Silence. Silence. After listening to Shi Dakai's account of the coup d 'état in Tianjing and his experience of leaving the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom — or at least what Shi Dakai had experienced personally — everyone who had participated in this terrifying meeting fell silent.
The coup in Tianjing was undoubtedly the darkest and most tragic period in the history of the Taiping Rebellion. Defeat and even the sacrifice of important figures could not break the morale of the Taiping Rebellion. To everyone, those days were tragic, but they did not despair.
From the establishment of Yong 'an to the establishment of Yong' an, all the way to Nanjing. Along the way, the South King, Feng Yunshan, and the West King, Xiao Chaogui, died. They failed to attack Guilin, failed to attack Changsha, and had no choice but to give up after conquering Wuhan. The Taiping army had no base, no stable rear, and was surrounded by powerful enemies. However, the generals did not lose confidence. Everyone stood up again and again from defeat. They were not crushed by adversity, but continued to fight, fight, fight. Before the coup in Tianjing, the Taiping army controlled a large area of land. They built a defensive line along the Huaihe River in the north and prepared to attack the east and west. At the peak of this glory, the coup in Tianjing exploded. The sun that shrouded the Taiping Rebellion disappeared without a trace. From then on, the Taiping Rebellion began to decline.
But could they really blame it on someone and push all the blame onto someone? Even the generals who opposed Shi Dakai and Hong Xiuquan knew how domineering Yang Xiuqing was at that time. When Yang Xiuqing was at the peak of his power, even if everyone suddenly heard that Yang Xiuqing had killed the North King, Wei Changhui, and the Wing King, Shi Dakai, they would still be shocked, but they would not be surprised. At that time, no one would have been surprised if Yang Xiuqing had killed someone or punished them severely.
Everyone could blame Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, Wing King Shi Dakai, and even North King, Wei Changhui, and Zuo Tianhou Chen Chengxiang. But did Yang Xiuqing, who made everyone live under that kind of terror, not have any responsibility? Everyone was a general. In the face of such a threat, no one would resign themselves to death. Only a counterattack would be completely understandable. It would be surprising if he didn't counterattack.
Even though they couldn't forgive Shi Dakai's choice at that time, everyone, including Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng, accepted Shi Dakai's explanation. They really had no other choice at that time.
After talking about many things, Shi Dakai also felt a little tired. After resting for a moment, he said, "Zhu Clan brothers, I originally didn't dare to talk about these past matters. Because I always felt that what I did wasn't wrong, but I also knew that the Zhu Clan's brothers wouldn't forgive me. At that time, I didn't understand why my brothers couldn't forgive me, but now I understand. No matter where I, Shi Dakai, go, I will always be a member of the Taiping Rebellion. But at the time, I felt that as long as I, Shi Dakai, severed all ties with the Taiping Rebellion, I, Shi Dakai, would be able to carve out a place for myself. Only after leaving Tianjing for a long time did I realize that I was wrong! "
Given Shi Dakai's proud and aloof nature, it was only when he faced Yang Xiuqing's incomparably heavy pressure that he'd often had to say, "I'm shallow and prone to making mistakes. Please advise me, King Of The East." Apart from this, when had he ever admitted to anyone that he was wrong? But what truly moved the various kings and ministers wasn't that Shi Dakai had admitted to his mistakes, but that Shi Dakai had said exactly what everyone was thinking.
No one believed that Shi Dakai had any particular responsibility for killing Yang Xiuqing. Even if Shi Dakai hadn't said anything, everyone had guessed that Shi Dakai knew about this matter, and that he had supported it.
After the coup in Tianjing, Shi Dakai had forced the Northern King Wei Changhui, the Yan King Qin Rigang, and the Zuo Tianhou Chen Chengxiang to their deaths. Back in Tianjing. The various generals were still willing to do their best to support Shi Dakai as the "Principal Military Advisor." Hong Xiuquan still refused to make Shi Dakai the Principal Military Advisor, but the generals weren't really opposed to it. Everyone had seen how domineering the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, had become after becoming the Principal Military Advisor, but Yang Xiuqing hadn't been like this in the past. It was true that Shi Dakai had been good before becoming the Principal Military Advisor, but who could guarantee that Shi Dakai wouldn't become a second Yang Xiuqing after becoming the Principal Military Advisor?
Everyone had a fifty-fifty chance of Shi Dakai and Hong Xiuquan fighting for power. They sympathized more with Shi Dakai, but they weren't determined to make Shi Dakai the Principal Military Advisor.
What really displeased everyone was that even though he had obtained most of the authority as the Principal Military Advisor, Shi Dakai still didn't accept it. He had pulled two hundred thousand elites away from the Jiangxi battlefront and had since parted ways with the Taiping Rebellion. If Shi Dakai hadn't left, the generals would still be partial to him. Once he left, he would no longer be a member of the Taiping Rebellion. Shi Dakai was still using the Taiping Rebellion as a banner. This only made the generals who remained in the Taiping Rebellion even more displeased with Shi Dakai.
"You finally admit that you were wrong?" King Chen Yucheng said as he glared at Shi Dakai.
Shi Dakai also knew that some people would definitely say this, so it was quite appropriate for Chen Yucheng to speak first. When Shi Dakai had led his troops away from the Jiangxi battlefront, Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng had resolutely refused to follow him. Therefore, Shi Dakai had played a small trick. He had written a letter to Hong Xiuquan, saying that Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng could be of great use. He had asked them to lead troops and work for Hong Xiuquan. In fact, Li Xiucheng, Chen Yucheng, and the troops were all people who refused to leave with Shi Dakai.
