History is always mysterious and full of unsolved mysteries. Recently, by chance, Japanese scholars found an original anti-Qing text written by Wu Sangui himself, which may be able to unravel the real reason for Wu Sangui's surrender to the Qing Dynasty. Is it any wonder that the Qing court tried so hard to smear him, because it turned out that his motive was not blindly for selfish interests, but out of great righteousness? What kind of secrets did Wu Sangui, a controversial figure in the long course of history, hide? Let us find out.
Wu Sangui's family history and early life
When it comes to Wu Sangui, the first thing that may come to everyone's mind is the scene where he led the Qing Dynasty into the customs and became the founding hero of the Qing Dynasty. But before that, Wu Sangui was actually a loyal and warlike Ming Dynasty general.
Wu Sangui was born in a scholarly family, and his family has been engaged in agriculture and business for generations, and his family is well-off. He excelled in character and learning since childhood, especially good at riding and archery, and later entered the military camp to show his skills, and soon became famous. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the government became increasingly corrupt, and the frontier was repeatedly invaded by foreign tribes, and the situation was chaotic. Although Wu Sangui has martial arts, he also knows that it is difficult to reverse the overall situation with his own strength, so he has to endure it for the time being.
It was not until the Wanli period that the imperial court attached importance to border defense and ordered the recruitment of military generals to guard the frontier. Wu Sangui was able to display his talents, and was soon entrusted with important tasks to guard Ningyuan, Yunnan and other places. His soldiers and horses are strict and his style is rigorous, and he is deeply loved by the people. Once, he personally led his army to exterminate a group of bandits who harassed the border people, and won numerous praises.
During the Chongzhen period, Li Zicheng's peasant uprising intensified, and the government and the opposition were shocked. Wu Sangui was ordered to suppress it, but he was defeated repeatedly. He knew very well that this was due to the decay of the imperial court and the gradual loss of military morale. In order to revive the morale of the army, he was strict with his soldiers, and at the same time, he also led by example and won the support of his subordinates. On one occasion, he personally cooked for tens of thousands of people in the camp, which was unprecedented at the time.
Although Wu Sangui is strong in martial arts, he is also self-aware. He knew that it was difficult to turn the overall situation around by his own strength, so he had to endure for the time being and wait for the opportunity. is the so-called helpless time to show the true character of a hero, Wu Sangui's opportunity soon came.
Difficult choices in the turbulent times of the late Ming Dynasty
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army captured Beijing, and the Ming Dynasty fell. Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in the coal mountain, ending the Ming Dynasty for more than 270 years. This year, Wu Sangui was leading a large army to garrison Ningyuan City in Yunnan.
As an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Sangui was deeply saddened by the fall of the imperial court. He wanted to lead the army north to rescue the driver, but because the road was far away and the military horses were thin, he couldn't do it. Seeing the decline of the Daming River, he fell into an unprecedented predicament and entanglement.
At this time, Li Zicheng's army had captured Beijing and established himself as king. Wu Sangui once considered whether to be loyal to Li Zicheng, but finally gave up because of Li Zicheng's tyranny and unreasonableness. In contrast, Dolgon, who was far away in Inner Mongolia, seemed to be more kingly.
In 1644, an incident completely changed Wu Sangui's mind. His favorite concubine, Chen Yuanyuan, was taken captive during an encounter with bandits, and her whereabouts are unknown. Wu Sangui was heartbroken and almost went crazy. In order to find the whereabouts of his concubine, he had to show favor to Li Zicheng, but secretly colluded with Dolgon.
Dolgon saw Wu Sangui's intentions and decided to send troops to help. In 1645, Dolgon led an elite cavalry to attack Li Zicheng's base camp and help Wu Sangui. This sudden attack caused Li Zicheng's army to retreat one after another.
With the help of Dolgon, Wu Sangui quickly conquered a piece of stone. He searched the entire camp and finally found the imprisoned Chen Yuanyuan in a corner. At the moment of reunion, Wu Sangui cried with joy and vowed to avenge this great revenge for his beloved.
At this time, Dolgon revealed an important news to Wu Sangui: he had been canonized as the "Prince of Duoduo" by Huang Taiji, and had been entrusted with the important task of recruiting Li Zicheng. Dolgon hoped that Wu Sangui could serve him and jointly sweep away the remnants of Li Zicheng's forces.
In the face of Dolgon's sincere invitation, Wu Sangui thought carefully and again. Although he was an important minister of the Ming Dynasty, the court no longer existed. Rather than be loyal to Li Zicheng, a tyrannical peasant warlord, it is better to follow Dolgon and lay the foundation for the future reunification of the world.
