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The Hong travelled to Guangzhou to sit for his first exam after years of preparation. At the time, passing the exam was the only way to advance socially.

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The Chinese civil service entrance exam was a failure for Hong Xiuquan. When he finally recovers from his collapse, China will never be the same.

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Hong traveled back to Guangzhou to sit for the third exam. His mental breakdown after failing the third time was so severe that it caused him to fall into a coma.

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Hong was only one of the millions of Chinese people who learned about the Bible for the first time that year. People will therefore be ready to believe in the Christian God in a way they simply weren't previously when Hong begins telling random villages that he is the son of God in a few moments.

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The two had a falling out over Hong's rejection of Christian notions of forgiveness and emphasis on his own divinity. He had studied under the American evangelist I.J. Roberts. Soon after, Hong went back to Guangxi and became Feng's militia commander. They explored the countryside together as they polished their message. Their rage increased as they continued to move forward.

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Government troops attacked a God Worshippers’ militia.

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Government troops attacked Hong’s followers in the city of Jintian.

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Jintian was overrun by the government troops. The city fell to the God Worshippers.

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The rebels plowed across the countryside with great speed. Legendary armies of the Qing dispersed before them. Cities and towns fell without a struggle.

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The Taiping were moving closer to Nanjing. Hong's forces weeded out the Manchus and had them burned alive as civilians attempted to evacuate the city. Nanjing was forewarned of what was to come by the flames that flickered upward from their melting flesh.

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Finally, the city was entered by Hong's forces. Hong proclaimed Nanjing the new capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and himself the legitimate ruler of China as he was escorted in by sixteen bearers on a yellow silk chair. During this conflict, Feng passed away.

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Yang was beginning to question Hong's dominance.
The minister was now alleging that he had covertly established his own power base within the Taiping army. The Heavenly King himself was just a fraud, and God was communicating through him and not Hong.

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Yang was to be wiped out by Hong's edict to Wei Changhui, the King of the West. Wei massacred all of Yang's supporters in Nanjing over the course of two brutal months. Family members of the Yangs, as well as soldiers and bystanders, were all slaughtered in the never-ending bloodbath.

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Yes, Wei was turning Nanjing into a slaughterhouse when the French decided to start the Second Opium War, which was incredibly unfortunate timing. The Qing were nearly at breaking point rather than seizing the opportunity.

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After the First Opium War, Shanghai became a crucial new commerce port, and the Taiping troops attempted to capture it. Although the Taiping's assault was unsuccessful, it succeeded in persuading the British and Americans that action needed to be taken. Just as the official Qing army was establishing contact with the New Armies, they started arming and training the Qing forces. The revived Qing were prepared to give the Heavenly Kingdom hell in no time. And they gave them Hell.

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It burned in southern China for a full two years. As they moved across the countryside, the New Armies committed rape and plunder. There was a severe famine because the Qing and Taiping destroyed so many crops. Peasant rebellions occurred. Plagues. destruction of property on a large scale. Over 600 cities allegedly disappeared from the map.

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The population of the Taiping rebel stronghold, which was completely cut off, was starving. The Qing armies had accomplished the unthinkable. After surviving the assault, they defeated the Taiping at their own game. Just one more push would be necessary to bring about Judgement Day at this point.

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Even the most fervent followers of Hong could see that the Taiping were in trouble. Cannibalism on an industrial scale had occurred during the Qing siege of the Taiping city of Anqing three years earlier. Local markets had previously sold human flesh. Hong's advisers pleaded with him to take action in an effort to prevent a similar circumstance in Nanjing.

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Hong appeared to his people before departing from his palace and assured them that God would take care of them.
But they gathered them together and brought their leader back. Hong blessed the food and ordered it to be cooked while beaming at their abundance. The Heavenly King eventually took his bowl of "manna," ate from it, and then promptly passed away from food poisoning.

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A three-day long street combat resulted in the Qing retaking Nanjing. The bloodiest conflict ever witnessed by humankind took place at that period. As Nanjing fell, there were massacres committed house by house. Mass suicides as thousands of Taiping true believers gathered and set themselves on fire. It combined the Battle of Stalingrad, the Jonestown Massacre, and the Somme into one event.

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Although sporadic fighting would continue until 1866, the Taiping Rebellion was officially over.

Its Heavenly King was dead.