In the Xianfeng and Tongzhi dynasties, the monk Gelinqin was always the most trusted Mongol prince in the Qing court, and he obtained a hereditary prince through his military merits, which was unique among the kings of the late Qing Dynasty. He has endured the most dazzling honors and suffered the worst failures. A life experience of ups and downs, concentrated on several major events.
In the third year of the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Northern Expedition Xianfeng (1853), the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom set the capital of Tianjing, and lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang were sent to lead more than 20,000 Northern Expeditions. The Northern Expeditionary Army rode up through Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Shanxi and other provinces to enter Zhili, and the forward reached Yang Liuqing, dozens of miles southwest of Tianjin. The Qing court was greatly shaken, and the dignitaries and dignitaries in the capital fled one after another, and the citizens were panicked. The monk Gelinqin led his troops to meet the Taiping Army, and won the first battle at Duliu Town, southwest of Tianjin.
In the face of the brave Taiping Army, the monk Greenqin personally led the charge, and the morale was greatly boosted. The lone army was unable to support the Taiping Army, and the southerners could not adapt to the severe cold of the northern winter, and suffered from the pain of wind and food, and after three months of fighting, the Taiping Army suffered heavy losses and retreated to Lianzhen, Dongguang County. The following year (1854), the monk Gelinqin pursued the Northern Expeditionary Army to Lianzhen. At this time, Lin Fengxiang, the general of the Northern Expeditionary Army, was defending Lianzhen, and Li Kaifang led a team from Lianzhen through the border of Zhili Province into Shandong, occupying Gaotang not far east of Linqing. Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang were separated from each other, making it possible for the Qing army to break through each other. Lin Fengxiang was besieged by the monk Gelinqin at Lianzhen, while Li Kaifang was trapped by the Manchurian general Sheng Bao at Gaotang. Despite the increasingly desperate situation, the two Taiping armies held their positions and continued to resist.
The monk Greenqin switched to water attacks, built walls and trenches for forty miles around the town, and diverted canal water into the town, laying sieges for 11 months. In the first month of the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), the monk Gelinqin attacked Lianzhen, and lin Fengxiang, the commander of the Northern Expedition, was captured and sent to Beijing for execution. The monk Greenqin did not stop, took advantage of the victory to Gotang, and took over the Army of Shengbao.
Gao Tang's Taiping army was elite in hundreds of battles, with sufficient food, and a wooden fence was erected around the city, covered with soil, and a haogou was set up in front of it, and tunnels were dug, and the Taiping army soldiers sneaked into it. Every night, through the tunnels to go out to rob the camp, the Qing army was quite damaged. Katsuho cast cannons and tree ladders attacked the city, but they could not be overcome, so they had to build a fortress and dig hao for a long siege. Katsuho was unsuccessful in his battle and arrested Kyo for his crime. Monk Grinqin took his place. Seeing that he was unable to overcome repeated attacks, he changed his tactics and ordered the siege army to open a net and lure the Taiping Army out of Gao Tang. Li Kaifang led more than 800 horsemen to retreat to Feng Guantun 45 miles south of the city, digging trenches around the city and equipped with artillery, but the Qing army was still unable to approach. The monk Greenqin attacked again with water, digging trenches around Tun and building walls along the ditches. In order to divert water into the ditch, a 123-mile-long canal was excavated to lead directly to the Grand Canal. After the completion of the diversion canal, 2,000 or 3,000 people were hired to pour the canal water into Feng Guantun. Soon, the houses in tunnei were flooded. The Taiping Army's grain, grass, and gunpowder were all wet, and they could only live on the upper floors, and the Qing soldiers bombarded them from time to time with cannons, and the Taiping Army had no continuity, and it was the end of the road. Li Kaifang was forced to surrender to the monk Greenqin. There are witnesses who record the scene at the time of the fall:
Li Xiang (Li Kaifang) wears a yellow silk embroidered hat, a moon white silk short jacket, a red silk hakama, and red shoes, and is about thirty-two three years old. With two thieves, wearing big red embroidered pants, red shoes, about sixteen or seventeen years old, beautiful as a woman, swinging fans left and right, with Li reverse straight into the account. Li Wei only bent one knee to the monk's mansion, Debeizi, and so on, that is, sat cross-legged on the ground. Two children stand tall. All the soldiers below the general in the tent stood with swords and glared at them. Li Wei and the second child looked around on their backs, without any fear. But he said that he could forgive his punishment, and he was willing to say that the thieves of Jinling had come to surrender and asked for food. So he chewed and laughed as usual, and there was no one around. The monks knew that their hearts were uncertain. The meal was sent out. And he ordered the eight thieves to enter the tent, and all of them knelt down to ask for forgiveness, that is, they were sent out. Li Wei and the Eight Thieves were sent to Kyoto, and Ling Chi was executed.
