First of all, let's understand the story of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and understand the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is these farmers who have set off a huge wave at home and abroad. So what did the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rely on to pull up such an uprising?
Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, once studied with a missionary and believed in Christ. Later, he founded another sect called "Worship of God." In Western Christian stories, it is usually believed that Jesus is the Son of God, but in the worship of God, the myth of Hong Xiuquan is made another son of God, the brother of Jesus.
Such a thing is naturally ridiculous to us, but in the social environment at that time, people had not yet been exposed to many scientific ideas. As a result, Hong Xiuquan and his brothers gradually established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by virtue of the influence of god worship. In Jiangning, that is, we build the capital of Nanjing today. I have to say that the situation in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom at this time is very good.
Moreover, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom not only defeated the Qing Dynasty's army, but also successfully defeated the Huaer Foreign Gun Brigade hired by the Qing government, and morale soared.
But we all know that most of the people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were peasants and did not receive a very high education. Therefore, when they arrived in Nanjing, many people actually began to covet pleasure and squander it. In addition to these, these figures in the center of their power have gradually developed great contradictions, even cannibalism.
In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan coveted pleasure and handed over all power to Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King. Coupled with the good situation in the early days of the Heavenly Kingdom, Yang Xiuqing began to produce other plots. He pretended to be possessed by God and blackmailed The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan to crown him as the Heavenly Father and "Nine Thousand Years Old".
Obviously, at this time, Yang Xiuqing already had a different heart. In the conspiracy of Wei Changhui the Northern King, Qin Rigang the King of Yan, and the support of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, they decided to eliminate Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King. In the early hours of the day, he sneaked into the Eastern Palace, killing Yang Xiuqing, his family, and his staff, and more than 20,000 people were killed that day.
After this incident, Shi Dakai, the wing king, returned to the city of Nanjing, where he reproached Wei Changhui for saying that he should not kill innocents indiscriminately. But the end result was that the two broke up unhappily, and Shi Dakai was stationed outside the city that night. However, Wei Changhui actually killed Shi Dakai's family under Hong Xiuquan's secret orders.
Since then, the contradictions between the leadership have become more and more intense. In the end, the Heavenly King, under pressure from all sides, killed Wei Changhui, the King of the North, to calm the anger of all parties. Shi Dakai was definitely very capable of management in the leadership class, and he returned to Nanjing to coordinate the affairs of all parties. However, due to the previous events, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan had scruples about him and no longer trusted him as before. After the situation improved, he once again wanted to kill Shi Dakai to avoid trouble.
Forced to be helpless, Shi Dakai led thousands of soldiers and horses and escaped from Tianjin. The Tianjing Incident ended from then on, and among the high-ranking members of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, three kings died plus the Wing King and left. The Qi of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was gradually depleted from this point on. The generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also embarked on the end of the road.
From the historical records, we can also find that many high-level officials were executed by Ling Chi. This punishment just sounds cruel. So why didn't these people choose to commit suicide before they were caught? I think there are only a few reasons. On the one hand, they all believed that suicide was too much of a nest, and that dying on the execution ground was more heroic and could also inspire later revolutionaries.
On the other hand, I think it is people's desire for life. It is said that after Yang Kaifang's arrest, the Qing government discussed him whether he should be executed or disposed of else. But in the end, he was executed.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement brought many positive influences to the people of feudal society, but due to its own limitations, it ended in failure. In the following hundred years, countless benevolent and righteous people embarked on the revolutionary road for the survival of the Chinese nation.