? On the 7th of February, the Taiping Rebellion's Wing King, Shi Dakai, sat silently on his ship.
A few minutes ago, he had just sent Vézé's messenger off the ship. There was too much information for Shi Dakai to ponder. A few minutes ago, he had just sent Vézé's messenger off the ship. There was too much information for Shi Dakai to ponder.
This time, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan had ordered the execution of the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing. North King, King Yan, and King Yi — the three powerful kings of Heavenly State had all received the order. This was a rather secretive operation, and it was also a very hasty one. If the "former King Yan" was included, the seven surviving kings of the Taiping Rebellion were the Heavenly King, King Of The East, North King, King Yi, Prince Of Qi, King Yan, and King Yu. Of these seven kings, three listened to the Heavenly King, while the other two were the King Of The East's direct subordinates. Prince Of Qi, Vézé, and King Yu, Hu Yihuang, commanded more than fifty thousand troops. Together with the King Of The East's troops, the King Of The East's faction had at least a hundred thousand elite troops. The Heavenly King's faction only had less than six thousand troops under the command of North King, King Yan, and King Yi.
Even so, Wing King Shi Dakai still led two thousand troops to Tianjing City. No matter what, as the King of Yongan during the Taiping Rebellion, Wing King Shi Dakai had to take a stand. If the King Of The East killed the Heavenly King, Wing King Shi Dakai would have a hard time in the future. This was because Wing King was conferred the title by the Heavenly King, not the King Of The East. Once the Heavenly King was dead, Wing King Shi Dakai couldn't see why the King Of The East would protect Wing King's position in Heavenly State.
Along the way, Wing King Shi Dakai received three waves of letters, all from Prince Of Qi, Vézé, who had sent messengers up the Yangtze River. Shi Dakai was very surprised that Prince Of Qi, Vézé, had predicted that Wing King Shi Dakai would bring his troops down the river. A person with such foresight was definitely not an ordinary person.
Vézé's letter was placed on the small table in front of the Wing King Shi Dakai. It was written very clearly that the Heavenly King had killed the King Of The East, and then the King Of The East's troops, as well as the King Of The East's relatives. In total, he had killed at least fifteen thousand people. Prince Of Qi Vézé announced that he was leaving the Taiping Rebellion. From then on, everyone would go their own way and mind their own business. Wing King Shi Dakai was genuinely relieved by this piece of news.
When King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, wielded power in Tianjing City, Wing King Shi Dakai was in charge of reviewing the military and political measures drafted by King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, checking for loopholes and making up for loopholes. His position was basically reduced to the role of a councilor. Given Yang Xiuqing's domineering nature, Wing King Shi Dakai was most afraid of the day when Yang Xiuqing "descended to earth" and ordered Shi Dakai to be killed.
Of course, Shi Dakai did not believe in such a thing as a "Heavenly Father". He was very clear that his value to Yang Xiuqing lay in the fact that he could give valuable opinions to Yang Xiuqing. Therefore, what Shi Dakai was most worried about was Vézé's continuous contributions. As the first king to be conferred the title of King after the Taiping Rebellion, Vézé's contributions were indeed very great.
After taking over Anhui, Vézé did not follow the Celestial Empire's system of land. Instead, he introduced a system of "paying taxes after harvesting grain." The Song of Zhi system quickly completed its management of Anhui. Not only did it provide for an army of tens of thousands, but it also began to supply rations to Tianjing City. In one fell swoop, Tianjing City's predicament of food shortage was alleviated.
Shi Dakai could clearly see that there was no shortage of rations, and there was no need to worry about military threats from the north of Tianjing City. Vézé had completely stabilized Yang Xiuqing's military and political position. Yang Xiuqing conferred the title of Prince Of Qi on Vézé, which was indeed a deserved reward. When other regions had to raise their own rations, and even needed Tianjing City to provide initial soldiers and rations, only Vézé became Yang Xiuqing's pillar.
Especially during the Second Northern Expedition, Yang Xiuqing was initially dissatisfied with Vézé's unstoppable advance to the north and his swift retreat after rescuing people. But not long after, the Qing Army strengthened their siege on Tianjing City, and Vézé immediately switched to attacking the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks of the Qing Army.
If it had been anyone else, Yang Xiuqing would have already dealt with them. But the drastic change in the strategic situation forced Yang Xiuqing to agree with Vézé's actions. In the end, he only confiscated Vézé's territory in Anhui and seized one of his armies before letting the matter go. Based on Yang Xiuqing's personality, this was already an extremely lenient punishment.
Of course, Shi Dakai knew that Yang Xiuqing was not a "lenient" person. If reality had not proven that Vézé's choice was correct, Yang Xiuqing would definitely not have kept quiet about Vézé's decision not to attack Beijing.
As a powerful force in the Taiping Rebellion, Shi Dakai could see it clearly. From Vézé's point of view, he still controlled the largest army in Heavenly State, and he still had Yang Xiuqing's trust. Moreover, Yang Xiuqing allowed the existence of a large army like Vézé's to balance the other forces in Tianjing City. In the subsequent changes in the situation, Vézé did not lose anything. If Vézé had predicted the situation today, he could have completely broken away from the shackles of the Taiping Rebellion and spread his wings to a wider space.
With Chen Cheng? Similarly, Shi Dakai had also seen some things under the surface. Vézé's judgment of attacking Tianjing City was also correct. As the number one general under the King Of The East, his only reason for attacking Tianjing City was to avenge the King Of The East. If Vézé had done so, he would only have exhausted himself in the subsequent series of battles, and he would have dragged Heavenly State down with him. Therefore, Vézé's words were completely trustworthy.
