1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 82 The Great Uprising of the Heaven and Earth Society
The blood-red setting sun dyed the brick city gate of Guixian County a deep crimson.

The sounds of gunfire echoed throughout the county town, like firecrackers exploding at the end of the year, throwing the entire town into chaos.

Wang Chenghu, the garrison commander of Guixian County, was originally a salt smuggler from Wuzhou. His old brothers, who had been recruited with him, lay sprawled around him, long since motionless.

Facing the surging crowd ahead, a half-drawn yellow silk flag embroidered with the four characters "Following Heaven's Way" was suddenly raised. Wang Chenghu, whose body was riddled with bullet holes, stood up with his sword, spitting out a mouthful of blood: "Damn you, Heaven and Earth Society! Damn you, Zhang Jiaxiang!"

"Brother! Give me your life!" Zhang Jiaxiang shouted fiercely, spurred his horse forward, brandished his sword, and cleanly severed Wang Chenghu's head. The gushing blood from his neck splattered his yellow robes with crimson blood.

Zhang Jiaxiang, full of vigor, held Wang Chenghu's braid and showed off his strength and authority to the surrounding congregation.

Zhang Jiaxiang was met with thunderous cheers and jubilation.

Although Zhang Jiaxiang's troops had repeatedly defeated the Qing army in the past, they had only captured some villages and towns.

Even though there were some wealthy households in the village, the village chiefs had already gotten there first.

This was the first time they had ever captured a county town.

Zhang Jiaxiang's Heaven and Earth Society members flooded into Guixian County and indulged in wild revelry.

In an instant, flames soared into the sky over Guixian County, and cries of agony echoed throughout the town, making it resemble a living hell.

With the fall of Guixian County, the great uprising of the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangxi at the end of the Daoguang era began.

In Pingzai Mountain Honglian Village, north of Guixian County, the scene is quite different.

On both sides of the opposite river, water-powered forging hammers, which have been in use for almost a month, rhythmically strike reddish-brown iron blocks.

Around the water-powered forging hammer, rows of brand-new sheds have sprung up along the river.

The villagers each had their own tasks; the men were either weaving straw hats and raincoats in front of their doors or busy cutting wood and making charcoal in the mountains.

The women, meanwhile, were engrossed in sewing new clothes and making straw sandals.

Even the children were busy going up the mountain to cut grass and sell it to the village in exchange for work points.

Since November, Honglian Village has successively purchased seventy or eighty head of livestock, including twenty-one horses, which have a great need for fodder.

Peng Gang moved to Shanjiangping Village during the autumn harvest, and only four months have passed in total.

However, as more and more refugees were taken in and more and more craftsmen were hired, the number of people settling in Honglian Village alone reached as many as 700, and the demand for timber was very high.

The area within a radius of two or three miles has been completely depleted of timber, leaving it barren.

You have to walk three miles before you can see relatively lush vegetation.

To facilitate the sale of charcoal, a road has been built between Honglian Village and Bitanxun, making travel very convenient.

Shangdongtang Xunshou, carrying a jar of wine and an unopened letter, rode his beloved earth horse to Honglian Village.

Peng Gang moved his camp to Shanjiangping, built Honglian Village, and took in a large number of refugees, recruited craftsmen, and forged weapons. Now he has even begun casting cannons.

His actions have far exceeded the scope of a mere board member.

Xie Bin wasn't blind or stupid; he knew what Peng Gang was up to.

Unfortunately, he is now too deeply tied to Peng Gang and is in dire straits himself, so he has no time to care about Peng Gang's affairs.

After tying up the horse at the hitching post, Xie Bin, led by Xiao Guoying, went straight to the outside of the school's thatched shed.

Since the autumn harvest, Xie Bin has deliberately kept his distance from Peng Gang and has never taken the initiative to come to Honglian Village to look for Peng Gang.

Xie Bin's personal visit must mean he has something important to discuss with him.

Peng Gang called Peng Yi to proctor the exam, and stepped out of the classroom to greet Xie Bin: "Commander Xie, how have you been?"

"What? It's been more than three months since we last met. Aren't you going to offer me a drink?" Xie Bin raised the wine jar in his hand and waved it in front of Peng Gang.

“I brought a jar of fine Sanhua wine. I’d like to borrow your space for a bit. Tell Jiyong and Songqing to come down and have a drink with us. I’ll take care of the wine, and you can take care of the snacks.”

Xie Bin's face was somewhat pale, and his tone was heavy, as if it were a matter of life and death.

Peng Gang nodded, instructed his aunt to kill a chicken, cut seven or eight catties of meat, and stir-fry a few dishes. He then led Xie Bin to the thatched pavilion where he usually rested, and sat down opposite Xie Bin.

When Hou Jiyong and Zhou Songqing arrived at Honglian Village, the dishes that had been prepared were served one after another.

"Wow! A table full of hearty dishes, is it Chairman Peng's birthday celebration today?" Hou Jiyong couldn't help but swallow hard when he saw the table full of meat dishes stir-fried with lard.

Although Hou Jiyong had become much wealthier than before in the few months since his promotion to foreign commissioner and with Peng Gang's support, he still had to be frugal and refrain from indulging in lavish meals as the year-end approached in order to provide New Year's gifts for his superiors in the camp.

As for the reward for eliminating Zhang Zhao, only 20% has been received so far. The rest is being claimed by the higher-ups as having no money in the provincial treasury, with a promise to be paid next year. The money not yet received is not counted.

"It's not my birthday celebration, it's your boss treating us." Peng Gang smiled and gestured for Hou Jiyong and Zhou Songqing to sit down.

"Zhang Jiaxiang has gained momentum, and the county seat of Guixian has already fallen." After taking his seat, Xie Bin suddenly uttered this rather explosive news.

