Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 180 Zeng Guofan shines
Since Wei Changhui was willing to be the villain, Hong Xiuquan naturally would not object.

It was just right. When the evil Wei Changhui had killed most of the people, Hong Xiuquan would come out as a good guy and clean up the mess.

Seeing this, Meng De'en could only respond.

Hong Xiuquan continued.

"Oh, by the way, send a message to Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang, asking them to lead the army to guard the Heavenly King's Palace to prevent the disorderly soldiers from attacking the Heavenly King's Palace."

Seeing this, Meng De'en opened his mouth, but still responded.

"I obey your command..."

……

Taiping Prefecture!
After Yang Fuqing led his troops out of Tianjing City, he arrived at Taiping Prefecture.

After arriving at Taiping Prefecture, Yang Fuqing did not rest, but began to reorganize his troops and prepare for the Western Expedition.

On the parade ground, teams of Taiping Army soldiers were practicing battle formations, constantly changing their formations in response to the sounds of drums and flags, either charging or retreating, in a very methodical manner.

The sound of gunfire also rang out from time to time.

This army on the Western Expedition was very majestic when it was trained.

Yang Fuqing stood on the reviewing platform, watching the soldiers' training below, with obvious satisfaction in his eyes.

Just at this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the training ground.

A Taiping soldier, his robe stained with blood, rode his horse straight into the parade ground.

Seeing this, Yang Fuqing was about to order his men to stop him for questioning, but he saw the Taiping soldier fall headfirst and fall off his horse after rushing into the parade ground.

The man hit the ground with a dull thud and rolled several times before stopping.

Upon seeing this, Yang Fuqing immediately ordered people to go forward and check.

"I...I have something important to report, Guozong...I want to see Guozong!"

"Take...Take me to see Guozong!"

The soldier, covered in blood, spoke weakly, with blood constantly flowing out from his teeth as he spoke.

He was already seriously injured, and the fall just now had completely ended his life.

It was obvious that he was breathing out more than breathing in, and it was obvious that he was about to die.

Seeing this, several soldiers who came forward to check did not dare to delay and immediately helped the man to the reviewing platform.

Soon, the soldier who fell off his horse was brought before Yang Fuqing.

After seeing Yang Fuqing, the soldier opened his mouth and spoke with his last bit of strength.

"Guo Zong...Tian Jing, something happened in Tianjing."

"On the night of August 15, the Northern King suddenly... led his troops back to Tianjing from Suzhou and surrounded the Eastern King's Palace. In the chaos of the battle, the Eastern King... the Eastern King was... killed by the Northern King. The entire Eastern Palace was... almost... almost bloodbathed..."

"I... fled from Tianjing at the risk of my life, and came here... to tell you the news..."

"You...you must avenge the East King and the brothers in the East Palace!"

After saying this, the Taiping Army soldier's head tilted and he died instantly.

But Yang Fuqing on the side didn't care about this man's life or death at all.

After hearing what the soldier said, he just froze in place.

Now there was only one sentence left in his mind.

Something happened in Tianjing, the King of the East was killed, and the East Palace was bathed in blood!
Yang Fuqing was a little bit unbelievable about this bad news, but he also knew that there was no reason for the soldier who came to report the news to lie to him.

In this case, the killing of the East King and the bloodbath in the East Palace were all true.

Yang Fuqing was in a state of confusion. After Yang Xiuqing was killed, he felt like he had lost his backbone and didn't know what to do next...

Taking a deep breath, Yang Fuqing forced himself to calm down, and then spoke to everyone around him.

"In order to avoid causing panic in the army, from now on, the news will be blocked. The news of the incident in Tianjing will only be known to you and me, and it must not be spread to anyone else."

"If anyone dares to gossip about me outside and I find out, don't blame me for being merciless!"

When the people around him saw this, they were all startled and bowed in agreement.

Most of them are officials of the East Palace, and they share the same fate with the East Palace.

If the King of the East is killed, then Yang Fuqing, the national leader, will be their backbone.

Naturally, no one would go against Yang Fuqing's wishes.

Besides, this matter is indeed of great importance. Before there is definite news, it is best not to make a big fuss about it.

Otherwise, it might cause panic!

Seeing everyone nodding in agreement, Yang Fuqing continued to give instructions.

"Inform the entire army, and have all our troops prepare for battle immediately and be ready to meet the enemy."

