title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The demoralized Austrian army arrived at Ulm in the early hours of 10 October. Mack was deliberating about a course of action to pursue and the Austrian army remained inactive at Ulm until the 11th. Meanwhile, Napoleon was operating under flawed assumptions: he believed the Austrians were moving to the east or southeast and that Ulm was lightly guarded. Ney sensed this misapprehension and wrote to Berthier that Ulm was, in fact, more heavily defended than the French originally thought. During this time, the Russian threat to the east began to preoccupy Napoleon so much that Murat was given command of the right wing of the army, consisting of Ney's and Lannes's corps. The French were separated in two massive rings at this point: the forces of Ney, Lannes and Murat to the west were containing Mack, while those of Soult, Davout, Bernadotte and Marmont to the east were charged with guarding against any possible Russian and Austrian incursions. On 11 October, Ney made a renewed push on Ulm; the 2nd and 3rd divisions were to march to the city along the right bank of the Danube while Dupont's division, supported by one dragoons division, was to march directly for Ulm and seize the entire city. The orders were hopeless because Ney still did not know that the entire Austrian army was stationed at Ulm.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The 32nd Infantry Regiment in Dupont's division marched from Haslach towards Ulm and ran into four Austrian regiments holding Bolfingen. The 32nd carried out several ferocious attacks, but the Austrians held firm and repulsed every single one of them. The Austrians flooded the battle with more cavalry and infantry regiments to Jungingen hoping to score a knockout blow against Ney's corps by enveloping Dupont's force. Dupont sensed what was happening and preempted the Austrians by launching a surprise attack on Jungingen that captured at least 1,000 prisoners. Renewed Austrian attacks drove these forces back to Haslach, which the French managed to hold. Dupont was eventually forced to fall back on Albeck, where he joined d'Hilliers's troops. The effects of the Battle of Haslach-Jungingen on Napoleon's plans are not fully clear, but the Emperor may have finally ascertained that the majority of the Austrian army was concentrated at Ulm. Accordingly, Napoleon sent the corps of Soult and Marmont towards the Iller, meaning he now had four infantry and one cavalry corps to deal with Mack; Davout, Bernadotte, and the Bavarians were still guarding the region around Munich. Napoleon did not intend to fight a battle across rivers and ordered his marshals to capture the important bridges around Ulm. He also began shifting his forces to the north of Ulm because he expected a battle in that region rather than an encirclement of the city itself. These dispositions and actions would lead to a confrontation at Elchingen on the 14th as Ney's forces advanced on Albeck.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: At this point in the campaign, the Austrian command staff was in full confusion. Ferdinand began to openly oppose Mack's command style and decisions, charging that the latter spent his days writing contradictory orders that left the Austrian army marching back and forth. On 13 October, Mack sent two columns out of Ulm in preparation for a breakout to the north: one under General Reisch headed towards Elchingen to secure the bridge there and the other under Werneck went north with most of the heavy artillery. Ney hurried his corps forward to reestablish contact with Dupont. Ney led his troops to the south of Elchingen on the right bank of the Danube and began the attack. The field to the side was a partially wooded flood plain, rising steeply to the hill town of Elchingen, which had a wide field of view. The French cleared the Austrian pickets and a regiment boldly attacked and captured the abbey at the top of the hill at bayonet point. The Austrian cavalry was also defeated and Riesch's infantry fled; Ney was given the title "Duke of Elchingen" for his impressive victory.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Other actions took place on the 14th. Murat's forces joined Dupont at Albeck just in time to drive off an Austrian attack from Werneck; together Murat and Dupont beat the Austrians to the north in the direction of Heidenheim. By night on the 14th, two French corps were stationed in the vicinity of the Austrian encampments at Michelsberg, right outside of Ulm. Mack was now in a dangerous situation: there was no longer any hope of escaping along the north bank, Marmont and the Imperial Guard were hovering at the outskirts of Ulm to the south of the river, and Soult was moving from Memmingen to prevent the Austrians escaping south to the Tyrol. Troubles continued with the Austrian command as Ferdinand overrode the objections of Mack and ordered the evacuation of all cavalry from Ulm, a total of 6,000 troopers. Murat's pursuit was so effective, however, that only eleven squadrons joined Werneck at Heidenheim. Murat continued his harassment of Werneck and forced him to surrender with 8,000 men at Trochtelfingten on 19 October; Murat also took an entire Austrian field park of 500 vehicles, then swept on towards Neustadt and captured 12,000 Austrians.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Events at Ulm were now reaching a conclusion. On 15 October, Ney's troops successfully charged the Michelsberg encampments and on the 16th the French began to bombard Ulm itself. Austrian morale was at a low point and Mack began to realize that there was little hope of rescue. On 17 October, Napoleon's emissary, Ségur, signed a convention with Mack in which the Austrians agreed to surrender on 25 October if no aid came by that date. Gradually, however, Mack heard of the capitulations at Heidenheim and Neresheim and agreed to surrender five days before schedule on 20 October. 10,000 troops from the Austrian garrison managed to escape, but the vast majority of the Austrian force marched out on the 21st and laid down their arms without incident, all with the Grande Armée drawn up in a vast semicircle observing the capitulation.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: When the Third Coalition declared war on France after the short-lived Peace of Amiens, Napoleon Bonaparte was determined to invade Britain. To do so, he had to ensure that the Royal Navy would be unable to disrupt the invasion flotilla, which would require control of the English Channel.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The main French fleets were at Brest in Brittany and at Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. Other ports on the French Atlantic coast contained smaller squadrons. In addition, France and Spain were allied, so the Spanish fleet based in Cádiz and Ferrol was also available.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The British possessed an experienced and well-trained corps of naval officers. By contrast, most of the best officers in the French navy had either been executed or dismissed from the service during the early part of the French Revolution. As a result, Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve was the most competent senior officer available to command Napoleon's Mediterranean fleet. However, Villeneuve had shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm to face Nelson and the Royal Navy after his defeat at the Battle of the Nile.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Napoleon's naval plan in 1805 was for the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean and Cádiz to break through the blockade and combine in the West Indies. They would then return, assist the fleet in Brest to emerge from blockade, and in combination clear the English Channel of Royal Navy ships, ensuring a safe passage for the invasion barges. The plan seemed good on paper but as the war wore on, Napoleon's unfamiliarity with naval strategy and ill-advised naval commanders continued to haunt the French.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Early in 1804, Admiral Lord Nelson commanded the British fleet blockading Toulon. Unlike William Cornwallis, who maintained a tight blockade of Brest with the Channel Fleet, Nelson adopted a loose blockade in hopes of luring the French out for a major battle. However, Villeneuve's fleet successfully evaded Nelson's when his forces were blown off station by storms. While Nelson was searching the Mediterranean for him, Villeneuve passed through the Straits of Gibraltar, rendezvoused with the Spanish fleet, and sailed as planned to the West Indies. Once Nelson realized that the French had crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he set off in pursuit. Admirals of the time, due to the slowness of communications, were given considerable autonomy to make strategic as well as tactical decisions.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Villeneuve returned from the West Indies to Europe, intending to break the blockade at Brest, but after two of his Spanish ships were captured during the Battle of Cape Finisterre by a squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Robert Calder, Villeneuve abandoned this plan and sailed back to Ferrol.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Napoleon's invasion plans for England depended entirely on having a sufficiently large number of ships of the line before Boulogne, France. This would require Villeneuve's force of 32 ships to join Vice-Admiral Ganteaume's force of 21 ships at Brest, along with a squadron of five ships under Captain Allemand, which would have given him a combined force of 58 ships of the line.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: When Villeneuve set sail from Ferrol on 10 August, he was under strict orders from Napoleon to sail northward toward Brest. Instead, he worried that the British were observing his manoeuvres, so on 11 August he sailed southward towards Cádiz on the southwestern coast of Spain. With no sign of Villeneuve's fleet by 26 August, the three French army corps invasion force near Boulogne broke camp and marched to Germany, where it would become fully engaged.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The same month, Nelson returned home to England after two years of duty at sea, for some well-earned rest. He remained ashore for 25 busy days, and was warmly received by his countrymen, who were understandably nervous about a possible French invasion. Word reached England on 2 September about the combined French and Spanish fleet in the harbour of Cádiz. Nelson had to wait until 15 September before his ship HMS "Victory" was ready to sail.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: On 15 August, Cornwallis made the fateful decision to detach 20 ships of the line from the fleet guarding the channel and to have them sail southward to engage the enemy forces in Spain. This left the channel somewhat denuded of ships, with only eleven ships of the line present. However, this detached force formed the nucleus of the British fleet that would fight at Trafalgar. Initially this fleet was placed under the command of Vice-Admiral Calder, reaching Cádiz on 15 September. Nelson joined the fleet on 29 September to take command.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The British fleet used frigates to keep a constant watch on the harbour, while the main force remained out of sight west of the shore. Nelson's hope was to lure the combined Franco-Spanish force out and engage them in a "pell-mell battle". The force watching the harbour was led by Captain Blackwood, commanding HMS "Euryalus". He was brought up to a strength of seven ships (five frigates and two schooners) on 8 October.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: At this point, Nelson's fleet badly needed provisioning. On 2 October, five ships of the line, "Queen", "Canopus", "Spencer", "Zealous", "Tigre", and the frigate "Endymion" were dispatched to Gibraltar under Rear-Admiral Louis for supplies. These ships were later diverted for convoy duty in the Mediterranean, whereas Nelson had expected them to return. Other British ships continued to arrive, and by 15 October the fleet was up to full strength for the battle. Although it was a significant loss; once the first-rate "Royal Sovereign" had arrived, Nelson allowed Calder to sail for home in his flagship, the 98-gun "Prince of Wales". Calder's apparent lack of aggression during the engagement off Cape Finisterre on 22 July, had caused the Admiralty to recall him for a court martial and he would normally have been sent back to Britain in a smaller ship.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Meanwhile, Villeneuve's fleet in Cádiz was also suffering from a serious supply shortage that could not be readily rectified by the cash-strapped French. The blockades maintained by the British fleet had made it difficult for the allies to obtain stores and their ships were ill fitted. Villeneuve's ships were also more than two thousand men short of the force needed to sail. These were not the only problems faced by the Franco-Spanish fleet. The main French ships of the line had been kept in harbour for years by the British blockades with only brief sorties. The hasty voyage across the Atlantic and back used up vital supplies and was no match for the British fleet's years of experience at sea and training. The French crews contained few experienced sailors, and as most of the crew had to be taught the elements of seamanship on the few occasions when they got to sea, gunnery was neglected. Villeneuve's supply situation began to improve in October, but news of Nelson's arrival made Villeneuve reluctant to leave port. Indeed, his captains had held a vote on the matter and decided to stay in the harbour.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: On 14 September, Napoleon gave orders for the French and Spanish ships at Cadiz to put to sea at the first favourable opportunity, join seven Spanish ships of the line then at Cartagena, go to Naples, and land the soldiers they carried to reinforce his troops there, and fight a decisive action if they met a British fleet of inferior numbers.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: On 18 October, Villeneuve received a letter informing him that Vice-Admiral François Rosily had arrived in Madrid with orders to take command. At the same time, he received intelligence that a detachment of six British ships had docked at Gibraltar (this was Admiral Louis's squadron). Stung by the prospect of being disgraced before the fleet, Villeneuve resolved to go to sea before his successor could reach Cadiz. Following a gale on 18 October, the fleet began a rapid scramble to set sail.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The weather, however, suddenly turned calm following a week of gales. This slowed the progress of the fleet departing the harbour, giving the British plenty of warning. Villeneuve had drawn up plans to form a force of four squadrons, each containing both French and Spanish ships. Following their earlier vote to stay put, the captains were reluctant to leave Cádiz and as a result they failed to follow closely Villeneuve's orders (Villeneuve had reportedly become despised by many of the fleet's officers and crew). As a result, the fleet straggled out of the harbour in no particular formation.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: It took most of 20 October for Villeneuve to get his fleet organised, and it set sail in three columns for the Straits of Gibraltar to the south-east. That same evening, the ship "Achille" spotted a force of 18 British ships of the line in pursuit. The fleet began to prepare for battle and during the night they were ordered into a single line. The following day Nelson's fleet of 27 ships of the line and four frigates was spotted in pursuit from the north-west with the wind behind it. Villeneuve again ordered his fleet into three columns, but soon changed his mind and ordered a single line. The result was a sprawling, uneven formation.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The British fleet was sailing, as they would fight, under signal 72 hoisted on Nelson's flagship. At 5:40 a.m., the British were about to the north-west of Cape Trafalgar, with the Franco-Spanish fleet between the British and the Cape. At 6 a.m. that morning, Nelson gave the order to prepare for battle.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: At 8 a.m., Villeneuve ordered the fleet to "wear together" and turn back for Cádiz. This reversed the order of the Allied line, placing the rear division under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley in the vanguard, or "van." The wind became contrary at this point, often shifting direction. The very light wind rendered manoeuvering all but impossible for the most expert crews. The inexperienced crews had difficulty with the changing conditions, and it took nearly an hour and a half for Villeneuve's order to be completed. The French and Spanish fleet now formed an uneven, angular crescent, with the slower ships generally leeward and closer to the shore.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Villeneuve was painfully aware that the British fleet would not be content to attack him in the old-fashioned way, coming down in a parallel line and engaging from van to rear. He knew that they would endeavour to concentrate on a part of his line. But he was too conscious of the inexperience of his officers and men to consider making counter movements.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: By 11 a.m. Nelson's entire fleet was visible to Villeneuve, drawn up in two parallel columns. The two fleets would be within range of each other within an hour. Villeneuve was concerned at this point about forming up a line, as his ships were unevenly spaced and in an irregular formation. The Franco-Spanish fleet was drawn out nearly long as Nelson's fleet approached.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: As the British drew closer, they could see that the enemy was not sailing in a tight order, but rather in irregular groups. Nelson could not immediately make out the French flagship as the French and Spanish were not flying command pennants.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The six British ships dispatched earlier to Gibraltar had not returned, so Nelson would have to fight without them. He was outnumbered and outgunned, nearly 30,000 men and 2,568 guns to his 17,000 men and 2,148 guns. The Franco-Spanish fleet also had six more ships of the line, and so could more readily combine their fire. There was no way for some of Nelson's ships to avoid being "doubled on" or even "trebled on".


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The battle progressed largely according to Nelson's plan. At 11:45, Nelson sent the flag signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty" He had instructed his signal officer, Lieutenant John Pasco, to signal to the fleet the message "England confides [i.e. is confident] that every man will do his duty." Pasco suggested to Nelson that "expects" be substituted for "confides", since the former word was in the signal book, whereas "confides" would have to be spelt out letter-by-letter; Nelson agreed to the change.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The term "England" was widely used at the time to refer to the United Kingdom, though the British fleet included significant contingents from Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as England. Unlike the photographic depiction, this signal would have been shown on the mizzen mast only and would have required 12 'lifts'. The fleet was approaching the French line in two columns. Leading the windward column in "Victory" was Nelson, while Collingwood in "Royal Sovereign" led the second, leeward, column.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: As the battle opened, the French and Spanish were in a ragged line headed north as the two British columns approached from the west at almost a right angle. The northern, windward column of the British fleet was headed up by Nelson's 100-gun flagship "Victory". The leeward column was led by the 100-gun "Royal Sovereign", the flagship of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. Nelson led his line into a feint toward the van of the Franco-Spanish fleet and then turned toward the actual point of attack. Collingwood altered the course of his column slightly so that the two lines converged at the line of attack.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Just before his column engaged the allied forces, Collingwood said to his officers, "Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter". Because the winds were very light during the battle, all the ships were moving extremely slowly, and the lead British ships were under fire from several of the enemy for almost an hour before their own guns could bear.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: At noon, Villeneuve sent the signal "engage the enemy", and "Fougueux" fired her first trial shot at "Royal Sovereign". "Royal Sovereign" had all sails out and, having recently had her bottom cleaned, outran the rest of the British fleet. As she approached the allied line, she came under fire from "Fougueux", "Indomptable", "San Justo" and "San Leandro", before breaking the line just astern of Admiral Alava's flagship "Santa Ana", into which she fired a devastating double-shotted raking broadside.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The second ship in the British lee column, "Belleisle", was engaged by "Aigle", "Achille", "Neptune" and "Fougeux"; she was soon completely dismasted, unable to manoeuvre and largely unable to fight, as her sails blinded her batteries, but kept flying her flag for 45 minutes until the following British ships came to her rescue.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: For 40 minutes, "Victory" was under fire from "Héros", "Santísima Trinidad", "Redoutable" and "Neptune"; although many shots went astray others killed and wounded a number of her crew and shot away her wheel, so that she had to be steered from her tiller belowdecks. "Victory" could not yet respond. At 12:45, "Victory" cut the enemy line between Villeneuve's flagship "Bucentaure" and "Redoutable". "Victory" came close to the "Bucentaure", firing a devastating raking broadside through her stern which killed and wounded many on her gundecks. Villeneuve thought that boarding would take place, and with the Eagle of his ship in hand, told his men: "I will throw it onto the enemy ship and we will take it back there!" However, Admiral Nelson of "Victory" engaged the 74 gun "Redoutable". "Bucentaure" was left to be dealt with by the next three ships of the British windward column "Temeraire", "Conqueror" and "Neptune".


