Late Qing Dynasty, Nanjing.
A group of major generals of the Taiping Army gathered together, all with solemn expressions.
Now for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it can be said that it has reached a critical period of life and death.
In the north, the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang was initially strong, but because there were no subsequent reinforcements, it was now besieged by officers and soldiers.
To the west, the Western Expeditionary Army encountered resistance from the newly established Hunan Army in Hunan, and was even pushed back to the vicinity of Jiujiang.
On the Nanjing side, the Imperial Envoy Xiang Rong established the Jiangnan Camp, and the Imperial Envoy Qi Shan established the Jiangbei Camp. Coupled with the new Hunan Army led by Zeng Guofan, the three armies formed an encirclement and besieged Nanjing.
This situation can be said to be the most critical moment since they raised their troops. Every face present was filled with solemnity.
"I have long said that we will go all out to march north to attack Beiping City and completely destroy the Tatar rule. If I had followed my plan, how could such a thing have happened?" Hong Xiuquan, the king of heaven, looked irritated. First of all, Open your mouth.
"Humph, this is Heavenly Father's will, how can we violate it?"
"The Heavenly Father came down to earth and possessed me, and personally said that Nanjing would be the capital of the city in order to move forward. You agreed at the time, so why are you going to settle old scores now?"
"Do you want to say that Heavenly Father is wrong?"
Dong Wang Yang Xiuqing looked around at everyone with a gloomy face, and finally softened his tone and continued: "God is omniscient and omnipotent and can never make mistakes. The current crisis is just a test for us."
"It's not like we have never encountered such a crisis moment. The Qing army came and fought back. It's not a big deal. The key is to stabilize ourselves."
Everyone was silent when they heard what he said.
Hong Xiuquan was even more disgusting as if he had eaten a fly. He founded the God-Worship Cult and later established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He always claimed that he was the second son of God and was sent by God to save the common people.
The Taiping Army lieutenants also believed in his words.
It can be said that the Taiping Army was able to conquer most of China in just a few years, and this firm spirit of faith played a role in it.
This was good, but the bad thing was that Yang Xiuqing was a rat.
When Feng Yunshan was arrested in Guangdong, Hong Xiuquan went to rescue him. It happened that the Guangxi God Worship Church was besieged by the government. At the critical moment, Yang Xiuqing for the first time relied on the rhetoric of Heavenly Father coming to earth to stabilize the church's people and fight off the officers and soldiers.
After Hong Xiuquan returned, he chose to give political endorsement to this rhetoric of God descending to earth.
If time could go back again, Hong Xiuquan felt that he must kill this piece of shit himself with a knife instead of admitting that it was reasonable for this piece of shit God to come to earth.
Because from then on, whenever there was a major event in the Taiping Army, Yang Xiuqing would "go down to earth" once.
It was like this when we attacked Nanjing, and it was like this when we chose whether to go to the Northern Expedition or not.
It can be said that in today's Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, his leadership power has fallen by the wayside, all stolen by Yang Xiuqing.
But there is no other way. The Heavenly Father came down to earth, and he is the second son of God. How could this son disobey the Heavenly Father?
"King of Heaven, King of the East, I am willing to lead troops to fight against the Hunan Army. The officers and soldiers of the imperial court are not afraid, but the Hunan Army is different. I have a hunch that Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army will be our number one enemy. We should take the initiative to attack. Take advantage of his army's first training and defeat him in one go!" Seeing that everyone was silent, Shi Dakai was the first to speak.
"Okay!" A trace of appreciation flashed across Yang Xiuqing's face.
He likes people like Shi Dakai.
He is extremely brave in combat but dislikes politics.
Or should I say, not greedy for power.
If everyone in the entire Taiping Army was like this, it would be ten thousand times easier for him to lead them.
"Since King Yi has spoken, I will give you one hundred thousand elite troops to fight against Zeng Guofan. You must come back to me with his head." Yang Xiuqing said solemnly.
Hong Xiuquan next to him opened his mouth halfway, but then he choked back the words.
This bitch Yang Xiuqing has finished saying everything he wanted to say, and he still said a hammer!
With Shi Dakai taking the lead, Wei Changhui, Hu Yihuang, Lin Qirong and others also asked for battle.
Yang Xiuqing assigned tasks to everyone one by one, and soon the entire combat deployment was arranged by him.
Throughout the entire meeting, Hong Xiuquan, as the King of Heaven, had almost no sense of presence and had basically become a mascot.
"This is too much!" After everyone left, Hong Xiuquan punched the table, his face full of resentment.
He secretly swore in his heart that one day he would make Yang Xiuqing pay the price.
"How does it feel to participate in such an important military meeting for the first time today?" On the other side, Shi Dakai and Feng Sheng slowly walked out of the Heavenly King's Mansion. Shi Dakai looked at Feng Sheng with a smile and asked.
This man named Feng Sheng was an extremely rare general he had recently discovered from the army. Despite his age, he had performed extremely well in a series of previous battles.
Shi Dakai felt that Feng Sheng joined the Taiping Army relatively late. If he joined with him, it might be difficult to say whether the title of King of Wings would be his own now.
"Haha, I just feel a little confused!"
"Isn't the Taiping Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan the master in name? Why do I think the Eastern King Yang Xiuqing is giving orders from the beginning to the end?" Feng Sheng asked in surprise.
"this……!"
"Oh, it's caused by some past events, so let's not mention it!" Shi Dakai obviously didn't want to mention the fight between these high-level officials.