"Then, send scouts to Tianjing. I need to know what exactly happened in Tianjing City."

Although Yang Fuqing knew that the person who came to report the news would not deceive him with such a thing, he was still unwilling to believe that Yang Xiuqing had died like this.

He planned to send someone to Tianjing to investigate and confirm the authenticity of the news so that he could make follow-up arrangements.

After giving these instructions, Yang Fuqing hurriedly left the training ground.

He returned to his military camp and sat in his tent. He couldn't help but start thinking about what he should do next if Yang Xiuqing was really dead.

His thoughts were in a mess and he began to feel depressed.

……

Changsha!

It was late at night, and Li Yi, who had been busy all day, had not yet gone to bed.

He was washing, changing clothes and preparing to rest under the help of Fu Shanxiang.

Now Fu Shanxiang is no longer just a work secretary to Li Yi, but has become a qualified personal female secretary.

Li Yi is a man, a young and strong man, and he has needs in that aspect.

But Luo Caiyu was not around, and Li Yi didn't want to do it himself. In addition, for safety reasons, he was unwilling to touch those women of unknown origin.

Therefore, Fu Shanxiang, who was well-known, had a clean background and was good-looking, became Li Yi's best choice.

Recently, Li Yi was indulging in the novelty of Fu Shanxiang and kept her in his room almost every night.

Well, mentoring work.

Li Yi closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. Fu Shanxiang took a wet towel and wiped his face gently.

Sniffing the subtle fragrance of the beauty so close to him, a fire began to burn in Li Yi's heart.

He reached out and brought Fu Shanxiang into his arms, causing the beauty to let out a low scream.

"Kings……"

Feeling the warmth and softness in his arms, Li Yi began to feel a little moved, but he just made a move.

Then there was a knock on the door and a servant came in to report.

"Report! Report to the king."

"Li Liang, the director of the Military Intelligence Department, is asking for an audience outside the headquarters. He said he has something urgent to report."

Li Yi paused as he heard this, climbing to the top of the mountain.

The expression on his face couldn't help but show some impatience.

As a man, he would definitely feel unhappy if he was interrupted at this time.

However, Li Yi knew that Li Liang came to see him in the middle of the night, he must not be bored, there must be something important.

Although Li Yi is lustful, he is not the kind of person who cannot distinguish the important things when his mind is filled with lust.

He reached out and patted the round buttocks of the beauty in his arms, motioning her to get up from him, and then spoke to the outside.

"Bring the person here!"

Seeing this, Fu Shanxiang on the side spoke up.

"Your Majesty, I will take my leave now!"

Li Yi nodded and said.

"Shanxiang, go to the side room and wait first. I will treat you well after I meet Li Liang..."

Upon hearing this, Fu Shanxiang couldn't help but blush. She gave Li Yi a charming look and then left.

She has always been very sensible when doing things around Li Yi.

In a situation like this where a high-ranking court official asked for a meeting late at night, and it was obvious at a glance that what he wanted to report was a very important matter, if Li Yi did not take the initiative to keep her, she would not stay to watch.

And what Li Yi likes is her ability to know her limits.

After Fu Shanxiang left, Li Yi tidied up his slightly messy clothes and waited for Li Liang to come and meet him.

He didn't have to wait long before Li Liang was brought to Li Yi by a servant.

"Your Majesty, may your Majesty live long and blessed!"

Li Liang bowed before Li Yi.

Hearing this, Li Yi just shook his head and said.

"No courtesy, stay on your own."

"Well, why did you come to see me so late at night?"

Hearing this, Li Liang swallowed and said with a serious expression.

"In reply to your Majesty, the Military Intelligence Department has arranged for the spy in Tianjing to report urgently."

"There is unrest in heaven!"

When Li Yi heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

Civil unrest in heaven?

Could it be that the Tianjing Incident broke out ahead of schedule? Li Yi asked with a serious heart.

"Tell me in detail what happened."

Li Liang heard this and continued.

"In reply to your Majesty, according to the report from the spies in Tianjing, on August 10th, the King of the East asked the King of Heaven to confer the title of Long Live Heaven on him, on the pretext that the Father of Heaven had descended to earth."

"On the night of August 15, Northern King Wei Changhui, who was originally deep in the Suzhou front, and Dingtian Hou Qin Rigang suddenly returned to Tianjing."

"Northern King Wei Changhui and Dingtian Hou Qin Rigang led their troops to besiege the Eastern King's Palace. Eastern King Yang Xiuqing was killed, and the entire Eastern King's Palace was massacred."

