The Iron and Tender Heart of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Under the King of England

In 1862, Anqing falls, and Prince Ying Chen Yucheng is trapped in a deadly predicament in Luzhou. On the brink of death, Lin Chen, a modern soul armed with historical insight and military acumen, awakens within him. He narrowly escapes Miao Peilin’s ambush, rallies scattered troops in northern Anhui, joins forces with the Nian rebels to fight the Hunan Army, and uses guerrilla tactics to cut off Qing supply lines. With improved firearms, he overcomes the vast disparity in strength and gradually builds a formidable, battle-hardened force out of desperation. At court, he maneuvers among Hong Xiuquan’s incompetence, the greed of the Hong clan, and Li Xiucheng’s separatist ambitions. He seizes military power amid a food shortage and popular uprising in Tianjing, then breaks the Hunan Army’s encirclement with a great victory at Yuhuatai. In the end, he sidelines the Heavenly King and becomes the true leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Beyond the battlefield, he grows close amid the clash of blades to Su Sanniang, a loyal and courageous female Taiping general, and forges a bond amid political crises with Shen Yuwei, the daughter of a Jiangsu-Zhejiang gentry family, who is a master strategist. Neither woman is merely an appendage: Su Sanniang leads female soldiers into battle, while Shen Yuwei manages the rear and foils political plots. Together, the three form a bond that transcends convention in a world torn by chaos. From rescuing Tianjing from crisis to sweeping the Qing forces from the Jianghuai region, from driving off foreign fleets at Dagu Port to conquering Beijing in the Northern Expedition, Chen Yucheng remakes the Heavenly Kingdom with an iron hand and advances reforms with modern ideas. His two wives remain his firmest support throughout. When the Taiping banner flies atop the Forbidden City, he looks back at a shattered old age and ahead at a new realm. At his side are the two women who walked with him through blood and fire, together witnessing a dynasty’s rebirth and renewal.