帝國在天堂之下 Empire Under Heaven:
A Victoria (VIP) Chinese AAR
A Victoria (VIP) Chinese AAR
(Mood Music)
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Long ago the Prince of Gui (桂王) later called the Yongli Emperor, was a most noble and valorous Emperor of the Nan Ming Dynasty of the south in China. The last of his dynasty some and even said a true heir of the blood and the Mandate of Heaven to rule all the lands under the skies. A title for centuries men had fought and died for, had carried on endless conflict.
He was the last surviving Southern Ming emperor who lived long enough to see the collapse of the last vestiges of the true Chinese Imperial Dynasty in mainland China as the Manchu armies overran the lands, killing off the Prince's cousins and family to run out the last vestivgs of the Ming. Born and named Zhu Youlang (朱由榔) in 1623 to Zhu Changying (朱常瀛), the seventh son of the Wan Li (萬曆) the titular Emperor. The Yongli emperor, who was commonly known as the Prince of Gui, actually inherited this title from his brother whom was murdered by one of the Manchu's more devious assassins, finding himself pierced by a thrown blade during a ride outdoors.
From 1630 for twenty years the Ming dynasty began to fade from it's slow and shrinking Autumn into it's cold and icy Winter. The power of the Emperor was fading quickly and the Imperial title's Mandate of Heaven had all but expired. Constant popular uprisings broke out throughout the country. Intensified attacks from the Manchus further aggravated the situation. In April 1644, the popular army led by rebel Li Zicheng finally broke through the Ming defenses and occupied Beijing. Meanwhile, General Wu Sangui threw open the gates of the Shanhai Pass and invited the Manchus into China. Chongzhen gathered the entire imperial household and ordered them (except for his sons) to commit suicide rather than surrender. Hopeless and fearful for their lives, many did as they were told, including the Empress, who hanged herself. One of his daughters, Princess Chang Ping refused to commit suicide. In a fit of rage Chongzhen had her left arm severed. Chongzhen, still wearing his imperial attire, fled to the nearby Jingshan gardens 景山公園 with eunuch Wang Chengen 王承恩 . Distraught by the countless officials who had since abandoned him, Chongzhen lamented, "I should not be the emperor of a subjugated nation, but you, my subjects, must be resigned to such a fate. I have never mistreated any of the officials in my service; yet on this day, why does nary a single one remain by my side?" 吾非亡国之君,汝皆亡国之臣。吾待士亦不薄,今日至此,群臣何无一人相从?
He then hanged himself. The cold of the winter had reached it's peak.
Yet time flows as a river, and like a river repeats unto itself again and again. Such is the will of Heaven, it seems to many in these times.
On 18 November 1646, at only the young age of 21 the Prince of Gui as forementioned named Zhu Youlang ascended the throne and was crowned in great ceremony and assumed the reign name of Yongli, Son of the Heavens and Emperor of all China, the most honourable title in all the world as it was known, despite the reality of the situation. The regiments and battle-hardened armies of Manchurian and northern stock marching south and burning as they went caused chaos and panic amidst the people in an attempt to drive out any support for the true Ming Emperor. So he established his capital and center of rule in Guangzhou - also called Canton, the capital of Guangdong and ruled with great prowess.... though a fine quality in many men, this was not yet enough to stop the tide from the north. As before in the history of the middle kingdom, hordes of Qing Manchu warriors came with ferocity to no end. Yet as the weeks turned into months the wars and campaigns drew weary on the south and soon the enlightened and true Chinese would be overrun by these northern Manchurians. After an epic and long fought campaign against the Qing, the Emperor's Ming soldiers were overrun and, unable fend off the terrible and numerous northern Qing troops who were continuously sending reinforcements south in great armies and warbands towards the enlightened capital of Guangzhou in a great assault, using cannon and flame. Fires and dread filled the air as the people and court seemed to know it was the end. The Yongli emperor had no choice - lowering his head at the dissapointment of the decision, the Emperor ordered a retreat - to flee in 1650 from Guangzhou towards Nanning in order to save his life and his dynasty. However, as Wu Sangui's troops exerted a further pressure at the order of the Emperor of the north whom was obsessed with his utter destruction,, the Prince of Gui fled from city to city whom were still many loyal unto him and offered him refuge. In their wake, the terrible eventually retreated to Kunming in Yunnan in 1659 and into Burma in 1661, where he was granted refuge by the Burmese King and lived at Sagaing.