Although Li Kaifang surrendered, he was not convinced, talked and laughed, and put life and death aside long ago, which was indeed a tough man. On the other hand, the monk Greenqin stood with a knife and glared at him, but he seemed to be a little nervous. With Li Kaifang captured alive, the Northern Expeditionary Army was completely destroyed. This battle eliminated the qing court's nearby confidants in Gyeonggi, and the monk Gelinqin was listed as the first meritorious, first promoting the prince of Jin, and then adding hereditary resignation. The prestige of the monk Greenqin was shocked in the sea.
Senggelinqin suppressed the Taiping Army, but the Qing army itself suffered heavy losses. Since the Battle of Lianzhen, no less than 8,000 people have been killed. The revenge of the monk Gelinqin against the taiping generals was also extremely cruel. At his command, 82 captives (including 2 children) were dissected alive to pay homage to the dead. So much so that some people called him and Zeng Guofan, who had shaved his head, "The Monk of the South and the North".
The Northern Expedition of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which fought against the British and French armies, had just been pacified, and the Second Opium War broke out.
In April of the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), the Anglo-French coalition attacked Dagukou, the Qing defenders were defeated, and the Qing court signed the Treaty of Tianjin with representatives of Britain, France and other countries. When the monk Greenqin learned of this, he asked the Xianfeng Emperor to withdraw the negotiators and mobilize soldiers from all over the country to carry out a thorough war of resistance. The frightened Xianfeng Emperor did not take his advice, and in order to prevent further action by the Anglo-French forces, he ordered him to Tianjin to supervise the defense of Dagukou and Jingdong. Monk Greenqin repaired the city to install cannons, built fortifications, added water divisions, straightened out the militia groups, and raised salaries and weapons to strengthen Tianjin's defense. In order to hold the fortress, more than 1,600 land troops in Dagukou were increased to 3,000, and 5,000 reinforcements from Heilongjiang, Chahar, and Mongolian horse teams were dispatched to rebuild 3 forts on the north and south banks of Dagukou to make preparations for battle.
In May of the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859), British and French envoys led the fleet north to change the contract, and the fleet consisted of 1 cruiser and 13 gunboats. The British and French fleets attacked Dagukou and encountered stubborn resistance from the Qing army. The British and French fleets suffered heavy losses, sinking 4 ships, wounding 6 ships, taking 2 prisoners, and the rest of the ships were raised with white flags to request an armistice. After a day and night of fierce fighting, a total of 464 British troops were killed and wounded, 14 French troops, 5 British officers were killed, and 23 wounded. The fleet commander, Hebu, was also seriously wounded. The Anglo-French forces retreated under the cover of American ships.
At the Battle of Dagukou, the Qing army won a major victory. In the battle, the monk Gelinqin was well commanded and played an important role. Heng Fu, the governor of Zhili, said in a post-war speech: "Since the last year when he was commissioned to handle coastal defense, the monk Gelinqin has worked hard day and night and worked hard. In the first month of this year, he personally went to Haikou to camp. With the soldiers and soldiers, they are bitter and bitter, the wind and rain are endless, and their loyalty, courage, simplicity, and sincerity are beyond the reach of slaves. ”
The Xianfeng Emperor originally thought that the Treaty of Tianjin was too harsh and had no intention of accepting it. Seeing that Dagukou won, it was to destroy the Treaty of Tianjin. He gave a great reward to the monk Gelinqin and the officers and men who guarded the Dagu Pass, and immersed himself in a state of joy.
Britain and France were the world's leading powers at the time, and the defeat of Dagukou certainly did not give up.
In June of the Xianfeng Decade (1860), the Anglo-French Expeditionary Force arrived. Among them, the British army is about 18,000 people, the French army is about 7,000 people, and there are more than 200 warships. The coalition forces knew that the defense of Dagukou was strong, and landed from Beitang, and in the bombardment of foreign guns and cannons, the monks resisted stubbornly, but they were still defeated and retreated.
The Anglo-French coalition captured Tanggu and occupied Tianjin. Xianfeng sent Gui Liang, the minister of Qincha, to Tianjin for negotiations. Britain and France put forward demands for tianjin port opening and compensation. Gui liang reported that the Xianfeng Emperor ordered the first retreat and then made a pact. The Anglo-French coalition marched to Tongzhou after the negotiations failed.
