In 1644, the Dashun army attacked the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself, and the 276-year-old Guozuo of the Ming Dynasty was declared extinct.
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the remnants of the Ming Dynasty established the Southern Ming regime in the south to continue to fight against the Qing and Dashun.
In 1662, Zheng successfully expelled the Dutch colonists to regain Taiwan, and Zheng successfully established Dongning Province in Taiwan to administer Taiwan. But then Zheng Chenggong died of illness, and his son Zheng Jing took the throne.
At this time, the Southern Ming Dynasty was destroyed after experiencing the Hongguang, Longwu, and Yongli regimes, and the last emperor, Zhu Youluo, was captured by Wu Sangui and then killed.
The Zhu family's royal family on the mainland had almost been exterminated. Zhu Shugui, the King of Ningjing in Taiwan, became the last imperial figure of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ningjing Prince's Mansion became a symbol of the Ming Dynasty regime in Taiwan.
Zhu Shugui, king of Ningjing
At this time, Zheng Jing could have established Zhu Shugui, the King of Ningjing, as emperor of the Ming Dynasty and continued to continue the rule of the Ming Dynasty to compete with the Qing Dynasty, but as the last anti-Qing force in the country, he did not seem to have this idea, why is this?
First, although Zhu Shugui was a ming dynasty clan, because of his blood relationship, he was a distant imperial family, his reputation was generally low, and he had no influence and appeal, which was simply not enough to inherit the unification and command the whole country, even if he was called emperor, few people would respond.
Second, the Zheng clan planned to become the emperor of Taiwan himself, a corner of peace.
Unlike his father Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Jing had no affection for the Ming Dynasty, and began to snubble Zhu Shugui, the king of Ningjing, and slowly snubbed him.
After Zheng Jing's death, his son Zheng Ketuan ascended the throne, and his idea of becoming emperor became stronger and stronger, which was even worse for Zhu Shugui, who could not even get money and grain, and had no help, so he had to lead his family to reclaim land to grow grain, and lived a peasant life, and the family was so poor that he could not open the pot.
Territory of the Ming and Zheng dynasties
Third, in order to eliminate the hostility of the Qing Dynasty at that time, if Zhu Shugui was established as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, it would inevitably cause the Qing Dynasty to attack with all its might, the Qing Dynasty was originally an ethnic minority in the north, and after staying in the Central Plains, it obviously lacked orthodoxy, which made the entire Han nationality feel dissatisfied, once the ming Dynasty's widows were called emperors, we were bound to affect his rule, so he was very concerned about this problem, as long as he found someone who was called king or emperor, he would spare no effort to eliminate.
For example, the Qing Dynasty has been in charge of the Central Plains for many years, and a case of Zhu SanZi has made the Qing Dynasty anxious, and zhu san prince "such a righteous banner is often used."
During the years of Shunzhi and Kangxi, the people who revolted under the banner of "Third Prince of Zhu" were wave after wave.
According to historical records, there were more than twenty real cases of "Zhu Sanzi" in history during the Kangxi period alone.
As soon as the banner of "Third Prince Zhu" was raised, it immediately attracted a large number of anti-Qing and restoration heroes, and the rebel contingent quickly grew, igniting the hope of anti-Qing and restoration.
Therefore, at this time, it was also an irrational act to support Zhu Shugui as emperor.
No matter what, when the Zheng army was defeated and Zheng Ketuan was already planning to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Shugui was determined to repay the Ancestors of the Ming Dynasty with his death and would never surrender. He gave all the land in his family to the tenants and hanged himself. Five of his concubines had committed suicide before him as a sign of loyalty.
This kind of loyalty is also worthy of praise and admiration by future generations, because their practices touched the locals, the locals built a tomb for him, the cemetery was not specially marked, and built more than a hundred fake tombs to confuse the Qing army's search.
Thank you for reading, references: "General History of Taiwan", "History of the Southern Ming Dynasty"