In July 1864, the Xiang army attacked Tianjing and plundered on a large scale, and Jinling, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, was once again devastated, and public opinion in the government and the public was in an uproar. In order to avoid the wind outlet, the Ninth Marshal Zeng Guoquan took the initiative to "call the disease" on the table and took a huge amount of money home to enjoy. The "Jizi Camp" discipline was corrupt, and as we all know, Zeng Guoquan "killed like hemp and spent money like dirt", his reputation was very poor, and he had to resign and go home just after the taiping heavenly kingdom collapsed.
The discipline of the Xiang Army was corrupted, and why was Zeng Guoquan alone? The protagonist of this article, Xi Baotian, the commander of the "Jingyi Battalion": leads the troops to capture Hong Tianguifu alive, captures Hong Rengui, the king of Gan, and interrupts the hope of the revival of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Xi Baotian made great achievements in battle, but the discipline was very bad, and wherever the "Jingyi Battalion" went, soldiers burned and looted, causing the people's resentment to boil. When the Miao people's uprising was suppressed, Xi Baotian remained stubborn and plundered at will; many Korean and Chinese officials were impeached, forced to resign and return home, build houses, buy land, and build schools.
Xi Baotian, a native of Dong'an, Hunan, was a famous general of the Xiang Army and the commander of the "Jingyi Battalion". In the early years, Xi Baotian focused on the imperial examination, hoping to take the "right path" and honor his ancestors. In 1853, the Taiping Army marched west to the two lakes, and Xi Baotian's fate changed. In order to defend the township, Xi Baotian defected to Liu Changyou's men and engaged the Taiping Army. At this time, Xi Baotian was armed with "regimental training" and attacked the rear of the Taiping Army, and did not fight a hard battle.
In May 1859, The Wing King Shi Dakai led more than 100,000 soldiers and horses to besiege Baoqing, and the situation was fierce. Shi Dakai, known as the "God of War" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, fought the Battle of Jiujiang, the Battle of Hukou, and the Battle of Zhangshu, and fought Zeng Guofan and fled into the wilderness, without any temper at all. Unfortunately, Shi Dakai made a strategic mistake and, in the absence of logistical supplies, adopted the "long encirclement tactic" and fought a war of attrition with the Qing army in Baoqing, and the result was very tragic.
In July, Xi Baotian followed Liu Changyou and led 9,000 soldiers and horses to Baoqing City to officially fight Shi Dakai. Xi Baotian fought bravely, leading the way, and still played on the front line after being wounded. In August, Shi Dakai was defeated, and Xi Baotian and Liu Changyou took advantage of the victory to pursue and enter Guangxi to surround and annihilate Shi Dakai. With his military exploits, Xi Baotian was promoted to prefect.
Entering Guangxi to pursue Shi Dakai, Xi Baotian was also invincible, and in Guilin, Liuzhou, Binyang and other places, he defeated the Taiping Army continuously, which was deeply appreciated by Liu Changyou. After Shi Dakai entered Guangxi, the Tiandihui uprising was once again active, and the war was burned to Hunan, and Inspector Luo Bingzhang was very anxious. In order to suppress the Rebellion of the Heaven and Earth Society, Luo Bingzhang transferred Xi Baotian back to Hunan from Guangxi and asked him to recruit soldiers and horses to form the "Jingyi Battalion" and act alone.
After the establishment of the "Jingyi Battalion", it was directly under Luo Bingzhang, not a descendant of Zeng Guofan. Therefore, although Xi Baotian was brave, he could not participate in the "Eastern Expedition to Jinling", but stayed in the Hunan area to suppress the rebel army, protect the rear of the Xiang Army, and replace Zeng Guofan. Of course, Xi Baotian stayed in the rear, not only fighting in Hunan, but also entering Jiangxi to fight, containing the Jiangxi Taiping Army, and serving the Zuo Zongtang Army that entered Zhejiang to fight.
Xi Baotian played as a substitute for Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang, which was very humiliating, but there was also an "unexpected gain". In July 1864, Tianjing fell, and the young king Hong Tianguifu broke through and ran to Huzhou to join Huang Wenjin. At this time, Huzhou gathered a large number of soldiers and horses of the Taiping Army, and they covered the young king to go to Hubei, trying to enter Guanzhong and make a comeback.
