Southern Ming refers to the collective name of the Ming Dynasty's capital Beijing after the fall of Beijing, which was successively established by the Ming Dynasty clans, which lasted 18 years, and was composed of Hongguang, Longwu, Lu Jianguo, and Yongli Imperial Court in the south. Among them, the Longwu regime, although it did not last long, was the wisest and most virtuous generation of the Southern Ming regime.
Map of Namming
The Longwu Emperor Zhu Yujian was supported by the Zheng family headed by Zheng Chenggong's father Zheng Zhilong, but in the end this regime was also destroyed by the Zheng family. Today I will tell you the story of the rise and fall of the Longwu regime.
One. The throne was born
Zhu Yujian was a descendant of Zhu Jue, the 23rd son of Emperor Ming of Tang, and was the ninth grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang. If he follows the order and regulations of the Ming Dynasty's orthodox succession, he will certainly not be able to become an emperor. Before becoming emperor, Zhu Yujian's experience was very bumpy, he had been in prison twice, and his hereditary "Tang King" position had also been regained.
Because Zhu Yujian's grandfather, Zhu Shuoxi, the old Tang King, liked the son he had with his concubine, and hated Zhu Jijian (Zhu Yujian's father), the son of the Tang King at that time, he secretly imprisoned Zhu Yujian's father and son (who were only 12 years old at the time) in prison, hoping to starve them alive.
Later, his dying father was poisoned by his brother, who was bent on seizing the throne. Zhu Yujian was saved by a righteous local official, who was able to save his life and inherit the throne of Tang.
Stills of Emperor Longwu Zhu Yujian
Zhu Yujian was imprisoned for the second time because when the Qing Dynasty prince led troops to attack Northern Zhili and other places directly approaching Beijing. Ignoring the state rule that "the king of the domain does not command the army", Emperor Shangshu pleaded with The King of Qin, and the Chongzhen Emperor was furious, and issued an edict deposing him as a Shuren, and also sent Jinyi Wei to imprison the Tang King in the Fengyang Imperial Prison, and his position as King of Tang was also regained.
In 1644 (the seventeenth year of Chongzhen), because the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself in Beijing, the Ming Dynasty's retainers supported Zhu Yousong, the Fu prince who had escaped from Luoyang, as emperor, and took the throne in Nanjing, changing the era name to Hongguang and implementing a general amnesty. Zhu Yujian, who was imprisoned in Fengyang, was released and made the King of Nanyang.
In May 1645 (the second year of Qing Shunzhi and the first year of the Southern Ming Dynasty), the Qing army broke through Nanjing, and the Hongguang Dynasty collapsed. The crowd also pushed Zhu Changshu, the king of Lu, to call himself "Jianguo" (acting emperor) in Hangzhou, but what he did not expect was that when the Qing army was killed, Zhu Changshu, who had been pinning high hopes, and his subordinates did not make any resistance and surrendered to the Qing army.
Therefore, Zheng Zhilong (Zheng Chenggong's father) and the governor of the capital Yushi Zhang Kentang consulted with the Rebbe Shangshu Huang Daozhou and others, and Zhu Yujian was appointed as the overseer of the state. After several concessions, on June 28, 1645 (the second year of Qing Shunzhi and the first year of The Southern Ming Dynasty), Zhu Yujian agreed to supervise the state in Jianning, Fujian.
Emperor Zhu Yu of the Southern Ming Dynasty
In the leap month of Ding Hai (the seventh day of the first month), Zhu Yujian and his party arrived in Fuzhou, with the South Amber Mansion as the palace. 20 days later, Zhu Yujian officially proclaimed himself emperor in Fuzhou, changed his name to Yuan Longwu, and announced that from the beginning of July, he would change the name of Hongguang to Longwu Yuannian.
In this way, Zhu Yujian, after going through ups and downs, was blessed to become the Longwu Emperor with the support of Zheng Zhilong and others.
Two. A slightly accomplished king
It can be said that Zhu Yujian was the more capable emperor among the emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and he made certain achievements in politics, military, culture and diplomacy from the time he was in charge of the state to the throne.
Politically, he first sought to eliminate party strife; as early as when he was serving as the overseer of the country, he personally wrote three "Notes on The Gentry," "Rong Zheng," and "Ru Lin," calling on officials in the DPRK and China to abandon the dispute over the portal and jointly contribute to the great cause of restoring the Ming Dynasty; he put forward the policy of "using the gongming" in view of the harm caused by the party strife to state affairs since the Wanli Calendar; in the first month of 1646 (the second year of Longwu), he also said in the edict that no officials who had previously participated in the party struggle would be prosecuted.
In order to alleviate the suffering of the people, Emperor Longwu focused his administration on rectifying the rule of officials and severely punishing corruption. When he heard that the soldiers and civilians who were forced to shave their heads by the Qing Dynasty were often killed by the Southern Ming officials, he specially issued an edict that "those who have hair are obedient to the people, and those who have no hair are refugees" and it is strictly forbidden to indiscriminately kill innocent people.
Stills of Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty
Militarily, Emperor Longwu put forward the correct policy of "uniting with Kou to resist the Qing", summing up the lessons of the fall of Hongguang and the surrender of King Lu, and changing the "Pingkou" (i.e., suppression of peasant uprisings) to "Yu Yu" (i.e., anti-Qing) as the mainstay. The policy of raising the banner of resistance against the Qing Dynasty was in line with the aspirations of the Han people to oppose the policy of national oppression of the Manchurian nobility.
Emperor Longwu also dared to put this policy into practice, and ten days after he ascended the throne, he killed the emissary Ma Dechang sent by the Qing Dynasty to surrender, saying that he would not wear the heavens in the Qing Dynasty and would also be personally enlisted. Emperor Longwu appointed Jin Sheng, Yang Tinglin, He Tengjiao, and other anti-war factions to take in the remnants of Li Zicheng's peasant army, repeatedly planning to send troops to the Northern Expedition, and recovering lost lands such as Jingde and Ningguo in Anhui. However, in the end, because Zheng Zhilong had two hearts, the Northern Expedition ultimately failed to make the trip.
In terms of culture and diplomacy, Emperor Longwu paid attention to the importance of the imperial examination and advocated that only the wise should be sought. On August 27, 1645, he also personally proposed the selection of the elective officer. During the reign of Emperor Longwu, he also had contacts with Shang Xian, the king of the Second Shang Dynasty of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shangxian also sent his own sons and ministers to congratulate him, supporting Emperor Longwu and jointly opposing the Qing and restoring the Ming Dynasty.
Southern Ming Longwu Emperor Zhu Yujian film and television drama image
Three. Defeated by the Zheng family
The rise and fall of the Longwu regime confirms this sentence: "Success is also Xiao He, and defeat is also Xiao He." Zhu Yujian was supported by the Zheng family headed by Zheng Zhilong, but he was also defeated by the Zheng family in the end.
In terms of personnel arrangements, although Emperor Longwu vigorously refrained from the view of the portal, he did not blame in the past, and only those who participated in the anti-Qing resistance were hired according to their ability. However, due to his lack of his own talent team before he came to power, and he did not have enough fame, he could not but rely on the brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui, the powerful figures in Fujian who supported him.
When Emperor Longwu repeatedly made up his mind to go north to resist the Qing, the Zheng brothers shirked it for various reasons. Because Emperor Longwu was under the control of the Zheng clan in Fujian, he could never move his army. In addition, at that time, zhu Yihai, the king of Lu in eastern Zhejiang, sent troops to attack Emperor Longwu in order to compete for the so-called orthodox status, so that Emperor Longwu was enemies on all sides and busy coping.
Statue of Zhu Yujian, Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty
In particular, Zheng Zhilong already secretly had the intention of surrendering to the Qing army, which caused all the passes in Fujian to be left unguarded. Soon Zheng Zhilong did surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and Zheng Chenggong broke with his father and led his troops south. The Qing army won a great victory in Zhejiang and other places, successively capturing Shaoxing, Dongyang, Jinhua, and Pingzhou, and soon captured Xianxia Pass, which Zheng Hongkui was guarding, and went straight into Fujian.
On September 29, 1646 (August 21 of the second year of Longwu), Emperor Longwu had to flee from Yanping to Jiangxi after hearing that the Qing army had invaded Xianxia Pass. The Qing army continued to pursue and kill Emperor Longwu, and the Generals of the Ming Army were killed by the Qing army's arrows. Emperor Longwu was eventually shot dead while fleeing into the Tingzhou capital. The Longwu regime then collapsed.
In short, The Southern Ming Longwu Emperor Zhu Yujian was supported by the Zheng family headed by Zheng Zhilong, but in the end this regime was also defeated by the Zheng family. His experience warns us that the establishment of a political power must have its own military strength, and only by grasping the barrel of a gun can we stabilize the country; having a strong and sincerely united leadership group is also the key to a country's stability and development; and always adhering to serving the people is the magic weapon for the country's health and security.
Seated statue of Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty
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