In the late Qing Dynasty, with the weakening of the comprehensive national strength of the Qing Dynasty, domestic rebellions emerged in an endless stream.
In the south, the Taiping Army, led by Hong Xiuquan, Shi Dakai, and others, grew stronger and stronger, and the Qing army was not an opponent at all; in the north, the Qing court suppressed the Twist army, but unexpectedly, it became more and more suppressed, and finally the Twist Army even expanded to more than 200,000. The Eight Banner Army, which was once extremely effective in combat, has now become a burden to the Qing government. In desperation, the imperial court had to pin its hopes on local armed forces.
The Qing government spent a lot of money to build the Xiang, Huai, and Mongol armies, which was able to maintain its rule. Among them, the leader of the Mongol army was the famous Mongolian general Monk Grinqin.
The monk Gelinqin was born in the sixteenth year of Jiaqing (1811), and although he had the blood of Genghis Khan, his family had long been in decline. The young monk Gelinqin often lacked food and clothing, and even survival became a problem. In desperation, he and his father had to graze cattle for the local rich to make ends meet. Later, he was adopted by the king of Zasak County in the Mongolian steppe, which gave him the opportunity to study.
According to blood relations, the princess of the king of Zasak County was the sister of the Daoguang Emperor. The monk Greenqin, who had succeeded the king of Zasak County, rightfully became the nephew of the Daoguang Emperor. With this relationship, the monk Greenqin was deeply favored by the Daoguang Emperor and the Xianfeng Emperor. He grew up in the steppe, and archery with a bow was a common occurrence. The Xianfeng Emperor saw that the monk Greenqin had a brute force, so he ordered him to command the guards to guard his own safety.
After the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it took only more than two years to conquer Nanjing and rule across the river from the Qing Dynasty. Looking at the vulnerable Eight Banner Army, Lin Fengxiang, the general of the Taiping Army, and others decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and completely unify the country. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang and others led the Taiping Army in the Northern Expedition, and soon attacked the Shangqiu area. The report of defeat kept coming, and the Xianfeng Emperor was like a needle felt.
After that, he sent all the Eight Banners Army he could use to the front line, trying to block the Taiping Army. However, the Eight Banner Army stationed in the capital was weaker. Some of them, who were accustomed to living in peace, could not even pull their bows and arrows away. In the face of Lin Fengxiang, who was like a wolf and a tiger, the Eight Banners Army died and fell. Soon after, Linhuan Pass and Cangzhou fell one after another, and Lin Feng's troops pointed directly at Tianjin.
Tianjin and Beijing are closely linked, and if Tianjin is lost, the capital will be directly exposed to the Taiping Army. At such a moment of crisis, the Xianfeng Emperor could not use his bodyguards. After that, Xianfeng summoned the monk Gelinqin, and then gave him the sword of Emperor Nurhaci, so that he could lead an army against the Taiping Army. Monk Greenqin knew the importance of this sword, and from the moment he took it, he vowed to shed the last drop of blood for the Xianfeng Emperor.
After the Mongol army of Senggelinqin entered the battlefield, the pressure of the Eight Banners was suddenly much less. Lin Fengxiang led the Taiping Army to charge several times, but was never able to attack Tianjin. At the same time, due to the excessive length of Lin Fengxiang's front, the situation slowly became unfavorable to the Taiping Army. A few months later, Lin Fengxiang saw that he could not take advantage of anything, so he led his army to retreat.
The Xianfeng Emperor sent the monk Greenqin to fight, which was originally a move by a dead horse as a living horse doctor, but unexpectedly it achieved miraculous results. From then on, he was relieved to put the monk Greenqin in charge. Through several fierce battles with Lin Fengxiang, the monk Greenqin gradually became familiar with the combat characteristics of the Taiping Army. In the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), he saw the opportunity and surrounded and suppressed the Taiping Army in four ways. In this battle, the monk Greenqin directly captured Lin Fengxiang, the commander of the Taiping Army.
Seeing that the commander was captured, the rest of the Taiping Army completely lost its fighting spirit and could only be slaughtered by the Mongol soldiers and the Eight Banners. The Qing army fought more and more fiercely, and regained a lot of lost land.
Lin Fengxiang was an official in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to a deputy prime minister, and was a veteran-level figure who fought with Hong Xiuquan. The Xianfeng Emperor specially ordered him to be taken to the capital, and then Ling Chi was executed to make an example. Inspired by the merits of the monk Gelinqin, the Xianfeng Emperor issued several decrees and made the monk Gelinqin the Prince of Bodol katai, and could be hereditary replaced. Since then, the monk Greenqin has been given the title of "Monk King".
