The History of China - #281 - Qing 21: Kangxi & Galdan At Jao Modo, Their Eyes Red

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

The jaws of the Kangxi Emperor close in around Galdan Khan, as his own dream of "The Great Mongol Enterprise" crash down around him at a fateful stand of 100 trees abutting a tiny stream somewhere in the vastness of the steppes. To the victor go the draft histories... Please support the show!: patreon.com/thehistoryofchina Time Period Covered 1696 CE Major Historical Figures: Qing Dynasty: The Kangxi Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Xuanye) [r. 1654-1722] Jean-Francois Gerbillon, Puritan Missionary Tómas Pereira, Puritan Missionary Gen. Fiyanggu Gen. Sunsike Dzungar Mongols: Galdan, the Boshugtu Khan [r. 1679-1697] Lamist Tibetans: The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso [1683-after 1706] sDe-pa Desi Sangye Gyampo [1653-1705] Major Sources Cited: Perdue, Denis. China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia. Spence, Jonathan D. Emperor of China: Self-Portrait of K’ang-hsi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an the Ancient World Podcast. Available on all podcasting platforms or go to ancientworldpodcast.com. That's the Ancient World Podcast. Hello and welcome to the History of China. Episode 281. Kangxi and Galdan at Jaomoto. Their eyes red. As I waited on the shores of the Kurlun River for news from Moscow,

I wrote to the Empress Dowager. Our troops have chased the Olads now for five days. I have seen their abandoned Buddhist scriptures and tents, the women and children and the sick whom they slew themselves, their fish kettles and their brewing apparatus, their hunting nets and their armor, their saddles and bridles and clothes, their food, their wooden spoons still standing in the bowls of soup,

their leather skins filled with kumis, all these poor items of their daily life all thrown away. The Kangxi Emperor, 1696 We left off in the last episode with the armies of Great Qing, personally commanded by the Kangxi Emperor, having arrived at a place called Jiao Moto in the Central Asian highlands, hoping to catch and trap his longtime foe, the Mongol Lord Galdan Khan. And so we delve back in now to the eve of the battle itself. Through all this, up ahead at the front lines, the Emperor was yet urging his men onward. Quote, accompanied by the Jesuits, Gerbion and Pereira, he took

regular sightings of the pole star to determine his latitude, end quote. And can I just say here that these two effing Jesuits, Gerbion and Pereira, are like two villainous Disney sidekick henchmen in all this, aren't they? They're the greedy hyenas to Kangshi's scar, the obsequious Phobos and Deimos to his imperial Hades. Anyways, he, quote, prayed to the spirits of the wind and rain to provide a smooth journey. Six of Kangxi's sons accompanied him on campaign, but his eldest son, Prince Yinreng, remained in the capital to take charge of the affairs in the emperor's absence. Kangxi's letters to his son describe the landscape, the progress of the campaign, and his personal health.

These letters, written in Manchu, give fascinating insights into Kang Xi's own character, and form one of the most remarkable travel documents in Chinese literature, providing an almost daily record of the emperor's changing moods. As new information or supplies arrive or fail to arrive, the emperor's confidence waxes and wanes. He also describes in great detail the terrain through which the troops pass, paying close attention to the different types of grasses, the abundance of marmot burrows, water sources, and the different kinds of deserts. He sends back plants for the prince to grow. From one section of this book, quote, the frontier areas can be cold and damp and remote, with deserts that seem to stretch forever, and a few wild sheep and asses, but no people, no houses, and no birds flying. I have seen, with my own eyes, men having to boil up a few nuts and eat them to keep alive, with no knowledge of how they might get through the winter, and cattle so thin that, though living, they soon must starve to death.

So, planning and attention to detail are essential, and the advice of the veteran commander should always be considered. Before we moved against Galdan in 1696, I told senior officers, Manchu, Mongol, and Chinese, to meet together by banner and discuss how we might anticipate Galdan's movements and how we should deploy our own troops. End quote. The reaction to the coming of the emperor from the resident Mongol population settled within Qing borders was perhaps different than what one might expect.

It's said that they actually rejoiced at Kangxi's approach, as he seemed to carry with him heavy rains and snows. The emperor himself wrote of his worries about such inclement weather, but as far as the Mongols were concerned, such an early deluge in April gave the grasses a wonderful head start to their growing season, which would in turn revitalize their herds of sheep and horses who were at this point critically weak from winter's privations. Kangxi was in the highest of spirits, of course, but such a sunny disposition was not shared by all of his advisors or ministers. When word reached the royal expedition that

Galdan had reportedly secured 60,000 Russian troops to his cause, no less than Songgotu, Isanga, and Tongguowei, not mere Han officials, but his own Manchu dukes and secretaries, and his uncles beside, urged him to withdraw back to Beijing and reassess his strategic options. Kangxi furiously shot back to his sniveling, cowardly lords, quote, I have made careful plans, and made offerings to heaven, earth, and the ancestors. Among the soldiers there is no one, even down to the stable boy, who does not want to exterminate Galdan. But you high officials are base, womanly cowards

who fear putting out effort. I will certainly kill anyone who hesitates or withdraws from this campaign. End quote. And what are you really going to do from there? The discussion is over. Realizing that they had been outvoted by the only vote that mattered, and liking their heads right where they were, thanks very much, the hesitating high lords each knelt trembling before the emperor and proclaimed

their personal folly and the correctness of the imperial plan and begged for forgiveness. The Qing army would continue apace. But they did come very close to not continuing. As it would later turn out, the reports of 60,000 Russian troops siding with the Dzungars had been nothing more than a creative fiction, a yarn spun and spread by none other than Galdan himself, who had, it must be said, really had been trying to get Russian help, but they'd remained steadfastly noncommittal. Even so, Galdan had figured that a ghost army was better than no army at all, and it had nearly worked. It was only by an almost infernal fiery grudge Kangxi held for Galdan above almost any other consideration that stopped this disinformation campaign from getting the entire Qing army to retreat without firing a shot. Alas, it was not to be. The campaign would grind forward.

The primary initial concern for the Qing force was whether or not Fiangu's west army would be able to make it to their prearranged position to the west of where Kangxi's own central army was expected to engage Galdan's force. If Fian Gu did not make it to that place in time, it would leave open a critical gap that the central army would be driving the Mongols toward as a seeming escape, only to have Fian Gu's soldiers swing the gate shut and lock them in that trap. But if the west army wasn't in position, well, then it wasn't a trap at all, was it? It was just an easy escape route for the Djungars, and the entire campaign would have been for nothing. At first, word from Fiongu's scouts and messengers reported good progress. But shortly into the journey, he ran into snow and mud that made roads impassable to his heavy carts and cannons.

This forced him to leave both his artillery and most of his supplies behind, and the soldiers had to plunge forward in an attempt to keep to the schedule. This forced him to leave both his artillery and most of his supplies behind, and the soldiers had to plunge forward in an attempt to keep to the schedule. By traveling as light as possible, with just 59 cannons out of his initial hundreds, and his men carrying just 15 days of supplies apiece, he hoped to still be able to reach his designated position by June 6th, nine days after the initial estimated arrival date of May 27th. Word of this change in timetables and outlook reached the Central Army, presenting its command staff with a great dilemma. Should they stay, or should they go? Quote,

waiting would use up precious rations. Advancing too quickly would drive Galdon into flight before Fiongu could block him. End quote. And so it was that a grand military council was held to discuss options. One group of advisors held that, if attacked, Galdon would make a stand and fight it out. As such, it would be best to advance quickly and put an end to the fighting as soon as possible. Many others, however, feared that this strategy would still take nine days to enact, which would afford Galdon more than enough time to once again make good an escape, which would insta-fail the entire mission. And so, the Qing troops waited on as their commander's disagreements dragged on. For several days, the Qing army sat there doing nothing but

eating up its own supplies, and all the while risking their presence being found out and reported by Galdan's own scouts. Resupply at last arrived via wagon, but it was reported that there was ongoing difficulty in moving all the supply carts all the way up to the front. It was realized that the army had already consumed two months' worth of its provisions. That was worrying. A resupply of the resupply was called in. They waited some more. Meanwhile, Fiongu and his west army were literally killing themselves

to try to get into position at something like the date that they were supposed to have gotten there. He was, quote, advancing toward the carillon with 10,000 men, but the exhaustion of his horses had forced him to leave many men behind. The army of Shunzika was reduced to 2,000 Chinese troops, most too exhausted to march. General Yin reported, quote, We rushed here without time to nourish our horses, so many died crossing the Gobi. Our water is all gone, and we constantly faced strong winds and rain for days at a time. The troops were cold all night, and starving men and horses collapsed, end quote. By the time they arrived at the staging area at Angin, they had lost nearly all their horses in the cold and had supplies for only one month. Sending back all but the strongest men in order to conserve supplies,

Shunzika marched on with Fiongu. By this point, it was May 26th, and Kangxi realized that he needed another way to make sure Galdan stayed put long enough for Fiongu and his men's heroic efforts to get them into position to block the Jungar flight. That was still days out at the least, and so it was time to extend the game by entering into a little extended session of diplomacy. The Kangxi Emperor, therefore, lied. There's not really any other way to put it. He sent out messages to the Jungar Khan that were just flat-out knowing lies. Quote, once again, the emperor used disingenuous

language, asserting that his sole interest was peace on the border, that he had no intention of exterminating Galdan. He had saved from starvation the Kalkas who had fled Galdan's attacks. Now he wanted to meet Galdan personally to form an alliance. Let us meet and determine our boundaries and resume our former tributary relations. I am not trying to entice you into But he was. He totally was. And that's something that I think a lot of us moderns, certainly those of us who've grown up or lived in the West, have seemed to kind of have forgotten, and are sort of taken aback and really almost offended by when it happens against us. And what I'm talking about is, as here in this situation, the use of diplomatic talks or negotiations as purely cynical gamesman tactics. We often think of diplomacy as being something apart from and different than warfare. Diplomacy is supposed to be about coming together

and healing and mending bridges and truth and reconciliation and all that good stuff, right? Well, that's one theory, but maybe kind of a sucker's bet, at least in the short term. Because another theory holds that diplomacy doesn't have to be an olive branch being extended. It can instead be a poison asp. Offensive diplomacy, or just a willingness to break whatever promises you made to arrive at a deal. As the Mongols themselves used to be fond of doing at the gates of cities that they would besiege, you know, promise the defenders the sun and stars, anything and everything, if they'll just open the door. And then once the door is opened, what promises? What assurances? Get in the head

chopping line with all the others. There are, of course, potential downstream after-effects and consequences of such a dishonest and tactical use of weaponized diplomacy, but only if you're worried about the prospect of repeat business. You're not going to be concerned about your Yelp review if you're planning to wipe out each and every one of the reviewers. Kangxi's envoys arrived at Galdan's encampment to announce that the Emperor himself intended to personally conduct talks with the Jungar Khan. And also, oh by the way, Fiyangu has totally blocked off your only route of escape already, you're totally trapped with no way out, and I'm definitely telling you the truth, so don't even bother

checking that for yourself. Understandably, when this message had been given to Galadon's nephew, Danjila, the young man let out a, quote, cry of anguish. The following day, the imperial army was drawn up into full battle ranks, filling the hills and fields without end, their weapons glistening in the sunlight. It was a classic psychological ploy. Kangxi was trying to crush Galdan and his men's spirit, and willed to even try to put up a fight via this display of overwhelming force. It had worked so well, after all, against the Russian diplomats.

By this point, though he did not have confirmation, Kangxi had good reason to guess that Fiangu was indeed in position to block the Zhengar escape route. Nevertheless, the Emperor of Great Qing wanted a direct confrontation with his steppe nemesis, and so pressed his army forward to administer the coup de grace. On June 7th, he reached the Karolin River as it flowed through the steep hills and bluffs of the Mongol highlands, though with very low water at that time of the year. In the distance, Jungar scouts watched the Qing army's approach, but made no move to interfere or resist. Kangxi then arrived at what had obviously been Galdan's army's campsite, only recently abandoned.

Quote, Denouncing Galdan as a coward, the emperor vowed to continue his pursuit. Leaving behind all but 16 cannon, he sent envoys ahead to urge Galdan to surrender. End quote. We just wanna talk, bro. Yet word arrived back that it seemed that Galdan and whatever remained of his force had somehow slipped the net and escaped into the woods of Bayan Ulan. Could that be true?

Had they really gotten by Fiyangu? Had Fiyangu even arrived yet? At the abandoned Mongol camp, Qing troops found, quote, exhausted horses abandoned by Galdan and severe drought conditions. The grass had not sprouted. Old people left behind described the Jungar flight as a panic. Parts of Galdan's army were attacking one another. Women and children were committing suicide, end quote.

Obviously, the Jungar were in a state of total disarray, just as Kangxi had hoped. Further good news arrived from the scouts, informing the emperor that, indeed, Fian Gu's troops had successfully moved into position along the Tula River as of the prior day, and had not allowed any sizable force of Jungars to escape. At long last, the stars seemed to be aligning for Kangxi's long-held ambition to see the annoyance that was Galdan and his incorrigible band of Jungar ne'er-do-wells finally crushed under heel. In all human history, there are few stories like that of ancient Egypt. On the banks of the Nile, these people created one of the most enduring and significant cultures.

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But it was not yet a done deal. The Qing armies reported a critical shortage of grain and fodder, and they had largely depleted the rations already brought along with them. Even the emperor was himself forced to subsist on nothing but mutton for the time being, and he reluctantly came to the realization that his only option was to turn his main army back and rejoin with the supply train that he'd left behind to find their own way in his rush to meet the enemy. But this was no retreat, or even a supply run. No, Kangxi was far too media-savvy to let anyone except his own PR team get out ahead of this unusual military action.

As such, leaving behind a small, elite detachment of cavalry and light artillery units under the command of Mosca to continue the dogged pursuit of the routed Jungars, the Emperor took the bulk of his central army and on June 12th began his southward return march, loudly proclaimed as his March of Victory. From his own diary, quote, I had observed Galdan's cunning and delight in fainting, his overconfidence, his gullibility and inability to think far ahead.

After we sent the envoys, our scouts watched for the smoke of his campfires and assessed his army's movements on the evidence of his hoofprints and horse dung. And as Galdan began to flee, we moved into pursuit, first strengthening the base camp in which to lead the sick horses, and to flee, and the servants who had been marching on foot, then leaving behind the slower Green Standard infantry,

then abandoning the cannon, and finally sending Maska on ahead as commander of a flying column." Priv quote. Privately, however, Kangxi displayed a markedly less confident mood. Knowing that it all hinged on the West Army's ability to hold its position and prevent a Jungar escape, and that Fiongu's soldiers themselves also faced a critical supply shortage, the Emperor wrote back to his Princeent in Beijing, describing the landscape around him, and thus his outlook, as, quote, no good places for thousands of miles, and showing his own dissatisfaction by asking for additional clothes of his to be sent from home, and that he missed his son dearly.

The next day, Fiongu's report finally arrived at the emperor's command tent. They were in position, but too weak to rapidly advance. Their rations were badly depleted, and they expected to run out completely sometime between June 3rd and 10th. Galdan had taken to scorched earth tactics in the course of his retreat, leaving the Qing advance force with nothing to graze on and completely dependent on the supply carts in the rear, which were slow and having difficulty keeping up with the needed pace of advance. Even so, on June 2nd, Fiangu's troops were able to successfully pin Galdan's army and block its escape route with 14,000 troops. For 10 days, the two sides would face off at the terrible place in the middle of the

desert. Finally, on June 12th, 1697, they would meet. The place name, Jalmodo, comes from the Mongolian, Jagunmodu, meaning 100 trees. It is described with little more fanfare than as a small river valley surrounded by hills. By all accounts, there is nothing else that distinguishes this tiny slice of the Mongolian steppelin from any other. In the course of their hot pursuit, Fiongu's men had been forced to abandon even their basic provisions, and instead were by this point subsisting on horse and camel meat, quote-unquote, just like nomads. Galdan traveled now with only 5,000 men, who had distributed among them about 2,000 firearms that are described as fouling pieces, so essentially early light shotguns.

General Yin advised his commander that the Qing army ought to occupy the hills surrounding the small valley, and Fiangu agreed, though taking the heights proved a costly affair as they had to fight deadly Mongol sharpshooters throughout the entire ascent. Yet, in the end, it was worth the push, as by taking the hills, Fiongu's army had claimed a decisive strategic advantage against the pinned Jungars. Quote, The Montu troops fired their great cannon and advanced behind a wooden barricade, protecting their bodies with padded cotton armor. When they were ten steps away from the enemy, arrows fell like rain. Even the news that the emperor was approaching had frightened many Mongol soldiers into abandoning their weapons and fleeing. Galdan was unable to control the troops, who broke ranks and fled.

His kinsmen, Arabdan, attempted to resist, but then the Manchu cavalry attacked, killing thousands of men and capturing over 20,000 cattle and 40,000 sheep. Galdan and Danjila escaped with only 40 to 50 men, end quote. The emperor received Fiongu's victory report before he crossed the Great Wall on July 3rd. Kangxi had gained a great victory, justifying his own iron determination to advance into the steppe. In an expedition of 98 days, traveling over 2,000 kilometers to the Carolinian back, he had extinguished Galdan's flame. He returned to hold a great victory celebration. Even though the emperor, and possibly Galdan himself, viewed this victory as ordained by heaven,

it had nevertheless been a remarkably close call. The emperor's thanks to heaven reflected tremendous relief at a miraculous victory. The surrender of Galdan's greatest general, Hasikha, revealed Galdan's strategic plans, one which fit perfectly with classic nomadic strategy. Galdan had thought he could attain his great enterprise, or ambabaita, the unification of the Mongols, by staying in the area of the Keralun and Tula. He regretted his penetration to Ulaanbaatar. He had planned to retreat as a large Manchu army advanced until the troops exhausted their grain and silver supplies.

But on hearing that the emperor was with the army, the Mongols lost their courage. Galdan wanted to fight the Manchus in the forest, but could not stop his troops from fleeing. He was prepared to fight the West Route army alone, but the military feat of sending three armies to the Keralun had terrified his troops so much that they were beyond his control. What is certainly clear is that both sides had reached the absolute limit of their logistical ability to maintain themselves. The massive Qing army, of course, depended on regular resupply from China's interior, which made them more cumbersome and expensive. Meanwhile, the Jungars, dependent as they were on their cattle herds, couldn't stay in any one place for long, but had the freedom to move at will. Had Fiong Gu not been able to stop Galdan at the stand of a

hundred trees of Jaumodo, it's virtually certain that they would have once again faded into the undulating landscapes of the steppes, and that the Qing would have been materially too exhausted to continue the pursuit. By the time his force had arrived at Tula, in the words of the self-serving Jesuit translator Gerbion himself, the West Route army was, quote-unquote, à la dernière extrémité, or literally, at the ultimate extremity. They would have themselves dropped dead from hunger had Galdan not ridden out to meet them in battle. And it was, in fact, the Mongols' own captured provisions that allowed the Manchu and Chinese troops to yet live through the day. Quote, ironically, Galdan could have retreated back to the Keralan, saved himself, and left Fiangu's army to starve, but he overestimated his own strength in facing

the weakened Chinese. The Manchus and Chinese fought desperately, knowing that they had nowhere to go and nothing to lose. End quote. This is not to say that Galdan didn't have his own fair share of factors that sealed his fate, not the least of which was the fact that he was betrayed by his fellow Jungars. Ouch. When he sent a message to his kinsman, Arabdan at Bayan Ulan, telling him that Kangxi was coming, Arabdan replied, quote, You have land with no women, children, or cattle. I have land with women, children, and cattle. Don't you know what the Manchus are like? I will not fight with the Manchus.

End quote. Arabdan abandoned Galdan, though he later appeared at the Battle of Jaomoto. Choruses of praise for Kangxi's stunning victory came from every quarter of the empire. Manchu chiefs, Mongol khans, and of course Chinese scholar officials tripped over one another to send ever more effusive praise of the heroic and conquering sovereign and his glorious pacification of the wily fiend Galdan. Quote, The Mongols viewed the emperor as a khan with magical powers, who could bring water and fresh grass to the areas through which he passed, though in fact, all the digging and searching for wells was done by the Mongols themselves. The emperor responded by incorporating a wider circle of Mongols within the Qing kinship realm.

I formerly saw all within the great army was coming. But, pivotally, Galdan did not kill his family, nor himself, nor was he captured. It was something of a miracle all its own. He was one of the only members of his entire army to make good an escape from the trap at Jaumoto. His final fate will have to wait for another day. Back at Beijing, however, not only celebrations were busily taking place, but also something even more important, historical revisionism. Or, rather, this is the first pass of what will eventually become the history book, and so the faithful servitors of the Kangxi Emperor and the

Qing Dynasty immediately got to work making it look good. It's this process, the first brushstrokes of historiography itself taking place, that we will conclude our episode with today. Foremost on the to-do list for the imperial ministers was to situate the campaign against Galdan in the proper historical framework to properly contextualize the story and lesson that they were aiming to get across. For them, that meant comparing it

to the great conquering adventurers of prior ages, those like Emperor Gaozong of Tang's conquest of Korea and the Turkic Khanate, or the ancient King Xuan of Zhou's fight against the western barbarians of old. Yeah, this was totally like that. Like those ancient rulers who campaigned for years and traveled for thousands of li. Quote, but our emperors were much further into the steppe, over 3,000 li, and only 28 days. The Mongols collect like birds and disperse like animals, lacking any fixed abode. This is why it is extremely difficult to exterminate them. This time, we surrounded them with a pincer movement of troops.

Thus, we completely eliminated them. This was done by heaven. No human force could have done it. Now the deserts are permanently cleared, and the border is secure. This is an achievement rarely seen in history books. The Han could not do this to the Xiongnu. The Tang could not do this to the Turks. End quote.

Okay, buddy, slow down, maybe. So this was getting the full press package glow up, the complete Sean Spicer, it was the greatest victory ever in the history of the universe, and that is not to be questioned, song and dance. In spite of the fact that Galdon remained alive and on the lam, that the frontier threat had not, in fact, ceased, and that this was a near-run win at best, it was somehow nevertheless the most comprehensive and total win ever yet conceived on earth. Quote,

A consciousness of the Qing as completing and transcending the achievements of its predecessors had nevertheless begun to form, placing the dynasty in a progression of increasingly expansive territorial conquests. The editors of the Military Chronicles, Records of the Emperor's Personal Expeditions to pacify the northern frontiers, noted that Since ancient times, expeditions against Mongolia have been a vain waste of food and exhaustion of men and horses. This time, however, Heaven had decreed the total extermination of the Mongolian menace. By attributing favorable outcomes to Heaven, the Manchu rulers incorporated the fortuitous

accidents of history into a broader historical perspective. Opponents of the campaigns had failed to recognize the auspicious signs. Many Manchu and Han officials had urged the emperor to abandon a personal expedition or to delay its start, and to giving up pursuing Galdan after he had fled. But the emperor had rejected their advice, and as a result, the borders are firm, the inner and outer realms are peaceful. Such retrospective historiography attributed superior insight into heavenly forces to the Emperor, who incorporated sagely wisdom and heavenly will into his strategic thinking.

End quote. sagely wisdom and heavenly will into his strategic thinking. In terms of the post-battle outlook, Kangxi likewise had a prescription for that. From Perdue, As the newly subordinate Mongols were welcomed into the Qing family, Galdan and his followers were forced out, end quote. For those myriad peoples beyond the frontiers who might still be on the fence about whether they should throw their support behind Kangxi or Galdan, the Qing emperor wanted to be clear that they would be expected to pick a side and that there was only one correct choice. As such, he printed hundreds of leaflets and distributed them among the Mongol princes,

stressing that Galdan had violated the teachings and ways of the Dalai Lama, invaded the Qing frontier, violated his treaty with the Qing, and tried to use the Mongol princes, Russians, and even the Hui Muslims of oasis towns like Hami and Turfan, quote, in order to plot to conquer China and set up a Muslim as its ruler, end quote. This was all, we well know by now, completely made up. But it sounded possible?

It sounded official? So, it must be true, right? To that itself, it quickly became evident, was a situationship all its own. You might well imagine the emperor's shock when he learned that the Dalai Lama, over whose honor Kangxi had ostensibly been fighting, remember, had actually been dead this whole time, like for nine years, and everyone had just kept mum about it. Now, from the Tibetan perspective, from their own explanations,

it was both common to delay the announcement of a high lama's death for astrological reasons, but I mean, like, for nine years? Come on, guys. And they stressed that the Depa's assumption of regency powers was well in line with his position as essentially the lamist equivalent of a Grand Chancellor. Quote, From the Qing perspective, however, none of this was clear. go into meditation and would return later in his sixth reincarnation, end quote. From the Qing perspective, however, none of this was clear. Instead, it was presumed that the Deba, who the Chinese apparently only understood to be a minor official, had usurped the Tibetan throne and then lied to the emperor about

it in order to forge a stronger alliance with Galdan against Kangxi. Quote, Now, in the emperor's eyes, the Depa stood exposed as an active confederate of Galdan, and the Kokonor Mongols' obedience to Tibetan lamas threatened to draw them away from the Qing. End quote. The Kokonors themselves hadn't exactly held matters in this regard when they, apparently trying to placate Kangxi's concerns, proclaimed their dual and equal allegiance to both Beijing and Lhasa. Quote,

As the search for his enemy dragged on, the Kangxi emperor detained the Tibetan emissaries and even accused one of the crime of collaboration with Galdan. After two months, a letter from Beijing arrived to the Depa, severely rebuking his behavior in stirring up Galdan's revolt. Quote, You were originally the Dalai Lama's subordinate, and I granted you the title of King of Tibet. Now I know that you publicly revered Tsongkhapda, but secretly allied with Galdan, On the word of a captive under interrogation, Kangxi stated that he had learned that it was ultimately the Depa

who had caused Galdan to make war against the Qing. Since, had the Dalai Lama still been alive, he certainly would not have allowed the Zhangar Khan to have done so. Thus, Kangxi concluded, his only act of recourse must be to send another large army, quote, the Yunnan, Sichuan, or Shan army, All the while, Galdan himself remained thoroughly incognito. Even his top subordinates, it seemed, had no idea where he'd disappeared to, and were reported by Qing scouts as having been spotted themselves searching for the vanished Khan.

His choice of hideouts had grown, by this point, very thin indeed. Quote, He could not go to Hami, held by his enemy, Tsewang Rabdan. Ayuki Khan of the Torguts was too far away, and not friendly to Galdan in any event. The Russians were only interested in trading relations to be Galdan's only option. And so it was that the Kangxi Emperor would resolve to make war for a third time to stop Galdan from crossing through Qinghai, gathering Muslim followers, and reaching the protection of the Depa in Lhasa.

Kangxi's third expedition would annihilate him once and for all. And that is where we will pick up next time. Happy almost December 2024 to everyone, and as always, thanks for listening.

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