1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 251 The Death of Zeng's Father
After packing up, Peng Gang led three regiments of rearguard troops, along with the training battalion and tax police battalion, to transport the last batch of supplies from Hengyang City and sail north to Changsha Prefecture.

Traveling down the Xiang River by boat was extremely fast. There were no Qing soldiers harassing them along the way. Peng Gang's rearguard quickly passed Hengshan County, entered Changsha territory, and arrived at Xiangtan County.

Luo Dagang was already waiting for Peng Gang in Xiangtan County, on the banks of the Xiang River.

The county seat of Xiangtan was not captured by Luo Dagang. When Xiao Chaogui led three or four thousand elite troops from the West Palace northward to attack Changsha, he had no time to attend to Xiangtan County.

Xiangtan County was captured by Chen Chengrong, who was under Yang Xiuqing's command. When Luo Dagang led the vanguard of the left army to arrive, Chen Chengrong received Yang Xiuqing's order to withdraw from Xiangtan and head north to Changsha to join the attack on the city.

So he did a favor by handing over the county seat of Xiangtan to Luo Dagang, while Chen Chengrong himself led his troops north to Changsha to report to Yang Xiuqing.

Zuo Jun controlled Hengzhou Prefecture for more than two months, and there were basically no Qing troops or local landlord armed forces operating within the prefecture.

The situation in Xiangtan was different. Although the Green Standard Army troops in the various outposts had been transferred away or fled, the local and nearby landlord militias were still quite active, frequently harassing the Left Army camps, which greatly annoyed Luo Dagang.

As soon as Peng Gang disembarked, the senior military officers who had been waiting at the dock gathered around to greet him.

"None of the palaces have collected silver or grain taxes in Xiangtan. I thought I would collect silver or grain taxes in Xiangtan and wait for Your Highness here. However, the local militias are quite troublesome and keep launching sneak attacks on us."

When our army first passed through Xiangtan, the local militia tried to rob our women's battalion's fleet by boat. Fortunately, Chen Ajiu reacted quickly and led the Sixth Regiment to fight off the militia, killing more than sixty local militia members. The militia members ran away when they saw that they couldn't beat us." Luo Dagang introduced the situation in Xiangtan to Peng Gang, who had just arrived in Xiangtan County and was preparing to rest there.

The local militia were very arrogant when the East and South Palaces passed through Xiangtan.

The elderly and weak soldiers were once plundered by the local militia, resulting in the deaths of over a hundred elderly and children, and the abduction of two to three hundred female soldiers.

The two successful raids emboldened these militia members.

As a result, when the Northern Palace troops passed through Xiangtan, these local militias actually dared to attack them.

"The troops from the West Palace, East Palace, and South Palace all passed through Xiangtan. Didn't they wipe out the local militias?" Lu Qin, who was traveling with Peng Gang, asked in confusion.

“When the various palaces pass through Xiangtan, they all head straight for Changsha. How could they have the mind to wipe out the local militia?” Luo Dagang explained. “Furthermore, the ones harassing our fleet are not the militia of Xiangtan County, but the militia of the neighboring Xiangxiang County.”

“When we cross the border, local militias are trying to avoid us like the plague. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a militia dare to provoke us,” Li Qi couldn’t help but interject.

"The local militia in Xiangxiang County is quite audacious."

Local militias primarily focused on self-preservation and rarely left their hometowns to fight unless conscripted by the government.

Along the way from Guangxi to Hunan, the local militias in each county avoided Zuo Jun.

This situation in Xiangxiang County is indeed very rare.

"It's not just being bold, it's being incredibly audacious. They even boasted that they would capture His Highness alive and send him to the capital to be executed by slow slicing," Xie Bin laughed.

"This is the first time I've encountered such an arrogant militia. The militia in Xiangxiang County is stronger than those in other counties, but they are still a bit lacking compared to us. Even their militia bureau chief was killed by our Third Regiment."

Xiangxiang is Zeng Guofan's hometown, and the Xiangxiang County militia was the original core of the Xiang Army.

The Xiang Army was internally divided into numerous factions, which could be broadly categorized into the Jiang-Liu faction (led by Jiang Zhongyuan and Liu Changyou), the Zeng-Hu faction (led by Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi), and the Wang-Zuo faction (led by Wang Xin and Zuo Zongtang).

The Jiang-Liu faction's Hunan Army, now known as the Chu Army, is currently in Changsha.

The Zeng-Hu clique of Hunan Army, also known as the most well-known Hunan Army, includes Zeng Guoquan's "Ji Battalion" and Bao Chao's "Ting Army," whose discipline was most criticized.

