Taiping Heavenly Kingdom founded, was a king, and established system. It was an extremely important part of the development process of the magnificent Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, thus laying the political foundation, regime system and power operation pattern of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Why did the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom choose to establish the capital in Yong'an Prefecture ? Why are only five kings enthroned?
Yong'an Prefecture (now Wuzhou Mengshan County in Guangxi) is the southern gateway to the provincial capital of Ming and Qing dynasties, and is also one of the "Jiubao Thirteen Storms" where the Yao people live. This place is located at a critical junction between water and land, with majestic mountains and like dragons and tigers. It has been a place where heroes use their skills since ancient times. Hong Xiuquan , Feng Yunshan and other leaders of the worship association chose Yong'anzhou City to create the foundation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, entirely because there is an earth-shaking secret hidden here.
The pattern of Yong'an Prefecture City is quite mysterious. There are 4 city gate towers, but only 3 city gates, which is contrary to the pattern of "front dynasty and back market" of Chinese city buildings. There is a dike on the right side of the main gate, and there is a round hill directly behind it. From a distance, the entire city looks like a fish and dragon swimming in the Meijiang River.
This pattern has a lot to do with Mr. Wang Yangming, a master of Neo-Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty. Wang Yangming, who was the Left Commander and Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, came to Guangxi to suppress the rebellion of Duiyao. From the perspective of military strategists, he saw that the strategic position of Yong'an Prefecture was very important, and also examined the Feng Shui pattern of "Five Dragons Protecting the Lord" and "The House of the Imperials" in Yong'an Prefecture. It is said that after Wang Yangming inspected Yong'an City, he exclaimed: "The dragon and a tiger are hidden here. The residence of the emperor is actually a place where heroes use their skills. In three hundred years, there will be a king's prosperity." So he changed Yong'an City, imitating the move of Qin Shihuang to bury the twelve Jin people to suppress the monarchy of Jinling (Nanjing), and designed to suppress the Feng Shui dragon veins of Yong'an Prefecture.
It is said that history is like this. Since the construction of the prefecture city, Yong'an Prefecture City has never been warned again, and has miraculously spent more than 200 years safely. Yong'anzhou City, the secret of heaven, has been hidden for more than 200 years. Until the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, because it was because of the rule of a different race, the Han people often wanted to "reverse the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty", and the secret of Yong'an City flowed into the people. Since this mysterious legend comes from the secret book of the master of geomancy, Yong'an Prefecture City has since been coveted by many grassroots heroes.
Just over 300 years after Wang Yangming rebuilt Yong'an Prefecture City, Hong Xiuquan and others led the Taiping Army to conquer Yong'an Prefecture City on September 25, 1851 (the first day of the eighth month of the first year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty). Subsequently, they founded the Heavenly Dynasty in Yong'an and enfeoffed the kings.
After the establishment of the Heavenly Dynasty, although the Taiping Army on the periphery had been in a fierce battle with the Qing army, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan was still eager to enfeoff the kings. Because he knew that as long as the kings were enfeoffed, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would have a historical status. Even if the world could not be captured in the end and the uprising failed, it could be recorded in the history of a new dynasty. Therefore, he attached great importance to the enfeoffment of the kings and personally drafted the edict of the kings.
Hong Xiuquan's final edict enfeoffment of the five kings of East, West, South, North and Wings. But he had no choice but to do this method of enthroning the king. Before this, he had changed the edict of the king three times. Why is this?
It turns out that the first imperial edict was drafted by Feng Yunshan. He used the pattern of "Five Kings Protecting the Lord" in Yong'an City and planned to enthrone the Five Kings according to the Nine Star Theory. They are: King of Tiande Zhu Jiutao, King of Tianfu Yang Xiuqing, King of Tiangui Xiao Chaogui, King of Tianlu Feng Yunshan, and King of Tianshou Wei Changhui.
This plan is to thank the kindness of "Emperor Tiande" for abdicating (Note: Zhu Jiutao was the leader of the Tiandihui , and was appointed as his brother, and once launched an uprising with the Taiping Army). Hong Xiuquan demoted "Emperor Tiande" to "King of Tiande" and gave it to the same clan and named it "Hong Daquan".
This imperial edict was opposed by Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui, who believed that it was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although the "Emperor of Heaven" had the virtue of abdicating, it had no military merits, which violated the Taiping Army's system of titles for military merits.
Hong Xiuquan then personally proposed the imperial edict to be named King, and planned to be named Nine Kings. This was designed to balance the kings and unite the generals of the Heaven and Earth Association.Hong Xiuquan originally planned to be granted the title of "Nine Kings of Fu, Gui, Shou, Xi, Zhong, Yi, Zhi, Xin and Yong: Yang Xiuqing was granted the title of "Fu King, Xiao Chaogui was granted the title of "Qi King, Feng Yunshan was granted the title of "Shou King, Wei Changhui was granted the title of "Xi King, Qin Yashuai was granted the title of "Zhongya", Shi Dakai was granted the title of "Yi King, Hong Renyu was granted the title of "Zhi Wang", Hu Yijun Net, Qin Rigang was granted the title of "Yong King.
was removed because Qin Yashuai and Hong Renyu had not arrived, and Qin Rigang was changed to King Zhi and Luo Dagang to King Yong. This feudal division was opposed by Feng Yunshan, who believed that it was not in line with the pattern of "Five Dragons Protecting the Lord" in Yong'an City; Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui also strongly opposed it, thinking that this was the division of their military power, and Luo Dagang and Qin Rigang were generals of the Tiandihui Association, so it was not appropriate to be granted the title of king. Therefore, this planned enfeoffment was aborted.