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: A general mêlée ensued and, during that fight, "Victory" locked masts with the French "Redoutable". The crew of the "Redoutable", which included a strong infantry corps (with three captains and four lieutenants), gathered for an attempt to board and seize the "Victory". A musket bullet fired from the mizzentop of the "Redoutable" struck Nelson in the left shoulder and passed through his body lodging in his spine. Nelson exclaimed, "They finally succeeded, I am dead." He was carried below decks and died at about 16:30, as the battle that would make him a legend was ending in favour of the British.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: "Victory" ceased fire, the gunners having been called on the deck to fight the capture but were repelled to the below decks by French grenades. As the French were preparing to board "Victory", the "Temeraire", the second ship in the British windward column, approached from the starboard bow of the "Redoutable" and fired on the exposed French crew with a carronade, causing many casualties.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: At 13:55, Captain Lucas, of the "Redoutable", with 99 fit men out of 643 and severely wounded himself, was forced to surrender. The French "Bucentaure" was isolated by the "Victory" and "Temeraire", and then engaged by "Neptune", "Leviathan" and "Conqueror"; similarly, the "Santísima Trinidad" was isolated and overwhelmed without being rescued, surrendering after three hours.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: As more and more British ships entered the battle, the ships of the allied centre and rear were gradually overwhelmed. The allied van, after long remaining quiescent, made a futile demonstration and then sailed away. The British took 22 vessels of the Franco-Spanish fleet and lost none. Among the taken French ships were the "Aigle", "Algésiras", , "Bucentaure", "Fougueux", "Intrépide", "Redoutable", and "Swiftsure". The Spanish ships taken were "Argonauta", "Bahama", "Monarca", "Neptuno", "San Agustín", "San Ildefonso", "San Juan Nepomuceno", "Santísima Trinidad", and "Santa Ana". Of these, "Redoutable" sank, "Santísima Trinidad" and "Argonauta" were scuttled by the British and later sank, "Achille" exploded, "Intrépide" and "San Augustín" burned, and "Aigle", "Berwick", "Fougueux", and "Monarca" were wrecked in a gale following the battle.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: As Nelson lay dying, he ordered the fleet to anchor as a storm was predicted. However, when the storm blew up many of the severely damaged ships sank or ran aground on the shoals. A few of them were recaptured by the French and Spanish prisoners overcoming the small prize crews or by ships sallying from Cádiz.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The main body of the Grande Armée followed the remains of the Austrian army towards Vienna. Following the failure of the Austrian army at Ulm, a Russian army under General Mikhail Kutuzov was also withdrawing east, and reached the Ill river on 22 October, where it joined with the retreating Corps "Kienmayer". On 5 November, they held a successful rearguard action in Amstetten. On 7 November, the Russians arrived in St. Pölten, and then moved across the Danube river the next day. Late on 9 November, they destroyed the bridges across the Danube, holding the last one, at Stein, near Krems, until the late afternoon.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The following day, Mortier ordered Gazan to attack what they believed to be a Russian rear guard, at the village of Stein. This was a trap on the part of Kutuzov, laid for the sole purpose of convincing Mortier that he had retreated further toward Vienna, when he had actually crossed the Danube in force, and lay concealed behind the ridges above the village. In the ensuing Battle of Dürenstein, three Russian columns circled around the First Division of the "Corps Mortier", and attacked Gazan from both the front and the rear. Not until Dupont's division arrived, after dark, was Gazan able to start to evacuate his soldiers to the other side of the Danube. Gazan lost close to 40 percent of his division. In addition, 47 officers and 895 men were captured, and he lost five guns, as well as the eagles of the 4th Infantry Regiment, and the eagle and guidon of the 4th Dragoons. The Russians also lost around 4,000, about 16 percent of their force, and two regimental colors. The Austrian Lt. Field Marshal Schmitt was killed as the battle concluded, probably by Russian musketry in the confused melee.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: At the Battle of Schöngrabern (also known as the Battle of Hollabrunn) occurred a week after the battle at Duerenstein. On 16 November 1805. near Hollabrunn in Lower Austria. The Russian army of Kutuzov was retiring north of the Danube before the French army of Napoleon.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: On 13 November 1805 Marshals Murat and Lannes, commanding the French advance guard, had captured a bridge over the Danube at Vienna by falsely claiming that an armistice had been signed, and then rushing the bridge while the guards were distracted. Kutuzov needed to gain time in order to make contact near Brünn with reinforcements led by Buxhowden. He ordered his rearguard under Major-General Prince Pyotr Bagration to delay the French.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: After Hollabrun, the armies gathered on the plains to the east of Brno. Napoleon could muster some 75,000 men and 157 guns for the impending battle, but about 7,000 troops under Davout were still far to the south in the direction of Vienna. The Allies had about 73,000 soldiers, seventy percent of them Russian, and 318 guns. On 1 December, both sides occupied their main positions.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The northern part of the battlefield was dominated by the 700-foot (210-metre) Santon hill and the 850-foot (260-metre) Zuran hill, both overlooking the vital Olmutz-Brno road that ran across a west–east axis. To the west of these two hills was the village of Bellowitz, and between them the Bosenitz Stream went south to link up with the Goldbach Stream, the latter flowing astride the villages of Kobelnitz, Sokolnitz, and Telnitz. The centerpiece of the entire area were the Pratzen Heights, a gently sloped hill about 35 to 40 feet (11–12 m) in height. An aide noted that the Emperor repeatedly told his Marshals, "Gentlemen, examine this ground carefully, it is going to be a battlefield; you will have a part to play upon it".


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: An Allied council met on 1 December to discuss proposals for the battle. Most of the Allied strategists had two fundamental ideas in mind: making contact with the enemy and securing the southern flank that led to Vienna. Although the Tsar and his immediate entourage pushed hard for a battle, Emperor Francis of Austria was in a more cautious mood, and he was seconded by Kutuzov, the main Russian commander. The pressure to fight from the Russian nobles and the Austrian commanders, however, was too strong, and the Allies adopted Austrian Chief of Staff Weyrother's plan. This called for a main drive against the French right flank, which the Allies noticed was lightly guarded, and diversionary attacks against the French left. The Allies deployed most of their troops into four columns that would attack the French right. The Russian Imperial Guard was held in reserve while Russian troops under Bagration guarded the Allied right.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Days before any actual fighting, Napoleon had given an impression to the Allies that his army was in a weak state and that he desired a negotiated peace. In reality, he was hoping that they would attack, and to encourage them on this mission he deliberately weakened his right flank. On 28 November, Napoleon met with his marshals at Imperial Headquarters and they informed him of their qualms and fears about the upcoming battle, even suggesting a retreat, but he shrugged off their complaints and went to work. Napoleon's plan envisioned that the Allies would throw so many troops to envelop his right flank that their centre would be severely weakened. He then counted on a massive French thrust, to be conducted by 16,000 troops of Soult's IV Corps, through the centre to cripple the Allied army. Meanwhile, to support his weak right flank, Napoleon ordered Davout's III Corps to force march all the way from Vienna and join General Legrand's men, who held the extreme southern flank that would bear the heavy part of the Allied attack. Davout's soldiers had 48 hours to March . Their arrival would be extremely crucial in determining the success or failure of the French plan. The Imperial Guard and Bernadotte's I Corps were held in reserve while the V Corps under Lannes guarded the northern sector of the battle.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The battle began around 8 a.m. with the first allied column attacking the village of Telnitz, which was defended by the 3rd Line Regiment. This sector of the battlefield witnessed heavy action in the following moments as several ferocious Allied charges evicted the French from the town and forced them on the other side of the Goldbach. The first men of Davout's corps arrived at this time and threw the Allies out of Telnitz before they too were attacked by hussars and re-abandoned the town. Additional Allied attacks out of Telnitz were checked by French artillery.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Allied columns started pouring against the French right, but not at the desired speed, so the French were mostly successful in curbing the attacks. In reality, the Allied deployments were mistaken and poorly timed: cavalry detachments under Liechtenstein on the Allied left flank had to be placed in the right flank and in the process they ran into and slowed down part of the second column of infantry that was advancing towards the French right. At the time, the planners thought this was a disaster, but later on it helped the Allies. Meanwhile, the lead elements of the second column were attacking the village of Sokolnitz, which was defended by the 26th Light Regiment and the "Tirailleurs", French skirmishers. Initial Allied assaults proved unsuccessful and General Langeron ordered the bombardment of the village. This deadly barrage forced the French out, and around the same time, the third column attacked the castle of Sokolnitz. The French, however, counterattacked and regained the village, only to be thrown out again. Conflict in this area ended momentarily when Friant's division (part of III Corps) retook the village. Sokolnitz was perhaps the most fought over area in the battlefield and would change hands several times as the day progressed.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Around 8:45 a.m., finally satisfied at the weakness in the enemy centre, Napoleon asked Soult how long it would take for his men to reach the Pratzen Heights, to which the Marshal replied, "Less than twenty minutes, sire." About 15 minutes later, Napoleon ordered the attack, adding, "One sharp blow and the war is over."


