On the sixth day of June in the third year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1864), the Hunan army, which had been besieged for two years, finally broke through Tianjing. At this time, it had been nearly two months since Tianwang Hong Xiuquan died of illness. The loyal king Li Xiucheng, who actually presided over the military and political affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, led the hungry defenders and failed. He had no choice but to bring the young king Hong Tianguifu to break out of the siege. Not far from the Tianjing city, the breakout troops were attacked by the Hunan army again, and they were fighting. The King Youtian and Li Xiucheng separated, and the two of them were on separate sides.
Li Xiucheng retreated while fighting, his usual mount Liangju was given to the young king before breaking through the encirclement, and he rode a bad horse to command the charge. All of his soldiers died in battle, and they were left alone to Fangshan near Jiangning. Fangshan’s former name was Niushou Mountain. One of the peaks rose up suddenly like horns. It was later bombarded by Zeng Guoquan’s Hunan Army and was renamed Fangshan. The nearby Hunan Army Xiao Fusi’s troops were not supported by the Taiping Army but were trapped. Surrounded by the enemy, Li Xiucheng's fate can be imagined. On the fifth day after the Tianjing City was broken, Li Xiucheng was sent to Xiao Fusi camp by the local militia group that divided the spoils.
After Li Xiucheng was captured, the Hunan army was ecstatic. He was the most important pillar of the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the most troublesome enemy of the Hunan army. Therefore, according to Li Xiucheng's self-report, Zeng Guofan stated that Hong Fulai set himself on fire and Li Xiucheng said. After being captured, although there were hundreds of thousands of Taiping troops in the north and south of the Yangtze River, they lost their support and collapsed without fighting. That is to say, according to the opinion of the big Hunan army, as long as you catch Li Xiucheng, the conflict between Hong and Yang will be settled, and there will be no future troubles.
Zeng Guofan’s idea can only be regarded as wishful thinking. The Qing court in Beijing may be able to reluctantly accept it, but other commanders in the front line who did not make a profit are disapproving. The internal information they received said that the young king Hong Tianguifu was not There was no self-immolation, but fled from Huzhou to southern Anhui. As for Li Xiucheng's confession that the young king was born in a deep palace, he grew up in the hands of a woman, and did not discern sun and wheat. It was entirely to confuse the Hunan army and create time for the young king to escape south . So Zuo Zongtang's Chu army, Li Hongzhang's Huai army, and Jiangxi's Hunan army under Shen Baozhen's jurisdiction all went to southern Anhui day and night, hoping to seize the young king and make extraordinary achievements.
In September of this year, Jiangxi Xiang Army camp officer Su Yuanchun set up an ambush at the junction of Guangchang and Shicheng and captured a Taiping army. After careful interrogation, he was happy and then afraid. It turned out that there were Wang Hong Rengan and the young king Hong Tiangui. blessing. So, why is Su Yuanchun afraid of this great achievement? Because after thinking about it, he felt that the Taiping army was really a hot potato. Zeng Guofan had already reported to the young king of self-immolation and died, and now there is a big living person. Wouldn't it offend the Hunan army? For a small role like himself, not only is the future worrying, he may not be able to save his life. However, the big event of catching the young king had already spread. Su Yuanchun wanted to conceal something. It was difficult for Su Yuanchun to conceal anything. He simply sent the captured Taiping army to his immediate superior Xi Baotian on the condition that he does not seek merit but no demerits. Hope Xi Baotian excluded himself when reporting up.