As for the matter of Vézé asking Hong Xiuquan for the person, whether the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan gave the person to Vézé or not, it did not cause any loss to Vézé. As the number one general under the King Of The East, it was perfectly justified for Vézé to ask the Heavenly King for the family members of the King Of The East's subordinates who had been killed. If the Heavenly King gave the person to Vézé, as Vézé said, the brothers in Heavenly State would feel that the Heavenly King was benevolent.
Vézé also pointed out one more thing. The Heavenly King killing the King Of The East, the people in the King Of The East's residence, and the middle-level officers in the King Of The East's troops could be explained as the King Of The East's rebellion. Although the brothers in other parts of Heavenly State felt that the Heavenly King was ruthless, they could still accept this fact, and even felt that the Heavenly King had the ability to control the overall situation. However, if the Heavenly King continued to kill, he would not be able to answer to the brothers in Heavenly State morally.
Along the way, Shi Dakai received three letters from Vézé. In Vézé's latest letter, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan had indeed killed the family members of the King Of The East's subordinates. This method had indeed crossed the line. If the previous killings were still a question of whether the Heavenly King was the supreme leader of Heavenly State, then the latter killings had directly become a question of whether the Heavenly King was still a human. As long as he had the least bit of human compassion in his heart, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan could not be so ruthless to the family members of his own brothers.
Wing King Shi Dakai repeatedly assessed the situation before him, and finally came up with a more optimistic estimate. When the Heavenly King killed the family members of his brothers, he had also fallen into a situation where he had lost the support of the people. North King Wei Changhui and Yan King Qin Rigang, who had followed the Heavenly King to start the Tianjing incident, also had no future. If the Heavenly King did not want the other brothers to be completely disloyal, then he had to answer to the brothers in Heavenly State, and the two who had directly carried out the killings would also have no future.
When Shi Dakai led the troops east, Prince Yu Hu Yihuang was seriously ill, and it was unknown how long he could last. And Prince Of Qi Vézé had no choice but to leave the Heavenly King. Among the Seven Kings of the former Taiping Rebellion, the only one who could survive until now, and whose hands were clean and who still had the ability to rally supporters, was Wing King Shi Dakai.
Realizing this situation, Shi Dakai's ecstasy was almost uncontrollable. However, he was Wing King Shi Dakai after all, and also someone who had experienced a period of fear under Yang Xiuqing. This kind of joy was not enough to immediately make him dizzy. Shi Dakai thought over the matter a few times, and finally made a decision. That was not to go to Tianjing first, but to Changzhou, where Vézé was, and to have an open and honest conversation with Vézé.
If Shi Dakai wanted to obtain the most benefits from this situation, he had to first ensure that Vézé had to truly leave the Taiping Rebellion. If Vézé did not have enough control over his troops, and a considerable number of troops were unwilling to leave the Taiping Rebellion, in order to maintain the unity of his troops, Vézé could only choose to march into Tianjing and fight with the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. That would be a different situation.
To Shi Dakai, among the Seven Kings of the Taiping Rebellion, the King Of The East was dead. As long as the Heavenly King did not want to fall into a state of isolation, he had to let North King and Yan King take responsibility for the situation in Tianjing. Then, North King and Yan King would be at the end of their political road. Hu Yihuang was seriously ill, and no one knew how long he could last. Among the Seven Kings, the King Of The East, North King, Yan King, and Yu King could basically be excluded from the political map in the future. As long as Prince Of The Qi decided to leave the Taiping Rebellion, only a Heavenly King with a discredited reputation and the pure and innocent Wing King would be left. It was obvious who the brothers of the Taiping Rebellion would support.
At that time, as long as Wing King Shi Dakai took over the position of Left Assistant Military Advisor of the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, it would be a done deal. There was no need for Wing King Shi Dakai to make any requests. The brothers of the Heavenly State would take the initiative to make such a request. They would request Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan to hand over the position of Left Assistant Military Advisor to Wing King Shi Dakai.
At this juncture, Wing King Shi Dakai only needed to see Prince Of Qi, Vézé, once. If Vézé really wanted to leave, then there was naturally no need to worry. Vézé was not so smart as to kill Wing King Shi Dakai before he left. If Vézé did not really want to leave, then it would be even better. In the current situation, as a "remnant of the King Of The East," Vézé still wanted to survive in the Taiping Rebellion. Then, he needed someone who could completely overthrow Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. And Wing King Shi Dakai was undoubtedly the best candidate.
After thinking over this seemingly dangerous action many times, Shi Dakai decided to see Prince Of Qi, Vézé first. After making his decision, Shi Dakai called for Prime Minister Luo Dagang, who had come with him in the winter, to discuss it with him. Luo Dagang had always refused to join the God Worshipping Sect. This behavior was naturally hated by Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. It was only because the King Of The East monopolized power and put Luo Dagang in an important position that he could have his current position. Luo Dagang, of course, had a good impression of the King Of The East.
Luo Dagang was good at fighting on the water. During the battle at the mouth of the lake, he had been Wing King Shi Dakai's right-hand man. For this "rescue mission," Wing King Shi Dakai would rather leave Hu Yihuang in Wuchang and use an excuse to bring Luo Dagang with him. The reason was that he was worried that Luo Dagang would act on impulse after learning that the King Of The East had been killed.
Now that the King Of The East had been killed, the King Of The East's residence and the King Of The East's troops had all been killed, Luo Dagang had no one to rely on. Shi Dakai believed that Luo Dagang could only choose himself. Since that was the case, he could not hide the current situation from Luo Dagang.
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