1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 212 The Reappearance of the Han Army
Accompanied by the deep and resonant drumbeats, Peng Gang, imposing and dignified, marched proudly through the gate at the north entrance, surrounded by over a hundred riders, and entered the first prefectural city captured by the Left Army.

The cavalrymen who escorted Peng Gang into the city were not actually cavalrymen, but rather infantrymen from the first company of the first battalion who could ride horses, and their horsemanship was only so-so.

The Left Army is not without skilled cavalrymen; including the recently recruited members of the Xiangnan Tiandihui, the Left Army now has sixty or seventy riders with good riding skills.

However, these riders were sent out by Peng Gang to scout the situation in nearby cities and were not with him.

Because the soldiers Luo Dagang released at Huangsha Pass did some propaganda work for the Left Army.

Some of the residents of Lingling City were not too afraid of Zuo Jun. A few bolder residents, driven by curiosity, even came to the street to join in the fun and catch a glimpse of Zuo Jun's demeanor.

Peng Gang, dressed in an indigo blue round-necked, narrow-sleeved robe, with a sword at his waist, rode his horse with light steps and the reins hanging loosely, amidst the attention of the crowd, heading towards the Yongzhou Prefecture government office.

Peng Gang was only in his early twenties, tall and handsome, with gentle yet sharp eyes, and a calm demeanor even when he didn't speak.

When the wind rises, the hem of his clothes flutters, displaying the demeanor of a refined general.

At first, the people of Lingling City also thought that this simply dressed handsome young man was a general of the Left Army. It wasn't until the banner of the Northern King was raised from behind that the people of Lingling realized that this extraordinary young man was not a general, but the legendary Northern King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They couldn't help but exclaim in unison, "It's the Northern King! The Northern King has arrived!"

The news of the Northern King's entry into the city spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the entire main street and then the whole city.

"This is the Northern King? How can someone so young be such a figure?"

"Look at his appearance, his imposing presence, he's more dignified than any of the civil or military generals on stage! He's like a god descended from heaven!"

"When I was little, my grandpa told me stories about Yue Fei of the Song Dynasty and Qi Jiguang of the Ming Dynasty, and they were all so dashing!"

"Nonsense! Yue Fei and Qi Jiguang were generals, while this man before us is a king! How can they be compared?"

"This kind of military discipline is unprecedented for a king... I've lived for over seventy years and this is the first time I've ever seen such a king."

"Truly a young and brilliant leader!"

Even the gentry standing at the end of the street, though their brows were furrowed, muttered to themselves, "...If this man isn't a traitor, he's quite a talent."

Peng Gang nodded and smiled at the people around him, raised his whip and led the team forward.

As Peng Gang walked further and further away, disappearing from the sight of most of the people of Lingling, the people of Lingling focused their attention on the soldiers of the Left Army who were entering the city.

More than a year after the uprising began, the women's battalion had already sewed tens of thousands of uniforms of the same design.

Now, not only the six old battalions, but even the provisional battalions can wear military uniforms, achieving uniformity in clothing.

The attire of the soldiers of the Left Army was very different from that of the Qing army and even the Heaven and Earth Society.

All the soldiers of the Left Army cut off their humiliating queues, and wore either straw hats or black turbans, tied with red scarves. They were dressed in uniform indigo homespun robes with cross-collars, the hem of which reached their knees. They wore leggings below their knees, and cloth shoes, straw sandals, or wooden-soled shoes.

The soldiers of the Left Army entered in single file, without making a sound, running around, or looking around. They did not disturb the vendors when crossing the street, and when they stopped, they stood at attention, their steps as neat and orderly as if they were one person.

A small square formation consists of about fifty people, and a medium-sized square formation consists of about two hundred people. They must obey orders and move forward in an orderly manner.

The people of Lingling couldn't help but compare the army before them with the Green Standard Army soldiers and local militias they had seen in recent days—the ones who reeked of alcohol, made a ruckus, looted, had long beards and braided hair, and were people to be avoided.

