In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom camp, many famous generals emerged in Xiangzhou, Guangxi, such as Tan Shaoguang and Tan Tiyuan, who all had heavy troops in their hands and fought on the battlefield, and they were very famous. Tan Shaoguang, the son-in-law of Li Xiucheng, the Prince of Zhong, is said to have married Fu Shanxiang, the first female ruler in history, and was crowned king of Mu. In November 1863, Tan Shaoguang was killed by traitors, and Li Hongzhang immediately created the "Suzhou Killing and Surrender" incident, which later became the subject of the film and television drama "Submission of Names", which was well known to everyone.
Tan Tiyuan , the crown prince chitose , after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom , he continued to persist in the War of Resistance. In 1866, due to the betrayal of the traitor Huang Fourteen, Tan Tiyuan was defeated in Jiaying Prefecture, and then jumped off a cliff and fell seriously injured. A month later, Tan Tiyuan was captured by the traitor Huang Shaochun and sent to Guangzhou to be executed by Ling Chi. The protagonist of this article is another Xiangzhou general Qin Ruilin, after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he secretly returned to Xiangzhou with his wife and 3 grandchildren to retire, and died in 1874, which can be described as a winner in life.
Qin Ruilin, a native of Dasuo Village, Miaohuang Township, Xiangzhou, Guangxi, is a fellow villager with Tan Shaoguang, the King of Mu, and Tan Tiyuan, the King of Kaiwang, but is not a group of people. According to the Xiangzhou County Chronicle, when Qin Ruilin participated in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, his son Qin Zhenpeng also participated in the revolution. At this time, Tan Shaoguang and Tan Tiyuan also participated in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but they were all fourteen-year-old children, belonging to the "Boy Scout" battle sequence, which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom called "Card Tail".
According to the county chronicle, Qin Ruilin's family was poor, engaged in agricultural labor for generations, and lived on the edge of the extreme poverty line. However, Qin Ruilin has a specialty, that is, he likes to hunt, and his marksmanship is very accurate, and he is a typical "sharpshooter". In the chaotic world, the marksmanship is a good thing, not only can resist the invasion of bandits, but also go out hunting and subsidize the family. It can be said that Qin Ruilin's life skills are still very strong.
In May 1851, when the Taiping Army moved to Xiangzhou, the local Cultists joined the rebel army, and Qin Ruilin took his son Qin Zhenpeng and other family members to participate in the revolution. At this time, Xiao Chaogui, the King of the West, presided over military and political affairs, and the "Heavenly Brother" Xiao Chaogui overpowered the "Heavenly Father" Yang Xiuqing, and Qin Ruilin naturally belonged to the Western King, but was only an ordinary soldier.
In September 1851, the Taiping Army broke through from Jintian again, directly attacked Yong'an (Mengshan County, Wuzhou), and successfully captured the city. The Taiping Army stayed in Yong'an for half a year, during which time the feudal system was divided, during which Yang Xiuqing was enfeoffed as the Eastern King, Xiao Dynasty Guifeng by the Western King, Feng Yunshan by Feng Nan, Wei Changhui by the Northern King, Shi Da as the King of Kaifeng, and the rest of the large and small generals were also given corresponding official positions, and everyone was very happy.
When the Yong'an system was established, we could not find any historical records about Qin Ruilin, which was also forgivable, Qin Ruilin joined the Taiping Army halfway, and he had not yet had the opportunity to show his performance. However, Xiao Chaogui, the King of the West, presided over the military and political affairs, and Qin Ruilin would always have the opportunity to go to the battlefield to fight, and he was waiting for the opportunity. Unfortunately, the Western King Xiao Chaogui died in battle at the Tianxin Pavilion in Changsha, and the generals under the Western King were squeezed out by Yang Xiuqing and could not be reused.
Since participating in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Qin Ruilin has not made many military achievements, but he was lucky enough to come to Nanjing and enjoy the life of "little paradise". After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom arrived in Nanjing, there were not many "old brothers" from Liangguang, and Yang Xiuqing, for the sake of the stability of the capital, did not easily let the "old brothers" leave the Beijing Division, and most of them were stationed in Tianjing to ensure the safety of the base camp.
