Although they were only armed with wooden sticks, Li and his band managed to ambush a group of government soldiers sent to arrest them, and obtained their first real weapons.

[2] By the late Ming dynasty era, the government had been weakened financially, and struggled to deal with the economic issues, environmental problems, and widespread disease (smallpox and possibly the plague) that afflicted peasant populations.

Environmental disaster, disease, and the failure of the Chongzhen government to protect its people led to major peasant uprisings across Northern China beginning in 1628, with the Shaanxi province as an epicenter of rebellion.

Historians attribute this growth in numbers to Li's reputation as a Robin Hood-style figure who showed compassion to the poor and only attacked Ming officials.

[2] Li advocated the slogans of "dividing land equally" and "abolishing the grain taxes payment system" which won great support from the peasants.

The song, "Killing cattle and sheep, preparing tasty wine and opening the city gate to welcome the Dashing King" was widely spread at the time.

Firstly, Li was Han Chinese and hailed from the Shaanxi province of China, which strengthened his legitimacy to the throne versus the foreign Manchus.

[7] Li's army was eventually defeated on 27 May 1644 at the Battle of Shanhai Pass by the combined forces of the Manchurian Prince Dorgon and the Ming general Wu Sangui who had defected to his side.

Li's rebellion against the Ming dynasty is featured in Sword Stained with Royal Blood and his personality is analysed from the point of view of Yuan Chengzhi, the protagonist.

In The Deer and the Cauldron, set in the Qing dynasty during the early reign of the Kangxi Emperor, Li is revealed to have survived and fathered a daughter, A'ke, with Chen Yuanyuan.