Under the leadership of Wu San-kwei and the two other surviving princes, Yunnan, Kwangtung, and Fukien broke out in revolt in 1673. They were successful for a time, and held most of southern and western China in their grasp, also some of the north; but met their match in the energetic young K'anghsi (1662-1722), who was destined to rank among the greatest rulers of China. A long war between the able General Wu and the powerful emperor raged until 1678, when Wu died while besieging Yunghsing, Hunan, and the rebellion gradually siromered down. But it left serious results behind. The Manchus henceforth reformed their plan of government in the Chinese territories by scattering the authority within the province between civil and military officials, and among different grades of officials within each group.[1]
The development of that policy in the reign of K'anghsi and of the succeeding emperors had portioned out the civil and military power in any province to at least two or three and at most to eight or ten different centers of authority. On the military side the viceroy and governor had indirect control of all the provincial troops through their control of the provincial treasury. But each had direct command only over the five or six thousand men in his guard.
The Tartar general stationed in or near the capital city of the viceroy checked the latter with a force of nearly equal size, and outranked him in the national capital. Similarly the governors were checked by the highest provincial military officer the t'ituh, who was nominally in command of all the provincial forces, and, in the military hierarchy, had the same grade as the
- ↑ Ibid., pp. 368 f.
The Manchus, p. 453. The prince of Kwangsi died early, committing suicide, and left only a daughter who did not succeed to the principality. However, she married the Tartar general of that province and thus secured a measure of control.