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: A dense fog helped to cloud the advance of St. Hilaire's division, but as they went up the slope the legendary 'Sun of Austerlitz' ripped the mist apart and encouraged them forward. Russian soldiers and commanders on top of the heights were stunned to see so many French troops coming towards them. Allied commanders were now able to feed some of the delayed detachments of the fourth column into this bitter struggle. Over an hour of horrendous fighting left much of this unit decimated beyond recognition. The other men from the second column, mostly inexperienced Austrians, also participated in the struggle and swung the numbers game against one of the best fighting forces in the French army, finally forcing them to withdraw down the slopes. However, gripped by desperation, St. Hilaire's men struck hard once more and bayoneted the Allies out of the heights. To the north, General Vandamme's division attacked an area called Staré Vinohrady and through talented skirmishing and deadly volleys broke several Allied battalions.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The battle had firmly turned to France's favor, but there was still much fighting ahead. Napoleon ordered Bernadotte's I Corps to support Vandamme's left and moved his own command centre from Zuran Hill to St. Anthony's Chapel on the Pratzen Heights. The difficult position of the Allies was confirmed by the decision to send in the Russian Imperial Guard; Grand Duke Constantine, Tsar Alexander's brother, commanded the Guard and counterattacked in Vandamme's section of the field, forcing a bloody effort and the loss of the only French standard in the battle (the unfortunate victim was a battalion of the 4th Line Regiment). Sensing trouble, Napoleon ordered his own heavy Guard cavalry forward. These men pulverized their Russian counterparts, but with both sides pouring in large masses of cavalry no victor was clear yet. The Russians had a numerical advantage here but fairly soon the tide swung as Drouet's Division, the 2nd of Bernadotte's I Corps, deployed on the flank of the action and allowed French cavalry to seek refuge behind their lines. The horse artillery of the Guard also unlimbered a deadly toll on the Russian cavalry and fusiliers. The Russians broke and many died as they were pursued by the reinvigorated French cavalry for about a quarter of a mile.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Meanwhile, the northernmost part of the battlefield was also witnessing heavy fighting. Prince Liechtenstein's heavy cavalry began to assault Kellerman's lighter cavalry forces after finally arriving at the correct position in the field. The fighting originally went well for the French, but Kellerman's forces took cover behind General Caffarelli's infantry division once it became clear Russian numbers were too great. Caffarelli's men halted the Russian assaults and permitted Murat to send two cuirassier divisions into the fray to finish off the Russian cavalry for good. The ensuing melee was bitter and long, but the French ultimately prevailed. Lannes then led his V Corps against Bagration's men and after hard fighting managed to drive the skilled Russian commander off the field. He wanted to pursue, but Murat, who was in control of this sector in the battlefield, was against the idea.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Napoleon's focus now shifted towards the southern end of the battlefield where the French and the Allies were still fighting over Sokolnitz and Telnitz. In an effective double-pronged assault, St. Hilaire's division and part of Davout's III Corps smashed through the enemy at Sokolnitz and persuaded the commanders of the first two columns, generals Kienmayer and Langeron, to flee as fast as they could. Buxhowden, the commander of the Allied left and the man responsible for leading the attack, was completely drunk and fled as well. Kienmayer covered his withdrawal with the O'Reilly light cavalry, who gallantly managed to defeat five of six French cavalry regiments before they too had to retreat.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: General panic now seized the Allied army and it abandoned the field in any and all possible directions. Russian forces that had been defeated by the French right withdrew south towards Vienna via the Satschan frozen ponds. According to popular myth, the French artillery pounded towards the men, but Napoleon redirected his gunners to fire at the ice. The men drowned in the viciously cold ponds, dozens of artillery pieces going down along with them. Estimates on how many guns were captured differ; there may have been as few as 38 or as many as over 100. Sources also differ on casualties, with figures ranging from as few as 200 to as many as 2,000 dead. Because Napoleon exaggerated this incident in his report of the battle, the low numbers may be more accurate, although doubt remains as to whether they are fully correct. Many regard this incident as one of Napoleon's cruelest acts in war. However, only a few bodies are reported to have been found in the spring of 1806, and it is most likely the incident is a myth.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Meanwhile, in Italy, The Austrian "Armee von Italien" under Archduke Charles fought against the French "Armée d'italie" under Marshal Masséna. The French managed to gain a bridgehead over the Adige river at Verona on 18 October, and finally, between 29 and 31 October, the outnumbered French defeated the superior Austrian army in the battle of Caldiero. In November the Austrians retreated, engaging the French vanguard of d'Espagne in several rear-guard actions. Venice was blockaded by French and Italian troops under St.Cyr. Charles' army finally crossed the Isonzo on 14 November, preventing the French from crossing it.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: One 4,400-strong Habsburg army that lingered behind, was roundly defeated and captured by Jean Reynier and Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr at the Battle of Castelfranco Veneto on 24 November 1805.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The French force under St. Cyr then manoeuvred on the frontier of the Kingdom of Naples. The French were being carefully watched by an Anglo-Russian force entrusted with defence of the kingdom. After the Battle of Austerlitz, the Russians withdrew from Italy and the British, unwilling to defend Naples alone, evacuated the mainland altogether and retreated back to Sicily. Meanwhile, the French force, now stationed in Bologna, was reorganised into the Army of Naples and placed under the nominal command of Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte. However, the de facto commander was André Masséna, who commanded the I Corps and was entrusted with the invasion by Joseph.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: On 9 February 1806, Masséna invaded the Kingdom of Naples and two days later, the Bourbon king of Naples, Ferdinand IV also fled to Sicily, protected by the British fleet. Naples soon fell into French hands and by the end of February, only two places in the kingdom still held out. One was the fortress city of Gaeta, north of Naples, and the other was Calabria in the very south of Italy, which was where the remainder of the Royal Neapolitan Army was stationed.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Ferdinand had hoped for a repeat of the events of 1799, when a popular uprising in Calabria eventually caused the downfall of the Parthenopaean Republic, a French client state created after the Neapolitans were defeated the first time during the War of the Second Coalition. However, no such rebellion initially occurred and on 3 March, General Jean Reynier, who commanded the 10,000 strong II Corps of the Army of Naples invaded Calabria. Only a few Calabrians resisted the invading French force and the Royal Neapolitan Army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Campo Tenese on 10 March 1806. Ferdinand now had no choice but to concede the Neapolitan throne to the French. A day after Campo Tenese, Joseph was installed as the new King of Naples. By now, the last regular troops of the Neapolitan army had fled to Sicily and the French controlled the entire Italian mainland except for the fortress of Gaeta, which had been under siege since 26 February. Gaeta surrendered on 18 July, concluding the invasion with a decisive French victory.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: However, all was not going to plan for the French. Supply problems meant that Reynier's II Corps in Calabria was forced to live off the land. For over a month, the peasants of the region had supported the Neapolitan army and were close to starvation. Joseph seemed unaware of the problems and the potential dangers of revolt. Consequently, no extra provisions were sent to the south of Italy. Reynier took the initiative and seized supplies from the local populace, leading predictably to a revolt by the end of March. What started as small bands of partisans eventually expanded into entire villages rising up against the French. With the fortress of Gaeta still holding out, Joseph was unable to send more troops to Calabria, forcing Reynier to reinforce his army with native troops recruited from the larger towns and cities.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: By July, Masséna had still failed to take Gaeta due to poor logistical management of the French artillery, slight reinforcements from the British by sea and a series of successful sorties by the Neapolitan garrison against the French sappers. With only Reynier's small force in Calabria still struggling against the revolt, the British organised an expeditionary force under Sir John Stuart to prevent any potential invasion of Sicily and perhaps to trigger a full-scale rebellion against the French across Italy. Although there were early successes for the British, in particular at Maida, the British failed to either reinforce Stuart's expedition or attempt to relieve the Siege of Gaeta. With the French artillery finally able to bombard the walls with their full potential, the Neapolitans eventually surrendered on 18 July, freeing Masséna's I Corps.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Following the surrender, Masséna was ordered south by Joseph to support Reynier's II Corps against the British and the Calabrian insurrection. Now severely outnumbered in mainland Italy, the British retreated back to Sicily. However, the revolt was not suppressed until 1807, by which time Masséna had already requested permission to relinquish command. For the first time in the Napoleonic Wars, the French experienced a brutal guerrilla war carried on by a rebellious population. The French gleaned that the only effective way to deal with such an uprising was to implement terror tactics employed by Reynier. This foreshadowed the same problems the French, and in particular Joseph Bonaparte, would face in Spain during the Peninsular War.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: Austerlitz and the preceding campaign profoundly altered the nature of European politics. In three months, the French had occupied Vienna, decimated two armies, and humbled the Austrian Empire. These events sharply contrast with the rigid power structures of the 18th century, when no major European capital was ever held by an enemy army. Austerlitz set the stage for a near-decade of French domination on the European continent, but one of its more immediate impacts was to goad Prussia into war in 1806.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: France and Austria signed a truce on 4 December and the Treaty of Pressburg 22 days later took the latter out of the war. Austria agreed to recognize French territory captured by the treaties of Campo Formio (1797) and Lunéville (1801), cede land to Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden, which were Napoleon's German allies, and pay 40 million francs in war indemnities. Venetia was also given to the Kingdom of Italy. It was a harsh end for Austria, but certainly not a catastrophic peace. The Russian army was allowed to withdraw to home territory and the French encamped themselves in Southern Germany.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: In July 1806, Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, a string of German client states which on becoming allies of France pledged themselves to raise an army of 63,000 men. With Napoleon as their "Protector", the confederate states were compelled to leave the Holy Roman Empire, which was dissolved shortly afterward. Prussia saw these and other moves as an affront to its status as the main power of Central Europe and it went to war with France in 1806.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: In Italy, the political situation would remain unchanged until 1815, with the British and Sicilian troops guarding the Bourbon King Ferdinand in Sicily and the Napoleonic King of Naples controlling the mainland. In 1808, Joachim Murat became the King of Naples, after Joseph Bonaparte became King of Spain. Murat made various attempts to cross the Strait of Sicily, which all ended in failure, despite once managing to secure a foothold in Sicily.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The French lost 12,000 killed, 22,200 wounded and 5,000 captured in 1805, including 5,300 killed and 22,200 wounded in the Austrian Campaign against the Habsburgs and Russians, 2,100 killed and 5,300 wounded in the Italian Campaign, 4,300 killed and 3,700 wounded in the naval war, 200 killed and 400 wounded in the colonies and 100 killed and 400 wounded in coastal defense duties. The 1806 Naples Campaign cost the French 1,500 killed and 5,000 wounded. The Spanish suffered 1,200 killed and 1,600 wounded in the naval war, Bavaria sustained 300 killed and 1,200 wounded in the Austrian Campaign and the Kingdom of Italy lost 100 killed and 400 wounded in the Italian Campaign and 250 killed and 1,500 wounded in the Naples Campaign.


title: War of the Third Coalition

text: The Austrians lost 20,000 killed and wounded and 70,000 as prisoners. Russian casualties were 25,000 killed and wounded and 25,000 captured. The Neapolitan army of 22,000 was wiped out by the French in 1806, with only 2,000 evacuated to Sicily.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Vakeel Saab () is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language action legal drama film written and directed by Venu Sriram. The film was produced by Dil Raju, Sirish and Boney Kapoor under their banners Sri Venkateswara Creations and Bayview Projects. It is a remake of the 2016 Hindi-language film "Pink" and stars Pawan Kalyan, Nivetha Thomas, Anjali, Ananya Nagalla, Prakash Raj, and Shruti Haasan.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Principal photography of the film began in January 2020 in Hyderabad. The film features score and soundtrack by S. Thaman. Initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was theatrically released on 9 April 2021. Grossing over , "Vakeel Saab" became the second highest-grossing Telugu film of the year.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Pallavi, Zareena, and Divya are independent working women and they all live together in Hyderabad. One night their car breaks down in the middle of the highway and Viswa, who is Pallavi's friend offers them a lift. Moments later Bunty and Viswa rush Vamsi to the nearest hospital because Vamsi is bleeding from a heavy injury to his head. At the same time, the three women return to their apartment in a taxi. They look disoriented, and it is implied that they have something to do with the incident. They then try to move on from what happened that night.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: At the same time a drunk and jobless Satyadev moves to a new colony and comes across these three girls. Threats arise from Vamsi as he pushes for revenge for the injury Pallavi caused Vamsi. The threats result in Zareena losing her job. They are ultimately discouraged from filing a complaint, stating it would make their daily lives more miserable. In reality, the local police are aware that the men are "well-connected" and backed by MP Korentla Rajendra who is Vamsi's father.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The next day, Pallavi is kidnapped by Vamsi's friends. Pallavi is threatened, blackmailed, and molested in the moving car and dropped back home, leaving her shaken. A few days later, she is arrested based on a complaint from Vamsi labeling the women as prostitutes and charging Vamsi with attempted murder. At this point, Zareena and Divya are hopeless and then they stumble across Satyadev. Satyadev suggests that they can get an emergency bail from a lawyer. The girls do not believe him as he seems like an alcoholic. They later discover that Satyadev was a reputable and respectable lawyer but he gets suspended for 4 years due to him harming a fellow lawyer in court. At the same time, his wife dies due to pregnancy complications & fits when Satyadev had to leave her alone at home causing him to ultimately give up the profession. He then declines to help Zareena and Divya with the case but later on he gets attacked by the Rajendra's men and decides to represent Pallavi in court.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Scared of Satyadev, Vamsi and Rajendra meet Advocate Nanda Gopal who agrees to take up the case. In the courtroom, Nanda presents the following version of events in the court: Vamsi and his friends help Pallavi and her friends due to their cab breaking down. They invite the women for dinner at a resort, since they said that they were hungry, where they have drinks. The women provoke the men, become intimate, and thereafter demand money, all signs indicating that they are prostitutes. Vamsi refuses to pay and an enraged Pallavi hits him on the head with a bottle and flees. Nanda's argument focuses on the poor moral character of the women. He attacks the fact that Pallavi has family in Hyderabad but chooses to live with her friends.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Pallavi and her friends' state that the men tried to sexually assault them. Vamsi tried to rape Pallavi, and she attacked him with the bottle in self-defense. Satyadev's argument focuses on the issue of consent and a woman's right to say no. A series of chilling courtroom arguments ensues in the following days. Towards the end of the trial, Zareena is provoked by Nanda to say that she took the money from the men causing a distress in the court. However, Satyadev does not give up and he makes Vamsi enrage leading him to reveal the truth, stating that the women “Got what they deserved”.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Satyadev criticizes the regressed views of the society where women are stereotyped as prostitutes if they come home late, move out, want to be independent, drink and so on, but none of these apply to men. He closes with the fact that his client said “NO”. No means no, and does not require further explanation. The next day, Satyadev and the women are attacked by Siva on the train but Satyadev fights them off and they go back to the court. The women are then acquitted while Vamsi, Bunty, and Siva are charged, with their sentences pending while Viswa is let off with a warning. After the case is closed, Satyadev decides to come back to his profession to help the common people with their problems. Zareena regains a job, Pallavi gets engaged and Divya enters her newly constructed home.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: In November 2019, Venu Sriram started working on the remake of "Pink" (2016) after his project with Allu Arjun titled "Icon" was put on hold. Pawan Kalyan accepted the script narrated by Sriram, marking Kalyan's return to cinema after a sabbatical owing to his political campaign in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. Dil Raju of Sri Venkateswara Creations is jointly producing the film with Boney Kapoor, who acquired the Tamil and Telugu remake rights of "Pink" (the former was released as "Nerkonda Paarvai"), under his Bayview Projects LLP. S. Thaman was selected as the music director of the film, marking his maiden collaboration with Pawan Kalyan. The film has cinematography by P. S. Vinod with editing by Prawin Pudi.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: During the pre-production works, the tentative titles "Maguva", "Lawyer Saab", and "Vakeel Saab", were under consideration for the film before the latter was finalised official title in March 2020. In a September 2020 interview, director Venu Sriram announced that the film cannot be made as a commercial entertainer due to the social issues involved in the Hindi counterpart, but staying true to the original script, the team had made some changes suiting Pawan Kalyan's body language.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: While Pawan Kalyan was reported to essay Amitabh Bachchan's role while Anjali, Nivetha Thomas, and Ananya Nagalla are cast in pivotal roles. The team decided to approach Shruti Haasan and Ileana D'Cruz to appear for a cameo role, essaying the character of Kalyan's wife in the film. While Haasan initially refuted being a part of the film's cast, she later confirmed her presence in July 2020, despite not revealing her role in the film.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Principal photography of the film was commenced on 20 January 2020 in Hyderabad. In the end of February 2020, shooting of the film took place at Annapurna Studios with intense scenes being shot on Pawan Kalyan and Prakash Raj. The film's production was halted for six months due to COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and on 22 September 2020, the shooting of the film resumed in Hyderabad, following the relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown in India with the team following the safety guidelines imposed by the government to control COVID-19 spread. Major scenes without featuring Kalyan were shot during this schedule.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: On 6 October, Nivetha Thomas joined the sets of the film. Later on 1 November, Kalyan joined the shooting sets of the film with the team planning to shoot the entire schedule within 15 days. Some scenes of the film were also shot in Hyderabad Metro. Kalyan completed his portions of filming on 29 December 2020, whereas the team shot few sequences; the shooting of the film completed on 9 January 2021. Pawan Kalyan started dubbing for his portions for the film in March 2021 and completed within five days.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The film's soundtrack features five tracks composed by S. Thaman with lyrics written by Ramajogayya Sastry and Suddala Ashok Teja. The album was released on 31 March 2021 through Aditya Music label.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: On 12 February 2020, Thaman had announced that he is currently working on the production of the first song, with Sid Sriram collaborating with Thaman for the second time after "Samajavaragamana" from "Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo" with Ramajogayya Sastry writing the lyrics. Later on 26 February, Thaman stated the progress of the song with Fames Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra performing the sessions for it. That song was titled "Maguva Maguva" which is touted to be a "fitting tribute to women", and was released on 8 March 2020 (Women's Day). In September 2020, the lyrical video of the song crossed 30 million views on YouTube.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The production of the other songs and the background score was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Nearly a year after the release of the first single, "Sathyameva Jayate", the second single from the film was unveiled on 3 March 2021. The song is picturised on Pawan Kalyan, whom being portrayed as a do-gooding lawyer who fights on behalf of the innocent, unprivileged and weaker sections of society. The third song "Kanti Papa" released on 17 March 2021, is played during the flashback portion featuring the romance track between Kalyan and Shruti Haasan. The team also planned to release a promotional song featuring Pawan Kalyan at the film's pre-release event, but it did not happen. The fourth song "Kadhulu Kadhulu" was unveiled along with the film's soundtrack album on 31 March 2021. A bonus track, which is the female version of "Maguva Maguva" was released on 15 April.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: On 18 October 2021, Thaman announced that he was going to be releasing the film's score, due to popular demand, on all streaming platforms in November. The film's score was then released on 16 November 2021 on Aditya Music.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: As a part of the film's marketing purposes, "#VakeelSaab Music Fest", a promotional music concert was organised by the producers. The first edition of this event took place at MLRITM College in Hyderabad on 20 March 2021. Following its response, the second edition of this event was held at Vizag and Kakinada on 23 March 2021. The events were attended by Thaman, Sastry and Sriram as the primary members. Thaman and his musical crew performed all the songs in the promotional music concert, as well as the film's pre-release event held at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad on 4 April 2021.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: "Vakeel Saab" was scheduled to be released on 15 May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dil Raju refuted the rumours of a direct release through over-the-top media service (OTT) and also stated that the film will be a theatrical release. In January 2021, a new release date of 9 April 2021 was announced.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The benefit shows for the opening day release was cancelled due to surge in COVID-19 cases. However, Dil Raju announced that the film will get benefit shows in select theatres across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The advance bookings for the film opened up on 6 April 2021, and saw a tremendous response from trade analysts.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Phars Film bought the distribution rights for United States which planned to screen in more than 700 theatres on 8 April, a day before the Indian release. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh announced through Twitter, stating that Panorama Studios acquired the distribution rights for the film in North Indian theatres. "Vakeel Saab" will also be screened at IMAX Melbourne, the world's largest cinema theatre.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The pre-release event of this film was scheduled to take place on 3 April 2021 at Yousufguda Police Grounds in Hyderabad. However, as the authorities denied permission for the promotional activities of the film citing surge in COVID-19 cases, the team decided to shift the venue at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad on 4 April.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Nizam distribution rights of the film were sold to and Ceded regions were sold for . The rights for the distributors in the Uttarandhra region were sold to , and at the east and west Godavari regions, the team sold the rights to an amount of and respectively. The Guntur rights were sold to , Krishna rights for and Nellore rights for the .


