#337 - Taiping 14: Tears Enough to Swell the River

#337 - Taiping 14: Tears Enough to Swell the River

Three months after the biggest win of his life, Zeng Guofan tries to drown himself. Again. His fleet gets ambushed, split in half, & set ablaze by a 23-year-old nobody bothered to worry about – right up until he became the guy everybody worried about. The reward for surviving all that? A "promotion" in-name only... with no province, no funds, no friends, and a bureaucracy that somehow finds the – time mid-civil-war – to mock him personally. He loses his flagship, his files, his seal of command, and even a friend. And all the while, a much bigger disaster is assembling itself in Nanjing, completely without his input... Time Period Covered:Dec. 1854–Apr. 1856 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Yang Xiuqing, the East King [c. 1821–1856] Qin Rigang, the Yan King [1821–1856] Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863] Lin Qirong, Taiping commander of Jiujiang Luo Dagang, Taiping commander of Meijiazhou and Hukou Qing Dynasty: The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yizhu) [r. 1850–1861] Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872] Taqibu, Manchu commander of the Xiang Army's land forces [d. 1855] Peng Yulin, co-founder of the Xiang Army's naval forces [1816–1890] Hu Linyi, Xiang Army commander, later Governor of Hubei Chen Qimai, Governor of Jiangxi Tao Enpei, Governor of Hubei [d. 1855] Zuo Zongtang [1812–1885] Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10. Audio Backing Courtesy of: TabletopAudio CLS Productions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#336 - Taiping 13: The Order of Caps and Shoes

Zeng Guofan goes to war to defend a fixed universe – and nearly drowns proving how unfixed his own place in it actually is. Across a single year, Hunan's most unlikely general brutally finds out that he is indeed no warrior, and consequentially must rebuild a river fleet from nothing... all while the Taiping's own capital is spared only my a mix-up with the date. By December, the Yangtze has changed hands – and a nervous throne has just learned exactly how dangerous a loyal army, and the man who built it, can become... and exactly how briefly gratitude lasts. Time Period Covered: Feb. – Dec. 1854 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, the East King [c. 1821–1856] Wei Changhui, the North King [1823–1856] Qin Rigang, the Yan King [1821–1856] Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863] Qing Dynasty: The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yinzhu) [r. 1850–1861] Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872] Taqibu, Manchu commander of the Xiang Army's land forces [d. 1855] Peng Yulin, co-founder of the Xiang Army's naval forces [1816–1890] Zhang Shoulin, aide who pulled Zeng Guofan from the Xiang River at Jinggang Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#335 - Taiping 12: The Man In Hunan

While the Northern Expedition dies in the freezing mud of Shandong, the Taiping's second strike — the Western Expedition — turns its sights on the provinces they've already ridden through on the Yangtze, a kingdom to go with their new Heavenly Capital. But waiting for them in Hunan is a man unable to ride a horse, or command an army... who will nevertheless set about constructing their ultimate doom. Time Period Covered: May 1853 – February 1854 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864] Hu Yiguang, commander of the Anhui column, Western Expedition Lai Hanying, commander of the Jiangxi column, Western Expedition Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863] Li Xiucheng, future Loyal King [c. 1823–1864] Qing Dynasty: The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yinzhu) [r. 1850–1861] Jiang Zhongyuan, governor of Anhui [1812–1854] Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872] Tang Jian, Neo-Confucian scholar and Zeng Guofan's mentor [1778–1861] Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#334 - Taiping 11: The Spear of Heaven and the Winter Wolf

The Taiping Army commits to one of its most audacious acts yet – an assault on the Qing throne itself, a thousand miles north in Beijing. To reach it, it will launch its great Northern Campaign: a single spear-throw that, if its aim holds true, might end the entire war before the teeth of winter bite down. Time Period Covered: May 1853 – March 1855 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864] Lin Fengxiang, co-commander of the Northern Expedition [d. 1855] Li Kaifang, co-commander of the Northern Expedition [d. 1855] Li Xiucheng, future Loyal King [c. 1823–1864] Qing Dynasty: The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yinzhu) [r. 1850–1861] Prince Senggelinqin [c. 1811–1865] Other: Theodore Hamberg, Swedish missionary, Hong Kong; author of the first European account of the Taiping [1819–1854] Major Sources Cited: Hamberg, Theodore. The Visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen, and Origin of the Kwang-si Insurrection. Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#333 - Taiping 10: All Things In Common

Finally pooled and stilled at Nanjing, in the afterglow of victory, the Taiping reflect on what they’ve become, and what they’ve yet to accomplish. In the cold light of the morning after, though, dreams do not equal result, nor clouds a working constitution. And as the world begins to take note and come knocking, the question hanging over it all remains: what will come next? Time Period Covered: Spring–Summer 1853 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856] Xiao Chaogui, West King, signing from beyond the grave [d. 1852] Fu Shanxiang, first & only female zhuangyuan of the examination [fl. 1853; dates uncertain] Lin Fengxiang, general of the Northern Expedition [d. 1855]; The Women's Army of the Heavenly Kingdom [org. 1851] Qing Dynasty: Zeng Guofan, Confucian official, founder of the Xiang (Hunan) Army [1811–1872] Great Britain: Sir George Bonham, Governor of Hong Kong & plenipotentiary to China [1803–1863] Thomas Taylor Meadows, consular interpreter [1815–1868] Cmdr. Edmund Gardiner Fishbourne, HMS Hermes [1811–1887] Abroad: Karl Marx, correspondent, New-York Daily Tribune [1818–1883] Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]