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In retrospect, Li Zicheng's biggest failure was his failure to lead. Many contemporary Chinese historians portray Li Zicheng as an evil bandit, but many sources indicate that Li Zicheng was a frugal and austere leader who believed in discipline, yet he failed to induce discipline to his followers. In the author's opinion, Li Zicheng's biggest failure was his inability to command and control. A charismatic leader would have been able to instill discipline among all his troops, and his troops would loot when he tells them to loot but would also stop looting when he tells them to stop looting. Li Zicheng's personality allowed him to do the former but not the latter during the crucial days of 1644, when discipline and control might have kept the army intact before, during, and (maybe) after the battle.

With all their numerical and technological inferiorities, the Manchus had battled reasonably well, not just militarily but politically as well. Prince Dorgon was quick enough to notice the internal unrests in China, and he was intelligent enough to play one faction against the other. Dorgon and the other Manchu leaders would use the same political tactics and strategies again, allying Chinese against Chinese, playing enemies against enemies.

The tactics and strategies of Li Zicheng and the Manchus would be used again by the unsuccessful Taiping rebels in the 19th century and the successful Chinese revolutionaries in the 20th century. Politically, the demise of the Ming and the rise of the Qing provide an excellent lesson for Chinese and foreign political leaders, that the neglect and abuse of the rural population in a predominantly agrarian nation can lead to the death of an empire. The current actions and initiatives undertaken by the People's Republic of China to improve the standards of living in the western and northern part of the country might indicate that perhaps China's leaders wish not to neglect the region that had cradled Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the other bandits of the late Ming Dynasty.