The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 482: Xianfeng: You are so good, Lao Liu, I will also rebel! (Please subscribe, please vote)
December 25, the fourth year of Xianfeng’s reign.

The cold morning wind, carrying heavy snow, swept through the city wall of Fengyang County. On the tall city wall, a group of Huai Army soldiers stood in a swarm, all of them stunned, as if they had seen some extraordinary sight. A large flag embroidered with the word "Miao" fluttered in the north wind, like a giant dragon with bared fangs and claws.

This is the capital of Fengyang Prefecture in Anhui Province of the Qing Dynasty. The city wall has a great history. It is the legacy left by Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty. It was built according to the regulations of the capital. It has been reinforced recently. It is so tall and majestic, as solid as a copper wall and iron wall. Anyone who sees it will sigh "indestructible"! Since Yang Xiuqing captured the Huainan part of Sizhou, Anhui, Fengyang County has become a key point to resist the Taiping Army's westward advance along the Huai River. Zeng Guofan, who was in charge of the military affairs of Liangjiang, handed over this strong city to Miao Peilin, the leader of the Huai Army.

When the Battle of Baoying was going on, Miao Peilin made excuses one after another, saying that he had to resist the Taiping Army from Sizhou, protect the rear of Luzhou and Anqing, and beware of the Nian Army in Huaibei. He refused to move his troops. He led his 18th battalion of Huaiyong to defend Fengyang County. Even if the king of heaven came, he would not move a step, let alone fight side by side with Emperor Xianfeng.

But who would have thought that instead of going to Xianfeng, "Xianfeng" would come to him today and bring the Taiping Army to attack Fengyang! At this moment, he was under the city of Fengyang, being escorted by a group of Taiping Army soldiers, and there were a dozen dejected guys in "yellow jackets" following him.

As soon as this "Xianfeng" opened his mouth, he spoke in authentic Beijing dialect, with a sad face, shouting: "Listen carefully Miao Peilin, I am Aixinjueluo Yizhu, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty! Now I have worshiped God and surrendered to the Heavenly Kingdom. The Qing Dynasty is dead! Don't resist anymore, surrender to the East King Jiuqiansui quickly, the East King is unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness..."

Miao Peilin on the top of the city was dumbfounded! He was still here to defend the territory of the Qing Dynasty, but the emperor of the Qing Dynasty surrendered first and even brought the Taiping Army to persuade him to surrender. What kind of thing was this? How could he defend the city? How could he be a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty?
Miao Peilin was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment, but the group of camp leaders and staff around him had already started talking like a pot of boiling water.

"What? The emperor of the Qing Dynasty was captured by the Taiping? Is this true?"

"It seems... to be true! A few days ago, the soldiers of Lord Yuan and Lord Li escaped and said that Emperor Xianfeng was defeated in Baoying, and when he was fleeing from the battlefield, he was captured alive by Du Jinchan, a female general of the Yellow Banner of the Nian Army!"

"Du Jinchan? Is she Dajin, the wife of Zhang Da, the leader of the Nian Army?"

"Yes, it's her... Alliance Leader Zhang is going to be very successful now, at least he will be granted the title of Marquis!"

"Alas, he asked me to join his Nianzi Army back then, why did I..."

"Me too! I regret it so much..."

Some people already felt that they had followed the wrong master, and they did it in front of Miao Peilin. Although the voices were not loud, the meaning was obvious. This was a public warning for him to face reality! Now was not the time to be blindly loyal to the Qing Dynasty. If Miao Peilin still persisted in his delusion, then others would not just gossip about him, but might even stab him in the back.

Miao Peilin knew clearly what kind of people he had. Like Zhang Lexing, they were all small noble families in Huaibei. The living environment in the area north of the Huaihe River in Anhui was very bad. It was sandwiched between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River. Either the Yellow River flooded or the Huaihe River flooded. If both the Yellow River and the Huaihe River were calm, there would most likely be a drought.

If you want to survive in such a harsh environment, don't think about being a submissive citizen, you must unite and form alliances. When the weather is good, they will be honest farmers; once floods and droughts come, they will grab their weapons and go elsewhere to eat the rich. These gathered Huaibei farmers are called "Nian" in the local dialect, which means "a group, a group". Over time, Huaibei has developed the custom of "being a civilian when at home and a bandit when out". This folk custom is extremely fierce!
Zhang Lexing gathered a large group of Nianzi to rebel against the Qing Dynasty and worship God, while Miao Peilin gathered a group of Nianzi loyal to the Qing Dynasty to organize militia. Although they were in different camps, they were actually a group of small tyrants gathered together. Big bosses like Zhang Lexing and Miao Peilin had to coax the small tyrants below and take them to eat and drink, otherwise these people might draw their swords at any time.

Now, the Taiping Army was at its peak, and Zhang Lexing was in the limelight. If Miao Peilin did not change his allegiance and worship God, someone might cut off his head and offer it to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Thinking of this, Miao Peilin sighed and said loudly: "Your Majesty, we wanted to fight to the death, but Your Majesty surrendered first... Well, if Your Majesty wants me to surrender, I have no choice but to surrender! Come on, open the city gates, welcome peace, and worship God!"

Miao Peilin's surrender opened up Yang Xiuqing's way to the Central Plains! Moreover, the Qing troops in Anqing and Lujiang were also attacked from both sides. As long as "Jin Aduo" ran around more, perhaps they would all surrender. "If the king wants the minister to surrender, the minister has to surrender."

Of course, this is not the best thing. The best thing for Yang Xiuqing is that the two main leaders of the Nian Army have surrendered to him. Next, he can take over all the Nian Army in Huaibei. With the help of the Nian Army cavalry, Yang Xiuqing's Northern Expedition Army can travel across the Central Plains!
At about the same time, a similar scene took place outside Haizhou City.

But I saw a group of people wearing yellow jackets, surrounding a lame pockmarked man. The pockmarked man wore a "traveling winter cap" and a black riding jacket. There were three or four thousand soldiers around him, and they looked like a group of scattered shrimp soldiers and crab generals. Look at their uniforms, they are so varied, there are soldiers from the Eight Banners New Army, Huai, Lu, Xiang trained warriors, and some Green Camp soldiers. They are all covered in dirt, just like a group of unlucky people who have fled in panic, and they are in a very miserable state.

At this time, an old man in a yellow jacket with a voice as loud as a bell stood beside the lame pockmarked man riding a dull-haired thin horse and shouted at the top of his voice: "Listen, people on the city wall, the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty is here, why don't you open the city gates and welcome him!"

Hey! Here comes another Qing emperor!
This person is none other than Aixinjueluo Yizhu, also known as Emperor Xianfeng. However, unlike the fake one in Fengyang, this one is the real Emperor Xianfeng.

Xianfeng, after all, had a small army of 20,000 to protect him, and Jin Aduo helped him divert the pursuers, so he managed to escape from the battlefield north of Baoying City that day. However, Pingqiao Town, where the baggage and food were stored, was surrounded by the Taiping cavalry. Xianfeng, who was retreating in panic, dared not confront the powerful Taiping cavalry, so he had no choice but to bypass Pingqiao Town and go to Huai'an.

This detour led to great trouble. They lost the opportunity to retreat to Huai'an City, and were overtaken by the Taiping Army that attacked Huai'an from Baoying. Xianfeng could only lead his troops to flee along the Huai River downstream of Huai'an, hoping to find a boat to cross the Huai River.

However, the Huai River downstream of Huai'an had been flooding for years, and the population along the river was sparse, and boats were even rarer. When the war broke out, those who could escape ran away. As soon as Xianfeng's army arrived at the Huai River, they immediately fell into the double dilemma of difficulty in supply and lack of boats to cross the river. Behind them were the Taiping Army's pursuers, chasing them all the way, like a group of stray dogs.

Fortunately, God opened his eyes and it suddenly snowed heavily, and the Taiping Army retreated to Huai'an to avoid the cold. This allowed Xianfeng to find a ship in Renhe Town, which was close to the East China Sea, and also robbed some food. Renhe Town was originally a place where private salt was sold, so it was relatively easy to find a ship. However, by then, more than 70% of the 20,000 troops under Xianfeng's command had been killed or fled, leaving less than 4,000 remnants.

After crossing the Huai River at Renhe, Xianfeng went through a lot of trouble to reach the city of Haizhou. At this time, the Huai Army under Zeng Guofan's command, Ma Xinyi, was guarding the city of Haizhou.

At this moment, Ma Xinyi was standing on the top of the city wall with his three sworn brothers Zhang Wenxiang, Cao Erhu and Shi Jinbiao, looking outside the city with a confused and at a loss what to do.

Zhang, Cao, and Shi were small tyrants among the Nianzi. They took their brothers and joined Ma Xinyi and became the main force of the "Shanzi Camp" (Ma Xinyi's courtesy name was Gushan). Ma Xinyi's Shanzi Camp did not participate in the Battle of Baoying, but its organization was still intact, with about 1,500 people, barely guarding Haizhou. Originally, they thought that once the Taiping Army came, they would slip away, but they never expected that the Taiping Army did not come, but waited for Xianfeng, who was even more troublesome than the Taiping Army.

The moment Ma Xinyi saw Emperor Xianfeng through the telescope, he cried out in his heart: "Oh no, this is going to be a big trouble!"

Now it is the Tongde Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty. As a minister of Emperor Tongde, he encounters Emperor Xianfeng, who should have been captured by the Taiping Army, knocking at the door. And looking at Xianfeng's appearance, he does not look like a prisoner.

"Brother, is that man really Emperor Xianfeng?" Ma Xinyi's good brother Cao Erhu looked at his sworn brother and asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes!" Ma Xinyi nodded with a wry smile, "It is Xianfeng. What should we do?"

"What should we do? Of course we should be loyal to Emperor Tongde!" Zhang Wenxiang immediately took over the conversation and said, "The Qing Dynasty now has a new emperor, and we are all his subjects."

"But we can't send the head of Emperor Xianfeng to Emperor Tongde, right? They are brothers!" Shi Jinbiao, the youngest of the "Four Brothers", obviously still had some illusions about brotherhood.

Ma Xinyi sighed and shouted at the top of his voice: "Emperor Xianfeng, listen, I am Ma Xinyi, the new governor of Haizhou. I really can't open the door for you!"

"What?" Zeng Jia, the old man beside Xianfeng, asked. Lin Shu was furious when he heard it. "What did you say? How dare you not open the door for the emperor?"

"I'm sorry, the Qing Dynasty now has a new emperor!" Ma Xinyi said loudly, "The new emperor issued an edict saying that Emperor Xianfeng was captured by the Taiping rebels. The Taiping rebels have been taking Emperor Xianfeng and knocking on the door everywhere recently, so the governors of all places are ordered not to give him any."

"What? What did you say?"

Before Ma Xinyi could finish his words, Emperor Xianfeng had already yelled at the top of his voice: "I am not dead, nor have I been captured. How come they made the eldest prince the emperor?"

"Emperor Xianfeng, you have misunderstood. The new emperor is not the eldest prince, but the former Prince Gong! The reign title is Tongde, which means brothers share the same virtue!"

When Xianfeng heard this, he was furious: "You are plotting to usurp the throne, Ma Xinyi. Hurry up and open the door for me. I will raise an army in Haizhou to attack Yi Xin!"

Ma Xinyi dared not open the door to Emperor Xianfeng, but he did not want to fight with him, so he could only bow and say: "Emperor Xianfeng, please don't do that, it is a serious crime of rebellion."

"Rebellion?" Xianfeng was so angry at Ma Xinyi that he laughed loudly, "I want to rebel against the Sixth Brother! Sushun, Duanhua, Yuanbao, Linshu, Tupolev. Attack the city for me!"

"Attack...attack the city?"

"Your Majesty, we are exhausted now, I am afraid..."

The two brothers Sushun and Duanhua were both stunned. How could they dare to attack the city? If they didn't attack the city, where could their remaining army go?
Just when the two of them were at a loss, Zeng Jia Linshu drew out his sword with a clang and shouted, "I am Zeng Guofan's father, Zeng Linshu, and I died today at the hands of Ma Xinyi!"

As he spoke, he rushed towards Haizhou City with his sword raised...

(End of this chapter)