The Xianfeng Emperor sent Zaiyuan the Prince of Yi and Muyin of Bingbu Shangshu as ministers of Chincha and went to Tongzhou to negotiate peace. Zaiyuan accepted the British and French demands, but the British and French offered to hand over the letter of state to the emperor, which Zaiyuan refused. Zai Heng said: "According to the Chinese etiquette system, the emperor must bow down. Pasha Li said, "I am not a minister of China, so how can I take off my robe and bow down?" After a long debate, Pasha went on and on. At the behest of the Xianfeng Emperor, Zaiyuan ordered the monk Gelinqin to detain Pasha Li and his party in Zhangjiawan. The monk Gelinqin, who already hated the Anglo-French coalition army to the bone, received the edict and immediately led his troops to intercept 39 British and French personnel, including Pasha Li. At this point, the Tongzhou negotiations broke down completely.
The Anglo-French forces learned that the envoys were being held and fought with the monks at Zhangjiawan in Tongzhou. The monks were defeated and retreated to Tongzhou Bali Bridge. More than 6,000 British and French troops attacked the Bali Bridge. Bali Bridge, 8 miles east of Tongzhou and 30 miles west of Beijing, is the last pass to Beijing, and once this pass is broken, Beijing will inevitably fall. The monk Gelinqin knew that there was no way back, and made an oath to the emperor: "Slaves and others are now supervising the officers and soldiers to retreat to the Bali Bridge to block the road to Beijing." Slaves and so on hurriedly re-energized the hearts of the army, and if they should be attacked by Tong (prefecture), slaves and so on can only fight with them to the death. ”
At about 7:00 a.m. on the seventh day of August, the British and French forces attacked the defenders of Bali Bridge in three ways: east, west and south. Senggelinqin ordered the Mongol cavalry to charge and kill. At one point, the cavalry rushed to the vicinity of the enemy headquarters, and the short soldiers engaged each other, and the fierce battle was fierce for a while. Subsequently, french artillery shells poured on the Bali Bridge on the South Road, and the Qing army suffered heavy casualties. The defenders and the French engaged in hand-to-hand combat by the bridge. Senggelinqin personally came to the front line and commanded the Mongol horse team. In the pen of foreigners, the fierceness of the Battle of Bali Bridge makes people unbearable to read:
At the Battle of Bali Bridge, the Chinese army confronted the coalition army with rare bravery. Their army consisted of twenty-five thousand Tatars and numerous vigilantes ... Despite their shouts to move forward, brave and repeatedly charging, they were defeated at the beginning! however...... They withstood the overwhelming fire that caused them casualties... Or would you rather not retreat one step at a time, bravely persist, and die on the spot.
At the mouth of the bridge stood an extremely tall Tatar who looked like the flag bearer of the commander-in-chief. He holds a large yellow flag with black letters written on it, and from time to time he points it in all directions. This is the banner of the monk king, and the eyes of all the officers are watching it, because it is giving orders to all the Chinese troops... At this moment, the bridge personally defended by the elite of the whole army was already full of corpses, but the Tatar, though alone, was still standing there, probably conveying the last order of the monk. Bullets and shells whistled and whistled around him, but he remained calm... The shotgun knocked him to the ground, and the banner fell to the side,...... With its flagpole gone was a spasmodic hand clutching it...
If the monk Greenqin had died in a bloody battle, his name might have been even louder. However, when the army suffered more than half of the casualties, he lost the courage to die in battle and led his troops to retreat. The Xianfeng Emperor ordered the removal of the monk Greenqin's three-eyed flower plume and stripped him of his positions as the minister of internal affairs and the governor of the capital.
The Anglo-French forces advanced into Beijing. The Xianfeng Emperor appointed The Sixth Brother of the Emperor Gong (恭王奕訢) as a minister of Chincha and handled the peace. In the name of "Qiu Mu Mulan", he fled to Rehe in a hurry. After the Anglo-French army entered Beijing, it burned down the Yuanmingyuan. The gorgeous architecture and countless ingenious art treasures in the garden have either been looted or reduced to ashes.
The Xianfeng Emperor announced that he would remove the Senggelinqin from the throne and retain only the post of chancellor of Chincha. The titles and honors he had earned for most of his life were almost all lost.
