Chapter 28 real winner

In December 1863, Li Xiucheng proposed to Hong Xiuquan the policy of "let the city not go away", which meant that we must be trapped in Nanjing, and we might as well abandon Nanjing and change to a favorable place to fight guerrillas in order to make a comeback! It is never the appearance that people age first, but the aggressiveness that is desperate!Hong Xiuquan, who is nearly fifty years old, has long lost the courage to start a business, and resolutely rejected Li Xiucheng: what are you afraid of!Let's fight against the city. I have more heavenly soldiers than water, and I will guard Tianjing like an iron bucket!

In June 1864, Hong Jiaozhu, who was reluctant to leave Nanjing even after death, "ascended to heaven". The cause of death was said to be illness and suicide. In the same month, Hong Xiuquan's 16-year-old eldest son Hong Tianguifu succeeded to the throne as the Young Heavenly King. In late July, Zeng Guoquan captured Nanjing, set fire to it, and massacred the city. The flames are shining in the sky, and the blood is flowing!From time to time, the screams of Taiping soldiers and ordinary people who were burned to death and killed were heard. This is a cruel and inhuman purgatory on earth!

Powerless! Not far outside the city, Li Xiucheng stared affectionately at the loyal companion beside him who had accompanied him on thousands of miles of battle for the last time, and resolutely handed over the reins to Hong Tianguifu, who he had rescued with his life: Young master, let’s go, how far is it? how far! Listening to the sound of horseshoes receding away, Li Xiucheng asked himself: I can't go far or fast, what will be waiting for me ahead? A few days later, Zeng Guofan saw Li Xiucheng, who was exhausted and captured in prison.Zeng Guofan didn't say anything to ridicule this opponent for many years, the enemy who killed tens of thousands of Hunan troops, but just persuaded him to "go to sea" and surrender.

In fact, Zeng Guofan was just following the old routine of success and defeat, and followed the formalism. He didn't have any hope of success with such a poor technique of seducing confession. However, Li Xiucheng's response surprised him. In the next few days, wearing shackles, Li Xiucheng wrote a manuscript later known as "Li Xiucheng's Self-narration" and handed it over to Zeng Guofan.Many people believed that Li Xiucheng had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty because the manuscript showed somewhat dissatisfaction with Hong Xiuquan, the supreme leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and some words that praised the Zeng brothers and hoped that they would surrender their own tribes and even think about the enemy Qing Dynasty.

It's ridiculous, it's ridiculous! Does a first-class prince and high-ranking commander-in-chief of the Taiping Army still need to win money and wealth by surrendering? A loyal minister who gave up his BMW to the young master after the fall of Tianjing and broke through the siege, a general whose hands were soaked in the blood of Manchu nobles and children of the Eight Banners, would he naively think that the court could allow him to survive? Couldn't an important minister who deeply reflected on why the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom failed, comment a few words on his own leaders truthfully and without exaggerating?

A soldier who has lost to an opponent worthy of his respect, can't he give the opponent a few words of praise? Can a responsible leader lower his stance to seek a way out for his subordinates who have been fighting with him for many years? A person who is unwilling but unable to recover, a person who pointed out that imperialism is the primary enemy at the last moment of his life (to prevent ghosts and rebels first-"Li Xiucheng's Self-narration"), is he not qualified to think about it? Where will China go after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? No matter from which point of view, it is impossible for Li Xiucheng to surrender, at most he can only blame his attitude for not being righteous enough.

Thinking about it now, the reason why Li Xiucheng wrote this embarrassing manuscript was simply to let others know how he died.Li Xiucheng expected that he would be trapped in the enemy's hands, and he was afraid of his life. Instead of dying in silence and being castigated by Qing Shi as a mediocre rebel and gangsters, he should take the opportunity to recount his experience of devoting himself to the kingdom of heaven for more than ten years. A summary of the gains and losses of my life's magnificent career. It is impossible for a person who calmly faces gains and losses in life to be afraid of death.

One day after finishing the manuscript, Li Xiucheng ushered in his final ending with a smile. Death fulfills wishes, joy returns to Yin! In August 1864, Li Xiucheng was executed on the spot by Zeng Guofan at the age of 42. At the end of October, Hong Tianguifu was captured and executed. At this point, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had dominated the south for fourteen years, officially perished. Although the plot of the demise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is very clichéd, the role of this peasant uprising is still obvious: Although the Qing Dynasty did not perish, it was also severely stripped of its skin. This war consumed too much of the Qing Dynasty. Power, so that those heroes who are really capable of overthrowing a dynasty have more opportunities to fight with the court.

The war that has lasted for more than ten years is finally over, and Cixi in the Forbidden City can finally sleep soundly, but has she really won? It is true that she is the winner, but she is by no means the biggest beneficiary.The ultimate winner is the group of Han Chinese ministers headed by Zeng Guofan who took advantage of the situation and took control of the military and political power.As mentioned earlier, the national policy of the Qing Dynasty is to suppress the Hanchens, so if the Hanchens want to take power through the normal process, unless the high-level Manchus in the Qing Dynasty are collectively mentally ill.

Zeng Guofan's success experience tells us: a person's success is not accidental, he must create outstanding achievements at some important junctures, opportunity and ability are indispensable. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was destroyed, and the Nian Army in the north could not last long.