in most areas was well established. Hong declared that God would defend Nanjing, but in June 1864, with Qing forces approaching, he died of food poisoning as the result of eating wild vegetables as the city began to run out of food. He was sick for twenty days before the Qing forces could take the city. Although Hong likely died of his illness, suicide by poison has also been suggested. Only a few days after his death the Qing forces took the city. His body was buried and was later exhumed by Zeng to verify his death, and cremated. Hong's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising. Four months before the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan abdicated in favour of Hong Tianguifu, his eldest son, who was 14 years old then. Hong Tianguifu was unable to do anything to restore the kingdom, so the kingdom was quickly destroyed when Nanjing fell in July 1864 to Qing forces after vicious fighting in the streets. Most of the so-called princes were executed by Qing officials in Jinling Town (), Nanjing. Although the fall of Nanjing in 1864 marked the destruction of the Taiping regime, the fight was not yet over. There were still several thousands of Taiping rebel troops continuing the fight. It took seven years to finally put down all remnants of the Taiping Rebellion. In August 1871, the last Taiping rebel army, led by Shi Dakai's commander, Li Fuzhong (), was completely wiped out by the Qing forces in the border region of Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. Administrative divisions 25 provinces were mentioned in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sources: Jiangnan Province () or Heavenly Capital Province (天京省) – present-day northern area of Jiangsu Anhui Province () – present-day Anhui Jiangxi Province () – present-day Jiangxi Hubei Province () – present-day Hubei Tianpu Province () – present-day Pukou District, Nanjing Sufu Province () – present-day southern area of Jiangsu Guifu Province () – not clear Zhejiang Heavenly Province () – present-day Zhejiang Hunan Province () – present-day Hunan (de jure) Fujian Province () – present-day Fujian (de jure) Henan Province () – present-day Henan (de jure) Shandong Province () – present-day Shandong (de jure) Shanxi Province () – present-day Shanxi (de jure) Zuili Province (, lit. "criminal ruled") or Qianshan Province