Kangxi inherited the throne at the age of 8 and took charge of the throne at the age of 14. He died at the age of 69 and reigned for 61 years. Eliminate the powerful ministers, pacify the three vassals, collect the small islands in the southeast, conquer Galdan, and resist the in

Therefore, in all dynasties, all dynasties have been cautious about cutting down vassals. There were too many people in history who caused big troubles and were pushed back instead of trying to reduce the vassal state. Even in , Ming Dynasty and , there are still examples of Zhu Di and .

In further history, for example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was also a strong man. The method of cutting down vassals was also a half-hearted "extension of favor system", which weakened the strength of princes through the separation of descendants, which was equivalent to exchanging time for space. If the power and resources of the princes and kings are slowly dispersed to the descendants, the weak will be weak, and naturally it will not be easy to accumulate strong power and even fight against the central dynasty.

It has not been easy to cut down vassals since ancient times, not to mention that Kangxi wanted to pacify San Francisco , especially Ping Xi Wang Wu Sangui, who held heavy troops and guarded the Yunnan-Guizhou border, was powerful and placed officials he selected everywhere.

What's even more terrible is that Wu Sangui also bought and bribed a large number of spies in the court. Many officials accepted Wu Sangui's bribes in private and became the beneficiaries of this situation. ——In Jin Yong's novel "The Deer and the Cauldron", there is a story about Wu Yingxiong bribing officials in the capital. Wei Xiaobao , jokingly called Yunnan bamboo stick.

Kangxi's imperial grandmother, with a mature and prudent view, also advocated maintaining the status quo and not taking the initiative to reduce the vassal, so as not to provoke Wu Sangui to rebel. The old man's idea, of course, is that things will go well if things are slow. Compared with Kangxi's age, Wu Sangui has no advantage at all.

But for Emperor Kangxi, this matter could not wait. Although Wu Sangui was 42 years older than him, it was always a nuisance for the imperial court to keep this huge bug. On the one hand, other major things Kangxi had to do, including regulating the Yellow River and reorganizing water transportation, all required a lot of money. And the amount of money San Francisco takes from the court every year is astronomical, and the court can no longer afford to support them. The money that the San Francisco received from the court was not simply embezzled. They spent large sums of money to bribe powerful officials in the court to maintain the status quo, and then replaced them hereditary. Important officials of the imperial court colluded with foreign vassals to evade imperial power.

In this state, the longer it goes on, the stronger the interest groups become and the more difficult it is to break. The more difficult it is to stabilize the status quo and maintain a system in which vassal towns and court officials share the wealth, the more difficult it will be to break. ——They form an interest group that maintains this structure. With the marriage of the next generation and the blending of interests, this interest group will crowd out all other new forces.

In the Qing Dynasty , there was some luck in winning the country. They knew better about the feudal officials. In the end, they played the trick of "nurturing the bandits to respect themselves", and how serious the consequences would be.

Therefore, it is really impossible not to cut down the vassals. For the rulers of the Qing court, there is a huge sense of crisis when ethnic minorities rule the entire country. If the court colludes with the vassal towns, the imperial power and financial power will inevitably be greatly weakened. .

From a financial point of view, no matter how much money the court can earn, including the silver surplus from overseas trade, it is not enough to completely defeat these prodigal sons. Through the spies of the court, they clearly know the financial limits of the court, and then based on this, Push hard for money to share. For example, Wu Sangui requested an order to cut down the vassal vassal and gave Emperor Kangxi a list of money demands. Emperor Kangxi was furious - the fiscal revenue of the entire empire was not enough for their pension...

Regardless No matter how you deduce it, the matter of cutting down San Francisco will reach the stage of "fighting". In other words, this matter is equivalent to a "dark jungle". Either the court will be overthrown sooner or later, or the court will be infiltrated and changed (the civil and military officials and the vassal towns will divide the spoils), or the court will win a great victory and take back local power, and at the same time shock the court's civil and military officials. Hundreds of officials, and then use the empire's financial revenue to their advantage.

Therefore, Kangxi's move to conquer San Francisco was not impulsive. Judging from Kangxi's life, many things were considered very carefully and thoughtfully. In fact, the war to quell the three feudal lords was fought for many years, from when Kangxi was 19 years old to when Kangxi was 27 years old, a full eight years - it can also be seen that the military strength of the imperial court did not occupy an overwhelming advantage. The battle is also a long tug-of-war.From quelling civil unrest to gradually taking over power to the central government, this process is not easy. It is conceivable that in addition to battles on the battlefield, the mentality of "choosing sides" among local officials and court officials has always existed.

Only by fighting resolutely, fighting for a long time, and winning the battle can we gain more and more support, which will also allow many "wait-and-seeers" to gradually change their stance. This will also allow capable generals to successfully grow up in actual combat and break through the old war. The solidification of interest groups.

In fact, in addition to Obei and the peace of San Francisco, after the two major events were completed, Emperor Kangxi truly held power in the palm of his hand.

Why didn't Kangxi take a gamble and bet that Wu Sangui wouldn't survive for a few years?

The vassal towns have too much power and too much distribution, creating a huge black hole in the national finances, and at the same time co-opting and corrupting officials. Emperor Kangxi knew very well that such a power structure could not be delayed. The longer it was delayed, the more passive it became. It was hard to say how long Wu Sangui would live. This kind of system was fully formed, and it naturally had its continuity. Kangxi could not bet on how long Wu Sangui could live with his own future.

Besides, prestige is not enough if you outlast your opponent and win without force.

He was so decisive in leveling San Francisco, but when faced with the issue of national unification on the small southeastern island, Kangxi showed great patience. After dozens of negotiations, the initial attack failed. Later, he appointed Shi Lang to form a training navy, and finally The battle was settled. ——In the final analysis, the Southeast Peninsula did not have the ability to bribe the civil and military officials of the court at that time, nor did it put financial pressure on the empire, so this matter could be resolved slowly and in the lowest cost way.

What can’t be rushed and what can’t be slowed down? There is a lot to pay attention to here. In fact, later people also concluded that Chairman Mao once said: "The War of Resistance Against Japan cannot be rushed; the War of Liberation cannot be slowed down!"

What should be urgent, what should be slowed down, what should be squeezed, what should be done Make a prompt decision... Perhaps, history has given us enough inspiration.