The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 336 Why does my Taiping Heavenly Kingdom seem to be falling apart? (Please subscribe and vote)
The steamship was rumbling with black smoke, towing a long string of cargo and passenger boats as it meandered southward, creating streaks of white waves on the canal within Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Ronglu and Weng Tonghe both tied up their braids and wore pointed hoods. They stood on the deck of the passenger boat, braving the damp and biting north wind on the canal, and looked at the town on the shore.

At this moment, the canal was bustling with ships coming and going, but the rather large town that Ronglu and Weng Tonghe's fleet passed by had an indescribable bleakness. This was clearly Jiangnan, and it was beside a canal that was like a golden waterway, but this large town in front of me gave people a feeling that its vitality was gradually disappearing. What else was wrong?

Weng Tonghe felt that something was wrong with the town in front of him, but he couldn't remember what it was. Suddenly, he heard the young man Ronglu beside him exclaim, "The New Year is just a few days away, why is there no festive mood at all?"

Yes, the New Year is almost here!

When the fleet that Ronglu and Weng Tonghe were on passed through Yangzhou, the banks of the canal outside the East Gate of Yangzhou were very lively. Every shop was decorated with lights and colorful banners. Red flags and banners embroidered with the words "Peace and Unification" were hung everywhere. From time to time, lion dance teams could be seen performing outside large shops.

Ronglu was still a teenager, and he was quite playful. The fleet was going to stop in Yangzhou for half a day, so he took Weng Tonghe ashore and sneaked into Yangzhou City to "spy on military intelligence." When the two sneaked into Yangzhou City, it happened to be the Taiping Army's holiday in the city. Yang Xiuqing released the reward for the Brother's Ascension Day on the 13th day of the first lunar month of the next year in advance, and issued an edict to allow couples who were separated in the male camp and female hall in the city to reunite.

As a result, the streets of Yangzhou city were filled with male and female holy soldiers with silver in their pockets, and it was so lively that people were crowded together!
Ronglu, a descendant of the Eight Banners, and Weng Tonghe, a Qing Dynasty official, wandered in the sea of ​​Taiping Army for two hours. They also drank "meat tea" in Yangzhou city - that is, tea with steamed dumplings and braised pork, and listened to storytelling.

After eating, Ronglu and Weng Tonghe continued to wander around for a while. On the way, they saw several famous Yangzhou brothels that were still in business! They also saw several gambling houses that were doing a booming business.

Outside the brothels and gambling houses, one could see disciples of the Cao Gang watching over the place. They all wore silk short jackets and long trousers, with axes on their belts. They looked no different from the thugs in Tianjin and Huai'an, except that their braids at the back of their heads had been cut off.

However, neither of them found any opium dens inside or outside Yangzhou City. It seems that the Taiping Army in Yangzhou is quite serious about the issue of banning opium.

However, when the fleet carrying Weng Tonghe and Ronglu crossed the Yangtze River and entered Zhenjiang, it seemed as if they had entered another world.

The towns on both sides of the canal in Zhenjiang Prefecture were obviously depressed, and there was no festive atmosphere at all. However, one could see many slogans such as "May God Bless You, Father Heaven" painted on the pink and white walls.

"Captain, where are we? Why is it different from Yangzhou?"

Weng Tonghe was from Changshu, and was from the same hometown as the captain of the passenger boat, so he asked him about it.

The captain looked a little nervous. He looked around and found that there was no one else except Weng Tonghe and Ronglu. Then he lowered his voice and said, "Mr. Weng, you don't know that Yangzhou is the territory of the Eastern King, and Zhenjiang is the territory of the Heavenly King. The rules of the Eastern King and the Heavenly King are different!"

"Different? Aren't they all the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?" Weng Tonghe continued to inquire.

"Well, the differences between the kings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are huge. Some things cannot be done in the Heavenly King's territory, but they are fine in the territory of the Eastern King or the Wu King." The captain pointed at the back of Weng Tonghe and Ronglu's heads, "For example, if your braids landed on the land of Zhenjiang Prefecture and were discovered by the Taiping Army under the Heavenly King, you might have your heads chopped off!"

"So serious?" Weng Tonghe was shocked, but he was happy in his heart - the rules in the territories of Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and Luo Yaoguo were very different, which was a good thing for the Qing Dynasty!
"Mr. Weng, don't be afraid. You'll be fine as long as you don't get off the boat." The boat captain laughed, "The ships on the canal are protected by the King of the East and the King of Wu. The people in the Palace of Heavenly Kings can only set up checkpoints to collect taxes, and they don't care about anything else. By the way, the same rule applies on the Yangtze River. The ships on the Yangtze River are protected by the King of the East, the King of the West, and the King of Wu!"

"King of the West? The rules in Hankou." Weng Tonghe continued to ask the captain.

"Hankou is similar to Yangzhou," the captain said. "The rules in Suzhou and Changzhou are looser than those in Yangzhou and Hankou. The rules of each king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are different! We merchants have to be careful when we go around."

"The King doesn't care?" asked Weng Tonghe.

