Chapter 58: Cannibalism (14)
The military action of the Guangfu Army to conquer Zhenjiang according to the plan shook the Tianjing City, and once Zhenjiang was lost, the last defense system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom completely relied on the fortresses built by Yang Xiuqing outside the Tianjing City. These fortresses may still be able to deal with the Qing army, but they are afraid that they will not be able to deal with the Guangfu army at all.
At this time, Lai Hanying, the deputy prime minister of Xia Guan, received a letter from the Guangfu Army to him. Lai Hanying is the younger brother of Hong Xiuquan's wife, and he belongs to Hong Xiuquan's ironcore. In the Tianjing Change, Lai Hanying contributed a lot, and he had too many lives on his hands. Therefore, his reaction to Wei Ze's troops' march into Tianjing City was stronger than anyone else's. It was Lai Hanying who led the troops to attack the Qi Palace, and he failed to catch Wei Ze, so he killed the people in Wei Zeqi's Palace. If Wei Ze takes Tianjing City, Lai Hanying believes that he will never be able to live.
After receiving the letter from the Liberation Army, Lai Hanying wanted to see it, but did he have the courage to read it. But dragging it down is not a solution, just like the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can rely on Tianjing City, of course, the result of relying on it is to wait for death. So after hesitating for a while, Lai Hanying began to read the letter with a sad expression.
After only reading for a moment, Lai Hanying was dumbfounded, and after reading all the letters, Lai Hanying couldn't sit still anymore, and rushed out of the mansion directly to Hong Xiuquan's Tianwang Mansion.
The Tianwang Mansion was heavily defended, and looking at the guards coming and going, Lai Hanying couldn't help but think of the incident of launching the Tianjing Rebellion to get rid of Yang Xiuqing seven years ago. As Hong Xiuquan's hardcore, Lai Hanying still remembers how critical the situation was that time. Yang Xiuqing and Wei Ze, any of these two people have the ability to get rid of Hong Xiuquan. Even if Yang Xiuqing was killed, Wei Ze still had enough strength to break through Tianjing City and kill King Hong. Hong Tianwang and those who are loyal to Hong Xiuquan feel that the biggest feeling is that they are "in danger".
Last time, Wei Ze chose to leave, and Hong Xiuquan finally escaped. Now that Wei Ze is back, this time Wei Ze doesn't seem to have any intention of letting Hong Xiuquan go.
Although it was late, Hong Xiuquan still met with his wife and brother. After saluting, Lai Hanying simply handed over the letter that Wei Ze gave him to Hong Xiuquan. Hong Xiuquan didn't look too excited when he read this letter, and that expression made Lai Hanying can't help but think of Hong Xiuquan's appearance when he decided to get rid of Yang Xiuqing a few years ago.
It's just that Lai Hanying may not dare to fully believe that Hong Xiuquan is not angry, and the content of the letter from the Guangfu Army to Lai Hanying is actually one thing, if the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will escort the "Young Heavenly King" to the northwest, the Guangfu Army will not intercept and kill them on the road.
Hong Xiuquan often says "Father and brother sit in the court when I am young", the father and brother here refer to the heavenly father and heavenly brother, I am naturally Hong Xiuquan himself, and the young is Hong Xiuquan's son, and the young king Hong Tian is rich and noble.
Although Hong Xiuquan also made preparations to evacuate Tianjing City, after all, this was forced out by the Liberation Army, and Hong Tianwang was full of displeasure. So in this matter, he shouted different statements several times, the king of heaven Hong Xiuquan said for a while that he would take everyone to the northwest, and then said that the heavenly father would send heavenly soldiers and generals to save Hong Xiuquan, and then hysterically said that Hong Xiuquan would not leave Tianjing City.