Although the ranks of the Left Army soldiers entering the city later were not as orderly as those who entered earlier, they were still far superior to the Green Standard Army and local militia.

"So these disciplined soldiers even walk in such neat rows."

"Wow, these young men are so murderous. No wonder the Imperial Envoy suffered such a quick defeat even when he personally led the troops."

"Why are their clothes so strange?"

"It is a bit strange, but it looks much better and more pleasing to the eye than the clothes we are wearing."

"What's so strange about it? These are clothes from the Ming Dynasty."

"Han attire! These are Han soldiers!"

"I thought I'd never see him again, never see him again..."

Since the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Lingling City has never seen such a righteous and upright army, marching cleanly and standing straight, a sight that warms the heart.

Of course, there were also those who muttered curses under their breath among the crowd.

These people were mostly gentry and clerks who remained in Lingling City, and this was the first time they had witnessed the prowess of the Left Army.

They originally thought that the Left Army Taiping Army was nothing more than rebels like the Heaven and Earth Society.

Unexpectedly, these rebels were so unorthodox that they even cut off their queues and wore the clothes of the former Ming dynasty.

A middle-aged gentleman in a long robe and mandarin jacket frowned and said, "These traitors, cutting off their queues and changing their clothes, are committing a heinous crime!"

A tall, thin clerk standing nearby scoffed, "They dare to wear clothes from the previous dynasty? This is outrageous! The imperial army will exterminate their entire clan sooner or later!"

"What's wrong with cutting off braids?" A burly blacksmith in the crowd, who had already begun to consider joining the Left Army, retorted loudly.

"Our ancestors never wore queues for thousands of years. Who forced us to shave our heads and change our clothes? Now it's all good. We don't need to wear queues anymore. We can face our ancestors with dignity!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone around them turned to look at them.

These gentry from Lingling, fearing that the commotion would attract the attention of Zuo Jun, did not argue. They simply snorted coldly and turned to return to their own residences.

Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture, is a relatively large prefecture city in Hunan Province and the largest city captured by the Zuo army to date.

Peng Gang rode his horse for some time before arriving at the Yongzhou Prefectural Government Office.

At this time, the bodies of Huang Wenchen, the prefect of Yongzhou, and his family were still in the yamen (government office) and had not yet been dealt with. Peng Gang ordered people to clean up the bodies of Huang Wenchen and his family and move them into the yamen.

The Left Army has little grain reserves.

The food situation of the main Taiping army was even less optimistic than that of the Left Army.

The main force of the Taiping army already had limited food supplies, and Peng Gang's left army had already traversed all the prefectures and counties along the way, making it impossible for the main force of the Taiping army to replenish its food supplies on the spot.

To make matters worse, the Taiping army's supply train was ambushed by the Qing army when the main force of the Taiping army was transferring.

Although Peng Gang was still unaware of the extent of the losses suffered by the main force of the Taiping Army in this surprise attack by the Qing army.

However, even Yang Xiuqing, who was always concerned about his reputation, had someone write to Peng Gang asking for grain to help him, so the losses must have been considerable.

Peng Gang himself did not have much grain stored up; he only left four thousand shi of grain in Quanzhou City.

Four thousand shi of grain is nothing more than a drop in the ocean for 170,000 to 180,000 people. When the main force learns that the Left Army has captured Lingling, they will definitely come to ask him for grain.

It is no exaggeration to say that the amount of grain in Lingling City was a matter of life and death for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

The first thing Peng Gang did after entering the city was to find out how much grain was stored in each of the official granaries in Lingling City, and he asked Huang Dabiao to bring in the granary officials in charge of managing the granaries for questioning.

Huang Dabiao was very efficient. Peng Gang had just sat down in the main hall of the government office when Huang Dabiao brought in several granary officials in charge of managing the granaries for questioning.

Hunan is one of the eight provinces that transport grain.

The eight provinces that were required to pay grain tribute were: Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan.