The Burmese king, however, was feeling frightened that he would lose his own kingdom as well if he continued to offer the Prince of Gui further protection. Having no choice, the King let in Wu Sangui's troops and let them arrest the Prince of Gui. In the process, most of his concubines and eunuchs, along with his small army, were either killed while defending him or ran away. The Prince of Gui was finally strangled to death by Wu Sangui in April 1662. It is said that he scorned Wu Sangui in his last moments, stating that he betrayed his people and country. He prompted Wu to kill him faster by stating that he is disgusted to see a "Traitor's face." Wu Sangui was embarrassed and enraged and thus executed him personally with his bow string. But Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui's line was not ended there, contrary to popular belief...
Yet few at the Burmese court had noticed that the Prince's young son was scooped up into the arms of one of his adopted mothers, and rushed out of the palace... to dissapear into the winds of history, or so it is said.
It is now 1836 by the calendars of the strange and Christian foreigners...
The Daoguang God-Emperor rules as the Lord of Ten Thousand Years and Heaven's chosen and elect Emperor of the Middle Kingdom and all it's vassals. He is the seventh emperor of the Imperial Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over all of the Middle Kingdom for sixteen years. To the north are the unruly barbarians and the trades of the west and north - to the east the vile Japanese pirates and to the south the strange and exotic barbarians. To the west lay 西藏 Xīzàng & Xinjian, strange lands under Imperial rule and the famed Ferghana Valley has not turned out to be the mysterious paradise the Chinese had once imagined in myth and legend. As the influence of the foreign devils grows upon their now numerous arrivals in Canton grow in number with trade and their 'enlightened' culture, it is a time when the winds of change shall blow across the Middle Kingdom if by the will of Heaven...
And of course, it is just that.
He was the last surviving Southern Ming emperor who lived long enough to see the collapse of the last vestiges of the true Chinese Imperial Dynasty in mainland China as the Manchu armies overran the lands, killing off the Prince's cousins and family to run out the last vestivgs of the Ming. Born and named Zhu Youlang (朱由榔) in 1623 to Zhu Changying (朱常瀛), the seventh son of the Wan Li (萬曆) the titular Emperor. The Yongli emperor, who was commonly known as the Prince of Gui, actually inherited this title from his brother whom was murdered by one of the Manchu's more devious assassins, finding himself pierced by a thrown blade during a ride outdoors.
From 1630 for twenty years the Ming dynasty began to fade from it's slow and shrinking Autumn into it's cold and icy Winter. The power of the Emperor was fading quickly and the Imperial title's Mandate of Heaven had all but expired. Constant popular uprisings broke out throughout the country. Intensified attacks from the Manchus further aggravated the situation. In April 1644, the popular army led by rebel Li Zicheng finally broke through the Ming defenses and occupied Beijing. Meanwhile, General Wu Sangui threw open the gates of the Shanhai Pass and invited the Manchus into China. Chongzhen gathered the entire imperial household and ordered them (except for his sons) to commit suicide rather than surrender. Hopeless and fearful for their lives, many did as they were told, including the Empress, who hanged herself. One of his daughters, Princess Chang Ping refused to commit suicide. In a fit of rage Chongzhen had her left arm severed. Chongzhen, still wearing his imperial attire, fled to the nearby Jingshan gardens 景山公園 with eunuch Wang Chengen 王承恩 . Distraught by the countless officials who had since abandoned him, Chongzhen lamented, "I should not be the emperor of a subjugated nation, but you, my subjects, must be resigned to such a fate. I have never mistreated any of the officials in my service; yet on this day, why does nary a single one remain by my side?" 吾非亡国之君,汝皆亡国之臣。吾待士亦不薄,今日至此,群臣何无一人相从?
