The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 421 Luo Yaoguo: It’s really hard to be the central leader! (Please subscribe and vote)
Tianjing, Xiaguan Wharf.

In a first-class cabin on a large ship that was completely black, with two large water wheels installed on both sides, a displacement of 3,000 tons, and the word "Auspicious" painted white on the bow, Zeng Guofan, Zhang Yuzhao, and Guo Songtao finally waited for Zeng Guohua, who was a representative of the Chinese people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, on the afternoon of the second day of the "Capitol Hill Incident".

Tianjing City has been on high alert since yesterday afternoon, and the smell of gunpowder seems to have wings, floating around the city. The two divisions of the Central Army and the Front Army, which were originally stationed at Puzikou in Jiangbei, and an infantry regiment of the First Division of the Upper Army on several troop transport ships on the Yangtze River, totaling more than 6,000 troops, received orders after the National People's Congress meeting ended yesterday and marched into Tianjing City fully armed. Together with the troops of the King of Wu, the King of the East, and the King of the West who entered the city earlier, by last night, the number of the three kings' coalition forces in Tianjing City exceeded 12,000!
In addition, there were many other troops in Tianjing City. There were 3,000 women's troops loyal to Hong Xiuquan, 2,000 rear troops loyal to Feng Yunshan, 2,000 left and right troops loyal to Shi Dakai and Wei Changhui, and 5,000 troops belonging to the Yulin Army but controlled by Hu Yihuang and Qin Rigang.

In other words, there were still 14,000 troops in Tianjing City who were not under the control of Luo Yaoguo, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Hong Xuanjiao and others.

However, the equipment of these 14,000 men could not compare with the 12,000 men of the Three Kings' Allied Forces, which were all foreign riflemen! In addition, there were several gunboats of the Nanyang Fleet that Luo Yaoguo had transferred from Shanghai on the river, ready to fire at Tianjing City at any time. Besides, Tianjing City was very close to the "territory" of Luo Yaoguo and Yang Xiuqing, and they could dispatch troops to support it at any time.

In short, the coalition of Luo Yaoguo, Yang Xiuqing, and Xiao Chaogui has the upper hand in Tianjing City, but it has not completely overwhelmed the other kings. Moreover, Luo, Yang, and Xiao are not united. Therefore, the turmoil in Tianjing City is still far from being completely calmed down!
As for whether the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could settle down, to be honest, I really don't know. Anyway, Zeng Guohua, who had just boarded the "Jixiang", felt that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was now facing a lot of internal and external troubles, and it would be finished if it was not careful.

"Wenfu, what's the situation?" Zeng Guofan pulled his brothers into the cabin and asked the two Goshahas to guard outside. Then he asked Zeng Guohua, who had hurried over and was now panting and wiping sweat, about the situation in Tianjing City.

"The situation is not very clear." Zeng Guohua shook his head, took a sip of the cold tea handed to him by Guo Songtao, sighed and said, "Although Hong Xiuquan is under house arrest, he is still alive. He still has 3,000 female soldiers and the entire Jinlong City in his hands. Maybe he still has the capital to fight!

Luo Yaoguo, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, Hu Yihuang, Qin Rigang, these kings all have soldiers, and none of them has the overwhelming power to completely control Tianjing City. "

"Will there be a fight?" Zeng Guofan asked expectantly.

"It's hard to say." Zeng Guohua said, "Last night, the kings held a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill. This morning, they all went back to their houses to discuss with their subordinates, and they have to continue the meeting in the afternoon."

"Still having a meeting?" Zeng Guofan was a little disappointed. He thought, shouldn't this be the time to kill people behind closed doors? Why are we still having a meeting?

"Do you know what was discussed in the meeting last night?" Zeng Guofan asked again.

"Reorganize the army!" Zeng Guohua spat out two words, paused and said, "I don't know how to organize it specifically."

"What else can we do?" Guo Songtao said with a smile, "Luo Yaoguo must want to learn from Zhao Kuangyin and give up his military power over a cup of wine. He wants to be the new king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!"

Zeng Guofan nodded, stroked his beard, squinted his triangular eyes and said: "If he wants to be the emperor, can others let him be the emperor?"

Zhang Yuzhao also laughed and said, "Of course they won't! Teacher, in my opinion, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will definitely fight this time!"

Zeng Guofan nodded again: "It is indeed God's blessing on the Qing Dynasty!"

Guo Songtao frowned slightly and said, "Master Di, there will be a meeting in Beijing next month! The emperor wants to reopen the Council of State. Not only will he set up a council of state and ministers, but he will also let all localities nominate people to run the Council of State. He is afraid that something similar to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will happen."

