The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lasted 14 years and reached the peak of the old-style peasant war, which was not only the first peasant war in Chinese history to rise in the south and affect all of China, but also an unprecedented peasant war in the history of the world.
When it comes to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the first words that come to mind in many people's minds are "peasant uprising", "salvation and survival", and "anti-aggression". However, there were always positive and negative sides to a coin, and although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did make outstanding contributions to anti-feudalism, at the same time it brought many disasters to China, which was already crumbling at that time.
Among them, the impact suffered by The Jiangsu and Zhejiang emblem merchants is particularly heavy.
As one of the oldest merchant gangs in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Huishang has always played a pivotal role in the economic development of the two Zhejiang regions. As early as the end of the Ming Dynasty, Huishang obtained "merchant registration" in the two Zhejiang regions. The so-called business registration, which is a sub-nationality other than the original nationality, was specially set up by the imperial examination at that time to facilitate the children of merchants who traveled between the two Zhejiang regions, so that they could take the examination near Hangzhou and avoid traveling back and forth.
The setting of commercial books has greatly promoted the cultural development of Hangzhou, so that many Huishang children living in Hangzhou study in local academies, of which Ziyang and Chongshu Colleges are the majority. These colleges are different from ordinary colleges, they have a rigorous learning style, and they use "boat meetings" and "shaking lessons" as the main way of teaching. At that time, many children of Huishang merchants lived a life of poetry and taoism and piano cultivation in such a comfortable posture of life.
There is a son of the Hui merchants, named Cheng Bingzhao, although he is from the son of a businessman, he is quite talented. In his diary "Chronicle Pearl" during the Xianfeng and Xin Dynasties, he recorded such a scene:
In the sixteenth year of Guangxu, Cheng Bingzhao was admitted to the Jinshi, served as a Shu Jishi in the Hanlin Academy, and later, became a well-known scholar. When he was writing his diary, Cheng Bingzhao was living in Hangzhou and graduated from Chongwen Academy. Judging from his "Chronicle Beads", Cheng Bingzhao's daily life, in addition to learning to preach, is to tour the rivers and tea wine as a companion. In the snowy West Lake, it is very leisurely to talk and laugh, and the people who come and go are all erudite and talented people...
However, such a beautiful scenery did not last long, and as soon as the pen of "Note Bead" turned, the comfortable life in Hangzhou suddenly staged a tragic situation in the world.
At that time, the Taiping Army raised jintian and quickly moved north, creating a salty soldier, which brought ruin to the southern Anhui region, followed by an attack on Sangzi.
On February 4, 10th year of Xianfeng, Cheng Bingzhao heard that Jixi had been attacked by the Taiping Army, and he could not help but write in his diary: "The suspicion is extremely frightening." The next day, he also heard that the Taiping Army had attacked Jixi from Ningguo and attacked the locals, thinking that some people in his clan were running regiments to practice, and that "they were known for their rich reputation, I am afraid it would be difficult to be spared", and thought of his octogenarian grandmother, who has not heard from him yet.
Since then, rumors have spread and people's hearts have been turbulent, because Hangzhou is weak and insufficiently armed, and I am afraid it will be difficult to resist. Cheng Bingzhao is worried and afraid every day, but he has no choice but to borrow wine with friends every day to dispel his worries. By February 15, the situation seemed to have eased slightly, and the readers immediately sprouted solidly, meeting friends with poetry and visiting the famous mountains. However, the threat of the Taiping Army did not disappear.
At this time, the Taiping Army was only brewing a bigger conspiracy after a brief hibernation. Two days later, Li Xiucheng, the King of Zhong, led his army to capture Wulin and Qiantang, and a few days later, the defenders collapsed. At this point, the city of Hangzhou fell for the first time. In his diary, Cheng Bingzhao recorded such a scene: "When the city was not closed, the people in the city had fled in a hurry, and there were countless people who came out of Fengshan and waited for the tide..."
At that time, tens of thousands of boats in the river rushed to cross the water, and the rain became heavier and heavier, and the wind became more and more urgent. The boat is small and crowded, there are countless people who have fallen into the water, men and women, old and young, weeping and storms and waves, the onlookers are all sad and miserable, but they are suffering from their own insecurity and cannot be rescued.
Later, some people calculated that in this change, most of the people died of trampling, two-tenths of the people died of hongtao, and one-tenth of the people starved to death. Less than four-tenths of those who actually survived. This accident is not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made disaster, the people died tragically in the waves of the rivers, and people stood in the yin and yang worlds.
In addition, the diary also records many large and small events in and around Hangzhou during the rebellion.
For example, the soldiers and the people in the city fight each other because of the battle for the city. After the fall of Hangzhou City, the chaotic streets, as well as the poverty and poverty of the people, the fear of precariousness, and so on. The author also has a detailed account of his dealings with the Taiping Army. In addition, the diary also describes many tragic scenes after the hangzhou city: "Corpses are strewn everywhere in the wild and flesh, and the thought of the prosperous city of the past becoming what it is now makes people sigh." ”
At that time, bandits were rampant, and even officers and soldiers were mixed in, and Cheng Bingzhao, who was really difficult to stay for a long time, decided to move out on the sixth day.
Cheng Bingzhao, who escaped from the city, no longer had the glory of the past, and his body was full of a sense of vicissitudes.
When he crossed the river at the Bojing River, he saw that the sails were constantly flowing and the oars were weaving, and he could not help but sigh: "People are like dead fish coming out of the net, and boats are like galloping horses crossing the river." ”
During the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Jiangnan was no longer prosperous, and many people fled to Jiangbei, cheng Bingzhao was also among them, and his father and brothers and relatives were active in the Tongzhou area. Later, although Cheng Bingzhao arrived in Jiangbei, where the situation was more stable, he always had a hard time forgetting the tragic scene in Jiangnan and was always alarmed. In his diary, he also often saw scenes of soldiers fleeing in defeat, burning and plundering.
And Cheng Bingzhao, like a microcosm of the people of Jiangnan, witnessed the many atrocities of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Resources:
[Military History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" "Chronicle Pearl", "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Rebellion Against the Manchu Qing Oppression Uprising"]