1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 93 The Rule of Heaven
No commander-in-chief? Only two deputy commanders?

According to the soldiers who participated in the battle at Bitan, Min Zhengwen did not personally oversee the campaign against Zhang Jiaxiang.

They couldn't even spare a general, only sending two deputy generals of equal rank and a prefect – such an incredible configuration.

Peng Gang was greatly shocked. Was this something a smart admiral would do?
Disliking having too many Green Standard Army soldiers under his command, he eagerly offered Zhang Jiaxiang experience points.
Sending Gu Yuankai and Peng Gang is understandable, after all, Min Zhengwen is a sycophant of civil officials and his fondness for pretentious culture is common knowledge in Guangxi.

Sending two Green Standard Army deputy generals of the same rank, who are located in different places and have no subordinate to each other, to check and balance each other is a suffocating decision that no one with even a little military common sense would make.

Could it be that Min Zhengwen became the Governor of Guangxi entirely by throwing money at the problem?
"The Heaven and Earth Society has a problem with numerous internal branches that are not under each other's command. The government troops have an even more serious problem than the Heaven and Earth Society. They are truly a perfect pair of adversaries," Peng Gang couldn't help but remark.

No wonder that since the 24th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, the Guangxi government troops have been fighting a back-and-forth battle with the likes of the Heaven and Earth Society.

The fact that the Guangxi pro-independence leaders were behaving this way actually put his mind at ease.

Peng Gang understood why Xie Bin acted as if it were a life-or-death separation before setting off.

Going out with a superior like that to suppress bandits like Zhang Jiaxiang is really no different from going to your death.

Hou Jiyong sighed repeatedly. Although the soldiers of Bitan Xun and Shangdongtang were not particularly close, they were still comrades-in-arms. In one expedition, sixteen men died, and Hou Jiyong could not help but feel a sense of sorrow for the loss of his comrades.

If the Heaven and Earth Society isn't wiped out, the next time the liaison office draws troops from its subordinate garrisons, it will be his turn.

"Actually, our two detachments of Green Standard Army and the local militia of Guixian County have already defeated Zhang Jiaxiang's bandit group in Longshanwei." Wu the blacksmith, who had narrowly escaped death, said angrily while leaning on his cane.

"Unexpectedly, as soon as we entered Longshan Market, the people of Xunzhou and Nanning started fighting among themselves over the goods in the market. When the bandits saw that we were fighting amongst ourselves, they launched a surprise attack and turned the tide of the battle."

"That's when Commander Xie was almost killed by Zhang Jiaxiang. Luckily, the Shi brothers from the village led their militia to rescue him. Commander Xie and a few of our brothers from Bitan County were saved and were able to collect the bodies of our fallen comrades."

Upon learning the details of the battle, Peng Gang was speechless.

Upon arriving at Shangdongtang, Peng Gang divided the people brought by Qiu Zhongliang into six groups, and assigned veteran group members as group leaders to begin training.

As for the position of deputy team leader, it was reserved for the person brought by Qiu Zhongliang.

After all, Qiu Zhongliang was different from the others; he brought his own investment to the production, so he had to be given some power.

Hearing the clear and loud reading voices in the classroom and seeing the well-organized and menacing ranks on the playground, Qiu Zhongliang was greatly shocked.

"Your training is even better than that of Senior Brother Dakai," Qiu Zhongliang exclaimed.

He originally thought that the twenty-four trainees that Peng Gang brought to Muge were all of Peng Gang's strength.

Unexpectedly, the trainees Peng Gang left behind in Honglian Village were not much worse than the twenty-four trainees he brought to Muge.

"Practice this manual for three to five months, and I guarantee that the people you brought from Muge will march as neatly as them." Peng Gang handed Qiu Zhongliang a manual and a schedule, and explained the rules of Honglian Village.

"Starting tomorrow, the newly formed groups 21 to 26 will follow the same schedule as the previous 20 groups, attending classes and practicing as scheduled."

"Don't you practice martial arts? Zhang Jiaxiang is highly skilled in martial arts. If you don't learn martial arts, how will you take revenge on him in the future?" Qiu Zhongliang grew up in a sheltered environment, and his understanding of military affairs basically came from novels, legends, and historical fiction. His question was rather naive.

“Zhang Jiaxiang’s martial arts skills were honed from childhood. If you start practicing now, can you surpass his skills?” Peng Gang countered.

"No." Qiu Zhongliang was able to recognize reality and, after careful consideration, gave a negative answer.

