Li Xiucheng's self-report: China's top ten mistakes
There are ten mistakes in planning the opening of China.
First, he was mistaken for the king of the country, and the East King ordered Li, Li and Li to sweep the north and die.
2. Li, after the defeat, mistakenly transferred the prime ministers Zeng, Chen Shibao and Xu Ying to meet until Linqing was defeated.
3. Zeng and others mistook Linqing for defeat, saving Li and failing. Qin Richang, the feudal monarch of Yan State, led troops to save him. Soldiers arrived in Shucheng and Yangjiadian, and suffered a crushing defeat.
Fourth, Lin should not be sent to Xiangtan by mistake. At this time, Lin was defeated by all the troops in Xiangtan.
It is a big mistake to mistake the East King and the North King for killing each other.
Six, the wrong wing monarch is not harmonious, the monarch and the minister are jealous, the wing is suspicious, and the soldiers and soldiers are brought into the DPRK. This is a big mistake.
Seven, the wrong master does not believe in foreign ministers, supplemented by the eldest brother and the second brother, who has no talent and cannot protect the country.
Eight, the wrong master does not ask political affairs.
Nine, it is a big mistake to be too king by mistake.
Ten, the wrong country does not need talents.
Eleven, mistakes should not be designed to protect Tianjing, pull military forces everywhere, and establish a chaotic government. Those who mistake their country and their lives are caused by ten mistakes.
-"Li Xiucheng readme"
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Campaign lasted 14 years, with bonfires burning all over 18 provinces and successively conquering more than 600 cities, creating an army and political power that frightened the enemy and dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the late Qing Dynasty. Its scale is grand, its procedures are complete and its influence is far-reaching, which is unmatched by any peasant war in history. But why didn't she overthrow the Qing Dynasty and win the victories of Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang? What is the reason for her failure? Please read the article published by Professor Yu Sway of Renmin University of China today.
Divine power in heaven and imperial power on earth-an inextricable historical knot
In the feudal society of China, where the productive forces were very backward, the oppressed and exploited poor peasants often took a mysterious form when trying to overthrow the rulers above them. In the early days of the Taiping Revolution, in order to win the support of the masses, Hong Xiuquan and others followed this form. Hong Xiuquan claimed to have gone to heaven, and the all-knowing and all-powerful emperor God gave him a sword and gold Xi, and ordered him to come down to earth to be "the only thrill, exorcise evil spirits and stay right". In this way, Hong Xiuquan turned himself into a "God", the second son of the Father God, the brother of the heavenly brother Jesus, and the fateful human monarch. The core of China's feudal monarchy is "I am the country", which makes the world revered. Since Hong Xiuquan ascended the throne of the Heavenly King, he has always called himself "I", and repeatedly stressed that "China is heavy, the heavenly power is in hand, life and death are up to the emperor, and officials cannot violate it". At the same time, he made great efforts to make the country famous and make the young master of Tianguifu Hong, long live. After Hong Xiuquan deified himself as the second son of God, Yang and Xiao Chaogui also rumored that the father God and the heavenly brother Jesus were possessed respectively. In this way, two sets of conflicting power systems appeared in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. On earth, Hong Xiuquan is the supreme commander of the Taiping Army and the king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Hong is related to Yang and Xiao. However, in the religion of God, the relationship between Hong and Yang and Xiao has changed from a monarch to a father and son, that is, Hong Xiuquan, who is expensive as a king of heaven, must also obey the orders of Yang and Xiao, who are transmitted by the heavenly father. As a result, religious father and son brothers and political subjects, theocracy and monarchical power, power crossing and inferiority inversion formed an inseparable knot in the system of the integration of politics and religion in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This contradiction between theocracy and imperial power is not only the result of Yang's struggle, but also creates conditions for him to further specialize and eventually replace Hong Xiuquan.
Before the capital Tianjing was established, Yang, the king of the East, was able to maintain the authority of Hong Xiuquan, the heavenly king. However, since then, Yang has gradually claimed to be a heavenly father, acting arbitrarily and constantly coveting imperial power. Hong Xiuquan wanted to "choose the sea to appease the people of Sui Dynasty", while Yang proposed that "there is an East King in the sea". Hong Xiuquan insisted that "there are no two countries in the world", but the couplet posted by Yang Bu openly said, "Visiting the heavenly father will always be my father, and guarding the East King will be king as soon as possible". Yang is "arrogant, I don't know how to avoid it", and finally developed to blame the heavenly king with a stick and force him to seal it. As a result, the contradiction between Hong and Yang, imperial power and theocracy intensified and could not be reconciled, and a tragic infighting in Tianjing inevitably broke out.
After the Tianjing Incident, although the imperial power and theocracy were unified on the surface, the myth that God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent has been completely shaken in the Taiping Army. At the same time, because Hong Xiuquan still claimed to be the leader regardless of state affairs, the imperial power was declining. First of all, Wing King Shi Dakai returned to Beijing to assist the government. Hong Xiuquan saw his popularity and worried that power would be marginalized again. So, "I'm the boss, I'll be the strategist", and I named my younger brother Hong Renfa Wang An and Hong Renda the Axe King, which was used to contain the Wing King, which meant murder. As a result, Shi Dakai didn't want to be Yang's second, so he left Beijing angrily. Shi Dakai's expedition did not return. Although the second bloodshed in Tianjing was avoided, he led more than 100,000 elite troops on a separatist journey, which greatly weakened the power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the later period of the Kingdom of Heaven, Hong Renda, the elder brother of Hong Xiuquan, was in charge of political affairs in Beijing and China. The phenomenon of "being alone, ignoring people and public affairs" in the Taiping Army has become more and more serious, and even the phenomenon of "privately printing letters", "privately granting official positions" and "protecting private officials" has appeared. Hong Xiuquan suspected that Li Xiucheng and other rising stars were too big to fail. Many kings were built for decentralization. As a result, after the excessive creation of princes, more self-respecting and separatist forces were formed, which caused the serious situation that the heavenly king could not control the Lord and the Lord could not command the army.
Paradise on earth, feudalism-hotbed and soil of corruption
Different from Christianity and some traditional religions in China, the religion of God founded by Hong Xiuquan is not only satisfied with the comfort of going to heaven after death, but also wants to establish a "Little Paradise" on earth. The leaders of the kingdom of heaven also called for this. For example, before Hong Xiuquan broke through Yongan, he wrote, "Be bold and single-minded, killing demons is the best, and the burden of Jinbao should be slowed down." Taking off all feelings, the BRICS family is radiant. High heaven enjoys great prestige, the smallest and most humble silk and satin. Men wear dragon robes and women arrange flowers, each being a loyal minister and an old horse Khan. " Yang, the king of the East, also said: Stay in Little Paradise, "Go out, surrender, and wait in line. Some people are horses, some people are fans, and their enthusiasm and prestige are unparalleled. " Many of the gods who attended jintian uprising came with the purpose of being "generals" and "ladies". Therefore, after the establishment of Tianjing, the capital, the idea of "no reward for reactive power, no reward for meritorious service, no effort in managing affairs, and great happiness in the future" first spread among the top leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
The ultimate cause of all social and political changes depends on the economy of the times, and any economic system has its corresponding superstructure. In the middle of the19th century, when the landlord economy and the small-scale peasant economy dominated, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, whose mission was to overthrow the autocratic and decadent late Qing Dynasty, did not create "the material conditions of a new society, so no powerful ideological or will force could make them get rid of this fate", that is, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime established by Hong Xiuquan could not get rid of the traditional feudal imperial power system. As early as Yong 'an, the establishment of the imperial seal system of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in the embryonic form of feudal regime. After the establishment of Tianjing, the capital, the internal hierarchy became more and more strict, and the generations became more and more distinct. Judging from the official system, there are 16 levels from the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan to two grass-roots Sima. Regardless of the courtiers, titles, crowns, flags, rituals and styles, it is "the level should be divided up and down, and the system should be graded." The strict hierarchical system and the imperial power system of "I am the world" are not only the basic structure of feudal autocracy, but also the hotbed and soil for corruption in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After entering Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan handed over the affairs of a country to Yang and lived in the palace. The soldiers in front fought bloody battles, and the husband and wife could not get together, but he had 88 wives and indulged himself. According to historical records, the Heavenly Palace is surrounded by "several miles and ten miles" and the building is magnificent. It is beautifully carved, decorated with gold and painted with colorful colors. The court pillars are made of Zhu Long, the kisses are made of gold, the doors and windows are papered with satin, the walls are painted with clay gold, and the floor is paved with marble. Yang's east is also Fiona Fang's six or seven miles, and it is "extremely poor and skillful, so it can be shared with prosperity". Under the influence of Hong, Yang and others and driven by Little Paradise's hedonic thought, King Taiping and his generals also made great progress, from Wuhan to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and then to the Palace. Even Li Hongzhang and others can't help but sigh this decadent life of arrogance and extravagance: "However, luxury is not so extreme, and it may not be as rebellious as in ancient times!" The king is extravagant, and so is the army.
Although the heroes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom raised the banner of anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism and dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the Qing Dynasty, the inherent limitations of their peasant class were also exposed after their staged victory. In its interior, especially in the high-level leading groups, the wind of fighting for power and profit spread rapidly and eroded the body of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom mercilessly.
The Great Influence of Religion on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creatures and the feeling of the heartless world. On the one hand, the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan mobilized the people with the ideal of "plowing with fields, eating with rice, being uneven everywhere and being warm everywhere"; On the other hand, he used such a sentence: "People who are willing to worship God have no worries; Religious theories such as "Ungodly people, snakes and tigers hurt people" avoid evil and enjoy themselves.
After the establishment of Wu Xuan Deng Ji or Yong 'an, if Hong Xiuquan could follow the example of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, cancel the religion in time, put all the power into one body, and correct the political system of the contradiction between theocracy and imperial power, many tragedies that occurred later might have been avoided. However, Hong Xiuquan fell into the quagmire of religion. He not only widely distributed the so-called "evidence of countless miracles and omnipotence" shown by the so-called heavenly father and heavenly brother, but also attributed the victory of Taiping Army's bloody battle to "omnipotence of heavenly father and heavenly brother". He also threatened that "today's heavenly father and heavenly brother are doing things to make the demon alive, to make the demon die, and to show a little omnipotence, so that the demon atmosphere can be swept away and leveled", completely ignoring the actions of human resources.
After the capital was Tianjing, it was further stipulated in the "Tianmu System in China" that all 25 families should set up a chapel, and things such as marriage and auspiciousness should be offered to God. Children from 25 families go to church every day and are taught by two Sima to read the holy books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. On Sunday, the corporal led men and women to the chapel, men and women, listening to reason and being reasonable. In addition to seven days of worship, the Taiping Army also worships God every morning and evening, and thanks God before meals every day. At the same time, all ideologies except the religion of God, including the book of a hundred schools of thought, are rejected. "Whoever dares to teach back will be beheaded." . In addition, every year, the candidate's topic is mainly the Bible, and the degree of the candidate's understanding of the Bible is used as the criterion for being elected. This organizational system of combining politics with religion and religious education throughout all classes combined the dogma of Shintoism with political, legal and cultural education, so that the whole Taiping Army's thought was completely imprisoned by religious superstition, and every soldier in heaven was a faithful believer of Shintoism. Therefore, foreign officials at that time recorded that the Taiping Army "paid great attention to piety and dedication, and was very self-disciplined and even fanatical in observing religious rituals and ceremonies". But religion is an upside-down world after all. After his father's third son Feng Tianshan and Tian Xiong's spokesman Xiao Chaogui were shot, his father's spokesman Yang died of infighting. Thus, the myth of God's omnipotence was completely shaken in the Taiping Army. At that time, there was a folk song in Tianjing City, which said, "If God kills Brother Tian, Jiangshan can't get through. Long hair is not the Lord, so Xianfeng is still allowed. "
In the later period of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan repeatedly emphasized the divine right of monarchy and constantly deified himself. 1863 In late February, Zeng Guofan's Xiang army had surrounded Tianjing. When the situation in the kingdom of heaven was extremely critical, Li Xiucheng proposed "keeping the city", but Hong Xiuquan reprimanded, "I came to the world by the will of God and my brother Jesus, and I am the only God in the world. What is there to be afraid of? " We are iron bucket mountain, but we don't help them. Some people helped us, but we said there were no soldiers. We have more heavenly soldiers than water. Why are we afraid of those who used to be demons? "But God the Father can't save the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In July 1864, Tianjing fell. The body of Hong Xiuquan, who died young, was dug out of the Heavenly Palace by Xiang Army and set on fire. Since then, the myth of God has been reduced to ashes with the seven-day eternal fire in Tianwangfu.