In October, Huang Wenjin was killed by a gunshot when he charged into battle, and the Taiping Army that covered the young king's trip to Hubei had no commander, and the people were panicked. When entering Jiangxi, Xi Baotian followed and pursued all the way, and then defeated this Taiping army at Yangjiapai in Shicheng, and Hong Rengui was captured alive. The young heavenly king Hong Tianguifu was lucky, he fell into the ditch and temporarily escaped the disaster. Unfortunately, Hong Tianguifu's ability to survive in the wild is low, and he has no labor skills, so he still can't escape the fate of being arrested.
Unable to stay on the mountain, the old peasant family was not willing to take in (no labor skills, did not want to raise for nothing), Hong Tianguifu could only beg all the way. Soon, the dry food brought out of the old farmer's house was finished, and Hong Tianguifu was so hungry that he took the initiative to run to the Xibaotian military camp to find food to eat. At first, Xiang Jun thought he was a refugee, gave him a bowl of porridge, who knew a Hakka dialect, exposed his identity, and finally was arrested.
Hong Tianguifu "took the initiative" to deliver the door, and Xi Baotian was very happy. Xi Baotian then escorted him to Nanchang, interrogated him by Inspector Shen Baozhen, and then executed him at the age of 16. Capturing the young heavenly king Hong Tianguifu alive, the Qing Dynasty was very happy, and gave Xi Baotian the name of the envoy and gave priority to recruitment.
After the fall of Tianjing, there were still hundreds of thousands of Taiping troops scattered everywhere, and their strength should not be underestimated. Although the young heavenly king Hong Tianguifu said that he had no ability, he was the link between the Taiping Army and the Taiping Army; if Hong Tianguifu lived, there would be leaders in the Taiping Army everywhere, and the taiping heavenly kingdom banner would not fall. Hong Tianguifu was captured alive and executed by Ling Chi, and all the Taiping armies were like dogs that lost their families, and they also lost their goals of struggle, and failure was sooner or later.
Capturing the Young Heavenly King alive, Xi Baotian interrupted the hope of the revival of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was the main reason why he was able to later paint the Purple Light Pavilion and become a "famous minister of Zhongxing". In 1867, Xi Baotian once again exerted his strength, recruiting more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in Hunan and expeditioning to Guizhou to deal with Zhang Xiumei, the leader of the Miao people's rebel army. With the advantage of firepower, Xi Baotian chased and fought fiercely in Guizhou and won consecutive victories. In 1872, Zhang Xiumei was captured alive and killed, and the Miao people's uprising was put down.
The "Jingyi Battalion" can fight, but the discipline is still very bad. When suppressing the Miao people's uprising, capturing a city or a Miao village, Xi Baotian would condone soldiers to rob them, collect the gold and silver treasures for themselves, and then hire ships to send them back to their hometown in Hunan. For example, in the Battle of Lei Gong Shan, more than 30,000 Miao people were killed, Miao Zhai was reduced to ashes, and wealth was plundered.
Conniving at the soldiers' plundering, public opinion in the government and the public was in an uproar, accusing Xi Baotian one after another, and impeaching him was also wave after wave. In order to avoid public opinion, Xi Baotian "called illness" home and lived a happy life. Back in his hometown, Xi Baotian built a large-scale manor, more than 1,000 meters long, the wall was as high as four or five meters, and the architectural decoration in the manor was also very luxurious.
In 1889, Xi Baotian died, and the huge property he left behind was not found and buried nowhere. There is a folk proverb: "Turtle to lion and tiger, gold and silver buried in the soil." Someone can find it and buy all the Baoqing Province. It can be seen that during Xi Baotian's conquest, he did loot a lot of silver and became rich.
The Xiang Army, a typical private army, is self-funded, and the discipline is naturally very bad, and Xi Baotian is the representative. Those who were strict with themselves were not none, but very few; Luo Bingzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Peng Yulin, and other commanders of the Xiang Army were almost penniless. Among them, Luo Bingzhang was the governor of Sichuan, and after his death, the burial expenses could not be collected, and the Chengdu general Chongshi admired him very much, so he applied to the imperial court for funds to give him burial expenses.
Bibliography: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty