in the early years of the taiping rebellion, the real power of the military was in the hands of the military advisor (軍師) and the leader heavenly king hong xiuquan did not actually wield any power in his hands and was merely a puppet leader. the real power of the military was actually in the hands of the east king yang xiuqing, who gained more power following the deaths of the south and west kings. hong xiuquan declared in 1848 that the spirit of the 'holy father' (天父) would possess yang xiuqing and give him orders through yang. this had allowed yang to become even more influential and placed him in a position higher than hong, as yang often gave orders to hong, who was supposed to be his superior, in the name of the 'holy father'. when this happened, hong had no choice but to follow the orders of the 'holy father', which were actually yang's orders.