Upon hearing the news of the fall of Guixian County, Zhou Songqing was so shocked that he accidentally spilled the wine he had just picked up.

Peng Gang, on the other hand, seemed relatively calm. Shi Dakai had already sent someone to inform him of the fall of Guixian County.

"It seems that Director Peng already knows about this?" Xie Bin glanced at the nonchalant Peng Gang with considerable surprise.

"The county seat of your county has fallen, and the garrison commander Wang Chenghu has been beheaded by Zhang Jiaxiang." Peng Gang nodded slightly and said, "I only learned about this last night."

Although the Guangxi Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) has been quite active in recent years, it has only been small-scale operations in the past. At most, they could only attack large markets like Jiangkouwei, but they still failed to capture them.

But this time, Zhang Jiaxiang captured the county town, and the Qing government lost a garrison commander. I heard that even the county magistrate of your county was captured alive by Zhang Jiaxiang. The situation has changed fundamentally.

Upon hearing this news, Zhou Songqing and Hou Jiyong simply drank in silence, losing their appetite for the food on the table.

One family is happy and the other is sad.

With Zhang Jiaxiang gaining momentum, other members of the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangxi followed suit, which was a great boon for Peng Gang and the entire God God Society.

But for low-ranking Green Camp officers like Xie Bin, Hou Jiyong, and Zhou Songqing, who had no background and little money, it was a time of great calamity.

Even if Min Zhengwen and Li Dianyuan were inactive, they would still have to send troops to suppress the bandits in order to keep their official positions. And it had to be a real suppression.

Previously, the boat army had repeatedly launched uprisings in the Qianjiang, Xunjiang, and Yujiang rivers. Li Dianyuan's Xunzhou Green Standard Army had almost all of its capable soldiers had been wiped out by the boat army.

If Li Dianyuan wanted to send troops to annihilate Zhang Jiaxiang, he could only draw upon the already ineffective and useless Xuntang soldiers.

In this situation, their outstanding performance in eliminating Zhang Zhao became a death knell for these veterans of Shangdongtang.

"Admiral Min has ordered Sheng Jun, the deputy commander of Nanning, together with Li Dianyuan, the deputy commander of Xunzhou, and Gu Yuankai, the prefect of Xunzhou, to lead troops to suppress Zhang Jiaxiang."

Xie Bin took a swig of his drink. It was ironic that the God Society was even more well-informed than the pro-independence camp. He paused, then continued.

“Deputy General Li specifically named me and asked me to lead thirty soldiers from Bitan to accompany me on this expedition. The journey is fraught with danger, so you two and the old brothers from Shangdongtang don’t need to come with me to Xieli.”

Xie Bin had been working in Xunzhou for four or five years, and recently he had been frequently moving around Zuoying and the Xieli. He naturally had a good understanding of the situation of the Green Standard Army in Xunzhou Xieli.

The fact that it took coordinating troops from Nanning to suppress Zhang Jiaxiang sends a signal to the outside world that the Xunzhou garrison of the Green Standard Army is no longer very effective.

"Brother! If we don't go, who will protect you?" Zhou Songqing refused.

The former garrison commander of Bitan was Chen Xingwang, who knew nothing about military affairs.

The Bitan garrison soldiers that Chen Xingwang left to Xie Bin were mostly unusable. Taking only the Bitan garrison soldiers to suppress Zhang Jiaxiang without them was no different from sending them to their deaths.
"I heard that Zhang Jiaxiang's gang of bandits has several thousand people. Although the Heaven and Earth Society bandits have always liked to bluff, Zhang Jiaxiang has been lying low for two years and has managed to take over Guixian County this time. There are still four or five hundred old bandits and one or two thousand new bandits."

"This is a major battle, not a small skirmish. Even if the ten old brothers from Shangdongtang come with me, it won't make a difference," Xie Bin said, shaking his head helplessly.

"Listen to your brother Xie. Given the current situation, even if we eliminate Zhang Jiaxiang, there are still Wang Jiaxiang and Li Jiaxiang to deal with," Peng Gang advised.

The soldiers on Shangdongtang and the boatmen under Luo Dagang were the only two friends Peng Gang had besides the God Worshippers.

He had helped him in a critical moment, and although they were not on the same side for the time being, Peng Gang still hoped that these veterans from Shangdongtang could live.

Although Xie Bin had been avoiding him for the past three or four months, Hou Jiyong had been in frequent contact with him. Given more time, he was confident that he could recruit Hou Jiyong and the soldiers of Shangdongtang into his own ranks.

“Peng Gang, the head of the regiment, is right. Bitan Flood Control also needs someone to manage it. During the time I am away on the expedition, Bitan Flood Control will be temporarily managed by Ji Yong. Please take good care of your sister-in-law, nephew, and niece for me,” Xie Bin said with some shame.

“You’ve been following me since the time we were in Longzhou Hall, it’s been ten years now. It’s my fault, Xie, that I’ve failed to lead you to make a name for yourselves.”

"It's our blessing to be able to follow Brother Xie," Hou Jiyong and Zhou Songqing said from the bottom of their hearts, raising a large bowl of wine.

Although Xie Bin was rather unlucky and had little chance of getting an official position, he always treated his good brothers who came from Longzhou Prefecture with great kindness and loyalty. He would give them half a tael of silver if he had one or two taels, and he would never abandon them and run away during battles.

Chen Xingwang had previously set his sights on the soldiers of Shangdongtang and offered them better terms to poach them, but they still preferred to follow Xie Bin, who was then just a minor contractor.

Xie Bin returned the toast to Hou Jiyong and Zhou Songqing with a bowl of wine: "It is my blessing to have brothers like you."

(End of this chapter)