1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 185 Conferring the Title of King of Cangwu
Yang Xiuqing politicized Zhou Xineng's rebellion, which served as a warning to Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui, and also enhanced his prestige within the army, forcing Hong Xiuquan to reconsider the matter of bestowing titles upon him. This was a triple win.

Yang Xiuqing now enjoys immense prestige not only within his own central army, but also across all armies except the left wing, where his reputation is at its zenith.

Although Yang Xiuqing managed to hold off the surging Guangdong army at Jiaotangkou, Shi Dakai stationed his troops in Tengxian County, guarding the western gate of the Heavenly Kingdom and preventing Zhou Tianjue from advancing further east to Cangwu City.

However, the situation faced by the Taiping Army was not good; in fact, it could be described as dire.

Xu Guangjin continuously dispatched Guangdong troops to reinforce Jiaotangkou, and the offensive against Jiaotangkou became more and more intense with each attack.

With the Qing army cutting off both the east and west waterways, Cangwu City was completely cut off from trade with the outside world, and the Taiping Army once again found itself in a situation of running out of resources.

Hong Xiuquan himself never directly commanded an army, and relied heavily on the concerted efforts of his sons-in-law, the "divine family," to maintain the overall situation.

Faced with the harsh war situation, and considering the morale of the troops, the emotions of the several officials, especially Yang Xiuqing, were taken into account.

After much deliberation, Hong Xiuquan decided to follow the unorthodox practices of the mortal world and, even if it meant offending the Heavenly Father, to bestow the title of king upon his brothers.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's systems were all designed by Feng Yunshan.

Feng Yunshan admired the Zhou rites, so he used the four directions of east, west, south, and north as his royal titles and finalized the matter of being granted the title of king.

On the Lantern Festival in 1851, Hong Xiuquan reluctantly issued a "Heavenly King's Edict":
Previously, there were the Left Assistant, Right Assistant, Vanguard, and Rear Guardian military advisors.

I hereby designate him as a prince, following a perverse custom of the mortal realm. According to the true doctrine, this may offend the Heavenly Father, for the Heavenly Father is the true prince.

Now, I hereby bestow upon Yang Xiuqing the title of Eastern King, the Left Assistant Military Advisor, to govern the various states in the east.
He was granted the title of King of the West (Xiao Chaogui), who was appointed as the Right Assistant and Right Military Advisor, and was put in charge of the western countries.
He bestowed upon the vanguard deputy military advisor the title of King of the South (Feng Yunshan), who was put in charge of ruling the various southern kingdoms.

He was posthumously granted the title of King of the North (Peng Gang) and Deputy Military Advisor, who was to govern the various northern kingdoms.

He bestowed upon the emperor's son the title of Assistant King, to assist the holy dynasty.

He bestowed upon Da Bao the title of Wing King, to support the Heavenly Kingdom.

All the kings appointed above are subject to the control of the Eastern King.

When the "Heavenly King's Edict" conferring the title of king was issued, the entire Taiping army rejoiced.

The princes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom wielded immense power, not only having the authority to establish their own government and set up six ministries, but also commanding military forces.

It surpasses even the feudal lords of the Eastern Zhou period.

In particular, Yang Xiuqing obtained the power he had always dreamed of, which was to control the military and political affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and to control the princes, thus becoming the de facto leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

After gaining power, Yang Xiuqing quickly set about formulating the next battle plan.

Previously, Hong Xiuquan had acted unilaterally, disregarding the advice of him and Peng Gang, and insisted on marching into Guangdong.

The Heavenly Army is not good at naval warfare, while the Guangdong Navy is good at it and is one of the top naval forces of the Demon Court.

The Guangdong region is crisscrossed by waterways, and any attempt to conquer Guangdong would inevitably involve naval warfare.

To fight a naval battle with the Guangdong navy would be tantamount to using one's own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths.

The defeat of the vanguard at Xijiang has already proven with the blood of hundreds of vanguard soldiers that the strategy of advancing into Guangdong is not feasible.

Yang Xiuqing's central army also fought against the Qing army in Guangdong many times in the Jiaotangkou area, and gained a certain understanding of the Qing army in Guangdong.

Although the central army won more battles than it lost against the Qing army in Guangdong at Jiaotangkou.

However, Yang Xiuqing had to admit that the Qing army in Guangdong was significantly stronger than the Qing army in Guangxi.