"But this is a real hidden danger!"
"As the saying goes, there are no two days in the sky and no two kings in the country. But the current Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is actually two monarchs. It is difficult for me to imagine that such a system can continue to operate for a long time!" Feng Sheng shook his head.
"We are military generals. These matters will be discussed by the King of Heaven and the King of the East. Please remember not to discuss political affairs arbitrarily in the future." Shi Dakai said with a serious face.
"General, I understand!" Feng Sheng saw Shi Dakai's seriousness and wisely stopped the topic.
In the past two years within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Feng Sheng could be said to have watched helplessly how this peasant uprising regime developed and grew step by step, and how it became corrupt step by step.
With Feng Sheng's sophisticated eye, he could tell at a glance that it was almost impossible for such a regime to truly take over the world.
From this, he had to sigh with emotion at Zhu Yuanzhang's fearlessness and self-discipline.
Hong Xiuquan and Zhu Yuanzhang were both peasant uprisings and occupied Nanjing.
But the choice after capturing Nanjing was completely different.
After Zhu Yuanzhang captured Nanjing, he killed 11 generals who violated military discipline in three months, two of whom were his absolute confidants.
At the same time, public opinion was widely spread, the land was inspected, military camps were established, and a series of policies were carried out to cultivate one's health and recuperate.
As for the King of Heaven and the King of the East, they called on the people to donate money and materials to the holy treasury, forcing the gentry to pay donations. They chanted loudly and shouted slogans about fairness and public use. However, they themselves bought mansions and palaces and took the lead in breaking the rules.
Other than that, they just don’t want to make progress.
The rebellion was only halfway through, and it could even be said that it was not even halfway through when the political struggle started.
To be honest, he had no hope of taking over the world with such a group of guys.
There were not many people in the Taiping Army who were favored by Feng Sheng, and if he was to be admired, only Shi Dakai was the one.
This is a complete handsome talent.
But it's a pity that I was born at the wrong time and with the wrong person.
Thinking of this, Feng Sheng couldn't help but ask: "What does King Yi think of the man known as Emperor Hongwu who now occupies Guangdong?"
"hero!"
Shi Dakai gave a thumbs up: "I admire anyone who can beat the shit out of the British Japanese fleet."
"I've heard some gossip in the past few days. The Hongwu Emperor in Guangdong is planning a northern expedition to capture Fujian and Guangxi. What do you think of King Yi?" Feng Sheng asked again.
Shi Dakai was silent for a while after hearing this, and finally sighed and said: "This person is powerful. He has occupied Guangdong for more than three years and has been fighting steadily. Now that he has gained momentum, I can only say that based on the strength of his troops and the cooperation of the navy, There should be no surprises.”
Hearing Shi Dakai's sincere admiration for Zhu Yuanzhang, Feng Sheng smiled and said nothing more.
Now that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's regime is still stable, he knows Shi Dakai's character well and would not be able to betray his master.
But if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom really falls in the future, I might be able to help him.
At the same time, Shi Dakai led his army to fight Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army.
Guangdong.
Zhu Biao is reporting recent events to Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Father, based on the intelligence reports sent back by the Jinyi Guards, I think Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are likely to have a fight!" Zhu Biao said seriously.
"oh?"
"How can I see it?
"As far as I know, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's regime is very stable now!"
"And they are now being surrounded and suppressed by three armies of the imperial court. No one in the current enemy would be stupid enough to fight against them at this time!" Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, obviously not agreeing with Zhu Biao's analysis.
"It's impossible now, but that doesn't mean it won't be possible in the future!"
"Think about it, Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army now belongs to the New Army. If it encounters the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it is likely to be defeated. As for the imperial court's Jiangnan Camp and Jiangbei Camp, they are not worth mentioning!"
"If the Taiping Army really wins this battle, will Yang Xiuqing be so ambitious?"
"The conflict between him and Hong Xiuquan will definitely intensify by then...!"
Zhu Biao spoke eloquently. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't pay much attention at first, but gradually he couldn't help but narrowed his eyes.
Not to mention, after Zhu Biao's analysis, he really agreed.
If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is about to suffer civil strife as Zhu Biao said, then he really needs to make some preparations.
Originally, his plan was to have the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom take the lead against the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He would clean up the local tyrants and evil gentry in one province after another, free up land, release productivity, and pursue industrialization.
Because the entire Jiangnan gentry is too powerful, unlike the chaotic days of the late Ming Dynasty, when peasant uprisings were raging, he could use the rebel army's overall hatred of the gentry class to quickly kill those gentry class.
In this era, there are not enough hungry people to overthrow the entire gentry class. It would be too difficult to achieve victory in one fell swoop with the army in his hands alone, unless he chooses to compromise with a part of the gentry class and release some of the benefits to them.
This is quite simple, and Zhu Yuanzhang is even confident that he will sweep all of China within a year or two.
But how could it be possible for Zhu Yuanzhang to do this based on his character? What he wanted was to thoroughly clear out China's past centuries of stagnation, industrialize as quickly as possible, and catch up with the world's great powers.
To be honest, those gentry who could not keep up with the times, but tried their best to hinder the progress of the times, could not catch his eye at all.
But as the saying goes, plans cannot keep up with changes. If the Taiping Civil War breaks out, it will probably decline quickly. By then, the Manchus may turn their attention to themselves.
In case they come to attack him, Zhu Yuanzhang feels that it is better for him to strike first and find a way to pacify the entire south of the Yangtze River as soon as possible.
(End of chapter)
