Chapter 18: Lin Zexu Arrives to Suppress the Bandits

  Beijing, Imperial Military Command Center of Forbidden City

  The Daoguang Emperor looked at the eight hundred miles of urgent reports from Guangxi, his mood was gloomy, he couldn't understand why, after he ascended to the throne, he had been diligent in governing, rectifying officialdom, regulating salt policies, opening up sea transportation, and suppressing the Zhang Geser rebellion. He himself had also practiced frugality and worked hard on government affairs. Why were the people of the world still constantly rebelling? Did the people of Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Guangdong, Shandong, and Guangxi really like to rebel so much? They had rebelled time and again. When he was still a prince, he had personally suppressed the White Lotus Sect uprising in Hubei, and knew how great the harm of war was to the local area.

  Below, Mu Zang A saw the emperor troubled by the memorial from Guangxi and comforted him: "Your Majesty can rest assured, the people of Guangxi have been fierce since ancient times. As the saying goes, 'poor mountains and evil waters produce wicked people.' Moreover, the governor-general of the two Guangs has already dispatched troops to quell the rebellion, and I believe we will receive good news soon." Mu Zang A's style was to report good news but not bad news, so he did not dare to make a decision on his own about the rebellious memorial, and instead presented it to the emperor for review.

  Daoguang said: "Are the tens of thousands of people mentioned in the memorial all troublemakers? This is because local officials have exploited them too much! It's better to send a large army to quell the uprising, otherwise the consequences will be unbearable." After a while, he asked again: "Who do you think should be sent? How about Lin Zexu? He has been the governor-general of Liangguang and has great prestige in the region."

  Mu Zhang A said: "Lin Zexu is at home due to illness, and I'm afraid he can't handle the task of suppressing bandits." Who else could be sent? It's impossible to send Lin Zexu. Since the former Grand Councilor Wang Ding opposed exiling Lin Zexu to Xinjiang and killed himself in front of Mu Zhang A to show his loyalty a few years ago, Mu Zhang A had borne deep hatred towards Lin Zexu and would seize every opportunity to suppress him, so there was no way he would promote or reuse him.

  Daoguang knew Mu Zang's thoughts, but considering that he listened and was not greedy, he let him serve as a military minister for twenty years. However, now Daoguang felt that his body was no longer good, and he considered leaving a peaceful country for his children and grandchildren, so he insisted on his own opinion. He said: "Pass the edict, appoint Lin Zexu as the Imperial Commissioner to exclusively handle the suppression of bandits, and transfer the Green Standard Army from Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Hubei, and Shaanxi provinces to be under his command. The Governor of Guangxi, Zheng Zuocen, and the Commander-in-Chief Min Zhongfeng were ineffective in suppressing bandits, so they were dismissed and investigated. Appoint Zhou Tianjue as the Governor of Guangxi, and transfer the Sichuan Commander-in-Chief Xiang Rong to be the Commander-in-Chief of Guangxi."

  Li Yunzhong did not expect that among Ling Shiba's troops were Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan, and he was somewhat caught off guard. With a hint of guilt, he looked at them secretly thinking: They won't think I want to kill them, will they?

  Hong Xiuquan pulled Feng Yunshan to Li Yunzhong's face with a smile and said, "Yunzhong, you've done a great job. I heard that you have taken down both Pingnan County and Tong County. I didn't expect our God Worshipping Society to have such great momentum."

  Li Yunzhong smiled and said: "We were still preparing to rush to Guangdong to welcome back the two gentlemen, but we didn't expect to receive you here in Wuzhou. It's truly God's blessing."

  Feng Yunshan said: "We heard in Guangzhou that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had rebelled, so we immediately went to the countryside to pick up our families and rushed over. On the way, we also encountered Ling Shiba brothers and fought several battles with government troops."

  Li Yunzhong said: "Since both gentlemen have returned safely, we can first return to Pingnan County to gather all the followers and come to support Mr. Hong as the leader."

