1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 24 Grouping
Peng Gang had scouted Honglianping before. Following the rough topographical map he had drawn during his previous scouting trip, he searched for a suitable place to settle down along the relatively gentle hillside.

"First, we'll clear away the nearby vegetation, then level the slope, and then we'll set up camp and build our houses here."

After observing the surrounding environment, Peng Gang stopped at a relatively central location on a sunny slope with a large mountain spring flowing through it.

The land here is relatively flat and the slope is not too steep. As long as the surrounding vegetation is cleared, it will not be a problem to prepare two acres of flat land for a living area.

Located on a sunny slope, it won't be too damp, making it more comfortable to live in. With a large mountain spring flowing through it, there's no need to worry about water supply.

The trees felled during land clearing can be divided into straight logs, which can be used to build sheds, and bent or miscellaneous logs, which can be used as raw materials for charcoal production.

With the plan in place, Peng Gang divided the boys into two groups of twelve, and appointed a group leader and a deputy group leader.

A group consisted of ten boys from Qingfeng Village and two boys from a neighboring village.

The team leader is Lu Qin, and the deputy team leader is Lu Qian.

The second group consisted of teenagers from nearby villages and the Qishixu area.

The group leader was Li Qi, a Tujia boy who had studied in a private school for two and a half years, and the deputy group leader was Chen Sanshui, a Hakka boy from Qishixu who, according to Peng Gang's observations over the past few days, had considerable leadership abilities.

The boys in the group already knew each other well; most of them had grown up together in the same village. They were very satisfied with the grouping and personnel appointments, and no one raised any objections.

The second group consisted of a diverse group of teenagers, who had strong opinions about the group assignments and the selection of the group leader.

The boys from the neighboring village who were assigned to Group Two strongly requested that they be moved to Group One. The Hakka boys in Group Two were very resistant to their Tujia chief.

The centuries-long conflict between the Tujia and Hakka peoples has deepened the hatred between them to the core.

Even though the boy had become a refugee, he still did not forget the ethnic label he carried.

"If you're not happy, get out of here now!" Peng Gang roared angrily at the chattering Hakka boys in the second group.

“Li Qi attended a private school for two and a half years, so he can read. Can any of you read? Who among you knows more characters than him? Step forward now, and I'll make him the group leader immediately!”

After being scolded by Peng Gang, the Hakka boy from the second group finally fell silent and behaved himself.

Peng Gang divided the gentle slope into two areas, with each group responsible for one area: "After dinner, go to the second boss's place to get tools. The group that does the most work and does it well will be rewarded with three catties of smoked fish tomorrow."

Upon hearing the words "smoked dried fish," the boys' eyes lit up with excitement.

Although they have enough coarse grains these days, they can eat two full meals a day.

But he never touched any meat.

Three pounds of smoked dried fish were very appealing to these poor teenagers who were used to going hungry.

The group of teenagers, in particular, were all eager to try, looking determined to win.

Before starting work, each person was given two sweet potatoes. Since no one questioned Peng Gang's decision, each person in the group was given an extra slice of dried sweet potato as a reward.

Seeing that the group in Group 1 received an extra golden sweet potato chip after taking away two sweet potatoes, the boys in Group 2 started blaming and criticizing each other.

After finishing their meal, the boys went to Peng Yi to collect their tools and then went to their respective work areas to get to work.

Peng Gang and his siblings, along with their three uncles, were not idle either. They cleared out a space and began building a stove.

He didn't want to eat sweet potatoes and potatoes every meal; with a stove, he could cook much more.

As for the two carpenters, after finishing their sweet potatoes, they took their knives and saws and searched the woods for materials of suitable size to build their huts.

Can they succeed?

Looking at the groups of two or three teenagers, some weeding, some repairing slopes, and some felling trees, Peng Gang had this question in his mind.

Describing these teenagers as a disorganized mess is a bit of an exaggeration. A more fitting description would be clumps of mud of varying sizes.