Yongzhou Prefecture was also an important military town in southern Hunan, and the seat of the Yongzhou Garrison Commander.

The food system in Lingling City is much more complex than that of the cities that Peng Gang had conquered in the past.

There are five main granaries: Changping Granary, She Granary, Yi Granary, Cao Granary, and Jun Granary.

The military granary was further divided into the town's main granary and the sub-granaries of each flood control pond.

After a brief interrogation of several granary officials, it was found that the grain reserves in Lingling City were relatively optimistic.

The bulk of the grain stored in Lingling came from the Yongzhou Prefecture Ever-Normal Granary.

The fixed storage capacity of the Yongzhou Prefecture Ever-Normal Granary was 150,200 shi, but the actual storage was 134,268 shi.

The deficit ratio is only 10%!
In the vast Qing Dynasty's warehouses, where deficit rates often reached 40% to 50%, this was truly a breath of fresh air.

Of course, this does not mean that Huang Wenchen, the prefect of Yongzhou, was particularly honest and capable.

Rather, it was because the grain and provisions originally intended to aid Guangxi were cut off by Peng Gang's entry into the Hunan-Guangxi corridor, which disrupted the grain supply routes between Hunan and Guangxi. As a result, the grain that Hunan had not had time to transport to Guangxi was stockpiled in Lingling.

Much of the newly stored grain is newly harvested grain that has just been collected through taxation and other means.

This means that Huang Wenchen and Li Xingyuan had collected grain for Peng Gang in advance.

The community granaries and charitable granaries together held 38,555 shi of grain.

In addition, there were 9,821 shi of grain in the grain storage area and 27,333 shi of grain in the town's main granary.

Based on this calculation, Peng Gang could obtain 210,000 shi of grain from the Qing government's granaries alone, which temporarily relieved his immediate crisis.

With grain in hand, don't panic in my heart.

Most of the Zuo Jun troops who entered the city were stationed at the original town standard camp west of Lingling City. Peng Gang ordered that, following the example of Xiangzhou City, a soup kitchen be set up at the Yongzhou Town standard camp west of the city to distribute soup, so that the starving people in the city would be given a bowl of soup every day.

At the same time, they issued notices to recruit soldiers and talented individuals.

As news spread that the righteous soldiers had begun distributing porridge at the soup kitchens, the people of Lingling City had an increasingly positive impression of the Left Army.

The main purpose of setting up soup kitchens and distributing soup in Lingling was to gain fame.

Although the notice was issued to recruit soldiers, Peng Gang's main target for recruiting soldiers was not the citizens of Lingling City, but the miners within the territory of Yongzhou Prefecture.

Yongzhou Prefecture and the neighboring Leiyang County have many coal mines, and the miners in these coal mines are a better source of soldiers than the citizens of Lingling City.

These people were Peng Gang's main targets for recruitment in Hunan.

The main force of the Qing army in Hunan under Li Xingyuan was wiped out, and Li Xingyuan disappeared without a trace. The news that the Left Army had entered Hunan territory quickly spread throughout the Xiaoxiang region.

Officials at all levels in Hunan, Qing soldiers, and local gentry lived in constant fear, as if the sky had fallen.

Even if you haven't seen or come into contact with the rumored religious bandits in western Guangdong.

But anyone with a sound mind knows that the religious bandits who were defeated by Lin Zexu and then Li Xingyuan, and who were unable to be eradicated by two imperial commissioners who mobilized the entire nation, were no rabble.

Those most terrified of the cult bandits were the officers of all ranks in the Hunan Green Standard Army. It should be noted that last year, even Zhang Bilu, who was known as the top general of the Southern Green Standard Army, was defeated and killed by the cult bandits.

Their former superior, the Governor of Hunan, also struggled to gain the upper hand against the religious bandits.

Even these two were no match for the cult bandits, let alone them.

Before long, news arrived that Lingling, the capital of Yongzhou Prefecture, had fallen without a fight.

The first to receive news of the fall of Lingling City was Hengyang Prefecture, which borders Yongzhou Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)