In the eleventh year (1861) of the two palaces, the Xianfeng Emperor died of illness in Rehe, and a fierce struggle was fought over the supreme right of supremacy, led by the empress dowager of the two palaces, Prince Gong Yixuan, and Prince Yizhen of Alcohol, and the other side, led by Prince Zaiyuan of Zanxiang, Duanhua the Prince of Zheng, and Sushun of the Imperial Family. The monk Greenqin, who had been restored to the throne of the county, became the object of co-optation between the two sides because of his heavy army.
On August 17 of that year, Sushun and other ministers of the Government of Zanxiang specially sent a letter to the monk Gelinqin, taking the initiative to urge him to plead with the Zi Palace in an attempt to win over the monk Gelinqin, and to test his attitude toward the chancellor of the Zanxiang Government. The letter said: "Yesterday, When Toyama came to Luan (referring to the Rehe Summer Resort), after inquiring about the letter from Wang Ye, he was very sad. Now that the twister bandits have come out of the nest again, Wang Ye should still focus on military affairs, and he should not be too sad. The ministers of all walks of life have been invited to Beijing by decree and have no need to play. However, the prince was most favored, and the non-commanders of all walks of life were comparable, and it seemed that they could have a folding of the zi palace, and asked the emperor to mourn..." The eight ministers who signed the title of Prince Zaiyuan of Yi, Duanhua the Prince of Zheng, JingShou, Sushun, Mu Yin, Kuang Yuan, Du Han, and Jiao Youying.
After the monk Greenqin received the letter, his attitude was unusually clear, and he immediately expressed his position. Instead of folding the instructions of the letter and asking him to kowtow to the Zi Palace, he deliberately wrote the words "Empress Dowager Fuqi and The Emperor's Holy Book" in another compromise. His support for Empress Dowager Cixi and Ci'an and his opposition to the Eight Ministers are all self-evident.
The minister of government of Zanxiang was unwilling to stop there, and sent a letter from Rehe, reprimanding the monk Gelinqin, saying: "Yesterday, when I saw the jie song, I was glad to learn that Wang Ye was honored for his meritorious service and had received a favor and an excellent award, and he was inexplicably congratulated." However, there are words such as 'Empress Dowager Fuqi and The Emperor's Holy Book' in the fold, and the folding reports of the internal and external ministers are all played by the emperor, and it is not appropriate to write the words 'Empress Dowager'. After that, the prince played the fold, and he should be the same, and he should only use the words 'Emperor's Holy Book' as a lotus. ”
The hope poured out by the eight ministers for the monk Greenqin was like water pouring sand on the ground. In his reply, the latter showed no sympathy to the eight ministers, and bitterly refuted: "Zhiqin (Monk Greenqin) has the words 'Empress Dowager, Emperor's Holy Book' in the fold, and Yuanhe shows that it is not appropriate to write. Qin Yin was previously consulted by the Counselor Of the Imperial Household Bureau, and it was said: "After the king and the chancellor have prepared the will, please ask the empress dowager and the emperor to issue it with a stamp, with the words of imperial reward on the top and the three characters of the tongdao hall on the bottom, thinking that it is a letter of honor.". It is the emperor Chong Ling who cannot read the fold, and the empress dowager uses a stamp after reading the performance, and starts to send it down. Such a proposed correspondence is the empress dowager's reading of the fold layer, which has been clearly stated at home and abroad! And the folding is not suitable for entry, which seems to be slightly inconsistent with the prequel. In fact, the emperor is too old to manage the government, and the subjects of the world know very well that if they must stick to the old system, they are afraid that they will not be able to win the trust of the subjects of the world. It is written with this ear. He also claimed, "Later, I still dare not write it so much, and I still hope to think deeply about the huge amount of lotus."
On the grounds that the previous official letter had the intention of praising the chancellor of the government of Xiang, the monk Greenqin had to go through the two seals of "Imperial Reward" and "Tongdaotang" as valid after the imperial empress dowager and the emperor had stamped it, and categorically rejected the attempt of Zaiyuan, Sushun, and others to monopolize power, and once again expressed his support for the empress dowager. The clear position of the monk Greenqin determined the direction and outcome of the situation to a certain extent, and contributed to the success of the Xin You's coup. And the "curtain down to listen to the government" of the two palace empresses led the politics of the late Qing Dynasty to the road of Empress Dowager Cixi's dictatorship. This far-reaching consequence was certainly not something that Senggelinqin could foresee. He could only make choices according to his own understanding, and used his own choices to once again interpret the understanding of "loyalty".