Hong Xiuquan, a native of Guangdong, was originally a down-and-out scholar obsessed with the imperial examination. However, he failed in the exam and failed many times. Finally, he gave up the imperial examination in a rage and started a religious uprising, determined to overthrow the corrupt and incompetent Qing Dynasty and become the boss himself. 195 1 year, Hong Xiuquan started the vigorous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in jintian uprising.
Hong Xiuquan is very lucky. He quickly swept across the south with a group of Taiping rebels, and also captured Nanjing, where he built his capital. Defeated the Qing army many times and reached the peak of his life. If Hong Xiuquan, Yang and other big bosses don't want to take care of themselves, they may overthrow the Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop. However, there are not so many ifs in reality. After they made Nanjing their capital, they not only coveted pleasure, but also fought for power and profit and engaged in infighting. In the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Army killed each other and was greatly weakened. Since their prosperity turned to decline, they have gone to extinction.
This has changed, and Zeng Guofan, the coach of the Xiang army, who has lost many battles, took the opportunity to rise and besieged the Taiping Army with his own Xiang army. 1964, 19 In July, Zeng Guofan led the Xiang army to attack Tianjing, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom fell.
Zeng Guofan disobeyed the imperial edict and disrespected Zeng Guofan for attacking Tianjing. The most important task is to capture Hong Xiuquan, the boss of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. However, when they entered Tianwangfu, they searched the whole Tianwangfu but found no trace of Hong Xiuquan. On July 28th, Zeng Guofan interrogated the captured Xiang general Li Xiucheng. Under torture, he still didn't ask the whereabouts of Hong Xiuquan. On July 30, under the threat of Xiang army, the palace ladies told the truth. It turned out that Hong Xiuquan died more than a month before the Xiang army invaded Tianjing. After his death, his body was buried in the Heavenly Palace.
Immediately, Zeng Guofan dug up Hong Xiuquan's body. According to records, the condition of Hong Xiuquan's body at that time was: "The corpse respects the cult, and there is no coffin, and the whole body is covered with embroidered dragon yellow satin. Although the trousers are also tied with dragon satin, they are bald and hairless, and they must still be preserved. They are already white. The right arm of the left thigh has not been taken off. " Subsequently, Hong Xiuquan's body was sent to the military camp, and Zeng Guofan recognized it as behind him. He slaughtered the body and then set it on fire. Finally, he put Hong Xiuquan's ashes into a cannon and blew them into the sky. This is really disappointing.
In fact, Empress Dowager Cixi, who was far away in Beijing at that time, ordered Zeng Guofan to file the body and show it to the victims. But Zeng Guofan, who has always been obedient, disobeyed the purport this time. There are two main reasons for this: First, the order of Empress Dowager Cixi came too late. 1 In August, Zeng Guofan ordered Hong Xiuquan's bones to be smashed into ashes, but the imperial edict of Empress Dowager Cixi was delivered in August 1 1. Zeng Guofan is not disrespectful, but should act first and then act. He also exceeded the standard and played more thoroughly.
The second is to destroy the body, and death tells no tales. Zeng Guofan acted before acting and eagerly dealt with Hong Xiuquan's remains, not because he hated Hong Xiuquan, but because he was taking personal revenge. More importantly, Zeng Guofan wanted to firmly record the meritorious military service in the names of himself and his younger brother Ceng Guoquan. At that time, Hong Xiuquan's bones were corrupt and his handwriting was blurred. Only by dealing with them quickly, destroying the bodies and keeping it a secret can the credit be recorded in the names of himself and his brother Ceng Guoquan, so as to prevent things from being complicated. Later, Zeng Guofan lied about the meritorious military service of Hong Xiuquan's son and was reported by Zuo face to face, which shows the true colors of Zeng Guofan and his brothers. Conclusion Cixi ordered the dismemberment of Hong Xiuquan. Zeng Guofan, who has always been obedient, refused to honor the decree, not because Zeng Guofan deliberately refused to honor the decree, but because in order to lock in the meritorious military service, he attacked first to avoid future troubles. This is also a strategy of Zeng Guofan.