In particular, the formidable firepower of the Guangdong navy left a deep impression on Yang Xiuqing.

Furthermore, the Cantonese and Hakka people have a deep-seated hatred for each other, and Yang Xiuqing never thought that marching into Guangdong was a good idea.

After careful consideration, Yang Xiuqing decided to carry out the plan agreed upon in Mengchong before the breakout, to travel north along the Guijiang River through Pingluofu to Guilin, where he would join forces with Peng Gang's left wing and unite his troops.

Yang Xiuqing was greedy for power.

But when it comes to getting things done, they are swift and efficient.

Before he could even celebrate being crowned king, Yang Xiuqing ordered Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, and Wei Changhui to lead troops to protect the Heavenly King and the elderly, women, and children as they headed north.

He himself continued to be stationed in Cangwu, leading the central army to cover the rear and block Xu Guangjin's Guangdong Qing army.

Shi Dakai then led the Central Army to continue blocking Zhou Tianjue's Guangxi Qing army in Teng County.

This bought time for the Heavenly King and the others to transfer.

Under Yang Xiuqing's methodical command, the Taiping army gradually withdrew from Cangwu City and headed north along the Guijiang River.

As the first commercial port in Guangxi, Cangwu City naturally had a considerable number of ships.

However, the main force of the Taiping Army already numbered over 80,000 before leaving the Zijing Mountain camp. After leaving Zijing Mountain, they recruited soldiers and civilians on a large scale. By the time Cangwu was crowned king, the main force of the Taiping Army had reached 130,000.

In addition, a large amount of supplies in Cangwu City needed to be loaded onto ships and transported away, so the main force of the Taiping Army was in dire need of ships.

According to the Heavenly Kingdom's etiquette, the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, the Western King Xiao Chaogui, the Southern King Feng Yunshan, the Assistant King Wei Changhui, and their harems and servants, who were transferred earlier, naturally occupied the best ships.

The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan and his thirty-six consorts (the first month's palace is in heaven) alone possessed a total of thirty-six precious large ships. The smaller ships were also preemptively occupied by the various kings and their rulers.

The remaining boats were piled high with grain sacks, gold and silver, bronzeware, chests, quilts, jars and other supplies, and were already overburdened. Adding more people to the boats would not only risk capsizing them, but the boatmen would also be unable to pull them.

The dock near the West River Gate of Cangwu City was already packed with people. Although the Heavenly Queens looked exhausted as they were escorted onto the ship by the Heavenly Army soldiers, they still loudly ordered the soldiers: "Quickly, bring those boxes of Cantonese embroidery, silk, rouge, and lipstick onto the ship. And don't forget those bags of osmanthus sugar, I'll need some on the way!"

The princesses, dressed in brand-new embroidered shoes, tiptoed across the boat, still complaining about the mud and water soiling their skirts.

The elderly, weak, women, and children on the dock naturally dared not approach the royal ships of the three princes and their wives.

Several women carrying infants, clinging to a sliver of hope, dreamed of sneaking onto the emperor's ship.

The royal guards had already noticed, and roared at the woman trying to sneak onto the ship: "This is the royal ship, no strangers allowed! Anyone who comes near will be killed!"

The women who failed to board the boat had no choice but to give up in disappointment, watching helplessly as the riverboat, having untied its moorings, sailed further and further away. Gritting their teeth, they carried their children and luggage, leaning on wooden sticks as they struggled northward along the muddy riverbank.

At the same time, the left wing troops were also moving north towards Guilin.

Luo Dagang has captured Lingui, the last barrier of Guilin Prefecture. Peng Gang, who was in charge of the rearguard, led the women's battalion, children's battalion, and old men's battalion of Luorong County to move towards Yongfu County, which had just been captured.

The Left Army attached great importance to the construction of its naval forces (boat battalions) from the very beginning, possessing the most powerful naval force among the Taiping Army, and the number of ships it had was also the highest among all armies.

However, the Zuo army now has more than 47,000 men, and most of their ships need to be used to transport food and supplies. Most of them cannot travel by boat and can only walk.

Unlike the main force of the Taiping Army, the Left Army took better care of the elderly, weak, women and children among the families accompanying the army.

The able-bodied soldiers of the Left Army walked along the banks of the Luoqing River.

Even Peng Gang himself only traveled on horseback.

During his time traveling between Xiangzhou and Liuzhou, Peng Gang's horsemanship skills improved considerably.

