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March 1st, 1865. There were still some remnants of snow outside Chang 'an, the capital city of New Tianjing. The charcoal braziers in the Chang 'an court warmed up the room. Hong Xiuquan, who was sitting on the dragon throne, still had the expression of a cult leader. However, those close to Hong Xiuquan could tell that he was actually restless. The civil and military officials on both sides of the room were silent. The more impatient ones were looking around, clenching and unclenching their fists subconsciously. Everyone had their own emotions, but none of them spoke. The hidden emotions caused the entire court to be in a strange whirlwind.
Finally, a female official walked quickly into the court and knelt down to report, "Heavenly King, King Yi is here!"
Hong Xiuquan couldn't suppress the joy on his face. Everyone's eyes fell on the female official. Some glanced at her and couldn't help but look at the entrance of the court.
"Let Brother Shi in!" Hong Xiuquan ordered.
The female official stood up and walked out. Soon, a shout came from afar. "King Yi, come in."
Everyone was looking at the entrance of the court. Under everyone's gaze, King Yi, Shi Dakai, walked in with large strides. Shi Dakai had "started his expedition" in 1857. It had been eight years since then. Shi Dakai had set off from Jiangxi to attack Zhejiang and Fujian. After being stopped by Zuo Zongtang, he had passed through Jiangxi and entered Hunan. After the battle of Baoqing, he had moved to Guangxi, then Yunnan and Guizhou before fighting in Sichuan.
After a series of wandering battles, in 1864, Hong Xiuquan's men finally contacted King Yi, Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai had been defeated by Luo Bingzhang in Chengdu and had no choice but to go to Hanzhong. In the end, Shi Dakai had obeyed Hong Xiuquan's order and returned to Tianjing.
Out of Tianjing and into Tianjing. Eight years had passed. The Tianjing that Shi Dakai had left was Nanjing. Now, Tianjing had become Chang 'an. This change made the veteran generals of the Taiping Army sigh in their hearts.
However, no one looked down on Shi Dakai. Everyone knew that Heavenly King Hong had been able to successfully leave Nanjing and reach Chang 'an only because Vézé had been unwilling to fight the Taiping army. Along the way, the Liberation Army gave the Taiping army a lot of help. He even allowed the Taiping army to acquire new rifles. The Taiping army used matchlock muskets to modify the cap guns. No matter how tattered they were, the Liberation Army still collected them all the same. In exchange, the Taiping army was equipped with a flintlock gun with a cast iron barrel and a bayonet. Thanks to these weapons, the Taiping Army was invincible in the northwest, which was a strange place.
But Shi Dakai did not have such conditions. He had relied entirely on himself to fight for several years in the Great Southwest, outnumbered and outnumbered. The Qing Army was unable to destroy Shi Dakai's army, and even allowed Shi Dakai to lead tens of thousands of troops to Chang 'an. As the only surviving member of the original five kings of the Taiping army, and as a leader of the Taiping Rebellion whose seniority was second only to Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan … Everyone had recognized Shi Dakai's ability.
Unlike Vézé, who had completely left the Taiping Rebellion, although Shi Dakai had left the Heavenly State, he had always admitted that he was still a part of the Taiping Rebellion. Therefore, the officials of the Heavenly State were very happy with Shi Dakai's return.
Shi Dakai had also changed. When he left the Heavenly State in 1857, Shi Dakai was in his prime at the age of 26. Now he was 34. Time had left its mark on this famous general's face. The high-spirited young man had become a calm middle-aged man. Even the officials and generals who were unhappy with Shi Dakai could not help but admire his demeanor.
"Greetings, Heavenly King!" Shi Dakai walked up to Hong Xiuquan and knelt on both knees. The etiquette of the Taiping Rebellion was to kneel on the ground, but not kowtow. Therefore, Shi Dakai looked at Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan calmly.
The moment Hong Xiuquan saw Shi Dakai, the joy on his face disappeared. The anger on his face grew, and the officials and generals felt that Heavenly King Hong was about to fly into a rage. When his anger reached its peak, Hong Xiuquan suddenly stood up and strode up to Shi Dakai. He pulled Shi Dakai up and said angrily, "Brother Shi, you've been away for so many years. Do you know how worried I was?! "
At this point, Hong Xiuquan suddenly hugged Shi Dakai tightly and cried.
This change was beyond everyone's expectations, but Hong Xiuquan cried with sincerity. Many of his brothers were moved and could not help but shed tears. Even people like Lin Fengxiang, who did not believe in Hong Xiuquan, could not help but weep when they saw that the old brothers of the Taiping Rebellion had reunited.
Shi Dakai did not expect Hong Xiuquan to welcome him so warmly, nor did he expect Hong Xiuquan to cry in public. Moved, Shi Dakai's eyes reddened and tears flowed uncontrollably. "Brother Hong, don't blame me, I … I really don't know what to say."
"Brother Shi, the past is in the past. It's good that you're back … that you're back, I'm … sob sob … I'm relieved! "Hong Xiuquan cried as he spoke.
There was no lack of people among the officials who were worried that Hong Xiuquan would point at Shi Dakai and scold him or even punish him. They did not expect Heavenly King Hong to let bygones be bygones. Everyone was relieved.
