Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Wuhua Mountain in Kunming, Yunnan, is the remnant of Snake Mountain. It goes southward from the northeast of Kunming, rising and falling nine times, and opens up a jade screen at Luofeng Mountain. The veins are divided into five branches, exhaling the beauty of Wuhua, so it is called "Wuhua", which has been a place of victory since ancient times. This famous mountain with a height of 1926 feet ( meters) has attracted countless nobles because of its beautiful scenery. First, Sun Kewang built the Qin Palace here, and then Emperor Yongli built the Wanshou Palace here. Later, it became the palace of Wu Sangui, the King of Pingxi. After the prince split Yunnan, he began to pay attention to the pomp and circumstance, and built a palace in the mountain. "Its site is getting wider, surrounded by heavy walls, overlooking the outstanding pavilions, and it is extremely prosperous in civil engineering." People at that time recorded: "Red pavilions and green ponds, winding paths along springs, magnificent pavilions and grand halls, staggered along the cliffs, crowned with towering palaces and surrounded by carved walls, stretching for dozens of miles. The rare flowers and trees were shipped from the two Guangdong provinces; the beautiful utensils were purchased from the eight Fujian provinces; and the silks, brocades, calligraphy and paintings were all brought from the three Wu provinces, and the detailed records were endless, to satisfy the love of the garden."

At daybreak, an old man in brocade clothes was dancing with a sword in the back garden of the palace. The man dancing with a sword was Wu Sangui. Born in a military family, he had developed the habit of getting up at the sound of cock-crows. He had beheaded countless famous generals with his crescent-shaped sword. Although he was already 58 years old, he was still as vigorous as a tiger.

"Hu~" Prince Pingxi suddenly put away his knife, his body stood still as a mountain, staring towards the north, silent.

"Is the prince missing the prince?" The concubine Bamian Guanyin beside him asked gently, presenting a handkerchief. Men are fickle. Chen Yuanyuan, the "beauty" who "threw her hair for her", was gradually losing favor due to her old age and disharmony with the princess Zhang. She lived in a secluded place in the palace, eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist scriptures. Now the most favored one in the palace is Bamian Guanyin (nickname). This woman was once a prostitute of Li Mingrui, the Minister of Rites of the Ming Dynasty. She was born with a beautiful face and gentle temperament. After being sent to Wu Sangui by Li, she was very favored.

"Alas~ The Khan of Weiguo is no different from the emperor of Manchuria. He can only threaten me with Xiong'er's life! Don't you know that since ancient times, few people who have accomplished great things will take into account the personal feelings of their children~" Wu Sangui sighed heavily. After conquering Beijing, the Manchu royal family was either slaughtered or exiled, but the Heshuo Jianning Princess Aixinjueluo Ajige and her family were safe and sound. The Princess was the fourteenth daughter of Huang Taiji. She married Wu Sangui's eldest son Wu Yingxiong and gave birth to Wu Shilin, the eldest grandson. The Lotus Khan, who was well aware of the value of rare goods, not only did not harm their family, but also gave them food and drink, and was very generous. Of course, there is no reason for being generous in vain. Every now and then, Wu Yingxiong would be ordered to write a letter to his old father to persuade him to surrender. The most recent letter was delivered to Kunming not long ago, telling Wu Sangui that as long as he was willing to stay in the vassal state and keep his troops in place, after the Qing Dynasty was destroyed, the Wei Kingdom would confer him the title of Zhennan Wang and govern the two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou for generations.

But how could the cunning Wu Sangui not see through this trick to stabilize himself first? If the Weiguo really destroyed the Zhenwu court of the Qing Dynasty, he would probably be their next target of attack. So he planned to strike first and send troops north. On the one hand, he could reinforce Shaanxi, and on the other hand, he could expand his own power. In order to make the Northern Expedition more certain, he sent people to Guangdong and Fujian to invite Shang Kexi, the King of Pingnan, and Geng Jimao, the King of Jingnan, to lead troops to meet. Even so, after all, he was old, and thought that his actions might bring misfortune to his children and grandchildren far away in Beijing, and he still sighed.

"Your Highness is a man of good fortune, and he will surely turn misfortune into fortune," the Eight-Faced Guanyin guessed Wu Sangui's thoughts and comforted him softly.

