Shi Dakai left Tianjing with a great army, which is called "expedition" in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom literature, but it is often called "leaving" in recent years. The difference between words is not trivial, because the meaning of words is divided into praise and disparagement. Through the use of words, we can see the author's attitude and views on a historical event. "Expedition" is an aboveboard thing, which should be a kind of praise, while "leaving" is to do things quietly and dare not make public, if not derogatory, at least it is not a praise. The usage of "expedition" has existed since ancient times and needs no explanation. Ci Hai doesn't accept the word "run away", which is obviously a new word that came into being in modern times. "Modern Chinese Dictionary" explains, "escape, forced by the environment to leave home or local quietly." Shi Dakai's army left Tianjing, but it was not a silent "runaway", but a high-profile "expedition". According to the report of the local government in Qing Dynasty, Shi Dakai left the city from the south gate of Tianjing, and after leaving the city, he preached in Yuhuatai in the south of the city for three days, then passed through Tongling, Anhui Province, and crossed the river in a big way and entered Anqing. Posting notices along the way to tell the soldiers and civilians about their actions is by no means a "silence", but a major event. How can it be called "escape"? Whether Shi Dakai's action should be called "escape" or "expedition", let's see what the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom said about it.
From Shi Dakai's expedition until the fall of Tianjing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officially called it Jacky, Wang Hao. For example, "Li Xiucheng's readme" said, "Wang Hao returned to Beijing to support Wang Hao's administrative affairs with the DPRK. Everyone was happy and the Lord was unhappy, so he dedicated himself to the two kings of Anfu. . . . . . The reason why Wang Yongqing was detained was because Wang Yongqing had a grudge against Wang Anfu and was forbidden to leave Beijing, but he refused to return to the expedition today. " Hong Rengan's readme said: "Wang Hao was dissatisfied with the overall situation and decided to leave Beijing for an expedition, never to return. He fought in Sichuan, won the battle, occupied several places and died. It was captured by Sichuan Taishou Luo. " Hong Xiuquan himself never mentioned Shi Dakai's expedition in his letters, because he was hiding something and deliberately avoided it. But in the almanac published by the government every year, Shi Dakai's title is listed, and Shi Dakai's seat is still in the main map of Chaotian Dynasty. It seems that Hong Xiuquan still recognized Shi Dakai's position and position, which means that the central government of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is dead, or at least acquiesced. In this case, Shi Dakai successively moved to nine provinces and drove Wan Li for a long time. This is not an adventure. What is it? If we think that Shi Dakai is "silent" and "running away", then, according to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it is "the third watch" and "turning grass into a demon". It should be "snow in the clouds", beheaded. Although Hong Xiuquan was unable to start begging at that time, he could at least be reprimanded and criticized, but Hong Xiuquan, an autocratic emperor who always insisted that "only the fault of the minister was not the fault of the gentleman", was afraid to say anything to Shi Dakai. Since Hong Xiuquan, the antithesis of Shi Dakai, doesn't even say that Shi Dakai is "the third watch", what incentive do we have to say that Shi Dakai is "quietly" and "running away"? The author believes that in order to conform to historical facts, it should not be called "running away" but "expedition".
(2) Shi Dakai's expedition was not impulsive.
When commenting on Shi Dakai's expedition, many comrades adopted the method of "beating 40 boards each", thinking that Hong Xiuquan's mistake was "replacing the sages by relatives" and Shi Dakai's mistake was "impulsive". In other words, both sides are responsible for this tragedy.
Is Shi Dakai's expedition really "impulsive"? The author has different views on this. Throughout the infighting in Tianjing, Shi Dakai's attitude and actions are beyond reproach. He knew nothing before the infighting broke out. After the infighting broke out, he rushed to Tianjing to stop the massacre. Because Hong and Wei forbade him to intervene and wanted to attack him, he was determined to escape from Tianjing and then organize forces to stop the massacre. When Xing Shijing was refractory, although he only wanted Wei Changhui's head, he didn't want Hong Xiuquan's head, but for the sake of the overall situation, the pressure he exerted was directly placed on Hong Xiuquan's head. Bridgman said in the article "On-the-spot report on the infighting of the two kings in the northeast of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom": "Shi Dakai quickly assembled loyal ministers and obtained sufficient and reliable troops, that is, he played the heavenly king and demanded Wei Changhui's head. At the same time, he threatened me that if I was not angry, I would return to Beijing to attack Tianjing. " This threat is completely justified and blameless. Because if the Tianjing massacre hadn't stopped, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would have fallen immediately, and it wouldn't have been delayed for another eight years. The enemy outside Tianjing saw the fire in the city and thousands of bodies floating by the Guanyinmen River. They are all in high spirits and ready to go to the city to receive them. Shi Dakai's righteous teacher returned to Tianjing to break the enemy's dream. We must never forget this indisputable historical fact, that is, Shi Dakai saved the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the brink of collapse with his decisive and just actions.
