The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

While Liu Mu and Emperor Kangxi were both fully engaged in preparing for their personal campaigns, Wu Sangui, in the Prince Zhou's residence in Hengyang, appeared completely at a loss.

Yes, Wu Sangui had already proclaimed himself King of Zhou on New Year's Day.

His concern was that the nearly 200,000-strong army had been besieging Jingzhou for a year, losing nearly 30,000 soldiers and wasting countless resources, which had made the already impoverished southwest region even poorer.

Now the army's food supplies are running out, and even the Miao people have begun a large-scale uprising. The original plan to join forces with Shang Zhixin and capture Wuchang together has not been realized.

Even now, Shang Zhixin has retreated to Ganzhou, completely deviating from Wu Sangui's original plan.

A general who was nearly fifty years old saw that Wu Sangui looked unwell and had no choice but to step forward and kneel on one knee.

"Your Majesty, you can't blame the brothers for not fighting bravely. It's that scoundrel Yue Le who, at the expense of the people's livelihood, conscripted nearly 100,000 Green Standard Army soldiers to guard the border, with 30,000 stationed in Jiangling City alone!"

"The heavy cannons we bought from the Portuguese were originally useful, but that scoundrel Yue Le somehow learned to hang sandbags on the walls, making it impossible to breach them!"

"The hardest part is that burlap sacks would fall from time to time, killing more than a dozen people at a time, which severely damaged morale and made the brothers fear attacking the city."

Upon hearing this, Wu Sangui could only sigh. He had seen those sandbags and gunpowder packs before; as long as there were enough soldiers guarding the city, they could be continuously hung and detonated.

These things were naturally learned by the Manchus from Liu Mu, especially the gunpowder packs, which directly changed the course of the war.

As for why Wu Sangui didn't know, it was naturally because Kangxi was unwilling to say. Being repeatedly tricked by Liu Mu was not a glorious thing.

Wu Sangui looked at Fang Guangchen.

"What does the strategist think?"

Fang Guangchen felt uncomfortable under Wu Sangui's eager gaze, because Wu Sangui was not asking for a strategy to defeat the enemy, but rather asking him to be the first to lead the support for the emperor's ascension to the throne.

Wu Sangui did this mainly to cause the united Green Standard Army and the rebel army in the southwest to fall apart.

After all, Wu Sangui raised an army under the banner of overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming. People followed him because they were aiming to revive the Ming Dynasty and drive out the Manchus.

But Fang Guangchen was an old comrade of Wu Sangui, and he was always planning military merits and provisions, which made him very prestigious in front of all his brothers.

Only with Fang Guangchen taking the lead could Wu Sangui have the confidence to win over most of the generals.

However, Fang Guangchen has refused many times, saying that if he were to proclaim himself emperor at this time, it would completely shift the hearts and minds of the people and the army to the Han or the Manchu.

However, Wu Sangui, as the ruler, had his own considerations. His son, Wu Yingxiong, had been killed by the Qing court, and there was no room for reconciliation.

Most importantly, Wu Sangui had been living a life of luxury for over a decade, and he felt that his body could no longer support him and he wanted to secure an imperial throne for his grandson before he died, thus consolidating a stable territory belonging to the Wu family.

Seeing that Fang Guangchen was unmoved, Wu Sangui once again showed disappointment, and then looked at the general on his left.

This general was tall and mighty, on par with Aguda. He was none other than Ma Bao, Wu Sangui's most valiant general. Even though he was over fifty years old, his fierce and imposing manner remained undiminished.

Ma Bao may look rough, but he knows what Wu Sangui is up to, so he takes out a piece of intelligence that he had prepared beforehand.

"Your Majesty, scouts from the north have reported that the Han Emperor led an army of 100,000 south on New Year's Day, ten days ago. The news is absolutely true."

Upon hearing Ma Bao's words, all the generals were overjoyed. This meant that it would be difficult for the Manchus to support Hubei again, and there was hope of making a breakthrough into the Central Plains.

Xia Guoxiang, who had been prepared in advance, immediately got up and went to the center of the hall, where he knelt down and kowtowed to Wu Sangui.

"Your Majesty, the army has been fighting for over a year, and morale is at its lowest point. Why not declare yourself emperor, bestow generous rewards upon the entire army, boost morale, and then conquer Hubei to establish your rule over the Central Plains!"

Upon hearing this, some generals in the hall frowned, some were overjoyed, and a small number silently lowered their heads.

After secretly memorizing all the expressions, Wu Sangui slammed his hand on the table, and, still not satisfied, grabbed a teacup and smashed it directly onto Xia Guoxiang's helmet.

"I have made too many mistakes in my life. This time I am raising an army only to restore my Great Ming Dynasty. The matter of becoming emperor must never be mentioned again."

"Let's call it a day, we'll discuss it again tomorrow!"

After Wu Sangui finished his reprimand, he stormed out of the hall, not giving the loyal generals another chance to offer their advice.

Seeing this, the generals who had previously frowned all showed expressions of appreciation, thinking to themselves that Wu Sangui was indeed loyal and righteous.

Only Fang Guangchen was heartbroken. The Han Dynasty marched south to destroy the Manchus, which was a politically correct and important matter. Wu Sangui, by declaring himself emperor at this time, wasn't he courting death?

At that time, even ordinary soldiers would think that they were an unrighteous and inhumane army.

That night, the dozen or so generals received Wu Sangui's order to discuss military matters. Because of Wu Sangui's behavior during the day, none of them suspected that Wu Sangui had ulterior motives.

The next day, all of these dozen or so generals who controlled nearly 60,000 troops, died at home. Some died suddenly from drinking, some died from flare-ups of hidden injuries, and some even died in bed after a stroke.

When Fang Guangchen arrived at the Prince's residence and saw that 30% of the generals were missing, he knew that Wu Sangui was serious this time.

So he stopped insisting and simply got up from his seat, went to Wu Sangui's desk, and performed a deep bow.

"The Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty is dead, and the whereabouts of his descendants are unknown. The three-hundred-year reign of the Ming Dynasty is over!"

"Your subject, Fang Guangchen, humbly requests that Your Majesty, for the sake of all the people, establish a new dynasty and restore order, so that the people may never again suffer the ravages of war!"

This is what a cultured person is like. Wu Sangui was really excited by what he said, but he still suppressed it. He knew the story of "the ceremony is completed on the third day".

Even if it's just a fig leaf, it still covers things up!

So Wu Sangui pretended to be angry, slammed his hand on the table, and wanted to continue smashing the cup, but then he was afraid of killing Fang Guangchen, so he turned around and left the hall.

On the third day, Wu Sangui was reviewing his troops outside Hengyang City. There were 50,000 soldiers in the square, his most elite and trusted troops.

Just as the atmosphere of the drill reached its peak, Ma Baoxia, Prime Minister Fang Guangchen, and several others rushed up aggressively, draped a bright yellow robe over Wu Sangui's shoulders, and then all knelt down and kowtowed.

"We urge King Zhou to ascend the throne and become emperor!"

The 50,000 elite troops below, though unaware of what was happening, were so focused on the imminent opportunity to serve the emperor that they didn't care about anything else and knelt down to kowtow.

"Greetings, Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Wu Sangui forcibly suppressed the joy in his heart and the smile that was about to burst out, and sighed loudly.

"Ugh!"

"I originally wished to be a regional king, protecting the peace of my people, but you forced me to sit on the throne of the world, truly causing me great suffering!"

Holy crap, that's shameless!

Upon hearing this, Fang Guangchen, who had been looking down, felt his stomach churning and almost vomited.

Yet they still led the chant.

"I kowtow to Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"