Chapter 23: Li Yunzhong Flees After Being Appointed King of Yong'an

  Inside the city, officials and soldiers only attacked the outside troops a few times, then started digging deep trenches around the perimeter and building fortifications. Unable to understand what the government army was doing, Li Yunzhong consulted with Hong Xiuquan and others. When they arrived at the prefectural yamen, they saw Yang Xiuqing and others measuring an box. He went forward to take a look and saw that on the box was written: "Hong Xiuquan, Li Yunzhong, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan personally opened". He asked them: "What is this box?"

  Feng Yunshan said: "It was sent by the officials and soldiers outside the city. I am discussing with Xiuchang how to deal with it."

  Li Yunzhong said: "What's the point of sending a trunk with a perfectly good official army? Is it filled with human heads?" Thinking about human heads, the Taiping Army hasn't had any important figures fall into the Qing army's hands recently.

  Yang Xiuqing ordered someone to put the box in the courtyard and called a captive to open it, saying: "I'm afraid Qingxie will use the mechanism to harm people."

  Li Yunzhong thought to himself, shocked and amazed. With a loud "boom", the captive was blown up, covered in blood, lying silently on the ground. Li Yunzhong felt a chill run down his spine, he really couldn't believe that the Qing army had such advanced people, suddenly advancing over 100 years, they could apply for patents now.

  Xiao Chaogui said: "Fortunately, Xiucheng was quick-witted, otherwise we would all have been blown to death."

  Beijing

  Xianfeng looked at the three memorials, his face expressionless, the tea cups on the ground were shattered, he was really fed up with these three slaves, their boasts were endless, each one said that they would break into the city immediately, but after waiting for so long, they all suffered losses and casualties, without any achievements, the secret reports of inaction.

  Sai-shang-a, who was just appointed as the Chief Military Minister by Emperor Xianfeng this year, claimed to be knowledgeable about military affairs. Seeing that the emperor was worried about the rebels in Guangxi, he knelt down and said: "These are all due to the incompetence of the generals. I have been familiar with military strategies since childhood, and I am willing to share the worries of Your Majesty. I would like to personally go to Guangxi to quell the rebellion. Please grant me permission."

  Xianfeng looked at Sai Shang'a with a hint of relief. Originally, he was going to dismiss Mu Zhang'a, but since no one else could be used, he chose Sai Shang'a. It turned out that he was just a military officer who didn't understand politics, but indeed had loyalty and bravery, able to share the emperor's worries. Li Xingyuan is useless, it's just right for you to go and supervise the troops to suppress the bandits.

  Xianfeng decreed: "Pass down the edict, Li Xingyuan was appointed as the Imperial Commissioner but achieved nothing and instead allowed the rebels to grow in strength. He is hereby stripped of his position and will be investigated. Sai Shang'a is loyal to the country and skilled in battle, he is now appointed as the new Imperial Commissioner and will lead the troops to Guangxi to suppress the rebels."

  Before long, Sai Shang'a arrived in Hunan with the imperial edict and consulted with Governor Rong Bingzhang on the matter of suppressing bandits. At the meeting, Sai Shang'a furrowed his brow tightly, and Rong Bingzhang hastily asked him what was wrong.

  Cai Xiang sighed and said, "The government army has been defeated repeatedly, all because the generals are afraid of death and fear for their lives. The Green Camp is even more unbearable. I must think of a clever plan."

  Only then did Lu Bingzhang quietly instruct the person next to him, and soon that person led in a man of over thirty years old. Pointing at him, he said to Sai Shang'a: "This man is called Jiang Zhongyuan, from the Jiang family, which is known as the strongest clan in Xinning. Although his Chu troops are not numerous, they are all brave and fierce warriors, sweeping away everything before them. They have repeatedly suppressed the Huizhou uprising, with great merit, and he still holds the title of county magistrate."

  Zeng Guofan looked at Jiang Zongyuan, the more he looked, the more satisfied he was. He called him to his side and said mysteriously: "The Taiping Army rebels are not easy to deal with, they are quite different from the bandits you eliminated in Hunan."

  Jiang Zhongyuan asked: "What's so special about these rebels? Are they very powerful?"