The Wang-Zuo clique of the Hunan Army refers to Wang Xin's old Hunan Camp. Historically, after Zuo Zongtang established his own faction, he called it the Chu Army to distinguish it from the Hunan Army. The discipline of the Wang-Zuo clique of the Hunan Army was much better than that of the Zeng-Hu clique. At this time, the Xiangxiang County militia that Luo Dagang encountered in Xiangtan had not yet been divided into the Zeng-Hu clique and the Wang-Zuo clique, and was formed by Luo Zenan and his disciples.

"Besides the head of the Xiangxiang County militia bureau, have any other Xiangxiang County militia leaders been killed or captured?" Peng Gang asked as he walked towards Xiangtan County after landing.

"They fought a few scattered battles, but seeing they were no match for us, they all retreated to Xiangxiang. Only their militia commander, being old, sat in his sedan chair watching the battle and couldn't escape. Xie Bin used his mountain-splitting cannon to fire through the sedan chair, turning it into a sieve," Luo Dagang reported to Peng Gang.

"Should we attack Xiangxiang County and teach them a lesson?"

The county seat of Xiangxiang County is located on the Lianshui River, a tributary of the Xiangjiang River, and was not a necessary stop for the Beidian garrison to travel to Changsha.

Luo Dagang didn't want to waste time building a small county town.

However, since the Xiangxiang County militia took the initiative to provoke the Northern Palace, that's another matter.

"Xie Bin, do you know who the director of the Xiangxiang County Militia Bureau you killed was?" Peng Gang asked Xie Bin.

"We questioned the captured prisoner; his name was Zeng Linshu. He was a wealthy landlord. Several of his sons were leaders in the local militia in Xiangxiang County, and I heard that one of his sons was a high-ranking official in the Qing court." Xie Bin didn't think much of it, not considering killing a militia leader as a great achievement.

After all, Zuo Jun had killed countless militia leaders along the way, so a county militia leader was really nothing special.

Xie Bin didn't understand why Peng Gang was so interested in a local militia leader.

The wealthy Zeng family landlord in Xiangxiang County has a son who is a high-ranking official in the Qing court. Could Xie Bin have killed Zeng Guofan's father?
Peng Gang remembered the names of Zeng Guofan's brothers and sons, but he had no recollection of the names of Zeng Guofan's parents.

If Zeng Guofan's father had really been killed, Zeng Guofan could have returned early to mourn and observe the mourning period.

Peng Gang pondered for a moment, then turned to look at Zuo Zongtang beside him and asked, "Mr. Zuo, does this Zeng Linshu, the director of the Xiangxiang County Training Bureau, have a son named Zeng Guofan?"

"I didn't expect His Highness the Northern Prince to know a little about the affairs of the Qing court." Zuo Zongtang nodded in surprise and sighed.

"Zeng Guofan, son of Zeng Linshu, is indeed a vice minister in the court. The local militia in Xiangxiang County took the initiative to provoke our Northern Palace, mostly because of their greed for merit. They didn't expect to kick a hornet's nest."

Zuo Zongtang knew a little about the situation of the Xiangxiang militia.

Although Zeng Linshu held the title of Director of the Xiangxiang County Militia Bureau, the actual affairs of the Xiangxiang County Militia Bureau were handled by Luo Zenan, the Deputy Director of the Militia Bureau.

The fact that the Xiangxiang militia actively provoked the Northern Palace troops and that Zeng Linshu died was largely due to Luo Zenan's eagerness to make a name for himself and his group of unsuccessful candidates in the imperial examinations, who wanted to take shortcuts and were too eager to show off and make progress.

"Are there any of Mr. Zuo's students among the local militia in Xiangxiang County?" Peng Gang asked Zuo Zongtang.

"Is Your Highness eyeing the local militia in Xiangxiang County?" Zuo Zongtang shook his head, indicating his inability to help.

"Most of the leaders of the local militia in Xiangxiang County are local students and novice scholars. These people are all disciples of Luo Zenan, so I can't poach Luo Zenan's people."

The Zeng family of Heyetang is very prestigious in Xiangxiang County. Since His Highness's men killed Zeng Linshu, how can the Xiangxiang County militia possibly pledge allegiance to you?

"Fine," Peng Gang said to the senior officers gathered around him, abandoning his unrealistic idea.

"The Third Regiment, the Fourth Regiment, the Mountain-Splitting Artillery Battalion, and the Third Battalion of the Sixth Regiment will attack the county seat of Xiangxiang County and must annihilate the local militia in Xiangxiang County. The Second Regiment will remain in Xiangtan County to support the troops attacking Xiangxiang County. The rest of the troops will continue north to Changsha with me."

(End of this chapter)