Zheng Chenggong’s achievements

Zheng Chenggong was born in Senrihama, Hirado, Kawauchiura, Kyushu, Japan, on July 14, the fourth year of Ming Dynasty (August 27, 1624/the first year of Kanei, Japan). His father, Zheng Zhilong, was the leader of maritime merchants and pirates. He had great power on the southeastern coast of China and the waters of Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Zheng Chenggong lived with his mother in Hirado until he was six years old. It was not until his father Zheng Zhilong was recruited and appointed as an official by the Ming Dynasty that Zheng Chenggong was taken back to Shijingjin, Nan'an County, Quanzhou Prefecture (formerly Anping Town, Jinjiang County, Fujian Province, now Anhai Town) to live and study. It is now the site of Chenggong Primary School. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1638), Zheng Chenggong passed the scholar examination and passed the examination to become one of the twenty "Linshan students" in Nan'an County. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen (1641), he married the niece of Dong Yangxian, the minister of the Ministry of Rites of Jinshi in Hui'an, Quanzhou, Fujian. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), Zheng Chenggong entered the Nanjing Imperial College in order to pursue further studies, and became a disciple of Qian Qianyi, a famous scholar from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In order to encourage Zheng Chenggong, Qian Qianyi nicknamed him "Damu". In the same year, Li Zicheng conquered Yanjing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Meishan, and the Ming Empire fell. Wu Sangui then led the Qing army into the pass, defeated Li Zicheng and entered Beijing. The surviving ministers of the Ming Dynasty supported the Fu Wang Zhu Yousong in Nanjing and ascended the throne. The following year (1645), the name was changed to "Hongguang". In May of the first year of Hongguang (1645), Prince Duduo of Yu of the Qing Dynasty led his army southward and defeated Yangzhou and Nanjing. Shi Kefa and others died for their country, and Emperor Hongguang was captured and killed. The Hongguang regime fell.

Longwu period

After the overthrow of the Hongguang Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty in 1645, brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui supported the Tang king Zhu Yujian in Fuzhou and proclaimed himself emperor. The month was changed to "Longwu". Later in the same year, Zhu Yihai, King of Lu, also called the Jianguo in Shaoxing, and changed the next year to "the first year of the Lujianguo". Although the two regimes of Longwu and Lujianguo were both "determined to restore", they were contradictory and conflicting with each other, and each went his own way. In the first year of Longwu (1645), Zheng Chenggong was appreciated by Emperor Longwu, who granted him the title of Zhongxiao Bo and the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Camp. He was given a national surname, changed his name to "Shenggong", and became the consort. Zheng Hongkui's son Zheng Zhaoji was also granted a national surname by Emperor Longwu. This is the reason why people call Zheng Chenggong the "Master of the country"; Zheng Zhaoji is called "the master of the country" because he is young. From the second year of Longwu (1646), Zheng Chenggong began to lead the army. He was ordered to go in and out of Fujian and Jiangxi to fight against the Qing troops many times, and he was highly regarded by Emperor Longwu. However, Zheng Zhilong, who really held the military and political power, had no intention of fighting the Qing army with all his strength. He even ordered the Xianxia Pass guard Shi Fu (also known as Shi Tianfu, Shi Lang's uncle) to withdraw his troops to Fuzhou when the Qing army marched south to Fujian. This move resulted in the Qing army encountering almost no resistance when they invaded northern Fujian. The second minister, Hong Chengchou, was a fellow villager of Zheng Zhilong. Under the inducement of his promise to give the princes of the three provinces, Zheng Zhilong decided to take his other sons northward to surrender to the Qing army, regardless of the opposition of Zheng Chenggong, Zheng Hongkui and others. Zheng Chenggong failed to dissuade his father, so he had to leave Kinmen with some of his soldiers. Zheng Zhilong originally thought that after surrendering to the Qing army, he would not only keep his family business, but also get a promotion. Unexpectedly, the Qing army general Bolo broke the promise and not only took Zheng Zhilong and his disciples to Yanjing, but also sent troops to attack Nan'an, the hometown of the Zheng family in southern Fujian. Zheng Chenggong's mother, the Tagawa family, had moved from Japan to settle in Nan'an at that time, but unfortunately she encountered this disaster and hanged herself during the war. When Zheng Chenggong learned that his mother had died, he strengthened his determination to fight against the Japanese invaders. In August of the second year of Longwu, the Qing army captured Pucheng and Xiapu. Emperor Longwu fled to Jiangxi, but was captured by the Qing army in Tingzhou. After that, he went on an unyielding hunger strike and died.

Raising troops to fight against the Qing Dynasty

Schematic diagram of Zheng Chenggong’s sphere of influence

After Zheng Chenggong escaped from Kinmen, he began to recruit troops from various coastal areas and incorporated Zheng Zhilong’s old troops, and even raised troops in South Australia Thousands of troops. In December of the second year of Longwu (January 1647), Zheng Chenggong swore to fight against the Qing Dynasty in Lieyu (Little Kinmen) in the name of "loyalty and filial piety. In July of the third year of Longwu (1647), Zheng Chenggong and Zheng Cai's troops attacked Haicheng but failed. In August, Chenggong and Zheng Hongkui's troops encircled Quanzhou City. Wang Jin, deputy general of Zhangzhou of the Qing army, arrived with reinforcements. Zheng's army was defeated and retreated. In the fourth year of Longwu (1648), Lu Ruoteng, governor of Zhejiang Province in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and others returned. After Zheng Chenggong accumulated strength, he attacked again and conquered Tong'an County. In May, Zheng's army besieged Quanzhou.

The Battle of the Yangtze River and Nanjing

In the twelfth year of Yongli (1658), Zheng Chenggong led a navy and army of 170,000 to join forces with Zhang Huangyan in eastern Zhejiang and decided to launch a large-scale northern expedition. Before the army entered the Yangtze River, it encountered a hurricane in the Yangshan Sea and suffered heavy losses, so it had to temporarily retreat to Xiamen. The following year, Zheng Chenggong once again led the army in the Northern Expedition. Together with Zhang Huangyan's troops, they successfully entered the Yangtze River and conquered Zhenjiang and Guazhou one after another. They successively won the battles of Dinghaiguan, Guazhou and Zhenjiang, and surrounded Nanjing. Zhang Huangyan's troops also recovered more than ten prefectures and counties in the Wuhu area, and Jiangdong was shaken for a while. Later, because Zheng Chenggong succeeded in the Qing army's plan to slow down the troops, he was unexpectedly attacked by the Qing army. As a result, the Zheng army was defeated and lost many generals, including Gan Hui, Wan Li, Lin Sheng, Chen Kui, Zhang Ying and other generals who died in the battle. After Zheng Chenggong was defeated, he tried to capture Chongming County as a base for another attack on the Yangtze River, but was unable to capture it for a long time and had to retreat to Xiamen. The Battle of Nanjing can be said to be the most important battle in Zheng Chenggong's career, but it prospered first and then declined, ending in a major defeat, which dealt a fatal setback to Zheng Chenggong's anti-Qing cause. In the 14th year of Yongli's reign, he annihilated more than 40,000 naval troops led by the Qing general Dasu at Haimen Port in Fujian (now Longhaidong), won the Battle of Xiamen, and regained his prestige.

Recovering and building the treasure island of Taiwan

Restoration model of Relanzha City

After the failure of the Northern Expedition to Nanjing, Zheng Chenggong’s troops were severely weakened and faced the problem of insufficient military rations. question. In order to solve the logistical problems of the army, Zheng Chenggong decided to go to Taiwan. In the fifteenth year of Yongli's reign (1661), Zheng Chenggong personally led 25,000 soldiers and hundreds of warships, setting out from Liaoluo Bay in Kinmen, passing through Penghu, and marching towards Taiwan. The Netherlands had two major defensive fortresses in Taiwan, one was Fort Zeelandia (today's Anping Castle in Tainan City) in Dazhuang, and the other was Prominzia City in Chikan, inland of the Taijiang River. On the first day of April (April 30, 1661), Zheng's army entered the Taijiang Inland Sea via the Lu'ermen Sea Channel and landed at Heliao Port (near Kaiyuan Temple in today's North District, Tainan City), intending to first capture the weakly defended Polominzha City. (Provinta, today’s Chikan Tower, Tainan). Zheng Jun then launched a naval battle with Dutch warships in the waters of the Taijiang River, sank the Dutch warship Hector, and gained control of the inland waters of the Taijiang River. At the same time, he defeated the Dutch army in the northern end of the line and surrounded the city of Prominzha with superior force. Soon, on April 5 (May 4, 1661), the defenders of Prominzha City were forced to surrender. On May 2, Zheng Chenggong changed the Chikan area to Mingjing, the eastern capital, and established one prefecture and two counties. The prefecture was Chengtian Prefecture, Tianxing County, and Wannian County. Illustrations from the book "The Forgotten Formosa"

