Wu San-kuei had already started on his way to relieve the capital when he heard of the events above recorded; and it seems probable that he would have yielded to circumstances and persuasion but for the fact that Li had seized the girl he intended to marry.

This decided him; he retraced his steps, shaved his head after the required style, and joined the Manchus.
It was not very long before Li Tz{u}-ch`eng's army was in full pursuit, with the twofold object of destroying Wu San-kuei and recovering Chinese territory already occupied by the Manchus.

In the battle which ensued, all these hopes were dashed; Li sustained a crushing defeat, and fled to Peking.

There he put to death the Ming princes who were in his hands, and completely exterminated Wu San-kuei's family, with the exception of the girl above mentioned, whom he carried off after having looted and burnt the palace and other public buildings.

Now was the opportunity of the Manchus; and with the connivance and loyal aid of Wu San-kuei, the Great Ch`ing Dynasty was established.
Li Tz{u}-ch`eng, who had officially mounted the Dragon Throne as Emperor of China nine days after his capture of Peking, was now hotly pursued by Wu San-kuei, who had the good fortune to recover from the rebels the girl, who had been taken with them in their flight, and whom he then married.