Yongzhou Prefecture's first county, Lingling.
This is a fortress surrounded by water on three sides and backed by mountains on one side!
East, south and west of Lingling are all Xiao River, and the north of the city is also supported by a east mountain.
Although there is an open area between the Xiao River and the castle to the east of Lingling where siege troops can be deployed, there are quite a number of Qing demons within the city walls, enough to fill up 8,000 strong. This does not include the Yongzhou Prefecture's militiamen who assist in the defense; with them included, there are over 10,000 people!
Moreover, there are also characters like He Chun and Jiang Zongyuan within the city of Lingling!
In the past few days, Yang Xiuqing has tried several times to dispatch Luo Daguan to lead the elite troops of Taiping to land in the east of Lingling City. However, he failed to take root and was driven back into the Xiao River by He Chun and Jiang Zongyuan who arrived in time.
While Luo Dagang was trying to land, Yang Xiuqing also ordered Shi Dakai to lead the First Left and Second Left armies to make a detour via the Xiangjiang River and land north of Lingling City to fight southward. Although they managed to take several towns, they were unable to capture the eastern mountain, which was heavily fortified by Qing troops. Time and again, their attacks were fiercely repelled by He Chun and Jiang Zongyuan at the cost of their lives!
So after a few days of siege, Yang Xiuqing became discouraged to find that the Taiping army under his command could not actually attack the city... what was supposed to be a siege was nothing more than a mere encirclement without any real attacks.
What made Yang Xiuqing even more headache was that the main force of Taiping army was moving with a large number of family members, which was very inconvenient and consumed a lot of resources.
As the city of Lingling cannot be taken down at the moment, the main force of Taiping army is now camped in a wilderness area called Niupi Tan to the east of Lingling, on the east bank of Xiao River. Living conditions are very inconvenient and daily consumption of limited supplies is necessary.
The only thing to be grateful for is that the progress of Feng Yunshan and Luo Yaogu's army, which advanced towards Daozhou, was smooth, and they had successfully broken through several towns in a row.
However, doesn't the success of Feng Yunshan and Luo Yaoguo's forces just highlight his own failure?
What if Feng Yunshan and Luo Yaoguo successfully take down the city of Daozhou in the near future? As the Left Assistant of the Taiping Heavenly King and the main general of the eastern king's army, could his prestige be enough to suppress Feng Yunshan and Luo Yaoguo?
Therefore, during this period, Yang Xiuqing was so anxious that he was almost spinning around, and his sleep was no longer pleasant. Last night, he had a nightmare in which Luo Yaoguo took out a purple-gold goblet to collect him for the Lord of God, West Bey......which instantly scared Yang Xiuqing awake and caused him to break out in a cold sweat.
At this moment, as he sat in his own "royal tent" and discussed military affairs with his four great national elders—Yang Yuqing, Yang Fuxing, Yang Yiqing, and Yang Runqing—he was still losing focus, getting distracted from time to time.
"Eastern King, Eastern King, Eastern King's Highness, what are you thinking? Are you thinking God the old man is going to come down?"
When Yang Xiuqing's "old brother from Guangdong", the head of the Guangdong Heavenly Door and Path Society who went to Guangxi to rebel, Yang Yuanqing, who had his old face close by, looked at him with concern and asked, Yang Xiuqing realized that he had been lost in thought for a while.
Yang Xiuqing couldn't let his several "brothers" of uncertain background see the fear in his heart, so he quickly twirled his beard and smiled, saying, "The Heavenly Father just conveyed to me a message of good news. He told me to focus on the war and not worry about anything else."
When Yang Yuanqing, Yang Fuxing, Yang Runqing, and Yang Yiqing heard this, they all had expressions of surprise on their faces. Seeing their expressions, Yang Xiuqing felt a bit puzzled.
What's up with these guys today?
Is it genuine that they were deceived, or are they feigning being deceived?
"Eastern King, the good news from the Heavenly Father has arrived!" Yang Yuanqing smiled and said, "It's just arrived!"
The short but ferocious-looking Yang Fuxing supplemented, "The good news is brought personally by Chen Chengyin. He is now waiting outside the tent."
"Chen Chengyin?" Yang Xiuqing was taken aback, "Daozhou?"
"Eastern King, you truly possess divine foresight!" The short but plump-faced Yang Runqing laughed, "Daozhou has been taken down by the Taiping Army!"
So fast......Yang Xiuqing thought in his heart: how was this battle fought? Could that Luo Yaoguo really be what Hong Xiuquan claimed him to be, the "Warrior Angel Michael" with great strength and combat prowess?
"Big brother," Yang Xiuqing's "little brother," Yang Yiqing stood up and said, "Should we call Chen Chengyin in?"
"Announce!" Yang Xiuqing said, "Let him come in!"
"Yes!" Yang Yiqing replied and turned to summon Chen Chengyin.
......
