In July 1864, Li Xiucheng, a famous general of the Zhongwang Dynasty, was reduced to a prisoner of the Qing army. At the request of Zeng Guofan, he wrote tens of thousands of words of "Self-Statement", summed up the successes and failures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, made a detailed description of his participation in the revolution, and also commented on the abilities and qualities of the princes and kings. In this regard, many people said that the loyal king was unfaithful, betrayed at the crucial moment, and was ashamed of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; some vigorously defended, saying that Li Xiucheng just wanted to follow Jiang Weizhi's story and play a strategy of delaying the army. As for the truth, the author will not explore. As far as the author is concerned, the most exciting part of the "Self-Statement" is the comments on the characters. For example, Shi Dakai, the king of the commentary wing: small and clever, lack of big pattern, is not the material for doing big things. Comments on Chen Yucheng: A young hero, very moralistic, but does not understand the importance of preserving strength. Commenting on the King: Playing with power, the level is average, dropping the chain at a critical moment, not the talent of the emperor. So, how does Li Xiucheng evaluate himself? Whether it is realistic or deliberately exaggerated.
From Li Xiucheng's "Self-Statement", it can be seen that King Zhong's evaluation of himself is very high, he is simply a perfect person, but he was born at the wrong time, embarked on the "evil road", and regretted his life. When talking about his origins, Li Xiucheng particularly emphasized his "poverty", and in order to eat mixed food, he followed the Taiping Army and got on the "thief ship", otherwise he would definitely be a good citizen and honestly reclaim the wasteland. Born into poverty, Li Xiucheng is well aware of the difficulties of people's livelihood, and his heart is always loaded with the low-level people. As he said in his "Self-Statement": "The military disaster in Suzhou Province was distributed to rice grain, seeds, and loans, and enterprises. That is to say, Jiangsu has suffered from war and chaos for many years, and the people are hungry everywhere, and Li Xiucheng cannot bear to starve and freeze, so he sends them living and production materials. During the siege of Tianjing, Li Xiucheng also took rice from his home to help the victims, preferring to starve himself rather than let the residents starve to death. In this regard, Li Xiucheng is really kind enough, and he is a grandfather with a kind heart.
The relief of the hungry can be seen everywhere in Li Xiucheng's "Self-Statement" and should be more real. You must know that when Li Xiucheng was captured, the Taiping Army, which had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty earlier, wept bitterly when they saw him, and it can be seen that King Zhongwang was still very popular. In addition to being kind to the residents, Li Xiucheng was also very kind to the enemy and the traitors, and could not bear to execute them or imprison them, which can be called Liu Bei's second. For example, the Defender of Jiangbei rebelled against Li Zhaoshou and offered the three cities of Chuzhou, Lai'an, and Tianchang, frightening Hong Xiuquan into blocking Jiangbei and preventing Li Xiucheng from returning to Beijing. You know, Li Zhaoshou was recruited by Li Xiucheng, and at this time, when he surrendered to the Manchu Qing, Li Xiucheng could not escape his blame. It is reasonable to say that Li Xiucheng should hate Li Zhaoshou and take revenge on him. The result? Li Xiucheng secretly sent Li Zhaoshou's family out of Tianjing to reunite his family. Gao Yongkuan and the other eight great generals were ready to sacrifice Suzhou to surrender to Li Hongzhang, and as traitors, Li Xiucheng said: "Now that our Lord is in trouble, Er is a man of the two lakes, leave it with Er, and I don't have to harm each other." "Don't care, don't scold.
In terms of his performance in dealing with enemies and traitors, Li Xiucheng seems to be "unfaithful", but in fact he is not. In the Book of Self-Descriptions, Li Xiucheng is not only a loyal minister, but also a "foolish loyal" minister, willing to shed the last drop of blood for the Hong's jiangshan, even if he has never been trusted and valued by the heavenly king. After the "Xue Zhiyuan Incident" broke out, The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan ordered the blockade of the Yangtze River, sent troops to supervise Li Xiucheng, and refused him to return to Beijing to report for duty, as if he had already regarded him as a "traitor". The result? Li Xiucheng continued to guard Pukou and refused the high-ranking Qing Dynasty official Houlu, for which Hong Xiuquan awarded him the title of King of Zhong, implying "Loyalty to The Ancients", and personally wrote these four words to send him. In September 1862, Hong Xiuquan became suspicious, believing that Li Xiucheng wanted to divide southern Jiangsu and destroy himself with the help of the Xiang Army, so he scolded him. What about Lee So-sung? Directly led 300,000 troops back to Qinwang, and also sent his family to Beijing as hostages, showing that he had no second thoughts. When Tianjing was preparing to fall, Li Xiucheng refused his cousin's suggestion and was willing to return to "accompany" the Hong clan. After the fall of the city, in order to escort the young king to break through, he gave up his good horse, so that he was captured. In this regard, Li Xiucheng is definitely a loyal minister, and the sun and the moon can be learned.
Loyalty to the Heavenly King is not yet the highest realm of Li Xiucheng, but worrying about the country and the people. When the soldiers are in chaos, the loyal subjects are their masters; the generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom naturally have to be loyal to Hong Xiuquan and fight for them. When he was captured, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had already perished, and Li Xiucheng had no "psychological burden" and no longer had to worry about the Hong dynasty. At this time, Li Xiucheng, the king of Zhongwang, shifted his focus to the "survival of China" and the rejuvenation of China. In the "Self-Statement", Li Xiucheng repeatedly said that "foreign ghosts are the first harm in China" and "it is necessary to focus on preventing ghosts", and suggested that Zeng Guofan rush to buy foreign guns and cannons, form a modern army, and strengthen coastal defense. In order to fundamentally strengthen the army, it is also necessary to study Western weapons, open factories in the country, and realize military industrialization. In this way, we can ensure the safety of China and survive in the environment surrounded by strong enemies. Of course, Li Xiucheng can say this, naturally there is a basis for it, that is, during his time in Shanghai and Jiangsu, he repeatedly "dealt with" the West. Li Xiucheng understands the West and the national conditions, which can be regarded as a suggestion for Zeng Guofan.
All in all, as far as the content of Li Xiucheng's "Self-Statement Book" is concerned, King Zhong's use of the Spring and Autumn brushwork method does not have a very high evaluation of the princes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, believing that they are not materials for doing great things, far less than zeng Wenzheng, who is strategic and profound, which is also a great blessing of the Qing Dynasty. Of course, Li Xiucheng has a very high evaluation of himself: he has a kind heart, is loyal to the king and protects the Lord, and worries about the country and the people. Unfortunately, I was not born at the right time, otherwise I would have done great things. What do you think of this, and is what King Zhongwang said true? Welcome to leave a comment and long knowledge together.
Bibliography: Li Xiucheng's Self-Reported Proofreading Manuscript