Chapter 101 Section 11 Compensation: King of Yunnan

French missionary Bai Jin said in his "The Biography of Emperor Kangxi": "In fact, the Tatars (Manchus) paid almost no price in the process of conquering the empire, but the Han people killed each other. The bravest, instead, fought for the Manchus against their own people." Wu Sangui is the "most outstanding" of these "bravest" Han Chinese.In fact, in the process of the Qing Dynasty's victory, Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, contributed the most and contributed the most among all the generals.Once he gave up the moral creed, the life of his compatriots became a prop in his eyes to fulfill his merits.Out of a special psychology, when facing his compatriots, he was more ruthless than the Manchurians, and his methods were more brutal.There may be such a psychological truth hidden in it, that is, such actions are just to cover up Wu Sangui's inner guilt, fear and pain.

On April 23, the day after the Shanhaiguan battle, Wu Xiang was beheaded in Fanjiadian, Yongping.On April 26, more than 30 members of Wu's family were murdered in Ertiao Hutong, Beijing. Although he already knew this ending, Wu Sangui still received great psychological stimulation when faced with the corpses of relatives lying dead everywhere in front of him.The blood of his relatives annihilated his last trace of hesitation and concern.His heart is as hard as iron, and nothing can soften him. After the Battle of Shanhaiguan, he pursued Li Zicheng like crazy, and finally caught up between Wangdu and Zhending.After a dark and dark fight, Li Zicheng threw away all the women in his luggage and fled in embarrassment. Chen Yuanyuan finally returned to Wu Sangui's hands.

This is the woman Wu Sangui bought with the life of a family. After defeating Li Zicheng, he met Jiang Xiang, who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and rebelled without stopping, fought fiercely against Liu Denglou, the Yulin rebel general, defeated the Ming clan Zhu Senfu in Jiezhou, defeated the peasant army general Wang Yongqiang in Tongguan, pacified Shaanxi, captured Sichuan, and recovered Yunnan and Guizhou. ... His horseshoe trampled all the way from outside the pass to Yunnan, covering most of China.Without his bloody struggle, it would never have been possible for the Qing Dynasty to seize the country so smoothly.In this series of battles, many were tough battles, vicious battles, and deadly battles.He has fallen into desperation many times, and life and death are hanging by a thread. With his indomitable fighting spirit and luck, he only brushes past death again and again.

The fiercest battle in Wu Sangui's life was fought for the Manchurians.For the Qing Dynasty, he really sacrificed his life.This series of battles fully reflected Wu Sangui's outstanding qualities as a soldier.From a purely military point of view, many battles may become military classics.Wu Sangui's judgment and decisiveness, firmness and persistence of will and quality, and creativity in strategy and tactics have all been fully demonstrated in this process. Although Wu Sangui won many victories, Wu Sangui did not dare to take credit for it, he still took the lead in every battle, fighting bloody battles with his head pinned to his belt during the execution.Wu Sangui knew that fighting for the Qing Dynasty was different from fighting for the Ming Dynasty. As a traitor and surrendered general, he could not straighten his waist or lift his head up in front of the Manchurians.Only by risking his life and showing extraordinary loyalty and bravery can he win the trust of the Qing people and gain a firm foothold among the dignitaries of the Qing Dynasty.

In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi (1660 A.D.), after selling his life for the Manchurians for seventeen years, Wu Sangui finally got his reward. Wu Sangui was granted the feudal lordship of Yunnan, and enjoyed the utmost status as a minister. However, even though the Manchurians granted him a high official title, Wu Sangui was always aware of their guardedness, and sensed the contempt and distrust hidden in their eyes. Who made him Wu Sangui a surrender!Facing the Manchurian division between Manchu and Han, who were loose on the outside and tight on the inside, Wu Sangui did not complain or resent too much about the deliberate precautions taken by the Han generals.He is by nature a man of action rather than a man of ideas, and he will not let these emotions of no positive effect occupy his intellectual space and waste his mental energy.Realism is Wu Sangui's firm guide.What he thinks about is how to take the next action.