Zeng Guofan waved his hands and said, "No, definitely not! With the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as a precedent, how can the emperor not learn from it? Besides, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother above them, and the kings with troops below them. Their Heavenly King could not control the situation. Our Qing Dynasty has been succeeding each other for more than 200 years. The emperor's majesty has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Which king, minister, or official in the Council of State dares not to kneel down and discuss state affairs honestly? How can it be the same as the meeting of kings and the National People's Congress of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?"

"Woo woo..." The whistle of the "Jixiang" suddenly sounded, and the ship was about to raise anchor and set sail.

Zeng Guofan looked at his brother and said, "Wenfu, Tianjing is not a place where you can stay for long. Why don't you come with us? When we get to Shanghai, we can take advantage of the chaos to bring father out." Zeng Guohua shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Brother, it's too early to say that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will fall apart. Although it is facing internal and external troubles, as long as the kings fight and do not break up, the situation can still be maintained."

"Fight but not break? Hong Xiuquan is under house arrest, how can we not break him?" Guo Songtao said with disbelief.

"Woo woo..." At this time, two more whistles were heard.

Zeng Guohua stood up, clasped his fists towards his brother, Guo Songtao, and Zhang Yuzhao, and said, "Brother, Yunxian, and Lianqing, let's say goodbye now. We will meet again in the future!"

……

Tianjing City, Capitol Hill.

An enlarged meeting of the Council of Kings was being held in a small hall on Capitol Hill at this time.

The so-called enlarged meeting of the small meeting included Luo Yaoguo, Yang Xiuqing, Feng Yunshan, Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui, Hong Rengan, Hu Yihuang, Qin Rigang, Hong Xuanjiao and others, as well as high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom such as Zeng Tianyang, Luo Dagang, Li Kaifang, Yang Yiqing, Wei Jun, and Maria, a disciple of the Virgin Mary who held a spear for Luo Yaoguo.

In addition, Xiao Chaogui, who was injured yesterday, took leave and did not come. He is recuperating in his own palace. His two votes were handled by Hong Xuanjiao.

The main topic to be discussed at today's enlarged meeting of the kings is military reorganization!

Or to be more precise, it was to bargain for the whole army!
Before the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, not only was the divine power very scattered, but the military and political orders were also inconsistent. To put it bluntly, the kings of the Heavenly Kingdom were just a group of big warlords, and there were many small warlords under them. Among them, the four big warlords, Luo Yaoguo, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, and Feng Yunshan, all held the territories of several prefectures and could raise their own military pay, just like the separatist vassal states. As for the other kings, although they had no territory, they also held the military power tightly.

Military power is the capital for them to become kings!
Luo Yaoguo was a local official before, so he naturally controlled the military power, financial power, and territory, and did not allow Hong Xiuquan to get involved. But now it was his turn to be the "central government", and as the central government, he had to find a way to unify the military and political orders, at least to reorganize the armies of the small warlords except the three big warlords Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, and Feng Yunshan.

In addition, he also had to firmly grasp the two provinces of Jiangxi and Jiangnan and the two prefectures of Changsha and Yuezhou in Hunan.

Only in this way could his Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Central Committee have soldiers, money, and territory.

But the problem is that Shi Dakai, Wei Changhui, Hu Yihuang, and Qin Rigang are not willing to give up their military power. At least, "a cup of wine" is unlikely to release their military power.
"Sixth brother, eighth brother, Prince of Yu, Prince of Yan," Luo Yaoguo sat at the head of a rectangular conference table, gently turning the teacup in his hand, his eyes swept across the faces of the four "military reorganization targets", and smiled, "You name a price. You can ask for an official position, money, or property. As long as you are willing to cooperate with the reorganization, I, Luo Yaoguo, will never treat you unfairly! And my reorganization is not to seize anyone's military power. I will also take out my own six divisions for reorganization. After the reorganization, the four of you will either be the head of an army or the governor of a province. If you are willing to stay in the center, you can also be the prime minister."

"King Wu, how much power does the commander of an army have after the reorganization?" Shi Dakai asked with a smile, "Can it still be compared with the original commander of an army? We all know that Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty gave up his military power over a cup of wine."

When Luo Yaoguo heard this, he waved his hands like rattles: "Myna, you are wronging me. How can I, Luo Yaoguo, compare with Emperor Taizu of Song? He is the emperor, high and mighty. I only recognize one identity in my life - regent! And I believe from the bottom of my heart that we should all hold power together, share happiness and difficulties. Even if the military and political orders are unified in the future, we can still make decisions together. Power is something that only works when everyone holds it together."

Shi Dakai was not willing to let it go easily, and pressed on: "Ninth brother, you talk nicely, but how are we going to take power together? You have to tell us the truth."

Luo Yaoguo chuckled and laid out his plan: "Well, we can set up a military advisors meeting to specifically manage the troops directly under the central government. When the time comes, the military power will be controlled by this military advisors meeting, just like the meeting of the kings, the minority will obey the majority."

(End of this chapter)