On the nineteenth day of the third month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, rebel king Li Zicheng captured the Ming capital. The Chongzhen Emperor ordered all the women of his harem to commit suicide. Empress Zhang of the Yi'an Palace and Empress Zhou of the Xiaojie Palace took their own lives. The emperor then personally struck down two of his daughters. Princess Zhaoren was killed on the spot, while his eldest daughter, Princess Changping, raised her arm to block the sword and had it severed, but was lucky enough to survive. After ordering his personal eunuch to escort his three sons out of the city, the emperor hanged himself on Coal Hill.
Immediately afterward, the eunuch Wang Cheng'en, Grand Secretary Fan Jingwen, Censor-in-Chief Li Banghua, Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu, and other officials followed him in death. The Ming dynasty was finished.
On the twenty-first day of the fourth month, Li Zicheng, who had ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor of the Great Shun, sent several thousand cavalry to the western outer wall of Shanhai Pass. A Ming garrison on the north wing of the city revolted and surrendered to him, but Wu Sangui refused Li Zicheng's offer of surrender. The two sides then clashed in a fierce battle.
On the twenty-second day of the fourth month, a large force of Manchu troops from beyond the passes galloped to Shanhai Pass. Wu Sangui opened the gates to let them in. The combined forces of Wu Sangui and the Qing overwhelmed Li Zicheng's outnumbered army, forcing it to retreat for the time being.
In the fifth month of that same year, after defeating Li Zicheng's rebel army, the Manchu forces marched under Wu Sangui's direction. Led by Dorgon, they entered the capital of the Ming Empire through Donghua