What hit his face was the unique cold air after snow, but Chen Yucheng's mood felt like fire, with a burning feeling in his heart.
Like many Nian Shou, he raised the red flag and joined the formation of the Hong Army. He was set up by his clan, subordinates and friends. Although he personally could still maintain a little loyalty to Hong Xiucheng, these subordinates But he was unwilling to follow Hong Xiuquan any longer, let alone stay in Xia Yun on this ice-covered Huaihe River.
Therefore, he was forcibly stood up, but this was also Chen Yucheng's original intention. At this time of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, who could remain loyal to Hong Xiuquan, the king of heaven? A scholar who studied the history of the later Taiping Heavenly Kingdom said an interesting thing, It is said that Hong Xiuquan's "pure minister" in the late Kingdom of Heaven was only Hong Rengan.
But at this time, King Qian was still stranded in Hong Kong and had never reported to Tianjing - in fact, he would never come to Tianjing, and the Kingdom of Heaven would never find another person who was as loyal to the Hong family as Hong Rengan. Strictly speaking, Du's pure ministers remained loyal to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for their great cause of fighting against the Qing Dynasty and the Manchus, but they had lost hope for the Hong family and the so-called God-worshipping religion.
Therefore, Chen Decai next to him said: "King of Ying, now join forces with Du Jinchan to join forces with the heroes of northern Anhui and attack Kaifeng. Only then will the majesty of King Ying be revealed!"
Chen Yucheng himself was willing to remain loyal to Hong Xiuquan, but his subordinates were half-hearted. In history, Chen Yucheng was both a loyal person who was loyal to the Kingdom of Heaven until the last moment, and a traitor who led hundreds of thousands of people to collectively surrender to the Qing army. Among them, Guangxi The proportion of old brothers is particularly high.
Now, Liu Chang openly recruits the old Tianguo Ministry. They are naturally willing to change their flag, but after all, Chen Yucheng is the young man who has fought countless times under the flag of Tianping Tianping: "Also, let the King of Heaven leave quickly"
"The king can leave. But the team must stay for us!" The one who said this was Lai Wenguang, Chen Yucheng's favorite general: "At least half of them must stay!"
Now that Chen Yucheng has changed his flag, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom cannot even preserve its flag. Therefore, he said without hesitation: "We need sufficient strength to move north!"
Chen Yucheng pondered for a long time before finally agreeing: "Don't use my banner in this matter. When we are dealing with the king of heaven and his ministers, we must exercise some discretion!"
In fact, he is now changing his banner in the name of supporting Du Jinchan, just to save face. But he also knew that this was the last time they showed mercy to the King of Heaven. When the banner was officially changed, they would never show any mercy to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom like they did now.
This will be the last blow to the Kingdom of Heaven Chen Yucheng's flag change can be said to be the heaviest blow in the history of the Nian Army and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It only took half a quarter of an hour for the entire Pheasant River to be replaced with a red flag. What followed was internecine fighting throughout northern Anhui.
From this moment on, Nianzi is no longer a unified whole. They have formed hardliners and moderates due to different choices, which are the so-called "king faction" and "empress faction". Soon, different Nianjun factions were formed because of their personal ideals. s difference. Joining this big fight, even those Nian soldiers who wanted to remain neutral joined in this Nianzi vs. Nianzi fight.
Like weeds, Nianzi paid countless blood prices in this fight, and even massacred villages. Different big flags, small flags, and different clans broke out. It was already a tragedy. A bigger tragedy, the same people. The big flag, the same small flag, even the same clan, even the same family, all raised their swords and guns to attack because of their different positions.
This battle even crushed the remaining strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to pieces. Except for Hong Xiuquan, the king of heaven, who fled with hundreds of people, the rest of the Taiping Army, except for Wei Jun's troops, almost responded to Chen Yucheng's flag change. The first thing they did after changing their banner was to point their guns at their former allies, the Nian Army.
Not to mention that behind them was the main force of Feng Sixian's 8th Division. This most tragic scene in the history of Nianzi finally came to an end with rows of Nian heads being shot on the Wohe River. This also represented the basic control of the Hong Army. The entire northern Anhui.
Therefore, the spring of the eighth year of Xianfeng could be extremely cold for Ye Mingchen, the king of Yue, even so cold that he could not curse loudly.
According to various intelligence sources, the Hong Army has greatly consolidated their advantages this past winter. They captured the entire Jiangsu and Anhui, and united their territory along the Yangtze River. In the past, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was at its most glorious, they only occupied It¡¯s just a small piece of land along the Yangtze River.
