Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/153

Rh aroused the sluggish spirit of the T'ienwang, who, with the help of the two kings named above, assassinated him in 1856. But the troubles of the T'ienwang had not ended, for Wei the Northern king, aspired to the place next to the T'ienwang, and his orgies of cruelty, which extended to the slaughter of the family of the Assistant king, brought about his assassination by the combined efforts of all who had suffered from his cruelties in Nanking; and the permanent alienation of Shi Ta-k'ai, who, with his band of followers, set forth to be a knight errant, passing through Kiangsi, Hunan, Kwangsi, and eventually into Yunnan and Ssuch'uan, where he was finally captured, — the Cœur de Lion of the era.

The five original wangs were practically all dead or out of favor by 1858, and Hung kept the title for members of his own family, honoring his two brothers with the title of kings and relying more and more on their support and advice.

After the murder of the Eastern and Northern Kings, the T'ienwang virtually ceased to create any more princes, and the fact of his having altered his intentions and made so many Wangs at the present day, is entirely owing to the arrival of his brother Hung Jen-kan in the 9th year [1859]. He was so exceedingly delighted to see his brother that, before a fortnight had passed by, he made him Generalissimo and accompanied this honor with a decree that all men should be under the new officer's control. Seeing, however, that the new Generalissimo was very incompetent, and had not a single suggestion to offer, he again thought over the matter to himself, and knowing that several of his fighting ministers, who had won much merit and done much to support the nation, were displeased, he discovered that he had made a great mistake. He knew also that Ch'en