The captain smiled bitterly and shook his head: "How can we manage them? They are all gods from heaven, with soldiers and territories in their hands!"

It turns out that there were many local warlords within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

Weng Tonghe and Ronglu were both overjoyed when they heard this!
The Heavenly King has his own territory and rules, the Eastern King has his own territory and rules, and the King of Wu, the King of the West, the King of the South, the King of Wings, and the King of the North probably also have their own territories and rules.

Isn't that fake Heavenly King just like Han Lin'er and Liu Futong of Han Song? He can't control the various mountain kings under him at all? "Heavenly King, King Yi means that everything in Jiangxi should remain the same, and the priority is to pacify and collect taxes."

Wei Changhui, wearing a dragon robe embroidered with "small dragons" and a red pointed hood, followed Hong Xiuquan and walked closely in a newly built hall in the Sun Palace in Jinlong City. He looked at the eyes and nose, and did not even look at the beautiful female officials who followed and served the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, looking like a moral gentleman.

Hong Xiuquan frowned slightly, looking very unhappy.

Although his Taiping Heavenly Kingdom developed much better than the one in history, the fatal weakness of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom - too many living fathers - not only did not improve at all, but it went from having one father dominating in the same period of history to having four fathers coexisting now!

Because there were too many fathers and Tianjing City could not accommodate them all, these fathers moved out.

Feng Yunshan's father lived in Hunan, Xiao Chaogui's father lived in Hubei, Luo Yaoguo's father traveled between Suzhou and Shanghai, and Yang Xiuqing's father lived in Yangzhou, leaving Hong Xiuquan, the eldest son of God, in Tianjing City.

At the beginning, Hong Xiuquan was quite happy about this situation of "fathers living separately". Even though these fathers each occupied a large territory, they still left the troops of Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Hu Yihuang and Qin Rigang to Hong Xiuquan, the eldest son. With these troops, he also gave him direct jurisdiction over the areas around Tianjing, Taiping Prefecture and Zhenjiang Prefecture.

In addition, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's holy treasury was not taken away by these living fathers. Moreover, these living fathers could give Hong Xiuquan some money and property, allowing him to maintain the situation in Tianjing City and have enough money to support a westward expedition.

Once Jiangxi and southern Anhui are taken, everything will be fine.

However, what Hong Xiuquan, the hands-off emperor, did not expect was that Shi Dakai, who had just taken over the capital counties of six prefectures including Nanchang, Jiujiang, Nankang, Raozhou, Ruizhou, and Linjiang, as well as more than a dozen other counties, actually wrote a petition to Hong Xiuquan, requesting to temporarily retain the "old system" in Jiangxi - that is, to do the same as Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, and Luo Yaoguo, and to do his own thing and not to be consistent with the Tianjing court.

It's obvious that he wants to be like those four living fathers and transform from the king's younger brother to the king's living father!
"No! Absolutely not!"

Hong Xiuquan suddenly started shouting loudly, which scared Wei Changhui who was following behind him.

"Heavenly King, please calm down."

Wei Changhui looked at Hong Xiuquan who suddenly exploded in panic. He really couldn't understand what this Heavenly King was doing. It was Chinese New Year, and other kings must be taking their New Year holidays. He was the most unlucky one, and had to deal with a lot of troubles for Hong Tianwang - theoretically, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not celebrate the New Year!

And there doesn't seem to be anything unreasonable in Shi Dakai's memorial!
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's territory in Jiangxi looked quite large, but those territories only occupied the prefecture and county towns, and did not reach the townships. In this case, what else could they do if they did not "keep things as they were"? "Keep things as they were" could at least use the existing gentry and clerks to collect the spring tax for the next year, and also ensure the normal spring sowing, so that the autumn tax for the next year would also be collected. Moreover, if the gentry in Jiangxi were appeased, the Qing Dynasty's officers and soldiers in Jiangxi would not be able to make trouble.

In a few months at most, all the counties in Jiangxi should be able to be taken over. This means completely swallowing up an entire province, and the wealthy Jiangxi at that!
With the money and grain from Jiangxi, the Taiping Army might be able to advance its Northern Expedition the year after next or the year after next.

But why did the king get angry?
Hong Xiuquan turned around and glared at Wei Changhui: "He wants to be like Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Luo Yaoguo, Feng Yunshan and others!"

"God, your Majesty, you." Wei Changhui looked at Hong Xiuquan, so surprised that he couldn't speak.

This king of pop has always called those people "what brothers", why is he calling them by their names now?
"He doesn't deserve it!" Hong Xiuquan gritted his teeth and said bitterly, "He doesn't deserve it either. Pass on my order to summon Shi Dakai back to Tianjing!"

"Recall Tianjing?" Wei Changhui was stunned. "But the war in Jiangxi is still going on!"

"The overall situation in Jiangxi has been decided. He is no longer needed!" Hong Xiuquan said coldly, "I summoned him back to discuss the Northern Expedition next year!"

"Next year. But didn't Brother Tian say..." Wei Changhui didn't dare to say anything further because he saw Hong Xiuquan's vicious eyes.

(End of this chapter)