Li Zicheng ended up in a miserable state after staying in Beijing for 42 days What is the reason behind it

On March 18, 1644 (the 17th year of the Chongzhen reign), the army of Dashun attacked the city of Beijing. On the 19th, they completely captured the entire city of Beijing. Emperor Chongzhen also hanged himself. Li Zicheng was at the peak of his power at that time, but soon he suffered a major defeat at Shanhaiguan. On April 30, the Dashun regime completely withdrew from Beijing, allowing the Qing army to enter Beijing without any effort. The Qing Dynasty fulfilled the long-standing wish of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, and Li Zicheng began his own path of collapse, which was completely irreversible.
Li Zicheng entered Beijing on March 18th and withdrew on April 30th, which means he stayed in Beijing for 42 days. So, what did Li Zicheng do during this period? In the end, he withdrew in embarrassment. Today, Song Anzhi will explain in detail.
1、 I just entered Beijing at the peak of my career and made three major mistakes
At the beginning of Li Zicheng’s entry into Beijing, he was full of vigor and confidence. With the momentum of conquering Beijing, most of the northern regions surrendered and occupied the north in a short period of time, leading people to believe that the Great Shun regime established by Li Zicheng was the next unified dynasty.
Internally, many Ming officials surrendered one after another. As for the surrendering army, not to mention the fact that many surrendered troops were incorporated just on the way to Beijing. It can be said that from any perspective, it is a vibrant force.
But Li Zicheng made three fatal mistakes. One was that he did not attach enough importance to the Qing regime outside the Great Wall, and did not timely transform himself from the leader of the rebel army to the position of the ruler of the world. Of course, perhaps because he marched to Beijing too smoothly and did not expect to conquer Beijing so quickly, he subconsciously believed that the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty (Qing Dynasty) had nothing to do with him, and did not realize that he would replace the Ming Dynasty’s position to resist the Qing outside the Great Wall if he destroyed the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he did not take effective preventive measures against the Qing Dynasty.
For defense in areas such as Datong, Li Zicheng sent his loyal generals to defend it. However, for the crucial Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng’s initial plan was to surrender Wu Sangui and then send his surrendered general Tang Tong to lead his 8000 troops there. He did not send any loyal generals or troops to take over.
And this was also an important reason why Wu Sangui, together with the Qing army, caught Li Zicheng off guard at Shanhaiguan.
The second reason is that after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, although there were many armies in the area, most of them surrendered, and there were very few loyal troops. The main forces were scattered in the northwest and Huguang areas. On the way to Beijing, many armies were stationed, making the troops more dispersed. In other words, Li Zicheng did not arrange enough main forces in the Beijing area, which was also one of the key reasons for his later withdrawal from Beijing.
The third point is that after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he implemented the “recovery of stolen goods and assistance in payment” policy, which offended a large number of officials and gentry. However, officials and gentry were also an important force in the late Ming Dynasty. Without the strong support of the officials and gentry, and even their opposition, it meant that Li Zicheng’s Dashun regime did not truly control the north and had an unstable foundation.
This can also be seen as one of the signs that Li Zicheng did not transform from a leader of the rebel army to the ruler of the world. Moreover, Li Zicheng did not try to win over or suppress a group, but rather dealt a comprehensive blow to the officialdom and gentry class. This is because he did not accept all the officials from the previous Ming dynasty, and used very few of them. Relatively speaking, the Dashun regime generally appointed juren who had not served in the previous Ming dynasty, and did not trust the officials from the previous Ming dynasty, nor did he show a strong attitude towards them.
As for why this happened, it was because during the uprising, Li Zicheng put forward the slogan of “equal distribution of land and exemption from taxes”, and implemented a three-year exemption from taxes in 1643. Before capturing Beijing, the Dashun army could sustain the war by fighting, capturing a territory, attacking Ming dynasty clans and officials, confiscating their property, and maintaining the operation of the army. However, once this model of warfare was stopped and taxes could not be collected in a short period of time, they faced a huge problem of financial distress. Therefore, after entering Beijing, in order to solve this problem, they could only target the official and gentry classes to solve the urgent situation and maintain the operation of the political power.
Of course, the Dashun army did not commit all kinds of evil during this stage, and it quickly deteriorated and even lost people’s hearts. Overall, the Dashun army did not corrupt so quickly and did not plunder extensively in the capital. However, Beijing is still the capital, where officials and gentry gather. Since it is necessary to “recover stolen goods and pay”, it will inevitably have a significant impact on Beijing. Therefore, many people believe that the Dashun regime quickly deteriorated and deteriorated after entering Beijing.
