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The Liberation Army's military operation to capture Zhenjiang shook Tianjing City according to the plan. Once Zhenjiang was lost, the final defense system of the Taiping Rebellion would completely rely on the fortresses built outside Tianjing City by Yang Xiuqing. Against the Qing Army, perhaps these fortresses would work, but against the Liberation Army, perhaps they would be completely useless.
At this time, Xia Guan Deputy Prime Minister Lai Hanying received a letter from the Liberation Army. Lai Hanying was the younger brother of Hong Xiuquan's wife and was one of Hong Xiuquan's hardcore supporters. Lai Hanying had contributed greatly to the coup in Tianjing, and her hands were stained with too many lives. Thus, his reaction to Vézé's troops entering Tianjing City was stronger than anyone else. It was Lai Hanying who led the attack on the Prince Of Qi's residence. Since he failed to capture Vézé, he killed everyone in Vézé's residence. If Vézé took over Tianjing City, Lai Hanying believed that there was no way she could survive.
When she received the letter from the Liberation Army, Lai Hanying really wanted to read it, but she did not have the courage to do so. However, dragging it on wasn't a solution. It was just like how the Taiping Rebellion could continue to persist in Tianjing City. Of course, if they continued to persist, they would only be resigned to their fate. So after hesitating for a while, Lai Hanying began to read the letter with a solemn expression.
After reading for a short while, Lai Hanying was dumbfounded. After reading the entire letter, Lai Hanying could no longer sit still. She rushed out of the residence and headed for Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly King Residence.
The heavenly king's residence was heavily guarded. As she watched the guards coming and going, Lai Hanying could not help but recall the coup that had taken place in Tianjing 7 years ago to get rid of Yang Xiuqing. As a loyal follower of Hong Xiuquan, Lai Hanying still remembered how dangerous the situation had been. Either Yang Xiuqing or Vézé had the ability to get rid of Hong Xiuquan. Even if Yang Xiuqing was killed, Vézé would still have enough power to break through Tianjing City and kill Heavenly King Hong. Heavenly King Hong and those who were loyal to Hong Xiuquan felt that they were in grave danger.
Previously, when Vézé chose to leave, Hong Xiuquan was finally able to escape. Now that Vézé was back, it seemed that Vézé had no intention of letting Hong Xiuquan go.
Although it was already late, Hong Xiuquan still met his brother-in-law. After bowing, Lai Hanying handed the letter that Vézé had given him to Hong Xiuquan. Hong Xiuquan did not appear too excited when he read the letter. His expression reminded Lai Hanying of how Hong Xiuquan looked when he decided to get rid of Yang Xiuqing a few years ago.
However, Lai Hanying did not dare to fully believe that Hong Xiuquan was not angry. The letter that the Liberation Army had given Lai Hanying only stated one thing. If the Taiping Rebellion generals escorted the "Young Heavenly King" to the northwest, the Liberation Army would not intercept and kill them on the way.
Hong Xiuquan often said, "Father and brother, I have been in the court since I was young." The father and brother referred to the heavenly father and brother. The emperor was naturally Hong Xiuquan himself, while the young was Hong Xiuquan's son, Hong Tianfugui.
Although Hong Xiuquan had also made preparations to evacuate Tianjing City, he was forced to do so by the Liberation Army after all. Hong Xiuquan was very unhappy. Thus, on this matter, he had shouted out many different explanations. One time, Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan said that he would bring everyone to the northwest. The next time, he said that Heavenly Father would send heavenly soldiers and generals down to the mortal world to save Hong Xiuquan. The next time, he said hysterically that Hong Xiuquan would never leave Tianjing City.
The Liberation Army specifically mentioned the Young Heavenly King in this letter. The meaning of the final ultimatum could not be more obvious. It did not matter that Hong Xiuquan was unwilling to leave Tianjing City. As long as Hong Xiuquan's son, the Young Heavenly King, could leave Tianjing City, the legal system of the Taiping Rebellion would still exist. Lai Hanying was actually very clear that Hong Xiuquan's personal reputation was already extremely bad after the change in Tianjing City. It was true that Shi Dakai's departure from the Heavenly State had brought along those who were extremely disappointed in Hong Xiuquan, but those who stayed in the Taiping Rebellion might not be loyal to Hong Xiuquan. In Lai Hanying's opinion, the plan to continue the legal system of the Taiping Rebellion with the Young Heavenly King was completely accepted by the Taiping army. Then, what would happen next would be very interesting.
"These people …" Hong Xiuquan said calmly. Lai Hanying stared at Hong Xiuquan and listened to Hong Xiuquan's teachings.
"These people!" Hong Xiuquan said again. This time, the muscles on his face could not help but start to twist. The calm expression just now disappeared without a trace. Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan looked like an injured beast.
"These people want me to die!" Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan finally howled.
As the younger brother of Hong Xiuquan's first wife, Lai Hanying was also inexplicably sad and indignant. However, at this time, with enemies everywhere, Lai Hanying only felt a strong sense of helplessness.
Hong Xiuquan stood up abruptly. He walked back and forth a few steps and said in a firm tone, "Vézé will definitely die a horrible death for doing this to me. However, I won't let Vézé get what he wants. From tomorrow onwards, we will head north. "
Seeing how he controlled his intense emotions so quickly, Lai Hanying was full of admiration. Moreover, Lai Hanying was actually very worried that Hong Xiuquan would choose to die in battle with the young Heavenly King in Tianjing City. When Lai Hanying asked himself, he actually hoped to be able to escape from this place of death.
After Hong Xiuquan gave the order to leave Tianjing City, Zhang Yingchen was "betrayed" by Lin Fengxiang and the rest. Lin Fengxiang and the rest of the troops set off with the extremely legitimate reason of being the vanguard. Li Xiucheng's troops were huge and scattered in many places, so they became the rear troops. Zhang Yingchen led the Royal Guards and was responsible for the arrangements of Hong Xiuquan's 88 wives and the thousands of female officials under Hong Xiuquan.
As an old brother of the Taiping army, Zhang Yingchen knew very well why Vézé completely lost confidence in Hong Xiuquan back then. It was because when they broke out of Yongan in the dark and heavy rain, Hong Xiuquan took away the bamboo hats and cloaks of Vézé's troops to protect his wife's carriage bearers from the wind and rain.
When Hong Xiuquan gave the order to go north, his wives and thousands of female officials had to be brought along. He also ordered them to bring along the large carriage that Hong Xiuquan had made in Tianjing City that could be carried by 64 people. All of these needed to be handled by Zhang Yingchen's Royal Guards.
Although Zhang Yingchen had long been disappointed in Hong Xiuquan, he still felt extremely displeased at this moment. This was an expedition thousands of miles away, not a show of power in Tianjing City. On a flat road, the large carriage carried by 64 people could still move, but on a mountainous road, such a large carriage could not move at all!
If they wanted to stop Hong Xiuquan from acting so recklessly, they needed Lin Fengxiang and the other generals to personally come out and say it. As the head of the Royal Guards, Zhang Yingchen was the least qualified to oppose Hong Xiuquan. Thinking of the appearance of Lin Fengxiang and the others rushing away, Zhang Yingchen could only curse Lin Fengxiang in his heart for not being loyal.
However, these things could not be delayed. The Liberation Army strictly followed the "timetable." After capturing Zhenjiang on April 19th, on April 26th, the Liberation Army stormed Yuhuatai. The Taiping army guarding Yuhuatai retreated without fighting. The Liberation Army stationed at Yuhuatai according to the schedule and did not continue to launch a new round of attacks.
