Hong Xiuquan, the son of God, was finally chopped into a paste.

On July 1864 and 19, dark clouds enveloped the whole city inside and outside Tianjing, and the flames were blazing. At noon, as Zeng Guofan's younger brother Ceng Guoquan commanded, there was a loud bang, and the wall of the fire escape was blown down by more than 20 feet, and the whole city was shaking. Tens of thousands of Xiang troops with bloodshot eyes, like wolves and beasts, shouted in unison and waved swords, and swept away like a tornado toward the collapsed wall. The Taiping rebels in the city can no longer resist the enemy's flood. By the evening of the war, nine doors were broken and Tianjing fell. Xiang Army "killed and set fire". Without exception, they all want to hunt down one of the most important figures-the heavenly king Hong Xiuquan.

But Xiang turned the whole city upside down, but there was no sign of Hong Xiuquan. On July 30th, Xiong Dengwu, the company commander of Xiang Army, found a report from a Taiping maid named Huang. Only then did he know that Hong Xiuquan had been dead for more than ten days. Under her guidance, Ceng Guoquan sent someone to dig up Hong Xiuquan's body from the main hall of Tianwangfu.

Until his death, Hong Xiuquan remained an innate mystery. Before he died, he ordered people to wrap themselves in more than a dozen layers of thick cloth. Dig the grave, tear off all the thick cloth of Hong Xiuquan's body and carry it to the Yuhuatai in the south of the city to see Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan and Hong Xiuquan, two opponents who struggled for 1 1 year, have never heard of it, let alone met. I didn't expect to meet in such a strange way today. In Zeng Guofan's diary, he described the old enemy like this: "The beard is gray, the head is bald, the left arm is still fleshy, and he is wearing a yellow satin embroidered robe." Hong Xiuquan's body has just been examined. It turned out to be a clear sky in Wan Li. Suddenly, a strong wind blew and it rained heavily. I rested for about half an hour.

1 in August, Zeng Guofan issued the most severe punishment: "Slay a corpse and burn it with fire!" Hong Xiuquan's body was dragged out again and chopped into pieces by a knife and axe. Even so, never give up, Zeng Guofan ordered people to mix the meat sauce into gunpowder, put on shells, and then launch one by one-even if he died, Hong Xiuquan was wiped out and the ghost was gone.

However, if "burning corpses and raising ashes" is just a meaningless revenge after Hong Xiuquan's death, then before his death, his mysterious and absurd behavior was possessed, indicating that Hong Xiuquan's ideals and beliefs had been shattered and his spiritual world had collapsed long before the cannon blew down the wall of Tianjing.

A few months of siege is psychologically devastating.

On that day, the capital was besieged for several months and faced with great danger of breaking the city. Tianjing experienced unprecedented panic, and everyone's psychological bottom line was on the verge of collapse. The whole city is full of hellish terror. At that time, everyone was so nervous that "transvestites and ghosts work together and never sleep." Inside the door, demons go to hell and always make trouble; Outside the door, they catch thieves, put out fires and exorcise ghosts. "

At this time, Hong Xiuquan is close to a trance and crazy state. Long-term enjoyment has seriously weakened Hong Xiuquan's will and damaged his intelligence. As soon as he entered Tianjing, Hong Xiuquan sent people to tear down the Forbidden City in the Ming Dynasty and ordered people to transport those huge columns and stones to Xuanwu Lake to build a new palace. After the completion of the palace, Hong Xiuquan shut himself in the magnificent Tianwangfu all day, and no one saw him. On the one hand, he pondered over some philosophical and theological issues and fantasized about how to combine kingship and religion more closely to establish a super slave dynasty, and at the same time let his subjects become their parishioners and give everything selflessly; On the other hand, like all emperors in history, he practiced the art of sexual intercourse, wanted to get bliss in sexual intercourse and tried to get rid of it. All his efforts failed. Finally, seclusion turned him into dust, and eating, drinking and dancing became the only comfort.

Emperor China talked about "destiny" and the rebel side also talked about "heaven". But no one relies on "heaven" like Hong Xiuquan. He doesn't listen to any different opinions, nor does he listen to any rational suggestions. Being separated from the masses made him more arrogant, crazy and vain, and even threatened to "be king if you sleep well, and sit on empty seats." This is not so much vicious self-expansion as fanatical self-superstition. In his half-asleep state, there are not many ways to deal with the complicated reality except playing politics. We can only emphasize "recognizing the real situation" over and over again, not only to stabilize the confidence of others, but also to get ourselves out of the complicated reality.

The "Son of God" is out of control because of his immoral behavior. The thrilling Tianjing incident not only made Hong Xiuquan lose his moral strength, but also exposed the cruelty within the leading group. People began to doubt Hong Xiuquan's identity as a "son of God" and questioned the purity of his harem life. A high-ranking, suspicious and helpless king became a real loner, and his army was distracted, and the myth of heaven was gradually shattered.

With the last barrier of Tianjing, the fall of Anqing, an important town in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the news that the Taiping Army was losing ground, Hong Xiuquan became increasingly decadent and depressed, numb himself and deceived himself. When the situation took a turn for the worse, Li Xiucheng repeatedly advised him to lead the masses to break through. "Don't let the city go." Hong Xiuquan flew into a rage and snapped at him. "I'm afraid he is the only god in the world and obeys the imperial edict of God and my brother Jesus. No games, no politics. If you want to go abroad, if you want to stay in Beijing, you will be allowed to do so. If you don't help me, someone will help me! " At this time, there were only 30,000 people left in Tianjing, including more than 10,000 Taiping rebels, but only three or four thousand people could really fight. Li Xiucheng asked, Tianjing serenade, what should I do? Hong Xiuquan replied: "You said that there are no soldiers, and I have more heavenly soldiers than water. Then why are you afraid of those who used to be demons? " If you are afraid of death, you will die, not involved in political affairs. "

Rejected Li Xiucheng's proposal of "releasing the city", and the remaining result was nothing more than doing nothing. At the last moment when Tianjing was besieged, Hong Xiuquan saw that the city couldn't hold on, and his spirit completely collapsed. He muttered to himself all day, calling on the gods and begging God to let food grow underground so that his heavenly soldiers could eat it and kill the enemy. However, after all, food can't fall from the sky, and many people starve to death. The men and women in the city are hungry and cry for help around the loyal palace day and night. Li Xiucheng had no choice but to give the rest of the millet to the poor, but the officers and men under his jurisdiction had no food, so he had to use the jewelry, gold and silver of his mother and women as military resources. However, how can such assistance solve the fundamental problem? Then Li Xiucheng asked the heavenly king to allow the hungry people to escape from the city. Tianwang is very unhappy about this. The Hong family took advantage of the fish in troubled waters and plundered the property of the people who fled the city, causing a storm in the city and no peace day and night. In April, when the whole city ran out of food, Hong Xiuquan ordered people to "fetch and cook" things like moss and weeds, which was euphemistically called "manna". Li Xiucheng said, "This thing can't be eaten." Hong Xiuquan said, "Take it and do it well. I'll eat first! " He was willing to share weal and woe with the people, but soon he became ill because he ate too much manna. However, Hong Xiuquan refused to take medicine, which led to an increasingly serious illness and eventually died. On his deathbed, Hong Xiuquan issued the last imperial edict: "When all the people are well, I will go to heaven and receive heavenly soldiers from my heavenly father and heavenly brother to protect Tianjing."

Looking at Hong Xiuquan's last moment, he died tragically. His whole anticlimactic life left too many regrets and sighs for future generations. With his death, China ended a long war and turned the heaviest page in modern history.