"Afterwards, Northern King Wei Changhui also carried out a massive search and purge of Eastern King's remaining followers in Tianjing City, killing many people."

"Right now, the entire Tianjing City is in chaos, and the people of all the tribes in the Heavenly Kingdom are in a state of panic."

After hearing this, Li Yi's expression kept changing.

He knew that with the separation of church and state in the Kingdom of Heaven, there would be internal strife sooner or later.

The nominal supreme leader and the person who holds real power are not the same person, which is the root cause of the civil unrest.

What Li Yi didn't expect was that under his butterfly, the Tianjing Incident broke out earlier than the historical time.

However, if you think about it carefully, it is normal for the Tianjing Incident to break out at this time.

The Tianjing Incident in history occurred after the Taiping Army broke through the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps.

When the Qing army besieged the city of Tianjing with heavy troops, Hong Xiuquan was already dissatisfied with Yang Xiuqing's domineering behavior.

But considering that Yang Xiuqing still needed to take charge of the overall situation and deal with the threat of the Qing army, Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King, was very tolerant of Yang Xiuqing's domineering behavior.

However, as the Taiping Army broke into the Qing army's camps in the south and north of the Yangtze River, the threat of the Qing army was eliminated.

In addition, Yang Xiuqing's request to be conferred the title of Long Live the Emperor touched Hong Xiuquan's bottom line.

So, the Tianjing Incident broke out.

After Yang Xiuqing's death, the entire East Palace was purged.

It is actually almost the same now. The Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps were broken, and Yang Xiuqing asked for the title of Long Live the Emperor. The two things happened one after the other.

The prerequisites for the Tianjing Incident have been met.

It is understandable that Hong Xiuquan chose this time to launch the Tianjing Incident and purge the East Palace.

Li Liang saw the expression on Li Yi's face kept changing and asked.

"Your Majesty, how should our Tang Dynasty deal with this civil unrest in Heaven?"

Li Yi thought for a while and had an idea in mind, but he did not make the decision himself. Instead, he prepared to ask his subordinates for their opinions.

So he spoke.

"Li Liang, go and tell the Left Governor and Prefect Guo to come and discuss this matter."

"Hurry up, let them come now!"

Upon hearing this, Li Liang nodded in agreement and then took his leave.

Li Yi sent Fu Shanxiang to rest first, and he went to the study to prepare to meet with the ministers.

Without letting Li Yi wait for long, Li Liang went to invite Zuo Zongtang and Guo Songtao over, along with Peng Yulin.

Originally, Peng Yulin was somewhat tempted to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but when Guo Songtao went to persuade him to surrender on behalf of Li Yi, he was stopped by Luo Bingzhang.

Intellectuals all care about their reputation. Luo Bingzhang had already said that he would never surrender, so it was not easy for Peng Yulin to just jump out and say that he wanted to surrender.

Otherwise, wouldn't it seem that Peng Yulin is too afraid of death?

This is not possible!

However, with the news that Zeng Guofan was sentenced to immediate execution by the Qing government and his entire family was exiled, Peng Yulin finally had a way out.

Under the banner of revenge for his unjustly killed benefactor (Zeng Guofan), he naturally surrendered to the Tang Dynasty.

Together with him were Qing army generals such as Yang Yuebin, Bao Qibao, and Liu Changyou.

Well, although Zeng Guofan is still imprisoned by the Qing government, he has not been beheaded yet.

Although Bao Qibao and Liu Changyou were not promoted by Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan cannot be considered their benefactor.

But none of this matters!

All they need is a step.

As for the quality of this staircase, it is fine as long as it is barely acceptable.

Li Yi actually has complicated feelings about this.

He really didn't expect that Zeng Guofan, a staunch Qing loyalist, would one day be able to contribute to the Tang Dynasty.

Well, Zeng Guofan used his death to exchange for several rare talents for the Tang Dynasty. How can this not be considered as contributing to the Tang Dynasty?

In return, Li Yi was going to find someone to put two more black pots on Zeng Guofan in the Qing court, such as reporting him for colluding with Tang thieves or something...

Try to have Zeng Guofan’s entire clan be exterminated!

Well, letting Zeng Guofan's nine clans be executed can allow him to die peacefully instead of being exiled and suffering. How can this not be considered a repayment?
As for evidence?
This thing is easy to make. Li Yi can write a few more handwritten letters to Zeng Guofan...

