In December 1851, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan promulgated the "Edict of the Five Kings" in Yong'an, sealing Yang Xiuqing as the 9,000-year-old Eastern King, with jurisdiction over the Eastern countries; Feng Xiao Chaogui as the Western King 8,000 years old, with jurisdiction over the Western countries; Feng Feng Yunshan as the Southern King 7,000 years old, with jurisdiction over the southern countries; Feng Wei Changhui as the Northern King 6,000 years old, with jurisdiction over the northern countries; Feng Shi Dakai as the Wing King 5,000 years old, without jurisdiction, meaning "Feather Wing Heavenly Dynasty". The kings of the above titles are subject to the "control of the Eastern King", which is often referred to by posterity as the "Five Kings of the First Righteousness" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and its gold content is so high that it can be imagined. So, what is the actual ability of these princes? Whether it has the ability to start a dynasty, can it be the material for doing great things. Here, we may wish to take a look at how Li Xiucheng, the King of Zhong, evaluates them. In his "Self-Statement", Li Xiucheng commented on the "Five Kings of Shouyi" and adopted the writing methods of "Spring and Autumn Brushwork" and "Small Words and Great Righteousness" to express his actual views on the five kings of east, west, south, north and wing. In Li Xiucheng's eyes, except for the Southern King, the other four were not materials for doing big things.
Evaluation of Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King: The military and political ability is super strong, but the "emotional intelligence" is worrying, and it is pure death
The first sentence of Li Xiucheng's "Self-Statement" about dongwangzhi is: "Burning charcoal at home is a business, and I don't know the opportunity." Since worshipping God, every piece can be known, but I don't know how Providence has become this person? In fact, I don't know, the king of heaven is trustworthy, and the affairs of a country are handed over to him, and the military orders are strict and orderly, and the rewards and punishments are clear. Later, he said: "The Eastern King assists the government, legislates and reassures the people, everything is strict and orderly, and the people's hearts are admired." It can be seen that Li Xiucheng is still very sure of Yang Xiuqing's political and military ability, and it is he who led the soldiers and people of the Kingdom of Heaven to Nanjing and to glory. However, this does not prove that Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, is the material for doing great things, and Li Xiucheng is going to talk about the shortcomings of the Eastern King: the emotional intelligence is not high, and it is pure death. "The Eastern King himself is mighty and arrogant, he does not know how to be jealous of himself, he is the first person in a great dynasty; his desire is too strong, and he wants the Heavenly King to force him to seal long live; the Eastern King wants to be honored, and the Northern King and the Wing King are disobedient, and they plan to kill the Eastern King." In Li Xiucheng's eyes, Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, had a very low emotional intelligence, and he offended the Heavenly King, the Northern King, the Wing King, and others, and his interpersonal relations were worrying. How can such a person be the material for doing great things? Later, the Heavenly King, the Northern King, the Wing King, and the Yan King joined forces to launch the "Tianjing Incident", killing the Eastern King and ending his life.
Evaluation of Xiao Chaogui, the Western King: Zhao Zhao Wufu, who did not know how to protect himself, also relied on relationships to come to power
Due to the premature death of the battlefield, the present people naturally pay little attention to the Western King Xiao Chaogui, generally only know that he is Hong Xiuquan's brother-in-law, married to Hong Xuanjiao; the Western King Xiao Chaogui, invisibly marginalized. Li Xiucheng commented on it in the "Self-Statement Book": "Farming and cultivating the mountains and burning charcoal at home is a business, and the sister of the Heavenly King marries him as a wife, so he is highly valued; he is brave and strong, and he is the first to charge." "The West King in Li Xiucheng's eyes, who grew up farming at home, is a relatively simple and humble farmer, with some strength, but no education, which is considered to be a Zhao Zhao Wufu. The King of the West was heavily used because he married Hong Xuanjiao, the sister of The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, that is, he relied on a woman to ascend to the throne, was a relation, and ate soft rice. "Brave and strong, charging first", the west king's ability and courage to fight a hard battle naturally have nothing to say, he is the master who dares to personally handle the knife and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the opponent. However, Xiao Chaogui was only brave, but not shrewd enough to understand the importance of self-protection. When attacking Changsha, in order to boost morale, he wore bright clothes to supervise the division on the front line, but was killed by a small soldier, "Heavenly brother returned to the west", which is really a pity. How can a person who does not know how to protect himself be the material for doing great things?
