Among the generals of the late Ming, none was fiercer than Prince of Jin Li Dingguo.
He rose from humble beginnings and was once a rebel, yet when his country fell and his family was lost, he raised the last great banner of the Southern Ming resistance against the Qing.
At Guilin, he drove Kong Youde to suicide; at Hengzhou, he slew Nikan. These two victories were feats of arms unmatched in the Ming dynasty's 270-year history.
Yet Heaven did not favor the Ming. Sun Kewang's infighting and the other generals' obstruction ultimately brought his near-triumph to ruin, leaving him to die with regret on the frontier.
This book does not seek to rehabilitate the rebels. It records how one hero clung to loyalty and righteousness in the face of utter despair, until he shed his last drop of blood.
This book is dedicated to that lone loyal minister who declared, “I would rather die in the wilderness than surrender”: Li Dingguo.
