?
"Wing King Shi Dakai …" Lin Asheng muttered the name slowly. When he saw the surprised looks on the other participants' faces, Lin Asheng explained, "I haven't heard that name in a long time. I can't even pronounce it properly. — sp;. {2} {3} {w} {x}]. "
The comrades who had been in the Heavenly State only laughed when they heard this. It had only been a year since they left the Taiping Rebellion, but the Taiping Rebellion had become an insignificant existence in their minds. They had experienced too many things in Guangdong and gained too much knowledge. Thinking back to the Taiping Rebellion, everyone felt strange. Some people didn't even laugh. Li Yuchang, who had followed Vézé from the start, didn't have much of an impression of Wing King Shi Dakai. He wouldn't feel nostalgic at this point.
"Commander-in-chief, did the intelligence report say why Shi Dakai left the Taiping Rebellion?" Lin Asheng asked.
"Shi Dakai gave Hong Xiuquan a timetable and said that he was going on an expedition. Before the expedition, he ordered those loyal to Hong Xiuquan to return to Tianjing. That's about it, "Vézé said calmly.
"Is that what he means by leaving?" Li Yuchang was surprised.
Hearing this question, Lin Asheng just glanced at Li Yuchang but didn't say anything.
Vézé didn't mind Li Yuchang's lack of military knowledge. He replied, "There's no need to talk about our military discipline. Even when Yang Xiuqing was still alive, if anyone in the Taiping army dared to do this, Yang Xiuqing would definitely chop off that person's head. "
"Shi Dakai wants to rebel?" Li Yuchang asked in surprise.
"Shi Dakai wants to rebel?" Hong Xiuquan asked angrily.
In front of Hong Xiuquan was the Prime Minister Lin Fengxiang. At this time, Lin Fengxiang had already listened to Hong Xiuquan. Comparing this situation with the information that Lin Fengxiang got from others, Lin Fengxiang roughly determined the whole process of the matter.
Since last year, the Huai army has been moving south. Jiang Zhongyuan first divided his troops into two groups. One group pretended to attack Fengyang to tie down the Taiping army near Fengyang, while the other group attacked Shouzhou. Shou Province was an important city and could be said to be a shield for Huainan. If the Qing Army captured Shouzhou, the entire Huai River defensive line would be finished. Li Kaifang, who was in charge of the Huainan campaign, mobilized troops to reinforce Shou Province.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhongyuan's move was a feint. When Li Kaifang's reinforcements arrived in Shou Province, Jiang Zhongyuan sent a small group to pretend to be the Qing Army's main force, while the real main force suddenly moved east to join forces with Li Hongzhang's troops who had already begun attacking Fengyang. After a bitter battle, they actually took Fengyang. Although Fengyang wasn't as important as Shouzhou, it was still an important city on the Huai River. With Fengyang as a springboard, the Huai army began to calmly send troops south in large numbers.
While Vézé was in charge of Anhui, the Taiping army had already cleared out the Qing Army's strongholds south of the Huai River and had begun to infiltrate north of the river. At that time, the Taiping army seemed to be growing stronger and stronger, and the local landlords' militias were relatively well-behaved. When the coup in Tianjing broke out, the local landlords' militias all thought that the Taiping army was just as useless as mud that couldn't be raised to the wall. Once the Qing Army moved south, they all rose up to respond to the Qing Army, and the entire situation in Huainan turned into a complete mess in an instant.
Faced with such a terrible situation, Lin Fengxiang had no choice but to go to Wannan to command the campaign in late January. Only Hong Xiuquan and Shi Dakai were left in Tianjing. At that time, Lin Fengxiang felt that Shi Dakai actually didn't want him to leave Tianjing. However, the only person who could command the two Huainan Prime Minister was Lin Fengxiang. Although Lin Fengxiang felt that there were many contradictions between Shi Dakai and Hong Xiuquan, the military situation was urgent and he couldn't care less. Moreover, Lin Fengxiang felt that when the situation in Heavenly State was in a difficult situation, Hong Xiuquan and Shi Dakai should be able to tolerate each other for the sake of the country and not cause any more conflicts. However, Lin Fengxiang didn't expect that in less than three months after he left Tianjing, Shi Dakai and Hong Xiuquan would completely fall out.