If you get something, you will succeed; If you lose, you will die —— Hong Xiuquan's solitary policy.
"Survival lies in getting people", which is a famous saying of Liu Xiang in Han Dynasty. When it comes to employing people, Hong Xiuquan adopts a policy of being immune to it, which is far less than Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang army who met with him. In the small family taught by God, not only the omnipotent heavenly father and heavenly brother, but also Hong Xiuquan, Yang, Xiao Chaogui and others are "gods" sent by God to the world. Therefore, they don't need the talent and wisdom of every body and fetus. "Where there is an attack, there is howard the duck." "It is the heavenly father who has already made a reservation, so it is invincible and invincible." But in fact, Hong Xiuquan and others also understand that to establish a kingdom of heaven on earth, there must be a large number of talents. Therefore, they also try their best to recruit intellectuals, or set up courses, or set up lists to recruit talents. However, the anti-Confucius policy pursued by the church of God and the radical behavior of "Buddhist temples, Taoist temples, city god social altars, without temples, they will burn, without images, they will die" have made most intellectuals stay away from them. At the same time, Hong Xiuquan and others only used intellectuals who entered the Taiping Army, but did not reuse them. The history book says: "Thieves have plans to take their ministers to study, or die of frustration, or act as booksellers in different libraries." They write letters, letters, seals, notices, family letters, military books, etc. And all military orders are ignored, and those that are useful are counted themselves. " Therefore, after Li Xiucheng was captured, when asked whether something between officers and soldiers and Taiping Army was good or bad, he said: Officers and soldiers often use scholars, but Taiping Army has no scholars. In fact, the Taiping Army is not without talents with both civil and military skills. For example, Shi Dakai, the wing king, and Li Xiucheng, the loyal king, are formidable figures of the Qing army, but they have not been highly valued by Hong Xiuquan.
At the same time, according to the regulations of Shintoism, anyone who worships God is the son of his father, and those who don't worship God are monsters and ghosts, all of whom are beheaded. In this way, the enemy and the enemy are divided by obedience and disguise, which seriously expands the scope of attack. Similarly, the narrow religious creed also made the Taiping Army lose many allies and allies. For example, after the uprising of the Shanghai Knife Association, the founder Liu Lichuan was eager to join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and wrote that Hong Xiuquan was willing to be driven away. However, the kingdom of heaven never sent troops to meet the enemy, leaving him alone and helpless, and finally he died. Others, such as the Knife Club and the Red Money Club in Fujian, the Border Money Club in Jiangxi, the Shengping and Dacheng countries in Guangxi, including the Nian armies on both sides of the Huaihe River, failed to unite with them well. As a result, the peasant rebels were suppressed by the Qing army respectively.
The Northern Expedition to the West was like a bandit —— A major strategic mistake of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Throughout the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War, it is difficult for us to see a strategic plan that runs through the overall situation, but there are often strategic mistakes that are difficult to break through and random. For example, after jintian uprising, Hong Xiuquan did not lead troops to the north in time, but was stationed in the Dahuanghekou for 57 days; After Wu Xuan Dongxiang ascended the pole, he also stationed troops in February; Later, in Yong 'an's "Mountain City of Meiere", Wang was hastily sealed, which dragged on for more than half a year, giving the Qing court the opportunity to adjust troops calmly. A series of military victories made the leaders of the kingdom of heaven get carried away, thinking that "the barrier of millions of copper people can be broken only by the power of the heavenly father and the heavenly brothers", not by manpower. Therefore, after the capital was Tianjing, Hong, Yang and others ignored the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps established by the Qing army outside Tianjing and Yangzhou, and divided their troops for the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition.
