In the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youluo relied on the strength of Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang and others in the remnants of the Great Western Army to survive in Yunnan and other places, and forced the Ming Dynasty to continue its national fortunes for 16 years. However, there is no suspense in the unification of the Qing court. In 1661, when the Qing army attacked Yunnan, the Yongli Emperor had to abandon Yunnan and flee to Burma, where he was taken in by The Burmese King Mangda.
I think that in those years, the Yongli Emperor took the throne in Guangdong and became emperor, and before he had a few days of stability, he was chased and beaten by the Qing army like a wolf tiger, and fled all the way from Guangdong to Guangxi, from Guangxi to Guizhou, from Guizhou to Yunnan, from Yunnan to Burma, and was already exhausted and scattered. However, after arriving in Burma, the Qing army did not follow in, allowing the Yongli Emperor to rest for a while.
However, just when the Qing court had given up pursuing the Yongli Emperor due to insufficient troops, material resources, and financial resources, a person stepped forward and resolutely pursued the Yongli Emperor. This person was Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi.
The image of Wu Sangui in film and television dramas
Wu Sangui was originally a ming dynasty general who guarded Shanhaiguan. After the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself, Wu Sangui opened Shanhaiguan and released the Qing army into the customs, and was named "King of Pingxi" by the Qing court. After that, Wu Sangui became an eagle dog in the Qing court, no longer mentioning the so-called "revenge of the father", but leading his troops to attack the three major regimes that resisted the Qing army: Daxi, Dashun and Nanming. In order to show his loyalty to the Qing court, Wu Sangui not only brutally strangled the peasant rebel army, but also spared no effort to encircle and suppress the descendants of Zhu Ming who had rebelled against the Qing. In 1659, it was Wu Sangui who personally led his troops to attack Yunnan and drove the Yongli Emperor to Burma.
Is that enough? Not really. In August 1660, Wu Sangui went to the imperial court and pointed out the necessity of sending troops to Burma. Wu Sangui said that if the Yongli Emperor is allowed to stay in Burma, it will lead to "three troubles and two difficulties" in Yunnan. In order to solve the "three troubles and two difficulties", "only if we enter the army in time, collect the overall situation early, and sincerely make the foreign sins clean, then there will be no worries about gaps in the border, no end of confusion in toast, no will to wait and see, the local area will have a little relief, the people's strength can be slightly relieved, and several profits will be saved in one fell swoop." ”
After receiving Wu Sangui's report, the Shunzhi Emperor decided to agree with Wu Sangui's opinion after a meeting of the king, Belle, and ministers, and ordered the minister of internal affairs, Ai Xing'a, to lead the Eight Banner Army from Beijing to Yunnan to assist Wu Sangui in marching into Burma and capturing the Yongli Emperor.
In November of that year, the Qing army led by Wu Sangui and Ai Xing'a arrived at the China-Myanmar border. Wu Sangui and Ai Xing'a sent a letter to King Mang Da of Burma, saying: "Wu Sangui, Man Ning, the commander-in-chief of the Ai Xing A Dispatch, and others led their divisions to pursue them, and led a large army straight to the city of Burma. The first dispatcher sent a message to the Burmese chieftain, ordering the executioner to send the pseudo-Yongli Zhu Youluo, otherwise the soldiers would come to the city and regret it. ”
At the beginning of the Yongli Emperor's entry into Burma, Mangda was relatively friendly to them. Wu Sangui's army pressed the border, causing panic on the Burmese side. On May 23, 1661, Mang Da's younger brother Mang Bai staged a palace coup, killed Mang Da, and established himself as king. Mang Bai had long been dissatisfied with the Yongli Emperor and his party, and at this time took the opportunity to launch the "Difficulty of Spelling Water", killing the guards and entourage around the Yongli Emperor, as well as Mu Tianbo, the Duke of Qianguo, who escorted the Yongli Emperor into Burma.
On January 22, 1662, Mang Bai handed over the Yongli Emperor to Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui victory class teacher.
Next, what to do with the Yongli Emperor? Wu Sangui and Ai Xing'a had a disagreement. Ai Xing'a offered to escort Yongli to Beijing for disposal by the imperial court. Wu Sangui did not agree, and wanted to execute the Yongli Emperor on the spot. The two argued for a long time, and neither could convince the other, so they had to report it to the imperial court.
Four months later, the imperial court replied: "Emperor Ren ordered grace to avoid sacrificing prisoners" and "the eternal calendar will be corrected." So, how to kill the Yongli Emperor? Wu Sangui proposed "beheading". Ai Xing'a disagreed, he thought that the Yongli Emperor had also been the king of a country, and beheading was too cruel for him, so it was better to give him suicide and keep the whole corpse, "He was also a king, and all his heads could be." ”
Wu Sangui listened and no longer insisted on his own opinion. Subsequently, the Yongli Emperor and the crown prince and others were all hanged at the Qizipo Golden Cicada Temple on the west side of Wuhua Mountain in Yunnan. Later, according to the harmonic sound of Castor Slope, people called this place "Forced Death Slope".
At this point, the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty was completely destroyed. Why did Wu Sangui exterminate the Yongli Emperor? On the one hand, it is to be loyal to the new master, the Qing court. For this point, the Hong Kong novelist Jin Yong once said in "Deer Ding" through Wei Xiaobao's mouth:
"Wei Xiaobao added: 'I heard that the Yongli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty chased Wang Ye from Yunnan to Burma, and finally caught it, and hanged Wang Ye with a bow string...' He said and pointed to a bow on the wall and asked, 'I don't know if this bow was used?' Wu Sangui killed emperor Yongli of the Ming Dynasty in order to show his determination to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty, and even more without a heart, after all, he was deeply ashamed in his heart, and no one in the palace dared to mention this matter, but Wei Xiaobao actually exposed his sore scars in front of his face, and the anger in his chest was irrepressible for a while. ”
On the other hand, Wu Sangui also wanted to emulate Mu Ying in the early Ming Dynasty and guard Yunnan for generations. And in order to defend Yunnan, it is necessary to eliminate the forces of the Yongli Emperor and eliminate all potential threats once and for all.
However, Wu Sangui miscalculated. He did not count the attitude of the Qing court. How could the Qing court allow Wu Sangui to divide one side in Yunnan? When the situation in Yunnan subsided, the Qing court soon began to reduce Wu Sangui's power and deprive him of his military power. Later, the Kangxi Emperor even launched a retreat to force Wu Sangui to rebel.