In June 1856, a eunuch panicked and reported to Emperor Xianfeng in the Forbidden City that the Qing army's Jiangnan camp had been breached by the Taiping army in one fell swoop.
Hearing this, Emperor Xianfeng's face changed greatly, which meant that the three-year siege of Tianjing had been broken, and the Qing Dynasty's rule was in jeopardy.
Xianfeng couldn't sleep and eat because of this, and prayed every day, hoping that God would bless him, and the community would be safe and sound, and he would turn evil into good fortune.
Only two months later, a major event occurred in Tianjing City, which made Emperor Xianfeng's high heart finally fall to the ground, and he sighed loudly: "God help me!" ”
This major event was the infighting between the high-level leaders of the Taiping Army in Tianjing City, and Yang Xiuqing, the second person in the Taiping Army, was killed (known as the "Tianjing Incident" in history).
The killing of Yang Xiuqing shows that the top of the Taiping army is divided and mired in internal strife, and they will no longer be monolithic, and the danger to the Qing government will be greatly reduced.
This matter is not over, and immediately afterwards, two major events occurred in Tianjing City: Wei Changhui, the king of the north, was killed, and Shi Dakai, the king of wings, fled. Hearing the news, Emperor Xianfeng smiled from ear to ear, which showed that the Taiping army had gone downhill from then on, and it was only a matter of time before it perished.
Historians have different opinions about the course of this incident.
Some people say that it was Yang Xiuqing who forced him step by step, and Hong Xiuquan, in order to maintain his authority, ordered Wei Changhui, the king of the north, to enter Beijing to kill Yang Xiuqing, and then blame the king of the north. Some people also say that Hong Xiuquan has an opinion on Yang Xiuqing, the king of the East, but he has not yet killed the king of the east. It was Wei Changhui, the king of the north, who was ambitious and provoked Hong Xiuquan to make a move and kill Yang Xiuqing. In other words, Wei Changhui, the king of the north, is the director of the Tianjing incident, and Hong Xiuquan is just a deceived person.
What is the truth, everyone has their own opinions, and no one can convince anyone, which can be regarded as a temporary topic that troubles historians.
It was not until 1904 (the thirtieth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty) that an octogenarian appeared in Hong Kong and revealed a shocking secret to the world, and the truth of the Tianjing Incident was revealed to the world.
This old man's identity is extraordinary, he is Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law, named Lai Hanying.
As we all know, the Qing government hated the Taiping army to the core, and was very cruel to its generals, trying to kill them all. After the fall of Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan's teenage son Hong Tianguifu was also executed by Ling Chi.
In this case, why was Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law Lai Hanying not killed? How did he get to Hong Kong? What happened to him?
In 1818, Lai Hanying was born in Huaxian County, Guangdong, and was the younger brother of Hong Xiuquan's wife, Lai Lianying.
Hong Xiuquan is also a native of Huaxian County, as a fallen talent, Hong Xiuquan is very miserable, he can't even marry his wife, and he belongs to the bottom of society.
It is not surprising that many of the leaders of the peasant rebel army in history were destitute and destitute, and if they belonged to the middle class of society and lived a dignified life, there was a high probability that they would not rebel.
It was precisely because of the misery that Hong Xiuquan had the idea of launching an uprising, turning things upside down, and overthrowing the Qing court.
In 1851, Hong Xiuquan launched an uprising in Jintian, Guangxi, which opened the curtain of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.
When Hong Xiuquan got married, he was already the president of the "God Worship Association", which had 2,000 members. It was at this time that Lai Lianying married Hong Xiuquan.
Hong Xiuquan did not expect that the uprising he launched would be responded to by so many people and quickly swept through most of China.
It only took more than two years for Hong Xiuquan to settle in Tianjing, become the king of heaven, live in a palatial palace, and have a group of wives and concubines (there are names and surnames, and there are 88 wives and concubines registered).
After entering the palace, until the eleven years since Tianjing was breached, Hong Xiuquan never left the palace gate for half a step, and has been wandering and reveling in the gentle township, unable to extricate himself.
However, Hong Xiuquan has a commendable place, that is, the wife of the chaff does not go to court, and people have never forgotten his wife Lai Lianying, who shares weal and woe with him.
Another important reason why Lai Lianying is favored is that she gave birth to her eldest son, Hong Tianguifu, for the Heavenly King. Mother is more precious than son, and Lai Lianying's status in the harem has always been rock-solid and unshakable.
After the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, Lai Lianying did not embarrass King Hong, and after she handed over the child to Li Xiucheng, the king of loyalty, she resolutely committed suicide by throwing herself into the river.
In feudal society, the emperor used people as nepotism, as Hong Xiuquan's wife and brother, Lai Hanying was trusted and had a bright future.
In Li Xiucheng's "Figures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising", Lai Hanying was described as follows:
Before defecting to Hong Xiuquan, Lai Hanying was a doctor with high medical skills.
What I didn't expect was that his military talent was still very powerful, and he was even more expert in commanding battles than several heavenly kings.
Therefore, a year after the Taiping Rebellion, Lai Hanying grew from an ordinary soldier to a general in his own right, serving as the fourth commander of the palace.
In February of the third year of Xianfeng, when the Taiping army marched north from Wuhan and captured Nanjing, he showed great courage and took the lead in attacking Nanjing.
He was able to write and martial arts, and he was responsible for drafting many proclamations, documents and edicts of the Taiping Army.
After the Taiping army captured the city of Nanjing, Emperor Xianfeng was shocked and ordered to recapture it at all costs. The Qing army also dispatched troops to try to besiege Yangzhou, a military town guarded by the Taiping army. Lai Hanying took the initiative to ask for help and achieved the success of the Yangzhou Defense Battle!
In June 1856, Lai Hanying and Luo Dagang together broke through the Jiangnan camp of the Qing army in one fell swoop, and the enemy's three-year siege of Tianjing came to an end.
However, in November of that year, the Tianjing Incident broke out, the East King and the North King were killed by their own people, the Wing King Shi Da drove away, and the Taiping Army came to an end until 1864, when the Tianjing City was breached, and the vigorous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement came to an end.
After the fall of Tianjing, Lai Hanying escaped in disguise and moved to Hong Kong, where he changed his name and surname to live in Kowloon City. However, it was still known to the Qing army and surrounded the residence. Lai Hanying was in danger, and once again disguised himself as a servant to escape and returned to his hometown.
In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), Lai Hanying died in his hometown.
When he was alive, he once told people about the past and revealed the inside story of the Tianjing Incident. According to Lai Hanying, the culprit of the Tianjing Incident was none other than Wei Changhui, the king of the North.
The fuse of the Tianjing Incident was that Yang Xiuqing pretended to ask his Heavenly Father to descend to earth and forced Hong Xiuquan to crown him as Long live. Prior to this, Yang Xiuqing went down to earth in the name of his Heavenly Father at every turn, fabricated charges, scolded Hong Xiuquan, and forced him to kneel. Even in the middle of the night, Yang Xiuquan would suddenly descend and force Hong Xiuquan to kneel to receive the order.
This has become an endless nightmare for the Heavenly King, and no one can bear it, not to mention that Hong Xiuquan is the king of a country.
Hong Xiuquan couldn't bear it anymore, and secretly summoned Wei Changhui to Beijing and killed Yang Xiuqing.
However, doesn't Yang Xiuqing know that there are many generals who are loyal to Hong Xiuquan, why are they so unscrupulous?
The main reason is that Wei Changhui stabbed both sides and tried his best to please Yang Xiuqing, making him misjudge the situation.
According to Lai Hanying's recollection, Wei Changhui was a careerist and a two-faced person. He is loyal to Yang Xiuqing on the surface, but behind the scenes, he has a ghost in his heart and has sinister intentions. To be precise, it is a villain who "says good things to his face and poisons his hands behind his back".
His motives for participating in the uprising were impure, and he had blended into the ranks of the revolution. And he has imperial ambitions and wants to be the boss. In order to achieve this goal, he was ostensibly loyal to Yang Xiuqing without principle, with the purpose of "seizing power from the yang and yin to seize his power".
It is recorded in the "Jinling Guijia Chronicle" that Wei Changhui befriended Yang Xiuqing to the point of no return, and every time he spoke, he "would kneel and thank you".
Once, Wei Changhui's brother and Yang Xiuqing's wife and brother competed for a mansion and couldn't hold each other. After Wei Changhui learned about it, he announced that he would divide his brother's five horses.
Another time, Yang Xiuqing scolded Wei Changhui for the crime of not strictly controlling his subordinates, and his subordinates were angry and complained. Wei Changhui actually killed his own subordinates, "to Xie Xiuqing".
According to this, Yang Xiuqing believes that Wei Changhui is loyal to him, at least he is in awe and fear of him, so he has no fear, does not take the king in his eyes, and even forces each other.
Wei Changhui repeatedly flattered Yang Xiuqing, wanting such an effect, hoping that he would make a misjudgment and annoy Hong Xiuquan.
And when he arrived at Hong Xiuquan, Wei Changhui kept accusing Yang Xiuqing of deceiving people too much, being ambitious, and having a "heart of disobedience".
His purpose is to intensify the contradiction between the King of Heaven and the King of the East, fight in the same room, and benefit himself from it when the time comes.
At this point, even the Qing court agents were very insightful, and said in a secret report to the Qing court: "Yang thief and Changhui are suspicious of each other, and it seems that there will be annexation soon." ”
In fact, the initiators of the Tianjing Incident, Chen Chengying and Qin Rigang, both had a close relationship with Wei Changhui.
The reason why Hong Xiuquan decided to kill Yang Xiuqing was because Chen Chengying told the king of heaven, saying that Yang Xiuqing was going to rebel and try to kill the king and seize his throne.
Qin Rigang is Wei Changhui's sworn friend, his original name was Richang, and he changed his name to avoid Wei Changhui.
In October of this year, after Wei Changhui rebelled against the rebellion and pacified, King Hong Tianwang angrily beheaded Chen Chengying and Qin Rigang in order to appease the dissatisfaction of the soldiers.
To sum up, the reason why the Tianjing Incident happened, Wei Changhui, a careerist, is unforgivable, and he is actually the first person responsible, but the long-inflated Yang Xiuqing and the indecisive Hong Xiuquan also have some responsibility.
The occurrence of the Tianjing Incident shattered the cohesion within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, weakened the military strength of the Taiping Army, helped Emperor Xianfeng a lot, and saved the Qing government.
Reference: Xie Jiehe, "Jinling Guijia Chronicles", Luo Ergang, Wang Qingcheng, "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"