Liu Bang Xiang Yu's "Hongmen Banquet" has been widely circulated so far, and Li Hongzhang once again used this plan in the late Qing Dynasty. However, unlike the period of Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, in this Hongmen banquet, a total of eight generals fell to the ground.
Let's take a look back at what happened back then!
1. The inevitability of the uprising
Long before the Taiping Rebellion, the class contradictions in China were beyond the Qing government's control. Of course, the most important reason for this is the Opium War at the end of the 19th century, and it can be said that the Opium War brought not only political influence to China, but also economically.
It was an indisputable thing that defeat would require reparations, and with the defeat of the First Opium War, the whole country was facing a great dilemma.
It can be said that as early as the time when Daoguang succeeded to the throne, the entire Qing Dynasty had already begun to decline. During the reign of his father Jiaqing, he suppressed two large peasant uprisings, and all the manpower and material resources used in them had to be filled with silver.
Therefore, when Daoguang succeeded to the throne, there were not many silver taels, and after the Opium War, it was even worse. What to do if the treasury and silver are empty, can only oppress the people and take money from the people to pay off foreign debts.
After the war, the lives of the people were already very difficult, and now there is an increase in taxes, which can be said to have caused great disasters to the people. For a dynasty, if the people can't guarantee even the most basic livelihood, then it is not far from being overthrown.
In addition, due to the treaty signed by the Qing government, the influx of Western merchants and goods from the five ports of commerce had a serious impact on Chinese commerce.
And it is precisely because of the defeat of the Opium War that opium smuggling in China has become more rampant. Under the heavy profits, there must be brave men, and under the impetus of huge profits, smuggling has become a common phenomenon. It can be said that in the last century, many of them were separated from opium wives and their families were ruined.
At this time, the Qing government could not find a few officials who could think about the country and the people, and most of them were corrupt officials who lost their conscience for their own interests. Political corruption has reached its extreme, and it has reached a point where it is powerless to change.
At this time, the Qing government was already broken from the bones, and even if the superior wanted to repair it, it was only to mend it on his surface, and it would not play any role at all. Even to this extent, they did not forget to oppress the people, and it was precisely because the treasury had no money that a series of levies began.
The people suffered unspeakably, and it was under these conditions that the uprising ensued. Of course, the reason why the Taiping Rebellion was able to reach that level was precisely because the people were fed up with living under the rule of the Qing government.
2. Bloodstained banquet
When the Qing government learned of this, it immediately began to suppress the movement, and in the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, the Qing soldiers had no effect at all, and it can be said that the Eight Banners had begun to show their inferiority since the Jiaqing period.
Years of cultivation were powerless in the face of Hong Xiuquan's army, and the Empress Dowager Cixi was responsible for the suppression activities at that time.
And there are very few people in the hands of the Empress Dowager Cixi who can really use it, among which the leaders are Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang.
Jiangnan has always been a very prosperous place, so Li Xiucheng took advantage of the unpreparedness of the Qing army to go all the way south and won several big cities in the south. The Empress Dowager Cixi, who was far away in the capital, was furious when she learned about it, and immediately ordered Zeng Guofan to lead troops to take back Suzhou and other cities. But at that time, Zeng Guofan's army had just experienced a fierce battle with Chen Yucheng.
Seeing that Zeng Guofan was unwilling to send troops, the Empress Dowager Cixi was anxious, and at this time Li Hongzhang said that he would go to Jiangnan and take back Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Since Li Hongzhang can take the initiative to ask for help, of course, he also has his own methods. As we all know, Li Hongzhang is the initiator of the Westernization Movement, so he is also very proficient in Western guns, and the things of foreigners against the cold weapons of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can imagine what the final result will be.
In between, Li Hongzhang first went back to Anhui to recruit troops and horses, and after everything was ready, Li Hongzhang led his men and horses all the way to the south. It is worth mentioning that there was also an Englishman who accompanied him, and at the same time, this Englishman also gave Li Hongzhang and his small team of support.
They were overwhelmed along the way, and soon they were heading straight to Suzhou. At that time, their base camp was set in Suzhou. Then there was a fierce battle between the two sides, but because the army in the hands of Li Xiucheng had already experienced the war, there was still a Western army in the hands of Li Hongzhang here, and in the end it could only end in the defeat of Li Xiucheng.
Here, after Li Xiucheng failed, he decisively chose to give up Suzhou, so he reorganized his subordinates and prepared to leave Suzhou. But before the words left, Li Xiucheng still had some worries. Because he found that the eight generals who were guarding Suzhou, they were somewhat afraid of the battle with Li Hongzhang.
So when Li Xiucheng left, he also told them a thousand times to watch them and not to betray them. I have to say that Li Xiucheng's consideration is very in place.
Li Hongzhang also made a mistake here, because according to the current army in his hands, it is not easy to take Suzhou. So Li Hongzhang felt that he should first look at the tone of the eight generals who guarded Suzhou. So they sent people to contact him, but what Li Hongzhang never expected was that they were very positive about Li Hongzhang's peace talks.
Li Hongzhang has always been a master of negotiation here, and when he saw that there was hope, he immediately sent someone to contact them. After many rounds of negotiations, these eight generals were directly "fooled" by Li Hongzhang and did not know the southeast and northwest. I immediately wanted to cooperate with Li Hongzhang.
But there is another obstacle, that is, Tan Shaoguang is also the person who Li Xiucheng told him before. As soon as the eight of them saw that someone was blocking their way, they directly killed Tan Shaoguang.
After the negotiation was completed, Li Hongzhang immediately set up a banquet to entertain a few people, and the eight people here had already lost their eyes for the stable life after that. I went to the banquet without warning. Before I even ate here, I had already died in Huangquan.
3. It portends failure
Wang Huaiwu, Fan Qifa, Wang Youwei, Zhang Dazhou, Hao Yongkuan, Wang Anyun, Zhou Wenjia, Wu Huiwen. They are all generals, it can be said that if they were stubbornly defending Suzhou at that time, even if Li Hongzhang had the support of foreigners in his hands, he would not be able to control them easily.
But not only did they not stick to it, but chose to take refuge in Li Hongzhang, and directly buried their lives. In fact, it can also be seen that there are problems within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
The vast majority of them chose to join the uprising because their lives were hopeless, so although many appeared to be loyal, it was because their interests were actually touched on a daily basis.
If their interests are touched, they will quickly turn back, and the interests alone are enough for them to betray, not to mention their lives. To put it simply, there were few people who could really work for Hong Xiuquan at that time, and most of them were greedy for life and afraid of death.
And Hong Xiuquan did not refuse to grow his team for the first time, so there were few particularly determined people among them.
Of course, this can also be seen from the reason for the failure of the Taiping Rebellion. Internal disunity will not last long at any time. Just like these eight generals, most of them are martial artists, brave and unscrupulous, so they immediately rebelled under Li Hongzhang's simple order.
epilogue
Of course, their fate is also doomed, and even without Li Hongzhang's negotiations, it would be difficult for several people to succeed without political acumen. They do not have a collective consciousness, but are oriented to their own interests.
So even if Li Hongzhang doesn't kill them, he won't reuse them, after all, as long as they can betray once, there will definitely be a second time, and for this kind of traitor who seeks glory, he can't be reused at any time