Respected by success scholars, Zeng Guofan, the "first perfect person in the ancient world" in the literature of the di stall, mentioned in his family book: "To encircle Tianjing, it is necessary to cut off the grain routes in the city, in the past there were red single ships transported, there were foreigner ships to help, the Taiping Army can still maintain for a while; now JiuhuanZhou has been conquered, the grain roads in the city are cut off, not satisfied by land shoulder transportation, and Tianjing is bound to conquer." "This is a letter written by Zeng Guofan to Zeng Guoquan during the Siege of Tianjing by the Xiang Army, and the author shows it in the form of vernacular.
Zeng Guofan's letter is worth noting, that is, "red single ship transportation", that is, the Qing Dynasty sailors delivered grain to tianjing city to support the Taiping Army against the Xiang army. It is reasonable to say that the Xiang Army of Zeng Guofan and the Red Single Ship Fleet were both armed forces of the Qing Dynasty, so why did the latter not help the Xiang Army, but openly supported the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom? The red single ship received the Taiping Army, and Zeng Guofan did not dare to attack directly, otherwise it would be a rebellion and a traitor.
01. The origin of the Red Single Ship Fleet
During the Qianlong period, the Qing Dynasty began to "close the country to the outside world" in an all-round way, strictly prohibiting private exchanges between Chinese and foreign people, and the sails were not allowed to go to the sea, otherwise it would be a capital crime. Guangzhou, the only foreign trade port, is very developed in trade and active in merchant ships. In order to facilitate the control of trade, merchants had to report ships to the government in exchange for a "red order" for inspection by the government. Therefore, the government recognized that the transport ships built by merchants were called red single ships.
Red single ships generally carry out ocean-going trade, the ships are tall, in addition to transporting goods, under normal circumstances, they can take more than 60 people, more than 100 people, just like "behemoths". In addition, the personnel on the red single ship are almost all fathers and sons, brothers, family children, relatives, and friends, and the internal cohesion is very strong.
In January 1853, the Taiping Army's 10,000 "civilian ships" crisscrossed the Yangtze River for thousands of miles, chased the Eight Banners and the Green Camp, and captured Wuchang and Nanjing continuously within two months, frightening the Qing Dynasty. At this time, the commander of the "Jiangnan Battalion" xiang Rongshang played Xianfeng and requested to recruit red single ships from Guangdong and transfer them to Jiangnan to fight and assist the officers and troops. In this regard, XianFeng agreed and let Ye Mingchen, the governor of Liangguang, and Inspector Bai Gui handle it.
02. Red Single Boat Battle Taiping Army
In October 1853, Guangdong successively sent Red Single Ships to reinforce the "Jiangnan Battalion", and the Red Single Ship Fleet had more than 200 ships at its largest, which was a huge threat to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom "Water Camp" troops with civilian ships as the core. In charge of the Red Single Fleet was Admiral Wu Quanmei of Guangdong, and the training of sailors was led by the Guangzhou martial artist Huang Feihong. Huang Feihong is not a master of Guangzhou, but he is still a bit level, so the sailors of the red single ship have strong combat effectiveness. Here are a few brief battles.
In July 1854, the Battle of the Tianjing River destroyed 120 Taiping warships, captured 260, and killed more than 2,000 people.
In August 1854, Wu Quanmei intercepted the river, destroyed 50 transport ships, and captured more than 100 people, and the main general Tan Longcai was captured.
In October 1854, Wu Quanmei took the initiative to attack the "water camp" of the Taiping Army, destroying 200 ships and capturing Jiuhuanzhou.
In March 1855, Wu Quanmei fought the Taiping Army, burning more than 200 ships and destroying 3 onshore forts.
In August 1855, Wu Quanmei attacked 11 fortifications outside Wuhu and destroyed dozens of warships.
The above is only part of Wu Quanmei's achievements, but for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it is disastrous. The red single ship attacked, the grain road transportation was blocked, and there was a grain shortage in Tianjing, and Hong Xiuquan was forced to order the residents to go out to alleviate the food crisis.
03. From the savior of the Xiang Army to the opponent
What is the relationship between the Red Single Ship Fleet and the Xiang Army of Zeng Guofan? The Hongdan ship was once the main force of the Qing army's marine division, repeatedly saving the Xiang army from danger, and the relationship between the latter two deteriorated, and the Red single ship fleet hated the Xiang army of Zeng Guofan.
In March 1856, Shi Dakai, the King of Yi, defeated the main force of the Xiang army at Zhangshu Town, besieging Zeng Guofan in the isolated city of Nanchang. At this time, all the counties and towns near Nanchang fell into the hands of the Taiping Army, and if Shi Dakai went all out, it would not be a problem at all to capture Zeng Guofan alive.
Fortunately, Xiang Rong dispatched a red single-ship fleet to intercept the Qin Rigang Army and prevent the Taiping Army from crossing the river south from Yangzhou; another fleet was sent upstream to cut off the grain route from Wuhu to Tianjing, causing a food crisis in the city. In this way, Yang Xiuqing had to let Shi Dakai lead the army back from Jiangxi, and Zeng Guofan escaped the disaster.
The Red Single Ship Fleet saved Zeng Guofan and was the great benefactor of the Xiang Army. After the "Jiangnan Camp" was destroyed for the second time, the Red Single Ship Fleet was managed by He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang, and Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang. As a result, everyone knows that Zeng Guofan sat by and watched Wang Youling's defeat and death without saving him, and single-handedly killed He Guiqing. Originally, the Qing Dynasty wanted to let He Guiqing go, but Zeng Guofan strongly opposed it, and He Guiqing was killed.
04, the chess pieces abandoned by the imperial court, there is no silver, and the sailors also have to eat
Zeng Guofan strongly advocated the killing of He Guiqing, the reason for which was: fleeing in defeat, abandoning the city, without the spirit of responsibility, not killing He Guiqing is not enough to inform the world. This is interesting, when Zeng Guofan set up the Xiang Army, he was repeatedly defeated in battles, pretended to "commit suicide by throwing himself into the water" countless times, and fled in a daze, so how could he not die? What is the real reason for killing He Guiqing? He Guiqing has great influence in the Liangjiang region, and it is difficult for the Xiang clique to gain a firm foothold without getting rid of him.
The "Jiangnan Camp" was completely destroyed, the Southern Eight Banners and green camps were completely defeated, and Xianfeng had no choice but to grant Zeng Guofan real power and make him the governor of Liangjiang, taking on the heavy responsibility of destroying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In this way, the Xiang Army became the absolute main force, and the Red Single Ship Fleet naturally had to stand on the side, because the Xiang Army had directly subordinate water divisions and did not need non-Xiang water divisions.
The imperial court reused the Xiang army, and the red single ship fleet became an abandoned pawn, basically no salary was paid, and the sailors became a problem to eat. This is also easy to understand, the Red Single Ship Fleet was recruited, not a regular army of the imperial court, and there was no special funding. As for Zeng Guofan, even the Xiang Army's salary and silver could not be paid in full, so why would he consider a red single ship?
In order to survive and support their families, the Red Single Ship Fleet transported grain to Tianjing City in exchange for gold and silver. Zeng Guofan hated the Red Single Ship Fleet and called it a "traitor". Interestingly, Bao Chao's "Thunder Army", which has the strongest field combat ability under Zeng Guofan, is even more excessive than the Red Single Ship Fleet. In February 1865, the "Thunder Army" did not pay silver for a long time, and Huang Dwarf led 8,000 elite soldiers to mutiny in Jinkou, went south to defect to the Taiping Army, directly fought with the Qing army, and then all died in battle.
Bibliography: General History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom