On August 22nd, 1921, the French colony Viet Nam ambitiously extended its hand to the Xisha Islands, but French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister briand poured cold water on it:
"As the China government has established its sovereignty since 199, it is impossible for us to claim these islands now."
what? In 199?
It was before the Qing Dynasty died, just the year when Emperor Xuantong reached the summit.
Yes, it was in the first year of Xuantong that a man took an army to patrol the South China Sea and came to the Xisha Islands.
He is Lee Joon, then the prefect of Guangdong Navy in the Qing Dynasty. At the age of 38, he was from Sichuan. In his early years, he failed to pass the imperial examination. Therefore, he joined the army. Unexpectedly, he won the top prize and awarded Guo Yong Batulu for his meritorious service, and finally took the important position of Guangdong Navy's prefect.
Lee Joon is essentially a scholar, so he is more advanced than his colleagues. At that time, he saw that Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries were ready to move, so he wrote to the court and suggested visiting the South China Sea to declare sovereignty.
after approval, he personally led hundreds of officers and men, took Fubo, Chenhang and other warships, and took professional exploration equipment to patrol the Xisha Islands. First, he arrived at Yongxing Island, which is also the largest island in the South China Sea. He was excited to find that the military position here is extremely important, and there are fishermen living in China. He was deeply moved. He distributed the materials he took with him to the fishermen and encouraged them to protect the motherland's seas and borders with the officers and men.
on yongxing island, he raised the Huanglong banner of the Qing dynasty, carved a stone and erected a monument, and engraved the words "Lee Joon, the prefect of Guangdong navy, visited here".
Later, when Lee Joon passed by dongsha islands, he found that Dongsha Island had been occupied by the Japanese privately, and the Japanese changed its Japanese name to Nishizawa Island. He quickly left a hundred soldiers to continue to monitor the island's movements, and then immediately returned to Guangzhou and wrote to the court urgently, suggesting that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs urgently protest and negotiate with Japan.
history records: "outside the electricity, negotiate with the Japanese. The Japanese envoy's request for chart evidence must be based on the map of China 2 years ago.
Wang Xuecen observed a wide range of books, and found that there was a map of this island in the "Record of the Sea Chart" written by Chen Lunjiong, the chief soldier of Gaoliang Town in Kangxi. Because it was sent to foreign and Japanese envoys, it was proved to be a Chinese version of the soil and returned to China, and it was still named Dongsha Island. "
This is also a miracle in the diplomatic history of the late Qing Dynasty. The Japanese ambassador to China asked the Qing Dynasty to produce evidence to prove that Dongsha Island was the territory of China since ancient times. The Qing Dynasty really found a map of the Kangxi period, namely the Map of Dongsha Island, and Japan returned the island.
it's a miracle that Japan can spit out the meat it eats in its mouth.
Lee Joon played an important role in recovering Dongsha Island! The whole sea area of dongsha islands is 5, square kilometers!
In addition, Lee Joon's greater achievement lies in that he spent a whole month in the world during his patrol in 199. Every time he went to a South China Sea island, he raised the Yellow Dragon Flag, fired cannons, strangled rocks, declared sovereignty, and gave names to all the previously unknown small islands, such as Fubo Island, which was named after the warship Fubo. If this name goes back to the history of China, it would be Fubo General Ma Yuan in the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Men should die in the border field and bury their ears with they died with their boots on! "
Lee Joon's name is also of great significance.
The students of the Naval Surveying and Mapping School aboard the ship also specially drew the general map of Xisha Islands and the sub-maps of Xisha Islands. Lee Joon also left soldiers on important islands to guard the coastal areas with fishermen.
At that time, all the great powers were infected by the determination of the Qing Dynasty, and agreed that the South China Sea was an inalienable territory and territorial sea of China.
Lee Joon's name is also resounding all over China.
Later, because he was loyal to the Qing Dynasty and suppressed the revolution of the New Army, he was repeatedly assassinated by radical officers of the New Army and almost died of serious injuries.
In his later years, he lived in Tianjin and had a hard life. He had to write some poems and calligraphy scrolls to earn some income.
His inscription was once used in the registration of Tianjin Ta Kung Pao.