During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, Shi Dakai was brave and strategic, complete in both literature and martial arts, strong in ability and good character, and was recognized as the first general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. But his fate was tragic, only because he had three fatal flaws in his character.
Shi Dakai's childhood was very tragic, and his father died when he was very young. When Shi Dakai was very young, he became the pillar of the family, farming, digging coal, and maintaining the family's livelihood.
When Shi Dakai was 16 years old, he became a fierce general on the battlefield, at the age of 19, he was named the main general of the Left Army, at the age of 20, Shi Dakai was named "Wing King 5,000 Years Old", and at the age of 32, he was executed by the Qing court Lingchi.
Shi Dakai's military ability is very strong, but no one is perfect, it is such a talented person, but there are three fatal flaws in personality
First, it is easy to be emotional
After the contradiction between Yang Xiuqing and Hong Xiuquan, the Eastern King, was made public, Hong Xiuquan secretly ordered Wei Changhui, the governor of Jiangxi, and Shi Dakai of Hubei to return to Beijing and the side of the Qing Emperor. Shi Dakai and Wei Changhui secretly discussed and killed only three yang Xiuqing brothers.
However, after Wei Changhui invaded the Eastern King's Mansion, the rise of killing actually killed all the family members of the Eastern King's Mansion, killing more than 20,000 people. At this time, Shi Dakai was emotional and openly accused Wei Changhui of killing indiscriminately, but was hunted down and killed by Wei Changhui, causing all the whole family to suffer as a result.
Later, Shi Dakai was emotional and demanded that Hong Xiuquan punish Wei Changhui by force, and in the end Hong Xiuquan had to kill Wei Changhui.
Second, the temper is too sharp
Shi Dakai was a very individualistic person, and his purpose in joining the Taiping Army was very clear, that is, to be able to do a career and get ahead. After he was crowned the King of the Wings, he recruited talents many times, and while the enemy feared him, he also made Hong Xiuquan and other generals feel uneasy.
Shi Dakai led the army to quell the civil unrest in the Tianjing Incident, originally a meritorious minister, he did not take the initiative to retreat and avoid suspicion, was suspected by Hong Xiuquan, and believed that he was superior, in 1857 led the army to flee, led 100,000 soldiers and civilians to flee, and finally was surrounded and suppressed by the Qing army at the Dadu River in Sichuan.
Third, individual heroism
In 1862, when Shi Dakai's troops were transferred to Anshunchang on the Dadu River in Sichuan, they were besieged by Luo Bingzhang, who was then the governor of Sichuan, at this time Shi Dakai did not try to break through, but wanted to exchange personal sacrifices for the safety of 7,000 men.
Shi Dakai's idea was pure personal heroism, imagine the leader of an army is dead, this army can only be completely destroyed, there will be no chance of turning over, on the contrary, if you can escape some remnants, maybe one day it will resurrect. It is his own personal heroism that leads to being exploited by Luo Bingzhang. Since lingchi, more than 7,000 soldiers who surrendered have been killed.