In this letter, the Guangfu Army specifically mentioned the Young Heavenly King, and the meaning of the final ultimatum could not be more obvious. Hong Xiuquan refuses to leave Tianjing City, as long as Hong Xiuquan's son Young Heavenly King can leave Tianjing City, the legal system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will still exist. Lai Hanying actually knows very well that Hong Xiuquan's personal reputation after the Tianjing Revolution is already stinky. Although Shi Dakai's departure from the Heavenly Kingdom took away those who were extremely disappointed in Hong Xiuquan personally, the people who stayed in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were not necessarily loyal to Hong Xiuquan. The plan of continuing the legal system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with the Young Heavenly King is completely acceptable to the Taiping generals in Lai Hanying's opinion, so what will happen next is very interesting.
"These people ......," Hong Xiuquan said calmly. Lai Hanying stared at Hong Xiuquan and listened to Hong Xiuquan's holy teachings.
"These people!" Hong Xiuquan said it again, and this time the muscles on his face couldn't help but start to twist, and Fang Cai's calm expression disappeared without a trace, and the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan looked like a wounded beast.
"These people want me to die!" Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan finally howled.
As the younger brother of Hong Xiuquan's wife, Lai Hanying is also inexplicably sad and angry in his heart. But at this time, domestic and foreign difficulties and enemies everywhere, Lai Hanying only felt a strong sense of powerlessness.
And Hong Xiuquan stood up violently, he took a few steps back and forth, and said in a firm tone: "Wei Ze has harmed me so much, and he will definitely die well in the future." But I'm not going to let Weezer get his wish, and we'll head north from tomorrow. ”
Seeing that he was in control of the fierce love so quickly, Lai Hanying admired the five-body throw. And Lai Hanying was actually very worried that Hong Xiuquan would make the choice to take the young Heavenly King to die in Tianjing City under anger. When Lai Hanying asked himself, he actually hoped to escape from this dead place.
Hong Xiuquan ordered to leave Tianjing City, and Zhang Yingchen was "betrayed" by Lin Fengxiang and others. Lin Fengxiang and other troops set out first for the incomparably legitimate reason of fighting in the front, and Li Xiucheng's troops were huge in number and scattered in many places, so they became the rearguard troops. Zhang Yingchen led the Imperial Forest Army and was responsible for Hong Xiuquan's 88 wives, as well as the placement of thousands of female officials under Hong Xiuquan.
As the old brother of the Taiping Army, Zhang Yingchen knew very well why Wei Ze completely lost confidence in Hong Xiuquan back then. It was because when it was dark and braving heavy rain to highlight Yong'an, Hong Xiuquan took away the hats and robes of Wei Ze's troops in order to shelter his wife's sedan chair from the wind and rain.
When Hong Xiuquan ordered to go north, his wife and thousands of female officials had to be brought with him. There is also a sedan chair carried by 64 people in Tianjing City, which Hong Xiuquan made in Tianjing City, and he also ordered to bring it. All of these are the responsibility of Zhang Yingchen's Imperial Forest Army.
Although Zhang Yingchen had long been disappointed in Hong Xiuquan, he still felt strongly unhappy at this time. This is an expedition that is going to travel thousands of miles, not to put on a prestige in Tianjing City. On the flat road, the sedan chair carried by sixty-four people can still walk, but on the mountain march, such a large sedan chair is simply impassable!
If you want to stop Hong Xiuquan from doing such nonsense, you must have Lin Fengxiang and other generals come out in person. As the leader of the Imperial Forest Army, Zhang Yingchen is the least qualified to oppose Hong Xiuquan. Thinking of the appearance of Lin Fengxiang and the others rushing away, Zhang Yingchen could only secretly scold Lin Fengxiang in his heart for not being righteous.
However, these things cannot be delayed, and the Liberation Army has strictly implemented the "timetable." After conquering Zhenjiang on April 19, on April 26, the Guangfu Army stormed Yuhuatai. The Taiping army guarding Yuhuatai retreated without a fight, and the Guangfu Army was stationed in Yuhuatai according to the schedule, and did not continue to launch a new round of attacks.
