Since Qin Shi Huang unified China, the unification of the world has become the lifelong pursuit of the emperors of all dynasties, after the Han and Tang dynasties, the concept of great unification is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, after Kublai Khan established the Great Yuan, the end of the Song, Jin, Xia confrontation situation, multi-ethnic groups live in the land of China, blend and develop with each other, expand the territory of the Han and Tang dynasties, the concept of great unification has been unprecedentedly strengthened, since then, any obstruction of national unification, splitting the national territory will be spurned by history.
Taiwan has been inseparable from the mainland since ancient times, and since the Yuan Dynasty, Taiwan has been directly under the jurisdiction of the central government. During the Ming Dynasty, a large number of immigrants from Fujian crossed the Taiwan Strait and entered the island of Taiwan to reclaim and live. In 1624, the Dutch East India Company troops landed in Dacheng and began to occupy Taiwan. Until 1661, Zheng Chenggong, the king of Yanping in the Southern Ming Dynasty, personally led 25,000 soldiers, divided into 100 warships, set off from Kinmen, braved the wind and waves, crossed the Taiwan Strait, lasted more than 8 months, expelled the Dutch colonists, recovered the Chinese territory Taiwan that had fallen for 38 years from the Dutch invaders, ended the operation of the Dutch East India Company in Taiwan, China, opened the rule of the Ming and Zheng regimes over Taiwan, and made great contributions to China's territorial integrity, Zheng Chenggong's feat has also become famous through the ages.
In 1662, Zheng Chenggong died, and in the same year, the eight-year-old Aixin Jueluo Xuanye ascended the throne in Beijing.
However, at this time, the opinions of the monarchs and ministers within the Qing court were different, and some ministers believed that Taiwan was isolated overseas and insignificant, and opposed taking risks in war. However, Emperor Kangxi did not think so, he believed that Taiwan's natural conditions were superior, and more importantly, Taiwan's close proximity to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong provinces, whether it could be reunified or not had a bearing on the security of the entire southeast region, and the southeast was an important place for financial endowments, and more importantly, Taiwan's Ming and Zheng regimes regarded themselves as orthodox in the Ming Dynasty and were the largest anti-Qing base in the country at that time, so they must not be abandoned. Although some ministers disagreed, they also believed that force should not be used, and that it was sufficient to make Taiwan submit in the name of appeasement and appeasement.
But at that time, for the Qing Dynasty monarchs and ministers, the biggest enemy was the three feudatories headed by Wu Sangui in the south.
In 1676, taking advantage of the rebellion of the three feudatories, the Zheng family in Taiwan also took advantage of the fire to rob and occupy Geng Jingzhong's Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, which made Geng Jingzhong suffer from the enemy, hastily withdrew his troops, and asked the Qing court to surrender, but helped the Qing army to quell the rebellion of the three feudatories from the side.
In the twentieth year of Kangxi (1681), Zheng Jing died of a stroke, Zheng coup d'état occurred in Taiwan, Feng Xifan launched a coup d'état, deposed Zheng Kezang, the prison state, and hanged him, and set up Zheng Jing's second son with the order of Concubine Dong, Zheng Kexuan, who was only 12 years old, succeeded to the king of Yanping, and the power was actually in the hands of Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan. Zheng Kezang's father-in-law, Chen Yonghua, the chief helmsman of the Heaven and Earth Society, was also deceived by Feng Xifan, resigned from the general system and Yongwei, and retired to Longhuyan and died of illness. A large number of Taiwan officers and soldiers crossed the sea to surrender to the Qing court, and Fu Weilin, who was in charge of negotiating peace with the Qing Dynasty, was even willing to act as an internal response.
