Chapter 16 The jade seal of the former Ming Dynasty was found in the Qiyaowang Temple

While Zhang, Jiang, Zuo and others in Changsha City were making careful plans to defend the city, Wei Changhui, the northern king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Qin Rigang, the prime minister of Tianguan Zheng, led 10,000 people to the south gate of Changsha under the order of the king Hong Xiuquan. .Xiao Chaogui, Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui, Qin Rigang and others discussed and decided to launch another full-scale attack. In the early morning of this day, from Xiaowumen in the east to Xiaoximen in the west, the Taiping Army launched a fierce attack on the south city of Changsha with 15,000 troops.In and out of Changsha City, after the redeployment of Jiang Zhongyuan, Zuo Zongtang and others, the defense has become more stringent.Some scholars from Yuelu Academy and Chengnan Academy also participated in the defense, and some even went up to the city wall with knives.Five thousand taels of silver are distributed on time every day, which also plays a role in stabilizing the morale of the army.The battle between the two sides this time was more intense than last time.The struggle near Tianxin Pavilion was especially brutal.

Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu Yong occupied the commanding heights at Caigong's tomb opposite, and the five-kilo-jin cannon king was placed on Tianxin Pavilion, with powerful firepower.The Taiping Army did not gain the upper hand for a while.But elsewhere, they have triumphed.Soldiers set up ladders near the base of the wall and are climbing the wall one by one.After accepting the lesson from last time, when they were still ten feet away from the top of the wall, they threw a soft rope with an iron hook. The hook caught the clothes and pants of the Qing soldiers on the top of the wall. Put away the rope, draw out the waist knife and kill.Most of these Qing soldiers were full of resentment because the imperial court often owed their salaries and the officials withheld them. Although they received a few taels of silver more in the past few days, they were unwilling to exchange their lives for it. Seeing that the situation was not right, they all fled .The Taiping Army was the tiger that came out of the mountain. One counted as ten, and their morale was high. Section after section of the city wall was occupied by them.

When the two armies were fighting on the ground, there was a tunnel where explosives and mines were being piled up nervously.This tunnel not only passes through the city wall, but also reaches the Tianfei Palace in the city. In Tianfei Palace, Deng Shaoliang and a group of big and small leaders were drinking happily.They regarded themselves as heroes and ignored the fighting outside.Most of the people in the palace were half drunk, but they were still shouting: "How are you guys! Three-star photos!  … Five leaders! Deng Shaoliang put his arms around a singing girl and wanted to pour her a glass of wine. A soldier stepped forward lightly and said, "My lord, the sound of cannons is loud outside. The brothers are so drunk, I'm afraid it will cause trouble." ! "

"It doesn't matter, we are inside the city. If we don't break the city, can they come in? Brothers have done a great job in the rescue, don't spoil their fun." After finishing speaking, he pinched the singing girl's pink face hard, causing the girl to scream in pain , Deng Shaoliang laughed happily. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, and a big gap was blasted in the city wall.Kang Lu led a group of soldiers through the gap and went straight to Tianfei Palace.Before Deng Shaoliang knew what happened, Kang Lu stabbed the soldier next to him in the chest. Deng Shaoliang hurriedly drew out his sword to resist, retreated while fighting, stepped on a horse at the door, and fled into the city along Nanzheng Street go.Most of the drunk leaders, big and small, had their heads cut off by Taiping soldiers like leeks.

After Tianfei Palace was occupied, there was another loud bang on the side of Kuixing Building in Nancheng.The Qing soldiers panicked and rushed to the city one after another.Zuo Zongtang rode over and ordered the Qing soldiers to go back and block them.But these deserters didn't recognize him and continued to run forward.Zuo Zongtang was so angry that he ordered his own soldiers to behead the leading deserters on the spot, and then they were restrained.Zuo Zongtang asked Qing soldiers to throw gunpowder barrels and oil barrels into the gap, and then lit the fire.In an instant, a wall of fire was burned around the gap to block the attack of Taiping soldiers outside the city.Zuo Zongtang ordered to quickly fill the gap with stones. Whoever threw a stone into the gap would be rewarded with a thousand coins.All of a sudden, stones flew from everywhere, not only many Taiping soldiers were injured and killed, but also many Qing soldiers who were fighting were also smashed.A soldier said to Zuo Zongtang: "Master Zuo, many of us have been stoned to death, so don't throw away the order!"

Zuo Zongtang opened his eyes angrily, and shouted: "Nonsense! Is the life more important, or Changsha City? Throw stones first, and pay for those who are killed later." Your Excellency Tianxin, Xiao Chaogui braved the flint, straddled his horse and charged forward with a knife. He really wanted to fly to the top of the wall and chop off the monster's head on the city wall with his own hands.Suddenly, a cannon shot over, Xiao Chaogui felt his eyes go dark, and fell off his horse.The soldiers hurriedly surrounded him, but seeing that Chaogui's head was covered with blood, he could no longer speak.The Qing soldiers on the city wall yelled wildly: "Xiao Chaogui is killed! Xiao Chaogui is killed!"

When the soldiers of the attacking teams heard that Xiao Chaogui had died in battle, they immediately lost their positions, and the Qing soldiers took the opportunity to attack fiercely.Kang Lu and other soldiers who rushed into the city had to rush out of the gap again.Seeing this, Shi Dakai urgently ordered Mingjin to withdraw his troops. That night, everyone in the Taiping Army was filled with grief and indignation.In order to prevent the Qing army from looting the camp, Chaogui had to be buried hastily, and a hidden stone was set up so that he could find it later and bury him grandly. In the early morning of the next day, Eastern King Yang Xiuqing brought 3,000 troops to Miao Peak and told everyone that the Heavenly King led a large group of troops and had already stationed at Shimapu.The arrival of the Eastern King revived the army's morale.

In the Miaofeng Temple of the King of Medicine, the military meeting of senior generals hosted by the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing is coming to an end.After an afternoon of heated discussions, Yang Xiuqing began to make a summary, and all the generals looked at him.This charcoal burner in Zijing Mountain, Guangxi, is thirty-two years old this year. He has big eyebrows and big eyes, is not tall, strong and capable, and seems to have inexhaustible strength all over his body. Both serious and passionate.He said in loud Guangxi Mandarin: "His Royal Highness the King of the West died under the city of Changsha. We are utterly incompatible with the Hunan Qing Yao, and we must avenge this revenge. But our marching target is Jinling. Changsha is just a passing station, and it is easy to get it. If you sacrifice thousands of soldiers in exchange for the city of Changsha, then there is no need. Just now His Royal Highness Yi Wang was very right. We pretended to attack the city with all our strength, and on the other hand sent capable personnel to Hexi to collect food. When the food for the entire army is sufficient Afterwards, they went straight down to Yuezhou, took the Dongting Lake, and entered the Yangtze River. Tomorrow, King Yi will lead 3,000 troops to cross the Xiangjiang River to the west. The King of the North and Prime Minister Tianguan Zheng will be in charge of attacking the city. His Majesty will arrive in two days. Wait for the King of Heaven After His Majesty arrives, we will set a date for the northward march." All the generals supported in unison.

The next day, King Yi Shi Dakai led 3,000 troops across the Xiangjiang River.When crossing the river, Shi Dakai asked Kang Lu to lead 500 people to lie in ambush on Shuiluzhou, and give him face-to-face instructions.After crossing the river, Shi Dakai successfully occupied Longhuitan and Yanghu, controlled the roads leading to Ningxiang and Xiangyin, and easily obtained 70,000 to 80,000 catties of new grain from the landlords at the foot of Yuelu Mountain. When the news spread to the city, the governor's yamen panicked again.Zhang Liangji discussed countermeasures with Zuo Zongtang overnight.Zuo Zongtang said: "Shi Dakai led people to plunder grain in Hexi, which shows that the thieves are not sure about breaking the city in the short term. From Zongtang's point of view, there are only two plans for Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing's next step: one is to station troops outside the city for a long time, and we To counterbalance; one is to plunder enough food and grass, and prepare to go far. For more than a year, they have captured the city all the way, and they did not stay for a long time. Changsha is more likely to go elsewhere.”

