Chapter 9

Wei Ze did not think that his suggestions to the Eastern King Yang Xiuching and others would be adopted. A strategic proposal from a newly promoted junior officer was unlikely to receive serious consideration.

After Wei Ze left the Eastern King's palace, Yang Xiuching, Feng Yunsan, and Shi Dakai continued to discuss the future strategy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The spoils that Wei Ze had captured were beneficial for the Taiping Army, which was short of ammunition and salt, but they were not a cause for great celebration. Over a thousand pounds of supplies could not reverse the current困境 of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Even if Wei Ze successfully attacked the Qing army's supply lines again, the seized supplies would not solve the Taiping Army's predicament. Yang Xiuching did not care much about what kind of results Wei Ze could achieve.

As for Wei Ze's suggestion to break out of Yong'an City and defeat the Qing army in a field battle, Yang Xiuching did not see any need for discussion. The Qing army's encirclement was tightening day by day, and the upper echelons of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had gradually reached a consensus: holding Yong'an City to the death was not an option. In last year's battles, the Taiping Army had repeatedly inflicted heavy blows on the Qing army in field battles, and the commander of these battles was mostly the Eastern King Yang Xiuching. Since the upper echelons of the Taiping Army had basically determined this tactic, whether Wei Ze agreed or not was meaningless.

The current issue was where to go after breaking out of Yong'an. The Qing army had gathered nearly 50,000 troops to besiege the Taiping Army, while the Taiping Army's core combat force was only about 10,000 troops, with over 10,000 family members. Once they left Yong'an, 10,000 Taiping Army soldiers would face a decisive field battle against tens of thousands of Qing troops, and there was no visible possibility of victory. Therefore, the Taiping Army could only adopt their previous tactics and target the Qing army's divided forces in field battles. Where to go and what route to take were the focal points of recent discussions among the Taiping Army's upper echelons.

Despite the discussions, no more detailed and specific execution strategy was formulated. The most feasible direction for a breakout was to the east. However, even if the Qing army was annihilated after the breakout, there was no clear plan for what to do next.

At the end of the meeting, Feng Yunsan said to Yang Xiuching, "Eastern King, I want to ask for a person."

"Who do you want?" Yang Xiuching had already guessed who Feng Yunsan wanted. Letting a junior officer like Wei Ze speak about strategy in front of the kings was not easy, and Feng Yunsan had done a lot of groundwork.

"I want Brother Wei Ze," Feng Yunsan said frankly. "Brother Wei is brave and skilled in battle. He captured eight artillery positions with seven other brothers last time, and this time he defeated over 200 Qing soldiers with just over 20 men. My troops lack such a valiant general. I ask the Eastern King to transfer Brother Wei to my command. Will the Eastern King agree?"

Feng Yunsan spoke sincerely and humbly. Shi Dakai, however, could not help but frown. Each of the Taiping kings had their own troops. Shi Dakai had no interest in the God Worshipping Society but was still granted the title of Wing King, a position far higher than many senior members who had contributed greatly to the God Worshipping Society. The main reason was that Shi Dakai led over 4,000 people to join the Taiping Army, accounting for more than 20% of the total. His troops naturally belonged to him, and Yang Xiuching's troops were under his full control. In this traditional system where soldiers belonged to their commanders, Feng Yunsan directly asking Yang Xiuching for troops was inappropriate.

Yang Xiuching pondered in silence. He fully understood Feng Yunsan's intentions. Yang Xiuching, a charcoal burner by trade, had a wide network of connections and gathered many heroes under his command. Xiao Chaogui, a miner leader, had a tough and resolute group of subordinates. The harsh living conditions in Guangxi had forced many excellent people to emerge. As a native of Guangdong, Feng Yunsan's subordinates were mostly converts gathered during his missionary work. In terms of combat and command abilities, Feng Yunsan's subordinates were among the weakest in the Taiping Army. In the Yong'an system, military promotions were based on military achievements. Wei Ze, a young officer who had distinguished himself, had 25 subordinates who were all old brothers from Guangxi. Acquiring Wei Ze would be very helpful for Feng Yunsan.

Since he understood Feng Yunsan's intentions, Yang Xiuching knew he could not refuse. Since he could not refuse, Yang Xiuching, who was skilled at making connections, smiled and said, "Southern King, if so, I will complete Wei Ze's unit tomorrow and transfer him and his subordinates to you."

Feng Yunsan did not expect Yang Xiuching to be so agreeable and quickly replied, "Thank you, Eastern King."

Shi Dakai, seeing that Yang Xiuching and Feng Yunsan had completed the transfer, did not say much more, though he was not necessarily pleased. He got up to take his leave. Yang Xiuching invited him to stay for dinner, but Shi Dakai said, "I will return to eat with my troops."

Yang Xiuching knew this was Shi Dakai's style. Shi Dakai would not cook separately for himself and always ate the same meals as his troops. Therefore, Yang Xiuching did not try to keep him. Shi Dakai bowed to Yang Xiuching and left the Eastern King's palace.

