San-kuei, having become a military chü-jên, also served in this campaign in Shantung with the rank of major. When Wu Hsiang returned to Liaotung (1634) his son must have gone with him, for in 1637 Wu San-kuei is mentioned in a memorial on military defense as in command of 1, 600 soldiers. Two years later he is referred to as an acting brigade-general in charge of reservist training camps (團練總兵) and in 1640 as full brigade-general at Liaotung (遼東總兵).
In 1644, when Li Tzŭ-ch'êng [q. v.] was pressing on Peking, Emperor I-tsung (see under Chu Yu-chien) designated Wu San-kuei P'ing-hsi po 平西伯 "Earl Who Pacifies the West", and ordered him to come to the rescue of the capital. Wu Hsiang, who had retired in or before 1637, was then living in Peking and was ordered to assist in commanding the local defenders. Wu San-kuei delayed in coming to the rescue of Peking; and, having learned on the way that the city had fallen to the rebels, turned back to Shanhaikuan, perhaps to await developments. It is commonly believed that he was about to surrender to Li Tzŭ-ch'êng who was holding his father (Wu Hsiang) as a hostage. But after learning that the rebel leader had taken his favorite concubine, Ch'ên Yüan 陳沅 or Ch'ên Yüan-yüan 陳圓圓, he decided to oppose him. Li personally led an army eastward to subdue Wu, thus practically driving him into the arms of Dorgon [q. v.], the Manchu regent, who was stationed with his army not far from Shanhaikuan. Wu besought the aid of Dorgon against the rebel and, for such aid, promised him additional territory. But Dorgon preferred to take advantage of the situation to effect the conquest of China—which had been his purpose in camping near the border. Pressed from both sides, Wu chose to surrender to the Manchus, and in return was invested by Dorgon with the title, "Prince Who Pacifies the West". They met east of Shanhaikuan on May 27, 1644, and in a few days their combined forces routed Li's large army in several engagements. As Li was retreating towards Peking he had Wu Hsiang and his entire family executed. Seeing the futility of defending Peking, however, Li evacuated it on June 4, 1644, and two days later Dorgon entered. In October, after Emperor Shih-tsu and the Manchu government had been transferred to Peking, the title, "Prince Who Pacifies the West", which had been conferred an Wu, was finally confirmed. At this time a message came from Chu Yu-sung [q. v.], the Ming prince at Nanking, conferring on Wu San-kuei the rank of Duke of Chi (薊國公), but Wu declined it.
For nearly thirty years Wu San-kuei fought for the cause of the Manchus and served them as an official. In 1644 he accompanied Ajige [q. v.] in pursuit of Li Tzŭ-ch'êng to Shensi, Honan, and finally to Hupeh. After Li's death Ajige and Wu sailed down the Yangtze River to Kiangsi and returned to Peking in September 1645. For his share in these exploits, Wu was granted the title of Ch'in-wang 親王 or prince of the blood of the first degree, and was ordered to station his soldiers at Chinchow. However, not long after he arrived at the garrison post, he asked to be relieved of the title, Ch'in-wang, and his request was granted. In 1647 K'ung Yu-tê, Kêng Chung-ming, Shang K'o-hsi [qq. v.]—the three Ming generals who had gone over to the Manchus in 1633—were sent to South China to war against the Ming prince, Chu Yu-lang [q. v.]. Wu asked to be sent to active duty also, and in 1648 he was transferred with his men to Hanchung, Shensi, where he quelled several local uprisings, occasionally advancing into Szechwan to fight against the Ming troops. Successful in several battles, he was given, in 1652, an increase in salary. Meanwhile his eldest son, Wu Ying-hsiung 吳應熊 (d. 1674), was created a viscount of the third class and married Princess K'o-ch'un (恪純公主, 1642–1705?), the youngest half-sister of Emperor Shih-tsu.
The war against the Southern Ming troop. took a sharp turn in 1657 when Sun K'o-wang [q. v.] surrendered to Hung Ch'êng-ch'ou [q. v.] in Changsha, Hunan. Invested with the title "Generalissimo Who Pacifies the West" (平西大將軍), Wu San-kuei was ordered to lead an army from Szechwan to Kweichow where two other armies were to join him, one from Hunan, the other from Kwangsi. After the fall of Kweiyang (Kweichow) these armies advanced on Yunnanfu where Chu Yu-lang had established his Court. Early in 1659 the latter was forced to seek refuge in Burma with Li Ting-kuo [q. v.], after which the entire province of Yunnan was pacified. At the suggestion of Hung Ch'êng-ch'ou, Wu was given both civil and military control of that province. Early in 1661 he led an army into Burma, defeated Li Ting-kuo, and advanced within sixty li of Mandalay, then the Burmese capital. The Burmese were forced to surrender Chu Yu-lang and his followers. Chu was escorted to Yunnan, and there was put to death by strangling. With the collapse of the Ming regime, Wu was again promoted to the rank of Ch'in-wang, his jurisdic-
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