When the ministers were celebrating victory, they often said "southern and northern monks." Among them, "Nan Zeng" refers to Zeng Guofan who trained the Xiang Army in the south, and the "Northern Monk" is naturally the outstanding monk Greenqin. Unfortunately, after the monk Greenqin became more and more proud after he achieved fame. In the Xianfeng Decade (1860), Britain and France joined forces to launch an attack on the Qing Dynasty. With more than a hundred well-equipped warships, the coalition army effortlessly entered Tianjin from the Beitang area. Not long after, Taku fell, and the Anglo-French army occupied all of Tianjin.
In the face of aggressive invaders, the Xianfeng Emperor first sent people to negotiate peace, and after the peace was not successful, he ordered the monk Gelinqin to lead an army to block the attack. Although the total number of British and French was small, the soldiers carried guns. At that time, most of the Qing army was still using large knives and spears, and it was impossible to confront the British and French allies head-on. However, after killing a few British soldiers, sanggelinqin said to his subordinates with no concern: "Although the cannons on the barbarian warships are lethal, they cannot carry cannons after they land on the shore." I will lead you to break up their position and will be able to block their attack. ”
However, before the monk Greenqin could reach the enemy, the rifles in the hands of the British and French allies opened fire. Although the Mongol army was brave and brave, after all, it was flesh and blood, and it really could not withstand the enemy's bullets. In the end, Senggelinqin led the remnants of the army to flee and ceded the city of Beijing to the British and French forces. After beating off the monk Greenqin, the Anglo-French coalition army no longer had any scruples. They soon captured the city of Beijing, and then, with a big swing, entered the Yuanmingyuan. The capital fell, the Yuanmingyuan was destroyed, and the Xianfeng Emperor felt a disgrace he had never felt before.
Enraged, he ordered that the king of the monk Greenqin be removed as a punishment. Since leading the army, Senggelinqin had never been so defeated. He was constantly looking for opportunities to prove himself, wanting a shame. In the third year of Tongzhi (1864), Zeng Guofan led the Xiang army to attack the city of Nanjing and destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Empress Dowager Cixi was very happy, and she rewarded Zeng Guofan heavily, and then ordered him to lead his army north to help the monk Greenqin clear the twist army. It would have been a good thing that someone had come to help. However, the old problem of the monk Gelinqin's arrogance was committed again.
In his opinion, he is the main force of the twist. When Zeng Guofan came this time, he might have to rob himself of his own credit. Moreover, the monk Gelinqin had always despised the Han people and did not want Zeng Guofan to interfere in his affairs at all. Although he could not stop Empress Dowager Cixi's orders, he could throw Zeng Guofan's army far away, and he did not give Zeng Guofan any credit. Therefore, before Zeng Guofan came to the battlefield, the monk Greenqin and the Twist Army launched a fierce battle. The Mongol army had a slight advantage, and the monk Gelinqin pursued the Twister army and rushed to eliminate the other side.
Later, in order to speed up the march, he ordered the generals to drop most of the grain and grass, and each person brought only a small amount of food. Later, he was worried that the large army would drag him down, so he simply rushed to the front with only a few thousand elite soldiers. The Twister Army saw that it was still impossible to get rid of the monk Greenqin, so they made up their minds and set up an ambush in front of them, hoping to fight with the monk Greenqin. The monk Gelinqin was anxious to make a contribution, did not think much about it, and was suddenly surrounded by a large number of twister troops.
Looking at the enemy army several times larger than his own, the monk Greenqin wanted to hold out for help, but he brought very little food and ran out in a few days. To make matters worse, because the monk Greenqin rushed too fast, it was difficult for the main force to arrive in a short period of time. In desperation, he had to fight to the death to break through. The Twist Army had been at war with the monk Greenqin for many years, and he was very familiar with his appearance. He had just rushed out of a circle of encirclement, which attracted the attention of the Twister Army. Soon, more Twisters surrounded him than before.
Monk Greenqin killed countless twisters with a hundred, but there were too many people attacking him, and he could only fight and flee. When fleeing to the vicinity of Wujiadian, the monk Greenqin was accidentally injured and fell from his war horse. Zhang Pixiu, a young general of the Twist army, saw the opportunity and slashed at the monk Greenqin with a large knife. At this time, the monk Greenqin was already at the end of the crossbow, and could only be disposed of by Zhang Pixiu. In this way, Zhang Pixiu, who was only sixteen years old, beheaded the mighty monk king.
After the monk was killed, Emperor Tongzhi and Empress Dowager Cixi built many ancestral halls for him, and personally went to pay tribute to him and gave him the title of "loyal". Perhaps, sanggrenqin has shortcomings of one kind or another. But in the hearts of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty, he was a well-deserved loyal subject.
Resources:
[Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" and "Legend of monk Greenqin: Herding sheep baby becomes the King of the Iron Hat"]