Chapter 24: Li Yun kissed Hong Xuanjiao

  Hu Yihuang, Meng Shangsheng, Ling Shibai and Su Sanniang arrived at Li Yunzhong's military camp. Li Yunzhong told them what had just happened and asked for their opinions.

  Su San Niang agreed: "I've long been displeased with Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui, pretending to be gods and fooling who? I'll bring the female troops over later."

  Meng Shang Rong considered for a moment, then said: "Taking advantage of the low morale of the government troops, it's better to break out early. I'll notify the right and rear armies outside the city to prepare to support us."

  "Alright, let's first break out of Yong'an and shake off the main force of the Qing army. We'll divide our troops to attack big and small cities, making them scatter in all directions. Remember to gather in Hunan, you must control your troops and not let Yang Xiuqing and his men lead them astray." Li Yunzhong informed the rear generals of their future marching direction, so as to avoid getting lost later on.

  On the second day, Hong Xiuquan issued a decree, appointing Yang Xiuqing as the Eastern King and Xiao Chaogui as the Western King, ranking them first; Li Yuncong as the Han King, Feng Yunshan as the Southern King, and Wei Changhui as the Northern King, ranking them second; Shi Dakai as the Wing King, ranking him third. The ranks of Grand Chancellor, Inspector, Commander, and General were also established. All kings below Western King were under the control of Eastern King. Although Feng Yunshan was able to establish a system for the Heavenly Kingdom, he could not deify Hong Xiuquan, so he gradually became marginalized. In the name of Heavenly Father, Heavenly Elder Brother, and Heavenly King, Hong, Yang, and Xiao formed a trinity, and with shamanistic religious rituals, they fabricated a separation of powers. Yang represented Heavenly Father, Xiao represented Heavenly Elder Brother, and Hong was the Son of Heaven on earth. They also ordered that after the establishment of the Heavenly Kingdom, Feng Yunshan's calendar would be used, official positions would be determined, and rewards would be given to meritorious generals.

  Li Yunzhong did not accept Hong Xiuquan's edict, and took advantage of the night to go to the women's army to find Su San Niang. It turned out that many female generals in the women's army were unwilling to leave the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and break through alone. Su San Niang was persuading them, Li Yunzhong saw this and thought, "Breaking through is set for the second half of the night, there is still time to chat with you." He said: "Those who are willing to follow the main army to break through, those who have husbands, sons, etc. in the right army, rear army, go outside and wait." More than half of the women in the house went out, Li Yunzhong said to the remaining people: "You don't want to follow me, I don't want to force you either, we will meet again later." Li Yunzhong made a fist to bid farewell to them, pulled Su San Niang and left, and told the soldiers standing outside: "Take these women to the right army."

  With everything ready, Li Yunzhong ordered the city gate to be opened, and more than 20,000 people marched out of the city in an orderly manner under the cover of night. At this moment, Hong Xuanjiao rode a white horse and appeared before Li Yunzhong, dismounting and angrily asking: "What are you doing? Are you planning to lead the army to flee?"

  Li Yunzhong said: "Hong Xiuquan has no great ambition, Yang Xiuqing is arrogant and self-willed, Xiao Chaogui is brave but lacks strategy. If I follow their orders, I will be killed by them sooner or later." After finishing speaking, he looked at Hong Xuanjiao again, seeing that she was more haggard than before, it can be seen that she had not been doing well during this period. He looked at her deeply and said: "Xuanjiao, my feelings for you have never changed. Look at Xiao Chaogui and the others, they marry wives and take in concubines, whenever they see a beautiful girl, they go to seize her. You won't be happy following them, come with me."

  Hong Xuanjiao looked disheartened and said: "You men are all the same, following you is still the same as having three wives and four concubines."

  Li Yunzhong, seeing that she did not immediately refuse, excitedly grasped her hand and said: "I will always love you, I won't want so many women, come with me, I promise to take care of you for the rest of your life."

  Hong Xuanjiao was after all a traditional woman. She shook her head, pulled out her hand and said: "Although Chao Gui is not good to me, he must be my husband, I cannot do that."

