Originality is not easy, please pay attention!
Author: Yi Pin Wen team water autumn, no authorization prohibited!
Anyone who has watched the TV series "Kangxi Dynasty" knows that Shi Lang, the admiral of Fujian in the Qing Dynasty, led the Qing army to eliminate the Zheng regime that divided Taiwan and unified Taiwan. Shi Lang also became famous in the annals of history and became a famous figure in Chinese history. Later generations juxtapose him with Zheng Chenggong and wrote a couplet: "One person on the platform, one person on the platform; Zheng's thousand ancient times, Shi's thousand ancient times." However, what is less known is that the historical opportunity to unify Taiwan and leave a name in the annals of history did not fall on Shi Lang's body, but on another general, but only because he opposed the invasion of Taiwan, he lost this opportunity and finally achieved Shi Lang. This general is the protagonist of our article today, Wan Zhengse.
(Giant statue of Shi Lang in Jinjiang, Fujian, Shi Lang's hometown)
Wan Zhengse and Shi Lang are both fellow villagers in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, and they are also from the army. He served in the army for several years, and gradually rose from the position of a big head soldier to a staff general by relying on his military achievements. During the San Francisco Rebellion, the Qing army and wu Sangui rebels confronted each other on both sides of the Yangtze River, and Dongting Lake became the focus of contention between the two sides. At that time, Wu Jun erected a large number of wooden stakes at the junction of Dongting Lake and the Yangtze River to prevent the Qing army's marine division from entering Dongting Lake. The Qing army urgently needed to remove these obstacles and seize the mouth of Dongting Lake. At that time, most of the Qing troops on the front line were Manchu and Mongolian Eight Banners, and had no experience in water warfare, and Wan Zhengse, a Fujian native born on the seashore, was appointed as the chief officer of the Yuezhou Water Division, responsible for directing the water division to fight. In this position, he showed a talent for commanding a marine division. The Qing army sailors under his command, using reeds as cover, burst into the mouth of Dongting Lake and removed all the wooden stakes in one fell swoop. After the Wu army's marine division found out, it gathered more than 200 warships to counterattack, but was defeated by the Qing army's marine division commanded by Wan Zhengse.
(Wan Zhengse Former Residence and Wan Zhengse Jigong Arch in Jinjiang, Fujian Province)
Wan Zhengse was not only very brave in battle, but also a very intelligent general. In the battle of the Qing army to capture the Wu army's important town of Yuezhou (yueyang), he cleverly carried out a counter-plan, sending people to forge fourteen letters from the Generals of the Wu Army to the Qing Dynasty, and then deliberately let the Wu army catch it. The commander of the Wu army was indeed successful in his plan, and all the Wu generals involved were executed. The Wu army was suddenly in a state of confusion, and all the generals were afraid that they would become unjust ghosts, so they took the initiative to lead the troops to surrender to the Qing army. As a result, the Qing army easily conquered Yuezhou, which the Wu army had occupied for five years, and opened the door to counter-attacking rebels. Wan Zhengse made this great achievement, which attracted the attention of Kangxi to him. At that time, the Qing army was in Fujian with zheng jing's army from Taiwan, and zheng army relied on its superiority in the sea to occupy coastal states, counties, and islands, leaving the Qing army helpless. As a result, Kangxi promoted Wan Zhengse to the position of Admiral of the Fujian Marine Division and turned to fight in the direction of Fujian.
(Yuezhou Ancient City Wall)
It should be said that Wan Zhengse is not only an outstanding military general, but also has quite a political vision. As soon as he arrived in Fujian, he put forward the political proposition of "eliminating the miscellaneous factions and servants in the coastal border areas, so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment, and will not be poor and turn to thieves." At the same time, he also pointed out that most of the generals of the Zheng Army are Fujian people and have feelings for their hometown, so they should attach equal importance to Zheng Jun and pay special attention to appeasement. After the recruitment, it should be properly resettled so that they can return to their hometown to live. His claim was approved by Kangxi and issued for implementation. Sure enough, under the dual political and military offensive of Wan Zhengse, the number of Fujian people who were forced to defect to the Zheng army due to heavy taxes on errands was rapidly reduced, while the generals of the Zheng army surrendered to the Qing army one after another, and the military power ratio along the Fujian coast underwent a major change.
(Schematic map of the area occupied by Zheng Jing's army)
In the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1680), Wan Zhengse led the Fujian Water Division and began to attack Haitan, the main stronghold of the Zheng army along the Fujian coast. In the Battle of Haitan, Wan Zhengse divided the forward fleet into six teams, commanded the main fleet to support in the rear, and at the same time sent fast warships around the side of the Zheng army's fleet to carry out encirclement. After a fierce battle, the Zheng Army's marine division was defeated, more than 3,000 people died, and the sea altar was conquered. It is worth mentioning that three years later, when Shi Lang led his army to the decisive battle in Penghu, he adopted exactly similar tactics to the Battle of Wanzhengse Haitan. After the Battle of Haitan, the Qing army took advantage of the victory to pursue, and successively conquered Xiamen and Kinmen, and Zheng Jing was defeated and had to flee back to Taiwan. At this point, the Zheng army along the Fujian coast was completely eliminated.
(Restoration of Haitan Ancient City - Wanghai Tower)
Wan Zhengse once again made great contributions, and was awarded the honorary title of Knight Lieutenant by Kangxi. But just as his life was gradually reaching its peak, a major turning point took place. Originally, after the fujian coast was completely purged, Kangxi believed that the Zheng regime in Taiwan had been seriously injured and should take this opportunity to march into Taiwan and eliminate the Zheng regime in one fell swoop. And this task naturally fell to Wan Zhengse, the admiral of the Fujian Water Division. However, what Kangxi did not expect was that Wan Zhengse, who had repeatedly made military achievements and was both wise and courageous, actually sang the opposite tune with the emperor this time. Wan Zhengse wrote to the book that although the Taiwan side has suffered repeated heavy losses, the strength of the marine division should not be underestimated. With the existing strength of the Fujian Marine Division, there is no chance of victory in rushing to conquer Taiwan. Moreover, the San Francisco Rebellion has not yet been completely settled, the world has been through war for a long time, and the people are eager for peace. In the end, he came to a categorical conclusion - "Taiwan is absolutely undesirable!" ”
(Map of the naval battle between the Qing army and the Zheng army drawn by the Qing people)
At that time, Wan Zhengse was not the only senior official who opposed the conquest of Taiwan; among the local officials in Fujian, there were many people who feared the Zheng Army's water division and vigorously opposed the conquest of Taiwan, but Wan Zhengse, as the supreme commander of the Fujian water division, who was the first line of the conquest of Taiwan, could not help but disappoint Kangxi with such a statement. After much thought, Kangxi decided decisively to change the coach. In June of the twentieth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1681), Wan Zhengse was transferred to the Land Governor of Fujian, and Shi Lang, who had been idle at home for many years, was appointed as the new Admiral of the Fujian Water Division. Two years later, Shi Lang commanded the Fujian Marine Division, eliminated the main force of the Zheng Army's Water Division in the Battle of Penghu, and finally completed the great cause of reunifying Taiwan, which was left in the annals of history. Wan Zhengse, on the other hand, had twists and turns in his future career, and was eventually dismissed from his post for being impeached for corruption and bribery, ending his life in the dark.
(Compared with Shi Lang, Wan Zhengse's name was eventually submerged in the long river of history)
Such a fate turn, this is probably the so-called "life is like a play"!
References: "Records of Jinghai", "Biography of Qing History", "Records of Qing Shengzu"
If you have any comments, welcome to leave a message below to discuss!