Slaying the Qing: My Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

After the Taiping army inflicted heavy losses on the Anhui and Hunan armies in Luzhou Prefecture, Anhui Province, the Qing army's forces in Anhui Province suffered a near-total destruction.

Several armies of the Taiping Army's Western Expeditionary Corps then began their march towards the well-established Fengyang Prefecture, Chuzhou Prefecture, Sizhou Prefecture, and Yingzhou Prefecture.

With the Qing army already severely damaged, they were simply unable to withstand the Taiping army's attack.

Prefects, magistrates, and county magistrates in various places almost all fled at the mere sight of the enemy.

This made the entire northern Anhui region fall easily into the hands of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, just like a ripe peach.

However, some problems also arose at this time.

That was the Nian Rebellion army, which was active in northern Anhui, and took the opportunity to capture many prefectures and cities.

Especially in Yingzhou Prefecture, the stronghold of the Nian Rebellion, many counties have already fallen under their control.

The Nian Rebellion originated from a devastating flood in northern Anhui, which made survival impossible for the local population. Therefore, they were forced to rise up in rebellion.

Zhang Lexing, the leader of the Nian Rebellion, contacted various Nian followers and held a meeting in Bozhou to form the Nian Army.

Zhang Lexing was also elected as the leader of the alliance.

The entire Nian Rebellion was divided into five banners: yellow, white, blue, black, and red. Each banner was commanded by a chief banner lord. Under the chief banner lord were further subdivided into larger banners and smaller banners, and so on.

Among them, Zhang Lexing, as the leader of the alliance, also served as the chief of the Yellow Banner.

Almost every banner was linked by clan, kinship, and village ties.

In reality, each banner is independent of the others.

This resulted in numerous factions within the Nian Rebellion, with complex and intertwined relationships.

In July of last year, Zhang Lexing, the leader of the Nian Rebellion, accepted the investiture from Hong Xiuquan and was appointed as the chief general for the Northern Expedition.

In reality, however, the two parties have a cooperative relationship.

The Nian Rebellion was entirely subservient to orders, even though there was some cooperation between the two sides on the battlefield. The Nian army did not directly obey the orders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom dealt a heavy blow to the Qing army, the Nian Rebellion began to seize territory.

This undoubtedly harmed the interests of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom paid a heavy price to severely damage the Qing army, but the Nian Rebellion jumped out to reap the benefits, which was undoubtedly a case of picking up the bargain.

But the Nian Rebellion raised the banner that everyone was an ally.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Tianjing City.

The report from Li Hanzhang, the governor of Anhui Province, has already reached Hong Tian.

In his report, Li Hanzhang informed Hong Tianbing that the Nian Rebellion army was wantonly seizing territory, robbing people, and occupying many prefectures and counties, which had seriously affected the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's plan to occupy northern Anhui. It had also impacted the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's land redistribution plan in Anhui province.

Li Hanzhang hoped that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could incorporate the Nian Rebellion forces. Otherwise, the only option would be to drive the Nian rebels out of northern Anhui, or to annihilate them.

Hong Tian also realized that the Nian Rebellion's current existence was already having a significant impact on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Although in another timeline, the Nian Rebellion had developed into a significant force against the Qing army, cooperating with the Taiping Army on the battlefield, this was because the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom suffered heavy losses after the Tianjing Incident and was unable to confront the Qing army alone.

In order to win over the Nian Rebellion, Hong Xiuquan even had to appoint Zhang Lexing, the leader of the Nian Rebellion, as the Prince of Wo.

Even so, under the influence of the Tartars, many leaders within the Nian Rebellion still betrayed the cause and turned against the Nian army.

In this timeline, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was so powerful that it had no need for the support of the Nian Rebellion.

The existence of the Nian Rebellion actually affected the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's rule over northern Anhui.

Therefore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom naturally had to find a way to solve this problem.

Hong Tian summoned Prime Minister Hong Rengan, Minister of Military Affairs and Commander of the Western Expeditionary Army Shi Dakai, and Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guards General Chen Yucheng to discuss the matter.

"Gentlemen, this is Governor Li's memorial to the throne. Please take a look!" Hong Tianjiang presented Li Hanzhang's memorial to the crowd.

After reading the memorial, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's high-ranking officials couldn't help but frown.