  The great army has already come out of the city, Li Yunzhong hugged Hong Xuanjiao tightly, ignoring her struggles, and kissed her fragrant lips. After a while, he let go of her and said: "You can find me anytime." Seeing Feng Yunshan being led by Ling Shiba towards this side, Li Yunzhong released Hong Xuanjiao, seeing her dazed and confused expression, promised: "I will always like you." After that, he went to meet Feng Yunshan.

  Feng Yunshan saw Li Yunzhong and excitedly said: "Yunzhong, what can't be discussed? The great enemy is in front of us, you're doing this to make our loved ones suffer and our enemies rejoice!"

  Li Yunzhong looked calmly at Feng Yunshan and said, "Mr. Feng, we have different paths and shouldn't work together. In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, I only admire you alone. You should be careful of Yang Xiuqing and others..." Thinking that he was about to continue, he couldn't help but feel a hint of sowing discord, which would make Feng Yunshan look down on him, so he swallowed his words.

  "General, it's almost time to go." Li Chunfa walked over and said to Li Yunzhong.

  "We'll meet again, take care." Li Yunzhong looked deeply at Hong Xuanjiao, seeing that she still didn't dare to look up at him, let out a sigh, mounted the horse brought by Li Chunfa, and left the city without looking back, ignoring Feng Yunsan's calls behind him.

  "Report to General Li, the vanguard has discovered several suspicious individuals. The leader claims to be Hong Daquan, brother of the Heavenly King." a small soldier said to Li Yunzhong.

  "Temporarily arrest them and let them follow the army for now." Li Yunzhong had never heard of Hong Xiuquan having a brother named Hong Daquan, probably an impostor. Wait until they are out of danger to interrogate them.

  "Report... General Vanguard has taken down Lipu County."

  "What? Luo Daguang has already arrived at Licheng?" Li Yunzhong asked in surprise. This area was all mountainous, and he did not expect that Luo Daguang would still be able to capture Licheng in such a short period of time.

  Su San Niang saw Li Yunzhong's surprised and disbelieving expression, so she explained to him: "Luo Dage's vanguard has been living in the mountains for a long time, so marching is not slower than on the main road."

  Li Yunzhong suddenly felt at ease and thought that in southern China where there are many mountains and hills, Luo Dagang's troops could play a very big role.

  Ling Shi Ba, who was acting as a rear guard, came running back to Li Yun Zhong, panting: "A large number of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom flags have been spotted in the rear. Are they coming after us?"

  Li Yunzhong thought for a moment and said, "It seems they broke through ahead of time. Don't worry about them. We'll go to Leping County to regroup and reorganize the rear army before heading north to Hunan."

  In the afternoon, the troops arrived in Leping County one after another. Li Yunzhong called all the generals to the county government office and announced his reorganization plan that he had thought of on the way. Considering that the rear army was deeply influenced by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Li Yunzhong did not dare to promote those unfamiliar faces, but instead used his sworn brothers whom he trusted. The right army was renamed as the First Army, the rear army was renamed as the Second Army, and the women's army of 8,000 people plus Li Chunfa's guard battalion were renamed as the Fourth Army. The remaining old, weak, women and children were organized into another battalion to stay in the rear during battles.

  The commander of the First Army was Hu Yihuang, under which there were two divisions. Luo Daguang's division served as the vanguard, and the entire division expanded to 3,000 people, with each battalion having 1,000 people. Li Desheng's division still had 2,000 people.

  The Second Army had Zhang Sui as its army commander, with Ling Shiba and Meng Shangrui as division commanders, each division having 4,000 men, for a total of 8,000. To appease Meng Shangrui and Ling Shiba, Li Yunzhong added an extra level of command between the army and division levels.

  The commander of the Fourth Army was Su San Niang, and the deputy commander was Lin Da Ji. The army had three regiments, led by Li Chun Fa, female general Xiao Mei Yun, and Yang Chang Mei.

  Li Yunzhong directly commanded only the Boy Scouts and the Bombardment Regiment. The entire army had a total of 23,000 people.