Feng Yunsan also did not stay for dinner. Being able to secure a fierce general like Wei Ze from Yang Xiuching made him very happy. Among the Taiping kings, the Eastern King Yang Xiuching was the most respected, with the title of 9,000 Years. More importantly, Yang Xiuching was the chief military advisor and the supreme commander of all Taiping Army forces. Feng Yunsan had to follow Yang Xiuching's orders in military matters. Feng Yunsan was responsible for the actual missionary work of the God Worshipping Society. The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan believed he was the second son of God and the reincarnation of Jesus' brother. For Hong Xiuquan, his original intention was to establish a new religion. It was Feng Yunsan who transformed the God Worshipping Society from a religious organization into a revolutionary group, establishing its rules and uniting the followers under one banner. This was Feng Yunsan's greatest contribution to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Although Hong Xiuquan was deeply involved in religion, it did not mean that the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom truly believed in Jehovah and Jesus Christ. In 1847, Yang Xiuching used the "possession by God" to rally the followers.

On November 19, 1848, the Western King Xiao Chaogui was also "possessed." It was a very interesting Chinese-style public "divine descent." On November 19, 1848, Xiao Chaogui pretended to be the Heavenly Brother Jesus and had a conversation with Hong Xiuquan.

The Heavenly Brother Jesus said to the Heavenly King: "Brother Hong Xiuquan, do you recognize me?"

The Heavenly King replied: "Little brother recognizes you."

After confirming Xiao Chaogui's identity as the "Heavenly Brother" Jesus, a few days later, Hong Xiuquan and Xiao Chaogui had another conversation:

The Heavenly King asked: "Heavenly Brother, who will be the military advisors in the time of peace?"

The Heavenly Brother replied: "Feng Yunsan, Yang Xiuching, and Xiao Chaogui are all military advisors! Your brother, the sun is you, and the moon is your wife. Feng Yunsan has three stars, Yang Xiuching has three stars, and Xiao Chaogui has two stars. Yang Xiuching and Xiao Chaogui are the dual phoenixes facing the sun!"

Regardless of how the followers viewed the God Worshipping Society, the upper echelons of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were very clear. Even if the "God Jehovah" and "Jesus Christ" appeared in person, the Western King Xiao Chaogui, possessed by Jesus, still indicated that the Southern King Feng Yunsan was more reliable than the "Heavenly Father" Yang Xiuching. Even with the Yong'an system, where the Eastern King Yang Xiuching was granted the title of 9,000 Years and the chief military advisor, Feng Yunsan was still a figure who could rival Yang Xiuching. The Southern King Feng Yunsan controlled the "Holy Treasury" and held the logistics power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. This authority alone prevented the Eastern King Yang Xiuching from becoming too powerful.

Feng Yunsan had noticed Wei Ze when he captured the artillery positions. This time, when Wei Ze raided the Qing army's supply lines, Feng Yunsan learned that Wei Ze could actually open a path in the wilderness. Wei Ze's statement, "Why must we care so much about the gain or loss of a city or a place," deeply moved Feng Yunsan. Wei Ze's words were not particularly novel, but in recent days, the kings had discussed the breakout with many intermediate commanders, and none of them had proposed better suggestions. Compared to these commanders, Wei Ze did not offer better suggestions, but his perspective on the problem was quite appealing to Feng Yunsan. He decided to recruit him.

Under Feng Yunsan, there was a lack of independent combat commanders. Seeing that Yang Xiuching was about to promote Wei Ze, Feng Yunsan had to immediately request him from Yang Xiuching. Feng Yunsan believed that Wei Ze would achieve more merits. Now, Wei Ze was just a newly promoted junior officer. If he were promoted to a brigade commander or even a division commander, Feng Yunsan would not be able to request him from Yang Xiuching.

Yang Xiuching's willingness to give him the person and even promise to complete Wei Ze's unit made Feng Yunsan very pleased.

After leaving Yang Xiuching's palace, Feng Yunsan wanted to summon Wei Ze. However, after some thought, he decided against it. After all, Wei Ze was under the Eastern King Yang Xiuching. Even if he was now recruited, there was no need to rush to summon him. Doing so would only make Wei Ze think that Feng Yunsan lacked depth. Since the matter was already decided, he could wait for Wei Ze to come and pay his respects.

Feng Yunsan was not unprepared. Although his troops were not as combat-effective as those under the Eastern King Yang Xiuching, they were not fewer in number. Feng Yunsan had already planned to assign a weaker unit to Wei Ze. Since Wei Ze had volunteered to raid the Qing army's supply lines, bringing more troops would allow him to seize more supplies. Feng Yunsan recruited Wei Ze because he showed the ability to lead troops in battle. If Wei Ze failed to lead his troops effectively, Feng Yunsan did not want it to be due to a lack of sufficient troops.

As the actual pope of the God Worshipping Society, Feng Yunsan was never one to set traps for his subordinates.