[2] Before ascending to the throne, he followed his father as the Prince of Tang, their fief being situated in Nanyang prefecture, in Henan province.

However, when Hangzhou fell to the Qing on 6 July 1645, the Prince of Tang managed to escape by land to the southeastern province of Fujian.

[3] In August of the same year, at the behest of several high officials, he ascended to the Ming throne in Fuzhou, taking the reign title "Longwu" (隆武; pinyin: Lóngwǔ).

After a promising start, Fujian's geographical position on the margin of the empire, cut off from the heartland by several mountain ranges, as well as his lack of effective troops and the failure on part of the officialdom to find a united stance doomed the Longwu government.

His initiatives had brought him under house arrest during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor, but his knowledge of history and of Ming institutions, paired with a diligent personality, made him take his imperial role seriously.