After taking the city of Plominja as a stronghold, the Zheng army immediately besieged the city of Relanja by sea and land. Considering that it was not easy to arrange food and pay for a 20,000-strong army, Zheng Chenggong did not plan for a protracted war. He put pressure on the city of Jelandja from the beginning, trying to coerce the Dutch army to surrender. After the Dutch Chief Minister Frederik Coyett rejected his surrender request, Zheng Chenggong once ordered a storming of the city of Jelandje. However, he encountered extremely stubborn resistance from the Dutch army, and Zheng's army suffered heavy losses. Due to the inability to attack by force and the shortage of food for the army, Zheng Chenggong was forced to change his strategy and sent most of his troops to farm fields in the north and south to collect money and food. In order to relieve the army's urgent need of food shortage, Zheng Chenggong changed to a long-term siege strategy for the city of Relanja. In July of the 15th year of Yongli (1661), reinforcements dispatched by the Dutch East India Company from Batavia arrived in Dazhang. In addition to more than 600 soldiers and 11 warships, the reinforcements also brought the city of Gerlandia. Get lots of supplies and gunpowder. At that time, Zheng Chenggong's military strength was still dispersed across Taiwan to carry out tasks. The number of troops stationed in Daguan and Puluminzhacheng towns was estimated to be less than 3,000, which rekindled the Dutch army's hope of counterattack. In mid-July, the Dutch reinforcements anchored offshore were hit by strong winds and were forced to leave the coast of Dazhuang and go to Penghu to escape the wind and rain. Among them, the Dutch warship Urck unfortunately ran aground, and all the people on board were captured by Zheng's army. This incident gave the Zheng Army a temporary opportunity to prepare. By the time the Dutch warships returned to the Taiyuan Sea in August, the Zheng Army had completed preparations for combat although it was unable to mobilize most of its troops.

In mid-August, the Dutch and Zhengzhou armies engaged in a fierce naval battle in the inland waters of the Taijiang River. The Zheng army won a complete victory, sinking a Dutch warship and seizing several ships. Since then, the Dutch army has lost the ability to take the initiative. In December of the 15th year of Yongli, Hans Jeuriaen Rade, a German-Dutch noncommissioned officer, defected. With the help of the information he provided, Zheng Chenggong bombarded and destroyed the Utrecht bunker in the city of Jeuranje, thus ending the destruction of the city of Jeuranje. It’s a foregone conclusion. On December 8 (January 28, 1662), the Dutch chief executive wrote a letter to Zheng Chenggong, expressing his agreement to "peace talks." After several negotiations, the Dutch finally surrendered to Zheng Chenggong and withdrew from Taiwan on December 20, the 15th year of Yongli (February 9, 1662). Zheng Chenggong ordered the reclamation of Taiwan, extending from Kavalan (Yilan) in the north to Langqiao (Hengchun) in the south. Later, due to the resistance of the Papora people of the Dadu Pingpu tribe and the Langqiao people, Slow down the expansion; Zheng Chenggong's actual ruling area was from Erlin (now Erlin Town, Changhua County) to Qieteng (Jiadong Township, Pingtung County). After Aixinjueluo Xuanye became the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Wu proposed the "Five Strategies to Ping thieves" to the leader Ao Bai, which included a 20-year border relocation order to cut off Zheng Chenggong's economic and trade for 20 miles from Shandong to Guangdong. financial resources; destroy coastal ships and not allow them to enter the water; at the same time, kill the father of success, Zheng Zhilong, at the place where Ning Guta migrated (one theory is that he killed him at Chaishikou, Yanjing, which is now the west entrance of Fuxue Hutong, the execution ground since the Arc Period); dig The ancestral graves of the Zheng family; the officers and soldiers moved to surrender and reclaimed the wasteland. Zheng Chenggong heard bad news one after another. In addition, the soldiers in Taiwan were unaccustomed to the local environment and people were panicking. His son Zheng Jing had an affair with a wet nurse in Penghu. As a result, Zheng Chenggong was forced to do so internally and externally. In May of the 16th year of Yongli's reign (June 23, 1662), Zheng Chenggong became seriously ill. He died. Before he died, he shouted: "I have no face to see the late emperor underground." He scratched his face and died. He was only 39 years old. He was originally buried in Zhouzaiwei, a suburb of Tainan (now part of Yongkang City). In 1699, the ancestral tomb of Nan'an was moved and buried. Zheng Chenggong's son Zheng Jing continued to run Taiwan and changed the eastern capital to Dongning. According to Chen Yonghua's proposal, the central official system of the Ming Dynasty was transplanted, and the Zhengshuo of the deceased Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty was still enshrined. Later, Shi Lang surrendered to conquer Penghu Island, so his grandson Zheng Keshuang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in 1683. In order to prevent the Taiwanese people from resisting, all the Zheng family's tombs in Taiwan were exhumed and moved inland by the Qing Dynasty. In April 1684, Taiwan was officially included in the territory of the Qing Dynasty, under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province, with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, which administered Taiwan County, Fengshan County and Zhuluo County. In total, the Zheng regime only lasted in Taiwan for a short twenty years. However, due to Because of its special background, historians in Taiwan, China, and Japan have paid close attention to it and put forward various interesting viewpoints.