Li Zicheng (1September 22, 606-1May17,0645), formerly known as Hongji, also known as Huang Laier and Zao Er, was the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty and lived in Liqianji Village, Mizhi, Yulin, Shaanxi. When I was a child, I worked as a shepherd for the landlord and a post servant in Yinchuan.

In the second year of Chongzhen (1629), he rebelled and fought bravely under Gao Yingxiang. At the Xingyang Congress, the operational plan of "dividing troops to command and attacking in four ways" was put forward, which was endorsed by the leaders of various ministries. After Gao Yingxiang's death, he continued to be called the founding king. At that time, the famine in the Central Plains was serious and the social class contradictions were extremely acute. Yan Li put forward slogans such as "no tax on farmland", which were welcomed by the broad masses of the people, and the troops grew to one million, becoming the main force in the uprising army.

In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), he was known as xinshun King in Xiangyang, and defeated Sun Chuanting, the main force of Shaanxi Governor in the Ming Dynasty in Ruzhou, Henan, and won Xi 'an. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), the Dashun regime was established, with the year number "Yongchang". Soon, he conquered Beijing and overthrew the Ming Dynasty. In April, Dourgen led the Eight Banners Army to join forces with Wu Sangui, the company commander of the Ming Dynasty, and fought in Li Zicheng, both inside and outside Shanhaiguan. Li Zicheng was defeated, withdrew from Beijing, and led the army to fight the Qing army in Henan and Shaanxi.

In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), in March, Dashun army forced Zuo Liangyu, the general of Nanming, to occupy Wuchang, and Li Zicheng planned to take a boat eastward and seize the southeast as an anti-Qing base. However, the Dashun army was not fully prepared, and the Qing army suddenly attacked by land and water. Li Zicheng hastily abandoned Wuchang and left for the southeast. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), 17 May, he was killed by villagers in Jiugongshan, Tongcheng County, Hubei Province.

Li Zicheng failed for many reasons. The first reason is the lack of excellent military strength. Generally speaking, there are no good soldiers. Although there are millions of troops in Li Zicheng, we all know that soldiers are more important than soldiers in marching and fighting. Li Zicheng's army, can be called elite should not exceed one hundred thousand people.

In the Shanhaiguan War, Wu Sangui's army first consumed most of Li Zicheng's troops, and then put the core army of the Qing army, that is, 60,000 Manchu Eight Banners Army, into the battlefield. In this way, Li Zicheng is doomed to be defeated.

Another reason is that Li Zicheng didn't correctly realize who his opponent was. Li Zicheng's army was only content to defeat the remaining officers of the Ming Dynasty, and it was over when it took the capital, but it didn't know that people everywhere wanted to seize the world. At that time, Li Zicheng should still have many rivals, such as the remnants of the Ming Dynasty, the landlords' armed forces, Zhang's Western Expedition Army, the Qing regime and Mongolian ministries.

With so many opponents, Li Zicheng took the Ming Dynasty as his main opponent and paid little attention to the Qing Dynasty, whose political influence was obviously enhanced. Besides, Nurhachi's late Jin army wiped out part of the Ming army long before the Li Zicheng Uprising, and Li Zicheng paid no attention to it, which led to the final failure.