In March 1853, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army conquered Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan entered the city of Nanjing amid the kneeling greetings and cheers of the hundreds of officials of the civil and military forces, and soon announced that Nanjing would be changed to Tianjing and designated as the capital. From then on, Hong Xiuquan began his absurd and depraved life, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gradually began a fierce internal political struggle.
Hong Xiuquan lived deep inside the Heavenly King's Mansion, closed the gates, and completely indulged in his own palatial "little paradise", from entering the city of Nanjing to the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in 1864, in these more than ten years, he never took a step in the capital. Only once did he sit in a large palanquin of 64 lifts and go out of the palace to visit Yang Xiuqing, the sick Eastern King.
One night in 1854, a beautiful concubine, after bathing, changed into a gorgeous dance costume and danced in Hong Xiuquan's palace. Hong Xiuquan looked at her beautiful and graceful dance posture and couldn't help but be moved: "Such a beautiful person is rare in the world!" ”
But after a few moments, he actually lost his voice and cried bitterly, and whispered to himself, "But tonight, I have to kill you." Since Hong Xiuquan loved this woman so much, why did he kill her so fiercely? Because this woman's identity is very special, she is even more involved in the power struggle between the two main leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Her name is Cheng Lingnan, Cheng Lingnan was born in the family of officials and eunuchs of the Qing Dynasty, not only has the appearance of the country and the city, but also is good at singing and dancing. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom took Hubei, almost all the officials of the Qing Dynasty were liquidated, and Cheng Lingnan, who was a great lady, was also captured by Wei Changhui, the king of the North.
At that time, almost all the military and political power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in the hands of Yang Xiuqing, and Wei Changhui, in order to curry favor with Yang Xiuqing, endured the pain of giving Cheng Lingnan to Yang Xiuqing. However, this Yang Xiuqing was different from Hong Xiuquan, this person was capable and ambitious, and he very much hoped that Hong Xiuquan would stay in the Heavenly King's Mansion and enjoy the glory and wealth.
So he asked Wei Changhui to send Cheng Lingnan to the Heavenly King's Mansion, but Yang Xiuqing also gave her a very important task, asking her to monitor Hong Xiuquan's every move, Yang Xiuqing's purpose was self-evident, he just wanted to turn Hong Xiuquan into a puppet. Although Hong Xiuquan has long been addicted to pleasure, he is not confused.
How can the power of the Heavenly King be allowed to be touched by others when the power of the Heavenly King is supreme in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? Although Yang Xiuqing was capable and indeed the mainstay of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Lord of Meritorious Service was bound to be suspected. If one is unwilling to converge and the other is unwilling to delegate power, then it will be intolerable.
So much so that Hong Xiuquan finally made up his mind that he must execute Yang Xiuqing in order to sit firmly on the throne of heaven. However, before plotting this matter, Wei Changhui told Hong Xiu that lingnan was Yang Xiuqing's internal line, and after Hong Xiuquan learned of this news, he couldn't help but sneer: "The Eastern King Yang Xiuqing used such a sinister plan for the sake of decay, which can be described as a good intention!" However, it is not so easy to manipulate the situation. ”
In fact, Hong Xiuquan did not want to kill Cheng Lingnan, he liked this woman very much, the two were not without feelings, if they were to give enwei to him, they might not be able to use Hong Xiuquan. If Lingnan had any handle in Yang Xiuqing's hands, how could he not die and fight for him?
Besides, getting rid of Yang Xiuqing is a top-secret plan, and it is absolutely impossible for anyone to know, because if he is not careful, he will lose everything, and maybe even the position of the Heavenly King will end here. On this night, Hong Xiuquan recruited Cheng Lingnan into the palace and said to her with a smile: "I haven't appreciated your dancing skills for a long time, can I show you dance?" ”
Cheng Lingnan replied with a smile: "As long as the Heavenly King is happy, the concubines will naturally agree." Hong Xiuquan watched the beautiful people and wonderful dance steps in front of him, and couldn't help but feel pity and compassion, killing or not killing, entangled in his heart. He is already the king of heaven, why can't Jiangshan and beauty still have both?
Thinking about it, Hong Xiuquan suddenly couldn't help but shed tears, because he had already made up his mind. When Cheng Lingnan danced and returned to Hong Xiuquan's side lightly, he saw Hong Xiuquan pick up a glass of wine and hand it to Cheng Lingnan, saying: "Aifei is hard, this wine is sweet, just quenching thirst," Cheng Lingnan smiled lightly and drank it without hesitation.
A moment later, Cheng Lingnan's seven holes were bleeding and in pain, and he looked at Hong Xiuquan with a look of disbelief, and Hong Xiuquan left the palace with tears in his eyes and his head did not turn back. Two years later, Wei Changhui, at the behest of Hong Xiuquan, led a surprise attack on the Eastern Palace, and Yang Xiuqing and his more than 300 family members were killed, known in history as the "Tianjing Incident". This incident caused serious internal friction within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and it was also the beginning of the transformation from prosperity to decline to extinction.