Seeing that Lin Fengxiang didn't speak, Hong Xiuquan asked, "Prime Minister Lin, is Shi Dakai plotting a rebellion? Is he trying to learn from Vézé? "
Lin Fengxiang really didn't want to answer Hong Xiuquan's question, especially when Hong Xiuquan actually brought up Vézé. This made Lin Fengxiang even more unhappy. Before Lin Fengxiang left, the Taiping Rebellion received news. In Guangdong, Vézé fought with the British army because of the smoking ban and eventually defeated the British army. Of course, this news was spread by Vézé. The purpose was to shake the Manchu Qing court. The Taiping Rebellion was also quite surprised when they heard this news. Hong Xiuquan said something that made Lin Fengxiang unhappy. "Vézé actually fought with the foreign brother!"
Not only was Lin Fengxiang unhappy, but Lin Fengxiang could see that Shi Dakai was also very unhappy. The smoking ban was a tradition of the Taiping Rebellion. It was fine that Hong Xiuquan didn't support Vézé, but Hong Xiuquan sounded quite regretful that Vézé wasn't defeated by the British.
More than a year after the incident in Tianjing, the Taiping Rebellion was as clear as a mirror. If it weren't for the fact that Vézé didn't want to fight with the Heavenly State brothers, Vézé's forces in Tianjing, Zhenjiang, and Changzhou would have been more than enough to kill Wei Changhui, Qin Rigang, and the others, as well as the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, who was behind the scenes. If Hong Xiuquan didn't remember Vézé's kindness, he could at least keep his mouth shut and not mention Vézé. But if he talked like this behind their backs, it would make the brothers feel bitterly disappointed.
Lin Fengxiang felt that Hong Xiuquan wasn't able to let go of the incident in Tianjing and was very afraid of his brothers. However, he couldn't blame Hong Xiuquan for this. If he did, Hong Xiuquan would probably be even more afraid.
"Heavenly King, I don't think King Yi has any intention of rebelling," Lin Fengxiang looked at Hong Xiuquan's slightly nervous expression and finally voiced his opinion.
Hearing Lin Fengxiang's certainty, Hong Xiuquan's expression also relaxed a little. He continued to ask, "Is Shi Dakai going to learn from Vézé?"
Lin Fengxiang sighed in his heart. Vézé's influence in the Taiping army didn't decrease even after he left the Taiping Rebellion. On the contrary, as Vézé gained a foothold in Guangdong and advanced into Guangxi, he was about to occupy the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. Many of the brothers in the Heavenly State had an indescribable feeling when they mentioned "Prince Of Qi." During the Taiping Rebellion, Vézé had outstanding military service. At that time, the Taiping Rebellion could be said to be extremely prosperous. The Taiping army defeated the surrounding Qing Army and was about to establish a stable territory. After Vézé left, the Taiping army was besieged by the Qing Army. Battles were fierce everywhere, but it was difficult to break through.
When the illustrious "Prince Of Qi" was in the Taiping army, he was brave and good at fighting, and he won every battle. After the illustrious "Prince Of Qi" left the Taiping army, he was still invincible and dominated the world. Comparing the situation of the two sides, it was impossible for everyone to not have any thoughts. Moreover, Lin Fengxiang could clearly feel that when everyone mentioned Vézé, although their words were vague, they were actually thinking more about Vézé's immediate superior, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing. Although Yang Xiuqing was domineering, he was indeed the backbone of the Taiping Rebellion. With Yang Xiuqing in the middle, no one dared to disobey his orders, and the various armies could also cooperate with each other.