However, Luo Bingzhang, as well as two bannermen named Tazibu and Qingde, chose to never surrender.

Naturally, Li Yi did not keep them alive to waste food, and ordered his men to chop them off directly, and use their heads to commemorate the heroic souls of the Taiping Army who were killed by the Qing army in the Battle of Laohuling.

Li Yi met with Zuo Zongtang and two other people in his study.

Ordering the three to take their seats, Li Yi began to speak.

"The Military Intelligence Department has received the latest news that there is civil unrest in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Jiangnan."

"Eastern King Yang Xiuqing requested to be crowned as the emperor, and Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan summoned Northern King Wei Changhui and Dingtian Hou Qin Rigang back to Beijing and executed Yang Xiuqing."

"Now the entire Tianjing City, and even the entire Heavenly Kingdom, is in complete chaos."

"Please tell me, my Lords. How should the Tang Dynasty deal with the changes in Jiangnan?"

After saying this, Li Yi picked up the strong, refreshing tea and took a sip. He was visibly refreshed from his sleepy state.

Zuo Zongtang heard this and said with a serious expression.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this civil strife in Heaven has both advantages and disadvantages for our Tang Dynasty."

"The benefit is that the Tang Dynasty can take advantage of the civil unrest in Heaven to recruit some of the Eastern Palace troops from the former Heavenly Kingdom and expand the military strength of the Tang Dynasty."

"The disadvantage is that after the civil strife in Heaven, it will surely decline, and the Qing demons may focus more attention on our Tang Dynasty."

"By then, it will be difficult for our Tang Dynasty to continue to develop and expand at the current pace."

Zuo Zongtang also knew that the reason why the expansion of the Tang Dynasty had been so smooth before was closely related to the fact that the Qing court focused its main attention on the Heavenly Kingdom and had no extra energy to take care of the Tang Dynasty in the south.

Once the Qing government shifted its attention away from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and turned to dealing with the Tang Dynasty, it would not be as easy for the Tang Dynasty to develop and expand in the future.

Li Yi nodded and said.

"Indeed."

"So, I summoned you all here today because I want to discuss with you what we, the Tang Dynasty, should do to maximize the benefits and minimize the disadvantages."

“Even turning disadvantages into advantages!”

"Please speak freely, my friends. If you have any advice, I will reward you generously."

Zuo Zongtang heard this and continued.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Tang Dynasty should send someone to contact the troops in the East Palace of the Kingdom of Heaven as soon as possible."

"Try to win over as many as possible, so as to prevent the Eastern Palace soldiers from surrendering to the Qing demons because of the Tianjing Incident."

Li Yi nodded.

"If I remember correctly, the troops currently stationed in Anhui Taiping Prefecture should be those under the command of Yang Fuqing, who is under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Palace of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

"My Tang Dynasty had a pretty good relationship with the East Palace before, so we should be able to bring Yang Fuqing over..."

Everyone heard this and spoke up.

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Li Yi just nodded slightly and then continued to ask.

"Other than that?"

"What about the alliance that Tang Dynasty had reached with Heaven?"

When the Tang Dynasty and the Heavenly Kingdom signed the covenant, it was Eastern King Yang Xiuqing who signed the covenant.

But now Yang Xiuqing is dead, killed by his own people.

Then, whether this covenant should be implemented next is a matter of debate.

Guo Songtao spoke upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, I think the alliance between the Tang Dynasty and the Kingdom of Heaven should be implemented as usual."

"The Heavenly Kingdom is in civil strife right now, and it is a time of weakness. If the Tang Dynasty betrays the alliance at this time, wouldn't that allow the Qing demons to take advantage?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yi nodded.

"Well, that makes sense!"

Then, Li Yi said with a sigh.

"Dong Wang, what a pity!"

Although Li Yi once said that he only recognized the King of the East in the Kingdom of Heaven.

However, you should just listen to the promises made by politicians. If you take them seriously, you will lose.

If Eastern King Yang Xiuqing continues to control the Heavenly Kingdom, then Li Yi's promise is true, truer than real gold.

Yang Xiuqing was Li Yi's closest partner.

But who is to blame for Yang Xiuqing's downfall now?

It is impossible for Li Yi to disregard the interests of the Tang Dynasty and the anti-Qing situation in the world for the sake of a dead person.

(End of this chapter)