1865, an officer of the great khanate of Central Asia invaded Xinjiang during the Hui uprising in Xinjiang, occupying most of the northern and southern parts of Tianshan Mountain. Later, he took it? Independent monarchy? (Amir), signed a contract with Russia and Britain in an attempt to split the territory of China.

In the first year of Guangxu (1785), the Qing dynasty appointed Zuo as an imperial envoy to take charge of military affairs in Xinjiang. When Zuo wanted to go out to the west, some feudal bureaucrats opposed it. The total strength of the Western Expedition Army is about 220 battalions. The army needs 1000 million taels of silver every year, which must be shared among customs provinces. Opponents doubt whether the army can win, but they think it is not worth spending so much money.

Li Hongzhang said that the annual military expenditure in Xinjiang is generally above 3 million taels. It is not worth spending a lot of money to recover thousands of miles of wasteland. He also said that Agbo has signed trade and collusion treaties with Britain and Russia. If the army is used in Xinjiang, it will be opposed by Britain and Russia, and China's military strength and financial resources are insufficient, so it is very dangerous to use force.

On the contrary, Zuo is determined to recover Xinjiang from Agubo. In response to Li Hongzhang's proposal to abandon Xinjiang, he pointed out that if the enemy stops using troops to save money and adopts a concession policy, the enemy will advance one inch and Gansu and western Mongolia will be threatened.

At that time, Li Hongzhang spent a lot of national financial resources on the operation of Beiyang Navy, so he emphasized the importance of coastal defense and thought that the northwest frontier defense was dispensable. Zuo has a heavy army in the northwest, which makes him attach great importance to the Xinjiang issue. This is history? Haiphong? With what? Border defense? Controversy. In essence, their differences on the Xinjiang issue lie in whether to defend territorial integrity. Zuo's words and deeds conform to the long-term interests of the Chinese nation.

1876, the left army took the headquarters as the pioneer, first marched to the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain, and recovered Urumqi after fierce fighting. 1877, southern Xinjiang recovered, Agubo committed suicide, his subordinates separated and collapsed, and Xinjiang returned to Chinese territory.