In fact, in the historical books about the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Yan was the most controversial and had the most problems. The thesis that Li Yan is Li Zicheng comes from Mr. Gu Cheng's article "Li Yan Questions the History of the Ming and Qing Dynasties".
(Mr. Gu Cheng)
First: Mr. Zheng Lian, a historian during the Kangxi Dynasty, has something to say.
Mr. Zheng Lian, born in 1628 and died in 1710, lived for 82 years through the turmoil of the late Ming Dynasty until the Kangxi Period of the Qing Dynasty. When he was 15 years old, Li Zicheng attacked Henan, and he was captured by the peasant army, so he lived in the peasant army for many years.
After the world was re-settled, Mr. Zheng completed the "Chronicle of Yu Change" when he was more than seventy years old. In the book "Yu Changing Jiluo", Mr. Zheng Lao pointed out that the "Li Yan" of the three books of "Dang Kou Zhi", "Ping Kou Zhi" and "Ming Ji Testament" is actually "Mr. Wu You", that is, the sub-fiction.
To the book of jiyu, quite a lot of advice. ...... For example, Li Yan of Qixian County has no one. Yu's family is only more than a hundred miles away, and he knows what he has to do, have you not seen it? And the unfortunate and trapped thieves have not heard that there are general Li Ji county people among the thieves. - "The Chronicle of Yu Change"
(Yu Chang jiluo)
Mr. Zheng said that his home was only a hundred miles away from Qixian County, and such a famous and big figure he had never heard of, it was impossible. What is even more wrong is that the historical data all say that Li Yan was the son of Li Jingbai, the shangshu of the Ming Dynasty, but Li Jingbai's hometown was Fuyang, Anhui, one for Henan and one in Anwei, and the difference between the two places was too far.
Second, there is no accurate record of Li Yan's deeds in the surviving Ming Dynasty archives or the collections of Ming dynasty bureaucrats who were directly involved in suppressing the uprising.
Although in many historical books, it is said that Li Yan was a talented scholar, he formulated a correct political propaganda slogan for Li Chuangwang, that is, "Open the door to greet Li Chuangwang, and when The Chuangwang comes, he will not pay grain."
Therefore, Li Zicheng's army grew larger and larger, and finally established the Dashun regime and captured the city of Beijing, and Li Yan was finally awarded the title of "General of the System" because of his merits.
(Li Yanhong's wife is very controversial)
However, as Li Yan's status became higher and higher, he was jealous of another military division at the time, and when Li Zicheng was defeated by the Qing army at "a stone", Li Zicheng led his troops back to Shanxi.
At that time, Li Yan asked Li Zicheng to lead 20,000 troops back to Henan to open up a new base area, but Niu Jinxing took the opportunity to provoke, saying that Li Yan was reluctant to return to Henan and establish himself as king, so he was killed by Li Zicheng.
However, the high-ranking intellectuals who participated in Li Zicheng's uprising, as well as the high-level personnel in the peasant uprising, can be found in the "Local Chronicles" preserved by the Qing Dynasty, after all, these people are all sensational figures, but the only one who cannot be found is Li Yan.
(Local Chronicle)
It is not possible to find it, and there are contradictions everywhere, such as the historical record that Li Yan is the son of Li Jingbai of the Ming Army. We will not say that once in Henan and once in Anwei, even the people who usurped the "Local Chronicle" in Qixian County, Henan, are also saying that there is no Li Yan in Henan, and the people who write the "Local Chronicle" on the Anwei side are even more needless to say.
In history, Li Jingbai, the shangshu of the bingbu, had two sons and a daughter, the eldest son Li Linsun, and the second son, Li Hesun, and had nothing to do with Li Yan.
Third: Then where did Li Yan come from?
In ancient times, there was no mobile phone and no network, so after Li Zicheng's uprising, the information was also fragmented, and for the ming dynasty official or folk, everyone knew that there was such a number of people who rioted in various places, but they did not know who it was.
As a result, the story of "Li Gongzi" or "Li Yan" began to spread in various places, and everyone knew that this person was called "Li Gongzi", and if the news was more accurate, they knew that this "Li Gongzi" was called Li "Yan".
(Li Zicheng)
As for which "Yan" it is, it is unknown. Because there was no standard Mandarin at that time, and there were various dialects in various places, many people began to follow the crowd.
For example, the "Records of the Ming Dynasty" has such a record: "Li Yan, also known as Li Mu Gongzi, a man in QiXian County, Henan Province, gathered on one side and conspired against each other. He also said, "The name of the thief is self-made, a Li Yan, a rice fat man"; but in the "Book of Mr. Shanggao Hui" written by the feudal bureaucrat Cao Yingchang in the late Ming Dynasty, it is written, "And I heard that he changed his name to Li Yan, and exchanged it with the rumors of Ying Bao'er.".
Moreover, when Li Zicheng escaped later, he was killed by Cheng Jiubo, the leader of the local landlord's armed forces. However, in the "Cheng Family Genealogy", it is written again "Li Yan, a thief".
Li Yan, Li Yan, Li Yan, Li Mu, Li Yan, Li Yan was stupid and unclear. Therefore, as the subject asked, why did Li Zicheng kill Li Yan? Only God knows!