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deceived me. Ashamed to face my ancestors, I die. Removing my Imperial cap and with my hair dishevelled about my face, I leave to the rebels the dismemberment of my body. Let them not harm my people! 14
    Against all expectation, Li Tzu-cheng had won through to the Dragon Throne, and the former brigand was proclaimed Emperor of All Under Heaven. China was his. The prophecy had been fulfilled and a one-eyed man had toppled the once-mighty Ming. But as is usual in such cases, the prophecy revealed only half the truth–Li was Emperor, but his reign was to be measured not in years but days.
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    Just before the final attack on the city, the Ming Emperor had sent a desperate message to General Wu San-kuei, ordering him to bring his army of seasoned veterans to protect Beijing. It was this message that had precipitated Wu’s sudden departure from his border stronghold, the same retreat towards Beijing that had so confused and bewildered the Manchu when they first heard of his baffling departure. Now, with the Ming gone, the new Emperor Li Tzu-cheng once again commanded General Wu’s attendance in the capital.
    Wu ignored the summons and continued to hold his position between the new Emperor and the Manchu Dorgun, whose forces lay like a wolf pack at the border, biding their time. Emperor Li, in exasperation, led an advance guard of more than one hundred thousand men against Wu’s forces, but was heavily defeated. Chastened, he offered talks, and at a subsequent meeting, Li and Wu signed an agreement which effectively partitioned China. Li’s ‘Great Obedient Dynasty’ was allowed to keep the treasures it had looted from the city, but agreed to relinquish Beijing to the Ming heir apparent (who was now a hostage of the General). Wu had proclaimed his ‘guest’ the new Ming Emperor, and intended to become China’s éminence grise and the power behind the throne. Li’s portion of China was to be all territory to the west of the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi. Both parties to the treaty promised to act jointly against the Manchu, should the Regent Dorgun invade.
    The agreement was worthless. It gave Li the chance to escape from the catastrophic effects of a possible alliance between Wu and the Manchu, and granted him vast lands, the title of Emperor, and undreamed-of wealth. For Wu, the alliance allowed him to extricate himself from the possibility of having to fight on two fronts, against both Li and the Manchu. Even so, he knew his army was no match for Dorgun’s forces. He schemed to extend discussions with the Manchu, to use sweet words to buy time, to amass sufficient power to withstand a Manchu assault.
    But Dorgun was not to be fooled. On hearing of Li and Wu’s meeting, he moved his forces through the Shanhaiguan Pass at the end of the Great Wall, and sent a stern message forbidding Wu to enter Beijing with the heir apparent. He also reminded him of the Manchu’s earlier offer, granting Wu the rank of feudal Prince should he agree to join with them. Wu now faced a stark choice: he could either ignore Dorgun’s demands, set up the heir as a puppet Emperor, and face battle with a superior enemy. Or he could abandon the heir apparent, secure his future as a wealthy and powerful noble, and help Dorgun’s attempt on the Dragon Throne.
    Being a prudent soldier, Wu cast the heir apparent to the wolves, and threw in his lot with the Manchu. On hearing of this treachery, Li ordered the beheading of Wu’s father and sixteen female members of his family, before setting out with two hundred thousand men to fight the combined might of the Manchu and his former ally. The combat began in a furious dust-storm with both sides scarcely able to distinguish friend from foe. But now he was Emperor, Li’s luck seemed to desert him. His men broke before the united Manchu and Chinese banners, and he was forced to fly, escaping with as much booty as he could safely carry.
    Still fearful of Wu’s power, Dorgun set him and his