Getting Rich from Legend of Zhen Huan

Defeating the Three Feudatories

Put down the Three Feudatories Rebellion

In March of the 1673th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (23), the request of Shang Kexi, the Prince of Pingnan, to return to Liaodong but to leave his son Shang Zhixin to continue to guard Guangdong was the trigger for a fierce debate on whether to withdraw the feudal lords. [24] In the end, Emperor Kangxi believed that “the feudal lords had long held heavy troops and had become too powerful, which was not in the interests of the country”, and decided to order the “withdrawal of the feudal lords”. In July, Wu Sangui pretended to ask for an imperial decree to withdraw the feudal lords, and Emperor Kangxi agreed. [25] In November of the same year, Wu Sangui proposed to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming in Yunnan, and killed Zhu Guozhi, the governor of Yunnan. [] In the following year, he sent a general to lead an army to attack Hunan, and captured Changde, Changsha, Yuezhou, Lizhou, Hengzhou and other places. He also sent people to spread the manifesto. Many local officials, such as Guangxi General Sun Yanling and Sichuan Governor Luo Sen, rebelled against the Qing. Then, Geng Jingzhong of Fujian also rebelled. In just a few months, six provinces, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi, Fujian and Sichuan, were lost, and the country was in danger for a while. Subsequently, Shaanxi Governor Wang Fuchen and Guangdong Governor Shang Zhixin also rebelled one after another, and the rebellion expanded to Guangdong, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces.

Emperor Kangxi's countermeasure was to resolutely strike Wu Sangui and never give him a chance to compromise and negotiate peace. On the other hand, he opened the door to appeasement for other rebels in order to divide the enemy forces, weaken Wu Sangui's wings, and thus isolate him. [26] Under this policy, Emperor Kangxi made Hunan the focus of his military attack. He ordered Le Erjin and others to lead the army to Jingzhou and Wuchang to confront Wu Sangui head-on and attack Hunan. He also ordered Prince An Yuele to go from Jiangxi to Changsha to attack Hunan from both sides. In addition, Emperor Kangxi made full use of Han generals and soldiers in the battle. [27] In the 1676th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (28), Wang Fuchen of Shaanxi and Geng Jingzhong of Fujian surrendered successively under the attack of the Qing army. [29-1677] Shang Zhixin of Guangdong also surrendered in the 30th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (). [] Shaanxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi were all pacified one after another. Wu Sangui was confined to a corner of Hunan, and his foreign aid was reduced day by day. The Qing army had already surrounded Changsha from Jiangxi, and its defeat was inevitable.

In March of the 1678th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1681), Wu Sangui proclaimed himself emperor in Hengzhou, named his country Zhou, and bestowed titles on his generals. Soon after, he became ill from worry and anger, and died in August. After Wu Sangui's death, his generals welcomed his grandson Wu Shifan to succeed him, and he retired to Yunnan and Guizhou. After that, the Qing army successively recovered Hunan, Guangxi, and Sichuan. In the winter of the 31th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (), the Qing army captured Kunming, Wu Shifan committed suicide, and the Three Feudatories were pacified. []

Unify Taiwan

After suppressing the Three Feudatories Rebellion, the inclusion of Taiwan in the territory was put on the agenda again. As early as when Wu Sangui launched the rebellion, Zheng Jing sent people to contact Geng Jingzhong and dispatched troops to land on the coast of Fujian to capture cities. However, Geng Jingzhong soon "rebelled", and Zheng Jing was isolated and helpless, and also failed and retreated to Taiwan. In the 1680th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (156), after Kinmen and Xiamen, which the Zheng regime had defended, were recaptured by the Qing army, it was no longer able to counterattack. Zheng Jing returned to Taiwan, ignored government affairs, indulged in wine and women, and "enjoyed playing around". His father-in-law Feng Xifan took the opportunity to steal power and dominate everything. This foreshadowed the decline of the Zheng regime. [1681] In the 32th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (), Zheng Jing died, and a coup d'état occurred in Taiwan. The -year-old Zheng Keshuang succeeded to the throne of the King of Yanping, and the power was actually held by Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan. The centripetal force of Zheng officials began to waver, and Fu Weilin, who was responsible for negotiating peace with the Qing Dynasty, was even willing to be an insider. [] Fujian Governor Yao Qisheng believed that it was a good time to attack Taiwan and recommended Shi Lang to Emperor Kangxi.

However, the court had different opinions on conquering Taiwan and destroying Zheng. Some of the ministers opposed to using the army to conquer Taiwan, thinking that the rebellion of Wu Sangui had just been quelled and the country was just beginning to settle, so it was not appropriate to start a war again; some provincial governors in Fujian were particularly opposed to unifying Taiwan by force, and the admiral of the navy, Wan Zhengse, was particularly opposed. He said flatly: "Taiwan must not be taken!" There were also some who believed that "the ocean is dangerous and far away, the wind and waves are unpredictable, and it is difficult to win by marching far away." Some even doubted Shi Lang's loyalty and concluded that if he conquered Taiwan, he would "definitely rebel." With Li Guangdi, the cabinet minister, Yao Qisheng, the governor of Fujian, and Wu Xingzuo, the governor, as the main war representatives, they strongly advocated taking the opportunity to conquer Taiwan and eliminate future troubles. They tried their best to ensure that Shi Lang could take on the important task, because he had a feud with the Zheng family and his heart could be trusted; he was familiar with the situation at sea, had strategies, and was powerful at sea. Emperor Kangxi listened to opinions from all sides and finally decided to issue an order to march to Taiwan, formally appointing and using Shi Lang as the admiral of the Fujian navy, and entrusting him with full power to lead the army to conquer Taiwan. [156]

In the 1683nd year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (1684), Emperor Kangxi appointed Shi Lang as the admiral of the Fujian Navy and sent troops to attack Taiwan. He defeated the Zheng navy led by Liu Guoxuan in Penghu, and the Ming Dynasty Zheng surrendered. In the 33rd year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (), the Qing government established one prefecture (Taiwan Prefecture) and three counties in Taiwan, namely Taiwan County (now Tainan), Fengshan County (now Kaohsiung), and Zhuluo County (now Chiayi), which were affiliated to Fujian Province. In Taiwan, one patrol officer, one general officer, two deputy generals, and soldiers were appointed. One deputy general and soldiers were appointed in Penghu. This strengthened the central government’s jurisdiction over Taiwan and promoted the economic and cultural development of Taiwan. []

Expel Tsarist Russia

After the Qing army entered the pass, the Russian expeditionary army invaded the Heilongjiang River basin of China many times, burning, killing, looting, and encroaching on Chinese territory everywhere. In September of the 1683nd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1685), the Qing court ordered the Russian invasion troops entrenched in Yaksa and other places to withdraw from Qing territory. The Russian army ignored the order and instead led its troops to Aihui (now Aihui County, Heilongjiang) to plunder. The Qing general Sabusu defeated them and burned down all the strongholds built by the Russian army in the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River, leaving Yaksa an isolated city. However, the Russian army resisted stubbornly. On the 145rd day of the first lunar month in the th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (), in order to completely eliminate the Russian invasion, Emperor Kangxi ordered the commander-in-chief Peng Chun to go to Aihui. After a few days, he conquered Yaksa City and returned immediately, leaving some troops to garrison Aihui and sending other troops to Aihui and Moergen (now Nenjiang River, Heilongjiang) to cultivate land and strengthen the defense of the Heilongjiang area. []

The Battle of Yaksa Defended by Chinese Soldiers and Civilians

In the autumn of the 1685th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1686), the Russian Empire returned and occupied Yaksa again. The Russian army's treacherous behavior caused great indignation to the Qing government. At the beginning of the next year, Emperor Kangxi received a report and ordered a counterattack. On July 2000, the 826th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (66), more than Qing troops arrived at Yaksa, besieged the city, and ordered the Russian invaders to surrender. Russian general Alexei Tolbuzin ignored them. In August, the Qing army began to attack the city. Tolbuzin was killed by the Qing army. The Russian army was replaced by Bei Dun and continued to resist. On August , the Qing army considered that the Russian invaders would have to wait for reinforcements to defend Yaksa, and considering that the ice would freeze in midwinter, it would be inconvenient for ships to move and horses to fodder, so they dug trenches on the south, north, and east sides of Yaksa to besiege it, and sent warships to patrol the river west of the city to cut off the enemy's external aid. The invading army was besieged, and many died in battle or from illness. Of the Russian soldiers, only remained. The city of Yaksa was about to fall, and the Russian regent Sophia hurriedly asked the Qing court to withdraw the siege and sent envoys to negotiate the border. The Qing court agreed to the request and allowed the remnants of the Russian army to withdraw to Nerchinsk (now Nerchinsk, Russia).

After the Battle of Yalu River, the two sides signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk on July 1689, , the th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi, which stipulated that the Argun River-Gerbitz River-Outer Khingan Range would be the eastern section of the border between China and Russia, and that the areas north of the Heilongjiang River, south of the Outer Khingan Range and east of the Ussuri River would all be Chinese territory.