Finally, Hong, Yang, Xiao and Feng combined the above two cases and planned to be granted only five kings. From the first plan, we will remove the King of Heaven and Destiny and make up for Shi Dakai. Although Shi Dakai was only in his early 20s at this time, he originally planned to be appointed as the prime minister of the Tianguan. Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan were both literati and needed a person to check and balance Yang and Xiao, so he was listed as the Five Kings.
The kings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were conferred the east, south, west, north and wings, and ultimately determined according to the appearance of each king. According to historical books and spy records, when he was named king: Hong Xiuquan was 39 years old, tall, copper-colored face, white beard and hair, earth-shaped, and the five elements were in the center, and was the king of heaven; Yang Xiuqing was 31 years old, short, thin, numb and blue, sparse beard, fluent in eloquence, wood-shaped, so he was the king of the East; Xiao Chaogui was 31 years old, with extremely yellow skin, rectangular face, wide nostrils, tilted eyes, and gold-shaped, so he was the king of the West; Feng Yunshan was 29 years old, with a rosy face, no beard, hard and vertical hair, and fire-shaped, so he was the king of the South; Wei Changhui was 28 years old, with a tall figure, dark skin, black beard, and water-shaped, so he was the king of the North; Shi Dakai was 20 years old, with a very ugly appearance, extremely thin skin, black skin, charcoal, long neck, pointed face, and monkey, and swift movements like a chicken and tiger (note: wild cat, called "winged tiger" slang) was the king of Hebei.
And the Tianguan Zheng Prime Minister Qin Rigang, who was under the Five Kings, was originally named Richang, but because of his taboo, he changed his name to Rigang. He was 37 years old at the time, very short and thin, very smart, and generous. He was stopped by Yang Xiuqing this time, and he hated Yang Xiuqing so much that he later planned the " Tianjing Incident" with Wei Changhui and attacked and killed more than 20,000 Yang Xiuqing and the Taiping Army. This is a later story. Among the five kings enthroned by
, Yang Xiuqing (1820-1856), was named King Dong, nine thousand years old. Guangxi 月新南南 (now Dongwangchong) native of Pingai Village (now Dongwangchong) was poor, his parents died early, and he was raised by his uncle. Later, he made a living by farming the mountains and burning charcoal. He once left home and was wise and easy to make friends. He met Hong Xiuquan, who came to preach the God Church, and joined the God worship meeting.
Hong Xiuquan claims to be the Son of God and the Brother of Jesus. Yang Xiuqing was involved in this. When Feng Yunshan was arrested and Hong Xiuquan ran away, Yang Xiuqing saw that the worship of God was about to collapse, so he used the technique of "God possession" to say that he was "the spokesperson of God in the world." In this way, the Eastern King is one level higher than the Heavenly King. Yang Xiuqing, the spokesperson of God of Heavenly Father, naturally had an unrefutable dominance when speaking to Jesus’ younger brother, God’s second son Hong Xiuquan.
Xiao Chaogui (1820-1852), was named King of the West, and was eight thousand years old. He is from Gupeng Village, Xiaxia of Pingai Mountain, Guiping County, Guangxi Province. He was born in a peasant family and has been brave since childhood. The family is 4 kilometers away from Dongwangchong where Yang Xiuqing's family is located. The two formed the brothers of the same Geng and joined the God worship meeting at the same time as Yang Xiuqing. He became the main leader of the God Worship Society by "replacing the rumor of Brother Tian".
Xiao Chaogui had outstanding military talents. In an important battle in the early Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Battle of Siwangxu, he led his army to defeat the Qing army. After that, he commanded the Taiping Army to capture Yong'anzhou City. Xiao Chaogui has the identity of "Rule of Dai Tian" and has such outstanding military talent. His position has since surpassed Feng Yunshan.
Feng Yunshan (1822-1852), the fourth son of God, was named King of the Southern Dynasty, seven thousand years old. Heluodi Village, Huaxian County, Guangdong Province, is Hong Xiuquan's cousin. The two have been classmates since childhood and later taught in the same private school, with like-mindedness. He founded the God Worship Society with Hong Xiuquan and Hong Ren-ye, and had a very close relationship. Feng Yunshan made the greatest contribution in establishing the God-Worshiping Organization.
Wei Changhui (1823-1856), the fifth son of God, was named King of Northern, six thousand years old.He was born as a landlord and a pawnshop. He was a "rich family" with about 260 acres of paddy fields. In his 20s, Wei Changhui and Xiao Chaogui had contact. When worshiping God, he would prepare for an uprising and needed wealth. The Wei family spared no expense and helped each other. Before the uprising, the Wei family opened 12 furnaces to create swords and guns, secretly hiding in the deep water of the Rhino Pond in front of the village. When Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan were in a hidden state and Yang Xiuqing pretended to be sick and deposed, the specific matters of the uprising were arranged by Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui. Finally, worshiping God will defeat the landlords in Kinda and announce the uprising in Kinda.
Shi Dakai (1831-1863), the seventh son of God, was named King of Wings, five thousand years old. Shi Dakai's nickname is Yada and his nickname is Shi Gandang. He is from Guixian, Guangxi. He practiced martial arts with his brother since he was a child, and he was extremely brave and powerful. He passed the martial arts exam. It is obvious that Shi Dakai is not on the same level as the first four kings.
At first, Hong Xiuquan planned to be named Nine Kings, and Shi Dakai planned to be named "King of Yi". Later, due to various reasons, it was decided to enthrone the Five Kings in the "Five Dragons Protecting the Lord" pattern, and still named Shi Dakai as "King of Yi". However, in Cantonese, "Yi Wang" and "Two Wangs" pronunciation are the same. If Shi Dakai is named "Yi Wang", then the people call him "The King of Kings", and Shi Dakai becomes "Two Wangs", which is something that other kings cannot tolerate, so "Yi" is changed to "Ying".