May 15th was the day that the Liberation Army planned to attack Tianjing City, and Hong Xiuquan did not dare to wait until the last day. On May 8th, Hong Xiuquan crossed the river under the escort of Zhang Yingchen. The Liberation Army provided eight fire steamers to help the Taiping army cross the river. Each steamer could make at least ten trips to and fro the Yangtze River in a day, and each trip could transport more than 200 people across the river. In a day, they could transport more than 16,000 people. Therefore, there were a large number of troops crossing the river to the north every day, but there was no large-scale crowding by the river.
Looking at the Liberation Army's new ships coming and going on the river like the wind, Zhang Yingchen could only sigh.
On May 9th, Lin Fengxiang, the vanguard of the northward troops, arrived in Shouzhou. When he arrived in Shouzhou, Lin Fengxiang had mixed feelings. When he led the troops on the Northern Expedition, it was here that they went north. At that time, it was Vézé's troops who opened the road and prepared supplies. Now, it was Vézé's troops who opened the road and prepared supplies. It was just that Vézé was far away in Guangdong, and Lin Fengxiang might not be able to see Vézé at this time.
Of course, there were also acquaintances who saw them off. Lin Fengxiang still remembered Lei Hu. At that time, Lei Hu was just a cavalry leader under Vézé. Now, he was already a big shot with a high position.
Lei Hu pulled Lin Fengxiang and asked in private, "Lin Da Ge, the journey to Shaanxi is long. I don't know if Lin Da Ge has anyone he wants to get rid of. We are helping to the end. As long as you give us a list, Lin Da Ge, we will get rid of those guys. "
Lin Fengxiang was dumbfounded. Lei Hu's suggestion was too "considerate." It was so considerate that Lin Fengxiang didn't know what to say. The Taiping Rebellion didn't have time to have internal strife when they went north. If they killed them now, it would only cause the Taiping Rebellion to collapse. Although Lin Fengxiang didn't like many people in the Taiping Rebellion, Lin Fengxiang felt that he could still deal with them. Therefore, Lin Fengxiang hurriedly said, "There's no need to trouble Brother Lei Hu."
On May 15th, Yoshibuwon, Ceng Lichang, and the others who brought up the rear of the Taiping Rebellion arrived in Luzhou. On May 16th, Li Xiucheng also arrived in Luzhou. There were many women in Li Xiucheng's troops. Lei Hu felt that it was a pity, but he couldn't say much. When the Taiping army passed through Wuchang, they coerced a large number of women into joining the army. During the march, a large number of these women escaped, and many of them didn't end up well.
Lei Hu held a special meeting for this. He proposed to take in the women who left the Liberation Army. Some comrades suggested that this would offend the Taiping army. Without waiting for Lei Hu to speak, Shen Xin objected, "Do you think we haven't offended the Taiping army? When they went to the northwest, they weren't willing at all. "
After clarifying the relationship, the comrades didn't say anything stupid.
Lei Hu took a report. "The ratio of men to women is completely out of balance. If we let Li Xiucheng take away so many women, we might as well keep them for the Liberation Army as wives!"
Vézé was the one who first proposed the "imbalance between men and women." The demographic report from the Commander-in-Chief's Office surprised Vézé. In the 21st century, Vézé's imbalance between men and women was the focus of a lot of news. This made Vézé think that the ratio of men to women in the era before the new China was better. In the end, the report showed Vézé that the imbalance between men and women in the new China was very small. In places like Guangdong and Guangxi in 1862, the ratio of men to women was as high as 138: 100. Although this statistic was definitely not accurate, and it wasn't clear why it was there. But the Central Committee paid a lot of attention to this.
Since the Central Committee was paying attention, how could the Party committees of the two armies not keep up with the Central Committee? In the end, the Party committee made a decision. As long as the Taiping army took the initiative to defect to the Liberation Army, they would be accepted.
After this matter was decided, Shen Xin brought up another topic. "We ask the Military Governor Wei to move the capital to Nanjing, and ask the Commander-in-Chief to proclaim himself emperor!"
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