As an "old brother", Qin Ruilin did not participate in the Northern Expedition, the Western Expedition, and the Eastern Expedition, but stayed in the Beijing Division, and the town guarded the Yuhuatai Fortress, which shows that Yang Xiuqing still attaches great importance to him. You must know that the Yuhuatai Fortress is the southern gate of Tianjing and the throat of the Beijing Division, if it is not a trustworthy person, how can it guard here? Shi Zai: "Zeng Zuozheng Jinling, zhen shou yuhuatai, won the position of general of the Left Guard of the South Gate, and repeatedly defeated the Qing army. ”
Repeated defeats of Qing invasions proved that Qin Ruilin's military ability was not bad. The "Jiangnan Camp" besieged Tianjing twice, including the later siege of Tianjing by the Zengguo Tsuen Xiang Army, and Yuhuatai was the main battlefield of both sides. Qin Ruilin relied on a strong fortress to use guns to counterattack the Qing army, and from time to time sent troops to attack at night, so that the Qing army could not be at peace.
In 1862, in order to limit the power of Li Xiucheng, the king of loyalty, Hong Xiuquan began to divide the princes on a large scale, and all the "old brothers" from Liangguang were crowned kings, and the number of princes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reached more than 2700 people. Qin Ruilin was the "old brother" of Liangguang, and the town guard Yuhuatai had meritorious service, and was crowned as the King of The Festival.
In the 11 years of participating in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Qin Ruilin has been sticking to his post in Yuhuatai and fighting with the Qing army for many years, and he was crowned king of Chitose, which is also worthy of the name. Shortly after being crowned king, Qin Ruilin ushered in a major war. In October 1862, Li Xiucheng, the Prince of Zhong, personally led 13 princes, a total of 400,000 troops (known as the So-called), from Suzhou to the west, and fought a decisive battle with the main army of the Xiang Army at Yuhuatai.
Li Xiucheng came fiercely and launched a fierce attack on the Xiang army camp continuously, and Qin Ruilin also sent troops out to reinforce and attack the Xiang army with Li Xiucheng. The battle lasted for 44 days, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom once broke through the Xiang army's defense line and entered the camp, but suddenly it poured down, and the Taiping army returned without success, missing the opportunity to defeat the Xiang army. With the arrival of winter, the Taiping Army could not keep up with the logistics, lacked clothing and food, and could only withdraw from the siege.
After the Battle of Yuhuatai, Li Xiucheng carried out the combat strategy of "attacking the north and attacking the south" and led his troops to cross the river into Anhui. At this time, the Xiang army took advantage of the situation to storm Yuhuatai and seize the camp outside the Jubao Gate, and Qin Ruilin and others retreated to the second line of defense, struggling to support the battle, but the situation was more difficult. In the summer of 1863, the Xiang army captured the Yuhuatai Fortress, and Qin Ruilin retreated to Tianjing City to defend the safety of the Heavenly King.
In July 1864, the Xiang army's "Jizi Battalion" attacked Tianjing, Zeng Guoquan connived at the soldiers to burn and loot, the Xiang army was unfettered for three days, and Tianjing was like a hell on earth. The Xiang army was busy plundering and making a fortune, and Li Xiucheng protected the young heavenly king Hong Tianguifu to break out and go to Huzhou to find Huang Wenjin and try to make a comeback.
Tianjing fell, the Young Heavenly King fled, and Qin Ruilin did not follow them. Qin Ruilin was a man of understanding, he knew that the great trend of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had gone, and there was no possibility of overturning. Qin Ruilin, with his wife and 3 grandchildren, with the help of missionaries, secretly fled back to Xiangzhou to retire. According to the county chronicle, Qin Ruilin first fled to a relative's house to hide, and only returned to Dasuo Village a year later to enjoy his old age.
Although Qin Ruilin was the prince of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, his fame was not very great, and he did not attract the attention of the Qing Dynasty, which was an important reason for his good death. In this regard, he is a winner in life, much luckier than Tan Shaoguang and Tan Tiyuan, two Xiangzhou fellows.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom