I Defied Zhu Yuanzhang to the Death, Then Became a Pirate in the South Seas

[History] [Hongwu Era] [Pirates] [17th-Century Struggle for Supremacy]

In 1662, the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming died in Burma, and the Southern Ming regime declared its end.

Li Laiheng, grandson of Li Zicheng and the last great Ming commander, had already been resisting the Qing army here for eleven years.

According to the usual course of history, the rebel army would hold out at Xingshan for another two years, inflicting heavy casualties on the Qing. In the end, cut off and out of food, Li Laiheng would have no choice but to surrender his followers and take his own life in loyalty to his country.

A poem by later generations says: “Before the realm rebelled, the rebels struck first. When all the realm surrendered, the rebels did not.”

Poets have all praised Li Laiheng's heroic spirit, but this leaves us with a question: What if Li Laiheng's few thousand rebel soldiers had not chosen to hold out at Xingshan, but instead marched south, straight for Tianzhu?

This is both the best of times and the worst of times. What would happen if the Han people joined the game of carving up the world?

Li Laiheng: “Only when there are no borders and no misunderstandings between languages can people live together in harmony. Only a country like that deserves to be called a paradise.”

“Britain is after our colonies, and Spain wants in on the fun too? Then we fight until total victory, until there's somewhere in the world where our Han people can survive.”

Mei Wending: “China cannot lose Australia, just as the West cannot lose Jerusalem.”

Yuan Zongdi: “Open the gates. Free trade.”

Zheng Chenggong: “I can't believe I didn't die, and that I even won a vast realm for the Han people. I'm so happy!”

Zhu Yuanzhang: “I have to get up early. Is this hothead picking a fight with me? Could you at least talk nicely?”