  Li Yunzhong ordered the troops to break camp and return to Teng County, where they arrived at dusk. After reporting to Hong Xiuquan, they temporarily stayed in Teng County and sent people to invite Yang Xiuqing and others from Zijing Mountain to gather in Pingnan County.

  Hong Xiuquan summoned Feng Yunshan to his residence to discuss the current situation.

  Feng Yunshan said: "Now that the God Worshipping Society has risen up and occupied two counties, it is time to establish a system. Tomorrow in Pingnan County, I will propose that you be called king, and no one will object. Li Yuanzhong is loyal and won't betray us, later he can be used to restrain Yang Xiuqing."

  Hong Xiuquan said: "I'm afraid that at the time, Yunshan will have to be subordinate to them. What do you think about how to allocate military power?"

  Feng Yunshan thought for a moment and said: "Li Yunzhong has many people, I'm afraid he won't be willing to be under Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui."

  Hong Xiuquan smiled and said, "Let him be on par with Yang Xiuqing! Let him be above Xiao Chaogui, and make up for it in other ways. I hope you can persuade him to put aside his pride for the sake of the Heavenly Kingdom's great cause." Hong Xiuquan thought that Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui were weak, and in order to compete with Li Yunzhong, he had to rely on him. With Feng Yunshan acting as a mediator between them, he could then focus on being the Heavenly King.

  "Let Yang Xiuqing be the commander-in-chief of the Central Army, Li Yuncong be the commander-in-chief of the Front Army, and Xiao Chaogui be the commander-in-chief of the Right Army. You will be the commander-in-chief of the Left Army, and the Rear Army commander-in-chief will be held by someone from Li Yuncong's side. What do you think?" Hong Xiuquan asked Feng Yunshan.

  "I'll go find Li Yunzhong and discuss it with him, see what he thinks." Feng Yunshan said, then went to find Li Yunzhong.

  Li Yunzhong was entertaining Ling Shiba and his brothers at the county yamen when he heard that Feng Yunshan had come to visit, so he let a few people continue eating while he took Feng Yunshan to the study. After hearing Feng Yunshan's intentions, although unhappy, he couldn't show it, but in his heart he had already decided to get rid of them and go solo. If you, Feng Yunshan, were to betray me, it wouldn't matter, because you are a sincere gentleman, the actual founder of the God Worshipping Society. But what is Yang Xiuqing? A primitive man from a big mountain?

  Li Yunzhong walked in with a gloomy face, Hu Yihuang hastily put down his wine cup and asked, "What did Mr. Feng say to you?"

  Li Yunzhong expressed Feng Yunshan's meaning. Everyone knew that Li Yunzhong had offended Yang Xiuqing, and they all fell silent, thinking about how to respond.

  Zhang Su said, "What does Hong Xiuquan mean by this? We captured Pingnan County and Teng County, and then he brings them back from Guangdong, so far away. Is this how he repays us?" As he spoke, he showed not a bit of respect for Hong Xiuquan, and he didn't think Feng Yunshan could decide such a big matter.

  Zhang Weikun said in a low voice: "We can lead the army out and fight for our own territory."

  Li Yunzhong carefully observed the expressions of his several brothers, except for Ling Shiba who wanted to speak but stopped, the others had no opinion, and their mood became more relaxed, happily thinking: It seems that the several brothers still understand what is right and wrong, he also knew that Mao Shiba was a rough man with a straightforward heart, most admiring were scholars, possibly being deceived by Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan on the road.

  "It's not the time yet, you must remember to tightly grasp military power and don't be misled by Yang Xiuqing and others. Those 'Heavenly Father Heavenly Brother' are all fake. When the timing is ripe, I will lead you to conquer an even larger territory, at that time you will all be founding heroes." Li Yunzhong painted a beautiful future picture for everyone.

  "We swear to follow you to death." Several of them knelt down and said to Li Yunzhong.

  Li Yunzhong was also filled with hot blood at this time, and he knelt down to them, swearing: "If I, Li Yunzhong, betray any of my brothers in the future, may heaven and earth destroy me."