Li Zicheng was the leader of the well-known peasant rebel army, and he led the peasant rebel army to overthrow the Ming Dynasty. He declared himself emperor in Xi'an, invaded Beijing, and soon gave the fruits of the peasant rebel army to the Qing Dynasty in vain. From then on, his Dashun regime ended.
It is customary to call Li Zicheng "King of Chuang", so let's take a look at the origin of "King Chuang".
After the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty ascended the throne, natural disasters occurred frequently throughout Shaanxi and Gansu, and natural disasters continued for many years. The people are struggling to live a hard life, and the people of the world are not happy. The people have no cloth to cut and no clothes to cover their bodies, no rice to cook and no food in their mouths, wild vegetable soup is difficult to fill their stomachs, even the leaves and bark are eaten.
However, local officials really did not have money to provide relief to the disaster victims, and not only were they powerless to open warehouses to relieve the disaster, but they still let the people pay taxes and rents, and levied violently. The common people were forced to be helpless, desperate, and rose up one after another to rebel, and Li Zicheng was a leader in the rebel team.
According to historical records, Li Zicheng was originally a pawn at a post station in Mizhi, Shaanxi. Then why did he leave the stable pawns instead of drying, the imperial grain did not eat, and he risked the world to rebel?
The reason was simple, the imperial court cut down the post, resulting in him having no work to do and unable to eat imperial food. When he lost his job, he went to Yan'an to learn art from a teacher, but because of his uneven fighting, he killed a local goon, was captured by the officers and soldiers, and sent to prison. The jailer who guarded the big prison saw that Li Zi had become a proud and kind person, and he was very sympathetic to him, and when no one was prepared, he secretly opened his leg shackles and handcuffs, and the two escaped from prison together.
After several tosses, wading through mountains and rivers, wearing stars and wearing moons, day and night, they ran to Shanxi with difficulty and joined the uprising team of Gao Yingxiang, the king of the invasion.
Portrait of Li Zicheng
Through a period of observation, Gao Yingxiang believed that Li Zicheng was brave and good at war, honest and bold, and also had a certain wisdom, and he could lead his troops to fight, and he admired Li Zicheng very much, so he made him a general.
Later, the Ming army vigorously encircled and suppressed the peasant rebel army, and Gao Yingxiang was killed by the Ming army in a battle. Li Zicheng took over the ranks of the rebel army, continued to hold high the banner of Greeting Xiang, and became a new generation of intruders.
"King Chuang" got its name, and the reputation of "King Li Chuang" spread and spread all over the world.