The Storms of the Kingdom

This film (drama)Also known as江山風雨情，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2003Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating8.2(For reference only)。

In the late years of the Ming Dynasty's Tianqi era, the court secretly planned a palace coup. The Tianqi Emperor was critically ill and close to death, with no heirs to succeed him, except for his younger brother Zhu Youjian. The Grand Eunuch Wei Zhongxian plotted to use a palace maid's baby to impersonate the crown prince and secure the wealth and power of the eunuch faction. Unexpectedly, the palace maid gave birth to a girl. At this moment, Zhu Youjian, who had been exiled from the capital, was captured by the Imperial Guards and brought back to the palace, believing he would be executed. To his surprise, he became Emperor Chongzhen. The palace maid fled to Yangzhou with her daughter, naming her Chen Yuanyuan. One day, Chen Yuanyuan was sold three times and ended up learning the trade in a brothel. After growing up, she became a famous singing courtesan. After taking the throne, Emperor Chongzhen was determined to revive the Ming Dynasty. However, the court was plagued with internal conflicts and external threats. Internally, natural disasters led to widespread famine, with half of the population starving and a peasant army led by Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng rising up; externally, the Manchu forces were pressing in from beyond the borders, with Hong Taiji eyeing the capital. Emperor Chongzhen was constantly in a state of crisis, striving to save the Ming Dynasty. Chen Yuanyuan was selected by the Grand Eunuch Wang Cheng'en to serve in the palace. Despite her repeated rejections of Emperor Chongzhen's affections, she fell in love with Wu Sangui. The peasant army in Central China was besieged by the court's troops at Chexiangxia and was on the verge of annihilation. Just as Chongzhen was planning to take decisive action, Hong Taiji launched a southern invasion, approaching the capital. In a critical moment, Chongzhen insisted on refusing peace and opted for battle, leading the military and civilians to push back Hong Taiji, allowing the peasant army to escape and regain strength. Chongzhen executed Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jilin and Liaoning who insisted on "negotiating for peace," appointed Wu Sangui as the commander of Ningyuan, and presented Chen Yuanyuan to him to win his loyalty. They were ordered to marry, but three days after their wedding, Wu Sangui left for the border, while Chen Yuanyuan returned to the palace as a hostage. Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng captured Fengyang, and Zhang Xianzhong dug up royal tombs. During this time of victory, disagreements arose within the peasant army... Chongzhen learned that the Fengyang royal tomb had been destroyed, and he was devastated, refusing to eat meat and mourning in filial attire. He immediately mobilized national forces to eliminate the peasant armies, capturing the leader Gao Yingxiang, who was executed in the capital, while Zhang Xianzhong surrendered to the official forces. Li Zicheng succeeded him as the leader. The Manchu forces grew stronger, having completed preparations for entering the pass and invading the south. Just before they could launch their attack, however, Hong Taiji suffered a stroke and died, leading to a power struggle in the Manchu court. In the Hall of Diligence, Prince Dorgon and the Emperor's eldest son, Hooge, confronted each other with their banners. In this urgent moment, the empress dowager, guided by the traitor Hong Chengchou, took advantage of the chaos to install the young prince Fulin on the throne, who became the Shunzhi Emperor, while Dorgon became the regent, stabilizing the Manchu rule. For the safety of Fulin and the future of the Manchus, the empress dowager served Dorgon. Li Zicheng, after becoming the Chuangwang, led the peasant army sweeping through the country and rapidly approaching the capital... Chongzhen refused to relocate the capital and was determined to defend the city to the last, but the morale of the people was drained, the soldiers lacked fighting spirit, and the officials scattered like birds and beasts. On the eve of the city’s fall, Chongzhen executed his own flesh and blood and committed suicide on Coal Hill. Amid the catastrophe, Chen Yuanyuan saved the three-year-old young prince. After Li Zicheng entered the capital, he established the Great Shun, assumed the title of emperor, and hunted for the young prince while trying to win over Wu Sangui stationed at Shanhaiguan. Meanwhile, Dorgon outside the city also urged Wu Sangui to surrender. Li Zicheng's general Liu Zongmin fell in love with Chen Yuanyuan and forcibly moved into Wu's residence. Wu Sangui finally decided to "support Han over Manchu" and led troops to surrender to Li Zicheng. However, on the way to the capital, he encountered his steward and learned that his father had been killed by the peasant army and his beloved concubine had been forcibly taken by Liu Zongmin... Enraged, Wu Sangui immediately turned back to Shanhaiguan. Before the pass, he encountered the empress dowager and Hong Chengchou, who came in person to urge his surrender. He agreed to "support the Qing" and sought to use Qing troops to wipe out the Shun army with the aim of restoring the Ming Dynasty. Dorgon, seeking to utilize Wu Sangui, appointed him as the King of Pingxi, swearing allegiance with him and transferring command of the Eight Banners army to him. In the suburbs of the capital, the Qing forces and Wu Sangui's cavalry launched a combined attack on the Shun army. Li Zicheng's forces were defeated and had to hastily withdraw from Beijing. Before leaving, Liu Zongmin, reluctant to part with Chen Yuanyuan, forcibly took her with him. Wu Sangui achieved a great victory, but when he wanted to enter the capital to meet Chen Yuanyuan, he found that the entire city was filled with Eight Banner troops, and Dorgon even forbade Wu Sangui from entering the city to pay respects to Chongzhen and his father, ordering him to continue pursuing the Shun army. Wu Sangui could only worship from afar outside the city and immediately led his troops to hunt down the remnants of the Shun army while seeking to rescue Chen Yuanyuan. In the mountains and fields, Wu Sangui dueled with the injured Liu Zongmin. Chen Yuanyuan, holding the young prince's hand, rushed over in an attempt to stop them, but her pleas were in vain, and she watched as Wu Sangui killed kind-hearted Liu Zongmin. At that moment, Li Zicheng also perished bravely in the mountains, and in the capital, the young Shunzhi was welcomed to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, marking the Manchu’s occupation of the whole world. Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan were reunited. Initially, Dorgon ordered Wu Sangui to march south to hunt down the remnants of the Ming Dynasty. Along the way, the people across the land condemned Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan, seeing them as a pair of tragic lovers who brought disaster, leading to the fall of the Ming Dynasty. At this point, Wu Sangui felt immense pain and anger... Then, Dorgon ordered a nationwide hunt for "Prince Zhu San," while the young prince was nestled in Chen Yuanyuan's arms, having grown as close as siblings... The greatest anguish for Wu Sangui was that at this time, Chen Yuanyuan suddenly became pregnant. Wu Sangui couldn't figure out whether the child in her womb was his, Chongzhen’s, or Liu Zongmin’s... even Chen Yuanyuan couldn't tell. Wu Sangui felt the greatest humiliation as a man! When a secret envoy from the Manchus was about to enter the military camp to search for Zhu San, Wu Sangui, to avoid disaster, outrageously killed the three-year-old young prince in front of Chen Yuanyuan in a fit of rage! Under the intense pain, Chen Yuanyuan fainted. At dawn, Wu Sangui ordered the troops to pack up and head south. When he entered Chen Yuanyuan's tent, he only saw a pipa with broken strings, and from then on, Chen Yuanyuan vanished without a trace... Thus, the prominent figures during the transitions of the Ming Dynasty, Manchu, and Shun entered the long river of history...