Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 19 The Hidden Dangers of the God Worshipping Society

Li Yi and Wang An left the meeting hall and walked one after the other in the Shanren Village.

Chen Picheng and others followed Li Yi until they escorted Li Yi back to the house arranged for him by Hu Yihuang. Only then did they disperse and go back to rest under Li Yi's arrangement.

Everyone was nervous all day yesterday because of the Qing army's offensive.

There was a night attack and the whole night was spent capturing prisoners.

Now that it's daybreak again, everyone is feeling a little exhausted.

Li Yi and Wang An sat opposite each other at a table. Li Yi picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea that had already cooled down for Wang An, and said with a wry smile.

"It's cold, Uncle Wang, just drink it!"

Wang An did not show any disgust. He picked up the teacup with a complicated expression, looked at Li Yi deeply, and then drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking the slightly bitter overnight tea in the cup, Wang An finally couldn't hold back and asked.

"Li Yi, you...why are you here? What's going on?"

"When the army set out, you were not there for the check-in. I thought you were a deserter, but I never imagined that you were actually... a bandit?"

When Wang An asked this question, he spoke the last two words in a very low voice.

It is obvious that although Wang An did not approve of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he also understood the principle of being under someone's roof.

Li Yi smiled bitterly and said.

"Uncle Wang, after I left the city that night, I first returned to Tang Li's village, settled my family, and then headed straight to Huazhou Shanren Village."

"I used a piece of news to exchange for an opportunity to join the God Worshipping Society. Now I am a brigade commander."

Wang An frowned.

"Why is that? Why would you want to join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom when you can leave your job as a military officer?"

Wang An could never figure this out.

Li Yi heard this and said with a firm look in his eyes.

"Because I want to avenge my father."

"But the Qing court is rotten to the core and has been frightened by the foreigners. I want revenge, but the Qing court is unreliable."

"So, I choose to bet on the Church of God!"

"If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can successfully establish a new dynasty, with the national strength of the new dynasty in its early days, I will have hope of avenging my father..."

Of course, these were just excuses for Wang An.

The reason why Li Yi chose to join the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was partly because he wanted to avenge his father in the future, but more importantly, he wanted to realize his lofty ideal of expelling the Tartars and revitalizing China.

It is impossible for Li Yi to be content to be inferior to others forever.

The reason why he behaved so humbly in front of Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan was because he did not have enough strength.

Once he has enough strength, he will choose to set up his own business!

From a short-term perspective, the Church of God is indeed a potential stock worth investing in.

But in the long run, Li Yi was not optimistic about the future of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Because when the God Worshipping Society was first established, it actually laid the hidden danger for the future demise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom - the God Worshipping Society never had a unified command and leadership.

Hong Xiuquan was the nominal religious leader, but he was not the actual controller of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In the early days of the God Worshipping Society, the real power was controlled by Feng Yunshan, a founding father. Since Hong Xiuquan was studying in a Christian church in Guangdong at the time, he naturally could not remotely control the affairs of the church. Feng Yunshan, a founding father of the God Worshipping Society, naturally became the actual controller of the God Worshipping Society.

From the time Feng Yunshan was arrested and imprisoned for preaching in 1848 to the Jintian Uprising, and then to the establishment of Yong'an, the real power was in the hands of Xiao Chaogui. During this period, Hong, Feng, Yang, Wei and others were always suppressed by Xiao Chaogui.

After the establishment of Yongan and before the Tianjing Incident, since Feng Yunshan and Xiao Chaogui died in battle one after another, no one could compete with Yang Xiuqing and the real power was always in the hands of him.

After the Tianjing Incident, Wei Changhui was killed and Shi Dakai fled, and Hong Xiuquan began to take control of real power.

But at this time, after experiencing a civil strife, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had already lost its fighting spirit to dominate the world and was almost on the road to destruction.

The separation of supreme power and righteousness made it difficult to reconcile the internal contradictions of the God Worshipping Society. To some extent, the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is actually a history of internal struggle.

This also led to power struggles within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that were even more severe than those in the Qing Dynasty.

Even now, when the uprising has not officially broken out, this hidden danger has already begun to emerge.

For example, the feud between Hong Xiuquan and Xiao Chaogui...

In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they might have been able to hold together under external pressure.

But as the business grows bigger and wealthier, the conflicts will only become deeper and cannot be reconciled.

Then, the Tianjing Incident broke out...

Li Yi doesn't think he has the ability to change all this.

Therefore, he would definitely not go all the way with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In the future, when the time is right, he will choose to part ways with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and set up his own faction.

Wang An looked a little depressed when he heard this. He sighed deeply and then said.

"Foreigners...foreigners, our great China, the Celestial Empire, has been bullied and bullied by foreigners, and forced to cede territory and pay compensation. It's a shame, a real shame!"

"I hope that your choice, Li Yi, is correct. In the future, the new dynasty can really expel the foreigners and avenge your father..."

When the Opium War broke out, almost all the troops from Guangdong and Guangxi were transferred to Guangzhou for reinforcement, and Wang An was naturally among them.

Wang An still remembers clearly what happened that year and he will never forget it.

In that battle, the Qing Dynasty was defeated so miserably!

The backbone of the entire country is almost broken...

Li Yi heard this and said confidently.

“I believe I can do this in the future.”

Li Yi was not talking about the new dynasty, but himself, or it can be said that Li Yi firmly believed that he would be the founder of the new dynasty in the future!
Upon hearing this, Wang An could only nod in agreement.

Now Li Yi has become the commander of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and he has become a prisoner of war. If it weren't for Li Yi's rescue, he would have lost his life.

The matter is done. There is no other way even if Wang An disagrees!

……

After Li Yi and Wang An said this, they ordered someone to arrange a side room for Wang An.

After doing all this, Li Yi lay back on the bed and began to rest.

When he woke up, it was already afternoon.

He had just gotten up and was about to eat something when he heard someone knocking on the door.

When I went forward to open the door, I saw Chen Picheng and a middle-aged man standing side by side outside.

Li Yi didn't know the middle-aged man, but he still asked with a smile.

"Picheng, who is this?"

Chen Picheng replied with a fist salute.

"To answer the question from the commander, this is my uncle Chen Chengrong, who is now serving as a bodyguard for Mr. Feng."

Li Yi nodded, and his attitude instantly became quite enthusiastic as he spoke.

"Haha, Brother Chen, your visit to my place today really makes my humble place shine. Please come in, Brother Chen."

"Picheng, go prepare tea and snacks..."

PS: I had something to do yesterday and didn’t have time to write. I’ll update one chapter first and the next chapter will be in the afternoon.

(End of this chapter)