Editor's Guide:
In November of the twelfth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1673 AD), Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi who was stationed in Dianqian, officially announced the rebellion with a "qi-pumping" "Qingqing Text", and in the years that followed, the whole country was once again caught up in the call to "oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty". The following year, Geng Jingzhong, the king of Jingnan stationed in Fujian, and Shang Zhixin, the king of Pingnan, Guangdong, also raised troops one after another, and at this point, the "San Fan Rebellion" broke out in an all-round way. Sadly, the people of Li, who had just emerged from the war at the end of the Ming Dynasty, were once again ruthlessly involved in this "feast of interests" exclusively enjoyed by the upper ruling class without any psychological preparation.
Of course, it was not only the gentry and nobles who hoped to reap greater benefits from it that were excited about the outbreak of this war, but also the people who feared that the world would not be chaotic, but even Zheng Jing, who was far away from the overseas, was also excited. In April of the thirteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Zheng Jing, who had been fiercely fighting for several years, believed that the time had come for the "Western Expedition", so he personally led his army out of Taiwan and rushed to Xiamen, and spread it to various places, starting his years-long plan of "opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty". Regrettably, however, despite zhengbu's efforts during the "San Francisco Rebellion", zhengbu took over the prefectures of Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Tingzhou, Xinghua, and Shaowu, as well as some prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Chaozhou Prefecture and Huizhou and Guangzhou, but in just a few months it was retaken by the Eight Banners sent by the Qing court, and in the nineteenth year of Kangxi (1680 AD) declared the "Western Expedition" a failure. So, as the supreme decision-maker of the "Ming Zheng regime", is it appropriate for Zheng Jing to issue an order for the "Western Expedition" in the early days of the "San Francisco Rebellion"? And was the "San Francisco Rebellion" really an opportunity for Zheng Jing's "anti-Qing and restoration" plan? In this article, the author will start from these two topics and use the idea of "dualism" to make a detailed analysis of the real reasons for the failure of Zheng Jing's "Western Expedition" in that year.
Portrait of Zheng Jing
The research content of this article:
01, a long-planned "revenge" plan
Was Zheng Jing's involvement in the "San Francisco Rebellion" accidental or premeditated? According to relevant historical records, as early as before the outbreak of the "San Francisco Rebellion", Zheng Jing had secret contacts with Wu Sangui and Geng Jingzhong, such as the ninth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1670 AD) Zheng Jing sent an envoy to Wu Sangui Dao:
Jing'er did not get dry, that is, he heard the name; every time he read His Highness's family letter, loyalty and filial piety were fierce, and he did not hesitate to sigh, and then he wept! Now the people of the world look up to Only His Highness, who has not tried the military and political time, and knows that there are lonely ministers outside the heavens? Special Commissioner Wu Hongji is waiting for fukuza! Although the country is small, there are thousands of ships and 100,000 soldiers, but His Highness makes it. Yang Qian Deyin, no chief minister. —— Charlene: Minutes of minhai
From the above facts, it can be seen that although there have been contradictions between Zheng and Wu in their political stances (Wu rebellion and assassination), it is not difficult to taste the words and lines of this article to conclude that Zheng Jing himself complimented Wu Sangui in every way, the so-called "thousand ships in the building, 100,000 soldiers, but His Highness made it" Its intention is to encourage Wu Sangui to raise troops to rebel at an early date. In addition, historical records record that from the beginning of the initial stability of Zheng Jing's political position in Taiwan in the second year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1663 AD), he immediately began to develop production, military and foreign trade, and its ultimate purpose is largely to be used in the war against the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, in a sense, Zheng Jing's participation in the "San Francisco Rebellion" is actually not accidental, but a long-planned "revenge" plan!
02, Geng Jingzhong: a teammate like a "pig"
As mentioned earlier, there was also a fairly close connection between Geng Jingzhong, the king of Jingnan, and Zheng Jing for a period of time. According to historical records, on the eve of Geng Jingzhong's army (around March 15), Huang Yong was sent to Taiwan to request Zheng Bu to send troops to support him, and promised to meet Zheng Jing with the two provinces of Zhang and Quan, and asked Zheng Jing to meet together and achieve great causes. It is not difficult to launch from the time node, it is precisely after being strongly invited by Geng Jingzhong that Zheng Jingzhong officially decided to send troops to the "Western Expedition", so it can be said that Geng Jingzhong will play a vital role in the process of Zheng Jing's "Western Expedition".
However, Geng Jingzhong, who was untrustworthy and arrogant, became the first "inflection point" to disrupt Zheng Jing's "Western Expedition" plan. In April of the thirteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1674), when Zheng Jing's army was about to arrive in Xiamen, Geng Jingzhong received a report from Huang Yong saying: "The ships on the sea are less than 100, and the soldiers are less than 100. At this time, less than a month after Geng raised his army, the whole of Fujian had been taken into his arms, in addition to Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangxi and other places have also been annexed. Obviously, Geng Jingzhong, who was already dazed, had been overwhelmed by this huge victory in front of him, so that when Zheng Jing asked Geng Jingzhong to keep the promise he had originally made, he was scorned by Geng, the so-called "The world is very good, and each of them can fight on their own." To put it bluntly, it is to let Zheng Jing you "which cool where to stay, brother is not rare you now!" ”
There is no doubt that Geng Jingzhong's move means that the original cooperative relationship between Zheng and Geng has officially broken down, and in the process, Zheng Jing can be said to have been "pitted" by Geng Jingzhong, a teammate like a "pig". Of course, as the carefully selected heir of the "national hero" Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Jing certainly would not give up on this, so in early May, Geng Jingzhong resolutely sent troops to forcibly capture the three provinces of Zhang, Quan, and Chao without any ideological preparation, and the momentum was immediately greatly enhanced.
03. Descending Tingzhou: The Second "Inflection Point" of Zheng Jing's Failure of the "Western Expedition"
Zheng Jun's several great victories in the "backyard" of Gengbu in a short period of time made Geng Jingzhong have to find a way to negotiate peace with Zheng Jing again, but due to Geng's previous unfulfilled promises, he was repeatedly rejected by Zheng, and finally after the mediation of Wu Sangui, the "Big Brother of San Francisco", Zheng Jing finally accepted Geng Jingzhong's proposal and request, and Zheng Geng once again reached an alliance. From this point, it can be seen that Zheng Jing's determination to "reverse the Qing Dynasty and restore the light", after all, no one can predict what tricky things will happen in the future with the teammates like this "pig". On the other hand, this move can also indirectly confirm that Zheng Jing is indeed a "strong man" with a very big picture view, although some literary works have carried out many unfair "blackenings" of him. Because as far as the situation at that time was concerned, if you wanted to put the Qing army in a two-sided situation, it was necessary to let the Zheng army and the Geng army join forces, which was also the only strategic way to form a cooperation between the north and the south and severely defeat the Qing army.
After Zheng and Geng discussed and boycotted the troops, both sides relieved their worries about the future, thus attacking the Qing side more effectively. However, historical records record that when Zheng, Geng, and Shang met to advance into Jiangxi together, Zheng Jing received a secret letter from gengbu shou general who surrendered to Tingzhou, and after much consideration, Zheng Jing still accepted Tingzhou sent to him. What needs to be particularly explained here is why Zheng Jing risked breaking the alliance to be surrendered to Tingzhou? The answer can also be clearly seen from the geographical location, that is, according to the situation at that time, as long as Zheng Jing was in his hands, he could easily take the Shaowu territory into his arms, and once Shao Wu was in his hands, the entire territory of Fujian would basically become Zheng's territory. But at the same time, as long as Tingzhou is accepted, it means that the alliance between Zheng Geng and Zheng Geng will once again be placed in the abyss. It is undeniable that Zheng Jing's move, which he thinks is relatively conservative, is indeed in the wrong place.
In the fifteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1676 AD), shortly after the second rupture of Zheng Geng's alliance, geng forces were targeted by the Qing army (a large army led by Jie Shu the Prince of Kang), and eventually returned to the Qing court, and the letter of King Shangzhi of Pingnan followed closely behind him and also surrendered. At this point, the Zheng army in the coastal area became the last independent military organization to exist, and in this case, the Manchu rulers had minimized the difficulty of driving Zheng Jing out of the interior.
In the sixteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1677 AD), Zheng Jing lost Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Haicheng and other places in just a few months. In the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Zheng Jing led his troops to withdraw from the interior in an all-round way, and the "Western Expedition" was declared a failure. In March of the following year, Zheng Jing died of illness.
04. Summary of reasons
As mentioned earlier, the surrender of Tingzhou is the second "inflection point" that led to the failure of Zheng Jing's "Western Expedition" plan, so does this mean that if Zheng Jing refuses to be surrendered to Tingzhou, he can ensure the smooth success of the "Western Expedition"? The answer is definitely no. First of all, in addition to Geng Jingzhong, a teammate like a "pig", there are many factors that caused Zheng Jing's fiasco in this "Western Expedition". Among them, the difference in political stance between Zheng Jing and the "San Francisco" is one of the most fatal factors. To take the most obvious example, in Zheng Jing's "Western Expedition" it is mentioned that the restoration of the old dynasty is mentioned, and the real purpose of Wu Sangui's instigation of the "San Fan Rebellion" is nothing more than to protect his own vested interests, and it can be said that it has nothing to do with "anti-Qing and restoration", and the same is true of Geng and Shang. This is also the fundamental reason why Wu Sangui only mentioned the family vendetta when inviting Zheng Jing to raise troops together, but not the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. All in all, the "San Francisco Rebellion" was indeed a rare opportunity for Zheng Jing, who was about to "march west", but the difference in political stance with "San Francisco" was also the biggest potential risk that led to the failure of the "Western Expedition".
On the other hand, in the process of vigorously developing military construction, Zheng Jing to a large extent only paid one-sided attention to the increase in the number of soldiers, but neglected the construction of internal cohesion, so that when Yao Qichen, the governor of Fujian, prescribed more superior conditions (such as formulating the "Ten Strategies for Attracting And Appeasing" and setting up the "Xiulai Pavilion"), a large number of soldiers and people fled to the interior to take the initiative to surrender. It is undeniable that this is also another important factor that caused the failure of the "Western Expedition."
bibliography:
Huang Yuzhai: "Ming Yanping King III"
Zhang Xiaolin: "On Zheng Jing's Construction of Taiwan"
Chen Xin: "Zheng Jing Research" and so on