1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 35 First Opening

"Uncle Shoushan, how many kilograms do you estimate these two piles of charcoal to be?" Peng Gang asked, pointing to the two piles of charcoal in front of him.

Everyone has their own expertise. Peng Gang knows a little about mechanical, financial, and fiscal issues, but he has never actually burned charcoal before, so he can't calculate the weight of charcoal from the volume of a charcoal pile.

"We'll only know once we dig into the soil." Wei Shoushan hadn't burned charcoal for many years, so he didn't dare to be presumptuous, speaking rather conservatively and not very confident.

Peng Gang called over groups of five boys to dig away the red soil covering the coal pile.

Led by Lu Qin, the group of five boys went to the warehouse and got two shovels and three hoes. They quickly dug away the soil covering the charcoal pile to isolate it from the air, revealing the still-warm black charcoal inside.

The dust and smoke rising from the digging made them cough repeatedly and caused their eyes to water.

"I estimate the bamboo charcoal to weigh around 1,200 jin, and the mixed charcoal to weigh around 1,600 jin," Wei Shoushan estimated the weight of the two piles of charcoal based on his past experience.

Peng Gang mentally calculated the charcoal yield: 1,200 catties of bamboo charcoal were produced by burning 5,400 catties of aged old bamboo, Ci bamboo, and Gui bamboo, with a charcoal yield of about 22%.

The 1,600 jin of mixed charcoal was made from 5,300 jin of mixed wood, with a charcoal yield of approximately 30%.

Peng Gang only planned to burn charcoal in Honglianping for three years. Even if he cut down trees and planted seedlings at the same time, the trees could not grow into timber in three years.

In Honglianping, the amount of wood is dwindling as each piece is burned, so Peng Gang is very concerned about the charcoal yield of the wood and bamboo.

"Uncle Shoushan, burn two more piles of bamboo charcoal and mixed charcoal. These boys in Group One are yours to lead; you'll have to dig and build two kilns. We'll use those kilns to burn charcoal from now on," Peng Gang instructed Wei Shoushan.

The yield of charcoal produced by pile burning is low and the firing temperature is not easy to control. It can only be used for transitional purposes. For long-term charcoal burning, it is necessary to build a kiln to increase the yield and produce good charcoal consistently.

Wei Shoushan agreed and led the group of boys to work.

"Uncle, is the charcoal yield of Wei Lutou considered high?" Peng Gang asked Xiao Guoying, who had gathered around the charcoal pile.

He didn't know the charcoal yield of other charcoal kilns or other furnaces, so he had no way of knowing whether Wei Shoushan's charcoal yield was high or low.

"Although my skills have become somewhat rusty and I am not as good as before, the charcoal yield of Wei's stove is still much higher than that of ordinary stoves."

Xiao Guoying had worked with Wei Shoushan at the same charcoal factory before, so he had some understanding of Wei Shoushan's abilities.

“Digging pits for firing is not his specialty; Furnace Master Wei is more skilled at kiln firing.”

Xiao Guoying's implication was that Wei Shoushan's potential had not yet been fully developed, and there was still considerable room for improvement in the coal yield.

Wei Shoushan had not burned charcoal for ten years, so the yield of charcoal he burned at the beginning was slightly lower, but Peng Gang could still accept it. He was not a nitpicking or demanding person.

"Does Wei Lutou know how to burn white charcoal and charcoal?" Peng Gang asked.

White charcoal and Gangtan charcoal are high-grade charcoal, and depending on the market, they can sell for ten coins per kilogram or even more, with a much higher profit margin than bamboo charcoal and mixed charcoal.

Charcoal burning is not very profitable. Peng Gang wants to support more people in the future and allow more people to receive part-time military training and basic cultural education. Only by burning more high-quality charcoal with higher profits and earning more money can he liberate more people from heavy production labor.

Honglianping is a primeval forest with many tall, mature hardwoods, making it suitable for producing white charcoal and charcoal. Of course, the prerequisite is that the furnace operator's skills are up to par.

