Chapter 88 9. "Taiping" and "ZTE"

Prince Gong Yi, who was ridiculed by the old-school figures as the "Six Devils", took control of the military and political power with the strong support of Cixi.He set up the prime minister's office of affairs of various countries, served as the prime minister himself, and devoted himself to foreign affairs.Because he is not as arrogant as the old-school figures, and can deal with foreigners more rationally, he has won the support of foreigners. And in Tianjing, the team has also changed.In order to make up for the vacancy left by the "Five Kings of Yong'an", the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan promoted a group of heroes who emerged in the war: Chen Yucheng was named King of England, Li Xiucheng was named King of Loyalty, and jointly controlled the military power.Hong Ren, the elder of the God Worship Society who returned from Hong Kong and the cousin of the Heavenly King, was named Qianwang and took up the internal affairs.Although the talents of these outstanding figures were not inferior to those of their predecessors, and they were even superior in moral integrity, at this time, the spiritual pillar on which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was founded collapsed in the sound of the "Tianjing Incident" , They have nothing to rely on except their own strength.

The balance of power gradually tilted towards the Qing Dynasty.The new government of the Qing Dynasty, which had been slowed down, sought foreign aid externally, and internally reused Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang and other practical factions, and it turned out to be a flashback.The Qing Dynasty's decades of talent reserves and two hundred years of orthodox influence gradually became effective at this time, while the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had lost its spiritual weapons and moral power, fell into a slump. In December 1856, Wuchang fell for the third time. Then, in April 1858, the Taiping Army lost Jiujiang again. The fierce general Lin Qirong died in battle. The Qing army besieged again in June 1857. Tianjing.

Although Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng and others also achieved another victory in defeating Jiangbei and Jiangnan Daying, as well as the battle of Sanhe Town in Luzhou, the situation is getting more and more serious.Western countries expressed support for the Qing government, and even directly participated in the battle of Shanghai, repelling Li Xiucheng's army.Some Westerners joined the Qing army as individuals and organized "foreign spear teams" to participate in the war, such as the "Ever-Victorious Army" organized by Wall and Gordon, and the "Ever-Victorious Army" organized by the French.

In 1861, Anqing, the last outer barrier of Tianjing, fell.The Huai army organized by Li Hongzhang marched into Shanghai, peeking at Suzhou and Changzhou, and another Hunan army led by Zuo Zongtang also entered Zhejiang from Jiangxi. In May 1862, when Li Xiucheng was preparing to attack Shanghai, Luzhou, where Chen Yucheng was defending, was attacked by the Qing army.Chen Yucheng, who suffered heavy losses in the Anqing siege battle, was weak and had to withdraw from Luzhou. When passing through Shouzhou, he was betrayed by the local regiment leader Miao Peilin to the Qing army, and was killed in June. six years old.Another pillar of the kingdom of heaven has fallen.

At this time, the main force of the Hunan Army led by Zeng Guoquan, Zeng Guofan's ninth younger brother, also entered the city of Tianjing, and began the protracted offensive and defensive battle of Tianjing.At the beginning of the siege, Li Xiucheng once led thirteen kings to besiege Yuhuatai where Zeng Guoquan was stationed with an army of 200,000, but he was unable to overcome the 46-day continuous attack and was forced to withdraw from the siege.During the Northern Expedition, 20,000 Taiping troops could run across North China, but at this time, the 200,000 Taiping army couldn't even eat Zeng Guoquan's 20,000 to 30,000 people.In just a few years, the Kingdom of Heaven has come to an end.

In June 1864, Hong Xiuquan died of illness.He resolutely refused to take medicine when he was sick, maybe because he didn't want to see the destruction of the kingdom of heaven with his own eyes?Although Li Xiucheng suggested to him to break out of the siege at the beginning of the siege, Hong Xiuquan refused to accept it, and said "heavenly words" every day-most of these instructions were absurd and nonsensical, and even Li Xiucheng thought it was "dream talk". On July 19th, Tianjing City, which had been defended for two years, finally fell.Li Xiucheng protects the young heavenly king Hong Tianguifu to break through the siege. He gives up the good horse he is used to riding to the young heavenly king, but he falls behind and is captured.Zeng Guofan personally rushed from Anqing to the foot of Jinling City, and had a frank conversation with this late hero of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the two felt a sense of sympathy for each other.But the content of the conversation, Zeng Guofan later was quite cryptic and avoided talking about it.

