There were not many Taiping generals who participated in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and were able to enjoy their old age in peace, but they were not absent. For example, Wei Zhijun, the younger brother of The Northern King Wei Changhui and a fierce general who was both offensive and defensive, lived in seclusion in Xuancheng, Anhui Province, after he surrendered to Hubei And then lived in seclusion in Xuancheng, Anhui Province. Gu Longxian surrendered to Bao Chao, then resigned and went home to retire, gave birth to 7 children, and lived a happy life. Yuan Hongmo, after his defeat, returned to his hometown in Anhui and escaped into the empty gate, and the Qing Dynasty did not look for him.
Compared with Wei Zhijun, Gu Longxian, Yuan Hongmo and others, Liu Shengbang's experience is more legendary. Wei Zhijun and Gu Longxian, they took the initiative to surrender, and they kept a low profile and died well. Yuan Hongmo, brother-in-law is the famous general Zhou Shengchuan of the Huai Army, the "Sheng Army" guards the Gyeonggi heavy land, and the Qing Dynasty naturally wants to give face. Liu Shengbang, on the other hand, did not surrender, but escaped from prison and then lived in seclusion in the countryside to farm.
Liu Shengbang, a native of Wuxuan, Guangxi, participated in the Jintian Uprising in his early years and was an "old brother" with strong combat effectiveness and a very firm will to fight. In the early years, Liu Shengbang's family was poor, he herded cattle for a wealthy family, spent a long time in the mountains, and practiced a martial art. Shi Zai: "Walking like a fly, martial arts are excellent", it can be seen that he is a fierce man, very suitable for being a general, making a living in the chaotic world.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the imperial court was decaying, the people were not happy, and the Tiandihui armed forces in the Liangguang area were very active, which was the soil for Hong Xiuquan to successfully launch the Jintian Uprising. In January 1851, the Jintian Rebellion broke out, and Hong Xiuquan led his troops to Wuxuan to gather soldiers and horses and call him the King of Heaven. At this time, Liu Shengbang came to join the army and rebelled against the qing dynasty rule.
Agile and walking like a fly, Liu Shengbang not only fought in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also undertook reconnaissance tasks and made a lot of merit. In March 1853, Hong Xiuquan entered Nanjing, and the soldiers killed from Liangguang and all the way were less than 10,000 people, and Liu Shengbang was one of them.
Compared with many "old brothers" of Liangguang, Liu Shengbang is lucky. At the Battle of Ziyidu, the Battle of Longliaoling, and the Battle of Changsha, the "old brothers" of the Taiping Army suffered great losses, but Liu Shengbang was safe and sound. After fixing the capital tianjing, Liu Shengbang followed Wei Changhui to stay in the Beijing division to resist the "Jiangnan camp", and repeatedly entered the Qing army camp to reconnoiter, grasp the movement of Xiang Rong and others, and provide reference for Yang Xiuqing's decision-making.
During the days of guarding the Capital Division, Liu Shengbang was able to understand the relationship between the Heavenly King, the Eastern King, the Northern King, and the Wing King, thus successfully avoiding the "Tianjing Incident". At the beginning of 1856, the "Jiangnan Camp" was destroyed and Xiang Rong hanged himself. Then, Qin Rigang, the King of Yan, led an army on an eastern expedition to pursue Zhang Guoliang; Shi Dakai led an army to the west to rescue Wuchang and reinforce Wei Zhijun.
Liu Shengbang believed that the Beijing division had lifted the crisis and that he should go out to fight. To this end, Liu Shengbang followed Shi Da's western expedition and led his troops to fight with the Xiang army and began a new round of fighting.
In September 1856, the Tianjing Incident broke out, Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui, and Qin Rigang died in an infighting, and The Wing King Shi Da returned to Beijing to assist the government. Before returning to Beijing, Shi Dakai handed over the soldiers who rescued Wuchang to Chen Yucheng and stationed them at the Anqing base camp to prevent the Qing army from invading Anhui. In May 1857, Shi Dakai went out to work alone, and the Qing army counterattacked the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from all over the country, and Chen Yucheng had to lead his troops to the east and west to negotiate and support it bitterly.
After Chen Yucheng left, Ye Yun came to the town to guard Anqing, and Liu Shengbang assisted in the battle. In September 1858, the Xiang army invaded Anhui in two ways, Duolong'a and Bao Chao led troops to attack Anqing, and the general Li Xubin led 8,000 soldiers and horses north to attack Luzhou. When the Xiang army invaded Anhui, Chen Yucheng was fighting at Pukou, and later reinforced the town of Sanhe and fought against Li Xubin.
When Chen Yucheng and Li Xubin fought fiercely in Sanhe Town, Bao Chao and Duo Long'a stormed Anqing and destroyed more than a dozen camps outside the city. However, Ye Yunlai, Liu Shengbang and others strictly guarded against death, and often sent troops to attack at night, making the Xiang army tired of coping, thus ensuring that Anqing was unharmed.
Ye Yunlai and Liu Shengbang insisted on Anqing and made a great contribution to Chen Yucheng's victory in the Three Rivers. At the beginning of 1860, Chen Yucheng was crowned King of England, and Li Xiucheng was crowned King of Zhong. Liu Shengbang was so successful in battle that he was also crowned king soon after, and was given the title of King of Dan Chitose. Interestingly, Ye Yunlai, the main general of Zhenshou Anqing, did not get the title of king, for some reason, perhaps Liu Shengbang was too brave and fierce to attract Hong Xiuquan's attention.
After being crowned Queen of Dan, Liu Shengbang fought harder, often leading his troops out of the city and fighting with the Xiang army. In the face of the "fortress tactics" of the Ninth Marshal Zeng Guoquan, although the Taiping Army was brave, it was difficult to break through the defensive line, and Liu Shengbang repeatedly led his troops to attack, but they were all repelled by the Xiang Army and could not get close to the enemy's fortress. During a battle, Liu Shengbang suffered serious wounds in the neck and was captured by the Xiang army.
The captured Taiping Army generals, especially the "old brothers" of Liangguang, were not surprisingly Ling Chi. For example, King Chen Yucheng, King Li Xiucheng, King Zhong, Tan Tiyuan, and so on. However, Liu Shengbang was fortunate that he successfully escaped from prison and then went to Xuancheng, Anhui Province, to farm for the elderly.
The Xiang Army's camp was heavily guarded, so how could it easily escape? Although Liu Shengbang is agile and walks like a fly, after all, he cannot "float on the water of iron", and it is not easy to escape. So, liu Shengbang came out like this? It can be speculated that it should be Wei Zhijun dredging the joints so that they have a "chance" to come out.
It should be known that Wei Zhijun also participated in the Battle of Anqing and was deeply appreciated by Zeng Guoquan. After the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Wei Zhijun did not return to Guangxi, but chose to settle in Xuancheng, Anhui. Liu Shengbang also lived in seclusion in Xuancheng and opened up wasteland to cultivate land, the reason for which can be imagined. Because the injury was too serious, or the neck was injured, Liu Shengbang engaged in manual labor, and then the injury recurred, and he died, and his friends sent it to Yishan, Guangxi for burial.
Bibliography: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom