Li Zhen asked, and Huang Shihai immediately replied: "Commander, during the time you left, I pursued a defensive strategy and did not take the initiative to send troops. Shi Dakai led the army and we also adopted a defensive strategy. strategy, so in the past two months, there were not many battles, and the main focus was on training soldiers."
"Except for the army, the rest of the news is about internal fighting within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."
"Since Yang Xiuqing was killed, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has become even more turbulent."
"At that time, Shi Dakai received the news that Yang Xiuqing had been killed and returned to Tianjing with his army, hoping to stabilize the overall situation. In fact, when Shi Dakai returned, the situation was indeed stabilized. However, according to the news sent back, after Shi Dakai stabilized the situation, he ruthlessly He severely reprimanded Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang, and met with Hong Xiuquan, hoping to vindicate the dead officials and generals."
"Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang received the news and immediately mobilized their troops to deal with Shi Dakai."
"At that time, Shi Dakai was short of troops and was so frightened that he left Tianjing overnight."
"When Wei Changhui saw that Shi Dakai was avoiding him, he became arrogant and arrogant, especially since Hong Xiuquan didn't do anything. Wei Changhui had no scruples anymore and frantically slaughtered all Shi Dakai's family members. He killed them all. The whole Nanjing was in chaos again, and there was an uproar. Shi Dakai After receiving the news, I immediately declared that I would be incompatible with Wei Changhui and reported to Hong Xiuquan, hoping that Hong Xiuquan would arrest Wei Changhui and punish him."
"Because of the incident between Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai, the hearts of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were floating and panicked, and they were already showing signs of being on the verge of despair. In order to maintain the situation, Hong Xiuquan agreed to join forces with Shi Dakai. The two sent troops to deal with Wei Changhui, captured Wei Changhui, and finally cut Wei Changhui into pieces. As for Qin Rigang, he was punished but had a small life. Now Shi Dakai has returned to Tianjing to take charge of the overall situation, bring order to the chaos, and stabilize the chaotic Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."
After Huang Shihai finished speaking, he felt that this process was complicated enough. A group of princes and soldiers were fighting against each other and attacking each other. This kind of thing was a headache.
After hearing this, Li Zhen nodded slightly.
Historically, these things happened in the sixth year of Xianfeng.
Now, it has been advanced to the fifth year of Xianfeng.
Li Zhen said in a deep voice: "Now that Shi Dakai is in power, Shi Dakai's influence can indeed stabilize the situation in Nanjing in a short period of time. However, as Shi Dakai's prestige increases day by day, Hong Xiuquan will definitely feel that there are needles in his butt and will be restless. Once Hong Xiuquan becomes jealous of Shi Dakai, he will continue to weaken Shi Dakai's power, especially under the pressure of official circles. It is impossible for Shi Dakai to stay in Tianjing. All we have to do is to wait patiently for them to have civil strife, and then capture Shi Dakai."
When the generals heard this, they were extremely excited.
Since Li Zhen reorganized the Jiangbei camp, he has been committed to weakening the opponent's strength bit by bit. From Yang Xiuqing's consecutive defeats to the point of losing his strength, and then being killed, leading to the chaos of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Now Wei Changhui has been executed, and the Taiping Army has suffered even more. After Shi Dakai was forced to leave, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be an empty frame with no power left.
Li Zhen then asked: "What happened to Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang during this period."
Huang Shihai shook his head slightly and said: "Commander, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang are recruiting soldiers to train new troops and prepare for counterattack. However, the two have little effect and have made no progress."
Li Zhen nodded and said: "That's good. What I'm most worried about is that they join forces to take down the Taiping Army. This is not good for us. As long as we maintain the current situation, we will have a lot to gain."
Yang Banhou said: "Commander, there is one more thing to deal with."
"What's going on?" Li Zhen asked.
Yang Banhou replied: "We have captured Li Xiucheng and have been imprisoning him in the camp for several months. Do you think we should meet with Li Xiucheng again? If he still doesn't surrender, we might as well Kill him."
Li Zhen slapped his forehead and said: "I almost forgot, thank you for reminding me." After a pause, Li Zhen ordered: "You guys go down, I will meet Li Xiucheng, I believe I can succeed this time."
Huang Shihai and others retreated, and then the soldiers went to bring Li Xiucheng out.
Not long after, Li Xiucheng came to the Chinese army's tent alone. At this time, although Li Xiucheng still had a rebellious look in his eyes, he was thinner and his eye sockets were slightly sunken. He looked at Li Zhen , with a stubborn look on his face, said loudly: "Admiral Li, there is no way I will surrender. Don't waste your efforts."
"Sit down and talk."
Li Zhen waved his hand and motioned for Li Xiucheng to sit down.
Li Xiucheng sat down opposite Li Zhen and said again: "It is impossible for me to surrender. Don't waste your efforts." He said this as if to encourage himself and cheer himself up, so that he could always remember that he could not surrender.
Li Zhen said: "I understand what you are thinking. You are thinking about Yang Xiuqing's kindness and don't want to betray Yang Xiuqing."
When he mentioned his loyalty to Yang Xiuqing, Li Xiucheng looked proud.
Li Xiucheng said: "The King of the East treats me with great kindness, how can I betray you? Even a beast has a grateful heart, but I will not betray the King of the East. I admit that you are good to me and let me go again and again, but King Dong is in front, and you are behind. Besides, you are still a lackey of the Manchu Tatars, and I cannot submit to you, so I ask Admiral Li to stop thinking about it."
Li Zhen said: "Who told you that Yang Xiuqing is still alive? Who told you that I am a lackey of the Tatars."
"You are just a lackey." Li Xiucheng snorted, his expression suddenly froze, and he lost his voice and said, "What's wrong with King Dong?"
Li Zhen said calmly: "Yang Xiuqing is dead."
Li Xiucheng retorted: "Impossible, King Dong can't be killed. You lied to me, you lied to me." Speaking of excitement, Li Xiucheng stood up and said: "Did King Dong die in your hands? I Fight with you."
He was just about to take action when he heard Li Zhen say: "Yang Xiuqing did not die in my hands."
Li Xiucheng asked: "Who, who killed King Dong?"
Li Zhen said: "Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang."
"ah,."
Li Xiucheng exclaimed and froze in place without saying a word. After a long time, Li Xiucheng recovered. He staggered back to his seat and sat down. He shook his head repeatedly and said to himself: "Impossible, Wei Changhui." You and Qin Rigang are both useless, how could you possibly kill the King of the East? You lied to me."
Li Zhen glanced at Li Xiucheng with pity and said, "Do I need to lie to you? Your Dongwang is indeed dead. His family members and relatives were all killed. Not only that, the generals and deployments under Yang Xiuqing's command were also destroyed." He was killed. It is said that this was a secret order passed down by the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, and only Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang had the courage to take action."
"Hong Xiuquan, it's actually Hong Xiuquan."
Li Xiucheng kept murmuring, with a ferocious look in his eyes. He clenched his fists, his knuckles creaking, and his chest was filled with anger, and he wanted to kill Hong Xiuquan immediately.
For Li Xiucheng, he only knew Yang Xiuqing but not Hong Xiuquan.
ps: Third update; call it a day, the weekend goes by so fast, it’s gone in the blink of an eye.
