For a long time, people have a high evaluation of the Kangxi Emperor, especially under the influence of film and television dramas, and even some people say that he is "an emperor through the ages". Undoubtedly, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, he used troops many times and made significant contributions to the consolidation of a unified multi-ethnic state. However, the Kangxi Emperor also had some less glamorous things.
For example, during the San Francisco Rebellion, the Kangxi Emperor repeatedly issued edicts declaring that as long as the rebel generals laid down their weapons and submitted to the Qing Dynasty, he would give preferential treatment and would not blame the previous crimes. At that time, the Kangxi Emperor said, "I will never renege on my word", but when the rebellion was about to end, these rebel generals were taken out and convicted and executed!
As the saying goes, you have to make a promise. The Kangxi Emperor was the Heavenly Son of the Qing Dynasty, and every sentence represented "the credibility of the country", which is the so-called "jun no joke". The Kangxi Emperor would not have failed to understand this in the end, but why did he renege on his word and execute those who had already surrendered, or even contributed to the counter-rebellion of the Qing Dynasty?
It all started before the San Francisco Rebellion broke out. In the twelfth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, King Shang Kexi of Pingnan applied for "retirement". The Kangxi Emperor seized the opportunity and ordered the removal of Pingnan Domain. After Wu Sangui and Geng Jingzhong heard the news, they also pretended to write a letter and requested the withdrawal of the domain. Unexpectedly, the Kangxi Emperor agreed to the two men's decision to withdraw their domain.
Wu Sangui was ashamed and angry, so after some careful preparations, he raised an army in Yunnan to rebel. Wu Sangui's rebellion was beyond the kangxi emperor's expectations, and he believed that Wu Sangui did not dare to rebel, so he was not prepared militarily. Wu Sangui's army occupied Guizhou without bloodshed, and then entered Hunan, and the troops reached the south bank of the Yangtze River.
At the beginning of the war, the Qing army was defeated in successive battles, and with geng Jingzhong, Shang Zhixin, and Sun Yanling responding, for a time the southwestern half of the country fell into the hands of the rebels. In order to quell the rebellion, the Kangxi Emperor sent almost all the Eight Banners army to the south, and even sent some Mongol cavalry to assist in the battle.
However, at this time, the Eight Banners army had been abandoned, and both generals and soldiers passively avoided battle and were repeatedly defeated. The Kangxi Emperor, who was sitting in Beijing, was so anxious that he even wanted to march on the throne at one point. In order to deal with the rebels, the Kangxi Emperor came up with a strategy of combining suppression and appeasement, and recruited those rebel generals.
The Kangxi Emperor said, "Mistakenly obey the thief party, but can repent of the crime and return to sincerity, forgive the past, and not investigate and cure it again", "those who return to their own service, on merit and merit", "do not renege on their words". Especially after Wu Sangui's death, the Kangxi Emperor directly sent people to recruit senior rebel generals, such as Ma Bao and Xia Guoxiang, "If you can repent of your sins and return to sincerity, the previous sins will be forgiven, and you will still discuss the narrative of merit."
In this process, many rebels surrendered one after another, such as Shang Zhixin, Geng Jingzhong and others. In the end, Ma Bao also led the remnants to surrender, and even Wu Sangui's relatives Wu Yingqi and nine others also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. But what awaits them is death! After the end of the counterinsurgency war, Geng Jingzhong, Ma Bao, and others were executed by Ling Chi.
Shang Zhixin, Wu Yinglin and others were also executed. In addition, there were many former Generals under Wu Sangui who were all zhengfa, and most of them were executed by Ling Chi. At that time, the Kangxi Emperor's recruitment of rebel generals was only a temporary measure, or it could be said to be a lure, because the war situation at that time was unfavorable to the Qing Dynasty. When the rebellion is over, these rebels will still be dead. However, the Kangxi Emperor did this in a way that did not pay attention to credit and betrayed his faith.
References: 1. Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty; 2. "San Francisco Chronicle"