Chapter 61: The Battle of Jingdezhen (Three)

  Huang Renzhu, under the order of Yang Fuqing, led an army of 10,000 to Eagle Pool for reinforcement. Upon arrival at Eagle Pool, Xiao Qijiang had already retreated, and Huang Renzhu led his troops into the city to regroup.

  After two or three days, the news of Wei Zhi-jun's rebellion and attack on Jingde Town spread. Huang Ren-zhu had once served under Wei Zhi-jun, but now that his former superior had rebelled, Huang Ren-zhu's position became immediately awkward.

  Although Huang Renju's loyalty to the Heavenly Kingdom was beyond doubt, his former superior's betrayal was also a stain on him. Originally, this was not a big issue, but when the Xiang Army and Wei Zhijun besieged Jingdezhen together, contradictions arose.

  Jingdezhen was besieged, and the Eagle Pool and other Taiping armies should have gone to rescue it. However, Yang Yiqing, who had always been ambitious, prepared to take advantage of this opportunity to elevate his own position. Yang Yiqing was the guardian general of Eagle Pool and also the younger brother of the late Eastern King Yang Xiuqing and the current Central Army General Yang Fuqing. His noble birth gave him ambition, and he planned to use this opportunity to organize the armies in various parts of Jiangxi to go and rescue Jingdezhen. After this battle was over, the army under his control and the position he could obtain would definitely not be lower than that of the five main generals.

  Now that Wei Zhi-jun has defected, the position of commander-in-chief of the Right Army is vacant. Yang Yi-qing has been eyeing this position for a long time. However, all this is based on him becoming the supreme commander of the relief army. Huang Ren-zhu ranks above Cheng Tian-yan, and his official position is higher than that of Yang Yi-qing. If Huang Ren-zhu is not removed, all of Yang Yi-qing's plans will be in vain.

  So, after learning that Jingdezhen was besieged, Yang Yiqing did not go to rescue him, but instead sent his subordinates to spread rumors and frame Huang Renzhu. For a time, the rumor that Huang Renzhu wanted to rebel and surrender to the Qing spread throughout the city and the army. At this time, Huang Renzhu had the most soldiers in Yingtan City, and if he were to surrender to the Qing, the consequences would be disastrous. Therefore, whether it was the civilians or the soldiers, they were all in a state of panic.

  At first, Huang Renzhu did not pay attention to these rumors in the city, and was prepared to let them die out on their own. However, as they spread more and more wildly, Yang Yiqing had already dispatched troops to be stationed near his residence. Moreover, the gaze of his subordinates towards him was no longer the same as before. It wasn't until then that Huang Renzhu realized things were not so simple after all.

  Huang Renzhu was certain that someone was behind the scenes, and after analyzing it over and over again, if his command was stripped away, Yang Yiqing would be the one who benefited the most. Although he didn't believe Yang Yiqing could do such a thing, Huang Renzhu still decided to go to Yang Yiqing's place to interrogate him.

  Thinking of doing it, this is Huang Renzhu's usual practice. He immediately rode his horse and brought a few personal soldiers to Yang Yiqing's mansion. When he heard the gatekeeper report, Yang Yiqing was startled in his heart. After asking carefully, he knew that Huang Renzhu had only brought a few personal soldiers.

  At this time, Yang Yiqing's mind flashed, and he thought of a plan. He called out to his trusted guards and had them set up an ambush.

  Yang Yiqing, being of lower official rank, had specially come out to meet Huang Renzhu. The two men entered the main hall and took their seats as host and guest. Yang Yiqing smiled and asked: "Sir Huang, what brings you here today?"

  Huang Renzhu is a roughneck who crawled out of the battlefield, he doesn't beat around the bush and directly says: "Recently there have been rumors circulating that I, Old Huang, want to surrender to the Qing dynasty. This Eagle Pool is your territory, Lord Yang, I hope you can give me an explanation."

