In the late Qing Dynasty, politics was corrupt and the people paid heavy taxes. In order to resist the tyranny, on January 11, 1851, hong xiuquan's birthday, tens of thousands of people worshipping God "wished long life" in Jintian Village, thus beginning the vigorous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.
Encouraged by the slogan "Eat and wear the same food, all equals", the uprising ranks continued to grow, and on March 20, 1853, the Taiping Army conquered Nanjing, officially establishing a regime that confronted the Qing government. Under the favorable situation, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom continued to expand outwards, and there were famous battles such as Lin Fengxiang's Northern Expedition and Shi Dakai's Western Expedition. But in fact, there is Also Li Xiucheng's Crusade.
Although Li Xiucheng's Eastern Expedition was not famous, it achieved remarkable results. Li Xiucheng swept through Jiangnan in the East, and Changzhou, Wuxi, and Suzhou were successively taken. The Taiping army led by Li Shixian, the partial servant of the Eastern Expedition, also achieved many victories in Fujian. However, the good times did not last long, Chen Yucheng was betrayed and arrested by the traitor Miao Peilin in Shouzhou, and the Qing army also took the opportunity to counterattack, and soon the Taiping army in Fujian collapsed. Although there were still more than 10,000 people in the remnants, they were surrounded by enemy groups, and there was no hope of escaping. In this case, to stay is to die, and there is still a glimmer of life for foreigners to sell themselves as piglets. So more than 10,000 remnants of the Taiping Army, along with their relatives, embarked on a long road away from their hometown.
Known as "piglets" are not actually considered human beings, they were transported to the Iquique mine in Peru, South America, where they became miners specializing in phosphate and saltpeter mines. It is said that more than 14 hours of hard work are done every day, and the quality of the diet is not good. The fatigue of work, combined with the incompatibility of the soil and water, as well as the oppression and humiliation of foreign overseers, thousands of people died in just a few years.
Maybe God finally couldn't see it, giving them the opportunity to see the light of day again. In 1866 Chile went to war with Peru and Bolivia over saltpeter interests. The remnants of the suffering Taiping Army finally saw an opportunity, and they decided to defect to the advancing Chilean army.
The miners of the Taiping Army elected Weng Derong, a native of Hunan, and Chen Yonglu, a native of Guangdong, as leaders, and reorganized them with the original structure of the Taiping Army. An incident ensued, killing the mine inspector and seizing weapons, successfully repelling the Peruvian army that had come to suppress it. Subsequently, he sent to the Chilean army and offered to help Chile deal with Peru and Bolivia. After learning that they were a group of veterans of the war, the Chilean army naturally accepted it. After the victory, all miners and their families will be granted Chilean citizenship and given freedmen status.
Therefore, the miners of the Taiping Army were highly motivated and cooperated with the Chilean army to successfully capture the city of Iquique. And 500 Taiping soldiers also dressed as local Indians mixed into the fortress of Boneda, successfully capturing 300 Peruvian soldiers and fortress commanders. After an unexpected encounter, the Bolivian cavalry force was led into a forest and successfully repelled them. Under the heroic battle of the Taiping Miners, the Chilean army completely defeated the Bolivian-Secret Army. Chilean troops occupied all the saltpeter-producing areas along the Pacific coast of Bolivia and Peru.
After the war, the Chilean government intended to use an autonomous town as a bargaining chip in exchange for the Taiping Army's continued help to Chile in its attack on Peru. But the suffering Taiping Army miners did not want to fight any more, they only wanted to live a peaceful life, so they all disarmed and returned to the field, living in Iquique, a place that gave them suffering but was also their second home.
I don't know if they dream of their true hometown when they dream back in the middle of the night...
PS: I am a cat and cat fish, ask for attention, do not get lost, and see the world together.
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