Late Ming: After Chongzhen Hanged Himself, I Started a Rebellion

Chongzhen hanged himself, and the realm descended into chaos. Chen Zhiyuan, a peasant army leader, launched an uprising in southern Sichuan under the banner of “Land for the people, resistance to the Manchu invaders, and protection for the common folk.” He claimed no legitimacy through the imperial clan and attached himself to no faction. In just six months, he distributed 300,000 mu of land, gathered an army of 25,000, and won the people’s support with his formidable firearms. Li Dingguo led an army of 20,000 south on Zhang Xianzhong’s orders. Chen Zhiyuan used the natural defenses of the Min River to defeat the much larger force and rout the Great Xi army. The flames of war had only just ignited along the Heng River, yet southern Sichuan’s balance of power had already changed. As the Manchu invaders marched south and Jiangnan teetered amid storm and turmoil, a different kind of army was rising in the southwest. They meant to topple not only the old dynasty, but the entire old order that preyed on its people.

“Today, we cleanse the realm!”