1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 109 Pay enough to the organization, keep enough for yourself

Liuzhou is located at the confluence of the Liujiang and Longjiang rivers, connecting Guizhou and Yunnan to the north and Guangdong and Hong Kong to the south. It is a core node linking the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Pearl River Delta.

Known as the "key to central Guangxi," Liuzhou Prefecture's strategic value far surpasses that of its administrative center, Guilin.

The place with the largest number of troops stationed in Guangxi Province is not Guilin, the provincial capital, but Liuzhou.

The Liuzhou Prefecture was garrisoned by six Green Standard Army battalions, including the city garrison, totaling 4,200 Green Standard Army soldiers and 800 local soldiers.

In contrast, Guilin only had three battalions of Green Standard Army soldiers, totaling two thousand men, plus three hundred Manchu Banner soldiers.

In terms of military expenditure, Liuzhou spent 180,000 taels of silver annually, while Guilin spent only 70,000 to 80,000 taels annually.

Currently, only Liuzhou in the entire Guangxi region can spare sufficient troops.

Liuzhou is a region inhabited by Zhuang, Yao, and Miao ethnic groups, and was at the forefront of the reform of replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials.

After the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors vigorously promoted the reform of local chieftains in Guangxi, remnants of hostile chieftains still existed in central and western Guangxi.

The garrison in Liuzhou is large, but it is specifically used to suppress the Zhuang rebellion in the Three Rivers region, and should not be acted upon lightly.

Min Zhengwen understood this principle.

How could Zheng Zuchen, as the governor of Guangxi, not know this?

Last year, Zhang Jiaxiang captured Guixian County. The Green Standard Army under Li Dianyuan of Xunzhou was unable to quell Zhang Jiaxiang on its own and had to request the emperor to transfer the Green Standard Army under Sheng Jun of Nanning to assist Li Dianyuan in suppressing the bandits.

Emperor Daoguang was already extremely dissatisfied with Zheng Zuchen and Min Zhengwen, two high-ranking civil and military officials in Guangxi.

Now, at this critical juncture, another county has been lost, and they are even requesting reinforcements from the Green Standard Army in Liuzhou Prefecture.

Once this memorial is submitted, their official positions will certainly be in jeopardy.

Min Zhengwen still wanted to struggle and keep his official rank as a first-grade admiral.

The hope is to use the local Green Standard Army militia of Xunzhou Prefecture, along with the standard troops of Guilin, to quell this group of religious bandits, while minimizing the alarm to the imperial court and the emperor.

After the rebels are quelled, a memorial should be submitted to Emperor Daoguang to explain the situation.

What Min Zhengwen didn't know was that he had no chance to submit a memorial to Emperor Daoguang to explain himself.

Emperor Daoguang passed away during the Spring Festival this year, and his body is now hardened.

However, Guilin and the capital were separated by mountains and rivers, and the distance was too far, so news was delayed. Min Zhengwen and Zheng Zuchen had not yet received news of Emperor Daoguang's death.

Sometimes Zheng Zuchen really thought that this utterly foolish martial artist, who was dressed as a scholar and pretended to be cultured, had no idea what kind of mush was in his head.

At this critical juncture, they're still dreaming of keeping their official positions.

It's a miracle that they survived and died peacefully; it's a testament to the Emperor's great mercy.

Zheng Zuchen's thoughts and perceptions were much more insightful than Min Zhengwen's.

He no longer hoped to quell the Catholic Church's cult bandits and save his official position; he only wished for a peaceful end.

Zheng Zuchen nominally controlled the Guangxi Green Standard Army, but according to regulations, if he actually mobilized more than 500 troops, he needed to sign the document as the Vice-Prefect and submit a report explaining the situation within ten days.

This system by the imperial court was naturally a reflection of its distrust of Han officials, aimed at preventing collusion between local civil and military officials.

Although the Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming Dynasty's tradition of valuing civil officials over military officials, Min Zhengwen always obeyed Zheng Zuchen's orders without question.

However, Zheng Zuchen wants to prevent the situation from deteriorating further and to limit the activities of the God Society cult members to the territory of Xunzhou Prefecture.

He needs Min Jung-moon's cooperation.

Min Zhengwen was usually Zheng Zuchen's sycophant, always buzzing around him like a fly, flattering him without a doubt.

However, Min Zhengwen seemed to have a poor grasp of the situation. Zheng Zuchen still needed to keep Min Zhengwen calm and prevent him from acting rashly and undermining him, which would further worsen the situation in Guangxi.

"Given the current situation in Guilin, can our entire battalion be transferred to Xunzhou Prefecture to suppress bandits?" Zheng Zuchen calmly walked to the signing room, sat down in front of the official seat, and gestured for Min Zhengwen to sit down as well.

"Please sit down."

“Chen Yagui is still roaming around in Guilin Prefecture. Our entire battalion cannot be transferred to Xunzhou Prefecture.” After drinking a cup of fragrant tea personally handed to him by Zheng Zuchen to clear his mind, Min Zhengwen gradually calmed down.

This applies not only to the current situation in Guilin Prefecture, but also to areas where there are no bandits currently operating within Guilin Prefecture.

According to regulations, Zheng Zuchen and Min Zhengwen's standard battalions cannot be fully transferred.

Zheng Zuchen's troop deployment limit was one thousand regular soldiers. Any troop deployments exceeding this limit had to be reported to the Ministry of War within ten days for approval.

A thousand regular troops actually amounted to only one or two battalions.

Before the Xianfeng Emperor, the imperial court still strictly restricted the military power of governors and viceroys.

The only exception during the Daoguang era was in the eighteenth year of Daoguang's reign, when Lin Zexu was in charge of the opium suppression in Guangdong. Daoguang granted Lin Zexu the authority to dispatch two thousand Guangdong naval troops to patrol and suppress opium.

Moreover, Lin Zexu's position at that time was that of an imperial envoy, not a purely regional official.

However, even the likes of Zhang Jiaxiang and Chen Yagui are finding it difficult to cope with the current configuration of one or two battalions of the Green Standard Army plus local militia.

Not to mention the God Society cult members, numbering over ten thousand.

The restriction of his military power was also a major reason why Zheng Zuchen was unable to achieve much. If Zheng Zuchen had been able to mobilize the Green Standard Army throughout the province at will, the situation in Guangxi would not have deteriorated to its current state.

"What does Your Excellency mean?" Min Zhengwen asked, uttering his usual catchphrase.

"You will lead the Central Battalion of the Liuzhou Prefecture to garrison Guiping City. I will immediately petition the Emperor to request reinforcements," Zheng Zuchen said solemnly to Min Zhengwen.

"Xunzhou Prefecture has already lost two county towns. Guiping City cannot afford any more mishaps. Once you go to Xunzhou, no matter what happens in Guilin City, do not come back. Stay firmly in Guiping City! Our lives depend on the safety of Guiping City! Do you understand?"

If Chen Yagui hadn't still been within the territory of Guilin Prefecture, the provincial capital would not have been spared.

Zheng Zuchen wanted to personally go to Xunzhou Prefecture to supervise the troops.

However, Chen Yagui still posed a great threat to Guilin City, and he couldn't leave, so he had to send the incompetent Min Zhengwen to Guiping City to take charge.

This time, Peng Gang almost completely bought up all the salt, grain, and cloth in Wuxuan County and the surrounding villages.

There are too many goods to transport.

Even though Luo Dagang, Su Sanniang, Qiu Ersao and others mobilized all the boat owners in the Qianjiang River basin to help transport supplies.

It took a full twenty-five days to ship them all.

Fortunately, the Qing army's response was too slow.

Yang Xiuqing also led his troops to Dongxiang to attack Huangjiatubao, and the local militia in Wuxuan County dared not make any rash moves.

Peng Gang was able to continue purchasing and transporting supplies near Wuxuan County at a leisurely pace.

However, apart from large livestock such as mules, horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep, most of the other supplies have already been transported to Bitanxun.

Peng Gang built warehouses in Bitanxun and in Xiadong, northeast of Bitanxun, for storing charcoal.

However, this time they brought supplies for an entire county.

Even though Peng Gang had all the charcoal removed from the warehouse and requisitioned all the houses that could be requisitioned in Bitanxun and Xiadong, the warehouse was still inevitably overwhelmed.

Peng Gang could only mobilize the people under his jurisdiction to expand and build warehouses, and temporarily move the supplies that could not be stored in the warehouses into nearby caves for safekeeping.

At the same time, they urged the Mengchong headquarters to send someone to collect the money and grain.

Pay enough to the organization, and keep enough for yourself.

Peng Gang could certainly choose to take all of the supplies.

However, Peng Gang is currently still within the God Society system.

Although the Qing army in Guangxi was slow to react and act, it was only a matter of time before they could suppress Pingzaishan.

It would be unwise to fall out with God over money and food at this time.

He didn't want to face the encirclement and suppression of tens of thousands of Qing troops alone.

Peng Gang wrote to Xiao Chaogui, Feng Yunshan, and Hong Xiuquan, indicating that money, grain, oil, cloth, and livestock would be split equally.

Everything else, including the 651 shi of salt confiscated from Chen Changze, a major salt merchant in Wuxuan, all belonged to him.

At this time, Yang Xiuqing was still attacking Huangjia Tubao in Dongxiang, Wuxuan, and going into the mountains to suppress the mountain stronghold of the Wei family chieftain in Wuxuan.

Feng Yunshan was busy drafting and formulating rules and regulations, Hong Xiuquan was busy looking for young and beautiful concubines, and the affairs of the headquarters were handled by Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui.

The one who replied to Peng Gang was Xiao Chaogui, and unexpectedly, Xiao Chaogui readily agreed to this division.

They also said that it would be too troublesome to transport such a large amount of money and grain to Mengchong by land, with people carrying it on their backs and horses.

Give him two days. Once he takes Xinwei, he can simply use boats to transport the ships to Xinwei.

Although Xinwei is very close to Jintian Village, that is Xiao Chaogui and Wei Changhui's territory.

However, Xiao Chaogui's decision to bring the money and grain to Xinwei was not entirely out of selfishness, nor was it to embezzle the money and grain.

The assembly point for the regimental order was Jintian Village, which had flatter terrain and more convenient transportation.

The subsequent deployment of personnel from other branches to Jintian for training makes it more convenient to move funds and supplies to Xinwei, which is understandable.

As for Xiao Chaogui's claim that he would take Xinwei in two days, he was not just boasting or exaggerating.

To avoid the wrath of the God Society, Huang Tizheng moved his entire family to Jiangkouwei.

The Qing government's defenses at Xinwei were extremely weak.

With a large army and favorable terrain, it would not be difficult for Xiao Chaogui to take Xinwei in a short period of time.

In fact, Xiao Chaogui's biggest enemy in capturing Xinwei was not the Qing army's officers and soldiers.

Instead, they were local Tujia people, such as the Xie family, a local Tujia landlord family who had previously had disputes, conflicts, and grudges with Wei Changhui.

Xiao Chaogui estimated that the government would use these two days to eliminate the local Tujia armed forces, rather than to train the government troops.

(End of this chapter)