As Peng Gang rode north, Qiu Ersao, who was in charge of managing the women's battalion, caught up with him and reported a very important military intelligence: "General! There's news about Xiang Rong's Qing troops!"

The Qing troops under Xiang Rong's command had been nowhere to be seen for a long time, as if they had vanished into thin air, which made Peng Gang uneasy.

Upon hearing that there was finally news of Xiang Rong's Qing army, Peng Gang's spirits lifted, and he asked Qiu Ersao to confirm the source and reliability of the news: "Where is Xiang Rong's Qing army now? Is the source of the news reliable?"

Xiang Rong's Qing army is currently the only force in Guangxi that can pose a threat to the Zuo army and even the Taiping army. Peng Gang has been closely monitoring the movements of Xiang Rong's Qing army.

"Xiang Rong's troops are active in the area around Pingluo Prefecture and Lipu County," Qiu Ersao said, slightly out of breath.

"The information was provided by Chen Shiqing. Chen Shiqing and Xiang Rong are sworn enemies, so he shouldn't be mistaken."

Chen Shiqing is the younger brother of Chen Yagui, a notorious bandit from the Heaven and Earth Society who previously terrorized northern Guangxi.

At the beginning of last year, Emperor Xianfeng issued an order to Xiang Rong, the then Governor of Hunan, to jointly suppress the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) and Shangdihui (Gods and Gods Society) bandits in Guangxi.

When Xiang Rong first entered Guilin, he did not directly enter Xunzhou Prefecture to suppress the God God Society. Instead, he besieged the old Heaven and Earth Society troops under Chen Yagui, who were besieging the provincial capital Guilin, in order to relieve the siege of Guilin.

It wasn't until the Guangxi governor Zhou Tianjue was defeated by Peng Gang at Mocun, and Zhou Tianjue's Qing army was almost completely wiped out, that the situation in Xunzhou Prefecture became critical, forcing Xiang Rong to lead the Chu army and Zhengan troops into Guangxi.

He Chun, then serving as the Hunan Provincial Military Commander, and his son Xiang Jixiong were left behind to continue the campaign against the remnants of Chen Yagui's Heaven and Earth Society forces in Guilin Prefecture.

Not long after, Chen Yagui, who was at his wit's end, was killed by He Chun and Xiang Jixiong.

The remaining troops, led by his brother Chen Shiqing and his partner Qu Zhenzu, fled into the mountainous area of ​​Pingluo Prefecture to avoid the Qing army's encirclement and suppression, hoping to make a comeback.

With the head of Chen Yagui, the notorious bandit leader of the Heaven and Earth Society, already secured, He Chun and Xiang Jixiong had little incentive to risk going into the mountains to completely wipe out Chen Yagui's remaining forces.

Chen Shiqing and Qu Zhenzu have thus lingered on in poverty until now.

It must be said that although Xiang Rong, this veteran, had not read many books, he was very adept at interpersonal relationships.

Xiang Rong had already reached the rank of Admiral, the highest rank a military officer could attain, with no further advancement possible.

Parents' hearts are always full of love and concern. In her later years, paving the way for her son Xiang Jixiong was the thing that Xiang Rong cared about most.

Let Xiang Jixiong and He Chun stay in Guilin Prefecture to continue suppressing the remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society under Chen Yagui, which are easier to suppress. This would be less difficult and more rewarding.

He could also do Chun a favor, cultivating good relations with the Manchus while paving the way for his son, Xiang Jixiong. A win-win situation.

Chen Shiqing and the Chu army had an irreconcilable feud, and he should not have mistaken the flags and banners of Xiang Rong's Qing troops.

"Xiang Rong is in Lipu and Pingle? So Xiang Rong went north via Mengjiang and Yong'an Prefecture?" Peng Gang reined in his horse and stopped in place, asking after thinking for a moment.

"Do they know how many soldiers Xiang Rong's troops are active in Lipu and Pingle?"

Peng Gang had looked at the map of Guangxi countless times. The map of Guangxi Province was already engraved in his mind. Even without looking at the map, Peng Gang could know the prefectures and counties of Guangxi and the main official roads and plains like the back of his hand.

Lipu and Pingle are located south of Guilin Prefecture and east of Liuzhou Prefecture. The area is densely mountainous with little flat land, making it a key point for the Guijiang River shipping.

To put it more bluntly, these two places were the only way for the main force of the Taiping Army to march north.

(End of this chapter)