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The film made a business of in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In Karnataka and rest of India, the film made a business of . The overseas rights were sold for , fetching from theatrical rights alone.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The film's digital rights were sold to Amazon Prime Video and Aha and the satellite rights were sold to Zee Telugu respectively. The film however was streamed 21 days later through Amazon Prime Video on 30 April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: The film was dubbed and released in Malayalam with the same name and in Kannada as "Advocate". It was also dubbed in Tamil as "Vakeel Sir" despite the existence of a Tamil remake.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: In the early April 2021, Andhra Pradesh High Court made a judgment that the price of tickets of the film can be hiked for first three days. Several people argued that Government of Andhra Pradesh deliberately is not allowing for premiere shows and hike of tickets price, although High Court gave a decision. Several leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party criticised the government for the decision.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: "The Times of India" critic Neeshita Nyayapati called "Vakeel Saab" a "courtroom drama with a generous dose of masala." She felt that Venu Sriram has stuck to the plot of "Pink" for the most part but tweaked the screenplay to suit Kalyan's image. She appreciated the score composed by Thaman. Hemanth Kumar in his "Firstpost" review rated the film 3/5 and wrote that the film is a celebration of Kalyan's stardom and an evocative commentary on how women are judged in the society. He observed that the film was at its best when it was close to source material. ""Vakeel Saab" wants to fight the right fight, even when it turns its gaze away from the three women at the centre of all the drama to glorify its lead actor," Kumar added.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" stated that the film hit the right notes in the courtroom proceedings. On performances she noted that Nivetha, Anjali, and Ananya were "remarkable," Kalyan was at his best for the courtroom proceedings and Prakash Raj aced the role that requires him to be truly sinister. "The Indian Express" journalist Manoj Kumar R opined that director Sriram and Kalyan honoured the main subject and the message of the original film. A reviewer from "Deccan Chronicle" rated the film 3/5 and stated that the remake stays "true to the original" and the star cast delivered on their performances. Haricharan Pudipeddi in his "Hindustan Times" review compared the film with the other versions of the story ("Pink" and "Nerkonda Paarvai") and opined that "Vakeel Saab" is "more massy and lightweight."


title: Vakeel Saab

text: In a review for "Telangana Today", L. Ravinchander wrote that "Vakeel Saab" is a mixed bag and added, "This court room drama has punch but a great opportunity to make a masterpiece goes abegging." "Film Companion's" Karthik Keramulu felt that the flash back episode took central focus away from the story of "Pink" but the court scenes featuring Kalyan and Prakash Raj were hotter than the original. Keramulu wondered whether the film would open up debates around the idea of consent or be understood as an action film where the hero saves the women.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: Jahnvi Reddy of "The News Minute" called "Vakeel Saab" a "superficial remake" of "Pink." She wrote that there might have been better ways of changing the script to venerate the star while staying true to the spirit of the story but alteration of several striking scenes from the original diluted the point they made. "Cinema Express" critic Ram Venkat Srikar stated that "Vakeel Saab" does a criminal disservice to the original. He criticised the dilution of narrative about consent and the addition of political undertones to the film.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: On the opening day, the film grossed more than 42 crore at the box office, with a distributor's share of 33 crore. Box Office India reported that "Vakeel Saab" is the highest opener in India post the pandemic, netting over 38 crore on its first day. The film collected a gross of 100 crore in its first week.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: At the US box office, the film grossed $300,000 on the opening day. Taran Adarsh through his Twitter account, reported that the film collected a gross of A$211,857 and NZ$19,220 at the Australian and New Zealand box offices in the first two days respectively.


title: Vakeel Saab

text: "Vakeel Saab" netted 120 crore in India, surpassing the Hindi and Tamil versions of the film. By the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed 137.65 crore worldwide, earning the distributors a share of 86.1 crore.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: The Yongzheng Emperor (13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735), also known by his temple name Emperor Shizong of Qing, born Yinzhen, was the fourth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He reigned from 1722 to 1735. A hard-working ruler, the Yongzheng Emperor's main goal was to create an effective government at minimal expense. Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, the Yongzheng Emperor used military force to preserve the dynasty's position.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Although Yongzheng's reign was much shorter than that of both his father (the Kangxi Emperor) and his son (the Qianlong Emperor), the Yongzheng era was a period of peace and prosperity. The Yongzheng Emperor cracked down on corruption and reformed the personnel and financial administration. His reign saw the formation of the Grand Council, an institution which had an enormous impact on the future of the Qing dynasty.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Yinzhen was the eleventh recorded son of the Kangxi Emperor, and the fourth prince to survive into adulthood. His mother, historically known as Empress Xiaogongren, was originally a court attendant from the Manchu Uya clan. Around the time when Yinzhen was born, his mother was of low status and did not have the right to raise her own children. For most of his childhood, Yinzhen was raised by Noble Consort Tong, the daughter of Tong Guowei, the Kangxi Emperor's maternal uncle and an eminent official in the early part of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. She died when Yinzhen was just 9 years old. After she gave birth to more children, Yinzhen's mother was promoted to a "pin" and then to a "fei", and became known as "defei" or "Virtuous Consort". The Kangxi Emperor did not raise his children only inside the palace. He also exposed his sons (including Yinzhen) to the outside world and gave them a rigorous education. Yinzhen accompanied his father on several inspection trips around the Beijing area, as well as one further south. He became the honorary leader of the Plain Red Banner during the Battle of Jao Modo between the Qing Empire and the Mongol Dzungar Khanate led by Galdan Khan. Yinzhen was made a "beile" in 1689 along with several brothers and promoted to "junwang" (second-rank prince) in 1698.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: In 1709, the Kangxi Emperor stripped his second son Yinreng of his position as crown prince. Yinreng had been the crown prince for his whole life; his removal left the position of heir open to competition among the Emperor's remaining sons (the Kangxi Emperor had 24 sons who reached adulthood). In the same year, the Kangxi Emperor promoted Yinzhen from "junwang" to "qinwang" (first-rank prince) under the title "Prince Yong of the First Rank" (; Manchu: "hošoi hūwaliyasun cin wang"). Yinzhen maintained a low profile during the initial stages of the succession struggle. To appoint a new heir, the Kangxi Emperor decreed that officials in his imperial court would nominate a new crown prince. The Kangxi Emperor's eighth son, Yinsi, was the candidate preferred by the majority of the court as well as many of the Kangxi Emperor's other sons. The Kangxi Emperor, however, opted not to appoint Yinsi as his heir apparent largely due to apprehension that Yinsi's political clout at court was beginning to overshadow that of himself. Thereafter, Yinzhen sensed that his father was in favour of re-instating Yinreng as heir apparent, thus he supported Yinreng and earned the trust of his father.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Yinzhen (: 13 December 1678 – 8 October 1735) had the highest honor to orchestrate the imperial ceremonies and rituals during the reign of the Kangxi emperor, which illustrated that Yinzhen was well acquainted with the Confucianism traditions and customs. In the imperial court, Yinzhen was also deeply immersed in the state's affairs and heavily engaged in the political debates where he acquired diplomatic skills. As the Yongzheng Emperor (: r. 1723–1735 CE) of Qing China, Yinzhen was indubitably a very diplomatically inclined ruler who created an institution of a "moral government" based on the Confucian principles. Yinzhen sought four distinctive qualities: loyalty—, fairness—, sincerity—, and capability—, from his subjects in order to run an effective court and to achieve stability. Li Wei ( : February 2, 1687 – December 3, 1738) was a recruit among the Qing officials to possess the desired virtues, and was regarded highly by Yongzheng.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: A notable quote from Yinzhen captured during his reign as the Yongzheng Emperor in the 1720s expresses his imperial will:


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: If it is a trivial matter, do not just simply neglect the issue because it seems insignificant. If it is a complex matter, do not just simply conceal away the issue because it could become a challenge. To have good governance and dissuade seditionists, is all in the ruler's wish. If the civilians see a judicious court that is loyal and wholeheartedly for the country, and see that the court embraces its people; and the civilians feel the virtue in their court marshalls, then the people would not perceive the court as a threat. Thus, there would be no reason to have seditionaries.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: In short, after several years of political chaos, Yongzheng earnestly strived to restore a functional court with "good government", immediately after he ascended the throne in 1723 CE, to stabilize Qing into a unified and harmonious empire. In 1733 CE, Yongzheng successfully institutionalized the Grand Council, which allows Qing to relay communication effectively and efficiently from region to region, thereby enabling the implementation of his domestic reform policy.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: With the establishment of his Grand Council, Yongzheng was not only able to discourage corruption, but he was in a position to launch several domestic reforms beneficial to the empire and its people. Canals and irrigation systems were reconstructed to support agriculture and maintain farmlands. During famines, he provided relief to the affected regions by distributing resources. In reparation to the people, who were the backbone of the country, he issued an imperial decree to emancipate slavery under his reign. One of the several tax reform policies Yongzheng introduced was to shift the head taxation to the property taxation on landowners, which greatly reduced the tax burden on the civilians. Additionally, Yongzheng was indeed in full support with the construction of orphanages to shelter the orphans, in building elementary schools to educate the children, and poorhouses to house the paupers. Perhaps the Yongzheng era (雍正: r. 1723–1735 CE) may have been overshadowed by his predecessor's accomplishments, the Kangxi emperor, and his achievements may not have been as glorious as his successor, the Qianlong emperor; however, the Yongzheng era did serve as a remediation to the people, and resentments began to gradually decrease. Hence the Yongzheng era was a peaceful and prosperous reign of Qing China.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: In 1712, the Kangxi Emperor deposed Yinreng again, and chose not to designate an heir apparent for the remaining years of his reign. This resulted in stiff competition among his sons for the position of crown prince. Those considered 'frontrunners' were Yinzhi, Yinsi, and Yinti (the third, eighth and 14th princes, respectively). Of these, Yinsi received the most support from the Mandarins, but not from his father. Yinzhen had supported Yinreng as heir, and did not build a large political base for himself until the final years of the Kangxi Emperor's reign. Unlike Yinsi's high-profile cultivation of a partisan base of support, Yinzhen did so largely away from the limelight. When the Kangxi Emperor died in December 1722, the field of contenders shrank to three princes after Yinsi pledged his support to the 14th prince, Yinti.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: At the time of the Kangxi Emperor's death, Yinti, who held the appointment of Border-Pacification General-in-Chief (), was leading a military campaign in northwestern China. He was also awarded an apparently grandiose title of "Fuyuan General-in-chief Prince" (撫遠大将軍王) and his departure ceremony was solemnly held. Some other princes, such as Yinsi and his clique, interpret that Yinti might be chosen as heir and, therefore, pledged their support to Yinti and encouraged him to make military achievements to prove his "worthiness".