Hong Xiuquan wouldn't have killed Wei Changhui if he hadn't been a teacher in Daxing, Shi Dakai. Mcgowan said in the article "A Record of the infighting between the East King and the North King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" that after the rise of Shi Dakai, "it is required to kill Wei Changhui, the North King, and his henchmen. At first, his request was not accepted (that is, Hong Xiuquan refused), but Wei Changhui still wanted to fight back. . . . . . But not long after, Hong Xiuquan saw that the whole army's heart was attached to Wing Wang and had to give in to his idea. " The infighting in Tianjin is obvious, and Hong Wei is on one side. Hong Xiuquan used Wei Changhui as a tool to attack and kill Yang and slaughter the so-called "Yang Party". Shi Dakai came back to stop the massacre regardless of his personal safety in order to take care of the overall situation and save the revolutionary cause. If he can solve the problem by going back to Beijing alone, there is no need to fan the flames. This is exactly what he intended to do when he first returned to Beijing. Unfortunately, empty talk is ineffective, so we have to escape from Tianjing organization. Gal, we have sinned against Hong and Wei. Although he escaped by himself, his whole family was killed. If he is impulsive, he will kill Hong Wei's cronies when he leads the Jingnan army into Tianjin to vent his personal anger. At that time, he was fully capable of killing Hong and replacing him. But how can you kill each other when the enemy is present! After Wei conquered Tianjin, he tried to reach an understanding with Hong Xiuquan to stabilize the overall situation and heal the serious trauma caused by the massacre. This really puts the national urgency first, then personal enmity first, or it can be said that the national urgency first, forgetting personal enmity. When Shi Dakai's army entered the city, it was not surprising, and there was no personal vendetta. Even Wei Changhui's father was protected. Therefore, "Wang Hao returned to Beijing, and the DPRK raised Wang Hao to manage government affairs, and everyone was happy." Let's not forget that Shi Dakai is only a young man of twenty-five. It's really great that he can take care of the overall situation like this and not hold a personal grudge. How can I put the "impulsive" hat on his head?
In order to help the poor and save the revolutionary cause, Shi Dakai was able to put aside his family's deadly hatred and continue to work with Hong Xiuquan. If Hong Xiuquan can also take the overall situation into consideration and reuse Shi Dakai from now on, as Mr. Luo Ergang said, "This means that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has suffered a great loss after fighting in Yang Wei, but this huge loss can be made up after Shi Dakai regains power, and the future of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is still developing." However, during Shi Dakai's six months in power, Hong Xiuquan reused the two kings who knew nothing about Anfu, suppressed Shi Dakai everywhere and gradually seized the power of Shi Dakai. And planned to kill Shi Dakai. Is this really "tolerable?" If Shi Dakai is really impulsive, it is entirely possible that infighting will break out again. In order to take care of the overall situation, Shi Dakai finally decided to leave Beijing for an expedition, which was not impulsive, but the result of sizing up the situation. Shi Dakai deserves to be a man who forgets his personal interests. He won't do anything that is not conducive to the revolution and Hong Xiuquan. Is there any doubt about this?
(c) Can "compromise" be "perfect"
Mr Luo Ergang expressed regret over Shi Dakai's expedition. He believes that Shi Dakai should try its best to compromise: "Shi Dakai plays an important role in the Kingdom of Tian Ping. Then, his intimidation of Hong Renfa and Hong Renda should be compromised to achieve internal unity, and his doubts about Hong Xiuquan should be dispelled by loyal actions. Later, loyal Li Xiucheng was bullied by Hong Renfa and others, and he was also suspicious of Hong Xiuquan. Li Xiucheng's treatment of Hong is just a compromise and humiliation. Although a unified result could not be obtained, Hong did not kill him further. " In my opinion, if we can "compromise" and "seek perfection", of course we agree. Regrettably, "compromise" may not be "perfect". The reason for this is the following：
Comparing Shi Dakai and Li Xiucheng, Li Xiucheng has a perfect possibility, while Shi Dakai has no such possibility. Li Xiucheng is a rising star, and his prestige is far less than that of Shi Dakai. As long as he obeys orders, it is possible for Hong and Li to live in peace. On the other hand, Shi Dakai is the leader of Wang Zhiyi. No matter how hard he tries, it is impossible for the two sides to live in peace. There are six kings in Guangxi, two kings in the southwest died on the March, and two kings in the northeast died of infighting. Only Hong Xiuquan and Shi Dakai are still alive. In Hong Xiuquan's mind, only young and promising Shi Dakai is qualified to compete with him for the throne. Moreover, Shi Dakai knew all the secrets of his internal attack to kill Yang and seize real power, and there was a great hatred between Shi Dakai and him to kill the whole family. Shi Dakai is not a docile tool to feed Nuo Nuo, but a rebellious figure who once threatened to arise and "destroy the sky". More dangerously, Shi Dakai is an all-rounder and has won the support of all the soldiers and civilians. How can he rest in peace unless he gets rid of such a person? All of the above are objective existence, and Hong Xiuquan's doubts are based on these objective existence. No matter how hard Shi Dakai tried to compromise, he could not dispel Hong Xiuquan's doubts. Shi Dakai's tough attitude will certainly arouse suspicion, as will Shi Dakai's tolerance everywhere. Hong Xiuquan will think that this is camouflage and this is a struggle strategy. To sum up, as long as Shi Dakai is alive, the suspicion cannot be eliminated. Shi Dakai had to commit suicide in order to clear his suspicion. It's easier said than done.
