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On the 10th of August, 1861, Prince Zhang returned to Tianjing City. When Prince Zhang Lin Fengxiang's troops arrived outside Tianjing City in an orderly manner, Hong Xiuquan personally welcomed them at the city gates. The accompanying civil and military officials were all delighted. Prince Zhang Lin Fengxiang was the most senior and the highest-ranking general in the Taiping army. This alone was enough to cheer up the civil and military officials who had lost Huainan.
Before Huainan was lost, Prince Zhang, who had been fighting with the Xiang Army in Jiangxi, was not particularly conspicuous. The civil and military officials in the imperial court all knew that Prince Zhang Lin Fengxiang and the Xiang Army had been fighting hard for more than a year. Although Lin Fengxiang had done a lot of hard work, the civil and military officials did not think that he had made much of a contribution.
However, Anqing had fallen, and King Chen Yucheng's troops had suffered heavy losses. In the following six months, Huainan, which was once thought to be impregnable, had changed hands. The King who had been guarding Huainan and his eighty thousand troops were nowhere to be found. After the Xiang Army had displayed a strong fighting force, the civil and military officials in the imperial court finally understood how much pressure Lin Fengxiang had been under when he had fought against the Xiang Army in Jiangxi alone. Prince Zhang Lin Fengxiang's bloody battle in Jiangxi had indeed secured the western border of the Taiping Rebellion. However, the Xiang Army had already occupied the north of the Yangtze River, and the Xiang Army's navy could move unimpeded from Wuchang to Anqing. Ceng Guofan could rely on the navy to attack Tianjing City at any time. No matter how well they fought in Jiangxi, they could not stop the Xiang Army from attacking Tianjing City.
Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan issued several edicts, asking Prince Zhang Lin Fengxiang to lead his troops back to Tianjing City. Lin Fengxiang did not decline, and led his troops back to Tianjing City. The civil and military officials in Tianjing City felt relieved that this veteran general of the Taiping Rebellion had returned to the army.
In the imperial court of Heavenly State, Hong Xiuquan asked Lin Fengxiang about the current situation. Lin Fengxiang raised three important tasks at the moment. The first was to prepare for the decisive battle with the Xiang army. The second was to ignore the few princes in Zhejiang and reorganize the soldiers and horses that had gathered in Tianjing City. They had to reform the personnel, equipment and command system. The third was even more exciting. Lin Fengxiang requested the establishment of the General Staff Headquarters, which should be based on Vézé's military system.
Lin Fengxiang shouted at the court meeting, "Now that the situation in Heavenly State is in such a crisis, all the brothers can put down their previous unhappiness and work together to deal with the Xiang army and Huai army. Right now if we can establish the General Staff Headquarters and complete the unification of the troops' military orders, it is not that we do not have any chance of winning against the Xiang army. After all, the Xiang army only has a hundred thousand men now. Excluding Zhejiang, we still have a hundred thousand men! "
"After all, the Xiang Army is only left with 100,000 people. Excluding Zhejiang, we still have more than 100,000 people!" The territory of the Taiping Rebellion was only left with Southern Anhui, Southern Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, which Li Xiucheng fought for. However, there were many cities along the way from Jiangxi to Tianjing City, and many troops of various sizes. Lin Fengxiang had 40,000 soldiers under his command, Chen Yucheng's remaining troops numbered 8,000, and Zhang Yingchen's imperial guards numbered nearly 30,000. Yang Fuqing of the Ningguo Constabulary had 40,000 troops. These four groups of soldiers and horses, together with other units of various sizes, added up to about 200,000 people. Lin Fengxiang hoped to use this crisis to formalize the Taiping Army. If the 200,000 Taiping army could unify, they might be able to survive.
"Who should be the Chief of the General Staff?" A malicious voice sounded. It was Prince An Hong Ren.
Lin Fengxiang couldn't help but frown. Prince An Hong Ren and Prince Fu Hong Renda were Hong Xiuquan's two elder brothers. These two men had no ability and were placed in such high positions. Naturally, they were like those villains who were intoxicated by success, always wanting to grasp all the power. The imperial court hated these two men. Before Shi Dakai left, he and the other officials forced Hong Xiuquan to strip them of their titles. Later, after Shi Dakai left, Hong Xiuquan conferred the title of 13 Wangye, and the two men were restored to their titles.