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: However, Yi Zhongtian argued that such a "promotion" was Kangxi's way of protecting Yinzhen, Kangxi's secret chosen heir, by distracting the public's attention away from Yinzhen. The court officials, who believed that Yinti would be chosen as the heir, would also no longer pester Kangxi about the crown prince issue. Sending Yinti away to the northwestern border was also meant to separated him from Yinsi, his newly formed ally, and potential flatterers who wanted to curry favour with Yinti. Yinti would also be unable to use his commanded troops to make a coup d'état, since Nian Gengyao, Yinzhen's close aide, controlled the food supply and the return route of Yinti's troops. Promoting Yinti was also a way for Kangxi to control Yinzhen: if Kangxi's "investment" to Yinzhen turned out to be a failure, he still had Yinti as alternative choice. With Yinti as a potential competitor, Yinzhen would not fall into self-complacency and turn against Kangxi. Yinsi's clique, clinging to the hope of Yinti's future prospect, would also not do anything reckless. As a result, Yinti's "General-in-chief Prince" title appeared grandiose, but was actually hollow and dubious; it was neither "general" nor "prince" and could be interpreted in various ways, which could be used in favour of either Yinti or Yinzhen should the situation arise. Such dubious words with multiple interpretations was a traditional trick in Chinese politics.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: There were signs showed that Yinzhen was actually Kangxi's secret choices. First, Kangxi occasionally mentioned that how Yinzhen was raised by Kangxi and how he expressed filial piety to Kangxi. Second, at Kangxi's 60th regnal year (1721) memorial event, Yinzhen was given the task of holding the ritual ceremonies for the royal family's ancestors in Three Great Mausoleums in Shenyang. Shortly after that, Yinzhen was also tasked to organize the Sacrifice to the Heaven (南郊禮), the most sacred ceremony in Confucian tradition, on the day of winter solstice. Moreover, Kangxi also highly favoured Yinzhen's son Hongli (future Qianlong Emperor) and that might also contribute to Kangxi's support for Yinzhen as his heir, similar to how Yongle Emperor chose his heir due to his favour to the crown prince's son.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Official court records state that on 20 December 1722 the ailing Kangxi Emperor called seven of his sons and the general commandant of the Beijing gendarmerie, Longkodo, to his bedside. Longkodo read the will and declared that Yinzhen would be the Kangxi Emperor's successor. Some evidence has suggested that Yinzhen contacted Longkodo months before the will was read in preparation for his succession through military means, although in their official capacities frequent encounters were expected.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Yinzhen's tactics during such the struggle for crown prince's position was practically doing nothing and stayed away from the limelight. Instead he focused on filial piety towards Kangxi and dutifully performed the given tasks as a subordinate of the Emperor. Comparing to other siblings (Yinzhi, Yinsi, Yinti, Yinreng), Yinzhen had no clear advantage. Unlike Yinsi, Yinzhen had neither close association nor good relationship with the majority court officers and magistrates, he was also shunned due to the cold appearance and the legalist-style harsh treatment to any kinds of moral sin and legal violation of the magistrates. Acknowledging that fact, Yinzheng intentionally shown no ambition for the heir position to not attract any unnecessary attention and animosity; watching other contenders fought each other to the death was more beneficial for him. Yinzhen even many times pleaded for Kangxi's mercy and pardon for other princes, including the deposed Yinreng, which gained him the praise and favour from Kangxi.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: As an experienced player in politics, Kangxi himself knew that Yinzhen's humbleness and filial piety was not really sincere and more of a cover to protect himself, nonetheless Kangxi still made lavish praise to Yinzhen and enjoyed the apparently good relationship with his son. In the situation when his offsprings openly trampled on family relationships, Yinzhen's "false" filial piety and kindness was already a haven for Kangxi. Kangxi also hoped that Yinzhen, despite being pretentious, might really not mistreated his deceased father and the deposed Yinreng in the future, which was proven to be relatively correct. As a result, Kangxi not only didn't expose Yinzhen, but also became the accomplice with Yinzhen's act.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Although Kangxi's meticulous plan enabled Yinzhen later to be crowned as emperor, it also created many disputes about Yinzhen's succession as there was no direct, intuitive way to prove Yinzhen's legitimacy. Kangxi's choice as Yinzhen was a shock to many other princes (even Yinzhen also pretended to be shocked), he was neither the eldest eliglible (Yinzhi) nor the apprently most talented (Yinsi) according to the traditional criteria for the heir apparent. Kangxi also did not make any mention about his choice for the crown prince position, his will was only known via the deceased emperor's testament provided by Longkodo, and there was no decisive evidence proved that the testament was not fabricated. For the contemporary public, there was also no evidence directly inferred that, and explained why, Kangxi thought of Yinzhen as a potential choice. As a result, Yinzhen's succession faced fierce opposition from former contenders such as Yinti and Yinsi. Purging the dissidents and solidifying his own position occupied much of Yinzhen's initial reign as emperor.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: There is a widely circulated legend, persisting even to the present day, that Yinzhen was crowned emperor after he modified Kangxi Emperor's final will that detailed who will succeed him. There are two versions of the legend, both of which involves the Chinese character "" (), and by extension, Yunti, Prince Xun. One version involves changing the "" in the phrase "transfer the throne to the Fourteenth Prince" () to "" (), which changed the phrase to "pass the throne on to the Fourth Prince" ). Another version states the character "" was changed to "" (), which means "sequence number" (四 = four, 第四 = the fourth / number four), thus changing the phrase to "transfer the throne to the Fourth Prince" ().