At that time, although the Taiping Army claimed to be a million, there were only about 100,000 soldiers who could fight except the elderly, women and children. If we concentrate our forces to wipe out the two camps of Jiangnan and Jiangbei in the Qing Dynasty (at that time, the two camps had less than 30,000 troops), then set up a consolidated Jiangnan base area with Wuhan, Jiujiang and Anqing as the center and Shanghai, Jiangsu and Hangzhou as the base areas, and finally send troops to the Northern Expedition to compete with the Qing court for the world, which may lead to the victory of Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang. However, the leaders of the kingdom of heaven could not figure this out, but hastily divided all the Taiping soldiers into three. In this way, whether they stayed in Tianjing or went on the Western Expedition, their forces were not dominant, which actually gave the Qing army a chance to break them one by one.
Governing the country without moral politics —— Comment on Hong Xiuquan's policy of governing the country.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom started with religion, and it is an organization that integrates politics and religion. Therefore, the dogma taught by God is both a military law and a law. Before the establishment of Tianjing, the capital, this religious dogma, which combines law and military regulations, undoubtedly played a great role in the battle between Taiping Army and Qing Army. However, after the capital was established, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not have a complete strategy for governing the country. Instead, it directly extended the religious rules of God ruling the army to the society. The result not only failed, but also lost the hearts of the people.
Economically, before entering Nanjing, the Taiping Army also adopted a policy of protecting agriculture, industry and commerce, "buying rice for pulp and paying more for the market price". However, after the capital was established, Yang promulgated the Regulations for Benefiting the People, which implemented the policy of abandoning industry and commerce and returning farmland to the people. "The shops trade as usual, but the principal and interest belong to the king and the people are not allowed to use them." "There is no need for money, but the people's land belongs to the king, and the seeds are collected by the king." The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also set up a Baigong Hall to concentrate all kinds of craftsmen to serve the kingdom. "But there are rations and no money to hire." This policy of depriving farmers and craftsmen and violating economic laws simply won't work.
Culturally, after jintian uprising, driven by the concept that there is only one true God but one God, the Taiping Army regarded "all gods are demons, and they burn when they meet temple statues", so that "all temples and shrines, regardless of folk relics, were stripped bare". After the capital Tianjing was established, Hong Xiuquan's anti-hole policy heated up sharply. "All the wooden owners in the main hall of Gong Xue were also destroyed, and they were humiliated at will, or piled up weapons or used as stables. Jiangning Gong Xue changed to Zaifufu, and the land of the bridge was the field of cattle and dogs. " For Confucian classics, they are banned for fear of endless, and destroyed for fear of endless. Later, due to Yang's different opinions, although Hong Xiuquan wrote to delete official books, he announced that Confucian classics would not be deleted, published or read. However, it was not until the collapse of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that the revised book was published, and Confucius and Mencius were still banned. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom destroyed Confucian culture as a symbol of Chinese culture and burned all ancient books, which was in sharp contrast with the Qing Dynasty, which respected Confucianism. As a result, the whole literati class and even ordinary people were pushed to their opposite.
In terms of social management, in the land occupied by Taiping Army, all urban residents, regardless of their beliefs or hobbies, first collect their belongings in the sacred library and put them in the museum according to their gender, and then strictly perform the worship ceremony, recite dogmas and praise the emperor and god. This abstinence policy, which cancels the family and violates human relations, has aroused strong dissatisfaction among most people, and even "complaints are endless" for a long time. At the same time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom forced the religion of God into the society and forced people to change their customs. For example, it is forbidden to worship Buddha and ancestors, and "it is forbidden for people to worship their families"; People are forbidden to celebrate the New Year according to the traditional old calendar, and all old customs that violate natural conditions during folk festivals are banned; It is forbidden for people to drink and smoke. ; This series of policies of governing the country by religion inevitably clashed with traditional society, so there were many punishments and killings at that time. Luo Xiaoquan, the prime minister of Westernization before the Kingdom of Heaven, said: "Their political system is as weak and pitiful as their theology. I don't believe they have any political organization, nor do they know how to form a government. Everything seems to be completely in the military law, and those in power from the top to the bottom are on the line of killing people. " If libel is removed, this view is not unreasonable.
/kloc-the vigorous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement that broke out 0/50 years ago finally failed, and she made countless heroes regret it to the end. Although anyone can comment on her great achievements, ups and downs in history, the painful lessons she has cast with her blood and life will always be worthy of future generations' vigilance.