Since the outbreak of the Opium War, the ruling ecology of the Qing Dynasty has been completely disrupted. Originally, by exploiting the people and suppressing the armed forces, he was able to maintain his rule. But suddenly, Western missionaries and terrible reparations were rushed out, and as a result, the Qing Dynasty could not suppress its own people at all.
In 1851, a year that changed the fate of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Xiuquan led a group of believers to launch the Jintian Uprising, which then swept through the Entire Qing Dynasty. In the days that followed, Hong Xiuquan nearly overthrew the Qing Dynasty, and also caused the Qing Dynasty to pay hundreds of millions of casualties.
It should be said that Hong Xiuquan once had the opportunity to replace the Qing Dynasty, and even took us to accept Western civilization earlier. But unfortunately, at such an important moment, Hong Xiuquan was stuck in his own hands, and even let his regime embark on the evil road. So many scholars pointed out that Hong Xiuquan was already doomed to failure from the beginning, and if nothing else, just by looking at his criteria for choosing concubines, it can be seen that Hong Xiuquan cannot succeed! Why?
In fact, if you don't look at Hong Xiuquan's internal problems, just look at the historical momentum of that year, Hong Xiuquan still has a good chance. First of all, the Qing Dynasty at that time was engaged in the second Opium War with the foreigners, and the domestic military force was simply fragile. Therefore, Hong Xiuquan's troops basically swept the whole country, and they were able to obtain a large number of fresh troops along the way, and even joined the 100,000 women's army troops.
Secondly, Hong Xiuquan's Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition were fought very smoothly, and if the rulers had not stopped the pace of expansion at that time, I am afraid that the Northern Expeditionary Army would have taken the north of the Qing Dynasty. The decay of the Qing Dynasty is self-evident.
Finally, and most importantly, because Hong Xiuquan advocated the worship of God and the Qing Dynasty was indeed unsightly, the Western powers wanted to support Hong Xiuquan in replacing Cixi. It is said that at that time, when the new chapter of senior administration was being carried out, not only one foreign delegation wanted to find Hong Xiuquan for consultation. Looking at this trend alone, Hong Xiuquan really has the possibility of success.
However, the history that followed took a sharp turn, with Hong Xiuquan suddenly becoming worse and worse, and his regime becoming more and more chaotic. Then, correspondingly, the Qing Dynasty became more and more powerful, and even countries began to help the Qing Dynasty destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. So why?
We don't talk about other big reasons, just point out a detail, we can see Hong Xiuquan's fatal problem, this detail is Hong Xiuquan's choice of concubines.
According to historical records, after Hong Xiuquan established his political power, he already owned half of the Qing Dynasty, so this former bitter Xiucai began to want to enjoy life. However, Hong Xiuquan's enjoyment is not just to be a rich man, but to try to align himself with Tianzi. Therefore, on the one hand, he can't wait to marry his wife, but on the other hand, he sets standards for the whole country, and must meet the following three conditions to be selected.
This first condition is the virgin body. It should be said that there seems to be no problem with this standard, after all, the feudal era has always paid attention to the concept of women's chastity. But this detail also reflects some problems, to know that Hong Xiuquan was advocating equality between men and women at that time, and he also vigorously accepted the Women's Army, which once reached a maximum of 100,000 people.
Because of the emphasis on equality between men and women, those oppressed women who could not survive dared to participate in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, and were even willing to sacrifice their flesh to spy on intelligence for the ideals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. But the efforts of these women were exchanged for a fierce slap from Hong Tianwang. On the surface, it shouts about equality between men and women, but in fact it emphasizes that women are subordinate to men, and women are unlucky if they do not have chastity, that is, they are discriminated against and abandoned.
We can't imagine what the self-proclaimed heroes of the women warriors thought when this order was issued. Maybe there's sadness, maybe there's a trance, maybe even some numbness. Because according to some historical records, before Hong Xiuquan established his regime, he had already turned 100,000 women's troops into his own brothel, and those women were not only his tools for entertainment, but even became entertainment between high-ranking officials in heaven. What an irony.
However, the first criterion is not nothing, and the second criterion further exposes Hong Xiuquan's problem, that is, to be right at the door. What is a door-to-door pair? I remember that some scholars once specifically discussed that the process of human beings from the feudal era to the modern democratic era is the process from identity to contract.
Theoretically, hong xiuquan is to oppose the feudal system and establish an era of equality for everyone, even if it is a new chapter in his seniority, it is to break the concept of identity to the world. But this heavenly king solemnly announced to everyone that the equality of all people is deceitful to you, and that the door and identity are the mainstream of the future regime.
Maybe Hong Tianwang himself did not realize it, maybe he did it on purpose, but it is certain that Hong Xiuquan had already severed his ties with the landlords and nobles because he believed in God, and the only thing he could rely on was the expectation and support of the common people for the era of equality, but he personally cut off the spiritual bond with those people.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, if only Hong Xiuquan, a colleague in the feudal era, put forward this concept, it would be nothing, but at a turning point in history, Hong Xiuquan even undertook the task of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, but he returned to the origin of history, how can this not mean that he will inevitably fail in the next torrent.
The last criterion is to look at the right eye. To be honest, this standard is the most mysterious and the most difficult to accept. What is Looking right? Don't think it's simple, like love now, the kind that feels like the other person can be together. In fact, this is essentially about the feudal rulers doing whatever they want and the world I have.
In the truly mature feudal system, the emperor was actually nominally the supreme ruler, but his rights were always constrained by the rules and institutions of his ancestors. For example, the emperor likes a woman, he can't ask for it directly, but needs to go round after round of drafts to hold the beauty. Moreover, even if there is a beauty, even when sleeping with him every day, it still needs to go through a strict flop, and the system is his turn.
But what concept did Hong Xiuquan propose? See it right. What does this mean? This means that he, Hong Xiuquan, wants to be the emperor who transcends the emperor, on the one hand, he opposes the decay of the feudal system, but on the other hand, he wants to emphasize the absolute ruler's self.
As recorded in history, Hong Xiuquan's wives numbered hundreds or thousands, so many that they can only be described by number, and we cannot imagine this phenomenon in the orthodox imperial system. Therefore, Hong Xiuquan showed his wanton behavior to the extreme, almost treating himself as a human landing in the ant kingdom.
Therefore, when posterity praised the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as taking on the task of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism, when the Western rulers felt that this represented the light of democracy and Catholic freedom, in fact, a small system of concubine selection broke all myths, which may be the anarchic cult state preached by the Qing Dynasty, a gang that abandoned tradition but could not find spiritual sustenance. Hong Xiuquan tossed out such a regime, then naturally it was not far from destruction.
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