Evaluation of Wei Changhui, king of the North: Sleek in the world, but lack of political wisdom, played to death by allies
Speaking of Wei Changhui, the Northern King, the most profound impression of everyone is that he is sinister and vicious enough to launch the "Tianjing Incident" and massacre 20,000 elites, resulting in a serious injury to the vitality of the Heavenly Kingdom, and he is a historical sinner. Li Xiucheng's evaluation of him in the "Self-Statement Book" is: "This person is at home in and out of the yamen to do things, the birth of a prisoner, see the cleverness of the urgent need to change is enough." From this comment, it can be seen that The Northern King Wei Changhui has a relatively high cultural level, a very shrewd mind, can adapt to changes, and flexibly copes with various complex things. However, Wei Changhui was only a little clever, not a big wisdom. Li Xiucheng said in his own account: "The Northern and Wing Plans to kill the Eastern King, and his three brothers, the rest are not allowed to kill more; after the Northern King kills indiscriminately, the Wing King returns to Beijing to dissuade him; the United Dynasty will kill the Northern King with one heart." "The Heavenly King, the Northern King, and the Wing King are strategic allies to deal with Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King, but why did the Northern King want to kill indiscriminately?" How does indiscriminate killing benefit it? The Northern King's indiscriminate killing of innocents was due to his lack of political wisdom, and he believed too much in Hong Xiuquan and Shi Dakai, believing that they would definitely act according to plan. Unfortunately, this is a political struggle, Hong and Shi are watching, Wei is a gunman, and he has done the scapegoat for the incident, and he can only expand the situation, and the result is "he is cursed by the dynasty." Wei Changhui's political wisdom is not good, and it is difficult to do great things.
Evaluation of Yiwang Shi Dakai: On the surface, both culture and martial arts are complete, but in fact, there is no great wisdom, and the pattern is not good
Mention the wing king Shi Dakai, many "stone powder" came to power: 16 years old was interviewed out of the mountains, 19 years old crowned king, 24 years old commander thousands of troops and horses killed the ZTE famous minister Zeng Guofan threw himself into the water, 26 years old Gu Quan's overall situation left Beijing, 32 years old to save all his life, voluntarily "please surrender" ling chi execution, this is a real hero, the big husband is also. Li Xiucheng's "Self-Statement Book" commented on it: "The family is rich in reading, and the literature and martial arts are fully prepared", saying that the wing king Shi Dakai has a high level of education, and he is also very powerful in leading soldiers to fight, which is regarded as an all-rounder of literature and martial arts. However, Li Xiucheng's true view is not so, he believes that the Wing King is superficially complete in both culture and martial arts, but in fact there is no great wisdom, and the pattern is not good. "When the Houyi King was in Hongshan, Wuchang, Hubei Province, he heard that Tianjing had killed too much, and he returned to Beijing with Zhang Suimou, Zeng Jinqian, and three others, taking into account the matter of avoiding killing." Saying that they would act together, Shi Dakai watched Yang and Wei Nei fighting in Wuchang, what does this mean? The words "Wolf returned to Beijing" and "Wolf" revealed Li Xiucheng's true view of Shi Dakai: without great wisdom and big pattern, let the Northern King act alone, and the result was out of control. The reason was simple, Shi Dakai couldn't come back, how did Wei Changhui deter the Forces of the East Temple? When Li Xiucheng was captured, Shi Dakai had been ling for 1 year, but Li said: "The Wing King's expedition has not yet returned", indicating that he no longer pays attention to Shi Dakai.
Evaluation of Nanwang Feng Yunshan: The real entrepreneur is the absolute "Talent of Wang Zuo"
From the "Self-Description book" of Li Xiucheng, the king of Zhongwang, it can be seen that the Eastern King, the Western King, the Northern King, the Wing King, etc. are not the material for doing big things, and they have too many shortcomings to be regarded as all-rounders. So, is Nanwang Feng Yunshan an all-rounder? How does Li Xiucheng evaluate him? For Feng Yunshan, Li Xiucheng spoke very highly, believing that he was the true founder of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the only "Five Kings of Shouyi" who could lead everyone to victory; Feng Yunshan, who was really Wang Zuozhicai. Li Xiucheng's "Self-Statement" commented: "His talents are clear, and among the first six people, the one who founded the country came out of the plot of the Southern King, and the former one who did things was also the Southern King." Indeed, without the efforts of Feng Yunshan, the Southern King, there would have been no Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement that had traversed the north and south of the great river for 14 years and once pushed the Qing Dynasty to the brink of extinction. Feng Yunshan, firm will, high strategic vision, flexible handling, good interpersonal relations, weak desire for power, first-class view of the overall situation. In addition, Feng Yunshan was the only person who could transform the cult of God, integrate it into Confucianism, and even abandon it, so as to win the support of intellectuals. Such a person, comparable to Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen, is the talent of Wang Zuo. Unfortunately, Feng Yunshan was killed in the battle at Yidu, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was doomed to be unsaved.
In summary, in Li Xiucheng's view, the "Five Kings of Shouyi": In addition to the Southern King Feng Yunshan, the other four princes are also very powerful but have many shortcomings, and they are not material for doing big things. What do you think about that? Comments are welcome.
References: History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Li Xiucheng's Self-Description