Victory breeds arrogance.
1644 In March, Li Zicheng, the king of invasion, finally captured Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, forcing Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, to hang himself in Jingshan Park behind the palace. Li Zicheng got his wish and finally became the new owner of China. But who would have expected that only two months later, Li Zicheng was defeated in the battle of Shanhaiguan and fled Beijing after he acceded to the throne in a hurry. In the following two years, the Qing army hunted him down and had nowhere to hide, and finally failed. People can't help asking, it took Li Zicheng more than ten years to get its present position. How can it be so easy to lose? Why did he fail so soon?
In the long campaign, Li Zicheng's army was welcomed and loved by people all over the world because of its strict discipline. People shouted the slogan "Eat his mother, wear his mother, and the king will come without food", opened the door, set the table and cheered the arrival of the king's army. This is the most important guarantee for Li Zicheng to distinguish himself from other rebel forces, successfully expand the ranks, win the trust of the people, and finally claim the title of emperor.
However, after entering Beijing, Li Zicheng and his gang forgot the experience of growing up from suffering, and were carried away by victory, forgetting the remnants of the Ming Dynasty in the south and the army in the late Jin Dynasty in the north. The rapid corruption of the army may be the most important reason why Wang Chuang fell from heaven to hell in just two months.
It is said that Li Zicheng was a little sensible when he first entered the city. He bent his bow and arrow outside the city gate, shot it directly above the city gate, and then announced to the soldiers that they were not allowed to burn, kill and rob after entering the city, and those who disobeyed the order would be beheaded. The onlookers applauded at Chu Zhuangwang's words. At that time, he had got the news that Emperor Chongzhen hanged Jingshan Park, so he took the time to rectify the team and led hundreds of thousands of troops into the city. People on both sides of the road cheered, and some Ming officials who were afraid of death knelt on the ground to show their obedience.
Li Zicheng is really full of ambition at this moment, surrounded by the army, riding a marooned straight to the palace. Then, he issued an order to let the Ming officials in Beijing gather outside the palace gate the next day, and his Ministry will select them. Those who can be retained will be retained, and those notorious officials will be arrested and severely punished. The retained officials and the literati he brought were sent to the controlled provinces as local officials to establish the local government of Dashun Dynasty. They also collected the bodies of Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Chongzhen, put them on display outside the palace gate for three days, and then buried them in the tomb of Tian Guifei in the suburbs of Beijing, counting the property in the palace and so on.
Everything is arranged, just wait for the civil servants to formulate the enthronement etiquette, and Li Zicheng will officially become the emperor.
The desire to be an emperor
In this case, the soldiers who have experienced ups and downs and hardships have breathed a long sigh of relief and feel that it is time to finally get through all the hardships and enjoy this happiness. Wang Chuang was also reminded that the battle to occupy the whole country is not over yet, and there are still many tough battles to be fought in the future, so we cannot relax now. But Li Zicheng has become proud at this moment. He felt that as long as he occupied Beijing, the heart of the Ming Dynasty, he got the country, and other opposition forces were just buffoons. As soon as the army arrived, he immediately knelt down and surrendered, without taking it to heart. Even if there is some resistance, the invincible momentum of Dashun Army in recent years will certainly be overcome soon. So there's nothing to worry about. His world is almost safe. At present, the most important thing is to make the etiquette of becoming an emperor quickly. He thought very well, but ignored the Qing army outside the customs. He always thought that writing a book after the founding of the People's Republic of China could easily maintain border stability. Always shrewd eyes don't know why they can't see the grim facts at this moment. The rulers of the Qing dynasty have already mobilized all their strength and led a great army to leave Shanhaiguan.
When Li Zicheng entered the city, he ordered the army to be reorganized. In the first few days, the orders were carried out. Two soldiers robbed a silk villa at the front door. When the defendant went to Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng immediately became furious and ordered two soldiers who violated the ban to be killed and hung outside the city gate as a warning.
Ask for a dead end/bad luck/disaster
But the so-called generals of fish begins to stink at the head and Li Zicheng have been fascinated by this bustling scene since they entered Beijing. They just want to get more jewels and catch more beautiful women all day. The boss's morale soon dropped, and no one wanted to abide by the ban. After working hard for so many years, it's finally time to enjoy it. Who doesn't want to rob more money? As a result, there was great disorder in the city, and soldiers broke into people's homes, smashed, robbed and burned, raped women, and burned houses. In this way, a disciplined rebel turned into an army of bandits.
The Beijingers who originally opened their doors to welcome Wang Chuang couldn't help but be disappointed and cheated. At that time, the whole city was wailing and it was a miserable scene. Li Zicheng saw that the situation was chaotic, and it was too late to reprimand him severely. Besides, Li Zicheng is also very busy at this time, hiding in the palace all day, surrounded by many beautiful women, and has no time to pay attention to politics. Niu Jinxing was Li Zicheng's chief adviser. After the rebels entered the city, he ranked first among civil servants and should have undertaken all government affairs. However, he sits at home every day waiting for those who used to be senior officials of the Ming Dynasty and laughed at him to visit him. Humiliating people who looked down on him before became his greatest pleasure. Liu Zongmin is the military commander of the rebels. He should have gone to Shanhaiguan as soon as he captured the capital, but he coveted the comfortable life in the capital and refused to take office. Originally a tiger general, now he has become a minister under the skirt. Li Zicheng herself is addicted to womanhood. It is said that it was because of the capture of Wu Sangui's concubine Chen Yuanyuan that Wu Sangui, who was already ready to surrender, turned to the Qing Dynasty.
When the news of Wu Sangui's rebellion came from the border, Li Zicheng slowly reorganized the army and wanted to punish him. The team regrouped for a few days before leaving the capital. However, walking on the road is still unhurried. Ten days in three days! By the time he led the army to Shanhaiguan, Wu Sangui had reached an agreement with the rulers of the Qing Dynasty and made all preparations for the battle. How did Li Can Zicheng's army win in this situation? Now the soldiers of Dashun Army are no longer as penniless as before, and they can only fight with their lives to get a chance to survive. Now everyone's pockets are full. Once they have money, everyone wants to go home safely with it. Who wants to fight for it? The result of the battle can be imagined. Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops were defeated and rushed to Beijing. From then on, Li Zicheng fled for his life with the remaining troops. In just one month and ten days, his dream of being an emperor was completely over.