In this way, Wu Sangui finally chose to defect to Dolgon's Qing army. Since then, his fate has been closely linked to that of the Qing Dynasty.
The truth of the introduction is clear
After Wu Sangui defected to the Qing army, he soon showed his outstanding military talent. With Dorgon's support, he led his army northward, conquering important towns along the way, and finally conquering the city of Beijing in 1645.
After the Qing army entered the customs, Dolgon was canonized as "Prince Duoduo", and Wu Sangui was given the title of "King of Pingxi", which shows that he made great contributions in this battle. As the founder of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Sangui was awarded a vast territory and generous wealth, and his power was unprecedented.
However, at the height of Wu Sangui's power, a Japanese scholar accidentally discovered an essay written by him. This article reveals the real reason why Wu Sangui led the Qing Dynasty into the customs, which is shocking.
It turned out that the reason why Wu Sangui defected to the Qing army was not blindly pursuing personal interests, but out of righteousness. In the article, he wrote that he had to make this difficult choice in order to "save the people from fire and water and protect the country's social welfare".
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was decaying, the government was in turmoil, and the life of the Li people fell into unprecedented misery. Wu Sangui saw it in his eyes and felt pain in his heart, and he hoped that he could end the war as soon as possible, reunify the world, and seek a home for the people to live and work in peace and contentment.
At that time, the Qing army was strong, and it had captured Beijing and commanded the world. In contrast, although Li Zicheng's peasant army once exalted its might, it was ultimately scattered, and it was difficult to unify the whole country. Therefore, Wu Sangui chose to take refuge in the Qing army, in order to use the strength of the Qing army to pacify the world as soon as possible.
In the text, Wu Sangui also deliberately emphasized that after he surrendered to the Qing army, he repeatedly urged Dolgon to "treat the people with kindness and forgiveness of the guilty", hoping to minimize the harm caused by the war to civilians. It can be seen that he does have the great righteousness of saving the world and saving the people.
With this document, it is not difficult to understand why the Qing court worked so hard to discredit Wu Sangui back then. As the founder of the country, Wu Sangui's status and influence are too great, and if his true motives are exposed, it will inevitably affect the dominance of the Qing court. Therefore, the Qing court had to make a big deal about Wu Sangui as a mercenary villain in order to discredit his image.
The outbreak and end of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories
Wu Sangui has outstanding achievements and transcendent status, and can be said to be the best among the founding fathers of the Qing Dynasty. However, just when he was at the height of his power, a rebellion broke out that shocked the world.
The reason is that during the Kangxi period, the Qing court decided to reduce Wu Sangui's power in order to strengthen the centralization of power. First of all, Kangxi decreed the revocation of Wu Sangui's military and judicial powers, leaving him with only some idle duties. For Wu Sangui, who has been at the top of power for a long time, this is undoubtedly a heavy blow.
Not only that, Kangxi also ordered someone to secretly investigate Wu Sangui's military expenditure, and found that he had embezzled military salaries for a long time, so he decided to drastically reduce his military spending. Wu Sangui was extremely dissatisfied with this, believing that he was the founder of the country and deserved to be treated favorably, rather than being humiliated like this.
As a result, Wu Sangui began to put pressure on the Kangxi government to increase military spending. However, Kangxi ignored this at all. On the contrary, he also ordered the revocation of Wu Sangui's title and territory, which was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation to Wu Sangui.
In the face of the unreasonable suppression of the Qing court, Wu Sangui finally couldn't bear it anymore and decided to resist. In 1673, he proclaimed himself the "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses" and launched the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories that shocked the world.
At first, Wu Sangui's army occupied important strategic points, capturing the whole province of Guizhou and many towns in Guangdong and Guangxi. His men responded, and soon a formidable rebel force was formed.
However, just when Wu Sangui's rebellion was in full swing, an unexpected turn of events occurred. In 1676, Wu Sangui died of illness, and his ambitions were aborted. The rebellion of the three feudatories, which had lost its commander, was quickly suppressed by the Qing court, and Wu Sangui's subordinates surrendered one after another.
In this way, Wu Sangui's rebel movement ended in failure. However, he did plunge the Qing court into an unprecedented crisis. Had it not been for his unexpected death, the outcome of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories might have gone in a different direction.
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Although Wu Sangui failed in the end, he was indeed a remarkable figure. He is not only the founder of the country, but also a warrior who dares to pursue his ideals and fight to the end. It is his spirit of rebellion that will be remembered forever by future generations.