When Yang Xiuqing was in charge, Hong Xiuquan had no chance to speak. Not having a chance to speak made everyone feel that the Heavenly King was worthy of sympathy, but not having a chance to speak also made everyone unable to see Hong Xiuquan's problems. After Hong Xiuquan killed Yang Xiuqing, he could finally speak loudly and give orders as the Heavenly King. Therefore, everyone could clearly see that Hong Xiuquan indeed could not compare to Yang Xiuqing in terms of military or administration. The gap between the two made the brothers very disappointed.
According to the information Lin Fengxiang knew, before Shi Dakai left Tianjing City with the reason that the war in Jiujiang was urgent, Hong Xiuquan did something strange. He transferred Zhang Yingchen's troops, whom Lin Fengxiang had spent a lot of effort to persuade to be transferred to Changzhou, back to Tianjing City. Zhang Yingchen was one of the people who had participated in the incident in Tianjing City and survived. He was also someone Hong Xiuquan could trust. Among the generals of the Taiping Rebellion, Zhang Yingchen had also received Vézé's teachings and was very strong in combat.
Lin Fengxiang could understand Hong Xiuquan's thoughts. By transferring Zhang Yingchen back to Tianjing City to be in charge of Tianjing City's defense, Hong Xiuquan could suppress any possible "rebellion" at any time. Hong Xiuquan had suffered a lot and lacked a sense of security. It wasn't strange for him to do so.
But as the Heavenly King of the Taiping Rebellion, as the leader of the Taiping Rebellion, it was completely demeaning to position himself in a position where he needed to use force to obtain safety. The brothers of the Taiping Rebellion were all smart people. They knew that Hong Xiuquan was clearly threatening them. He did not treat them as his own people.
When Lin Fengxiang was in Tianjing City, he spent a lot of effort to eliminate the deep-seated contradictions caused by the change in Tianjing City. For example, he did not accept Shi Dakai establishing the Yi Palace and following in Yang Xiuqing's footsteps. Similarly, Lin Fengxiang was firmly against Hong Xiuquan conferring his two brothers as kings to "balance" and suppress Shi Dakai. Lin Fengxiang knew that there was no trust between the Heavenly King and the Yi Palace. That was why he tried his best to let the two remaining kings of the Six Kings of the Taiping Rebellion work together.
Looking at it now, Lin Fengxiang felt that he was still too idealistic. He was actually trying to rebuild something that had been completely destroyed. If the Heavenly King and the Yi Palace could reconcile, they would not be in such a state where they did not trust each other.
However, Hong Xiuquan did not seem to have reflected on his problem. Seeing that Lin Fengxiang did not speak, he asked again, "Does Shi Dakai want to learn from Vézé?"
After hearing this question that had been asked three times, Lin Fengxiang wanted to ask back, "Why can't Shi Dakai learn from Vézé?" Vézé could not stay in the Taiping Rebellion. For himself and for the Taiping Rebellion, he chose to leave. Since Hong Xiuquan did not care about comforting Shi Dakai and had to be wary of Shi Dakai in everything, what was the point of Shi Dakai staying in the Taiping Rebellion?
These attacks against Hong Xiuquan were at the tip of his tongue, but Lin Fengxiang could not bring himself to say them. After all, he was one of the 30 or so sworn brothers of the Jintian Rebellion. Now, there were not many of these old brothers left. Therefore, Lin Fengxiang wanted to hold on to his ideals of Heavenly State. Suppressing his dissatisfaction, Lin Fengxiang answered, "Yi Wang said he wanted to go on an expedition. I think he might come back in the future. However, he must have his own plans now. I'm afraid he won't come back for a while. "
Hearing this, Hong Xiuquan heaved a sigh of relief. Lin Fengxiang did not know if this relief was because Shi Dakai would not come back now or in the future. However, Lin Fengxiang could not focus on this matter. Regarding Shi Dakai's departure, Lin Fengxiang was also very dissatisfied. When Shi Dakai left Tianjing City, he used the reason of going to Jiujiang as an excuse. Now, not only did Shi Dakai not go to Jiujiang, but he also sent Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng, Wei Jun, and the others who did not choose to follow Shi Dakai back to Tianjing City. In name, they were recommending "capable" young generals to Hong Xiuquan.
