Li Zicheng was the key to the demise of Ming Dynasty. He led the peasant army all the way to the capital, causing Emperor Chongzhen to hang himself, marking the demise of the Ming Dynasty. Later, Wu Sangui led the Qing army into the pass, causing Qing to seize Li Zicheng's fruit of victory.
history cannot be changed, but it can be assumed that if Li Zicheng won the world at that time, how would the territory of China develop? Will it maintain the territory of the late Ming Dynasty, or will it expand its territory and regain the hometown of the Han and Tang Dynasties?
Li Zicheng's peasant army was a brave army, but this was not the only peasant army at that time. Sichuan Zhang Xianzhong 's peasant army was also very strong. In addition, although Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, most of the land in the south still belonged to the Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty officials supported the Southern Ming regime in the south and continued the Ming Dynasty's national destiny.
If Li Zicheng was not defeated by the Qing army and Wu Sangui, Li Zicheng could successfully seize the territory of Nanming and Zhang Xianzhong. After all, he would not be under pressure to be pursued and attacked by the Qing army, then Li Zicheng might be able to unify the territory of China at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
The territory of China at the end of the Ming Dynasty was more than 3 million square kilometers. So would Li Zicheng choose to maintain the territory in the late Ming Dynasty, or would he choose to expand territory and restore the territory of the Han and Tang dynasties?
Some readers think that Li Zicheng is only good at mobile combat and attacking cities, but he is not stationed, so some readers think that Li Zicheng does not even have the opportunity to seize the world and establish a stable regime.
In fact, if there was no special situation where Wu Sangui led the Qing army into the pass, perhaps Li Zicheng would establish a solid regime, choose to garrison in the place where he had been seized, and defeat Nanming and Zhang Xianzhong, and unify the traditional Han area.
If Li Zicheng had the world and unified the traditional Han area, would Li Zicheng choose to expand his territory?
After Li Zicheng seized the world, he might choose to recuperate for more than ten years. After the regime is stable, Li Zicheng might also expand his territory like the Han and Tang Dynasties. After all, when the Han and Tang was first established, he did not immediately expand his territory.
As for whether Li Zicheng can expand the territory of China to 13.16 million square kilometers like the Qing Dynasty, this cannot be 100% sure.
The Qing Dynasty was still quite powerful at that time, and the army brought by the Ming Dynasty when it surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty might have attacked each other with Li Zicheng's Dashun with Great Wall as the boundary, but the boundary was maintained in this way.
However, if Li Zicheng won the world, he might have set up a ruling institution in Uszang (most part of Tibet) and Dogan (eastern Tibet and part of Qinghai). Just as the Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan Dynasty, the Xuanzhengyuan jurisdiction (all Tibet and part of Qinghai), and held nominal rule. Although before Li Zicheng established Dashun, Uszangdu and Dogandu had already separated from the rule of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng could still send envoys to appease him, and perhaps the purpose of ruling was achieved.
As for whether Li Zicheng could recover the hometown of Western Regions (Xinjiang), at that time, Junggar Khanate had not yet emerged. The one who ruled the Western Regions was Yarkand Khanate , which was at least easier to deal with than the later Junggar Khanate. Although the Yarkand Khanate and the Junggar Khanate were both composed of Mongolian tribes in the West, the strength of the Khanate was still related to the brave leader. At this time, the Yarkand Khanate did not have a strong leader like Galdan of the Junggar Khanate later. However, the Western Regions were not recaptured during the Ming Dynasty, and Li Zicheng might not have the intention to recapture the Western Regions.
To sum up, if Li Zicheng had won the world, the traditional Han land, the former land of Uszang and the former land of Dogan would become part of Li Zicheng's Dashun regime, and the Western Regions might still maintain the state in the late Ming Dynasty. The relationship between Dashun and the Qing Dynasty might be like the relationship between Ola and Tatar in the early Ming Dynasty. However, the Ola once surrendered to Ming Chengzu, and the chance of the Qing Dynasty surrendering to Li Zicheng was very small.
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