In December 1863, Li Hongzhang, the inspector of Jiangsu known as the "Bismarck of the East", entertained Gao Yongkuan and eight other rebel generals in the military camp and extended a warm welcome to their submission to the Qing Dynasty. After three rounds of drinking, Li Hongzhang took advantage of the excuse to leave his seat, and then hinted at the soldiers to move and execute the eight rebel generals at the dinner table. Then, Li Hongzhang ordered the massacre of 40,000 Taiping Army officers in Suzhou City, in order to "kill and surrender in Suzhou", and public opinion was in an uproar, pushing Li Hongzhang to the cusp of the storm.
Gordon, the leader of the "Changsheng Army" who betrayed his faith and provided guarantees for Gao Yongkuan and eight other people, was very annoyed, and he directly took a gun to the Huai army camp and threatened to kill Li Hongzhang. Gordon was furious, and Li Hongzhang avoided seeing him and closed the gate. As a result, everyone knows that Gordon soon lost his anger and led the "Changsheng Army" to assist Li Hongzhang in capturing Jiaxing and Changzhou, and the chivalry was gone. If you don't kill Li Hongzhang, why does Gordon continue to help the Huai Army? Where is chivalry?
In July 1863, due to the blind command of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, the "attacking the north and attacking the south" operation was a tragic failure, Li Xiucheng's more than 100,000 elites encountered heavy rain when crossing the river, and were raided by the Xiang Army's marine division and lost all their losses. Li Xiucheng, the absolute pillar of the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and his large number of soldiers and horses were the key to supporting the war situation. In the "attack on the south" operation, Li Xiucheng's army was seriously injured, the Suzhou base was in a hurry, and the situation was precarious.
100,000 soldiers and horses were lost, Li Xiucheng had no mobile troops to reinforce Suzhou, and the fall of the city was a matter of time. However, Tan Shaoguang resolutely counterattacked and strictly guarded against death, and the Huai army under the city of Suzhou was full of corpses, crying bitterly for days, and paid a great price. At this time, Zuo Zongtang's "Chu Army" in Zhejiang was progressing smoothly, winning successive battles, and Li Hongzhang was under great pressure. In order to seize Suzhou as soon as possible, Li Hongzhang decided to "surrender" and sent Cheng Xueqi and Gordon to negotiate and meet with Gao Yongkuan and eight other people at Yangcheng Lake.
Gao Yongkuan and others did not believe Li Hongzhang, and they were worried that Li Hongzhang would betray his faith and raise a butcher's knife against the taiping army generals. In this way, Gordon said to be a guarantor to ensure that everyone is safe and sound, and signed an agreement. The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records: "Ling Qiao Xiucheng, Shao Guang to dedicate, learn to enlighten and swear, Gordon to prove it." With Gordon's guarantee, Gao Yongkuan and others were determined to surrender, because they believed that Li Hongzhang did not dare to provoke foreigners.
Gordon dared to be a guarantor, because he was a british naval lieutenant, and Li Hongzhang was very cruel to the Taiping Army, but he did not dare to be tough on the great powers. Gordon was very confident, but the result was a punch in the face, at this time Li Hongzhang "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers", he ignored Gordon's guarantee, not only killed the eight major rebel generals, but also slaughtered 40,000 Taiping troops who laid down their weapons, creating the "Suzhou Killing and Surrender" incident.
When the "Suzhou Killing" incident broke out, Gordon felt that his face was lost, so he took a foreign gun to the Huai Army camp and wanted to kill Li Hongzhang. Gordon was furious, Li Hongzhang did not panic at all, he did not meet with Gordon, let him shout outside and be indifferent. Later, Li Hongzhang asked the Englishman Hurd to send 70,000 yuan to Gordon to calm him down. After getting the money, Gordon stopped making trouble and continued to cooperate with Li Hongzhang to assist the Huai army in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Gordon went to Li Hongzhang with a foreign gun, and everyone said that he had "chivalry", attached great importance to personal honor, and regarded the word "Xinyi" as more important than life. So, why did Gordon not only lose his anger after taking the money, but also help Li Hongzhang attack Jiaxing and Changzhou? It should be known that Li Hongzhang was able to take the fortified city mainly thanks to the blossoming cannons of the "Changsheng Army", which Li Xiucheng mentioned in the "Self-Statement".
In fact, Gordon went to Li Hongzhang to settle accounts not to defend the "chivalry", but to worry that he would not get benefits. The so-called "chivalry" has never existed among the European and American powers in modern times? For example, caring for the weak, respecting women, they do many evils in China, where does "chivalry" come from?
The "Changsheng Army", formerly known as the infamous "Foreign Gun Brigade", is a typical mercenary army, which some people once regarded as the first "Blackwater Company" in history, a master who took money and sold his life, and the discipline was very bad. In May 1860, Li Xiucheng destroyed the "Jiangnan Camp" and then invaded Su Chang and threatened Shanghai. In this way, the European and American powers that remained in Shanghai colluded with the Qing Dynasty to jointly suppress the Taiping Army, and the "foreign gun brigade" was the product of the collusion between Chinese and foreign reactionary forces.
When the "Foreign Gun Team" was formed, the leader was the American Wahl, and the deputy was Bai Juwen. At first, Wahl recruited troops mainly from the wandering Filipinos in Shanghai, which were not effective, and later recruited from China itself, with European and American people as officers. In 1862, Wahl was killed in battle by the Taiping Army. According to common sense, the "Foreign Gun Team" should be taken over by Bai Juwen, but he was unable to do so, and Gordon counterattacked successfully.
As mercenaries, the "foreign gun team" is to take money to sell their lives, as long as the money is in place, they can also support the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Bai Juwen fought bravely, but Li Hongzhang, the inspector of Jiangsu, embarrassed him in terms of salary and silver, the "foreign gun team" had no income, and the soldiers were furious, Bai Juwen simply hijacked the silver treasury and ammunition ships, and then led his own troops to defect to the Taiping Army to effectively benefit Li Xiu. However, the Taiping Army also had no money, and Bai Juwen soon could not stay, and he chose the Qing Dynasty again, but was exiled to Japan.
Bai Juwen was unreliable, and the Qing Dynasty had to ask the British to send a competent candidate, and the 30-year-old Navy Major Gordon took over the "Foreign Gun Team", which was later renamed "Changsheng Army". After Gordon served as the leader of the "Changsheng Army", the first battle was to cooperate with the Huai Army to attack Suzhou. As the saying goes: "There is heaven on the top, suzhou and Hangzhou on the bottom", Suzhou is full of flowers, rich and oily, seize Suzhou, the "changsheng army" naturally will not lack money and silver.
The discipline of the "Changsheng Army" was terrible, and Li Hongzhang knew this very well. After the capture of Suzhou, Li Hongzhang sent the Huai army into the city, and the "Changsheng Army" was stationed outside the city, without the opportunity to plunder. In the Battle of Suzhou, without the help of the "Changsheng Army" flowering cannons, Li Hongzhang would not have been so smooth. At this time, the "Changsheng Army" had no chance to plunder, there was no silver, and they were naturally dissatisfied. As the leader, Gordon needs to stand up for the benefit of the group.
Rather than saying that Gordon went to Li Hongzhang to settle accounts in order to defend the "chivalry," it was better to use this as an excuse to exert pressure on Li Hongzhang and seek benefits for the "Changsheng Army." As a mercenary, the "Changsheng Army" took money to sell his life, and could not talk about faith, otherwise Bai Juwen would not have defected to the Taiping Army.
Li Hongzhang is a man of understanding, and if he wants Gordon to continue to sell his life, the military salary is indispensable. Later, when attacking Jiaxing and Changzhou, Li Hongzhang took out white flowers and silver, let Gordon lead the "Changsheng Army" to assist in the battle, blew up the city wall with Western flowering cannons, and then broke into the city. Shi Zai: "Treat his army, march into Changzhou, blast through the south gate, and join forces to dig trenches and build walls to defeat them." ”
Li Hongzhang took out two silver, and Gordon was not ambiguous, he continued to lead the "Changsheng Army" to fight, and he would not go through with silver. In this regard, the so-called "chivalry" in Europe and the United States is not worth anything in the face of sugar-coated shells.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Draft History of the Qing Dynasty