If there is no Li Zicheng, the Ming Dynasty may be in the hands of the Chongzhen Emperor, the military strength of the late Ming Dynasty is very strong, several special forces if they concentrate on the Eight Banners of the Qing Army, but unfortunately the Ming Dynasty has come to an end, the heavens have never given Chongzhen this opportunity, Chongzhen seventeen years, although Chongzhen is very diligent, working day and night, but still failed to save the fate of the Ming Dynasty's demise, thieves are everywhere, natural disasters are continuous, the Manchu Eight Banners are in turmoil outside the Guan, and all the mess is pushed to the Chongzhen Emperor. The generations of emperors at the end of the Ming Dynasty were very strange, there were thirty years of not going to the dynasty, some liked to smoke opium, some liked to play carpenters, it is strange to say, in these hands, the Ming Dynasty has a smooth transition, there is not much chaos, at most there is a popular uprising, and the only diligent Chongzhen Emperor at the end of the Ming Dynasty was tortured after he took the throne, and every move was a natural disaster and a man-made disaster.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was actually very weak, the national treasury was in deficit for many years, and the princes and ministers were full of private pockets and extremely rich, after the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, he first eliminated Wei Zhongxian, and then he was bent on trying to govern and revitalize the Ming Dynasty, he ordered the whole country, including himself, to practice frugality, and then streamlined the army, and dismissed a large number of redundant officials, but in a small post station in Mizhi County, Shaanxi, a pawn was also dismissed, he left the post in despair, and joined the rebel army at the instigation of others. No one expected that this little pawn would become the later famous king Li Zicheng, and also become a gravedigger of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng first threw himself into the account of Gao Yingxiang, the king of the intruder, because of his strategy and bravery in battle, Gao Yingxiang soon promoted him to the rank of general.
After Gao Yingxiang was captured, Li Zicheng got the support of everyone, became the new king of Chuang, led the invading army to the south and the northern war, Li Zicheng was beaten at the worst time, only eighteen people were left, hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, at this time is the lowest moment of the peasant rebel army, Zhang Xianzhong has surrendered to the imperial court, many peasant rebels have also surrendered to the imperial court, but Li Zicheng has never surrendered, insisting on attacking the Ming army, and later there is an expert analysis: After Li Zicheng claimed to be the king, he actually had a strong idol baggage. The banner of the king was a landmark banner in the peasant rebel army at that time, and once the king surrendered, the banner fell, I am afraid it would be difficult to restore his prestige, so Li Zicheng did not surrender at the most difficult time, and later Li Zicheng took the opportunity of the disaster in Henan to re-recruit hundreds of thousands of troops.
In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), he declared himself the King of Xinshun in Xiangyang, and annihilated the main force of Sun Chuanting, the governor of Ming And Shaanxi, at Ruzhou, Henan, and took advantage of the victory to occupy Xi'an. In the first month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), the Dashun regime was established, with the era name "Yongchang". Soon after, he conquered Beijing and overthrew the Ming Dynasty. After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he did not attach great importance to Wu Sangui in the north, but he was preparing for the enthronement ceremony in the city of Beijing, and the military discipline of the Dashun army was not as good as a day, in order to extort gold and silver, many of Li Zicheng's generals tortured former Ming officials, killing thousands of people, causing many officials to surrender to the Qing Dynasty and become enemies of Li Zi.
In April, Dorgon led the Eight Banner Army and the Ming general Wu Sangui to join forces and fought against Li Zicheng inside and outside Shanhaiguan. Li Zicheng was defeated and withdrew from Beijing, and on May 17, 1645, in a small village of Jiugong Mountain in Tongcheng County, Hubei Province, while reconnoitring the terrain, he led 18 horses up the mountain, only to encounter a mountain militia group, the mountain people used stones to smash 18 cavalry around Li Zicheng on the mountain, and then, when Li Zicheng and Cheng Jiubo were fighting, Cheng Jiubo's nephew used a shovel behind him to hit Li Zicheng in the head and kill him. The hero of the king, in the end, died at the hands of a peasant, which was really too dead!