As the saying goes, "monofilament does not form a line, a single tree does not become a forest", Li Zicheng's civilian officials and strategists are not many, but they have gathered a group of brave and good generals, one of whom can be called the first fierce general of the Dashun Army! If there was no such person who sacrificed his life and forgot to die, Li Zicheng would probably have a hard time becoming an emperor, and he might even die on the battlefield, but it was he who caused Li Zicheng to lose Jiangshan! So who is this person?
He was Liu Zongmin, a fierce general in the Dashun army! Liu Zongmin is a native of Shaanxi Province, a fellow villager with Li Zicheng, and makes a living by striking iron. Because Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin both like to practice martial arts, the two have a good relationship, "friends with strength, violent to one side." In 1629, Li Zicheng, Liu Zongmin, and nephew Li Guo killed local officials and launched a peasant uprising. In the following fifteen years, Liu Zongmin followed Li Zicheng to the north and south, and made great achievements.
In 1638, Hong Chengzu and Sun Chuanting broke the rebel army at Tongguan, killing Li Zicheng with only eighteen men left, including Liu Zongmin. In the most difficult period, even Li Zicheng was shaken, but Liu Zongmin killed his two wives and said to Li Zicheng: "I will follow you in this life and death!" Under the inspiration of Liu Zongmin, many soldiers killed their wives, saying that they would follow Li Zicheng in death.
After that, Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin led hundreds of people to cross the Han River north and came to the territory of Henan, where they were supported by the local people, "more than 100,000 people in the daytime." In the process of Li Zicheng's overthrow of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Zongmin took command of all important battles, including the battle to defeat Sun Chuanting. In 1643, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself the "Grand Marshal of Fengtian Advocacy" in Xiangyang, and at the same time was given the title of general, of which Liu Zongmin was made a general of Quan, ranked first, and commanded the Zhongquan pro-army.
In 1644, Li Zicheng established the Dashun regime in Xi'an and gave him the title of general, of whom Liu Zongmin was made the Marquis of Ru. After that, Liu Zongmin, as the "commander-in-chief", led a large army to follow Li Zicheng north. Don't look at Liu Zongmin as a military general, but after the occupation of Beijing, Li Zicheng gave him the power to restrain all civil and military officials. However, Liu Zongmin came from a humble background, did not learn any techniques, and only knew how to "torture" those Ming officials.
At the same time, Li Zicheng was actively recruiting Wu Sangui, the ming dynasty's ningyuan general, but Liu Zongmin, regardless of the overall situation, directly imprisoned Wu Sangui's father, tortured him, and also occupied Wu Sangui's concubine Chen Yuanyuan. At that time, Wu Sangui had already accepted Li Zicheng's offer and was leading an army into the customs. When he received the news that his father had been imprisoned and his concubine had been taken, Wu Sangui was furious and immediately decided to return to Shanhaiguan and completely break with the peasant army.
Although Liu Zongmin is a fierce general, he is brainless and unreasonable, and because of his special relationship with Li Zicheng, even Li Zicheng wants him to score three points. In the process, Li Zicheng persuaded Liu Zongmin to release Chen Yuanyuan in order to win over Wu Sangui, but Liu Zongmin refused. In the subsequent Battle of Shanhaiguan, although Liu Zongmin charged forward, the Dashun army still did not win, because they encountered stronger opponents, and Liu Zongmin was wounded.
After the Qing army entered the pass, the Dashun army was defeated all the way, and it would only brutally kill Liu Zongmin and could not recover the decline. In September 1645, after the defeat of the Dashun army, he fled into the Jiugong mountain area, and Li Zicheng was killed. At the same time, Liu Zongmin was captured by the Qing army and later executed. Liu Zongmin played an important role in Li Zicheng's life, and it can even be said that "Liu Zongmin was also liu Zongmin, and Liu Zongmin was defeated" was also said.
References: 1. "History of Ming"; 2. "Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty"; 3. "Pingkou Zhi"