"Your Majesty, although the Nian Rebellion has received investiture from the Heavenly Kingdom, they do not directly obey our commands. They only provide some cooperation with us on the battlefield."

In reality, the two sides have a cooperative relationship.

Previously, it was because the Tartars were powerful that everyone understood the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold." Therefore, they united to deal with the Tartars.

Wing King Shi Dakai explained.

Hong Tian nodded, understanding that the Nian Rebellion could be considered an unofficial force of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Although in another time and space, the Nian Rebellion once developed into a major force against the Manchus.

But in this time and space, they probably wouldn't have such an opportunity.

"We defeated the Tartars, and now the Nian Rebellion is jumping out to reap the benefits. This undoubtedly seriously damages the interests of the Heavenly Kingdom, and we cannot accept it!" Chen Yucheng's attitude was very direct.

The Nian Rebellion wanted to take advantage of the Heavenly Kingdom; how could that be allowed?

"The Nian Rebellion is very active in northern Anhui. In fact, northern Anhui has always been the Nian Rebellion's stronghold. If we cannot eliminate them, they will indeed affect our control over northern Anhui," said Prime Minister Hong Rengan.

After inflicting heavy losses on the Tartars, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's next goal was to completely control Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, eastern Hubei, and Yuezhou Prefecture in Hunan.

The Nian Rebellion undoubtedly influenced the subsequent development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

"So, what are everyone's opinions on this?" Hong Tian asked.

"Your Majesty, I believe that, regardless of the circumstances, the Nian Rebellion is an important force in resisting the Tartars. Moreover, they have received investiture from the Heavenly King. Therefore, we can give them a chance to incorporate them into our forces."

Although the Nian Rebellion currently numbers over 100,000, the vast majority are elderly and weak. The truly elite young and strong number only amount to about 20,000 to 30,000.

The Kingdom of Heaven can incorporate them and form two armies.

These units, composed of Nian rebels, could either form their own legion or join other legions.

Shi Dakai suggested.

Hong Tian thought about it and realized that this was indeed a solution.

"Alright, the Heavenly Kingdom can incorporate the Nian Rebellion. The Nian Rebellion will be reorganized into two armies. These two armies will be incorporated into the Northern Expeditionary Army Corps, designated as the 4th and 5th Armies of the Northern Expeditionary Army Corps. Zhang Lexing can be appointed as the deputy commander of the Northern Expeditionary Army Corps. The commanders and deputy commanders of the two armies will be appointed by the other four Nian Rebellion banner chiefs."

From this day forward, they will be the regular army of the Kingdom of Heaven.

All the other Nian Army soldiers were discharged and returned to their hometowns.

The Heavenly Kingdom will soon distribute land in northern Anhui. The people will no longer be oppressed by the Tartars and wealthy landlords. They will all be able to live a better life.

Hong Tian made a decision.

The task of overthrowing the Manchus can be left to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Unlike in another timeline, the Nian Rebellion did not need to become the main force against the Manchus.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" all the high-ranking officials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom replied.

"Your Majesty, what should we do if the Nian Rebellion refuses to be reorganized?" Hong Rengan asked.

As the saying goes, it's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix!

The vast majority of the Nian Rebellion soldiers were poor commoners. However, there were also many outlaws among them, and some were even outright bandits and robbers.

Getting them to obediently accept the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's incorporation was naturally not so easy.

Being the boss, doing whatever I want, living a carefree and happy life.

It was naturally much better and more comfortable than being part of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's army.

This is also human nature.

"Your Majesty, the Nian Rebellion fought alongside us against the Tartars after all. In any case, let's give them a chance. We can send someone to contact the Nian Rebellion and inquire about their wishes."

If they are willing to be incorporated into the Kingdom of Heaven and accept our integration, that would be ideal. If they are not, we will try other methods.

Shi Dakai said.

This was also recognized by other high-ranking members of the Kingdom of Heaven.

"Let's go with this plan. The Heavenly Kingdom has also adopted a policy of diplomacy before resorting to force this time. If the Nian Rebellion is willing to accept the Heavenly Kingdom's reorganization, then we will be comrades-in-arms fighting against the Tartars together from now on."

If they refuse, then we'll have to deal with them in the simplest way possible!

Hong Tian addressed the crowd.

As everyone knows, the simplest method Hong Tian mentioned was also the bloodiest.

I don’t know how many people will die because of this.