Hong Xiuquan wiped his tears and shouted to the female official, "Prepare the banquet! Welcome Brother Shi back! Let's drink together today! "
The environment of the banquet was easier to bond than that of the imperial court. Heavenly King Hong and the generals all clinked glasses with Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai roughly described his experiences in the eight years of "expedition." Although Shi Dakai did not mention how many times he had narrowly escaped death, everyone knew how hard it had been for him just by hearing that he had traveled to almost all the provinces in the southwest.
Of course, Hong Xiuquan also told them that the Taiping Rebellion had nothing to do with Vézé. In order to establish the Heavenly State, the Taiping army had moved from Nanjing, a place where the royal aura was lacking, to Chang 'an. The officials were also unwilling to talk about how they had been driven away by Vézé. Heavenly King Hong's statement was the official statement.
The atmosphere of the banquet was harmonious. Everyone cried and laughed, expressing their feelings of parting.
The next day, the ten most important princes, including Shi Dakai, held an internal meeting in the residence of the Heavenly King. There was no need for so much nonsense this time. The latest situation was naturally explained clearly. The Taiping army had entered Shaanxi in 1862. In less than three years, they had completely occupied Shaanxi and controlled part of Ningxia.
The Taiping army did not think it was necessary to fight against Vézé at this time. Just as Ceng Guofan believed that Manchu Qing needed to wipe out the rebels in the other provinces, unify the forces in the north and Sichuan, and finally fight against Vézé. The Taiping army also believed that if they wanted to fight for the world, they had to seize territory from Manchu Qing to strengthen their forces. It would be best if they could destroy Manchu Qing. If they could not destroy Manchu Qing, they had to at least bite off a few pieces of meat from Manchu Qing.
After listening to the Taiping army's plans for the future, Shi Dakai asked, "Have we conquered Hetao?"
The princes had been in Shaanxi for more than two years. Of course, they knew the saying "Of all the evils in the Yellow River, only the rich are rich." There was no need to mention the richness of the Hetao area. Lin Fengxiang said, "There is Sengrinchen at Hetao, but it is not easy to fight against them."
Sengrinchen's subordinates were mainly Mongolian cavalry. If they could fight, they would fight. If they couldn't, they would run. The Taiping army's troops were also mobile warfare. However, the mobile warfare that was very outstanding in the Jiangnan area was very different in the northwest because of the geographical and climatic changes. With the advantage of firearms and military strength, although the Taiping Rebellion controlled Shaanxi, it was still far from being able to completely control Shaanxi.
Shi Dakai continued to ask, "May I know which brother you are going to send to attack Sichuan?"
King Yi Shi Dakai was always able to point out the key points. This made everyone admire him. Training their own cavalry was not something that could be done in a day or two. After the Taiping army gained a foothold in Shaanxi, they prepared to advance into Sichuan. However, everyone felt that Shi Dakai's question was inappropriate. After all, King Yi had left Heavenly State for many years. Now that he was back, was he going to send troops again?
As if he didn't see the expressions of the various kings, Shi Dakai said, "My brothers came from Sichuan. If you want to send troops to Sichuan, you can let my brothers lead the way."
Lin Fengxiang's eyes lit up. "It is better for King Yi to stay in Tianjing to manage the affairs!"
"That's right! King Yi should stay in Tianjing City! "The various kings all agreed with Lin Fengxiang's suggestion. One of the reasons why everyone welcomed Shi Dakai back was that they hoped that he could balance out Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan. After all, Hong Xiuquan was the Heavenly King. If everyone did their own thing, it would be fine. However, without a central command, it would affect the war greatly. They were all forced to run from Nanjing to Chang 'an. It was impossible for no one to reflect on the reasons behind this. Vézé was able to achieve such achievements because Vézé's word was law in the Liberation Army!
Shi Dakai said calmly, "Heavenly King, brothers, during the expedition, I felt that I was letting my emotions affect my decisions. I feel more at ease when I am with my brothers. After returning to Tianjing City this time, I don't intend to leave again. It's just that I came from Sichuan and know a little about the situation there. It's a good time to attack Sichuan now. However, no matter which brother goes to attack Sichuan, I will not go. "
With Shi Dakai's attitude, the various kings were relieved. To ease the atmosphere, Lin Fengxiang smiled and said, "King Yi, if we don't talk about Sichuan now, is there a chance in other places?"
Hearing Lin Fengxiang's question, Shi Dakai smiled and said, "Qing Yao will definitely think that we only want to take Sichuan or Hetao. If we can send a surprise army out of Tongguan to attack Beijing, I'm afraid it will catch Qing Yao off guard. " This military plan was actually similar to the first Northern Expedition. After hearing it, everyone just laughed.
This military plan was not much different from the first northern expedition. Everyone just laughed when they heard it. After laughing, it was about Shi Dakai's use. Actually, both sides had already sent people to communicate. After the laughter, it was time to talk about the use of Shi Dakai. In fact, both sides had already sent people to contact each other. After the Taiping Rebellion for so long, the system of government officials had finally been clarified. The sixth Prime Minister's official has a powerful position. Shi Dakai became the Prime Minister of Heavenly Officials, and Lin Fengxiang became the Prime Minister of Earthly Officials. After the coup in Tianjing, the Triumvirate of Hong Xiuquan, Shi Dakai, and Lin Fengxiang appeared once again. This was also a situation that everyone could accept.
After the meeting ended, Lin Fengxiang found Chen Yucheng. "What do you think of King Yi's idea of sending a surprise troop to invade Beijing?"
Chen Yucheng was taken aback. "Who is King Zhang going to send?"
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