Shi Dakai read Hong Tianfugui's letter. It was an open letter and an announcement of his abdication. Hong Tianfugui didn't say that he would lead the Taiping Rebellion to surrender to the Min dynasty as the current Heavenly King, nor did he accuse Shi Dakai and the others of being treacherous.
Hong Tianfugui publicly told the people of Tianping that based on his opinion of the Min dynasty and his judgment of the situation, Hong Tianfugui would give up his position as Heavenly King and defect to the Min dynasty. As for who the Taiping Rebellion would elect as Heavenly King, Hong Tianfugui only suggested not to drag his younger brothers into this mess. The adults could do whatever they wanted.
If this was a document to surrender to the Taiping Rebellion, Shi Dakai could have publicized it and claimed that the Liberation Army had kidnapped Hong Tianfugui through Zhang Yingchen, who had been lying in wait. But this was just an edict of abdication with peaceful words and sinister content. This was bad.
The kings had long been dissatisfied with the little boy from the Hong family. Many felt that the Wing King, Shi Dakai, should be the one to rule. Hong Tianfugui's edict of abdication gave these people hope. But this hope was built on the basis that these people acknowledged the edict of abdication. Acknowledging the edict of abdication meant that Hong Tianfugui had gone to the Liberation Army according to his own will and that the Liberation Army hadn't abducted Hong Tianfugui.
The other kings also read the letter. No one said a word. In fact, with Hong Tianfugui's status as a "former Heavenly King," many people suspected that this edict was written and meant by Hong Tianfugui. Everyone saw what kind of opportunity this was. The upper echelons of the Taiping Rebellion could really be reshuffled!
"Pa!" Shi Dakai slammed the table. "This letter must be fake. It's full of nonsense!"
No one agreed with Shi Dakai. The situation had reached a point where they didn't have time to play tricks on themselves. The troops chasing Hong Tianfugui encountered the Liberation Army on the road. They had already crossed the "border" and were moving toward Tongguan. Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion to kill them was a common military choice. Right now, if the high-ranking officials of the Taiping Rebellion were to use some superfluous words to placate each other, they would only be wasting their own time.
After a long period of silence, Yang Fuqing pulled himself together and said with great perseverance, "I think we should let King Yi be the Heavenly King!"
He had thought that his words would cause a great commotion, but after looking left and right, the kings and ministers did not say anything. They were all princes. Even if Yi Wang's status was slightly higher than everyone else's, it was still a relative status. If the Wing King, Shi Dakai, became the emperor, he would have the power to decide the life and death of the generals. This change wasn't as simple as letting Yi Wang govern. He was putting his life in the hands of the Wing King Shi Dakai. Apart from the kings and ministers who were clearly on Shi Dakai's side, no one was willing to make such a decision easily.
Lin Fengxiang no longer had any thoughts about the Taiping Rebellion. Vézé had already sent someone to visit him. The messenger told Lin Fengxiang that Vézé would not grant official titles to those in the upper echelons, but he would definitely let his brothers in the lower echelons of the Heavenly State live normally. Those who were willing to return to their hometowns could do so, and those who were willing to stay in the northwest could do so. Lin Fengxiang didn't tell the messenger that he would cooperate with Vézé's actions. But he knew very well that Vézé would definitely send troops to attack. That was why Lin Fengxiang didn't care about Shi Dakai's group jumping up and down.
Yang Fuqing had been worried that Lin Fengxiang would lead the opposition and had even prepared some words to refute Lin Fengxiang. But Lin Fengxiang didn't say a word, which surprised Yang Fuqing. Could it be that Lin Fengxiang was admitting defeat at this critical juncture?
Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. Silence. It was so silent that Yang Fuqing felt his hair stand on end. Not only Lin Fengxiang didn't say a word, but the others didn't either. It was as if Yang Fuqing hadn't said anything just now. This silence made Yang Fuqing realize that at this point, the kings outside of Shi Dakai's faction had no intention of supporting Shi Dakai.
The Liberation Army was looking forward to such a situation. During the discussion in the Military Commission, everyone's opinion was basically to use Hong Tianfugui to force the Taiping Rebellion to surrender. Vézé's suggestion was to let the Taiping Rebellion split. "The northwest is too big. What's the difference between forcing them to surrender and us taking them down one by one? If we really want to solve the problem at the lowest cost, we might as well let those who want to leave go and those who want to stay stay. "
It would be a costly war to swallow the northwest. The Ministry of Finance was already wailing at this time. They were really running out of money. Large-scale infrastructure was like a gold-swallowing monster. Large-scale education was also costly. If there was another large-scale war in the northwest, it wouldn't be surprising for the Ministry of Finance to rush to the Military Commission and perish together with them.
Simply waiting was never the style of the Liberation Army. At this time, the Henan Military Region had already sent troops to Tongguan, the Sichuan Military Region was attacking Hanzhong, and the Shanxi Military Region was also marching west. The first goal of the three military regions was Chang 'an, the capital of the Taiping Rebellion.
The discussion on who should be the next king couldn't continue. After a long silence, Lin Fengxiang finally said, "Let's talk about this in two days." This was agreed by the kings, so everyone dispersed. If the basic issues couldn't be discussed, there was no basis for all other discussions.
