out of pasture.

The letter also said: "The reason why this side has not yet crossed the river is to avoid giving them any reason to doubt our sincerity in concluding a peace treaty." "The Qing court's negotiation mission's idea of ??crossing the river prompted the Golovin mission, which was attacking the Khalkha Mongols in the Lake Baikal area, to arrive at Nerchinsk on the fourth day of July.

The Qing government On April 26, the Russian side was notified: "Our general Sabsu and others stationed on the northeastern border are in charge of Heilongjiang and other departments." "After the border demarcation is completed, it will be handed over to Iraq and others for management. Therefore, this general We are also traveling by land and water from Yaksa to Nerchinsk. Please don't have any doubts. "The Russian side still regarded Sabsu and others who came to Nerchinsk by boat as "not to make peace but to fight and ravage the place." For this reason, Suo'etu "ordered the commanders to send their troops to places farther away." Evacuate Nerchinsk Castle and not give the Russians any excuse to complain."

On the fifth and sixth day of July, the Qing Imperial Envoy and the Russian plenipotentiary envoy frequently traveled back and forth to discuss "the time for the meeting" , place and method", and finally reached an agreement: the first meeting was scheduled for the eighth day of July (August 22). The Qing side "should lead forty officials and 760 soldiers to cross the river, and five of the soldiers should One hundred soldiers should be lined up on the river bank" and "the distance from the place of formation to the meeting place should be equal to the distance from Nerchinsk Castle to the meeting place; another two hundred and sixty soldiers should escort the imperial ministers into the meeting place, and then Stand back a certain distance and set up sentries. The Russian plenipotentiary envoy shall lead an equal number of officers and soldiers and arrange their posts in the same manner. The two hundred and sixty soldiers on both sides are not allowed to carry any other weapons except swords." "The envoys should meet in their tents, which should be close together."

The first time At the beginning of the negotiations, the Qing and Russian sides agreed to "not talk about the past" and "only determine the boundary between the two empires." The Russian side proposed to use Heilongjiang (called Sakhalian-Ula in the West) "as the boundary between the two empires." "the land north of the river belongs to Russia, and the land south of the river belongs to China." The Qing court "is unwilling to agree to this proposal in any case" and "the mountains for hunting mink are all north of the river." , "It was recommended that the Russians retreat above Selenga and transfer that area, together with Nerchinsk and Yaxa and their dependencies," to the Qing Empire. The two sides then launched a fierce dispute over the ownership of Nerchinsk and Yaxa. The Russian envoy said that "Nerchinsk and Yaksa were the places where Yi and others first went to colonize and live"; Soetu and others said that "Aonen River and Nerchinsk were the original places of residence of our Maoming'an and other tribes; Yax "Sa is the place where our Yu people Albasis and others live", all of whom "have no weapons", "because it is difficult for you to attack, invade and loot, they all move inland to our Nen River and other places, so this place has been used by your country for a long time." The second meeting was held on July 9th (August 23rd). In order to break the deadlock, Soetu and others proposed that "the place of Nerchinsk can be given over to Give it to the Russians so that they can trade with China.” Regarding the Qing court’s concessions, the Russian ambassador “laughed in reply,” which really “irritated” the Qing imperial envoy. At the end of the second meeting, the Qing imperial envoy The minister requested that the meeting minutes compiled by both parties be compiled for reporting to the imperial courts. After the meeting that day, the Qing side "sent people to dismantle some of their tents," and the Qing-Russian negotiations were on the verge of breaking down.

In July. 12. Golovin sent a representative to the Qing mission’s residence and suggested “holding another meeting.” Missionaries Zhang Cheng and Xu Risheng, who were translators for the Qing mission, also analyzed in private to Soetu and others that “the Russians will give up Yaksa, and part of the land between that place and Nerchinsk", so the two sides held a third meeting on July 12. In the third meeting, the Qing imperial minister proposed to use the Geerbiqi River, The Ergun River was used as the boundary, but the Russian envoy did not agree to demarcate the border in the middle section of the Qing Dynasty and Russia on the grounds that the land of Khalkha had been occupied by Erut. The plan proposed the next day still insisted on placing Yaksa and all the land west of Yaksa on the Russian side, and the negotiations were once again on the verge of breakdown.

On the day he returned to his station, the Qing imperial envoy said, "Immediately. "Convened a meeting" and decided that all the Qing troops would cross the river, "establish a blockade on Nerchinsk", "transport our soldiers to the other side of the river that night", "occupy the mountains upstream of Nerchinsk", and close the gap between Heilongjiang and Nerchinsk. Occupying all the open space between them, "completely cutting off the traffic of the Russians on that side", the Qing army "arranged their armor and weapons into battle formations", "about one mile away from Nerchinsk Castle; and ordered One hundred men rushed to Yaksa in wooden boats, and together with the four or five hundred men stationed near that place, they destroyed all the crops in the fields and did not allow anything to enter the fortress."

