User:Madalibi/Southern Ming

Also: Zhu Changqing, Prince of Huai

The Southern Ming dynasty refers to the remnants of the Ming regime in southern China after the Chongzhen emperor committed suicide in April 1644, and after Beijing was seized successively by rebel leader Li Zicheng and by Prince Regent Dorgon of the Qing dynasty.

The Prince of Fu and the Hongguang reign
The Prince of Fu. He arrived around Nanjing from his base in Henan, which he had fled to escape bandits and rebels who were threatening northern China. His short-lived reign as emperor under the era name Hongguang lasted from his official enthronement on 19 June 1644 to 16 June 1645, when he was captured by a Qing army led by Liu Liangzuo.

Enthronement
The news of the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide was met with consternation when it reached Nanjing in mid May 1644. The highest officials in Nanjing soon met to deliberate about how to face the crisis. Since the fate of the official heir apparent was still unknown at the time, many thought it was too early to proclaim a new emperor, but most agreed that an imperial figure was necessary to rally loyalist support for the Ming in the south. In early June 1644, the court decided that the caretaker government would be centered around Zhu Yousong, Prince of Fu, who was next in line for succession after the dead emperor's sons. When he arrived in the vicinity of Nanjing (he had come from his princedom in Henan), the Prince could count on the military and political support of Ma Shiying (馬士英) and Shi Kefa. On June 5 the Prince entered the city, the next day he accepted the title of "Protector of the State" (監國, sometimes translated as "Regent"), and on June 7 he moved into the imperial palace, where he received the insignia of his new office. Prodded by some court officials, the Prince of Fu immediately started to consider becoming Emperor. Fearing confrontation with Ma Shiying and other supporters of the Prince, Shi Kefa convinced reluctant members of the court to accept the enthronement. The Prince of Fu was officially crowned as Emperor on June 19, 1644, under the protection of Ma Shiying, who had arrived in Nanjing two days earlier with a large war fleet. It was decided that the next lunar year would be the first year of the Hongguang (弘光) reign.

Internal conflicts and final demise
The Hongguang court proclaimed that its goal was "to ally with the Tartars to pacify the bandits" (聯虜平寇), that is, to seek cooperation with Qing military forces in order to annihilate rebel peasant militia led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.

Because Ma Shiying was the main supporter of the current emperor, he started to monopolise the royal court's administration by reviving the functions of the remaining eunuchs. This resulted in rampant corruptions and illegal dealings. Moreover, Ma engaged in intense political bickering with Shi Kefa, who had been a staunch follower of the Donglin movement.

In 1645, Zuo Liangyu (左良玉) (a former warlord who now served as governor of Wuchang for the Hongguang regime) sent his troops towards Nanjing with the purpose of "clearing corrupt officials from the emperor's court." Seeing that this threat targeted him, Ma Shiying declared: "I and the emperor would rather die at the hand of the Great Qing, we will not die at the hand of Zuo Liangyu." By then, the Qing army had begun to move southwards: it had occupied Xuzhou and was preparing to cross the Huai River. Ma Shiying nonetheless ordered Shi Kefa to direct his riverine troops (which were positioned to counter the incoming Qing attack) against Zuo Liangyu.

This displacement of troops facilitated the Qing capture of Yangzhou (which led to the Yangzhou massacre) and the death of Shi Kefa in May 1645, and led almost directly to the annihilation of the Hongguang regime. After the Qing armies crossed the Yangtze River near Zhenjiang on June 1, the Hongguang Emperor fled Nanjing. Qing armies led by Manchu Prince Dodo immediately moved toward Nanjing, which surrendered without a fight on June 8, 1645. A detachment of Qing soldiers then captured the fleeing emperor on June 15, and he was brought back to Nanjing on June 18. The fallen Hongguang emperor was later transported to Beijing, where he died the following year.

The History of the Ming, written under Qing sponsorship in the eighteenth century, blamed Ma Shiying's lack of foresight, his hunger for power and money, and his thirst for private revenge for the fall of the Hongguang court.