There was no need to say anything more. All the factions automatically went to their respective territories and held a small meeting. Lin Fengxiang's people gathered at Prince Zhang's Mansion. Everyone was waiting for Lin Fengxiang to give his judgment on the future. Lin Fengxiang didn't let everyone wait. He said straightforwardly, "I won't leave Tianjing City. All of us can act according to what we want. "
"Then what if the Liberation Army attacks?" Chen Yucheng asked this rather boring question.
"If they attack, I'll talk to the Liberation Army." Lin Fengxiang also gave a rather boring answer.
All the kings fell silent. The key now was to leave or surrender. As the number one tactician of the Taiping Rebellion, Chen Yucheng held back and continued to ask, "If we stick to Hanzhong and Tongguan …"
Lin Fengxiang replied, "How long can we defend? Even if we don't talk about the escape of the king, the Liberation Army will still publicize it. At that time, how many of us will really be willing to fight? "
Lin Fengxiang's faction fell silent. This was the biggest problem at the moment. In such a situation, if they fought the Liberation Army with Chang 'an as the center, they would definitely lose.
Looking at Chen Yucheng, who wanted to say something but stopped on second thought, Lin Fengxiang continued, "If any of you want to lead the troops away, you can also look for King Yi. He's probably well-prepared."
At this time, the intelligence department of the Liberation Army was in full swing. The news that the Heavenly King Hong Tianfugui had gone to the Liberation Army and announced his abdication had already spread among the lower ranks. Of course, there were people in the Taiping army who scolded the Liberation Army for kidnapping the Heavenly King of the Taiping Rebellion, Hong Tianfugui. However, most people didn't react with such indignation. If the Liberation Army could even take away the Heavenly King of the Taiping Rebellion, who else could the Liberation Army not take away?
Not only was the fighting spirit of the Taiping army not stimulated by the "outrageous behavior" of the Liberation Army, but it had fallen to a new low because of the major failure of the Taiping army. The general guarding Tongguan was a subordinate of Yoshibuwon. He had been rescued from Hebei by Vézé more than ten years ago. The Liberation Army fought their way to Tongguan. After two days of private discussions, the general simply surrendered with his subordinates who had lost their fighting spirit.
Tongguan was the gateway to Guanzhong. Once Tongguan was breached, Guanzhong was immediately exposed to the Liberation Army. In fact, Shi Dakai had long known that Chang 'an couldn't be defended. Yang Fuqing had publicly requested that Shi Dakai be chosen as the Heavenly King of the Taiping Rebellion. The kings didn't say anything, but they each had their own plans. At this time, Shi Dakai didn't talk nonsense with the kings. Instead, he led his own faction to make preparations for the westward march.
In Chang 'an, Lin Fengxiang's faction and Zhang Yingchen's Imperial Guards had the upper hand. Because of Shi Dakai's previous problems, most of his people were in Gansu and Ningxia. When it was time for Shi Dakai to leave, he left without hesitation. After giving the order, he left with his troops and his family. His faction's men had all left.
Before leaving, Shi Dakai asked Lin Fengxiang for the Imperial Seal of the Taiping Rebellion. This was the symbol of the highest power of the Taiping Rebellion. After Hong Xiuquan's death, Hong Tianfugui was gradually deprived of the right to use the Imperial Seal. The right to keep the Imperial Seal was controlled by Lin Fengxiang and Shi Dakai.
Looking at Shi Dakai's cold gaze, Lin Fengxiang couldn't help but ask, "King Yi, have you made up your mind?"
Shi Dakai answered coldly, "Life and death are decreed by fate. I don't feel that King Zhang is wrong for not wanting his brothers to kill too many people. It's just that my goals are different from King Zhang's. Even if we meet on the battlefield in the future, we can just do it for ourselves. "
Lin Fengxiang smiled bitterly. "I only want to go home and farm. I don't think I will meet King Yi on the battlefield."
As they spoke, their guards had already taken their keys and opened the lock. They took out the box containing the Imperial Seal. Lin Fengxiang took the box first and opened it under the watchful gaze of Shi Dakai's subordinates. Then, he handed the box to Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai took out the Imperial Seal and looked at it. It was indeed the one he was familiar with. It hadn't been swapped.
He asked his subordinates to stamp the seal. Shi Dakai turned around and asked Lin Fengxiang, "Will Prince Qi harm the Hong Family?"
"I don't think so," Lin Fengxiang answered. "What's more, what's the point of bringing the Hong Family along?"
The handover of the Imperial Seal was a small ceremony. It officially represented the end of Hong Xiuquan Family's control over the Taiping Rebellion. The two of them didn't mention anything about the Heavenly King anymore. They addressed Hong Xiuquan Family as "Hong Family."
Shi Dakai also wanted to bring Hong Xiuquan's son with him. If things went wrong, he would have someone to rely on. However, he could also see Lin Fengxiang's firm opposition. After Zhang Yingchen ran away, the Royal Guards immediately turned to Lin Fengxiang's side. If Shi Dakai insisted on snatching Hong Xiuquan away, it would be difficult for him to succeed. As for this reticent Lin Fengxiang, Shi Dakai once again realized how capable he was. This made Shi Dakai suspect what role Lin Fengxiang played in Zhang Yingchen's escape with Hong Tianfugui.
Just as he was considering whether he should ask, Shi Dakai's subordinate reported, "King Yi, the Imperial Seal is real."
This meant that Shi Dakai had officially taken over control of the Taiping Rebellion. Shi Dakai didn't have any reluctance to part with something he had decided on. He didn't want to say anything more. He cupped his hands at Lin Fengxiang and said, "King Zhang, farewell!"
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