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==Claimants to the Throne==

==Claimants to the Throne==

The [[Prince of Fu]] was the first of the significant claimants to the throne to be defeated. A grandson of the [[Wanli Emperor]], he was based at [[Nanjing]]. The Prince attempted to negotiate with the Manchu leader [[Dorgon]], offering large annual tribute payments if the Manchus would withdraw to the north of the [[Great Wall]]; this tactic, which worked to an extent for the [[Han Dynasty]] keeping the [[Xiongnu]] at bay, and for the [[Song Dynasty]] against the [[Khitans]] and [[Jurchens]], was rejected by Dorgon, who offered a counter-proposal: that the Prince of Fu give up any claims to the throne, or imperial ambitions, and be satisfied with a small independent kingdom. Following the Prince's rejection of this counter-offer, the Manchu forces marched south along the [[Grand Canal]], sacking [[Yangzhou]] in May [[1645]] and taking Nanjing the following month. As the Prince's court was beset by much factional debate, it was unable to provide a coordinated defense of the city, and folded quickly. The Prince was captured and taken to Beijing, where he died in [[1646]].

The [[Prince of Fu]] was the first of the significant claimants to the throne to be defeated. A grandson of the [[Wanli Emperor]], he was based at [[Nanjing]]. The Prince attempted to negotiate with the Manchu leader [[Dorgon]], offering large annual tribute payments if the Manchus would withdraw to the north of the [[Great Wall]]; this tactic, which worked to an extent for the [[Han Dynasty]] keeping the [[Xiongnu]] at bay, and for the [[Song Dynasty]] against the [[Khitans]] and [[Jurchens]], was rejected by Dorgon, who offered a counter-proposal: that the Prince of Fu give up any claims to the throne, or imperial ambitions, and be satisfied with a small independent kingdom. Following the Prince's rejection of this counter-offer, the Manchu forces marched south along the [[Grand Canal]], [[Yangzhou Massacre|sacking Yangzhou]] in May [[1645]] and taking Nanjing the following month. As the Prince's court was beset by much factional debate, it was unable to provide a coordinated defense of the city, and folded quickly. The Prince was captured and taken to Beijing, where he died in [[1646]].

Two brothers, supposed descendants of the [[Hongwu Emperor]], the 14th century founder of the Ming, led a short-lived resistance in [[Fuzhou]] and [[Canton]] (Guangzhou). The older brother was defeated and killed at Fuzhou in late 1646, and his younger brother the following year, as the Manchus took Canton. Another supposed descendant of Hongwu based his court at [[Xiamen]] (Amoy), and later at [[Zhoushan Island]] (near modern-day [[Shanghai]]), attempting to rally followers around him as he moved up the southeast coast; he was eventually forced to flee to sea, continuing to assert his claim from a junk offshore until [[1653]].

Two brothers, supposed descendants of the [[Hongwu Emperor]], the 14th century founder of the Ming, led a short-lived resistance in [[Fuzhou]] and [[Canton]] (Guangzhou). The older brother was defeated and killed at Fuzhou in late 1646, and his younger brother the following year, as the Manchus took Canton. Another supposed descendant of Hongwu based his court at [[Xiamen]] (Amoy), and later at [[Zhoushan Island]] (near modern-day [[Shanghai]]), attempting to rally followers around him as he moved up the southeast coast; he was eventually forced to flee to sea, continuing to assert his claim from a junk offshore until [[1653]].