Shi Dakai looked up at Chen Yucheng and was surprised to see that Chen Yucheng's eyes were a little red. Chen Yucheng was someone who would rather bleed than cry. At this moment, it was obvious how agitated he was. Shi Dakai said calmly, "Brother Chen, I was indeed wrong."
"Since you know that you were wrong, how can you say bad things about the Prince Of Qi? How can you say that you want to kill our brothers? Haven't we killed enough during the coup in Tianjing? "Chen Yucheng said loudly to Shi Dakai. Hearing this, many of the kings and generals nodded slightly. They weren't kids. The coup in Tianjing had happened a long time ago, and they couldn't possibly remember it every day. Today, Shi Dakai was willing to admit that he was wrong to escape. His words resonated with everyone. Many people also felt that a knot in their hearts had been untied. However, Shi Dakai's evaluation of Vézé and his use of strict military law to deal with homesick brothers were unacceptable to everyone.
"I'll talk about these two things one by one. Let's talk about the Prince Of Qi first. Based on what I've experienced, the Prince Of Qi isn't as simple as everyone thinks, "Shi Dakai said frankly.
The main reason why Hong Xiuquan and the kings wanted to cause the coup in Tianjing was because of Chen Yucheng. It was confirmed that Vézé was eager to make Yang Xiuqing the emperor, so he wanted Yang Xiuqing to replace Hong Xiuquan. Vézé had said that the Heavenly King was just the Heavenly King. The King Of The East was the Heavenly Father. What was wrong with the Heavenly Father sitting on the throne? The meaning of these words couldn't be clearer.
Internally, there was the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, who controlled the defense of Tianjing. Externally, there was the strongest field army of the Taiping Rebellion in Vézé's hands. Vézé was ambitious enough to encourage Yang Xiuqing to become the number one person in the Taiping Rebellion. After the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, became the emperor, Hong Xiuquan was destined to die a tragic death. For his own sake, Hong Xiuquan could only eliminate the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing.
Shi Dakai was very clear that in the eyes of the generals who had always been loyal to the Taiping Rebellion, Vézé supported the King Of The East to usurp the throne. This was also Vézé's duty. Moreover, after the coup in Tianjing, the King Of The East, Yang Xiuqing, was killed, Vézé did not continue to realize his ambition in the Taiping Rebellion. He left with his troops, so the two sides could be considered to be even.
Therefore, Shi Dakai used his own experience as an example. Shi Dakai had left the Taiping Rebellion. It was precisely because he had done so that he knew how difficult it was to pull an organized army away. At that time, Shi Dakai's reputation was so high, and Hong Xiuquan was so unpopular. However, Shi Dakai had tried his best to pull a part of the army away. Many of the people Shi Dakai thought would follow him didn't.
During the coup in Tianjing, Yang Xiuqing was killed by the North King, Wei Changrong, in the heavily-guarded King Of The East's residence. However, Vézé brought a few dozen soldiers into Tianjing and stayed in the Prince Of Qi's residence. Wei Changrong sent troops to the Prince Of Qi's residence to surround and kill Vézé, but Vézé actually escaped with his life. That was not all. Vézé only stayed in Tianjing for one night and escaped. The next morning, he was able to bring a few dozen people and pull tens of thousands of troops away from the King Of The East's residence, which did not suffer any losses at that time.
"We are all people who have fought and killed on the battlefield. If you say that the Prince Of The East did not make any preparations, I will never believe it. With the King Of The East's shrewdness and ability, if the Prince Of Qi said that he would take away ten thousand of the King Of The East's men, he would immediately do so. If not for the fact that we all saw this, who among us would believe it? "Shi Dakai asked loudly.
No one spoke immediately. Everyone's memory of the chaos in Tianjing was that bloody massacre. As for those people who had been taken away by Wei Ze, everyone occasionally felt glad for them when they thought about them. If they hadn't followed Wei Ze, they probably wouldn't have been able to escape from the slaughter that followed. Now that Shi Dakai had said it, everyone realized that sometimes things were not so simple.
Although those ten thousand men had been taken away from Vézé by the King Of The East, this army had been taken away for half a year. Even their commander, Zhang Yingchen, had been replaced by the King Of The East. The various officers had been replaced by the King Of The East's trusted aides. Under these circumstances, Vézé had raised his arm and called for the ten thousand men to follow Vézé and leave. The troops had abandoned the King Of The East's officers and left with Vézé. Although this was a special situation at the time, if the troops had not always treated Vézé as their true commander, this situation would not have happened.
If Vézé was King Of The East Yang Xiuqing's number one general, Vézé's troops were actually completely independent of King Of The East Yang Xiuqing's control. If even the troops who had been taken away for half a year were completely loyal to Vézé, then the other troops were even more so. If Vézé was really as loyal to Yang Xiuqing as he appeared to be, then even if Vézé was unwilling to avenge the King Of The East, his subordinates would probably do their best to persuade Vézé to let Vézé avenge the King Of The East. It was unlikely that Vézé would immediately send the entire army to Guangdong at his command.
Shi Dakai admitted that he did not treat himself as a member of the Taiping Rebellion when he left. Then what about the more decisive Vézé's attitude at that time?
Chen Yucheng was originally prepared to harshly rebuke Shi Dakai, but now he also fell silent. It was fine not to think about some things, but the more one thought about it, the more afraid they became.
Seeing that everyone was deep in thought, Shi Dakai continued, "I'm not saying that we shouldn't be homesick, but right now, our old brothers' homes are all in Vézé's hands. If they go home, then let me ask you brothers, do they treat Vézé's side as writers, or do they treat our Taiping Rebellion as writers? Do they still recognize themselves as members of the Taiping Rebellion? "
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