Second, the "all" derived from "seeking" is not exactly the same, but has various contents. If we only pursue "security", it will not be good for the revolutionary cause, and we will not approve of it. Historical facts have proved that Li Xiucheng did not bring much benefit to the revolutionary cause. At the critical moment when Li Xiucheng's army was about to capture Shanghai, Hong Xiuquan refused to support and ordered him to return to save Tianjing. As a result, he lost his fighter plane and brought endless troubles. Li Hongzhang's Huai Army, based in Shanghai, gradually developed. Later, on a whim, Hong Xiuquan forced Li Xiucheng to "sweep the north" with a great army in the snow. Knowing that the situation was unfavorable, Li Xiucheng didn't dare to fight for it, so he had to settle for the second best and was ordered to do it. As a result, the war broke out, and the dead lived half their lives, greatly losing their effective strength. Finally, at the critical moment when Tianjing was besieged for several weeks, Li Xiucheng put forward a completely correct strategy of "keeping the city from going", and prepared to pull the main force to areas beyond the reach of imperialism, so that Xu Tu would recover its strength and then make a comeback. Hong Xiuquan refused, so Li Xiucheng had to compromise and stay in Tianjing to die with him. Isn't this a fact? That is, if Shi Dakai can really be like Li Xiucheng, there will be a historical miracle-Hong Xiuquan's personality suddenly changes and becomes broad-minded and no longer doubts Shi Dakai; Shi Dakai's personality suddenly changed, and he became very docile and obedient to Hong Xiuquan-the development of things may not be beneficial to the revolutionary cause of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. When reading History of the Late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, some comrades implicitly lamented that Li Xiucheng should proceed from the overall situation, dare to defy Hong Xiuquan's chaotic life and implement correct strategies. "Your life will not be affected if I am not here." There is a clear training in ancient times, so why not? Li Xiucheng has gone too far, which seems to be against the interests of the revolution. Although "the Spring and Autumn Period resents saints", if Li Xiucheng is blamed for being too complacent on the one hand and Shi Dakai is not complacent on the other, how can he justify himself even if Shi and Li are speechless?
It is no longer possible to seek the "integrity" of peace, let alone the "integrity" of revolutionary interests. Therefore, Shi Dakai's road to compromise is impossible.
(4) Expedition was the only way for Shi Dakai at that time.
The evaluation of Shi Dakai's expedition is not an armchair strategist. We must analyze the specific situation at that time, and take the lesser of the two evils and the heavier of the two benefits. If there was a better way to go, it would be wrong to explore. If there was no better way to go at that time, the exploration was right. Just as a person is seriously injured, amputation is wrong if it is not necessary; If someone dies without amputation, amputation is right to save lives.
If we calmly analyze the situation at that time, we will find that there are only five roads in front of Shi Dakai, and there is no sixth road. These five paths are: first, compromise; second, wait for death; third, defect to the enemy; fourth, replace it; and fifth, lead an expedition. The road of compromise is not feasible, which has been analyzed before. But Shi Dakai would rather die than defect. Needless to say here. Only the other two roads are analyzed below.
Saying that you are waiting to die is by no means an alarmist. If Shi Dakai doesn't leave, Hong Xiuquan will kill him sooner or later. The New Shi Dakai Readme said, "Hong Xiuquan killed Wei Changhui, but he was suspicious and had the intention of murder." . Luo Ergang's "Internal Examination of the Leading Group of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" said, "When Shi Dakai saw that Hong Xiuquan was more and more suspicious of himself, he was afraid of being killed by Hong Xiuquan and fleeing from Tianjing." This estimate is well-founded. In the dispute between Tianjing and Beijing, Hong and Wei stood together, while Shi Dakai stood on Yang's side. Hong and history are inherently hostile. Shi Dakai singling out, Hong Xiuquan was forced by the situation to kill Wei Shunshi, and Shi came to Beijing to take power, not because of Hong's appointment, but because of "uniting with the DPRK", which Hong could not tolerate. In a word, it is difficult for Hong and history to coexist. Shi doesn't want to kill Hong, but he will be killed by Hong sooner or later. Both Hong and Shi are well aware of this. After Shi Dakai left, Hong Xiuquan was in the regiment.
Under the great pressure of sympathy for Shi Dakai, the military and civilians awarded Shi Dakai the "King of Righteousness" gold medal and invited him back to Beijing. This is just a gesture, a strategy to get back some political capital, and no one will be fooled. Shi Dakai will die if he doesn't leave. We all admit that Shi Dakai was forced to leave. The so-called "forced" people either die or go! Otherwise, how can it be called "forced"? What can I do for my country if I die of stupid loyalty? What's good for the people? Since the feudal morality of "if you want to die, you have to die" is not put forward, there is no reason to accuse Shi Dakai of immortality. Shi Dakai is not a man who is afraid of death. His last sentence "looking happy when he died" can fully explain the problem. But in order to preserve the revolutionary forces, we should not persuade him to do nothing.
There are only five roads in all. Excluding the above four roads, there is only one way to lead the expedition. Comparatively speaking, there is no best policy, expedition is the middle policy, and the other four roads are only the worst or have no policies. Put yourself in our shoes, we have no good reason to oppose Shi Dakai's expedition.
(5) Heroes cannot be judged by success or failure.
Even historians in feudal society are ashamed to talk about heroes by success or failure, let alone us! When we study history, we should seek real objective laws and explore the inevitability of history. Can't be confused by some accidental phenomena. If a character fails by accident, we say that since this person failed, what he did in the past must be wrong. When someone succeeds by chance, we say that since this person has succeeded, what he did in the past must be correct. This is just too formulaic and suspected of snobbery. Yes, Shi Dakai finally failed, but the reason why the Dadu River overthrew the army included a lot of accidental factors, that is, the once-in-a-lifetime formulation that the Dadu River was flooded. At that time, if Shi Dakai's army crossed the Dadu River, there was a great possibility of attacking Chengdu. With the capture of Chengdu, Shi Dakai's accused rogue line can come to an end, because his plan to establish a permanent base in Sichuan is well known at home and abroad. The lower reaches of the Yangtze River are deadlocked, and Shi Dakai's strength may be located in the southwest mainland.
For many years, the rogue line has been one of the key points of Shi Dakai's criticism. In fact, large-scale peasant uprisings in history will always flow for some time. Two years later, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom made Tianjin its capital. Shi Dakai is bent on Sichuan as its base, and before this goal is achieved, it is inevitable that it will wander around. By the time the Dadu River overthrew the army, he had actually ended the rogue line and set his heart on Chengdu. Unfortunately, he failed, and he couldn't prove with facts that he didn't want to be a hooligan all his life.
Over the years, "many changes have been made to the official system and etiquette" is also one of the focuses of Shi Dakai's criticism. Some comrades think that after Shi Dakai's expedition, the "official ceremony" changed greatly, which is suspected of betraying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. If we don't analyze the problem by impression, but by data, we will find that after Shi Dakai's expedition, Hong Xiuquan changed more official etiquette and illegally conferred more than 2,700 titles on kings. Who did this? Geng Shen took part in the revolution ten years ago, and no one was not an official, and no one disdained it, resulting in a large number of feudal privileged classes. Who did this? After Shi Dakai's expedition, there were only a few dozen official etiquette articles, but as many as two or three hundred were changed by Hong Xiuquan. The system is for people. Now that Shi Dakai has gone to war, there is nothing wrong with making appropriate changes to some inappropriate "official etiquette".
Over the years, people have often accused Shi Dakai of accidentally using force and straying into the Jedi. This is a misunderstanding caused by not knowing the real situation. Zidane is not a Jedi, and the Dadu River is not an insurmountable barrier. Tens of thousands of people led by Lai Yuxin, the vanguard of Shi Dakai, crossed the river three or four days before the water level rose. Shi Dakai's failure in Zita was really caused by a sudden flood. Luo's report speaks for itself. "I arrived at the dry river on March 27, and it was raining cats and dogs at night. The next day, the river rose sharply by more than ten feet, and the Songlin River became a huge immersion liquid. The locals surveyed have never seen such an increase in March and April. . . . . . After the reversal, the water potential dropped slightly, and everyone saw it without exception. " Today, with the development of science, it is difficult to predict the sudden attack of floods, and we have suffered great losses. How can you blame Shi Dakai for not having the foresight to mention 100 years ago?