Li Zicheng swept through the Central Plains, conquered famous cities such as Luoyang and Kaifeng, and defeated the last capable field army of the Ming Dynasty under the command of Sun Chuanting in Jiaxian, in fact, he had opened the way to Beijing and ascended to the throne. However, Henan has long been in tatters under the ravages of natural disasters and wars for many years, and it is simply unable to support Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops, so it must occupy a territory close to the grain-producing area and let the army accumulate strength. So he quickly advanced to Jingxiang and captured Xiangyang, preparing to use it as a base to operate the big granary of Huguang. Later, he even changed Xiangyang to "Xiangjing", set up hundreds of officials here, and founded the country. After recovering a little, Li Zicheng prepared to enter Beijing and achieve the great cause of Ding Ge.
But which route should I take to get into Beijing?However, there are different opinions within the army. Li Zicheng's number one strategist, Niu Jinxing, the newly released prime minister of the Dashun Dynasty, suggested that he should enter the Beijing division from the Central Plains through Hebei all the way regardless of the situation, believing that with the strength of the army, no one in the north could stop him, and it would not be difficult for the world to pass on the seal after the Beijing division was in hand. This route is simple and crude, which fully shows the flaw of the lack of the most basic strategic vision of the bull Venus. Because the capital division is empty, it is not difficult to take, but Sun Chuanting, who was defeated and returned to Guanzhong at this time, is re-recruiting and training, and with his ability and the quality of Guanzhong's soldiers, he will quickly train into a strong army that can fight. And the border towns of Shaanxi and Shanxi also have some elite defenders, so it is not difficult to break into the army and capture the Beijing division, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the situation where the strong enemy is on the side.
Another strategist, Gu Junen, proposed that he should first conquer Guanzhong, seize Li Zicheng's hometown of Shaanxi, collect strong troops from Shaanxi-Gansu border towns, and then enter Shanxi, then sweep away the guards here, and finally enter Beijing through Shanxi. Although this route is tortuous, it can clear the defense force of the entire northern Ming Dynasty, and after entering Beijing, you only need to recruit the Guanning army at Shanhaiguan to make the Beijing division as stable as Mount Tai. In the end, Li Zicheng did follow this plan and successfully reached the top step by step. However, before that, there was also a strategist named Yang Yongyu, who had planned another route for Li Zicheng. That is, "take Jinling first, cut off the transportation of the Ming Dynasty, and then go on the Northern Expedition".
That is to say, for the time being, do not take Beijing as the first goal, first go down to the south of the Yangtze River, occupy Nanjing, the world's most wealthy land, and even pocket the entire south, and then calmly go north and achieve great causes. The advantages of this are obvious, at this time, the north of the Ming Dynasty has exhausted its vitality under natural and man-made disasters, while the south of the Yangtze River and South China have been peaceful for a long time and have accumulated a large amount of private wealth. Due to the obstruction of the local gentry and the inefficiency of its own organization, the Ming court was simply unable to effectively mobilize the resources of the south, which was the main reason for its gradual collapse. But after all, Li Zicheng's Dashun has not been established for a long time, and his spirit is still there, if he gets the rich south and collects the wealth in the hands of the gentry, the northern Ming Dynasty, including the Jingshi, will naturally go down without a fight.
So whether we should take Guanzhong first or take Jiangnan first, the answer is very obvious. The reason why Li Zicheng was difficult to gain a foothold in the capital was of course due to the joint defeat of the rebellious Guanning Army and the Manchurian Eight Banners that entered the pass, but more importantly, the lack of food. Whether it is Shanxi, Hebei or Henan, they have been squeezed by the imperial court to the point that the people are exhausted and cannot provide support for the army. And near the Xiangyang base of the Chuang army, there was also the existence of Zuo Liangyu's department in Wuchang, which made it impossible for Li Zicheng to easily collect Huguang's grain. The hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Beijing had to use the method of torturing and plundering officials to raise money and food. This was inevitably resisted by the gentry everywhere, and after the Qing army entered the customs, it was supported by the gentry.
If Li Zicheng had entered Nanjing first and obtained the wealth of Jiangnan, then he would have sufficient logistical support after his northern expedition, and he could have sufficient food and salary for the surrendered Ming army, which would be enough to establish a solid rule in the north. Although history cannot be assumed, from the perspective of later generations, it can be determined that Li Zicheng's strategy of taking Guanzhong and occupying the capital first is by no means the best choice.