Preface
In the early days of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories, Wu Sangui's anti-Qing uprising once had the upper hand, plunging the Qing Dynasty into an unprecedented crisis. However, in the end, the uprising ended in failure, and Wu Sangui's ambitions were eventually thwarted.
What kind of historical stories and political mysteries are hidden behind this failure? What factors led to the failure of Wu Sangui's uprising? Today, we will explore this period of history and see how the choices of one person affected the fate of the Qing Dynasty.
First, the wind and clouds will meet
It had only been 30 years since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and before the foundation of its rule was solid, it encountered a turbulent "Rebellion of the Three Feudatories". Among them, the most tricky is the rebellion of Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi.
Wu Sangui, a Han man from a humble background, has reached the pinnacle of life step by step with his extraordinary military talent. He participated in the war at the end of the Ming Dynasty when he was young and witnessed the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Later, he chose to return to the Qing Dynasty and was named the "King of Pingxi" to guard the Yunnan side.
At first, Wu Sangui did not have the intention of opposing the Qing Dynasty. However, in the twelfth year of Kangxi, an edict of "withdrawing the feudal domain" completely changed his fate. This edict was undoubtedly a hammer.
As the king of Pingxi, Wu Sangui had considerable real power on the Yunnan side, and his power could even rival that of the central government. However, Kangxi is clearly unwilling to let this situation continue. He wanted to reclaim the power of these vassal kings and re-establish centralized rule. For Wu Sangui, this is a huge blow. Although he submitted to the Qing Dynasty on the surface, deep down, he was always wary of this new dynasty.
So, in this context, Wu Sangui finally chose to rebel. Although he is over the age of six, he still has an elite army. This army is exactly what he has accumulated through years of hard work in Yunnan.
Wu Sangui's rebellion also brought great turmoil to the Qing Dynasty, which had just stabilized. As a vassal king, his strength should not be underestimated. Coupled with his military attainments, once he really launches a full-scale counteroffensive, I am afraid it will bring a lot of trouble to the Qing army.
This "rebellion of the three feudatories" was undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges faced by the Qing Dynasty in the early days of its establishment. As one of the most important members, Wu Sangui's rebellion gave Kangxi a headache. How will this King of Pingxi deal with the next changes?
Second, the good words of the ministers
Under the command of Wu Sangui, there was a strategist Liu Xuanchu who was born in the Great Western Army. When Wu Sangui raised an army against the Qing Dynasty, Liu Xuanchu immediately made a bold suggestion to him: "If King Wu does not advance north as soon as possible and go straight to the core ruling area of the Qing Dynasty, he will face the inevitable end of defeat." "
Liu Xuanchu's point of view is clear: if you want to defeat the Qing army, the key is speed. As a relatively weak army, Wu Sangui must seize the opportunity, take advantage of the victory to pursue, and go straight to Beijing in order to achieve the final victory.
"The weak take advantage of the Jie, you have to hurry up and go straight to the Yellow Dragon and drink it bitterly!" Liu Xuanchu's tone was firm, he knew that this was Wu Sangui's only way out.
Regrettably, however, Wu Sangui did not take this suggestion. As a veteran who has passed the age of six, his determination to oppose the Qing Dynasty is no longer as firm as it was back then. He only wanted to "divide the river and rule" with the Qing court, and did not intend to completely overthrow this new dynasty.
It was also a serious strategic blunder. If Wu Sangui can follow Liu Xuanchu's advice and decisively march north, maybe he can really defeat the Qing army in one fell swoop and rebuild a new dynasty. However, his hesitation and withdrawal eventually became an important reason for his downfall.
Third, the opportunity is rare
In fact, Wu Sangui did have a chance to succeed in opposing the Qing Dynasty. At that time, although the Qing army had an advantage in numbers, its combat effectiveness was much worse than before. There are three main reasons for this:
First of all, the heroic generals of the first and second generations of the founding of the People's Republic of China died or were dismissed one after another. These people used to be the backbone of the Qing army, and their departure undoubtedly greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the Qing army.
Secondly, in the process of fighting against the Southern Ming, the Qing army also lost a large number of elites. These elite sergeants were once the main force of the Qing army, and their sacrifice also greatly reduced the combat effectiveness of the Qing army.
In the end, after entering the customs, the Qing army lived a prosperous and comfortable life, and military discipline began to relax. This kind of corrosion made the combat effectiveness of the Qing army much worse than before.
In contrast, the Guanning Army under Wu Sangui has been fighting abroad for a long time, and its combat effectiveness has remained at a relatively peak. If Wu Sangui can seize this opportunity and launch an offensive quickly, he may really be able to defeat the Qing army in one fell swoop and rebuild a new dynasty.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But unfortunately, Wu Sangui failed to grasp this opportunity, and ultimately missed the opportunity to succeed in the anti-Qing Dynasty.
Fourth, retreat
Wu Sangui's wandering by the Yangtze River was also a serious strategic mistake. As a relatively weak army, he should seize the opportunity of the decline in the strength of the Qing army, quickly launch an offensive, smash Beijing, and crush the Qing army in one fell swoop.
However, Wu Sangui chose to stagnate. He wandered along the Yangtze River for five whole years, neither attacking nor retreating. This undoubtedly gave the Qing army time to breathe and allow them to adjust and replenish their strength.
This hesitation also made some of the Green Battalion generals who were originally on the sidelines lose confidence. They were still waiting to see if Wu Sangui could really win. However, when they saw that Wu Sangui was undetermined, they gave up the idea of defecting and turned to serve the Qing court.
In this way, Wu Sangui missed the time, place, and people. Some of the advantages he originally possessed were gradually controlled by the Qing army. In the end, the once unrivaled King of Pingxi could not escape the fate of destruction.
This is a very unfortunate result. If Wu Sangui could follow the advice of his advisers and decisively march north, he might really be able to defeat the Qing army in one fell swoop and rebuild a new dynasty. However, his hesitation and withdrawal eventually became an important reason for his downfall.
Fifth, self-abandonment
By 1678, Wu Sangui was in a desperate situation. The siege of the Qing army became tighter and tighter, and his army was losing ground one after another. In this case, he finally chose an extreme approach - to "claim the emperor and build the country" in Hengzhou, Hunan.
It was a final struggle on the brink of desperation. As a vassal king, Wu Sangui was not qualified to be the emperor in the first place. However, in this desperate situation, he doesn't seem to care so much. He just wants to live the addiction of being an emperor at the last moment and leave a little bit of his own legend.
However, this approach is clearly futile. The siege of the Qing army continued, and Wu Sangui's army was defeated one after another. In the end, in the "embattled" environment, the once unrivaled King of Pingxi also died.
Three and a half years later, the Qing army finally entered Kunming, and Wu Shifan also chose to commit suicide in a desperate situation. At this point, Wu Sangui's "Wuzhou regime" was completely destroyed, and the "rebellion of the three feudatories" also came to an end.
It was a very tragic end. As a military wizard who was once in the limelight, Wu Sangui finally ended his life in this way. His failure also makes people feel that the opportunity to change the course of history was finally buried by his own hesitation and withdrawal.
epilogue
Wu Sangui's life is actually a process of "adaptation". He never had the ambition to dominate the world, but he made various choices in order to adapt to the environment.
In the end, a seemingly trivial decision-making mistake led to his downfall and changed the fate of the Qing Dynasty. The enlightenment of this history to us is that we must have foresight and wisdom and grasp every critical moment in order to achieve great things.
Wu Sangui's failure was precisely because he lacked this vision and determination. He just blindly "adapted" without really pursuing his ideals and goals.