"Ten years ago, Wei Lutou was the most sought-after furnace master in the Zijing Mountain area. How could he not know how to burn white charcoal and Gang charcoal?"
"Third nephew, how do you plan to sell so much charcoal? You haven't joined the guild yet, so you can't sell this charcoal at Jiangkou Market."

Xiao Guoying's biggest concern wasn't that the Honglianping mountain area couldn't produce good charcoal. Honglianping was densely forested with tall trees, and had a good furnace master like Wei Shoushan. Apart from the difficulty in transportation, all other aspects were quite good.

He was more concerned about the transportation and sale of the charcoal.

With their current manpower, it is not an easy task for them to transport several thousand kilograms of charcoal to Jiangkou Market, which is 80 or 90 miles away, for sale.

“Sell it to the soldiers at Shangdongtang first. I promised them I would sell the coal to them at 60% of the price at Jiangkouwei.” Peng Gang called over Hou Jiyong and the others who were packing up their gear to return to Shangdongtang.

Honglianping pays high wages, and although the meals are still mostly coarse grains, they are plentiful.

Besides being strict with his work, Peng Gang never tried to cut back on their food rations, nor did he complain if they ate a few extra bites. In their eyes, this was already a very kind and rare good employer.

The thought of leaving Honglianping and losing the opportunity to continue working for Peng Gang made these soldiers from Shangdongtang and their families feel a little reluctant. They kept saying that they wished Peng Gang could hire them more often, even if the wages were lower.

"What do you want with me?" Hou Jiyong had already packed his bags and was preparing to return to Shangdongtang to report to Xie Bin.

“Master Hou, these two piles of charcoal weigh about 2,800 jin in total. I just asked Foreman Wei, and this batch of charcoal can sell for five wen per jin in Jiangkou Market.” Peng Gang said, pointing to the two piles of shiny black charcoal that were emitting a faint blue smoke.

"According to the agreement between me and Manager Xie, how about I sell it to you at 60% of the price of coal in Jiangkouwei, which is three copper coins per pound?"

"Great!" Hou Jiyong rubbed his hands excitedly and asked incredulously, "You're going to sell us all 2,800 catties of bamboo charcoal and mixed charcoal?"

"Mr. Hou, you worked for me for a month, don't you know my character? Would I lie to you?" Peng Gang laughed.

"I'll have the brothers chip in to buy charcoal right away." Hou Jiyong was afraid that Peng Gang would change his mind, so he quickly had the soldiers chip in to buy charcoal.

The soldiers and their families at Shangdongtang had just received their wages from Peng Gang. Each of them had one or two strings of cash, and they quickly raised 8,400 copper coins, which was equivalent to 4.2 taels of silver, and bought the two piles of charcoal.

The money was returned to Peng Gang before they even had a chance to enjoy it; Peng Gang essentially paid them to work with charcoal.

“Just call me Brother Hou from now on. Calling me ‘Master’ all the time sounds too formal.” Hou Jiyong placed a basket of copper coins in front of Peng Gang.

"It's a total of 8,400 copper coins. Check if the number is correct."

Thinking that he could buy coal from Peng Gang's mountain area at a low price in the future, thus having another way to make money, Hou Jiyong looked at Peng Gang with eagerness and took the initiative to get closer to Peng Gang.

“I trust Brother Hou and the brothers in Shangdongtang.” Peng Gang didn’t count the money one by one, but simply asked Peng Yi to take the basket of money to the scale to weigh it.

The deal was struck, and Hou Jiyong and his men borrowed baskets from Peng Gang. Each of them carried a basket of charcoal weighing over 100 jin (approximately 50 kg) back to Shangdongtang. They agreed to come back the next day to carry the charcoal they couldn't carry.

After a month of hard work, Peng Gang's charcoal factory finally opened and started generating income, although the income was not much. It was only enough to feed the entire Honglianping community for about ten days.

(End of this chapter)