The scholar Li Guangdi suggested taking advantage of this good opportunity to solve the Taiwan issue, but Kangxi thought so deeply that he decided to take advantage of the aftermath of the victory over the three feudatories to reunify Taiwan in one fell swoop, and sent an order to the ministers of civil and military affairs to work together. On the grounds that "all Fujian people in the Taiwan region are not allowed to compare with Ryukyu and Goryeo," he rejected his request to pay tribute to foreign countries such as Ryukyu and Goryeo. At this point, Emperor Kangxi completely abandoned the policy of appeasement, and from the perspective of great unification and long-term stability, Kangxi decided to unify Taiwan by force.
Kangxi reactivated Shi Lang, a Taiwanese general who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty during the Shunzhi period, and appointed Yao Qisheng as the governor. Yao Qisheng formulated a strategy to pacify Taiwan, and wrote to the imperial court, he believed that in the face of the issue of Taiwan's reunification, we should start with the economy, and Zheng's economic source mainly relied on two lines, one was to trade with the coast, and the other was to trade with Japan.
Kangxi personally formulated the policy of impoverishing Taiwan and impoverishing Taiwan, relocating people along the coast, imposing a sea ban, and no one was allowed to do any business with the Zheng family. He also organized a foreign trade team to force Japan to set up a trade point with China in Nagasaki by force to cut off Zheng's trade with Japan.
Moreover, the Qing army maintained a high frequency and low heat of military friction for a long time, which made Taiwan's officers and soldiers tired, and Yao Qisheng also set up a Xiulai Pavilion, which was specially used to recruit Taiwan's senior generals.
But at this time, Shi Lang and Yao Qisheng had another dispute over the issue of Taiwan, according to Emperor Kangxi's plan, Yao Qisheng, Shi Lang, and Wu Xingzuo should discuss the battle together, but Shi Lang planned to exclude Yao Qisheng and others in moderation, so that he could attack Taiwan with full power, but Emperor Kangxi only agreed that Wu Xingzuo was responsible for logistics, and still ordered Yao Qisheng and Shi Lang to send troops together.
Later, Yao Qisheng and Shi Lang had a dispute over the timing of the troops, Yao Qisheng advocated using the north wind in winter, and Shi Lang advocated using the south wind in summer, which caused the Qing army to be unable to send troops smoothly. In the end, Emperor Kangxi ruled that Shi Lang was responsible for front-line operations, and Yao Qisheng was reassigned to logistics affairs, so that Shi Lang could obtain the right to command as he wished.
In the twenty-second year of Kangxi (1983), Shi Lang led 30,000 sailors and more than 300 warships, and attacked directly to Penghu, guarding Penghu is the general Liu Guoxuan, who is brave and good at fighting, belongs to the first-class famous generals in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and killed many leaders of the Eight Banners Army in the Battle of Haicheng.
Therefore, the battle was very fierce, the two armies fought for seven days and nights, even Shi Lang's right eye was injured, after a short rest, the Qing army launched a general attack, the initial stage of the general offensive was affected by the typhoon, the northwest wind blew on the sea, the Zheng army attacked along the wind, and was in an advantage for a while. By noon, the south wind began to blow over the sea, and the direction of the wind changed to favor the Qing army. Shi Lang ordered the whole army to counterattack, fire all kinds of firearms along the wind, and besiege the Zheng army with several ships, and the Zheng army completely collapsed. A total of 12,000 Zheng soldiers were killed and wounded, and more than 5,000 were captured. More than 190 warships were destroyed and captured. Seeing that the general trend had turned, Liu Guoxuan led the remnants of the army to retreat to Taiwan, and the Zheng army on all the islands of Penghu surrendered to Shi Lang.
After the Battle of Penghu, considering that Taiwan's waterways were very treacherous and it was difficult to advance, it was decided to postpone the offensive and adopt offensive tactics to let the Zheng regime collapse from within. Shi Lang banned killings in Penghu, posted a list to reassure the people, and issued a "Confession to Appease Losers". Send people to treat wounded prisoners of war, distribute them clothes and food, and then send the soldiers back to Taiwan. He You, who was defending Tamsui, first fornicated with Shi Lang, and other generals also followed.
