In the twelfth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi, raised an army to rebel, setting off the "San Fan Rebellion", Guizhou, Sichuan and other places responded one after another, and Hunan soon fell into the hands of rebels. The Eight Banners Brigade that swept through the world at that time had long been corrupted and degenerate, and Wu Sangui personally led the rebel army to the south bank of the Yangtze River, as if entering no man's land. Just when Wu Sangui's rebels were running amok, a Qing Dynasty general stood up and stabilized the war situation, so who was this person?
This person is the famous general in the early years of the Qing Dynasty Daniel Zhang! According to historical records, Daniel Zhang was a native of Xianning, Shaanxi, born in the 44th year of the Ming Dynasty, and because of his proficiency in riding and shooting, he served as a deputy general in the Ming Dynasty, under the command of Zuo Liangyu. In the second year of Shunzhi, Zuo Liangyu's son Zuo Menggeng led an army to the Qing Dynasty, and Daniel Zhang was among them, and he was also appointed as a guerrilla because he had recruited more than 700 people, and was subordinate to meng Qiaofang, the governor of Shaanxi.
At that time, Li Zicheng's old subordinate He Zhen and others still occupied the Hanzhong region, and always wanted to invade Xi'an, "Bravely fought with the deputy generals Ren Zhen and Ma Ning, and repeatedly lost." Because the main force of the Qing army has been fighting in the south and the strength in the northwest region is empty, so the anti-Qing forces are very rampant, and although the strength of Daniel Zhang is limited, they have repeatedly made military achievements, recovered the city and defeated the rebels, so the Qing Dynasty appointed him as the general of Gansu.
Because of his bravery in battle Daniel Zhang, his subordinates were also elite, which attracted the attention of the Qing Dynasty, and the Shunzhi Emperor personally summoned him to "give him crown clothes, armor, bows, and arrows, plus the right governor." After that, Hong Chengzuo passed through the southwest, Daniel Zhang fought with the army, "Zuo Chengyu repeatedly broke the enemy", and on the way to Yunnan, defeated the Southern Ming general Bai Wenxuan, and completely eliminated the Southern Ming forces in Yunnan. In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, Daniel Zhang was made the viceroy of Yunnan for his merits.
In the second year of the Kangxi Dynasty, in order to balance Wu Sangui, the Qing Dynasty transferred Daniel Zhang to the viceroy of Gansu. After the outbreak of the San Francisco Rebellion, Wu Sangui sent people to appease Daniel Zhang, and also made him the governor of Shaanxi West Road and the general of Pingyuan, "bravely carrying out his envoys to hear". Later, Wang Fuchen responded to Wu Sangui, causing the Qing army to almost collapse the Sichuan-Shaanxi defense line, and the rebels reached the territory of Shaanxi, with great danger of going north to Shanxi and directly attacking the Beijing Division.
At this moment, Daniel Zhang stood up, and he led his troops to defend against the rebel offensive. The Inspector of Gansu wrote, "The subject Yaoyao should respond to the three gui, and the western fan soil will return to the gap and rise, and the west of the river will be in danger, and it will be saved from falling, and all of them will be brave." Please Xu Yong cheap. The Kangxi Emperor then made Daniel Zhang the general of Jing Rebellion, and later the Marquis of Jing Rebellion. It was under the resistance of the Daniel Zhang that Shaanxi did not completely fall into the hands of the rebels.
After that, Daniel Zhang fought against Wang Fuchen's army on the one hand, and Wu Sangui's army on the other hand, "Yong fought with the Zhenwu generals Fo Ni Li and Jin Bao and other imperial guards, and won all three battles", killing 15,000 rebels, and the rebel general Wu Zhimao led 30 horses to escape. Daniel Zhang then retake the cities around Pingliang, forming a siege on Pingliang, and finally Wang Fuchen was forced to surrender. At the same time, Daniel Zhang also promoted many famous generals, such as Zhao Liangdong, Wang Jinbao and others.
"Brave after hundreds of battles, Kefu five, prefectures and counties fifty, facing the enemy if nothing happens, and the wisdom of the outstretched, each one wins the crowd with few", because Daniel Zhang early years of combat, leg injuries, inconvenient to walk, so he sat on the shoulder to command the battle. Daniel Zhang was instrumental in quelling the Rebellion of San Francisco, and later repelled Kaldan's invasion. In 1684, Daniel Zhang died of illness. During the Qianlong period, the Qianlong Emperor was grateful for the merits of Daniel Zhang, "the order was replaced by a first-class marquis hereditary heir", and praised him as a famous general of a generation.
References: 1. Draft History of the Qing Dynasty; 2. History of San Francisco