What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
The allusion of the "Hongmen Banquet" in history can be described as well known, Xiang Yu originally wanted to kill Liu Bang at the banquet to avoid the trouble, but because of his reputation, he did not want to do this "three abuses", so he released Liu Bang. But it did not happen, Liu Bang's departure was tantamount to letting the tiger return to the mountains, he not only forced Xiang Yu Wujiang to kill himself, but also established the Han Dynasty and rewrote Chinese history. However, compared with the hesitant Xiang Yu, Li Hongzhang was more decisive, in order to save the Qing Dynasty, he set up a Hongmen feast to kill 8 generals, even if he was saddled with the name of treachery, he did not hesitate.
In February 1863, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement had entered the end, under the vigorous slaughter of Li Hongzhang's "Huai Army" and Gordon's "Changsheng Army", the Taiping Army had been defeated and retreated, and soon shrank to the Jiangsu area, so Li Hongzhang set his sights on Suzhou. The Taiping Army had been stationed in Suzhou for 3 years, and the previous defender was Li Xiucheng, who set up a lot of extremely powerful cannons on the city gate, repelled wave after wave of Qing troops, and caused great casualties, and no one could gnaw down this hard bone.
However, today's Li Xiucheng is not in Suzhou, and the only person responsible for guarding Suzhou is his beloved general, Tan Shaoguang, and he also has generals such as Gao Yongkuan and Wang Anjun under his command, and his strength should not be underestimated. However, there was a certain contradiction between Tan Shaoguang and several of them, because Tan Shaoguang was the temporary position of Li Xiucheng, and both his military achievements and prestige were slightly insufficient, and Gao Yongkuan and others did not want to listen to his command, so quarrels often broke out. Gradually, Gao Yongkuan developed a rebellious heart, believing that the Taiping Army had been on the move for a few days, so he secretly contacted Li Hongzhang and expressed his intention to surrender.
At the end of November 1863, the two sides formally negotiated, and Li Hongzhang sent a person named Cheng Xueqi, who had been a general of the Taiping Army, and if he went to talk, it might increase the trust between the two sides. However, although Gao Yongkuan believed in Li Hongzhang's sincerity, Li Hongzhang did not believe him, after all, the two parts were hostile, and now that they have met like this, who knows if it is a fraudulent surrender? And it's not without precedent. In order to show his loyalty, Gao Yongkuan immediately said that he would cut off Tan Shaoguang's head, and at that time, he believed that all doubts would disappear.
On December 4, Gao Yongkuan and eight other generals went to Tan Shaoguang's Muwang Mansion for dinner, after which they held a small meeting together. Tan Shaoguang said that some people have two hearts and hope to do it for themselves, not to take it as an example. After hearing this, Wang Anjun immediately stood up and retorted, he took advantage of the quarrel to get closer and closer, directly slashed at Tan Shaoguang, seeing the signal, Gao Yongkuan and others immediately attacked him, and soon cut off Tan Shaoguang's head and killed his subordinates. The next day, Gao Yongkuan sent someone to send Tan Shaoguang's head to Li Hongzhang and welcome the Qing soldiers into the city.
After entering the city, Li Hongzhang found that the fortifications in Suzhou had not been withdrawn, and he wondered in his heart: Could it be that Gao Yongkuan and others still had the heart to rebel? Later, Li Hongzhang set up a banquet at the Hongmen Gate and invited Gao Yongkuan and 8 other generals to enter the banquet, during which Li Hongzhang repeatedly advised him to drink wine and praised Gao Yongkuan for his "high righteousness". After a while, Li Hongzhang sent 8 pieces of martial arts, and as long as he put it on, he completely belonged to the Qing army. Gao Yongkuan and others did not doubt that there was him, and after thanking him, they resolutely got up, but at this moment, 8 military attaches holding martial arts uniforms drew out their waist swords, and they raised their swords and fell, and Gao Yongkuan and others instantly fell to the ground, which is the famous "Suzhou Killing and Landing" in history.