He then hanged himself. The cold of the winter had reached it's peak.
Yet time flows as a river, and like a river repeats unto itself again and again. Such is the will of Heaven, it seems to many in these times.
On 18 November 1646, at only the young age of 21 the Prince of Gui as forementioned named Zhu Youlang ascended the throne and was crowned in great ceremony and assumed the reign name of Yongli, Son of the Heavens and Emperor of all China, the most honourable title in all the world as it was known, despite the reality of the situation. The regiments and battle-hardened armies of Manchurian and northern stock marching south and burning as they went caused chaos and panic amidst the people in an attempt to drive out any support for the true Ming Emperor. So he established his capital and center of rule in Guangzhou - also called Canton, the capital of Guangdong and ruled with great prowess.... though a fine quality in many men, this was not yet enough to stop the tide from the north. As before in the history of the middle kingdom, hordes of Qing Manchu warriors came with ferocity to no end. Yet as the weeks turned into months the wars and campaigns drew weary on the south and soon the enlightened and true Chinese would be overrun by these northern Manchurians. After an epic and long fought campaign against the Qing, the Emperor's Ming soldiers were overrun and, unable fend off the terrible and numerous northern Qing troops who were continuously sending reinforcements south in great armies and warbands towards the enlightened capital of Guangzhou in a great assault, using cannon and flame. Fires and dread filled the air as the people and court seemed to know it was the end. The Yongli emperor had no choice - lowering his head at the dissapointment of the decision, the Emperor ordered a retreat - to flee in 1650 from Guangzhou towards Nanning in order to save his life and his dynasty. However, as Wu Sangui's troops exerted a further pressure at the order of the Emperor of the north whom was obsessed with his utter destruction,, the Prince of Gui fled from city to city whom were still many loyal unto him and offered him refuge. In their wake, the terrible eventually retreated to Kunming in Yunnan in 1659 and into Burma in 1661, where he was granted refuge by the Burmese King and lived at Sagaing.
The Burmese king, however, was feeling frightened that he would lose his own kingdom as well if he continued to offer the Prince of Gui further protection. Having no choice, the King let in Wu Sangui's troops and let them arrest the Prince of Gui. In the process, most of his concubines and eunuchs, along with his small army, were either killed while defending him or ran away. The Prince of Gui was finally strangled to death by Wu Sangui in April 1662. It is said that he scorned Wu Sangui in his last moments, stating that he betrayed his people and country. He prompted Wu to kill him faster by stating that he is disgusted to see a "Traitor's face." Wu Sangui was embarrassed and enraged and thus executed him personally with his bow string. But Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui's line was not ended there, contrary to popular belief...
Yet few at the Burmese court had noticed that the Prince's young son was scooped up into the arms of one of his adopted mothers, and rushed out of the palace... to dissapear into the winds of history, or so it is said.
It is now 1836 by the calendars of the strange and Christian foreigners...
The Daoguang God-Emperor rules as the Lord of Ten Thousand Years and Heaven's chosen and elect Emperor of the Middle Kingdom and all it's vassals. He is the seventh emperor of the Imperial Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over all of the Middle Kingdom for sixteen years. To the north are the unruly barbarians and the trades of the west and north - to the east the vile Japanese pirates and to the south the strange and exotic barbarians. To the west lay 西藏 Xīzàng & Xinjian, strange lands under Imperial rule and the famed Ferghana Valley has not turned out to be the mysterious paradise the Chinese had once imagined in myth and legend. As the influence of the foreign devils grows upon their now numerous arrivals in Canton grow in number with trade and their 'enlightened' culture, it is a time when the winds of change shall blow across the Middle Kingdom if by the will of Heaven...
And of course, it is just that.
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