"Ha ha ha......I knew that my eighth brother was a warrior angel sent down from heaven! Now it's safe, I can sleep soundly and rule the land!"
In the central of Niu Pi Tan camp, inside a large yellow tent, King Hong Xiuquan of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was excitedly walking back and forth inside, excited to the point of hand-dancing a few times.
However, Hong Renfa, who came to deliver the good news, and Zeng Yuanshui, a loyal subordinate sent by the Southern King Feng Yunshan, both had their eyebrows slightly furrowed, as if they had something difficult to say.
After Hong Xiuquan's excitement subsided, he also noticed that the expressions of the two did not seem right. He looked around and saw that there were quite a few people inside the tent. There were eight queen mothers and 18 female musicians preparing to serve him for his meal as the true human king.
King Hong Xiuquan had quite a noisy meal, enjoying music while eating and drinking!
"Everyone, go away. I'm not hungry yet," King Hong Xiuquan waved his hand to send everyone away, and then asked Hong Renfa and Zeng Yuanshui, "Afa, AYuan, what's the matter?"
Hong Renfa and Zeng Yuanshui looked at each other, both sighing - it's time for the small report!
Although unwilling to fight, he had no choice but to fight!
"Your Majesty," Hong Renfa began, "The Taiping angel is good in every way, but he's not very good at keeping count of money..."
"Money, money..." Hong Xiuquan was taken aback, immediately waving his hand, "It's a small matter... You're saying I'm small-hearted."
Hong Renfa shook his head: "Your Majesty, the Taiping angel is not greedy for himself... If that were the case, I wouldn't have said anything to you. He... He changed the rules of giving all things to the Lord!"
"What? How can he do this..." King Hong Xiuquan had an expression of surprise.
In fact, Luo Yaoguo's greediness is really not a problem for Hong Xiuquan. After all, someone traveled a long way from heaven to help fight the empire. It's only fair that he takes a bit. Although Hong Xiuquan is not particularly generous, he is not that small-minded either.
But changing the rule of "returning all things to the Lord" is a direct challenge to the Tenets of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!
King Hong Xiuquan's face was starting to look a bit unsightly.
"and..." Hong Renfa saw Hong Xiuquan's expression and even started to feel sorry for Luo Yaoguo. What harm can he do? Why did he go and provoke this fool? He's been crazy since he was young, gets irritable easily, and when he does, he blows up!
"What else?" Seeing his good brother hesitating as if he wanted to say something, Hong Xiuquan asked urgently in a severe tone.
"He also changed the title of the Heavenly Father, Your Imperial Majesty God..."
"What?"
King Hong Xiuquan had stood up, "Changed it to what?"
"Changed it to Tian Fu Hao Tian Wang Buddha... added the word 'Hao Tian'..."
"Shower..."
King Hong Xiuquan overturned the table, and the fragments scattered all over the ground.
Although he had studied the four books and five classics for a long time, King Hong Xiuquan couldn't be unaware of what "Tian Fu Hao Tian Wang Buddha" meant.
"He dare to do this? That is My God the father, that is Mine! Even if the Heavenly Father wishes to change His name to Tian Fu Hao Tian Wang Buddha, He will surely give Me a dream about it! Who does he think he is? He is just a dry son of the Heavenly Father..."
Hong Xiuquan roared and bellowed, his originally fair complexion flushed a deep red!
...
"Eastern King, that Luo Angel has been distributing fields, dividing lands, and redistributing excess wealth... he has also altered the rules of returning all things to the Lord..."
"Eastern King, he has also pacified the great evil chief Yu Wanqing and has recruited a large group of people including Hong Xiuquan's brother, wife, sister-in-law, military advisor, and others from Hunan to join the ranks?"
"Eastern King, he hasn't yet implemented the system of male camp and female camp for his new brothers and sisters..."
"And he has also changed the title of the Heavenly Father to Tian Fu Hao Tian Wang Buddha!"
"What? What does he want to do? He... he... he..."
Just after hearing Chen Chengyin's report, Yang Xiuqing was as shocked as Hong Xiuquan!
Luo Yaoguo is really good at stirring up trouble!
Does Luo Yaoguo not consider the rules of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to exist?
Moreover, he has changed the title of the Heavenly Father to Tian Fu Hao Tian Wang Buddha... what does that mean?
Isn't the Heavenly Father's surname "Sha" and name "Huahua"? How can he be called "Hao Tian" now?
However, to be honest, the name "Yeh Huahua" does sound a bit strange. "Hao Tian God" really sounds grand and of high class!
This Hong Xiuquan is indeed careless, perhaps he even forgot the name of the Heavenly Father in heaven!
This is a bit tricky......I've also claimed to be "Yeh Huahua" when I prayed to the God the Father!
Thinking of this, Yang Xiuqing lowered his voice and said, "Send someone to fetch the Western King and the Western Queen Mother for me, now!"