And now, from Jiangsu to Yichang, Hubei, they occupy almost the entire Yangtze River. Even the two provinces of Hunan and Hunan, the two most powerful provinces against the Taiping Army, are now almost completely occupied. Hubei is still not in the hands of the Hong Army. Yes, there are only more than 20 counties.?And Hunan only has most of southern Hunan left, and neither of these two places can hold out for long. Bao Chao's Hunan army has withdrawn to Sichuan in advance, and Zeng Guofan has repeatedly written letters asking to retreat to Guangdong.
This means that the Red Bandits have occupied territory in seven provinces, and their vanguard has already invaded Henan and Shandong Provinces. The Liang Wang Army, which suffered heavy losses during the retreat, was almost overrun by the pursuing Red Bandits and simply withdrew. There are no very effective Qing troops in Hebei, Henan and Shandong.
Under this situation, the south became the Hong Army's next target. The two sides had already carried out many preliminary battles in Wuling. Although the Yue Wang Army achieved some small victories, the overall situation became increasingly unfavorable to Ye Mingchen.
Therefore, he had to meet with the Spanish consul again: "Mr. Minister, our battle to defend the Holy South requires more support. Yes, more volunteers, more rifles, cannons, and more ammunition. , and more loans!¡±
He no longer thinks about free lunches as he used to. After several months of contact, he has understood what the Spanish Empire is all about. Among the so-called great powers, the Spanish country can be said to be the weakest. Not only During the Napoleonic Wars, we were trampled by the French soldiers countless times back home. A civil war broke out more than ten years ago, which damaged the vitality of the country.
Under this circumstance, they were completely half-hearted about this war. If it weren't for the Hong Army's hostile attitude towards Catholicism, perhaps they would have directly abandoned Ye Mingchen and colluded with Liu Juehu's traitors.
However, the Spanish consul did not consider the issue of continuing to strongly support Ye Mingchen: "Dear Your Excellency, I know that you need military support now, but the entire Luzon, the entire Spain, has exhausted some power to support you, you should believe this a little!"
Ye Mingchen is a little angry. He now knows a lot about the inside story of the Spaniards. He truly believes that the Spaniards are supporting him wholeheartedly. If this old empire is willing to support him, perhaps the Yue King's army has already counterattacked to Wenzhou!
Now he has only one true friend, and that is the Russian Empire. However, he cannot say such words. He can only say sincerely: "Your Excellency, I would like to ask, how can I ask His Majesty the Emperor of Spain to be with you?" I became a true ally!¡±
The consul lowered his head, but he was still willing to reveal the truth: "I know you are also working hard and have achieved certain results. Now there are not only thousands of foreign volunteers in Guangdong Province, but also tens of thousands of new volunteers. Army, but"
He changed the topic: "You still obey the northern government on the flag. This is a barbarian regime that has lost all credibility in Europe. It cannot provide you with any kind of support, or even a little psychological support. On the contrary, It is precisely because of this that residents in Guangdong Province and even the southern region are suspicious of you!"
"I understand!" Detective Ye already understood this: "I can declare my disassociation from the Qing government!"
"This is not enough!" the consul continued: "Our King is destined to form an alliance with another king!"
"Very good!" Ye Mingchen agreed very much with the Spanish suggestion: "After I go back, I will immediately sever ties with the barbarians. But is the Spanish government willing to support me in becoming an emperor?"
"Yes!" the Spanish consul said with a harmless smile: "But our government, for the time being, only supports the scope of the new government's administration, within the existing scope"
This is because the Spanish are unwilling to interfere too much in the Chinese Civil War. After all, if they want to support the new government to continue to advance northward and launch a comprehensive decisive battle with the Hong Kong Army, I am afraid that the Spanish government must first consider the issue of its own financial bankruptcy. The Spanish finance has been very bad in history. It is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Even with the import of large amounts of gold and silver from the Americas, the country has still declared financial bankruptcy many times, let alone the current signs of decline.
"I thank you for your kindness!" Detective Ye has a rising desire in his heart. As long as the current scope of governance is maintained, it is enough. This is almost half of China, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou, which is enough to build a legacy for several generations. He is a scholar. I can't be proud of having achieved this career today.
Scholar Wanhuhou, today is not a Wanhuhou, but a foundation for thousands of generations, and even the rule of the world. As long as Spain fully supports him, Ye Mingchen can achieve all miracles.
"Our country would like to congratulate His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Thank you very much for your country. As long as our country can occupy the south, we will be richly rewarded!"
"No need for generous rewards!" The Spanish consul said with a smile: "All I need is that your country can lease Guangzhou Bay!"! ~!
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