At noon on March 19, 1644, Li Zicheng led hundreds of thousands of troops from Deshengmen into the city of Beijing, and the Ming Dynasty, which had ruled China for 276 years, collapsed. Although it was Li Zicheng who overthrew the Ming Dynasty, in fact, there is a little-known relationship between him and the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng originally served the Ming Dynasty, but because he lost his job, he rebelled in anger and eventually overthrew the Ming Dynasty. So what's going on here?
According to historical records, Li Zicheng was born in a peasant family in Shuangquanbao, Mizhi County, Shaanxi Province, and his family was very poor. Li Zicheng's early experience is somewhat similar to Zhu Yuanzhang's, his nickname is Huang Wazi and Huang Lai'er, and he also worked as a monk when he was young, known as "Huang Lai Monk". After being slightly older, Li Zicheng herded sheep for the landlord's family, while Zhu Yuanzhang herded cattle for the landlord's family. Later, his parents passed away one after another, and Li Zicheng, who had gradually become an adult, was forced to leave his hometown and seek a way to survive.
Around the sixth year of the Ming Dynasty's Apocalypse, 21-year-old Li Zicheng found a job and "recruited Yinchuan Stagecoaches." At that time, the post station was roughly equivalent to today's post office, and Li Zicheng's occupation was equivalent to today's "postman". Although Li Zicheng's work was very hard at this time, and his life was still poor, at this time, he was a state worker, leading the imperial court.
In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, a peasant uprising broke out in Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province, which opened the prelude to the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and various peasants rose up one after another. But at this time, Li Zicheng did not move, after all, rebellion is a very dangerous activity, although Li Zicheng said that it was not good, but after all, he still ate the grain of the imperial court, every time he could not open the pot, let alone when it was a last resort, who was willing to take the risk to rebel?
In the second year of Chongzhen, the situation changed. In this year, the Ministry of Punishment wrote to Liu Mao, saying that the post station system was full of shortcomings and suggesting that the emperor rectify it. The Chongzhen Emperor adopted Liu Mao's suggestion and reformed the post system throughout the country, saying that it was a reform, but in fact, the method was very simple, that is, to abolish a large number of post stations and grooms and pawns to save money. By the fourth year of Chongzhen, the abolition of the post was completed, saving more than 680,000 taels of silver for the imperial court.
Although the Chongzhen Emperor saved 680,000 taels of silver every year, he also lost the entire Daming, because in this reform of the abolition of the post, the Yinchuan pawn Li Zicheng was unemployed. The roof leaked during the overnight rain, at this time Li Zicheng still owed foreign debt, because of unemployment and inability to repay, he was sued by the landlord to the county court. The county ordered Yan Zibin to "swim in the city with weapons and put him to death", and was later rescued by relatives and friends.
In addition, at this time, Shaanxi suffered a serious famine, the price of rice soared, and even six pieces of silver could be used to buy a bucket of rice. There are only two paths left in front of Li Zicheng, waiting to starve to death or rebel to survive. It was in this situation that Li Zicheng led a group of peasants who had no means of subsistence to rebel, of course, his original purpose was only to survive, and he did not expect that he could overthrow the Ming Dynasty.
In the third year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng raised an army, and after more than ten years of fighting, he established the Dashun regime in Xi'an on the first day of the first month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Li Zicheng led his army north, and in only two months, he was under the city of Beijing. At this time, although the Ming Dynasty had three battalions of more than 100,000 people defending the city, the city of Beijing fell without a fight, and the Ming Dynasty eventually perished. Later generations called it "Li Zicheng at the end of the Ming Dynasty, one of the Yinchuan Yi Mafuer." Because of the slaughter of the station, the famine, and the lack of food, the arm is shouted, and the earth collapses, and it is irredeemable."
References: 1. "History of Ming"; 2. "Chongzhen Long Edition"; 3. "Mizhi County"
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