The twenty-one-year-old Prince of Gui, the seventh…

The twenty-one-year-old Prince of Gui, the seventh son of the Wanli Emperor, had in November 1646 ascended the throne of the vanquished Southern Ming dynasty and assumed the reign name of Yongli.

He had initially established himself in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, but as the Ming troops were unable to fend off the stronger Qing troops who were continuously sending reinforcements south towards Guangzhou, the Yongli emperor, in order to save his life, had had no choice but to flee in 1650 from Guangzhou towards Nanning with a motley court and hastily assembled army.

Koxinga, a Ming loyalist and military leader during the Southern Ming Dynasty who now establishes himself as the head of the Zheng family, opposes the Manchu-ruled Qing Dynasty, and has pledged allegiance to the only remaining claimant to the throne of the Ming Dynasty, the Yongli Emperor.

Despite one fruitless attempt, Koxinga is unable to do anything to aid the emperor, who is to be the last of the Ming Dynasty.

He decides instead to concentrate on securing his own position on the southeast coast.