"Alas~ You are still the best!" Prince Pingxi sighed and took the handkerchief handed over by the beauty with deep emotion.
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Although the hero on Wuhua Mountain wanted to gather the power of the three feudal lords to attack Sichuan and Guizhou, Jingnan King Geng Jimao was repeatedly harassed by the Zheng family in Taiwan and could not send a large army; while Pingnan King Shang Kexi insisted that the army should be concentrated to support Huguang first and refused to send troops to Yunnan. The beneficiary of the attack on Sichuan and Guizhou was the Pingxi feudal lord, and supporting Huguang and Pingnan feudal lords would expand their power. Although the Pingnan prince was not as powerful as the Pingxi prince, he was very smart.

Wu Sangui had no choice but to call together his confidants, both civil and military officials, to discuss the matter. He had already made up his mind to fight the Northern Expedition, and although Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao refused to send troops, he could not change his mind. The only thing left was how to fight.

"Now that the guards have gone north to Sichuan and Guizhou is empty, Your Majesty can go east from Qujing to Guizhou and take Guiyang directly. This route is the shortest and can quickly capture Guiyang. Guiyang is a key pass in the southwest, and if we take it, the situation will be in our hands," counselor Fang Guangchen suggested.

"Well, Tingxian (Fang Guangchen's pen name) makes sense," Wu Sangui nodded.

"No! Although this road is short, it is not easy to travel in Guizhou where 'the sky is never clear for three days and the land is never flat for three feet'. Moreover, there are many chieftains with personal guards along the way. If we enter their territory, there will be a bloody battle and it will easily delay time. Our army is in a stalemate with the guard army in Jianchang, and there are large amounts of food and grass stored in Xundian. We can go north from Xundian to Dongchuan, and attack Shuixi through Dongchuan and Wusa prefectures, and capture Guiyang," another strategist, Liu Maoxia, also offered a suggestion.

Wu Sangui was a little confused and asked, "Xuanchu (Liu Maoxia's pen name) just said that there are many chieftains in Qiannan's personal guards, and entering their territories will inevitably lead to bloody battles and delay time. But the chieftains of Dongchuan, Yongchang, Wumeng, Lu Chengjue, and Wusa, An Zhongsheng, have all surrendered to the guards. Wouldn't it be bloody battles if we enter their territories?"

"Haha, Dongchuan local governor Lu Yongchang killed his father to establish himself. He is unpopular in Dongchuan. His younger brothers Yongsheng, Lu Yongbang, Lu Yonggao all disobey him, so it is not difficult to defeat him; Wumeng local governor Lu Chengjue is old and timid, and has always been a fence-sitter. If our army breaks through Dongchuan, I expect he will surrender; as for Wusa local governor An Zhongsheng, he is the eldest son of An Kun, has a grudge against the Qing Dynasty, and is the most close guard. But the Qing army attacked Wusa once a few years ago. Although it did not destroy it, it also seriously injured its vitality. Therefore, I think it is not difficult to break through these places. Moreover, Shuixi is rich, and we can use it to raise troops and also serve as a barrier for Yunnan," Liu Maoxia explained carefully.

"Oh, I got Xuanchu just like Emperor Gaozu of Han got Zhang Zifang", Wu Sangui was overjoyed after hearing this. This made Fang Guangchen look at Liu Maoxia leisurely. Since ancient times, scholars have looked down on each other, and this is probably the case.

The King of Pingxi has always been vigorous and resolute in his actions. Since he had already decided on the route for the Northern Expedition, he immediately led an army of 80,000 from Xundian to the north of Dongchuan Prefecture. In order to capture Dongchuan as quickly as possible, he appointed the powerful generals Wu Guogui and Gao Dejie as the chief and deputy vanguards. In order to contain the guards in Shu, he ordered Wu Yingqi and Hu Guozhu to lead 20,000 troops to continue attacking Jianchang. At the same time, he ordered Zhao Tingchen, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou stationed in Pingyi Guard, to lead his troops to attack Pu'an Prefecture to attract the attention of the Guizhou guards.

On January 1666, , the Wu army began its northern expedition. The vanguard Wu Guogui and Gao Dejie's troops marched very quickly, reaching Xundian Prefecture from Kunming in just five days, and then marched north along the Niulan River, a tributary of the Jinsha River.

Looking at the surging Niulan River, Wu Guogui issued an order: "Go along the reeds along the river bank and do not leak any information about our army." (End of this chapter)