1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 229 Recruiting good people and recruiting new people
"There are many mines in Leiyang, Changning, and Anren counties. Is the recruitment work in these three places going smoothly?" Peng Gang strolled to the office in the West Flower Hall of the government office and sat down, asking Chen Gan about the progress of recruitment in Leiyang, Changning, and Anren counties.

Leiyang, Changning, and Anren are three counties in the southern part of Hengzhou Prefecture. The recruitment work in these three counties is respectively handled by Chen Gan, the commander of the Ninth Provisional Battalion, Qiu Zhongliang, the commander of the Fourth Provisional Battalion, and Zhu Deng, the commander of the Tenth Provisional Battalion. Each battalion is responsible for the recruitment work in one county.

“The miners in the three counties of Hengnan live just as hard a life as the charcoal burners in Pingzaishan. Many of the miners had already joined the Heaven and Earth Society. According to the corrupt officials of the Qing Dynasty, they were not docile people. With Li Yantong and his group leading the way, things went very smoothly.” Chen Gan answered fluently.

"To date, I have recruited more than 2,600 young and middle-aged miners in various mines in Leiyang. Including their families, Leiyang County alone has recruited more than 7,000 people."

We can definitely recruit more later, but not many. Battalion Commander Qiu and Battalion Commander Zhu are more efficient than me; they should have recruited more people than I have.”

These battalion commanders all came from the first and second cohorts. Peng Gang wouldn't dare say he knew all the students from the first and second cohorts.

Peng Gang had a deep impression of all the students from the first cohort and those from the second cohort who had good grades or distinctive personalities.

The students who can become battalion commanders now are either first-term students or students with outstanding performance in the second term.

Chen Gan spoke with humility and politeness. Qiu Zhongliang's military abilities were mediocre, but his ability to build a team was definitely superior to Chen Gan's.

As for Zhu Deng, he is no match for Chen Gan in any aspect.

Chen Gan and Qiu Zhongliang had already led their troops north to help Luo Dagang besiege Hengyang, while Zhu Deng hadn't even taken Anren County yet.

The fact that there are only 2,600 able-bodied miners and just over 4,000 family members indicates that many miners are still single and their lives are indeed quite difficult.

It seems that people in Hunan, at least in the southern part of Hunan, are not living much better than their counterparts in Guangxi.

"The quality of soldiers is more important than the quantity. Our Left Army only recruits kind and honest people, not cunning and deceitful ones, understand?" Peng Gang emphasized.

In the past twenty days, Yongzhou Prefecture has recruited more than 38,000 people, of whom more than 9,000 are of working age.

Hengzhou Prefecture has a larger population than Yongzhou Prefecture. Recruiting 40,000 to 50,000 people from Hengzhou, with over 10,000 able-bodied young men, should not be a problem.

The Left Army has set recruitment criteria; it doesn't accept just anyone. Otherwise, it could recruit far more people than it has so many.

"Understood." Chen Gan nodded, indicating that he had learned something.

While writing a reply to Luo Dagang, Peng Gang said to Chen Gan, "Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Fengxiang, and Li Kaifang, the three inspectors of the Western Palace, are also in Hengyang. Have Deputy Commander Luo make more contact with them and try to win them over if possible. If not, we will make other plans."

In fact, Hengyang has an even better, readily available, and extremely high-quality source of soldiers, namely the three thousand elite soldiers of the West Palace. Among these three thousand elite soldiers, there are quite a few swordsmen.

Historically, after Xiao Chaogui's death in battle, the Western Palace system was not immediately annexed.

His direct subordinates, Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others, continued to lead the main force of the Western Palace.

During the later stages of the Battle of Changsha and the subsequent advances to Wuchang and Nanjing, these core generals of the Western Palace continued to operate as independent units.

During the Northern Expedition in 1853, Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang led 20,000 troops from the former Western Palace as the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Army to march north and attack the Qing Dynasty.

After Xiao Chaogui, the nominal ruler of the Western Palace was Xiao Chaogui's eldest son, Xiao Youhe, who inherited the title of "Young King of the West." However, because he was young, Xiao Youhe was only about ten years old when Xiao Chaogui died in battle, and the military power of the Western Palace was temporarily managed by Yang Xiuqing.

Although the Western Palace system still existed in name, and even the Western King's Mansion was established in the early days of the establishment of the capital, the Western King's Mansion was only used to house Xiao Chaogui's family members and had no real power.

Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang were sent by Yang Xiuqing on a northern expedition, but their entire army was wiped out in the end.

Zeng Shuiyuan was executed by Yang Xiuqing for "negligence" for failing to report the murder of the East King's brother-in-law in a timely manner. All the core figures of the old Western Palace faction were purged, and Yang Xiuqing completely integrated the Western Palace forces in 1854.

Yang Xiuqing was already wary of the Northern Palace. If the Western Palace's forces were completely absorbed in one fell swoop, it would definitely cause a complete falling out with Yang Xiuqing.

The sons and daughters of God are still in the early stages of their business, so it's not the time to overturn the table with Yang Xiuqing yet.

It's unrealistic to completely absorb the Western Palace's forces, but we can't let them all fall into Yang Xiuqing's hands.

Even if the Northern Palace fails to absorb the Western Palace's forces in the short term, it should still try its best to support core members of the Western Palace such as Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Fengxiang, and Li Kaifang, and demand that Xiao Youhe be appointed as the King of the West to maintain the relative independence of the Western Palace system.

Whether to absorb or support them ultimately depends on the attitudes of Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Fengxiang, and Li Kaifang.

