左宗棠转战西北十余年,六次举借外债,计库平银一千五百九十五万两,统称为“西征借款”。不是有协饷吗,为何还要借外债?这就要从协饷谈起。自乾隆改西域为新疆以来,新疆驻军和西北用兵的军费多以协饷方式解决。何谓“协饷”?新疆初置时财政难以自立,故由户部和各省调拨银两维持军政开支,又因开支多用于军饷,故称调拨银两为“协饷”。从1760年开始,清廷每年从内地调拨“协饷”二三百万银两。因鸦片战争和太平军,咸丰年间的协饷屡次 Zuo Zongtang fought in the northwest for more than ten years, and borrowed foreign debts six times in a row, accounting for 15.95 million taels of gold and silver, collectively referred to as the “borrow money from the west.” Why do we need to borrow foreign debt? Since Qianlong changed the western region to Xinjiang, the military expenditures of the troops stationed in Xinjiang and the troops in the northwest were mostly settled by the co-payment method. Therefore, it is difficult for the government to set up its own state-owned treasury at the time of its inception. Therefore, the two departments of the Ministry of Finance and the provinces allocate funds to maintain military and government expenditures. Since expenditures are mostly used for pay, they are called “co-payment”. From 1760 onwards, the Qing court every year from the Mainland transfer “rates ” 23 million silver two. Due to the Opium War and the Taipings, Xianfeng years pay rates frequently