On the one hand, the Russian side moved "family members and livestock to the vicinity of Nerchinsk Castle and set up outposts for observation", "installed fifteen bronze cannons on the street", "a bronze fortress" "Fire cannons"; on the other hand, he "sent an interpreter" to the Qing Imperial Envoy's residence overnight and "struggled to demand the resumption of negotiations." “The translator hinted that their master had originally intended to abandon Yaksa,” but because the Qing side’s “demands were too high,” the translator “struggled to urge” the Qing side to send Zhang Cheng and Xu Risheng to Russia to mediate. Russia's proposals to renegotiate and send missionaries to mediate were rejected. After reporting to Golovin, the Russian translators "returned in the middle of the night and claimed that their master was still prepared to renegotiate."

Early the next morning (July 14, August 28), Russian representatives went to the Qing camp and "proposed to abandon Yaksa, and they also agreed to use the Ergun River as the boundary between the two empires." After seven days of intense negotiations, the Qing and Russia finally entered the stage of drafting a treaty.

The drafting and signing of the Treaty of Nerchinsk.

Since July 15th (August 29th), the two sides began to draft a delimitation treaty. According to the minutes of the meeting, the Transkhingan Mountains (now known as Stanov Mountains) were used as the boundary, but the mountain range was in Geer The source of the Biqi River forms two tall mountains. Its northern peak stretches eastward on the north bank of the Udi River to the Sea of ??Okhotsk; its southern peak turns south by about one latitude when approaching 132 degrees east longitude, and the area between the two peaks is about five Thousands of square kilometers. The area produces "the finest mink, black fox and other furs". There is also a large fish on the coast with "teeth whiter and harder than ivory". The Manchus use this fish tooth "to make rings and wear them when drawing bows". Protecting the thumb on the hand", but because the Russians had "some settlements" on both sides of the Udy River, the ownership of this area caused new disputes.

On July 19 (September 2), Golovin sent a strongly worded letter based on the Qing emperor’s letter to the Russian Czar and the Qing envoy’s document. This area was never explicitly mentioned, and it was insisted on "not making a decision on the ownership of this area until formal edicts and orders on the matter are received." If the Qing did not accept this suggestion, "the only option is to inform heaven and earth." , will not bear responsibility for the evil consequences of the war and all bloodshed and sacrifices." The negotiations are once again in danger of breaking down. Suo'etu, Tong Guogang and other imperial ministers were worried that "all hopes of making peace would be completely destroyed, and the emperor might blame them for ruining the peace talks." So they notified Golovin the next day to accept the Russian proposal and "relevant matters" The land between the two mountain ranges should not be determined."

On July 24th (September 7th) in Shenwumen, the Treaty of Nerchinsk was officially signed. There were two originals, written in Latin, and two copies, one in Manchu and one in Russian. write. The original was stamped with the seals of the Qing and Russian countries respectively, and the copies written in Manchu and Russian were kept by the Qing and Russian respectively as translations of the original. There are eight clauses in this treaty:

1. The Choerna River and the Gorbich River serve as the boundaries between the two empires;

2. The castle built by Russia in Yaksa It should be completely demolished, and Russian residents and all their belongings should be moved to Russian territory, and residents of the two countries are not allowed to cross the border privately;

3. All past events should be forgotten forever and no longer investigated;

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4. From the date of conclusion of the treaty, neither party will tolerate fugitives or rebels from each other;

5. Russian subjects currently remaining within Qing territory or Qing subjects currently remaining within Russian territory, Each of them will stay where they are:

6. Subjects of the two countries are allowed to communicate with each other and trade with each other as long as they are allowed to do so; This Treaty;

8. The text of this Treaty, both text and text, "is sealed and exchanged between each other." The above paragraphs should be inscribed on stone tablets in Manchu, Chinese, Russian, and Latin, "established in accordance with the agreement between the two countries." The boundary is where we will hang for a long time, and we will always keep it."

The Treaty of Nerchinsk was an equal treaty. The treaty clearly demarcated the eastern boundary between the two countries. After that, the Qing court negotiated with Russia on the middle boundary in the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727) and signed successively The "Liansiqi Treaty" (August of the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign), the "Abahayitu Boundary Treaty" (October of the fifth year of Yongzheng's reign), and the "Seleng'e Boundary Treaty" determine the relationship between Kyaktu and Orhuaitu Mountains. Obo in between is the starting point of the border between the two countries, extending to the Orgun River in the east and Shabinay Ridge (i.e. Sabinda Baha) in the west. The south belongs to the Qing Dynasty and the north belongs to Russia. The area to be discussed in the Dihe area "remains in its original state".