These people originally supported the Taiping Rebellion and had no intention of leaving the Taiping Rebellion. The fact that they were arranged to be generals proved the Taiping Rebellion's attitude towards them. Why would they need Shi Dakai's recommendation?
Shi Dakai had gathered a group of generals in Jiangxi who wanted to leave the Taiping Rebellion and establish their own power. No matter where they went next, they would definitely not serve the overall strategy of the Taiping Rebellion. Instead, they would first satisfy their own strategic interests.
This army with the West punitive expedition as the core had left the Taiping Rebellion's strategy. Shi Dakai even sent the troops who were unwilling to follow him back to Tianjing City. Now, the reinforcement army that came to Jiujiang was disbanded. Jiujiang was already in danger. If the Xiang Army conquered Jiujiang, their next target would undoubtedly be Anqing. If Anqing fell, the Xiang Army could go with the flow and attack Tianjing City. By then, the Taiping Rebellion would immediately collapse.
Just as Lin Fengxiang was frowning and deep in thought, Hong Xiuquan said, "Since Prince Yi wants to go on an expedition, the army can't be without a commander for a day. Let's rebuild the five main generals now."
Lin Fengxiang was slightly stunned. He didn't expect Hong Xiuquan to come up with a strategy at this time. No matter what, Hong Xiuquan was the Heavenly State's Heavenly State's Heavenly King. Since he had spoken, Lin Fengxiang had to listen to him first.
And Lin Fengxiang soon realized that Hong Xiuquan's suggestion wasn't ridiculous. In fact, it was very practical. Rebuild the five main generals system. From Hong Xiuquan's point of view, it became five main generals. Jiangxi, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Wannan, and Huainan were the five main strategic directions of the Taiping army. The Qing Army was attacking in every strategic direction.
Hong Xiuquan suggested to build a troop in every strategic direction. The main generals would be the veteran generals of the Taiping Rebellion. Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, Yoshibuwon, and Ceng Lichang were the subordinates of the Western Prince, Xiao Chaogui. They were also the veteran generals who made great contributions during the conquest of Tianjing City. Li Xiucheng, on the other hand, was a rising young general, and Hong Xiuquan especially promoted him.
If this was the only arrangement, it could only be said to be a headache and a foot ache. Hong Xiuquan suggested that Wei Jun be Lin Fengxiang's deputy, Chen Yucheng be Li Kaifang's deputy, and the other generals who were in an awkward position after the coup in Tianjing became the deputy of the five main generals.
Once this suggestion was made, Lin Fengxiang's view of Hong Xiuquan immediately changed. At this time, what the Taiping Rebellion needed most was to pacify the hearts of the people. The five main generals were all people Hong Xiuquan trusted. Moreover, none of them had participated in the coup in Tianjing. Making those who were affected by the coup in Tianjing and had unstable minds their deputies could pacify the hearts of the people. Needless to say, Wei Changrong's younger brother, Wei Jun, was to be Lin Fengxiang's deputy. Lin Fengxiang had the confidence to make Wei Jun feel at ease.
Seeing Hong Xiuquan calmly arrange the personnel work, Lin Fengxiang had an indescribable feeling in his heart. Letting Hong Xiuquan take on the important administrative and military tasks showed that Hong Xiuquan was indeed not a capable person. However, when it came to political struggles, Hong Xiuquan had displayed quite an unusual skill. Whether it was killing Yang Xiuqing or arranging the five main generals. Hong Xiuquan, on the other hand, displayed some admirable qualities.
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