  Yang Yi Qing smiled and said, "What's there to explain? I think this is right. You used to work under Wei Zhi Jun that traitor, now he's surrendered to the Qing dynasty, I'm afraid you Huang Ren Zhu should also be uneasy."

  Huang Renzhu sprang up from his chair, furious, and shouted: "Yang Yiqing, are you a dog's mouth? I, Huang, would rather die than betray the Heavenly King. You're slandering me like this, can you still be considered a child of the Heavenly Kingdom?"

  Yang Yiqing slammed his hand on the table, and dozens of guards holding machetes rushed in from the back hall. Huang Renzhu's guards were quick to react, immediately drawing their knives to block the way. As they say, "a small number cannot defeat a large one", Huang Renzhu's few guards were quickly hacked into pulp. Huang Renzhu was unarmed, so he grabbed a chair and prepared to fight to the death, but was suddenly attacked from behind by someone who cut off his leg.

  The crowd pressed forward and held down Huang Renzhu. Yang Yiqing walked up to the front, smiled and said: "Old Huang, we've known each other for many years and have some friendship. Don't worry, I'll take good care of your wife and concubine at home."

  Huang Renzhu's feet were cut off, and blood flowed freely, but he didn't bat an eyelid. He shouted loudly: "Yang Yiqing, why did you harm me? If you want to seize power, just speak up, with your identity, I certainly won't refuse. Why must you resort to such a despicable trick?"

  Yang Yi Qing smiled and replied, "Your position is higher than mine. Even if I unify the Eagle Pool troops and successfully rescue Jing De Town, it will still be credited to you in Tianjing. Moreover, those 10,000 soldiers are your trusted men. If I want to thoroughly take them over, then you'll have to die, Old Huang."

  Huang Renzhu was about to say something else, but Yang Yiqing didn't give him the chance. With a wave of his large hand, the imperial guards moved forward and hacked him to death with their swords.

  It is not clear which link went wrong, the news of Huang Renzhu being killed by Yang Yiqing spread. It's also strange that Yang Yiqing didn't do things thoroughly enough, and the idea of killing Huang Renzhu was suddenly conceived, without making comprehensive preparations, so two younger brothers of Huang Renzhu and more than a dozen trusted generals were not killed.

  Huang Renzhu's younger brother and trusted general heard that Huang Renzhu was in trouble, so they immediately led their men to the Yang residence to demand his release. Yang Yiqing saw this situation, gritted his teeth, and decided to take drastic action, deploying troops to kill Huang Renzhu's trusted generals.

  At this point, Yingtan was completely chaotic. The various Taiping Army units were marked with different colors and fought each other in the city. From the military camp to the civilian residence, from a simple two-sided fight, it gradually turned into looting and massacring the civilians in the city.

  This battle lasted for a whole day and night, until Yang Yiqing finally flew the flag, insisting that Huang Renzhu was loyal to Qing, and he himself was purging the rebels, taking the initiative.

  The remaining Huang people's tribes were gradually defeated, either beheaded or surrendered to Yang Yiqing.

  This battle killed or wounded two to three thousand Taiping soldiers, and the civilians inside the city were even more heavily casualties. In Yingtan City, blood flowed like a river. Later, this incident was called 'Yingtan Armed Conflict' by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

  P.S. I'd like to mention something, some readers may not understand Wei Zhijun's surrender and think that I exaggerated it. In fact, this is a true historical event, but I just moved the timeline forward by a few months. Wei Zhijun indeed surrendered to the Qing due to the machinations of various parties. However, the Qing court did not treat him well either, dispersing the tens of thousands of troops he brought with him and leaving only 2,500 people to form one battalion. The once-mighty Right Army Commander-in-Chief surrendered, yet was only rewarded with a fourth-rank official position as a commander, and whenever there was a battle, he would be made to lead the vanguard. In my opinion, he wasn't loyal to the Qing court, but rather hated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.