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Researchers at Academia Sinica have disproved the theory, as official Qing documents, when mentioning sons of the Emperor, always list the son's title, as well as the son's rank amongst the emperor's sons and the son's name. In this case, the will mentions "Prince Yong, Emperor's Fourth Son, Yinzhen" (), as well as Kangxi Emperor's high regards for Yinzhen, and his belief that Yinzhen can succeed on the throne. In this case, changing the will becomes impossible without leaving obvious signs of alteration, since Yinti, if referenced in the will, would show up as the Emperor's fourteenth son (), which contains four Chinese characters instead of three for Yinzhen, as the Emperor's fourth son (). It has also been noted that the Chinese character "" is a simplified character that is written as "" in traditional character, which was exclusively used back in the Qing era. In addition, the will is written in Traditional Chinese, Manchu, and Mongolian. The alteration theory is noted to be based solely on altering the will's Chinese version, as the will, as written in Manchu and Mongolian, is impossible to alter due to different language characteristics.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: After ascending the throne in December 1722, Yinzhen adopted the era name "Yongzheng" ( lit. "Harmonious Justice") in 1723 from his peerage title "yong" ( lit. "harmonious") and "zheng" ( lit. "just, correct, upright"). It has been suggested that the second character of his era name was an attempt to cover up his illegal claim to the throne by calling himself "justified". Immediately after succeeding to the throne, the Yongzheng Emperor chose his new governing council. It consisted of the eighth prince Yinsi, 13th prince Yinxiang, Zhang Tingyu, Ma Qi, and Longkodo. Yinsi was given the title "Prince Lian" while Yinxiang was given the title "Prince Yi", and these two held the highest positions in the land.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: The nature of his succession remained a subject of controversy and overshadowed the Yongzheng Emperor's reign. As many of his surviving brothers did not see his succession as legitimate, the Yongzheng Emperor became increasingly paranoid that they would plot to overthrow him. The earlier players in the battle for succession, Yinzhi, the eldest, and Yinreng, the former crown prince, continued to live under house arrest. Yinreng died two years after the Yongzheng Emperor's reign began.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: The Yongzheng Emperor continued to perceive Yinsi and his party, consisting of the princes Yintang, Yin'e, Yinti, and their associates, as his greatest political challenge in the early years of his reign. To diffuse their political clout, the Yongzheng Emperor undertook a 'divide and conquer' strategy. Immediately after ascending the throne, the emperor bestowed on Yinsi the title "Prince Lian", nominally of the highest noble rank. Yinsi was also then appointed as the Minister of the "Lifan Yuan" (Feudatory Affairs Office) and the top-ranking member of the imperial council assisting the Yongzheng Emperor; some historians believe his position at the time was essentially that of a "Chancellor or Prime Minister". By ostensibly elevating Yinsi to a more prominent political role, the Yongzheng Emperor held Yinsi under close watch and kept him busy with affairs of state, reducing the chance of him conducting behind-the-scenes political maneuvers. Yinsi's allies received notably different treatment. Yintang was sent to Qinghai under the pretext of military service, but in reality was watched over by the Yongzheng Emperor's trusted protégé, Nian Gengyao. Yin'e, the tenth prince, was told to leave the capital to send off a departing Mongol prince, but since he refused to complete this trip as the emperor commanded, the Yongzheng Emperor stripped him of all his titles in May 1724 and sent him north to Shunyi to languish in solitude.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: The 14th prince, Yinti, born to the same mother as the Yongzheng Emperor, was recalled to Beijing from his military post. The emperor selected Nian Gengyao to replace Yinti as the commander of the northwestern expeditionary force. Yinti, who expected to be placed on the throne himself, was reluctant to recognise the Yongzheng Emperor's succession as legitimate. Yinti was accused of violating imperial decorum at the funeral proceedings of the late emperor, and placed under house arrest by the Yongzheng Emperor at the imperial tombs in western Beijing. Historians believe that their mother, Empress Dowager Renshou, favoured Yinti partly because she raised him herself, while she did not raise the Yongzheng Emperor. Nonetheless, the increasingly sharp conflict between her two surviving sons caused their mother great sorrow. She died less than six months after the Kangxi Emperor.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: By forcibly dispatching Yinsi's party to separate locations geographically, the Yongzheng Emperor made it extremely inconvenient for his rivals to link up and conspire against him. While some of Yinsi's subordinates were appointed to high office, others were demoted or banished, making it difficult for Yinsi's party to maintain the same set of partisan interests. The Yongzheng Emperor publicly reprimanded Yinsi in 1724 for mishandling an assignment, eventually removing him from office and then sending him into house arrest. Yinsi was forced to rename himself "Acina", a derogatory slur in the Manchu language. The emperor also confiscated the assets of Yintang and Yin'e.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: In 1725, the Yongzheng Emperor bestowed a hereditary marquis title on Zhu Ming in line with his father Kang Xi emperor wish of a Manchu—Han population integration, a descendant of the imperial family of the Ming dynasty. Zhu was also paid by the Qing government to perform rituals at the Ming tombs and induct the Chinese Plain White Banner into the Eight Banners. Later in 1750, during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor's successor, the Qianlong Emperor, Zhu Ming was posthumously honoured as "Marquis of Extended Grace". The marquis title was passed on to Zhu's descendants for 12 generations until the end of the Qing dynasty in the early 20th century.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Nian Gengyao was a supporter of the Yongzheng Emperor long before the latter ascended the throne. In 1722, when he was recalling his brother Yinti from the northwest border in Xinjiang, the Yongzheng Emperor appointed Nian as the commander of the Qing army in Xinjiang. The situation in Xinjiang at the time was volatile, and a strong general was needed in the area. After several military conquests, however, Nian's stature and power grew. Some said he began seeing himself as equal to the emperor. Seeing Nian as no longer within his control, the Yongzheng Emperor issued an imperial edict demoting Nian to the position of a general of the Hangzhou Command. As Nian continued to remain unrepentant, he was eventually given an ultimatum and forced to commit suicide by consuming poison in 1726.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Longkodo was the commander of the militias stationed at the capital at the time of the Yongzheng Emperor's succession. He fell in disgrace in 1728 and died while under house arrest.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: After taking the throne, the Yongzheng Emperor suppressed writings he deemed unfavorable to his court, particularly those with an anti-Manchu bias. Foremost among these were those of Zeng Jing, an unsuccessful degree candidate heavily influenced by the 17th-century scholar Lü Liuliang. Zeng had been so affected by what he read that he attempted to incite the governor-general of Shaanxi-Sichuan, Yue Zhongqi (a descendant of anti-Jurchen General Yue Fei), to rebel against the Qing government. Yue Zhongqi promptly turned him in, and in 1730 news of the case reached the Yongzheng Emperor. Highly concerned with the implications of the case, the emperor had Zeng Jing brought to Beijing for trial. The emperor's verdict seemed to demonstrate a Confucian sovereign's benevolence: He ascribed Zeng's actions to the gullibility and naïveté of a youth taken in by Lü Liuliang's abusive and overdrawn rhetoric. In addition, the emperor suggested that Lü Liuliang's original attack on the Manchus was misplaced, since they had been transformed by their long-term exposure to the civilising force of Confucianism.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: The Yongzheng Emperor is also known for establishing a strict autocratic-style rule during his reign. He detested corruption, and punished officials severely when they were found guilty of an offense. In 1729, he issued an edict prohibiting the smoking of madak, a blend of tobacco and opium. The Yongzheng Emperor's reign saw the Qing dynasty further establish itself as a powerful empire in Asia. He was instrumental in extending what became known as a "Kangqian Period of Harmony" (; cf. "Pax Romana"). In response to the tragedy of the succession struggle during his father's reign, the Yongzheng Emperor created a sophisticated procedure for choosing a successor. He was known for his trust in Mandarin officials. Li Wei and Tian Wenjing governed China's southern areas with the assistance of Ortai.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: In the early Qing period, the majority of middle-to-low government posts were subject to a mechanical appointment procedure managed by the Board of Personnel, which was a lottery rule. More specifically, candidates would first be classified into three categories, namely degree holders, office purchasers, and officials waiting for promotion, based on their sources of candidature. These candidates or so-called offices-in-waiting were then assigned to different posts by drawing lots on a monthly basis, known as month selection. This random appointment procedure stemmed from the late Ming dynasty. Sun Piyang, a minister of the Board of Personnel during the Wanli emperor's reign of Ming, was said to invent the method of drawing lots with the intention of introducing fairness into personnel selection when the Ming court was mired in faction politics. It was apparent that this rule-based appointment procedure was conductive to curtailing patronage-network building and rent-seeking, although at the cost of flexibility.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Considering the limitation of monthly selection, the Yongzheng Emperor, inspired by a memorial of Jin Hong, the provincial administrative commissioner of Guangxi province, decided to launch a structural reform on the appointment system in 1731. In the new appointment system, local jurisdictions first were classified into two groups according to governance difficulties. More specifically, to prioritize local jurisdictions and allocate appointment power accordingly, the governability of each jurisdiction was decomposed into four elements, or four "characters": Chong, Fan, Pi, and Nan. "Chong" (thoroughfare) referred to places at busy highways and was designed to capture the characteristics of commercial potential or military significance. “Fan” (troublesome) stood for places with a great deal of onerous official business. “Pi” (wearisome) was the area having difficulty collecting taxes. “Nan” (difficult) referred to the places with crime-prone subjects and recurring violent engagement. Moreover, posts of jurisdictions containing all four elements would be ranked as very important positions and posts of places with three elements would be rated as important posts, whereas posts of places having less than two elements would be tagged as middle-level positions (two elements) or easy posts (one-zero element) respectively.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: In this way, the post designation (Chong, Fan, Pi, and Nan) was linked to the importance rating system hand in hand. The appointment power then was allocated based on the importance rating system; posts marked as very important and important were subject to the discretionary appointment by the emperor or provincial leaders, whereas other less important posts still were assigned by drawing lots. As a result, the high-quality officials were matched to the important positions and in turn promoted local governance.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Yi Zhongtian commented that Yongzheng had a very flexible and pragmatic tastes of talent enrollment, based on the advices of Ortai: ""Amongst affairs, there are both essential and trivial, easy and challenging. Amongst people, there are both soft and hard, long and short."" The emperor, therefore, did not use dogmatic and abstract criteria of "talents" and "morality", instead he acknowledged that every person both have strengths and defects and the tasks given to him should be tailored to suit his specific traits. For example, Li Wei had a very rude personality, but he was brave and clever, Yongzheng assigned him tasks related to law enforcement, criminal punishment and rebel liquidation. Zhu Shih, a scholar with upright and good personality, was appointed as teacher for the future Qianlong Emperor. Tian Wenjing had many personality defects and was heavily criticized by contemporaries, but was favoured by Yongzheng due to his hard-working, devotion and loyalty. Chang Sanle, Wuqiao district chief, had upright and transparent moral conduct, but lacked fevernt in work, hence he was re-assigned to an educational post and removed from administrative works. However, the most critical criterion for the government magistrate was "sincerity" towards the emperor. The magistrate's works, reports, criticisms, suggestion, even flattery and blandishment, should be performed with sincere devotion to and sympathy with the emperor's interests and stance. Suggestion and criticism with adequate "sincerity", even if they were flawed and incorrect, was usually praised by Yongzheng. On the other hand, suggestions which were considered to only serving the magistrate's selfish interests and fame, or to only currying the favour from the emperor, even if the suggestions were accurate and reasonable, would be heavily criticized by Yongzheng and the magistrate could be punished severely. That was the reason behind Yongzheng's apparently "erratic" and "unpredictable" behaviors in punishing and rewarding his subordinates.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Emperor Kangxi's long reign left lasting achievements, but also many flaws and maladies, including budget deficit, unadequate tax revenues, and huge debts. Corruption was widespread, and magistrates and aristocrats frequently borrowed money from the national treasure without any sign of returning the money. Therefore, right after his enthronement, Yongzheng immediatedly began the crackdown against corruption and financial issues. Utilizing his experience during the time as a prince, the emperor used an unconventional approach: first he anticipated the counter-measures that corrupted magistrates might employ to evade state punishment, then devised the emperor's own counter-measures against the magistrates.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: To counter the local magistrated well-built networks, Yongzheng organized a group of inspectors consisted of independent Imperial Commissioners and "clean" local chiefs, assisted with a group of regional officer-to-be. When a regional magistrate was found guilty, he would be replaced by a corresponding member amongst the inspector group who had no connection of interest with the local clique and therefore would naturally do his best to continue the purge. Furthermore, local people was forbidden to lend money to their magistrates, preventing them to temporarily transfer the borrowed money to the local treasure to mask the deficits. Yongzheng also created an independent Inquisition Association to examine all the spending and revenue documents to prevent local officers from bribing the Ministry of Revenue to fabricate the financial reports. To prevent the magistrates from fabricating the corruption cases as merely "deificit spending", Yongzheng demanded that the case of deficit spending must be investigated first, and punishment, sanction and compensation should be performed first in the case of deficit spending. Equivocation between deficit spending and corruption was strictly prohibited.


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: To prevent the guilty magistrates from further exploit the people to compensate for their deficit spending, Yongzheng immediately dismissed the magistrate before compensation began. Dismissed magistrates no longer had authority over the people and had no choice but using their own properties to compensate. As the punished magistrate might use other connections as alternative for their lost authority, paying compensation on behalf of them was also strictly prohibited. The properties of their families and relatives was also confisticated for the compensation payment if necessary. In the cases of magistrates committing suicide to avoid punishment, Yongzheng demanded that their family and descendants had to shoulder the punishment and compensation for the deceased one. The emperor himself admit that he want to see the guilty magistrate's descendants ""live in poverty and misery."" Yongzheng's drastic punishment earned him the nickname "Emperor of confiscation".


title: Yongzheng Emperor

text: Beside harsh punishment, Yongzheng also improved the state officer's income to remove their incentive for corruption. He created a "Fund for transparency nuturing" from government additional revenues, which was now regulated and controlled by the central government, to provide copious allowance for state magistrate, enabled their daily expenses to be covered without accepting bribes. Magistrates not eligible for the Fund's money also received other kinds of allowances, and officers on business trips were also provide an allowance to cover their essential expenses, which had to be reported to the government. The "transparency nuturing" allowances beside removing the corruption incentive, also helped to publicized the magistrate's incomes, enabled the state to monitor, evaluate and detect any potential signs of corruption. Furthermore, all kinds of gifts and "ritual fees" was now strictly prohibited.