2、 Due to three major mistakes, Wu Sangui surrendered and rebelled, which led to the great defeat of Li Zicheng at Shanhaiguan
Why did Wu Sangui surrender Li Zicheng and even go to Beijing to meet Li Zicheng, only to regret halfway through?
The most mainstream theory now is that Wu Sangui was “angry for the crown” for Chen Yuanyuan. In fact, it is more likely that “recovering stolen goods and helping pay” could not protect the interests of the official gentry class. Moreover, Wu Sangui also heard that his father was also “recovering stolen goods and helping pay” and was afraid of being taken over by Li Zicheng after arriving in Beijing, so he changed his mind. After all, Wu Sangui was not an ordinary person and had been resisting the Qing army on the border for many years. He could not have lost his sanity and taken risks for a woman. Moreover, at that time, Wu Sangui had a force of 50000 and did not have his own logistics system and fixed territory, so he could not resist the unified Dashun regime in the north.
After returning to Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui naturally knew that he could not resist Li Zicheng with only his limited military strength. Therefore, he conspired with the tiger for his skin and requested the help of the Qing regent Dorgon.
And Li Zicheng, who received the news, personally led nearly 100000 troops to suppress Wu Sangui on April 13th. This arrangement was originally guaranteed, but the addition of the Qing Dynasty’s Dorgon faction ultimately led to Li Zicheng’s great defeat.
It can be said that from then on, the situation on Li Zicheng’s side took a sharp turn for the worse, plummeting from its peak to even leaving Beijing in embarrassment.
The key reason why Li Zicheng suffered a humiliating defeat in the Battle of Shanhaiguan was actually due to the implementation of the policy of “recovering stolen goods and aiding in payment” in politics, which led to Wu Sangui’s surrender and repentance. In addition, he strategically underestimated the Qing government outside the pass and made improper military arrangements, resulting in a lack of main forces in the Beijing area and being caught off guard by the Qing army.
3、 Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in embarrassment and then withdrew from Beijing
After returning to Beijing, according to historical records, Li Zicheng initially intended to defend Beijing and took certain measures. However, he soon made the decision to withdraw from Beijing and planned to flee westward in embarrassment. Therefore, on April 29th, although Li Zicheng had already declared himself emperor in Xi’an, he was not in the capital, so he held an accession ceremony in Beijing. The next day, the Dashun regime withdrew from Beijing in embarrassment.
As for why, one is the negative impact brought about by the “recovery of stolen goods and payment assistance” policy mentioned earlier. After all, it offended the official gentry class. In that era, the official gentry class could be said to represent the lower class people. Offending them was equivalent to losing grassroots support.
The second reason is that Li Zicheng was ultimately someone who rose up from the wind. It may be possible for him to become a warlord for a while, but it is impossible for him to become the ruler of the world. Therefore, after suffering a major defeat at Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng did not choose to defend Beijing and mobilize the army to support him. Instead, he continued his previous strategy with the Ming army. When faced with failure, he would first flee, without any clever tactics. He only thought that it would be better to flee first, and then find opportunities to rise again. He was afraid of being surrounded by the Qing army in Beijing and not waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
But the Qing army was not the Ming army after all, with strong combat effectiveness and no pressure from fighting on two fronts. Therefore, Li Zicheng’s retreat not only prevented him from returning to Beijing, but also resulted in a disastrous defeat. The following year, he was tragically killed by local farmers in Hubei.
So sometimes people need to recognize their own strength and position themselves clearly, otherwise no matter how ambitious they are, there will be no matching strength. Even if they encounter a gust of wind, they can fly very high, but once they pass the wind, they need to rely on their own strength to soar in the sky. Without this strength, often the heavens will no longer favor you, and you will fall at a faster speed than when you rise, ultimately leading to a disastrous outcome.
Well, Li Zicheng is a good example. At the height of his power, he was considered the founding emperor of the next unified dynasty, comparable to Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang. He was a figure like Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin. However, it turned out that Li Zicheng could never become Zhu Yuanzhang or Li Shimin, leaving an awkward mark in history. At the same time, he helped the Qing Dynasty, which was later known as the Yellow Sparrow, complete the snake swallowing elephant and become a golden winged giant Peng soaring nine heavens.