May 15 was the day when the Guangfu Army was scheduled to attack Tianjing City, and Hong Xiuquan didn't dare to wait for the last day, and on May 8, Hong Xiuquan crossed the river under the escort of Zhang Yingchen. The Liberation Army provided eight steamers to help the Taiping army cross the river, one boat could make at least 10 trips to and from the Yangtze River in a day, and one trip could send more than 200 people across the river, and more than 16,000 people could be transported in a day. Therefore, a large number of troops crossed the river and headed north every day, but there was no large-scale crowding along the river.
Seeing the new steamers of the Guangfu Army coming and going on the river like the wind, Zhang Yingchen could only sigh.
On May 9, Lin Fengxiang, the vanguard of the north, arrived in Shouzhou. When he arrived in Shouzhou, Lin Fengxiang had mixed feelings. It was from here that he went north when he led his troops on the Northern Expedition, and it was Wei Ze's troops who opened the road and prepared supplies at that time. Now, it was Weze's troops who had opened the road and prepared supplies. It's just that Wei Ze is far away in Guangdong at this time, and Lin Fengxiang is afraid that he may not be able to see Wei Ze again at this time.
Of course, there were also acquaintances who saw him off, Lin Fengxiang still remembered Lei Hu, at that time Lei Hu was just a cavalry leader under Wei Ze, and now he is already a big man in a high position.
Lei Hu pulled Lin Fengxiang and asked privately: "Brother Lin, it's a long way to Shaanxi. But I don't know if Brother Lin has anyone he wants to get rid of, we are here to help to the end and send the Buddha to the west. As long as Brother Lin gives me a list, we will get rid of those guys. ”
Lin Fengxiang was dumbfounded, Lei Hu's construction was too "considerate", and Lin Fengxiang didn't know what to say. Where is there still time for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to go north this time to engage in internal strife, and killing it at this time can only make the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom collapse itself. Although Lin Fengxiang did not like many people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Lin Fengxiang felt that he could still deal with these people. So Lin Fengxiang hurriedly said: "But you don't have to work Brother Leihu." ”
On May 15, Ji Wenyuan, Zeng Lichang and others behind the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Palace arrived in Luzhou. On May 16, Li Xiucheng also arrived in Luzhou. Li Xiucheng's troops were mixed with many women. Lei Hu regretted it in his heart, but he couldn't say so much. When the Taiping Army passed through Wuchang, it coerced a large number of women to join the army. During the march, these women fled in large numbers, and many of them did not end well.
Lei Hu convened a special meeting for this purpose, and he proposed to house women who had left the army in the territory of the Liberation Army. Some comrades raised the stupid view that this would not offend the Taiping Army. Without waiting for Lei Hu to speak, Shen Xin objected first, "Do you think we haven't offended the Taiping Army now?" They were not at all willing when they went to the Northwest. ”
After the relationship was made clear, the comrades stopped talking stupidly.
Lei Hu took a report, "Now that the ratio of men and women is completely out of balance, let Li Xiucheng take away so many women, it is better to leave them as wives for our Guangfu Army!" ”
The "imbalance between men and women" was first proposed by Wei Ze, and the results of the demographic report of the Guangfu Governor's Mansion surprised Wei Ze. In the 21st century, the imbalance between men and women in China is the focus of much news hype. This made Wei Ze think that the ratio of men and women would be better in the era before New China. The results report showed that the imbalance between men and women in New China was already very small. In 1862, the ratio of men to women was as high as 138:100. Although this statistic is certainly not accurate, and it is not clear why it is here. But the Party Central Committee is very concerned about this.
The Party Central Committee has paid attention to how it is possible that the Party committees of the two Corps are not in line with the Party Central Committee. The party committee finally made a decision to accept as long as those who broke away from the Taiping Army took the initiative to defect to the Guangfu Army.
After deciding on this matter, Shen Xin raised another topic, "We ask the governor of Wei to move the capital to Nanjing, and ask the governor to be the emperor!" ”R1058