"The Zheng clan did not go out of Taiwan, but managed in vain to build a plan for the founding of the country, and Sima Zhang wrote poetry; that is, those who had the virtuous Zheng clan were not only between Tian Heng and Xu Shi. So-and-so thinks so! Since the dust of Burma, the unification of the Central Plains has been extinguished, and the Zheng clan has crowned the island with the clothes of a brigade, calling it Zhengshuo. Huang Zongxi's evaluation of Zheng Chenggong can be described as extremely high, but it is a pity that such a national hero was actually killed by his own son, which cannot but make people sigh.
Zheng Chenggong was born in 1624 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, his original name was Zheng Sen, his father Zheng Zhilong, and his mother Tian Chuanshi. Because he was given the surname Zhu by the Southern Ming Longwu Emperor Zhu Yujian, the name was successful, so he changed his name to Zhu Chenggong, and the world generally called him "Zheng Zhi surname" and "national surname Ye". In 1645, the Qing army invaded Jiangnan, Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Qing army, and the Tianchuan clan committed suicide, but Zheng Chenggong did not follow his father, he carried the banner of anti-Qing restoration.
Zheng Chenggong led his father's old troops to continue to resist the Qing along the coast, and once surrounded Qingjiangning Province by sea raid, but unfortunately because of the disparity in strength, it was eventually repelled by the Qing army, and held on to Xiamen and Kinmen with the advantage of naval battles. In 1661, Zheng Chenggong led an army across the Taiwan Strait, and the following year defeated the Dutch East India Company's garrison in Taiwan and recaptured Taiwan.
After the recovery of Taiwan, Zheng Chenggong, who was in his prime, could be described as full of vigor, and he wanted to rely on taiwan to accumulate strength and counterattack the Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop, but unfortunately, Zheng Chenggong, who was in the year of the fight, suddenly fell seriously ill and died at the age of 39. Zheng Chenggong's death shocked the world, but what was even more jaw-dropping than this was the Zheng family scandal that broke out at the same time. The maker of this family scandal is none other than Zheng Chenggong's eldest son, Zheng Jing, who is stationed in Xiamen.
Zheng Jing's wife is the granddaughter of the original Bingbu Shangshu Tang Xianyue, and the two sides can be said to be door-to-door, but unfortunately, feelings are sometimes not determined by Mendi. Zheng Jing did not like this wife, and his real infatuation was Chen Zhaoniang, the nursing mother of the fourth brother Zheng Rui, and had an affair with her and gave birth to Zheng Kezang. Zheng Chenggong, who learned that the eldest grandson was born, was very happy, and he did not know that this grandson was Zheng Jing's illegitimate son.
However, Tang Xianyue, as a pro-family member, obviously would not be happy because of this matter, and he directly wrote to Zheng Chenggong about Zheng Jing's secret love for the nursing mother and giving birth to a child, and the wording was very fierce, "Three fathers and eight mothers, the nursing mother is also one of them." Let Lang Fox give birth to a child, do not hear the blame, but reward the bribe. This rule of the family is not correct, can it govern the country? "Zheng Chenggong is a national surname given by Emperor Mengxian, and he is an excellent face who grew up in the Confucian millennium ethical norms.
When he received Tang Xianyue's complaint, he was naturally angry that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. At that time, he ordered Huang Yu, the capital minister, to go to Kinmen with his cousin Zheng Tai to execute his wife Lady Dong on the charge of "not governing the family strictly", and also to behead Zheng Jing, Chen Zhaoniang, and Zheng Kezang together. However, Zheng Tai felt that if he really killed Lady Dong's group of people according to his cousin's request, it would cause a terrible disaster and even shake the rule of the Zheng clan.
He negotiated with his generals not to kill Zheng Jing, the young lord, and only execute his nursing mother Chen Zhaoniang and his illegitimate son Zheng Kezang. Hearing that Zheng Tai refused to carry out the order, the angry Zheng Chenggong sent Huang Yu to Kinmen again, and once again asked Zheng Tai and others to execute a group of People of Lady Dong, but Zheng Tai did not expect that Zheng Tai would directly arrest Huang Yu and hand him over to Zheng Jing.
The furious Zheng Chenggong directly sent his troops to South Australia and ordered the general Zhou Quanbin to go to Xiamen to execute Zheng Jing, but Hong Youding went to Tongshan, and Zheng Jing detained Zhou Quanbin, and Hong Youding, who heard the news, retreated and did not dare to go. Zheng Chenggong did not have a good year this year, at the beginning of the year, his father who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty was beheaded in Beijing, and the last emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Yongli Emperor, was betrayed by the Burmese king to Wu Sangui, and finally died in Kunming.
One bad news after another made Zheng Chenggong suffer a blow, and he was already overworked and sick in bed, when he heard that Kinmen and Xiamen openly disobeyed, he directly attacked his heart and could not afford to be sick. However, although he was already terminally ill, he looked in the direction of Penghu every day, hoping that Hong Youding would return to his life after completing his orders, but unfortunately he could not wait, and in the last moments of his life, the angry and aggressive Zheng Chenggong did not even want to drink medicine.
Unconscious several times, he pounded his chest and said loudly: "Since my own country drifted zero, Pillow Ge has been crying blood for six years. Today's screen is in the wilderness, and the world is donated! Loyalty and filial piety lose two losses, and death is not blind! Heaven forbid! Why should the lone minister be so extreme? "A generation of national heroes was killed by their sons, and they were overwhelmed with lamentation! After Zheng Chenggong's death, a great internal split occurred in the Zheng clique, and Zheng Jing used his wrists to pretend to make peace with the Qing court on the one hand, and on the other hand, he led an army to Taiwan to seize power, and finally ended the infighting.
However, the severely weakened Zheng clique was no longer able to resist the Qing army's attack, and in 1663, the Qing court captured Kinmen and Xiamen, and in 1664, Zheng Jing retreated to Taiwan. A generation of national heroes has finally been planted on family conflicts, which makes people sigh, if Zheng Chenggong lived for a few more years, would history be different?
Resources:
"The Beginning and end of the surname"
《Sea Chronicle》