Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 151 Hong·Time Management Master·Xiu Quan

Soon, someone brought a pair of scissors to Li Yi.

Li Yi personally stepped forward and cut the braids for Zuo Guo and the other man. As the braids behind their heads fell to the ground, the two men felt relieved.

It was as if an invisible shackle had been removed from my heart...

Afterwards, the group walked into the palace, and Li Yi ordered people to prepare a banquet to welcome Zuo Guo and the other man.

At the banquet, Li Yi once again skillfully used his skills in making promises.

Paint a beautiful blueprint for the future of the Tang Dynasty for Zuo Guo and others.

"I started an uprising against the Qing Dynasty in Guangxi not for my own personal glory and wealth, but for the people of this world, so that Chinese civilization can continue and not be cut off by the Qing monsters."

"I'm sure you two gentlemen are aware of the war that took place more than a decade ago. Just because of the harmful opium, the British actually declared war on China."

"With only 20,000 or 30,000 people, we can seize important coastal areas of China and force the Qing monsters to sign an unequal treaty of ceding territory and paying compensation."

"How has the Chinese nation ever been wronged like this? We were bullied by the British barbarians whose population and land are only the size of one Chinese province. This is truly a national humiliation."

"But what about the Qing demons? Facing the British barbarians who bullied them, it would be fine if they were defeated and surrendered."

"If you can't win, surrender for the time being, and endure hardships in order to avenge your humiliation in the future, isn't that wrong?"

“But what did the Qing do after they surrendered?”

"They still don't think about making progress. They think it's better to defend against the Han than against the foreigners. They intend to continue to muddle along like this. Do they think that everything will be fine once the treaty is signed?"

"Haven't you heard that treaties are meant to be torn up?"

"Have they ever thought about what China would do if the British invade again?"

"Continue to cede territory and pay compensation?"

"If this is the case, where will China's national system survive? Where will our national prestige be?"

Speaking of this, Li Yi was really angry.

He really looked down upon the Qing Dynasty. They had suffered great losses in the Opium War, so why didn't he want to join them?

Li Yi continued.

"Gentlemen, do you know what the British have done around the world? They conquered America and Australia with their powerful ships and guns, and then almost wiped out the local indigenous people."

"They conquered Africa and then sold the native Africans around the world as if they were commodities."

"They conquered India and used the Indians as cattle and slaves."

"To be honest, if the British one day gather their entire army to conquer China, can the rotten Qing Dynasty stop them?"

"Are we Han people going to be almost wiped out like the natives of America and Australia? Sold as commodities like the natives of Africa? Or become slaves of the British like the natives of India?"

"Oh, I forgot, there is no difference between the Qing monsters and the British barbarians, they are both invaders."

"Perhaps in the eyes of the Manchu high-ranking officials, since Han Chinese like us can serve as slaves for their bannermen, then it is not wrong to have a foreign master over us, right?"

"Anyway, as long as the prosperity and wealth of their bannermen remain unaffected!"

"Haha, in this situation, how can we, the Han people, not rise up and resist? Are we going to be destroyed step by step under the rule of the Qing Dynasty?"

"I don't want my descendants to bow down and be slaves to the bannermen and foreigners in the future!"

"So, I raised an army!"

"I want to drive out the Tartars, restore China, rebuild the country, and restore the Han Chinese clothing."

"I want to eliminate the accumulated evils, equalize land rights, and ensure that everyone in the world can have enough food to eat, wear warm clothes, have medical treatment when sick, and have books to read, so as to realize the ideal of the ancient sages that the world should be a harmonious place."

"I want China to defeat the British, dominate the world, and stand at the top of the world again!"

Zuo and Guo were also excited by what he said and raised their glasses to toast each other.

Although they didn't necessarily think that the British would attack again, they wouldn't be so tactless as to refute Li Yi's words.

……

On the banks of the Yangtze River!
Zeng Guoquan stood beside a big pit and waved expressionlessly.

"let's start!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Qing soldiers led a group of prisoners to the edge of the pit, forced them to kneel on the ground, and then chopped them down with their swords.

Phew! Phew!
The head was chopped off and rolled into the pit.

The blood spurted high, dyeing the ground blood red.

Afterwards, the headless body was also thrown into the pit.

Such a scene made the Taiping prisoners of war panic-stricken and terrified.

Some people tried to struggle desperately, but to no avail.

After they surrendered, they were first stripped of their weapons and then forced to dig a mass grave without being given any food.

My strength had long been exhausted and struggling was futile.

When they were forced to dig the graves, they thought the mass graves were for burying corpses, so they did not resist much.

