The rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a magnificent historical chapter. In the midst of this peasant uprising, a group of talented leaders emerged, whose fates were closely linked to the future of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Among them, the winged king Shi Dakai is undoubtedly the most eye-catching member. This young and promising general, with his outstanding military talent and resourcefulness, soon became the mainstay of the Taiping army. The ironclad war horses led by him have repeatedly performed miraculous feats and captured countless important towns. Even a generation of famous generals like Zeng Guofan had to be in awe of him. However, just as Shi Dakai's prestige was growing, there was an undercurrent of power struggles within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. When a bloody "Tianjing Incident" broke out, what role did Shi Dakai play in this civil strife? And why did he later "run away with negative spirits" and finally fall on the battlefield? What kind of historical conflicts and contradictions are contained in this? Let us wait and see how the legendary life of Shi Dakai, the winged king, who "appeared to be both civil and military, but in fact had no great wisdom."
Shi Dakai's early life and military talents
Shi Dakai, formerly known as Shi Dakai, was born in 1828 in Xinning, Guangdong. Born into an ordinary peasant family, he showed extraordinary courage and wisdom from an early age. In 1847, at the age of 19, Shi Dakai joined the Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan, and soon stood out for his outstanding martial arts and strategy.
In the smoke of the Jintian Uprising, Shi Dakai began to show his edge. He is extraordinary, brave and good at fighting, and has made many achievements. Hong Xiuquan appreciated him and canonized him as the "Wing King" in 1851 and gave him the title of "5,000 years old", making him one of the important generals of the Taiping Army. Since then, Shi Dakai has galloped on the battlefield with the name of "Wing King" and established great achievements.
In 1853, the Taiping army captured Nanjing, and Shi Dakai led his army to participate in this decisive battle. With his outstanding command skills, his troops made great achievements in attacking the city and captured the Longpanmen Gate in Nanjing in one fell swoop. After this battle, Hong Xiuquan designated Nanjing as the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, "Tianjing", and Shi Dakai was also reused and entrusted with the important task of guarding the gate of Tianjing City.
As the main force of the Taiping Army, Shi Dakai then led the army to fight with the Qing Army many times, and repeatedly achieved miraculous feats. His subordinates are all battle-hardened veterans, and Shi Dakai is strategizing and commanding well, and he can often win more with less. The most famous of these is the Battle of Hukou in 1853, in which Shi Dakai personally commanded 30,000 Taiping troops and encountered the 100,000 troops of Zeng Guofan, a famous Qing general. After a fierce battle, Shi Dakai actually won a complete victory, defeating the main force of Zeng Guofan, causing him to flee for his life in a hurry and was almost captured. This victory established Shi Dakai's lofty position in the Taiping army.
Since then, Shi Da has been invincible, attacking the city and plundering the land. According to historical records, during the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for more than ten years, he successively captured seven prefectures and 47 county seats, and can be described as the "founding hero" of the Taiping Army. Even the famous generals of the Qing court, such as Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, were also jealous of this "wing king" and bluntly said that "the Qing Dynasty has gone".
However, just as Shi Dakai was in full swing, the power struggle within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was already surging undercurrent. A bloody "Tianjing Incident" broke out, and Shi Dakai played a key role in this civil strife, which also opened a turning point in his fate.
Shi Dakai's role in the "Tianjing Incident".
In 1853, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom built the capital of Nanjing and named it "Tianjing". In the years that followed, the internal power struggle intensified. The contradiction between Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, is intensifying, and both sides are secretly accumulating strength and preparing to fight each other.
This infighting was later called the "Tianjing Incident", and the winged king Shi Dakai played a key role in it.
The reason was that Yang Xiuqing transferred Shi Dakai and Wei Changhui, the king of the north, out of Tianjing on the grounds that "the war on the western front and the northern front was stalemate", and went to the front line to supervise the war. The move was aimed at moving away from the center of power and weakening the strength of the two in the capital.
However, Hong Xiuquan did not give up. After the camps in Jiangbei and Jiangnan were breached, he secretly instructed Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui and Yan King Qin Rigang to lead their troops back to Beijing to "King Qin", but in fact he wanted to kill Yang Xiuqing.
According to the agreement, the three-way army should attack in divisions. However, Shi Dakai hesitated outside the city and did not launch an attack in time. There are two possible reasons for this: one is that he has a personal relationship with Yang Xiuqing and has nostalgia for the past; the other is that he has greater ambitions and wants to take the opportunity to get rid of all dissidents.
No matter which one it is, it shows that Shi Dakai's vision and decisiveness are lacking. A true military strategist, in the face of such a major military event, should be decisive in killing and attacking, and should not hesitate.
In the end, Wei Changhui, the king of the north, and others acted first, attacked Tianjing, and exterminated Yang Xiuqing and his henchmen. Although Shi Dakai later led the army into the city, he had lost the initiative.
What's even more ironic is that after purging Yang Xiuqing's henchmen, Wei Changhui actually slaughtered Shi Dakai's family and servants. This is undoubtedly a punishment and revenge for Shi Dakai's indecision.
In this way, Shi Dakai personally sent away his closest people, and died unjustly, and he was deeply guilty. All this stems from his hesitation and short-sightedness at critical moments.
After the Tianjing Incident, Hong Xiuquan's authority and status were unshakable. But Shi Dakai did not give up, but began to peek into higher power. He did not understand the truth of "Xiao He defiled himself", and was eager to replace him, and did not understand that Hong Xiuquan, as the religious leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was the spiritual pillar of the entire movement and was indispensable.
As a result, Hong Xiuquan began to suppress Shi Dakai intentionally or unintentionally, constantly removing his key members and depriving him of real power. In the end, Shi Dakai took his descendants and troops to "run away" in a marginalized situation, completely breaking the relationship with Hong Xiuquan.
The reason and process of Shi Dakai's "negative qi escape".
Shi Dakai's indecision in the Tianjing Incident made him lose the initiative, and the contradiction between him and Hong Xiuquan intensified. Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan became more and more suspicious of this former confidant general, and constantly suppressed Shi Dakai's power.
First of all, Hong Xiuquan refused to give Shi Dakai the important title of "military advisor". In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the military advisor was equivalent to the position of the supreme military commander and the prime minister, and was in charge of military and political power. Although Shi Dakai has a high reputation among the military and civilians, without this title, it is difficult to show his real power.
Hong Xiuquan did not completely snub Shi Dakai, but gave him the title of "The Righteous King of the Holy Spirit Electricity Army". This seems to be giving Shi Dakai quite an honor, but in fact, it is secretly killing. Because the word "righteous king" means that if Shi Dakai rebels, he will be infamous as "ungrateful", so as to deter his ambitions.
Next, Hong Xiuquan began to intentionally or unintentionally weaken Shi Dakai's real power in the court. He constantly removed Shi Dakai's key members and replaced them with his own cronies, Hong Jiajun. Shi Dakai's descendants were hollowed out a little bit, and in the end, only a false title remained.
This move can be called the Qing Dynasty's version of "releasing military power with a glass of wine", and Shi Dakai has actually been marginalized and has become a "phantom of power". His position in the court is declining, and even his prestige is not as good as before.
In the face of Hong Xiuquan's suppressive methods, Shi Dakai had nothing to do. He lacks patience and forbearance, let alone the great wisdom of "Xiao He defiles himself". In his opinion, staying in Tianjing will only continue to be humiliated, and it is better to find another way out.
As a result, Shi Dakai took his descendants and troops to "run away" and completely broke the relationship with Hong Xiuquan. His decision was undoubtedly a major historical turning point, marking the further intensification of contradictions within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
After Shi Dakai left, he did not give up. He still called himself the "Winged King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", and under the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he fought guerrilla warfare abroad. This has undoubtedly exacerbated the ideological confusion in the army, and the troops are confused about who they obey.
Interestingly, although he has "rebelled" and fled, Shi Dakai has not completely severed his connection with Hong Xiuquan. From time to time, he would also submit a "petition" to Hong Xiuquan, hoping to be re-included in his command. It's a pity that Hong Xiuquan's suspicion of him has reached the point where it cannot be resolved, and Shi Dakai's requests have been repeatedly rejected.
In this way, Shi Dakai took his troops to wander outside, sometimes in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and other places, and sometimes returned to his hometown in Jiangxi. His army was in decline, and the Iron Armor was gone.
Once, Shi Dakai even went to see Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law Wei Changhui alone, hoping to return to Tianjing. It's a pity that Wei Changhui is very protective of him, and he doesn't dare to believe it easily. Shi Dakai could only hope that Mei would quench his thirst and leave again.
Since then, Shi Dakai has completely lost all his foothold in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. His troops wandered around and were gradually routed by the Qing army. Eventually, Shi Dakai was captured in Sichuan and severely executed.
Shi Dakai's final downfall and Li Xiucheng's evaluation
Shi Dakai did not give up after "running away with negative energy". He still called himself the "Winged King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", and under the banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he fought guerrilla warfare abroad. This undoubtedly exacerbated the ideological confusion in the army, and the troops became confused about whose command was.
Interestingly, although he has "rebelled" and fled, Shi Dakai has not completely severed his connection with Hong Xiuquan. He often submitted a "petition" to Hong Xiuquan, hoping to be re-included in his command. It's a pity that Hong Xiuquan's suspicion of him can't be resolved, and Shi Dakai's requests have been repeatedly rejected.
In this way, Shi Dakai took his troops to wander outside, sometimes in Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and other places, and sometimes returned to his hometown in Jiangxi. His army was in decline, and the Iron Armor was gone.
Once, Shi Dakai even brought only a dozen relatives alone, so he went to see Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law Wei Changhui, hoping to return to Tianjing. It's a pity that Wei Changhui is very protective of him, and he doesn't dare to believe it easily. Shi Dakai could only hope that Mei would quench his thirst and leave again.
Since then, Shi Dakai has completely lost all his foothold in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. His troops wandered around and were gradually routed by the Qing army. Eventually, Shi Dakai was captured in Sichuan.
In the spring of 1859, Shi Dakai was full of ambition and wanted to make a good omen with his first big victory since going it alone, so he chose to besiege the important town of Baoqing with 100,000 personal soldiers. Unexpectedly, not only did he fail to capture the city garrisoned by only 16,000 miscellaneous soldiers, but he was dragged to Liu Changyou to bring 10,000 elite Hunan troops to support, and was attacked from inside and outside.
After that, he fled to Guangxi in a panic, and he was quite embarrassed all the way, and he no longer had the majesty of the year. After Shi Dakai reorganized his troops in Guangxi, he attacked Guilin and was defeated by the third-rate general Xiao Qijiang. At this time, Liu Changyou caught up, and Shi Dakai had to continue to retreat south, returning to the place where the Jintian dream began.
In the end, Shi Dakai thought that Shu was easy to defend, and wanted to take Shu land, so he led the whole army to Sichuan. This kind of head-plapping decision-making once again shows his lack of foresight.
When Shi Dakai crossed the Jinsha River, he happened to encounter the water rise of the Dadu River in advance, and there were chasing soldiers behind him, and the army was in turmoil, and he failed to break through the siege many times. If he really has extraordinary military talents, how can he not know how to pay attention to the geographical environment?
Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Sichuan, saw that Shi Da was in a dilemma and sent envoys to negotiate with him. Tricked Shi Dakai into dismissing the Taiping army on his own. After the Taiping army was disbanded and Shi Dakai was captured, the Qing army immediately betrayed its word and slaughtered the rest of the Taiping army.
Shi Dakai himself was also sentenced to death, and his death was tragic. Soon after, the remnants of the Taiping army, Li Xiucheng, were also exterminated, and Li Xiucheng wrote the "Self-Statement" while in prison, recording the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
When writing about the Wing King Shi Dakai, Li Xiucheng first affirmed his merits, and then euphemistically pointed out that "on the surface, both civil and military, in fact, there is no great wisdom". This evaluation really hits Shi Dakai's core flaws.
As an outstanding military strategist, Shi Dakai has indeed shown outstanding talent in tactical command and military command. However, he lacks a far-sighted strategic vision, and often hesitates and is indecisive at critical moments, which ultimately leads to big mistakes.
What's more, Shi Dakai's understanding of political struggles and power games is too shallow to discern the essence of them. He will only blindly pursue power, but he does not know how to control and use power, and finally retreats in the infighting, and gradually goes to ruin.
end
It can be said that Shi Dakai has all the conditions of a military strategist, but he has never been able to become a real leader of a generation. His fate is a microcosm of the final failure of the peasant uprising in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.