The news of the defeat of the Zheng army reached Taiwan, and the people's hearts began to be uneasy, and there was a fierce debate in Taiwan about whether to surrender or defend, and Huang Liangji, the town of Jianwei, came out with a map of Luzon, saying that since Penghu was lost, it was better to take Luzon as a base, and proposed to capture this place and continue to confront the Qing court, Feng Xifan was very much in favor of this suggestion, but in the face of the Philippines where more than 10,000 Spanish musketeers were stationed, Taiwan's plan to expedition to Manila was like a fool's dream.
Moreover, at this time, Yao Qisheng strengthened the psychological warfare offensive and decided to surrender Liu Guoxuan, and Shi Lang also sent Zeng Fei, the general of the Zheng family, to surrender and promise Liu Guoxuan the position of general soldier. Under the strong military pressure of the Qing court, there were many generals on the island of Taiwan who secretly communicated with the Qing court, and when they saw Liu Guoxuan surrendering, they also echoed his intentions, and Zheng Keshuang was too young to take charge, so Taiwan decided to surrender.
In July 1683, Shi Lang's warships landed on the island of Taiwan, and Zheng surrendered to Shi Lang on July 15 (September 5), and shaved his hair on August 18 (October 8).
Zheng Keshuang surrendered, and his grandfather Zheng Chenggong sighed after hearing the news of Shi Lang's surrender to the Qing Dynasty, "The trouble of the Chu State is in Wu Zixu's absence", that is, after Shi Lang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, he will definitely treat the King of Chu like Wu Zixu in the future, so that the Zheng family's blood debts will be repaid. But unexpectedly, after Shi Lang landed on the island, not only did he not kill the Zheng family, but also went to the Zheng Chenggong Temple to worship in person.
And the Kangxi Emperor treated the Zheng family well, after the Zheng group surrendered, all joined the Eight Banners, the Zheng family joined the Yellow Banner Han Army, and was assigned to three hereditary assistant officials, and Feng Xifan, Liu Guoxuan, and Chen Yonghua's son Chen Mengqiu joined the Zhengbai Banner Han Army, respectively, there was a hereditary official position, Zheng's elite troops were defeated by Tsarist Russia in the Battle of Yaksa, and made great contributions, it can be said that in the formation of China's existing territory, the rattan soldiers also made great contributions.
After the capture of Taiwan, the court on Taiwan is to abandon or stay, and there is a dispute, a considerable number of princes and ministers believe that Taiwan is isolated overseas, only because the Zheng family occupies this place, against the imperial court, so they have to send troops to attack, now the threat of the Zheng family has been lifted, should be relocated, abandon its land, to avoid labor and loss of money, only need to build fortifications on the Penghu Islands, in case of accidents.
At this time, fortunately, Shi Lang and Yao Qisheng and others came forward and resolutely opposed giving up, and Shi Lang explained to Kangxi with his personal experience that Taiwan is rich in products, and a large number of mainland immigrants have settled here, and Taiwan's strategic position is very important, close to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong provinces, once it is stolen by the people, the consequences are unimaginable.
Emperor Kangxi ordered the establishment of the Taiwan Prefecture here, which was subordinate to Fujian Province, and the Taiwan Government governed Taiwan, Fengshan, and Zhuluo counties, which were under the jurisdiction of Fujian, and set up a general military officer of Taiwan, and sent 8,000 soldiers to guard Taiwan, and encouraged local residents to reclaim wasteland, so that Taiwan was greatly developed.
The Qing Dynasty did not use too many troops to unify Taiwan, but it was of great historical significance, not only safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country, but also eliminating the Ming and Zheng regimes, which regarded themselves as orthodox in the Ming Dynasty, and enabling Taiwan to return to the multi-ethnic family of the motherland's reunification, which was also of great significance to Taiwan's economic and cultural development. Later facts proved that the further revitalization of Taiwan's economy and culture was precisely after Taiwan was reunified under the jurisdiction of the central power of the Qing Dynasty.