Yang Xiuqing was an extremely ambitious person, but he could share both hardship and happiness.

The tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease. Even if Peng Gang does not regard Yang Xiuqing as a political opponent and has no intention of vying for the highest secular power in the Heavenly Kingdom, Yang Xiuqing will still regard Peng Gang as a highly threatening political competitor and suppress the Northern Palace.

Watching Yang Xiuqing annex the West Hall would not benefit the North Hall.

"Your Highness's words will be relayed to Vice Commander Luo verbatim. Your Highness, I have a question to ask." Chen Gan was just a twenty-year-old greenhorn, ignorant of politics. He had only remembered Peng Gang's words without thinking too deeply about them. He was more concerned about the organization of the Left Army. "Ask," Peng Gang nodded slightly.

"Your Highness, when will the 'temporary' part of the 'temporary' designation be removed from the 'temporary battalion'?" Chen Gan asked, swallowing hard.

Although Chen Gan was a battalion commander, his battalion was designated as a provisional battalion, which made him feel inferior to the battalion commanders of the six veteran battalions.

Of course, in reality, due to seniority, the battalion commanders of the six veteran battalions did have a higher status than the battalion commanders of the provisional battalions.

Although it wasn't explicitly stated, it was an unspoken understanding within the Left Army.

"Focus on recruiting your soldiers. After the recruitment is completed in southern Hunan, some adjustments will be made to the organizational structure," Peng Gang said.

Peng Gang wasn't just making empty promises to Chen Gan; he genuinely had the idea of ​​breaking up the existing organizational structure and having veterans from Guangxi mentor new recruits from Hunan.

Furthermore, after the new round of military expansion, the original highest-level battalion-level organization is somewhat insufficient. It is time to add higher-level organizations and even introduce a military rank system to give clear graded treatment to the management personnel of the logistics system, staff system, intelligence system and other battalions, and further improve the system of the Northern Palace system.

After finishing the letter, Peng Gang handed it to Chen Gan and then asked Chen Gan some questions about Peng Yong.

From his conversation with Chen Gan, Peng Gang realized that Peng Yong had already learned that the Northern King was Peng Gang on his way to Hengyang.

Peng Yong did not reveal his identity to Chen Gan in person, but only after he made meritorious contributions in the Battle of Hengyang.

This shows that Peng Yong is a man of principle and ambition, who does not want to be a lazy and idle ruler.

The power of the Northern Palace Emperor is weak, and Peng Yi has no interest in leading troops into battle. He only likes to manage the imperial treasury, so adding another general from the Northern Palace Emperor's faction is not a bad thing.

After leaving the West Flower Hall, Peng Gang called Lu Qin to go to the inner courtyard together.

Lu Qin is a person who has a strong sense of boundaries, and he said tactfully, "It is not appropriate for me to attend Your Highness's gathering with your brothers and sisters."

“We’re all from the same village, what’s inappropriate about it?” Peng Gang said with a smile.

"Since that's the case, then I'll swallow my pride and ask Your Highness for a meal," Lu Qin said shamelessly.

“You’ve eaten a lot of our food before,” Peng Gang joked.

After having a simple meal in the inner quarters of the Yongzhou government office and reminiscing about some trivial and interesting things that happened in Qingfeng Village, Peng Gang turned to Peng Yong and got to the point: "Second brother, you have made great contributions by taking the lead in the assault and capturing Tao Enpei, the prefect of Hengzhou Prefecture. You have a natural talent for commanding troops."

"I wouldn't say I have a natural talent for fighting, but over the years in the mine, I've had my share of arguments with people, and I've learned some skills in self-defense through armed combat," Peng Yong remarked.

The black market mining area is a small society where the strong prey on the weak. If you don't fight and be tough, let alone become a leader of dozens of miners, you might as well not even survive.

After getting to know him, Peng Yong felt that his third brother was somewhat unfamiliar to him, unlike the third brother he remembered.

Perhaps his father's personality changed drastically after his death, Peng Yong didn't think too deeply about it.

"Second Brother wants to lead troops?" Peng Gang asked.

“Besides fighting, your second brother doesn’t have any other skills, unlike A-Yi, who was taught accounting when Dad was still alive,” Peng Yong said with a smile.

"When your father was alive, he taught you a lot to read and manage accounts, but you just couldn't sit still and couldn't learn anything," Peng Gang teased. After the teasing, Peng Gang put on a serious face.

"In recognition of your merits, I'll definitely give you a military rank. But fighting is not the same as fighting. If you want to command troops, you need to settle down and learn. Bring your close friends along, and I'll assign you some more men. This month, Lu Qin will teach you how to train the troops. After that, I'll have Lu Qin take you out to fight a few battles against the Qing army."

"Brother Lu Qin is Third Brother's prized student, Second Brother, why don't you hurry up and become his disciple?" Peng Yi teased.

Peng Gang is now the king, and no longer needs to risk his life to fight on the front lines.

Peng Yong was definitely going to lead troops in battle on the front lines. After being separated for many years, the brothers were reunited. Peng Yong was also impatient, and Peng Yi was worried about Peng Yong's safety.

However, with Lu Qin leading him in training troops and letting him fight a few battles to gain experience, Peng Yi felt somewhat at ease.

“I am also a disciple of His Highness the Northern King. If anyone should become a disciple, it should be His Highness the Northern King,” Lu Qin said, waving his hand.

"I'll leave it to my third brother," Peng Yong nodded and said.

(End of this chapter)