It wouldn't be fair to say they were slacking off. Their food rations were controlled by Peng Gang, and with two younger siblings and three uncles watching over them, they didn't dare to slack off.

However, a lack of awareness of cooperation and division of labor, and low work efficiency are indeed very common phenomena among these rural teenagers.

The situation in Group 1 was relatively good, since most of the boys in Group 1 were from the same village, and they would help each other out if they shouted at each other.

The situation in Group Two was much worse; they were basically all doing their own thing in silence.

Tujia youth Huang Dabiao wielded an axe to fell a fir tree as thick as a man's waist. The fallen tree lay across the center of the work area, obstructing passage.

Huang Dabiao called over his group members to help clear away the branches and leaves, intending to divide the cedar wood into sections and stack them together. Apart from Zhang Ze, no one was willing to pay attention to Wang Dabiao.

“Wei Tiedan! You’re from Group Two, what are you doing running into Group One’s work area?” Peng Gang scolded a Hakka boy who had run from Group Two to Group One.

"Does a group of farts smell better than a group of shits?"

After spending a few days together, Peng Gang was able to match the names and faces of all twenty-four people.

Having been scolded, Wei Tiedan slunk back to the second group's work area with his head down.

There is no doubt that Group One is much more efficient than Group Two.

After a day and a half of work, the group felled forty-two trees. Half of the trees had their branches and leaves cleared and were stacked in sections. They cleared out three-tenths of an area, or about two hundred square meters, of clean and relatively flat land.

In addition, the group dug up 15 jin of bamboo shoots, picked 2 jin of mushrooms, and caught two rat snakes mating.

On the other hand, the second group only cut down thirty-one trees in a day and a half, without even pruning the branches and leaves, and the cleared space they created was barely two-tenths of an acre.

Peng Gang kept his promise and gave three jin of smoked dried fish to the group.

Looking around, everyone in the group not only had purple sweet potato porridge to drink, but they could also eat smoked dried fish with mushroom soup.

Driven by a desire to show off, members of Group 1 deliberately moved closer to Group 2 during the meal.

Especially when eating fish, they would smack their lips for a long time, stubbornly refusing to swallow the already chewed dried fish. It was as if they were afraid the people in Group Two wouldn't know they had dried fish to eat.

Zhang Ze from Group Two suddenly felt that the purple sweet potato porridge in his earthenware bowl didn't taste so good anymore, even though such a big bowl of hot and clean porridge was a rare delicacy for him just over ten days ago.

Zhang Ze, holding a ceramic bowl, approached Li Qi and said, "Brother Qi."

"Still calling him Qi-ge? You should call him group leader." Li Qi looked at the two Lu brothers, who were surrounded by their group members and addressed as group leader and deputy group leader, with great envy. He felt a pang of jealousy in his heart.

He was also a group leader, and he wished that his group members would call him group leader too.

From yesterday until now, out of the twelve people in Group Two, only Huang Dabiao and Zhang Ze have called him "Group Leader" a few times.

"What team leader? Just an empty shell," Zhang Ze said dismissively.

"As the team leader, are you able to manage those junior staff in your team?"

“Aze, you used to be so sweet-talking, why are you speaking so sarcastically today? The boss said that the leader of the second group will be someone who can read. If you’re not happy about it, go talk to the boss.” Li Qi said with dissatisfaction.

"You only studied at a private school for two years, what are you doing putting on airs like a scholar?" Zhang Ze retorted sharply.

"The master is still a student, yet he doesn't act as arrogant as you. I've been poor since I was a child and have never attended a private school. If I had the chance to attend a private school for two and a half years, I would definitely know more characters than you."

"You didn't come here just to mock me, did you? Spit it out." Li Qi couldn't argue with the quick-witted Zhang Ze and didn't want to continue the debate. He lowered his head, shoveled some porridge into the earthenware bowl, and then glared at Zhang Ze with an annoyed look.

(End of this chapter)