 A peasant soldier named Li Zicheng mutinied with his fellow soldiers in western Shaanxi in the early 1630s after the Ming government failed to ship much @-@ needed supplies there . In 1634 he was captured by a Ming general and released only on the terms that he return to service . The agreement soon broke down when a local magistrate had thirty @-@ six of his fellow rebels executed ; Li 's troops retaliated by killing the officials and continued to lead a rebellion based in Rongyang , central Henan province by 1635 . By the 1640s , an ex @-@ soldier and rival to Li — Zhang Xianzhong ( 1606 – 47 ) — had created a firm rebel base in Chengdu , Sichuan , while Li 's center of power was in Hubei with extended influence over Shaanxi and Henan . 