Zhang Liangji said: "I hope Changmao will leave Hunan as soon as possible according to Mr.'s analysis. But before Hong Yang leaves, how will we deal with it?" "At present, regardless of whether they leave or not, we must first annihilate Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai has only 3,000 troops, and he will leave the thief's lair. We will select 5,000 people and divide them into three parts. We will station 1,000 people in Shuiluzhou to block their way back. ;The other 4,000 were divided into two teams from the north and the south. After annihilating this group of troops, the rebel army will be in a state of confusion. But who will lead the three groups of troops?" Zuo Zongtang twisted his beard, as if asking Zhang Liangji, but also as if asking himself .

Zhang Liangji said: "I think the first army stationed in Shuiluzhou was led by Guangxi Admiral Xiang Rong. He chased Changmao all the way and had the most experience. The two outflanking routes were led by He Chun, the general soldier of Suining, and Wang Jialin, the general soldier of Henan and Hebei. What do you think?" Zuo Zongtang was silent for a while, then said slowly: "Zongtang just came here, so he doesn't know much about the talents and dispositions of the generals. Now that my lord has made a decision, let's do it like this!" The next day, Xiang Rong, He Chun, and Wang Jialin led their respective troops and left the city to cross the river. Xiang Rong crossed the pontoon bridge from Zhuzhang Ferry, and brought a thousand troops to Shuiluzhou in a murderous spirit, but was burned by a fire from the Taiping army. Alas, one thousand troops were burned to death and eight or nine hundred were killed. The two troops surrounded by the north and the south were frightened when they heard that Shuiluzhou Xiangrong's army had been wiped out. They were defeated and fled within an hour of the battle. In order to fight for the pontoon bridge, they drowned hundreds of people in the Xiangjiang River. Standing on the Tianxin Pavilion, Zuo Zongtang saw the fire in Shuiluzhou, and all the three groups of people fled. Unexpectedly, I, Zuo Zongtang, was the first to come out, but I fell into the trap of others. Is Jinliang not as good as Gu Liang?" Then he thought: "This group of green battalion officers and soldiers are really a bunch of idiots. There are still 4,000 troops on the road, why are they so useless!" Zuo Zongtang despised this group of wine bags and rice bags from the bottom of his heart.He secretly decided that in the future, he must personally select a group of generals, recruit a new group of recruits, train them strictly, and sweep away the old habits of the green battalion.Otherwise, even with Zhuge's plan, he would not be able to win on the battlefield. Shi Dakai's victory in Hexi greatly encouraged the soldiers who besieged the city. Many generals proposed to Yang Xiuqing: take this opportunity to attack the city again.Yang Xiuqing didn't agree immediately, he wanted to discuss with Hong Xiuquan. Near dusk, Hong Xiuquan quietly came to the Miao Peak with a group of guards.He retreated to the left and right, and had a closed-door conversation with Yang Xiuqing in the middle of the night. At noon the next day, a great happy event spread among the soldiers of the Taiping Army.It turned out that some of Yang Xiuqing's soldiers found a jade seal from the previous Ming Dynasty under the sacred seat of the Yaowang Temple.This jade seal is four inches square, engraved with five dragons on it, and engraved with eight seal characters: "Heaven and earth live together, the sun and the moon shine together". It is packed in a sandalwood wooden box and locked with a gold lock.Appraised by the learned literati accompanying the army, it is indeed a real national treasure.They all speculated that they couldn't understand why the King's Seal of the Ming Dynasty was hidden under the sacred seat of the Yaowang Temple.Later, it was Yang Xiuqing who explained it best, and everyone admired it.Yang Xiuqing said: "When Wu Sangui led the Qing soldiers into the pass, he originally wanted to use the power of the Manchus to become the emperor himself, so he found this royal seal in the palace of the Ming Dynasty and kept it secretly. Later, the Manchus