At that time, Zeng Guofan's relatives were all over the world, and the military and political power in the southeast was in his hands. If he had a different idea, it would be unknown who would win the world.Therefore, all the careerists around him were eager to try, and the Qing court became increasingly suspicious of him. It is said that his ninth younger brother, Zeng Guoquan, once privately persuaded him to establish himself as emperor and replace the Manchu regime. His general Peng Yulin also asked him in a secret letter: "There is no owner in the southeast half, does the teacher have any intentions?" Damn it, hate it!" Then he tore the letter into a ball and swallowed it.Even if the troops in the Qing army camp are like this, will Li Xiucheng in the enemy camp also "see the same thing as heroes"?Among the descendants of the Zeng family, there is indeed a saying that "Li Xiucheng persuaded Wen Zhenggong (Zeng Guofan's posthumous name Wenzheng) to become emperor, but Wen Zhenggong dared not"-this is probably why Zeng Guofan kept the conversation between the two of them secret.

In the last years of his life, Li Xiucheng wrote tens of thousands of words of "Self-Report", which is an important material for studying the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.In "Self-Report", Li Xiucheng narrated the process of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from its rise to its decline with great pain. This is a memoir that makes people feel sad.He asked the Qing government to stop the massacre of the remnants of the Taiping Army and save some vitality for the world.In addition, as a famous general, King Zhong also put forward many suggestions on national defense and military construction.

However, as reported in the West at the time, "King Zhong is now writing his autobiography. At the same time, he is also waiting for Beijing's verdict. As for what kind of verdict it will be, there is no need to ask. Indeed, if the Qing government let go of A rebel leader with such a reputation as Zhong Wang must be crazy. His name itself is synonymous with rebellion, as long as he raises a flag, countless people from all over the country will gather around him." There is no suspense about his fate. Zeng Guofan immediately cut his own wings, and the above table demanded a large-scale dismantling of the Hunan Army, and his favor has been strengthened ever since.

On the afternoon when the city of Tianjing was destroyed, Hong Tianguifu, the young heavenly king, saw the Hunan army attacking the city from a distance, and wanted to run away, but was killed by his own wives (when he was nine years old, the old heavenly king gave him four daughters-in-law) Weeping and stumbling.Fortunately, Young Heavenly King was quick-witted and lied that he would come just to see, so he was able to escape.He rushed to the gate of the Heavenly King's Mansion, but was stopped by the female officials guarding the gate. Fortunately, King Zhong and others arrived in time to rescue him from the entanglement of the female officials.In the middle of the night, Zhong Wang led more than a thousand people pretending to be the Qing army, and escorting the Young Heavenly King to break through the Taiping Gate, but the Hunan Army immediately rushed to block the breakthrough, and Li Xiucheng and others were dispersed.

Under the desperate cover of the remaining soldiers, Young Heavenly King, a young man who couldn't even tell the difference between a mule and a horse, finally escaped on the famous horse that Li Xiucheng gave him.He fled to his cousin Qianwang's army, but the situation was over, and Qianwang's army was quickly defeated by the Qing army, and he himself was captured and sacrificed. The young heavenly king who escaped again was left alone in the pursuit of the Qing army.He lied that his surname was Zhang, and he was from Hubei. He worked in a local farm for four days and even shaved his head.However, the family did not dare to take him in and sent him home.On the road, he met the Qing army many times, once he was robbed of his clothes, and once he was forced to carry bamboo.On October 25, 1864, he was caught by the patrolling Qing army. This young man who had no experience in the world was immediately taken out of his identity. He also wrote a "self-report".In "Self-report", he put all the responsibility on the dead father and loyal soldiers, "After the war, it was all done by the old heavenly king. , King Zhong and the others did it." Then the conversation changed, Guangdong is not a good place, and I don't want to go back, so I went back to Hunan with Mr. Tang who caught me, and studied hard to be a scholar! This Master Tang from Hunan, named Tang Jiatong, was a training officer in the Qing army.Probably because Tang Jiatong had a kind face towards him. You Tianwang once wrote a poem to praise him: "My master has a high level of insight, and the world assists the Qing Dynasty. He is a civil servant and military commander, and the hero is the hero." Still very sincere. However, Hong Tianguifu is too naive. Once the identity of the Young Heavenly King is confirmed, his young life will come to an end.On November 18, Young Heavenly King was sent to the execution ground to be executed lingeringly. Just the day before his death, he wrote three poems to Mr. Tang. Signed "Four Days, Nights and Five Watches on the fourth day of October in the Jiazi Year".The poem is as follows: It's hard to get along with Changmao, it's so dangerous to fly here and there.Now I don't do long-haired hair, and I am dedicated to assisting the Qing Dynasty.Now following brother Tang, the only way is to be respectful and harmonious.