Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

"This humble subject, Li Hanzhang, thanks Your Majesty for your kindness and is willing to serve Your Majesty and the Heavenly Kingdom with utmost loyalty!"

Li Hanzhang appeared to be weeping bitterly.

As the saying goes, a scholar will die for one who understands him!

Hong Tian directly appointed him as the governor of Anhui Province, which is far too generous of him!

Under such circumstances, how could Li Hanzhang possibly refuse?

"This humble subject, Li Hongzhang, is willing to contribute his strength to Your Majesty and the cause of the Heavenly Kingdom, to overthrow the Tartars and restore the Han dynasty!"

Li Hongzhang also immediately expressed his opinion.

A cabinet minister of the first rank—that's definitely the highest-ranking official!

This is much better than continuing to gain seniority under the Tartars.

Hong Tian was very satisfied with the performance of Li Hanzhang and Li Hongzhang.

Their willingness to join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and serve it is truly commendable. With their talents, if they are genuinely willing to serve the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they will undoubtedly make a significant contribution.

As for the other brothers in the Li family, Hong Tian also said that he could arrange for them to join the army or become officials.

This made the entire Li family extremely happy. Their mood was like rising from hell to heaven!

To show his closeness to them, Hong Tian even hosted a banquet for them at the Heavenly King's Palace. This moved the Li brothers to tears of gratitude.

In their view, the emperor hosting a banquet was already an immense honor.

After leaving the Heavenly King's Palace, the Li brothers couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

I originally thought I would be beheaded, but unexpectedly, I rose to the top in one step.

"Listen up, everyone! His Majesty values ​​us, the brothers of the Li family, and we have already pledged our loyalty to him. From this day forward, the fate of our Li family is intertwined with that of the Heavenly Kingdom. We must all do our utmost to serve the Heavenly Kingdom and help it achieve its goal of expelling the Tartars and restoring the Han dynasty!"

Li Hanzhang spoke to everyone with a serious expression.

"Yes, eldest brother!" the Li brothers all replied.

If the Li family previously viewed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as an enemy, their stance has fundamentally changed with their newfound status.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and His Majesty the Heavenly King had become objects of their loyalty.

"Especially Hongzhang, His Majesty has directly appointed you as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Even though it's a newly established department, it's still a first-rank cabinet minister. Now that you've suddenly taken on such a high position, you must be even more careful in your words and actions! Work diligently to repay His Majesty's kindness in recognizing your talent."

Furthermore, the Heavenly Kingdom is different from the Tartars. Many of the practices we used to follow under the Tartars will likely not work here. Especially those acts of corruption and bribery—they cannot be tolerated any longer, lest they disgrace the Li family's reputation!

Li Hanzhang reminded him.

Although Li Hongzhang held a higher official position, Li Hanzhang, as the eldest brother, carried considerable weight in an era where the elder brother was considered as important as a father.

"Yes, eldest brother!" the Li brothers all replied.

Li Hongzhang, in particular, was an exceptionally intelligent man. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risen to such a high position and ruled the Qing Dynasty for decades in another timeline.

"Brother, let's find a place and cut off the braids at the back of our heads. We didn't feel it before, but now it's getting more and more uncomfortable!" Li Hezhang said.

Although they were taught from a young age that their bodies and hair were gifts from their parents, they were also accustomed to wearing queues.

However, while some people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom still wore queues, all the soldiers and officials had cut their hair short. Having chosen to join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and serve it, they could no longer act independently.

Li Hanzhang nodded: "That's right, we must completely sever ties with the Tartars, starting with cutting off our queues!"

Afterwards, the Li brothers went to get their heads shaved together.

Because there is no hair on the front half of his head.

To avoid ending up with weird-looking haircuts, the brothers all shaved their heads. They plan to change their hairstyles again once their hair grows back.

This was also the first choice for many people in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The first time, I shaved my head completely. After that, I changed to a buzz cut or other hairstyles.

A group of bald men walking together on the streets of Tianjing City did attract some attention.

However, soon all the brothers of the Li family will be heading to their respective posts.

Li Hanzhang went to Anhui Province to serve as its governor. He was responsible for governing Anhui Province according to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's requirements, restoring production and daily life in the province, eliminating the pernicious influence of the Manchus, and consolidating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's control over Anhui Province.

Li Hongzhang, on the other hand, was appointed as the Foreign Minister of the Cabinet.

However, for the time being, he will primarily assist Prime Minister Hong Jen-kan in handling other matters.

Li Hezhang, the third son of the Li family, chose to join the army. At the age of thirty-two, he went to serve in the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. He first received training and then became a platoon leader. After that, he rose through the ranks.

The fourth son, Li Yunzhang, was skilled in financial management and thus entered the Ministry of Finance of the Cabinet.

The fifth son, Li Fengzhang, lacked academic talent but enjoyed running a business. Therefore, Hong Tian assigned Li Fengzhang to manage the factory.

The sixth brother, Li Zhaoqing, also joined the army. However, he went to the 1st Infantry Division of the Northern Expeditionary Army.

It can be said that among the six brothers of the Li family, Hong Tian has made the best use of everyone's talents.

But the two who achieved the most were undoubtedly the eldest son, Li Hanzhang, and the second son, Li Hongzhang.

The Taiping army achieved a great victory on the battlefield in Anhui Province, almost annihilating the cavalry of the Anhui and Hunan armies, which once again shocked the surrounding battlefields.

In particular, the complete annihilation of the Xiang Army's cavalry was a huge blow to the Xiang Army.

After all, Li Xubin was a fierce general in the Xiang Army!

The main battlefield for the Hunan Army in this war was originally in northern Jiangxi Province.

More than 30,000 main Hunan Army troops, together with 20,000 Jiangxi Army troops, launched an attack on Jiujiang Prefecture and Chizhou Prefecture, where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Southern Expeditionary Army was stationed.

In the initial battles, the Xiang Army undoubtedly held the advantage, and at one point suppressed the 1st Army of the Southern Expeditionary Force within Jiujiang Prefecture.

Furthermore, the Xiang Army's naval forces also achieved great success on this section of the river.

However, as the Qing army collapsed on the southern Jiangsu battlefield, the Taiping Army's 1st Eastern Expeditionary Army entered the battlefield and assisted the 2nd Southern Expeditionary Army in launching an attack on the Jiangxi army.

The Jiangxi army was no match for the Taiping army and was forced to withdraw from Chizhou Prefecture to defend Raozhou Prefecture.

This forced the Xiang Army to reduce its attack on Jiujiang Prefecture.

By the end of March 1857, the 2nd Infantry Division of the Taiping Army's Imperial Guard Corps had completed its training, achieved combat readiness, and was deployed directly to the battlefield.

In addition, the Qing army's disastrous defeat in Anhui Province made the Xiang Army feel even more threatened.

Zeng Bohan, who was observing mourning in his hometown, also realized the threat and immediately sent a messenger to Bao Chao, who was commanding the army at the front, ordering him to immediately abandon the attack on Jiujiang Prefecture and lead the main force of the Xiang Army to retreat westward to their hometown in Hunan Province to preserve their strength.

With the Qing army already suffering heavy losses and defeats in several other areas, if the Xiang Army were to remain, it would certainly follow in the footsteps of the other forces.

If the Hunan Army suffers a crushing defeat, the Taiping Army will inevitably launch a large-scale invasion into Hunan Province.

Despite his reluctance, Bao Chao had no choice but to obey orders and withdraw his troops from Jiujiang Prefecture, as Zeng Bohan held a supreme position in the Xiang Army.

Fortunately, the Hunan Army withdrew early.

Otherwise, they would probably have suffered the same fate as the Jiangxi army, being surrounded and annihilated by the Taiping army.

On April 7, the 2nd Army of the Southern Expeditionary Army, the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, and the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Army surrounded and annihilated more than 4 main forces of the Jiangxi Army in Raozhou Prefecture.

In addition, the Jiangxi army had also lost nearly 20,000 men in the southern Jiangsu battlefield.

It can be said that the main force of the Jiangxi army was wiped out in this battle.

Especially after the Xiang Army withdrew, the Qing army in Jiangxi Province, apart from the Manchu city near Nanchangfu, still had a few thousand Tartar soldiers, and no longer had any decent military force.

In mid-April, the 1st Army of the Taiping Army's Southern Expeditionary Force marched south from Jiujiang Prefecture and entered Nankang Prefecture.

The 2nd Army of the Southern Expeditionary Corps, the 1st Army of the Eastern Expeditionary Corps, and the 2nd Infantry Division of the Imperial Guard Corps attacked Nanchangfu from Raozhoufu.

Qi Ling, the governor of Jiangxi Province who was in charge of commanding Nanchangfu, abandoned the city and fled with his Tartar troops to Hunan Province before the Taiping army attacked Nanchangfu.

This made it so that Nanchangfu fell into the control of the Taiping Army with almost no effort.