1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 95 He's not even afraid of the yamen runners; he's no ordinary troublemaker.

Just after the Dragon Boat Festival, Peng Gang added fourteen more groups, bringing the total to forty groups and four hundred and eighty people.

Of the fourteen newly formed groups, ten are composed of young men with experience driving mule carts and oxcarts, as well as local mountain dwellers familiar with the terrain and road conditions of the plains.

They were chosen to form a supply corps.

In early September, Yang Xun, the magistrate of Guiping County, was transferred to another post.

The vacancy of the magistrate of Guiping County will be temporarily filled by Li Mengqun.

Li Mengqun was the son of Li Qinggu, the Grain Commissioner of Hubei and Acting Provincial Surveillance Commissioner. He came from a family of officials and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in the 27th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign (1847), at the young age of nineteen.

It can be described as an incredibly lucky start, a young man achieving great success.

In terms of age, Li Mengqun is only three years older than Peng Gang.

As the saying goes, it's not that the second generation is afraid of being distracted by trivial pursuits, but that they are full of ambition.

Li Mengqun is a second-generation official who is both ambitious and capable with some courage.

By the time Li Mengqun passed the imperial examination, Guangxi had already become a place of trouble and controversy that officials avoided at all costs.

Despite his family's objections, Li Mengqun resolutely went to Lingchuan County in Guilin Prefecture to take up his post as magistrate.

In the middle of the year, Li Yuanfa's troops from the Heaven and Earth Society attacked Guangxi from Hunan.

Li Mengqun was selected by Zheng Zuchen, the governor of Guangxi, and transferred to the Quanzhou military camp to participate in the suppression of the Heaven and Earth Society bandits.

Zheng Zuchen originally just wanted to give this young master from a prominent family a bit of prestige.

Unexpectedly, what was sent out was real gold.

Li Mengqun lived up to expectations, and successively defeated the Heaven and Earth Society in places such as Shayi and Gulong Temple.

Zheng Zuchen was overjoyed and recommended Li Mengqun to the Daoguang Emperor. The Daoguang Emperor was delighted and awarded Li Mengqun the title of Assistant Magistrate, the honorary peacock feather, and ordered Li Mengqun to be reassigned as the magistrate of Guiping County, filling the vacancy.

"That bastard Yang Xun, who gave birth to a child without an anus, just accepted my Mid-Autumn Festival gift and then ran away without even saying goodbye!"

Upon learning that Li Mengqun was to succeed Yang Xun as the magistrate of Guiping County, Peng Gang cursed Yang Xun harshly, saying, "You can do it for another three or five months, you bastard!"
But at this crucial moment, they just packed up and left.

"A new county magistrate has arrived in Guiping County. As the head of the troupe, shouldn't you also show your respect by sending some gifts to the magistrate? The Qiu family will pay for it, and it will be sent in your name." With the new official in office, Qiu Zhongliang was considering sending some gifts to Li Mengqun to curry favor.

“I’d give him money? His father is the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner. Does he look like someone who’s short of money?” Peng Gang shook his head in denial.

His giving money to Yang Xun was a mutually beneficial arrangement; one wanted the money, and the other wanted protection.

Li Mengqun was the son of an official. He made some achievements early in his career and became famous in Guangxi. Even Emperor Daoguang remembered his name.

For someone like Li Mengqun, what he lacks is not money, but political achievements.

Peng Gang couldn't give Li Mengqun what he wanted; no amount of money would help.

Instead of giving money to Li Mengqun as a gift, you should buy more grain and livestock to give the students a better meal. The students will remember your kindness.

Although Li Mengqun was easy prey for the Heaven and Earth Society, at least he knew how to beat them.

However, the current governors and military commanders of Guangxi are still struggling to even defeat weaklings, making Li Mengqun, this inexperienced minor official, all the more remarkable.

Despite the opponent's youth, Peng Gang dared not underestimate him or let his guard down.

In mid-October, Peng Gang received a letter from Li Mengqun's family.

In his letter, Li Mengqun praised Peng Gang for his effective suppression of the boat bandits and expressed his intention to promote Peng Gang to the position of military commander in the county. He also invited Peng Gang to come to Guiping City for a meeting.

This was clearly a trap, and Peng Gang, of course, wouldn't fall for it, so he feigned illness and refused to go.

Seeing that Peng Gang wasn't falling for the trap, Li Mengqun produced another document from the militia headquarters, which he had his family send to Honglian Village along with the letter. The document stated that the Green Standard Army in Guiping County had all gone out to suppress bandits, and he earnestly requested that Peng Gang's militia enter the city to strengthen the defenses of Guiping County.

Peng Gang rejected Li Mengqun again.

It was just a matter of a piece of paper issued by the county magistrate, and the head of the military regiment was involved.

The county magistrate's approval of the head of the training corps wasn't based on a single written appointment. After two unsuccessful attempts to persuade Peng Gang, Li Mengqun lost patience.

Li Mengqun ordered Zhang Yong, the patrol inspector of Qinchuan, and Wang Ji, the patrol inspector of Dahuangjiang, to come to the county government office to see him.

"The bandits in this county are increasingly rampant and their power is growing. This is all due to the cowardice and incompetence of the former magistrate, Yang Xun, who allowed the bandits to fester and neglected his duties, resulting in the bandit leader becoming the county's militia director. How much has Yang Xun harmed the country!"

Inside the signing room of the Guiping County government office, Li Mengqun, who had taken over the mess in Guiping County, was overwhelmed by the situation left by his predecessor. He verbally berated Yang Xun in a literary style, and then turned his attention to the two patrol inspectors in the county, Zhang Yong, the patrol inspector of Qinchuan, and Wang Ji, the patrol inspector of Dahuangjiang.

“Zhang Yong, your jurisdiction is not only rife with members of the Heaven and Earth Society, but also with religious bandits spreading foreign religions and scriptures in broad daylight. The ignorant masses always refer to us as Qing demons. Is this true?”
Wang Ji, last year when Peng Gang took office as the head of the militia, you and Peng Gang were seen arm in arm at the county government office and drinking and chatting happily in restaurants. Peng Gang's charcoal business in Jiangkou Market also received a lot of your help. Your relationship with the religious bandits is quite close. Have you also joined the religion?

Li Mengqun's words were no longer just gentle words; they were like knives.

Zhang Yong and Wang Ji were sweating profusely and felt a chill run down their spines. This young, newly appointed magistrate was not someone to be trifled with.

The two men, without prior arrangement, began to reminisce about Yang Xun, and even the days when Wang Lie served as the magistrate of Guiping County.

The most difficult officials to serve are those who dislike material possessions but love getting things done.

Unfortunately, Li Mengqun had both advantages, and his background was incredibly powerful. Governor Zheng was backing him up, and could decide the future of the two junior inspectors with just a word.

“The secret society and its followers number in the thousands, living in clans and villages. Guilin is a poor and remote place, and it has always produced many unruly people. Especially these people, who are known for their bravery and aggression, and are not docile. My patrol office only has seventy or eighty men under my command. We wish to help the court and share the emperor's burdens, but we are powerless to do so. I hope Your Excellency will understand.” Zhang Yong hurriedly defended himself.

"A troublemaker?" Li Mengqun said unhurriedly.

"They're not even afraid of the yamen runners from the patrol office, so are they just troublemakers? They're clearly rioters and mobs."

Having followed his father since childhood, Li Mengqun already possessed an aura of authority that commanded respect without anger. Even with a calm expression and a peaceful tone, he could still make the two junior inspectors feel suffocated.

Li Mengqun's cold, frosty gaze first swept over Zhang Yong, then landed on Wang Ji, waiting for Wang Ji to speak.

"Your Excellency, please understand! My friendship with Peng Gang was solely for official business. The yamen runners of the Dahuangjiang Patrol Office are all from Jiangkouwei and Xinwei, and are not familiar with Pingzaishan. When the Patrol Office goes into the mountains to patrol and suppress bandits, it inevitably needs the cooperation of the local militia leaders."

After learning that Peng Gang was a cult leader, I had already severed ties with him and stopped all contact. I personally shut down Peng Gang's charcoal shop in Jiangkou Market! Huang Lian, the head of Jiangkou Market, also knew about this!" Wang Ji's thoughts raced as he wove together a story.

"I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself because you're a veteran inspector. Since you have a past relationship with Peng Gang, go to Pingzaishan and invite him to the county office. I have something to say to him." Li Mengqun stared intently at Wang Ji, who was standing there in a daze.

"If you can bring Peng Gang here, I will not only not hold you accountable for your past relationship with him, but I will also give you a great credit and personally inform the Governor."

Wang Ji had already offended Peng Gang by closing down Peng Ji Charcoal Shop in Jiangkouwei at the beginning of the year. Now, how could he dare to invite Peng Gang to Pingzaishan?

Wang Ji was caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to go or not, and hesitated to make a decision.

Go ahead, heaven knows how Peng Gang will treat him.

If I don't go, Li Mengqun is pressuring me, and I can't just brush it off.

"What, you don't want to go?" Li Mengqun continued to intensify his efforts on Wang Ji when he didn't respond for a long time.

"Since you are unwilling to go, I cannot prove your innocence, whether you have joined the religion or whether you are a spy planted by religious bandits in the government."

"Wang Ji, if it's hot, take off your official hat; it'll be cooler."

Upon hearing this, Li Mengqun's family members were about to step forward and remove Wang Ji's official hat.

As the county magistrate, Li Mengqun had no right to strip Wang Ji of his official position.

But Zheng Zuchen had this power. For Li Mengqun, a second-generation official, the future and even his life of a mere patrol inspector was nothing more than drafting a letter.

Li Mengqun and his family knew this, and Wang Ji and Zhang Yong naturally knew it as well.

"My subordinates are willing to go!"

Seeing that Li Mengqun's family was really going to remove him from his life, Wang Ji had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept the deadly task that Li Mengqun had given him.

To the common people and merchants of Jiangkouwei and Xinwei, Wang Ji was like a god.

In front of Li Mengqun, Wang Ji was nothing.

(End of this chapter)