So many people died in this battle, it was only natural to dig a mass grave to bury the bodies to prevent plague.

But what they didn't expect was that this mass grave was actually used to kill them, the captives!
If they had known this earlier, they would never surrender to the Qing demons even if they died in battle!
It's all death anyway, it's better to die heroically on the battlefield than to be killed in a miserable way!

"Qing Yao, you killed the prisoners, you will not die well!"

"We have all surrendered, we have all surrendered, why are you still killing us..."

"No, help! Don't kill me, I surrender!"

"Qing Yao, I'm waiting for you underground! I'll wait for you to come down and accompany me in the future..."

"Qing Yao, I'm going to fight you!"

"..."

Wailing and cursing continued, but the Qing army remained unmoved.

Zeng Guoquan still waved his hand and gave orders with an expressionless face.

"continue!"

"These long-haired thieves dared to rebel against the Qing Dynasty. They all deserve death. There is no need to show any sympathy for them!"

Zeng Guoquan now hates the Taiping bandits to the core.

In his opinion, if the Taiping rebels had not started a rebellion, why would he and his brother have been ordered to form a militia?
If they hadn't been used to form a militia, how could they not even be able to see me for the last time?
Therefore, in Zeng Guoquan's eyes, these long-haired thieves were his "enemies who killed his mother."

He killed Changmao just to avenge his mother!

The more miserable the long-haired thief's death was, the more excited he was.

Upon hearing this, the Qing army dared not disobey and could only continue to drag people up and kill them.

Phew! Phew!
Knives flashed, heads fell to the ground, and bodies were pushed into mass graves one after another.

It wasn't long before the bottom of the mass grave was covered with a thick layer of corpses.

The smell of blood is extremely pungent!
After the 6,000 prisoners were killed, together with the bodies of the Taiping Army who had died in the previous battlefield, more than half of the mass grave had been filled.

Looking at the densely packed corpses in the mass graves, many Qing soldiers turned pale.

Feeling unwell!
Fighting for one's own lord on the battlefield is one thing, but killing prisoners of war is another.

As long as people still have a conscience, they will feel guilty when faced with such things.

Afterwards, the Qing army did not fill the pit of corpses immediately, but began to pour kerosene into it, preparing to ignite the corpses.

If there are few corpses, they can be landfilled directly and natural decomposition will not be a big problem.

But the problem now is that there are too many bodies in this mass grave, and natural decomposition may not be enough.

Once the corpse begins to rot, the corpse fluids are likely to affect the surrounding environment and even cause a plague.

To be on the safe side, it is safer to burn the body and then bury it.

Soon, kerosene was sprinkled on the pile of corpses.

Several torches were thrown down, and flames shot up into the sky.

In an instant, the stench of burnt protein and the aroma of barbecue mixed together and drifted in all directions.

Many people covered their noses, bent over and vomited.

"Hey..."

Thick smoke mixed with flames rose up into the sky, as if to cover up the sun in the sky!
The fire burned for a long time until the next morning, when the flames were extinguished.

During this journey, the Qing army added kerosene to the corpse pit several times, fearing that the corpses would not be burned completely.

When the fire was completely extinguished, the corpses in the pit had disappeared, replaced by bones scattered everywhere.

Only after Zeng Guofan gave the order did the Qing army begin to fill the pit of corpses.

……

Xiao Chaoxing fled the battlefield with several personal soldiers.

They ran all the way without stopping for even a second, until dawn the next day, when they stopped by a stream to rest.

Xiao Chaoxing lay by the stream, scooped up water with trembling hands and brought it to his lips.

He drank the stream water in big gulps. As the sweet water went down his throat, he felt as if his burning lungs were relieved a little.

Xiao Chaoxing stopped scooping water until his stomach was full and he could not drink any more. Then he lay down by the stream, looked up at the sky, and gasped for breath.

Looking at the sun gradually rising in the sky, Xiao Chaoxing knew.

I myself survived!
"Guo Zong, the troops in the West Palace are now finished."

"Where are we going next? Are we going back to heaven?"

A man came up to Xiao Chaoxing and asked.

A face full of confusion and helplessness.

In the Battle of Laohuling, the Taiping Army was defeated too quickly and too miserably.

Now everyone’s confidence has collapsed and they feel confused from the bottom of their hearts.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chaoxing hurriedly shook his head.

"No! You can't go back to heaven!"

"We, the people of the West Palace, have always been at odds with the King of the East. Maybe it would have been easier to deal with the Queen of the West who mediated between us."

"But now even the Queen of the West has died on the battlefield. Once we return to Tianjing, will the King of the East let us go?"

"We must not return to Tianjing!"

Xiao Chaoxing still remembered that the Changsha Incident was caused by his killing of officials from the East Prince's Palace.

He didn't believe that the King of the East would not take revenge on him after he returned to Tianjing!

Therefore, Xiao Chaoxing would never return to Tianjing even if he was beaten to death.

"Guo Zong, what should we do next?"

Another guard asked.

Xiao Chaoxing took a deep breath, as if he was making a decision.

After a moment he nodded.

"Go to King Yi, let's go to King Yi."

"King Yi and King Xi have always been friendly, they will definitely treat us well."

After hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

In their opinion, joining King Yi was indeed more appropriate than returning to Tianjing to join King Dong.

At the very least, King Yi will not settle accounts with them.

But the same cannot be said for the King of the East!

……

Tianjing!

Heavenly Palace!
Meng De'en walked hurriedly towards the king's bedroom with a serious expression.

Soon, he arrived outside the King's bedroom.

But he was still stopped by someone, and a queen came forward and said.

"Commander Meng, please wait a moment. The Heavenly King is in the middle of a worship service and has specifically instructed that no one should disturb him."

When Meng De'en heard this, his face darkened, but he did not dare to force his way in. He could only stand where he was and wait for Hong Xiuquan to finish his service before going forward to pay his respects.

Mende'en waited for more than half an hour before the door of the Heavenly King's bedroom was opened.

Hong Xiuquan came out surrounded by a group of beautiful princesses.

However, Meng De'en keenly discovered that the king now looked a little listless, with very obvious dark circles around his eyes, and his face was a little blue, as if he had indulged in excessive sexual activities.

Meng De'en understood instantly that he had never realized that the King of Heaven was also a master of time management.

Taking advantage of the church time, I also held a silver party!

Although Meng De'en had some complaints in his mind, he did not dare to say it out loud, and hurriedly stepped forward to report.

"Heavenly King, something big has happened!"

"On her way back to Tianjing with her army, Queen Mother Xi was ambushed by a Qing demon at Tiger Ridge in Jingzhou Prefecture, Hubei."

"All the troops were wiped out!"

"Even Queen Xi was captured by the Qing monsters. All our captured soldiers were killed by the Qing monsters..."

After Meng De'en finished his report, the originally depressed expression on Hong Xiuquan's face instantly turned into shock and disbelief.

He couldn't help but ask with his eyes wide open.

"Is this true?"

Mendeen nodded.

"How dare I deceive the Heavenly King?"

When Hong Xiuquan heard this, the expression on his face gradually became solemn.

"If this happens, the West Palace's troops will be completely wiped out..."

“Where should my kingdom of heaven go next?”

Even if Hong Xiuquan did not intervene, he could realize how tense the situation the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was facing.

The Northern Expedition Army led by Wei Changhui was blocked outside the city of Jinan and could not advance an inch.

King Yi Shi Dakai would rather go west to Sichuan than return to the Heavenly Kingdom.

Outside the city of Tianjing, it was besieged by the Qing demons' Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps.

The Heavenly Kingdom's sphere of influence was confined to the city of Tianjing, and it couldn't get out at all.

It is no exaggeration to say that the situation faced by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom today is much more dangerous than at the same time in history.

Historically, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom first entered Tianjing, the situation was not very good.

Fortunately, the main force of the Kingdom of Heaven was not damaged, and the main forces of the East Hall, West Hall, North Hall, and Wing Hall were almost all there.

Well, although Xiao Chaogui died in Changsha, the troops under his command did not suffer much damage and were successfully incorporated by Yang Xiuqing.

Therefore, even though Tianjing was besieged, the main force of the Heavenly Kingdom was still able to launch the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition at the same time, and the progress was quite good. While sharing some of the pressure for Tianjing, it also collected food and supplies to supply Tianjing.

But now?

The Wing King fled, and the West King's troops were almost wiped out.

Li Yi also poached many of his friends!

Today, only the troops from the East Palace and the North Palace are left to support the Kingdom of Heaven.

All efforts had been made in launching the Northern Expedition, and there was no energy left to launch the Western Expedition.

Not to mention the Western Expedition, it was even difficult to leave the city to collect food and fodder.

The city of Tianjing is now even at risk of running out of food!
At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was really in an extremely dangerous situation.

Hong Xiuquan was so upset that he didn't even have the mood to hold a party!
……

PS: Please take a day off. There is only one chapter today.

Normal updates will resume tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)