Presumably, everyone knows that it was not Nurhaci's Eight Banner Army that destroyed the Ming Dynasty, but the peasant army of Li Zicheng, the king of the Ming Dynasty. If it were not for Li Zicheng forcing Wu Sangui to rebel and let him open Shanhaiguan, then the Central Plains would not have been able to turn the Manchus to decide. When analyzing the reasons for the demise of Li Zicheng's Dashun regime, many people boiled it down to one point, that is, most of Li Zicheng's army was peasants, had no culture, and did not have a long-term vision of problems, so he did a lot of short-sighted things. But is there really no capable person under Li Zicheng? Actually, there is. If Li Zicheng had listened to this man earlier, then his Dashun regime would not have perished so quickly.
So who was this strategist who was ignored by Li Zicheng? He was Li Yan, the first think tank under Li Zicheng. Li Yan, formerly known as Li Xin, is a native of QiXian County, Kaifeng Province, Henan. His father, Li Jingbai, was originally the governor of Shandong, but was demoted to a commoner because of his involvement in Wei Zhongxian's rebellion. But the skinny camel was bigger than Ma, and even though Li Jingbai became a commoner, he was still one of the best squires and rich people in Qixian County after he returned to his hometown. Li Yan, who grew up in such a family since childhood, did not become the second ancestor, but studied very hard, and won the move at a young age. Li Yan is also not like an ordinary reader, who is bent on the name of merit. He has a bold personality and likes to fight unevenly, so he has a good reputation in Qixian County, and the people respect him as "Li Gongzi".
During the Chongzhen years, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, and the people were so poor that they could not open the pot. However, in order to complete the task of apportionment by the imperial court, Qixian County Ling still continued to collect money and grain from the toiling masses. Li Yan couldn't look at it anymore and took out three hundred stones of grain from his home to help the people. However, a cup of water and a small salary cannot solve the problem of disaster victims at all. He had wanted to mobilize powerful landlords to collect donations, but those people did not listen to him. There was no way, Li Yan had to personally go to the official palace to ask for the people's life. At that time, there was an uprising in various places, and the local government arrested Li Yan on the charge of treason. Later, the rebel army won the victory, and Li Yan was released.
When Li Zicheng passed through Henan, Li Yan joined the rebel army. The two saw each other as they were, and they hated each other late. After Li Yan joined the company, he gave Li Zicheng several opinions. The first is to "honor the virtuous and honor the people, eliminate the mob and the people", the second is to "do benevolence and righteousness, and forbid soldiers to commit adultery and killing"; the third is to create momentum for the rebel army. Li Yan knew that the reason why the common people followed Li Zicheng in rebellion was actually to eat a full meal. Therefore, he made up a lot of catchy slogans, such as: "Open the gate to welcome the king, and when the king comes, he will not pay grain", "Open the door early to worship the king, discipline everyone to rejoice". The common people were forced by the Ming government to survive, and the army of the king did not have to pay grain, so on the way to Beijing, The people took the initiative to open the door to greet Li Zicheng.
But when Li Zicheng defeated Chongzhen and entered the city of Beijing, he could not listen to Li Yan's advice. At that time, Li Yan put forward four suggestions: First, appease the former Ming officials; 2. Ascend to the throne early and establish orthodox status; 3. Strict military discipline; Fourth, appease Wu Sangui's father and son. For Li Yan's suggestion, Li Zicheng did not like it very much. Each approval is "known", but not executed. Later, the Da Shun army looted money and grain in the city of Beijing, tortured former Ming officials, and wantonly robbed them, which made the people of Beijing city panic. Coupled with the fact that Liu Zongmin robbed Chen Yuanyuan, it completely offended Wu Sangui.
When Wu Sangui opened shanhaiguan and released the Qing army into the customs, Li Zicheng regretted that it was too late. After the Battle of Yishi, the Dashun army retreated to Beijing, and Li Zicheng hurriedly ascended the throne and fled to Xi'an. At this time, Li Yan also proposed to join forces with the Ming general Zuo Liangyu to jointly resist the Qing army. However, another strategist under Li Zicheng, Niu Jinxing, framed Li Yan for plotting against him. Li Zicheng was also suspicious of Li Yan, so he connived at Niu Jinxing to kill Li Yan's brothers.