Listening to Hong Ren's provocative words, Lin Fengxiang frowned and said, "The system of the General Staff headquarters is for the capable to rise, and the system is open to the public. Everyone will decide who can rise to the top. "
"Could it be that the system of the Kingdom of Heaven is decided by Prince Zhang?" Prince Fu Hong Renda interrupted.
Lin Fengxiang was not an impulsive person. If he had a simple and crude temperament, he wouldn't have been able to make a living as a fortune-teller when he was young. But after listening to the words of Prince An and Prince Fu, Lin Fengxiang still felt a surge of anger rushing to his head. What Lin Fengxiang wanted was to save the Taiping Rebellion, but what Prince An and Prince Fu wanted was that the power should not fall into the hands of others. The Heavenly King was the ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven, but the Heavenly King himself did not have the ability to run the political affairs of the Kingdom of Heaven. The ones who worked were the brothers of the Kingdom of Heaven. The brothers who worked the most hated Prince An and Prince Fu, this kind of scum who flaunted the might of a tiger and used chicken feathers as arrows.
But Lin Fengxiang quickly calmed his anger. This was not the time to fight with Prince An and Prince Fu. Since Lin Fengxiang wanted to establish the system of the General Staff headquarters, he must now let the officials of the imperial court understand the system of the General Staff headquarters. What was the difference between this system and the current military system of the Taiping Rebellion? Why did he have to establish this system now?
Lin Fengxiang ignored the provocation of Prince An and Prince Fu. He began to explain the system of the General Staff headquarters to the officials of the Kingdom of Heaven. No matter how Prince An and Prince Fu interjected, Lin Fengxiang completely ignored the two men.
"Lin Fengxiang, what do you mean by this." Being ignored like this, Prince An was furious. He shouted and grabbed Lin Fengxiang's shoulder. Lin Fengxiang slapped Prince An's hand away and said coldly, "Go away, when is it your turn to speak?"
As Hong Xiuquan's elder brother, he was entrusted with the heavy responsibility of balancing the Princes with different surnames in Tianjing City. However, Lin Fengxiang had humiliated him in such a manner. Prince An, Hongren, was stunned. Before he could fully react, he heard Hong Xiuquan shout, "Prince An, just listen to Prince Zhang."
After all, Hong Ren had been a prince for so long. Although he was angry, he managed to control his emotions.
Lin Fengxiang continued to explain the characteristics of the system of the General Staff headquarters. This was an extremely advanced system, transparent management, and linked power and responsibility. Not only did Lin Fengxiang work hard to establish the system of the General Staff headquarters in his army, but he also tried to learn from Vézé. This process of copying the system was extremely arduous. But more than a year ago, when Vézé vigorously rectified the doctrine of "mountain strongholds" in the Liberation Army, several middle-level officers "could not stand it" and left the Liberation Army to seek refuge with Lin Fengxiang, who had a good reputation in the Liberation Army. This time, Lin Fengxiang really understood how Vézé's system of the General Staff headquarters operated. In particular, the contents and methods of the assessment of the various levels of units made Lin Fengxiang feel that the fog that had been shrouding him had mostly dissipated.
Listening to Lin Fengxiang's narration, the officials were somewhat intoxicated. Everyone had worked hard for the Taiping Rebellion for ten years. Although there were many gains, there were also many problems that could not be solved. After listening to the introduction of the system of the General Staff headquarters, they all felt that the content was broad and profound. Not only could it be used to organize the army, the system and methods could even solve most of the problems encountered in the Taiping Rebellion.
After Lin Fengxiang finished, the officials of the central government of Heavenly State immediately looked at Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. Many people hoped that Hong Xiuquan would approve of Lin Fengxiang's request now. The system of the General Staff headquarters sounded very reliable. If it could really be implemented, other effects were hard to say, at least guys like Prince An and Prince Fu would immediately lose the opportunity to intervene in the military.
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