“No matter how good your kung fu is, you’re still afraid of a musket. What matters in war is organization and discipline, not brute force. Do as I say, and I guarantee you’ll get your revenge,” Peng Gang said, patting Qiu Zhongliang on the shoulder.

Qiu Zhongliang was a rare senior intellectual in his team, and such a talent should certainly be put to good use.

Peng Gang assigned Qiu Zhongliang, along with Peng Yi, Huang Bingxian, Li Qi, and Lu Qin, to a special teaching group. He dedicated two hours each day to teaching them and reinforcing their knowledge of pinyin and basic mathematics, so that they would be qualified to teach basic cultural subjects in his place and alleviate his teaching burden.

With the funding issue resolved, Peng Gang resumed large-scale procurement and stockpiling of strategic materials such as grain, salt, cloth, sugar, iron, and gunpowder, making final preparations for the uprising.

The arsenal in Honglian Village has also gotten back on track.

In April, six flintlock muskets, seven homemade arquebuses, and one 120-pound forged iron mountain-splitting cannon passed inspection.

Peng Gang was certainly not satisfied with this output.

Including the six newly formed groups, Peng Gang now commands 312 men in 26 groups. Of these 26 groups, only five have been equipped with muskets.

Based on current production levels, the remaining groups will not be able to complete the firearms replacement by next year.

Moreover, further expansion is planned.

Peng Gang could only hope that the craftsmen at the arsenal would become more skilled and that production would increase after the apprentices graduated.

On the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, Feng Yunshan and Lu Liu arrived at Honglian Village.

It also brought forth the Ten Commandments, which were created with reference to the Ten Commandments.

First, they worshipped the Supreme God.

Secondly, it is not advisable to worship evil gods.

Third, it is not proper to inscribe the name of the Emperor or God.

Fourth, seven days of worship, praising the grace of the King God.

Fifth, be filial to your parents.

Sixth, it is not good to kill or harm others.

Seventh, one should not be wicked, wicked, or promiscuous.

Eighth, they should not steal or rob.

Ninth, do not lie.

Tenth, one should not be greedy.

The so-called divine rules are the disciplinary constraints imposed on the members of the God Society.

"Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. The reason why the Heaven and Earth Society failed is because they had no rules and lost the hearts of the people. Our God Society must never follow in the footsteps of the Heaven and Earth Society!" Feng Yunshan said earnestly to Peng Gang.

Based on his years of observation of the Heaven and Earth Society, Feng Yunshan realized that to succeed in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty, he needed a highly conscious, disciplined, and popular force.

They realized this during the preparation stage of the uprising. The God Society was not only stronger than the Heaven and Earth Society, but also more mature than other peasant uprisings in history.

"I will keep Mr. Feng's teachings in mind." Peng Gang accepted the Heavenly Decree from Feng Yunshan.

He naturally wouldn't accept the divine laws issued by the God Society in their entirety; what he wanted was not a religious army, but a secular one.

Religious armies, which come with a built-in faith bonus, possess extremely strong spiritual cohesion and morale from the beginning, with soldiers often displaying extraordinary loyalty, self-sacrifice, and fighting will.

They were able to take shortcuts by ruling through divine law and construct a strict system of discipline.

It also has advantages such as strong mobilization capacity, rapid expansion, and unique sources of political legitimacy.

At present, the God God Society is enjoying the benefits of a religious army. Not only is its expansion speed astonishing, but the discipline and cohesion shown by its followers also far surpass those of its rebellious predecessor, the Heaven and Earth Society.

Peng Gang was not at all envious of the fact that Xiao Chaogui, Yang Xiuqing, Feng Yunshan and others expanded their teams faster than him.

Everything has two sides.

Religious armies also have fatal flaws, such as strong exclusivity, high susceptibility to internal divisions, extreme lack of rationality, extreme idealism, lack of ability to govern secular politics and economics, high dogmatism, lack of flexibility in governance, and lack of tolerance for heretics and neutrals.

After establishing its capital in Tianjing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime also proved the shortcomings of religious armies and religious regimes through bloody lessons.

However, on the surface, Peng Gang still had to give Feng Yunshan face and did not offer any comments.

Even if Peng Gang offered a different opinion, Feng Yunshan would find it difficult to accept. And even if Feng Yunshan accepted it, Hong Xiuquan, Xiao Chaogui, and Yang Xiuqing would certainly not accept it.

There's no need for him to make a fool of himself and create trouble for himself.

(End of this chapter)