The reason why 1840 is regarded as the dividing line between ancient and modern history is because from this moment on, China in the late Qing Dynasty gradually changed from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The working people at the bottom of China, in addition to accepting the oppression of the original landlord class, must also accept all kinds of plunder by the Western powers. Under the double oppression, a mighty peasant uprising broke out. In 1851, Hong Xiuquan revolted in Jintian, Guangxi, which was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. Perhaps even Hong Xiuquan himself did not expect that they would shake the rule of the Qing Dynasty.
Hong Xiuquan was a person who fell behind the list to survive, and if he had not been able to become an official, he would not have run to carry out missionary activities. However, "a hundred useless students are students", Hong Xiuquan is a good hand at brainwashing, but he almost knows nothing when he starts a war. Among the generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Shi Dakai was the well-deserved number one god of war. But before Shi Dakai grew up, the military commander of the Taiping Army was Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King. Yang Xiuqing lost his father at the age of 5 and his mother at the age of 9, and was raised by his uncle. Without land, he could only rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, and make a living by cutting wood and burning charcoal, that is, charcoal burners.
In 1846, Feng Yunshan, one of the founders of the Cult of God, pulled Yang Xiuqing into the religion, and Yang Xiuqing accepted Feng Yunshan's invitation and became a low-level member. In February of the following year, Feng Yunshan was arrested by the local government while preaching abroad, and Hong Xiuquan had to go to the rescue himself. Feng Yunshan was arrested, Hong Xiuquan was absent, the Cult of God had lost its main backbone in an instant, the people were panicked, and the organization was on the verge of collapse and disintegration. At this juncture, the landlords began to oppress the worship of God again, and it was really the "autumn of critical survival" that came.
Yang Xiuqing saw that the spirit was moving, and thought of the witchcraft of descending children, so he pretended to be possessed by the gods and played the trick of "jumping the big god". The method is indeed funny, but it also works, because most of the people at the bottom at that time were in a state of ignorance, and the market for this strange power was very large. Under the leadership of Yang Xiuqing, the worshippers of the Society of God united and persevered until Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan returned. Yang Xiuqing, who has been in the religion for less than half a year, has made great achievements, and Hong Xiuquan also appreciates this young man, coupled with the lack of people in the development stage, Yang Xiuqing has entered the core layer.
Hong Xiuquan acquiesced to Yang Xiuqing's trick of "possessing the gods", and also gave Yang Xiuqing the opportunity to replace him later, of course, this is all an afterthought. At the end of 1851, Hong Xiuquan led the Taiping Army to form a system in Yong'an and sealed the kings, and Yang Xiuqing sealed the Eastern King. Hong Xiuquan authorized him to control the kings and control the military power. In the war with the Qing government, it is inevitable that some people will become traitors for various reasons, and Zhou Xineng is one of them. Yang Xiuqing sent his henchmen to secretly investigate him and obtained ironclad evidence that he had defected to the Qing army. However, Yang Xiuqing did not make it public, and on the occasion of high-level presence, he once again staged his good play of dancing the god.
This time, Yang Xiuqing "invited" the Heavenly Father to give out the ironclad evidence and interrogation of Zhou Xineng's rebellion, and Zhou Xineng could not argue and could only admit it. This time, Yang Xiuqing became the spokesperson of "Heavenly Father", and his status has begun to be on an equal footing with Hong Xiuquan. Led by Yang Xiuqing, the Taiping Army marched all the way to Nanjing, where the capital was renamed "Tianjing". Marching and fighting without a little knowledge and military literacy is not feasible, how did Yang Xiuqing, a low-level working person who came from a charcoal burner, have such a strong military command ability?
This is naturally inseparable from his good play - dancing god. Before each war, he must "heavenly father", brainwash the soldiers, and encourage them to go forward. Again and again, the soldiers were convinced of Yang Xiuqing's ability to "heavenly father's upper body". Knowing that there was a heavenly Father who was protecting himself, the Taiping Army was more dead than the other in battle. On the other hand, the Eight Banners and Green Battalion of the Qing Army had long since lost their combat effectiveness when they entered the pass, and when they encountered the Taiping Army, which was not fatal, they were instigated before they opened up. Most of this style of play can destroy wonderful tactics, not to mention that Yang Xiuqing, who is the Eastern King, is just lining up troops at the strategic level and taking the lead in fighting, he will not do it.
With the development of the Taiping Army, Yang Xiuqing is also growing, and his strategic vision is becoming more and more admirable. In February 1856, the troops of Qin Rigang, the King of Yan, did their best to attack the Qing army's Jiangbei camp, and the generals were already at the end of the tree. However, Yang Xiuqing believes that this nail has long threatened the safety of Tianjing and must be completely removed. Therefore, he disregarded the fatigue of the generals and gave Qin Rigang a death order, and no one said please. Forced to be helpless, Qin Rigang could only use his strength to attack, and Yang Xiuqing's prestige also reached its peak with the moment when the North Camp was completely pulled out.
At this time, Yang Xiuqing, who had gathered military power, religious power, and political power, had become the de facto leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, almost emptying Hong Xiuquan. Just as the so-called "hero does not ask the source", a charcoal burner can become a strategist, which is inseparable from his wisdom and good at grasping the opportunity and making a decision when the opportunity arises. Jun did not see Emperor Gao of Daming Taizu, who was born worse than Yang Xiuqing, but climbed higher than Yang Xiuqing.