The world knows Hu Xueyan, this rich merchant can really be described as a prominent figure in the late Qing Dynasty, but unfortunately, as a businessman, he still can't get rid of the class shackles of the peasants, industrialists and merchants. Throughout Hu Xueyan's life, his way to prosperity was always inseparable from the dignitaries and nobles in the court. Hu Xueyan's officialdom was many nobles, the biggest of whom belonged to zuo Zongtang, a Manchu Qing dynasty official, and Hu Xueyan climbed to the peak of his life with the support of Zuo Zongtang. However, the most important nobleman in Hu Xueyan's life was not Zuo Zongtang, but another Manchu Qing official, who was Wang Youling, the Governor of Zhejiang. Wang Youling's life is quite wonderful, but unfortunately the ending is extremely tragic.
Wang Youling began to contact the officialdom at the age of 17, and when he was not dry, he became his father's little secretary, helping to deal with simple paperwork and daily administrative affairs, Wang Youling was the eldest son, and had the obligation to reduce the burden for his father, and Wang Youling took this opportunity to cultivate his own elders and lay the foundation for entering a deeper officialdom in the future. Wang Youling's official road was quite smooth, and at the age of 24, he presided over the salt administration of Zhejiang And held the financial and taxation power of Jianghuai. At the age of 31, he served as the county commander of Xinchang County and presided over local government affairs. Wang Youling, who had just entered the country, was very capable, and the local county affairs were trivial and complicated, but Wang Youling only combed through the rules, and in the two months after taking office, he cleaned up nearly two hundred old cases deposited by the county government for many years.
Although Wang Youling was a Han courtier, he was loyal to the Qing court, and the imperial court wanted to entrust him with a heavy responsibility, but it was a pity that Wang Youling, who was at the peak of his career, happened to be in the pain of losing his father. In the 29th year of Daoguang, Wang Youling's father Wang Xie unfortunately died of illness, and the 39-year-old Wang Youling should have been appointed as the prefect of Hangzhou, but because of his father's new death, he had no choice but to return to his hometown in Fujian for three years. Three years later, when he returned to Beijing and resumed his post, the Qing court still put him in charge of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but this time the position was the prefect of Hangzhou. Hangzhou, as an important town in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, was of great significance to the Qing court, but in the year that Wang Youling took office in Hangzhou at the age of 42, a catastrophe was quietly coming.
This catastrophe was the Taiping Rebellion, and Hong Xiuquan held high the anti-banner in Jintian and captured Nanjing in two years, setting the capital here. Immediately after the Taiping Army's Eastern Expedition, Jianghuai and other places were gradually dragged into the war. In the past few years when the Taiping Army was tossing and turning, Wang Youling gradually rose from the prefect of Hangzhou to the inspector of Zhejiang, becoming a feudal governor of the Manchu Qing. After all, Jiangsu and Zhejiang at this time were the hardest hit areas, and Suzhou, Changzhou, Jiaxing, Zhuji and other places had fallen, and Wang Youling felt pressure. In 1861, Li Xiucheng, a general of the Taiping Army, personally led a large army to Hangzhou, and Wang Youling, as the governor of Zhejiang, vowed to coexist and die with Hangzhou. He personally came to Hangzhou to command the soldiers to defend the city.
The fight between the two sides was extremely difficult, Li Xiucheng was greatly annoyed that he could not attack for a long time, and Wang Youling was also very anxious when he saw that there was little grain and grass left in the city. In the end, the Taiping army with a large number of soldiers and abundant grain and grass survived to the final victory, and after the destruction of Hangzhou, Wang Youling retired to the Hangzhou mansion and ended his life with a white silk, as the last loyalty to the Manchu Qing. Although Wang Youling died, But Li Xiucheng still refused to let him go, Li Xiu became a pacifying of the people in the city, he buried Wang Youling, and more importantly, Li Xiucheng personally dressed Wang Youling in the yellow dragon robe of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As a Han chen, Wang Youling was buried in a dragon robe, although it was not Wang Youling's original intention, but let Li Xiucheng borrow his own body to come to a political show, which is probably Wang Youling was extremely reluctant to see.