Su Yuanchun
Xi Baotian was previously impeached by Yang Yuebin and was reduced to a candidate prefect by the rank of prosecutor due to delays in the military plane. He was always upset, and he belonged to the Liu Changyou Group of the Hunan Army and had no direct interaction with Zeng Guofan, so he decided to be greedy. Qi Gong, Jiangxi governor Shen Baozhen, who had little to deal with Zeng Guofan, asked the Qing court for credit. However, those who wanted to see the jokes of the Zeng brothers were disappointed. The Qing government ordered Shen Baozhen to execute Hong Rengan and Youtian Wang on the spot in Jiangxi. Shen Baozhen, who was planning to make a big contribution to the prison, was greatly discouraged and almost embarrassed. Duanzi resigned from office. Those who are familiar with the situation know that this result is beneficial to all parties. After all, the young king himself does not have the appeal of Li Xiucheng. Even if he escapes, he cannot make a big wave. If he makes a big fuss, it will only intensify the Zeng family. The conflict between the brother-led Hunan army system and the Qing court.
So, whether Shen Baozhen was put to death in Jiangxi was the young king Hong Tianguifu, the official caliber at that time naturally confirmed. However, about forty years later, a Chen who claimed to be Xi Baotian’s staff was drunk and told a friend that the Taiping army captured by Su Yuanchun was actually only the goddess Hong Rengan, Zhaowang Huang Wenying and others, but none of them The young king. About half a month later, Xi Baotian's troops caught a young man in a nearby barren valley, and the captured Taiping Army accused him of being a young king. On the surface, there is no problem, but one thing is doubtful. How did the young king, who knows almost nothing about external affairs, survive for half a month alone in an army surrounded by tens of thousands and numerous spy searches?
Xi Baotian
Therefore, Chen explained that all this is the result of Xi Baotian's plan. Through the interrogation of Hong Rengan and others, Xi Baotian learned that the young king has gone overseas and it is basically impossible to return to China. However, tens of thousands of troops encircled and suppressed the young king with great fanfare, and finally came to such a result. It may arouse dissatisfaction, so the captured Taiping Army instructed a young man of similar age to impersonate a young king in order to settle the case. Soon, the Qing court also learned the truth from the side, but if it is not carried out according to Xi Baotian's method, the Taiping Rebellion cannot be regarded as completely suppressed, or the Taiping army in other places will play the banner of the young king, which will lead to endless troubles. After some trade-offs, the Qing court acquiesced in what Xi Baotian did, but in the end, when he was rewarded for his merits, Shen Baozhen, who was in charge of the Jiangxi military, won the third rank of the Qingqi captain, while Xi Baotian only gave one that was almost the last. The title-the hereditary Yun Qiwei (Fifth Grade), the Earl of Zuo Zongtang (Super Grade) and the Viscount of Bao Chao (First Grade), who were given noble titles at the same time, are almost incomparable.
Regarding the experience of Youtianwang overseas, another student from Guangdong in the late Qing Dynasty added. He said that when he was in San Francisco, he heard that there was a triad of Chinese gangs there. The first ancestor was named Qi Futian. , Mainly taking anti-Qing as its own responsibility, the founder is the young king Hong Tianguifu. It is said that the young king fled to Huang Wenjin, the king of Huzhou, after the Tianjing city was broken, and the Qing army followed him. The remaining Taipingtian kings such as Qian Wang Hong Rengan and auxiliary king Yang Fuqing all agreed that the young king should be sent to a safe place to hide. , Not only retains the blood of the old heavenly king Hong Xiuquan, but also preserves the flames for a comeback in the future, but the greatness of China has no place. Because Hong Rengan had overseas travel experience before participating in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he suggested that the young king be sent to America, which was approved by the kings. At the same time, Hong Rengan considered that there were too many people in the Americas who knew him and might expose the young king, so he arranged for his courageous auxiliary king Yang Fuqing to accompany him overseas. After Hong Rengan was killed, his diary fell into the hands of Shen Baozhen and was regarded as a diplomatic secret.
In history, there are many theories about the whereabouts of the leaders of the peasant uprising after the failure, such as Huang Chao and Li Zicheng. Maybe they were indeed killed in a certain place at a certain moment, but the civilians have always been against the "big men" who came out from the bottom. Keep enough interest to derive all kinds of legends of escape from birth, maybe the encounter of the young king Hong Tianguifu is the same as them!
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