For the length of the Ming Dynasty Guozuo, its most conventional algorithm is that in 1368 AD, Zhu Yuanzhang officially called the emperor in Nanjing, and by 1664, Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, and the Chongzhen Emperor Jingshan Zihan, etc., a total of 276 years;
But if we count several small imperial courts in the Southern Ming Dynasty, then the Ming Dynasty's Guozuo can be increased to 294 years; if we also count the Ming Zheng regime of Zheng Chenggong, then the Ming Dynasty's Guozuo can be increased to 313 years.
But under normal circumstances, historians will not regard the Southern Ming and Ming Zheng as a continuation of the Ming Dynasty, why is this?
First, the political team between the Ming Dynasty and the Southern Ming Dynasty has been completely different, and the capital has been breached.
The similarity of the political team has always been an important criterion for distinguishing whether there is an inheritance relationship between the two regimes, and the political team of the orthodox Ming Dynasty has been scattered with Li Zicheng's attack on Beijing and the Chongzhen Emperor's Jingshan Zishan!
None of the political teams of the Southern Ming regimes was the same as the orthodox Ming Dynasty, and the same reason was the same for Ming Zheng.
Second, although the emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty all had royal blood, there was a huge controversy over whether they were legitimate heirs.
This kind of controversy has existed throughout the birth of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and even caused serious party strife for this reason, and people's hearts are impetuous, resulting in a lot of unnecessary internal friction.
For example, the three cases of Nandu, the Case of Great Compassion, the Case of the False Prince, and the Case of Concubine Tong all posed a great threat to the legitimacy of the throne of Emperor Zhu Yousong of hongli at that time.
Third, these regimes in the Southern Ming Dynasty had a short lifespan, and they were in exile everywhere, not really complete regimes, and many of the real powers of these regimes were controlled by warlords, such as the Yongli regime that had survived for sixteen years, after its establishment, it was constantly fleeing, fleeing all the way to Yunnan and Burma, not even the capital, and it was difficult to call it an orthodox regime under such a circumstance.
Fourth, this is recorded in the "History of Ming"
Now, the most official history book that records the history of the Ming Dynasty is the "History of Ming" jointly compiled by Zhang Tingyu and other officials of the Qing Dynasty, which the rulers of the Qing Dynasty have collected for their own purposes, a total of 276 years of history from the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to the Ming Sizong Zhu Youjian.
Since the "History of Ming", which is one of the twenty-four histories, has already been recorded in this way, then people in later generations will naturally be able to follow the trend!
In summary, the history of the Southern Ming and Ming Dynasties cannot be incorporated into the orthodox history of the Ming Dynasty, because if even they can be regarded as a continuation of the dynasty, then many problems will arise.
For example, can the Shu Han established by Liu Bei also be regarded as a continuation of the Han Dynasty; can the pseudo-Manchukuo established by the Japanese around the last emperor Puyi be regarded as a continuation of the Qing Dynasty?
In this regard, the author's personal views are all negative, shu Han can not be regarded as a continuation of the Han Dynasty; Southern Ming and Ming Zheng can not be regarded as a continuation of the Ming Dynasty, and pseudo-Manchukuo cannot be regarded as a continuation of the Qing Dynasty!