For the once-great Ming, the 1630s... suck. Manchus are battering down the creaky northern defenses, foreign silver has dried up, the treasuries are empty, famine, plague and locust swarms are ripping through the populace, and bandit warlords are causing a ruckus in the west... with an increasing eye on the capital itself.

Time Period Covered:
ca. 1638-1644 CE

Major Historical Figures:
Great Ming:
The Chongzhen Emperor (Zhu Youjian) [r. 1627-1644]
Xiong Wencan, Supreme Commander of Bandit Pacification [d. 1639]
General Yang Sichang [d. 1641]
General Sun Chuanting [d. 1643]
General Wu Sangui [1616-1678]

Great Qing:
Hong Taiji [1592-1643]
Prince Abatai [1589-1646]
Prince Dorgon [1612-1650]

Rebels/Bandits:
Li Zicheng, "The Dashing King" [1606-1645]
Zhang Xiangzhong, "The Yellow Tiger" [1606-1647]

Major Sources Cited:
Atwell, William. "The T'ai-ch'ang, T'ian-ch'i, and Ch'ung-chen reigns" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I.
Brook, Timothy. The Troubled Empire: China in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.

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