After the fall of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Li Dingguo and Zheng Chenggong died of illness one after another, what was the fate of their descendants?
The two giants at the end of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Zheng Chenggong on the southeast coast and Li Dingguo in the southwest, adhered to the great cause of resisting the Qing Dynasty for a long time and supported half of the Southern Ming Dynasty. However, at the last moment of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang was betrayed by Wu Sangui, which led to the fall of the Southern Ming Dynasty. With the last glimmer of hope for Nanming dashed, Li Dingguo and Zheng Chenggong passed away one after another, so where are the descendants of the two heroes going?
The Nanming regime experienced a special fate in 1662. In January, the Burmese king Mang Mengbai handed over the Yongli Emperor to Wu Sangui, the king of Pingxi of the Qing Dynasty. In April, Wu Sangui betrayed and ended the life of Emperor Yongli. The news reached Yunnan, causing Li Dingguo to die in agony, and finally died in June. At the same time, Zheng Chenggong also died in Taiwan a month ago.
The emperor has fallen, the heroes have returned to heaven, and what will happen to their descendants?First of all, let's look at Li Dingguo's descendants. On his deathbed, Li Dingguo arranged the funeral for his son Li Sixing. Because Li Sixing was young, he entrusted himself to the general Jin Tongwu, and instructed: "I'd rather die in the wilderness than surrender!."It expressed his determination to die in the wilderness of the barren mountains rather than surrender to the Qing Dynasty.
However, it backfired. Li Dingguo's cousin Ma Siliang colluded with the commanders Hu Shundu and Wang Daoheng to murder Jin Tongwu and lead the army to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, Bai Wenxuan, Liu Zhen and others also surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. The young Li Sixing could not control the army and had no choice but to surrender.
In September 1662, only three months after Li Dingguo's death, Li Sixing submitted a letter of surrender to Wu Sangui. In November, he presented Nanming's treasure seal and the roster of officers and soldiers. A month later, Li Sixing led the remnants of the officers and soldiers and their families to Erhai to accept the reorganization of the Qing Dynasty. At this time, he had only more than 1,200 people under his command, more than half of whom were family members. At that time, the Qing Dynasty was ruled by ministers such as Sony and Aobai, and in the name of Emperor Kangxi, he decreed that "Li Sixing should confer the grade of the capital".
At the same time, Li Sixing was incorporated into the Eight Banners of the Han Army and served as a staff leader. During the Kangxi period, he also served as the governor of Tongzhi, Shaanxi and Ningxia, and died of illness in 1692, buried in Beijing, and received a pension from the imperial court. Li Sixing's son, Li Tianzhi, also became an outstanding general, who was highly valued during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng and served as a palace guard. It can be seen that Li Dingguo's descendants achieved a good status in the Qing Dynasty.
The history of Zheng Chenggong's descendants is full of twists and turns. After Zheng Chenggong's death, his son Zheng Jing took over the rule of Taiwan. However, after Zheng Jing's death, internal strife continued, and Zheng Kezang, who was supposed to succeed to the throne, was overthrown and tragically killed. With the support of Feng Xifan, the young Zheng Kexuan became the king of Yanping County at the age of 12. In 1683, Emperor Kangxi assigned Shi Lang to lead his army, and after winning the Battle of Penghu, Feng Xifan persuaded Zheng to surrender to the Qing Dynasty.
Subsequently, Emperor Kangxi conferred on Zheng Kexuan as a duke, subordinate to the Han Army's Zhenghong Banner. Despite having the honorific title of duke, he was effectively placed under house arrest in Beijing. In the following 20 years, Zheng Kexuan only left the capital twice. Due to the large population of the Zheng family, the income was far from enough, and the life fell into poverty. Finally, in 1707, at the age of 37, Zheng Kexuan died in Beijing. Although his son failed to inherit the title, the descendants of the Zheng family once served as generals in the Qing Dynasty.