?
Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, and Yoshibuwon's joint letter was sent to all parts of the Taiping Rebellion. The content of the letter was simple. Lin Fengxiang said that the King Of The East's matter could not go on like this. No matter what misunderstandings the brothers had in the past, there would be no end to it if they continued to be entangled in this way. Lin Fengxiang asked the old brothers of the Heavenly State to return to Tianjing City to hold a meeting to discuss the future. At the very least, they had to stop the sad situation of them thinking that they would be killed by their brothers.
What kind of person was Lin Fengxiang? He was the oldest member of the God-worshipping Sect. He joined the Taiping Rebellion even earlier than Shi Dakai. As a general under the West King, he was also conferred the title of Heavenly Official, Deputy Prime Minister, Marquis Jing Hu, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expedition Army of the Taiping Rebellion.
At this time, the East, West, North, and South Kings of the Taiping Rebellion had all died. Among the three kings conferred after the capital was established in Tianjing, King Yan was executed, King Yu died of illness, and Prince Of Qi left the Heavenly State. The "National Grandmasters" who were based on the King had all lost their backers. A considerable number of the Weathermen had also died. It could be said that in terms of seniority and influence, Lin Fengxiang was already the third most important person in the Taiping Rebellion.
More importantly, a large portion of the Western Expedition Army under Wing King Shi Dakai were not his direct subordinates. National Grandmaster Yang Fuqing was on the King Of The East's side, while National Grandmaster Wei Jun was on the North King's side. In contrast, the military groups controlling Anhui and Yangzhou were all old subordinates of the West King. After the West King's deputy Ceng Shuiyuan was killed by the King Of The East Yang Xiuqing, Lin Fengxiang actually controlled this army of more than ten thousand elite brothers from Guangxi. This was the strongest army in the Taiping Rebellion.
With such influence and actual military support, Lin Fengxiang's Taiping Rebellion was now qualified to be the third most powerful army. His joint letter soon received a reply.
Lin Fengxiang had originally thought that the first to respond would be the heavily armed Guozong. Wing King Shi Dakai had his own plans. Of course, he would not respond so quickly. The National Grandmasters had lost their backers. Whether it was the King Of The East's faction or the North King's faction, they did not feel safe. They should have been the first to express their support.
However, the actual situation was not like this at all. The first to respond was actually a low-level military leader. After the third Prime Minister of the Northern Expedition took over Anhui, he began to reorganize the army. Learning from Vézé's troops, they temporarily did not have a division commander. Instead, they had ten brigades, each of which had a full complement of five hundred men.
This was Yang Xiuqing's plan from the beginning. In the early days of the Taiping army, the personnel were very mixed. Many of them came in groups and were immediately given positions after they came to seek refuge. These troops, who were linked by blood and fellow villagers, formed an army on their own. This caused the size of the army to be very uncertain. One to two hundred people could become a division commander. Four to five hundred people could become a division commander.
After these years of expansion, many of these troops became local garrison troops. They also followed the field army to fight, but their mission was to guard the place. The first to respond was actually the troops in Jiangxi. In the letter to Lin Fengxiang, the Jiangxi local garrison almost begged the central government to rebuild as soon as possible. They also wanted to support their local brothers when they were attacked by the Qing Army.
This time, Lin Fengxiang had a plan. Shi Dakai did not have absolute influence in the local troops in Jiangxi. Before the King Of The East was killed, the Taiping Rebellion was in favor. If Yang Xiuqing could not trust them, they would not have been sent to fight. Perhaps a portion of the field troops who were frightened by the tragic scene of Tianjing City's massacre would listen to Shi Dakai's words and choose to follow him. But it was very obvious that Shi Dakai did not use all his strength to rope in the local garrison troops. Instead, he used all his strength to rope in the field troops. At this time, the biggest feeling of the local troops was that they needed a strong central government to support them like before.
In response to this situation, Lin Fengxiang once again sent a letter to Yang Fuqing and Wei Jun, who represented the King Of The East and the North King's faction. In the letter, Lin Fengxiang assured them that Lin Fengxiang and the rest invited everyone back to Tianjing City to discuss future matters not just for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the Heavenly State brothers. They would definitely not sacrifice the benefit of other brothers. At the same time, Lin Fengxiang also told Yang Fuqing, Wei Jun, and the rest that if they gave up this opportunity, they could only listen to everyone else's arrangements. This did not benefit the King Of The East and the North King's faction. Lin Fengxiang had absolute confidence in the safety of his brothers.
Soon, Yang Fuqing and Wei Jun replied that they were willing to participate in this meeting. After receiving the replies from all the brothers other than Wing King Shi Dakai, Lin Fengxiang immediately began to prepare for this meeting. On the 28th of July, he returned to Tianjing City first to visit the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. Li Kaifang led the troops and stationed them in Yangzhou. They waited for the follow-up.
Lin Fengxiang had not seen the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan for many years. He originally thought that Hong Xiuquan's expression would be terrible. However, he saw that Hong Xiuquan looked tired, but his complexion was actually good. After the greetings, Hong Xiuquan gave Lin Fengxiang a seat. The two first talked about their interactions in Jintian and Yong An. Thinking back, Lin Fengxiang thought of the East, West, North, and South Kings, and felt a little sad.
After expressing his closeness, Lin Fengxiang began to cut to the chase. "Heavenly King! The matter of the King Of The East should also come to an end! I feel that the position of Principal Military Advisor can no longer be established! "
Hearing this, a sharp look flashed across the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan's eyes. It seemed that Lin Fengxiang's words had completely hit the nail on the head of Hong Xiuquan. Very quickly, Hong Xiuquan asked, "What do you think, Brother Lin?"
"The King Of The East became the Principal Military Advisor of the Left and led the affairs of Heavenly State. In the end, he caused such a huge commotion. If he does it again, it will be no different from before. I feel that the position of Principal Military Advisor can no longer be established. The Wangfu system can no longer be established! "Lin Fengxiang said seriously. He had thought about these words carefully for a long time. In these words, Lin Fengxiang was actually hinting that the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, might be suspected of plotting a rebellion. Of course, on the surface, Lin Fengxiang also pointed out that the responsibility was the result of the King Of The East's monopoly.
After hearing this, Hong Xiuquan's expression softened. Lin Fengxiang had been Hong Xiuquan's imperial bodyguard before, so he was very familiar with this expression. It was obvious that Hong Xiuquan had been forced to say that the King Of The East was not plotting a rebellion, but was framed. However, if Hong Xiuquan didn't believe that Yang Xiuqing was plotting a rebellion, he wouldn't have used such drastic measures to deal with Yang Xiuqing. Now that he had obtained Lin Fengxiang's support, it was impossible for Hong Xiuquan not to feel relaxed.
With such an attitude as a foundation, Lin Fengxiang began to explain his thoughts to Hong Xiuquan. Hong Xiuquan listened very seriously. Sometimes he nodded slightly, sometimes he frowned in deep thought, and sometimes he interrupted Lin Fengxiang to ask questions.
In the end, Hong Xiuquan asked a question, "Will the Kings agree to your treatment of the Kings?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