proclaimed him emperor and named him Pingxi. Wang, he was dissatisfied in his heart, but his army was weak and he had no choice. After Wu Sangui arrived in Yunnan, he recruited troops to expand his strength. In the twelfth year of Kangxi, he launched a rebellion with Geng Jingzhong, the king of Jingnan, and Shang Zhixin, the son of Shang Kexi, the king of Pingnan. Wu Sangui fought from Yunnan to Hunan , occupied Changsha. He originally wanted to proclaim himself emperor in Changsha, but when the situation was unfavorable, he withdrew to Hengzhou. In a hurry, he hid the jade seal under the seat of the Yaowang Temple. At that time, Qing soldiers had surrounded Hengzhou, and he could not go to Yaowang Temple to get the jade seal for a while. Soon, Wu Sangui died, and all the people who kept the seal were killed. I don't know the whereabouts of this jade seal. Today, Heavenly Father and Brother Tian bestowed this imperial jade seal on us. Our Heavenly King is the real Son of Dragon." Yang Xiuqing's explanation is very consistent with the historical facts, and the authenticity of this handed down jade seal cannot be doubted.All the soldiers were extremely excited, especially those old brothers from Guangxi, who consciously burned incense and prayed, tears of infinite excitement flowed from their eyes, thanking the heavenly father and brother for bestowing the kingdom of heaven with a clean demon, and determined to conquer Changsha in one fell swoop. That night, Hong Xiuquan held a meeting of all senior generals.In a solemn atmosphere, Hong Xiuquan came out to meet everyone.Because of the discovery of Yuxi, the king of heaven seemed to be the son of heaven in the eyes of everyone, and all the officers and officers consciously knelt at Hong Xiuquan's feet, shouting long live.Amid everyone's infinite devotion, Yang Xiuqing gave Hong Xiuquan a treacherous smile.Only Hong Xiuquan understood this smile. Hong Xiuquan is thirty-nine years old, tall and burly, with a handsome face and a light brown beard.What makes him stand out from others is that his ears are small and round.Now, sitting on the temporary dragon chair, he said majesticly: "Heavenly father and brother gave us the jade seal of the Ming Dynasty, which is a symbol of the end of the Qing Dynasty and the return of the Han people. I have Order the craftsmen to grind away the seal inscriptions from the previous Ming Dynasty, and engrave the ten characters of 'Heavenly Father, Brother, Heavenly King, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom'." There were thunderous cheers at the feet.After everyone calmed down, Hong Xiuquan continued: "Brothers have besieged Changsha City for more than two months, and dealt a heavy blow to the Qing Yao in Hunan. The Qing Yao is currently trapped in a dangerous city, helpless. When we conquered Daozhou, we formulated The grand plan of "strike forward, follow the river, attack the castle, abandon the vital points, conquer Wuchang, and command the world". At present, the morale of our army is high, the food and grass are sufficient, and the river has been rising day after day. It is a good time for our army to go northward. All the armies made preparations tonight, collected ships, boarded the ships tomorrow morning, and evacuated Changsha. In addition, Lin Fengxiang led 5,000 people to set off from land, cleared obstacles, boarded the ships at Wangjiaping, left Linzikou, and joined the brigade at Xiangyin. Li Kaifang Lead a thousand people to march south overnight, set up a suspicious formation, and lure the Qing demons to go south, so that the army can go north safely." After Hong Xiuquan finished speaking, Yang Xiuqing stood up and emphasized a few more words.He said: "Both the navy and land armies going north must make preparations quietly overnight, so as not to let the Qing monster get any wind. The troops going south must create public opinion and make great fanfare to lure the Qing monster as far away as possible. After leading the Qing Yao out for a hundred miles, go north through the small alley and join the brigade." In the morning of the next day, when thousands of Qing soldiers followed Li Kaifang to the south, 50,000 soldiers of the Taiping Army had marched to Yuezhou from both land and water routes.