  Xie Xiang took out the letter written by Guangxi officials to himself, pointing to a paragraph and letting Jiang Zhongyuan see: "Once the thieves join the Heavenly Lord's Teachings, they plot rebellion and dare not fear death. When we interrogate those who are captured or arrested on the spot, they show no fear at all, nor do they beg for their lives like ordinary people. This is because they believe in God and can ascend to heaven after death, so they remain unmoved even in the face of death."

  Jiang Zhongyuan watched and felt that the Eight Banners and Green Standard Army, which were relied upon by the imperial court as a long wall, were really useless. He thought of his own recruited Chu Braves, who were slightly trained farmers with more combat effectiveness than the Eight Banners and Green Standard Army. Why not let them participate in the army to suppress the rebels? He expressed his thoughts to Sai Shang'a.

  Xie Xiangya fell into thought, nodded slowly and said to Jiang Zhongyuan: "This plan can defeat 100,000 strong troops. You immediately recruit and train brave warriors, follow me into Gui to suppress the bandits."

  Luo Bingzhang felt a little comforted when he saw Jiang Zhongyuan and Sai Shang'a discussing the situation, but when he first received news of Hong Xiuquan's rebellion, he was extremely frightened. He knew Hong Xiuquan, as they were both from Huaxian, Guangdong Province, and he was afraid of being implicated by this fellow townsman. He made great efforts to transport troops and supplies to Guangxi. He couldn't understand why Hong Xiuquan, who had also read books like "Analects" and "Mencius" and taken the imperial examination path, would want to rebel. What he didn't know was that after failing in the imperial examinations, Hong Xiuquan had become despondent and read a book called "Good Words to Admonish the Age", which gave him rebellious ideas. He believed that the greatest evil spirit in the world was the Chinese emperor, and he dreamed of overthrowing him.

  When Jiang Zhongyuan followed Sai Shang'a to Guangxi, there were already 1,200 Chu Braves by his side. He also invited capable assistants Liu Changyun and three close brothers Jiang Zhongjiu, Jiang Zhongji, and Jiang Zhongshu, as well as uncles and cousins such as Jiang Zhongxin and Jiang Zhongyi.

  Li Xingyuan, who was under the city of Yong'an, heard that Xianfeng had sent a new imperial commissioner to replace him. Despite his serious illness, he personally went to the city wall to direct the battle and ordered Xiang Rong and Wulan Tai to attack the city with all their might. The two men fought fiercely for three days in order to gain merit, but Li Xingyuan was unable to withstand the strain and died in the army. In his will, he wrote: "If the rebels cannot be pacified, it is not loyalty; if one's parents are not cared for until the end, it is not filial piety. After death, dress me in ordinary clothes to show my fault." Xiang Rong and Wulan Tai retreated to regroup and planned not to attack Yong'an again before the arrival of the imperial commissioner.

  Xiao Chaogui saw that Yong'an was not only not taken by the Qing army, but became more and more stable, holding out for more than six months, with less than two thousand casualties. He gathered all the major and minor leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom together and said: Jesus is about to descend to the world.

  Heavenly Brother pointed at Hong Xiuquan and said: "Xiuquan, you are able to do this, Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui have many merits, why don't you reward them?"

  Hong Xiuquan said: "My younger brother has already written a sacrificial essay for the division of rewards, and is now preparing to confer titles on all officials."

  ……

  In August 1850, Hong Xiuquan planned to enfeoff his kings and called the main generals in the army to discuss it.

  Li Yunzhong opposed, saying: "Today, occupying only a small place and declaring oneself king is really not appropriate, it will only make the Qing army more determined to surround and attack. Moreover, every time the Heavenly King arrives at a place, he burns books and flogs the images of Confucius and Mencius, these are all like the brutal rule of the Qin dynasty. If this continues, scholars will all oppose the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, how can they join?"

  Yang Xiuqing retorted, "The actions of the Heavenly King are all done at the behest of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Elder Brother, how can they be wrong? I think you have been seduced by evil demons, you should admit your mistake."

  Feng Yunshan advised, "Now the system of enfeoffing kings is to stabilize people's minds. We will discuss and after a few days break out from Yongan, turn to attack Guilin, and then occupy Guangxi."

  Li Yunzhong saw that they wanted to break through without consulting him, obviously wanting him to be a scapegoat in Yong'an. He immediately went out to gather his old troops and had the entire Right Army move to the north of the city. Without notifying Feng Yunshan, he also brought the Rear Army to the north of the city and summoned all the brothers to discuss matters at his place.