Li Xiucheng Li Xiucheng ( ; 1823 – August 7 , 1864 ) was a military commander during the Taiping Rebellion . He was born to a poor peasant family . He was known as the Loyal King ( 忠王 ) by the end of his life . This title was given because he refused the bribe of a Qing general officer to kill Taiping Rebellion - Hong Xiuquan the founder of the rebellion . As a general , he led Taiping forces to several victories . After his capture and interrogation at the third and final Battle at Nanjing in 1864 , he was executed by Zeng Guofan . Li was the most important military leader of the rebel forces by the end of the Taiping Rebellion . Notable victories against the Qing military forces . Second rout of the Jiangnan Army Group . Army Group Jiangnan ( 江南大營 ) was an important Qing army barracks in Nanjing . Li Xiucheng - led forces besieged it in an attempt to starve it out . Li Xiucheng , besides ; in the second encirclement , the Qing army commanded 200 , 000 soldiers to fight with Taiping forces from March 1858 , but they were routed by Li Xiucheng in May 1860 . After that , Li went on to occupy all of Jiangsu provinces except Shanghai . Escaped from Suzhou . Li Xiucheng ' s palace in Suzhou is the only one from the Taiping Rebellion that exists today . In July 1863 , Li ordered his daughter ' s husband , Tan SauGuan , to take over control of Suzhou . But Li Hongzhang lead the Why Army combined by the " Ever Victorious Army , " which , having been raised by an American named Frederick Townsend Ward , was placed under the command of Charles George Gordon . With this support , Li Hongzhang gained numerous victories leading to the surrender of Suzhou . Determining battle : lead defend capital Nanjing . Chiang Donkey . The Chiang Donkey ( 蔣驢子 ) was Li Xiucheng ' s stable manager . Before the fall of Nanjing after three months in 1864 , Li Xiucheng took his wealth , including much treasure , to Chiang Donkey and asked Chiang to take it out of Nanjing quickly and wait for Li Xiucheng somewhere . Chiang promised and took treasure by 20 horses and cows car , but Li was executed at last . Thus , Chiang Donkey became rich in Nanjing after the civil war . Writing . In " Zhong Prince Li Xiucheng Describes Himself " ( 《 忠王李秀成自述 》 ) , the autobiographical account of a prince of the Heavenly Kingdom written shortly before his execution ( Pseudohistory saying Li was suicide admitted by Zeng Guofan gave Li a sword because Zeng respected Li , even Li Hongzhang had been read this describes and praised Li Xiucheng was a hero on a letter to Zeng ) . Li ' s sword . When Li withdrew from Suzhou , his sword — the symbol of his power — was given to his young brother Li Shixian . Li Shixian took this sword but lost and was captured by Charles George Gordon in Liyang . When Charles George Gordon came back to the UK with Li ' s sword , he gave it to Queen Victoria ' s cousin , chief commander of the military the Duke of Cambridge , who gave the sword to his brother ' s daughter . On 30 August 1961 a professor of history at the University of London discovered this sword . He was very excited , certain that the sword had belonged to the great revolutionary Li Xiucheng . In 1981 , this sword was returned to China and is currently stored in the National Museum of China . Children . Son Li Xiucheng had three daughters , their husbands were Taiping generals : Sources . Tiān Guó Zwi ( 天國志 )