The Rise of Li Zicheng and the Rebel Alliance

By the mid-17th century, the Ming Dynasty was buckling under the weight of corruption, famine, and relentless peasant uprisings. Among the rebel leaders, Li Zicheng emerged as a formidable force, uniting fractured factions under his banner. His alliance with fellow commander Luo Rucai proved decisive in 1641, as their combined armies swept through central Henan, capturing strategic counties like Shangshui, Fugou, and Xuzhou. This campaign marked a critical shift—no longer were rebel forces mere raiders; they now posed a systemic threat to Ming authority.

The autumn of 1641 saw Li’s forces encircle Ye County, defended by Liu Guoneng, a former rebel leader turned Ming loyalist. Liu, once known by the moniker “Collapsing Heaven,” had betrayed his peasant origins to serve the dynasty. His dramatic surrender—descending the city walls to plead for mercy—ended in his defiant suicide, a moment immortalized in Ming propaganda as a tale of loyalty. Yet his death only accelerated the rebels’ momentum.

The Siege of Ye County and the Fall of Defectors

Liu Guoneng’s last stand epitomized the Ming’s desperate reliance on turncoats. His theatrical plea—”All defenses were my doing, spare the people”—masked his complicity in suppressing the very rebellion he once led. Li Zicheng’s offer of clemency was rejected; Liu chose death, declaring, “I am a traitor to the people, but I dare not betray the court.” His corpse became a symbol for both sides: the Ming celebrated his martyrdom, while rebels scorned his betrayal.

By early November, Li’s forces took Nanyang, executing Ming generals Meng Ruhu and Liu Guangzuo, along with Prince Zhu Yumo. The rebels’ advance was methodical. Dengzhou fell next, followed by a northward pivot toward Xiangcheng, where another defector, Li Wanqing (“Shooting Collapse Heaven”), met his end. These victories were not merely territorial—they dismantled the Ming’s psychological warfare, which had relied on rehabilitating rebel leaders as “reformed” icons.

Tactical Evolution and the Second Siege of Kaifeng

December 1641 marked Li Zicheng’s second assault on Kaifeng, a city symbolic of Ming power. His tactics had evolved: instead of frontal assaults, rebels employed siegeworks and explosives. Engineers dug tunnels beneath the walls, packing them with gunpowder—a technique reflecting knowledge of contemporary European siegecraft. Yet Kaifeng’s walls held, and the failed detonation injured rebel troops. Despite retreating, Li demonstrated a sophistication that alarmed Ming commanders.

The campaign’s broader success lay in its ripple effects. Towns like Zhenping, Xinye, and Ruzhou surrendered without resistance, their garrisons defecting or fleeing. Each victory eroded Ming legitimacy, revealing a regime propped up by defectors and hollow rhetoric.

Cultural Reckoning: The Myth of the “Reformed Rebel”

The Ming court’s posthumous veneration of Liu Guoneng and Li Wanqing—granting them honors and shrines—backfired. By 1641, the rebellion’s scale had rendered such propaganda irrelevant. Peasants no longer saw defectors as redeemed heroes but as traitors to their class. Official histories, while praising their loyalty, inadvertently preserved them as cautionary figures. Their fates underscored a societal divide: the Ming’s elite clung to Confucian ideals of loyalty, while the masses embraced the rebellion’s egalitarian promises.

Legacy: The Road to Beijing and Beyond

Li Zicheng’s Henan campaign was a rehearsal for his 1644 capture of Beijing, which toppled the Ming. Though Kaifeng resisted, the battles exposed Ming weakness and rebel adaptability. Modern historians view this phase as a masterclass in asymmetric warfare, where morale and mobility trumped traditional fortifications.

Today, the defectors’ stories resonate in discussions of betrayal and ideological purity. Liu and Li Wanqing’s tragic ends serve as reminders of the perils of switching sides in revolutions—a theme echoed in later conflicts worldwide. Meanwhile, Li Zicheng’s tactics foreshadowed the peasant-driven upheavals that would shape China’s tumultuous transition to the Qing era.

In the end, the 1641 campaign was not just about territory; it was a contest for narrative control. The Ming’s “reformed rebel” myth collapsed under the weight of Li Zicheng’s victories, proving that no amount of propaganda could stem a tide fueled by desperation and hope.