1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 129 Founding Rewards
They received an imperial edict from Emperor Xianfeng.

Zhang Bilu set off from his hometown in Sichuan under cover of night, conscripting his old troops along the way to suppress bandits in Guangxi.

Xiang Rong, needless to say, was already pursuing and suppressing the remnants of the Tiandihui in southern Hunan. Upon receiving the imperial decree, he dared not delay and immediately led his troops into Guangxi.

Among the three carriages carefully selected by Emperor Xianfeng to quell the Heaven and Earth Society and the God Society in Guangxi.

The only variable is Lin Zexu's old car, which is the furthest from Guangxi.

After the Opium War, Lin Zexu was exiled to Yili by the Daoguang Emperor.

He was reinstated in 1845, the 25th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign.

In the short four years since his reinstatement, Lin Zexu has served as Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu, Governor of Shaanxi, and Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou, traveling throughout the country.

Lin Zexu was already old and frail, and suffered from the hardships of travel and the unfamiliar environment, so he had long been afflicted with serious illnesses, especially hernia and hemorrhoids.

Upon receiving the imperial edict from Emperor Xianfeng, Lin Zexu, who was recuperating in his hometown of Fuzhou, knew that his days were numbered and that he was unlikely to be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility. He repeatedly declined the appointment, asking Emperor Xianfeng to choose another person.

Lin Zexu was not unwilling to go to Guangxi to suppress bandits, but his physical condition simply did not allow it.

By this time, Lin Zexu was terminally ill, suffering from frequent flare-ups of hernia and hemorrhoids, causing him unbearable pain and rendering him unable to even get out of bed. He could only travel by being carried in a specially made sedan chair.

When a family is poor, one longs for a virtuous wife; when a nation is in peril, one longs for a loyal minister.

Emperor Xianfeng was eager to suppress the bandits and issued repeated edicts, urging Lin Zexu to set off immediately and not to disobey the emperor. His words became more and more severe and urgent with each edict.

Considering Lin Zexu's health condition, Emperor Xianfeng said that the governor of Guangxi could be chosen from among others, but that Lin Zexu was the only one fit to be the imperial commissioner and should not be refused.

Unable to disobey the imperial decree, Lin Zexu, seeing that he could no longer refuse, had no choice but to summon his nephews and nieces, recruit advisors to accompany him, and make arrangements for his affairs before setting off.

Lin Zexu's eldest son, Lin Ruzhou, was the sixth-ranked Jinshi in the second class in the eighteenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign. He served as an editor in the capital for a long time. He was the same year as Zeng Guofan, who ranked forty-second in the third class. Both of them were selected as probationary officials in the Hanlin Academy and served in the Hanlin Academy.

The difference is that Lin Ruzhou is not good at currying favor and is still a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, while Zeng Guofan has risen to the position of Vice Minister of War.

Knowing he would never see his eldest son again after so many years, Lin Zexu was filled with sorrow. He could only write a letter to his son, Lin Ruzhou, and then asked his second son, Lin Congyi, to accompany him to Guangxi to report on his duties.

When Lin Zexu was first sent to the frontier to guard the border, and even after he was reinstated and appointed to positions in Shaanxi, Gansu, Yunnan and Guizhou, Lin Congyi accompanied him all the way.

Lin Congyi, who had been by his father's side for many years, couldn't bear to see his father, who was old and seriously ill, suffer from the hardships of traveling. With tears in his eyes, he advised, "Father is seriously ill. Guangxi is a place with miasma and pestilence, which is not good for your health. Can you not go?"

"If it benefits the country, I will risk my life; how could I avoid it because of personal fortune or misfortune? It is the duty of a subject to share the burdens of his ruler. If I die in my bed, I am but a sick body. If I die in the army, I will be a loyal soul of the country! Congyi, say no more, let us set off."

After finishing his household chores, Lin Zexu struggled to get up, change his clothes, and, leaning on his cane, went out to his sedan chair.

In Guangxi, Zheng Zuchen was unsurprisingly dismissed and punished.

Lin Zexu declined the post of Governor of Guangxi again. After much deliberation, Emperor Xianfeng appointed Zhou Tianjue, a veteran official recommended by Du Shoutian, as acting Governor of Guangxi, and ordered him to go to Guangxi immediately to take up his post.

At the same time, Emperor Xianfeng urged Xu Guangjin, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, to send troops to Guangxi to suppress the rebels of the Heaven and Earth Society and the God Society, so as not to let the situation deteriorate further.

Xu Guangjin received the imperial edict from Emperor Xianfeng and indeed led the Guangdong troops westward.

However, the shrewd and cunning Xu Guangjin still managed to find a loophole and did not enter Guangxi territory. Instead, he began to suppress the Heaven and Earth Society bandits in Guangdong and the eighteenth branch of the God Society active in the border area between Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.

He used this to deal with the tasks assigned to him by Emperor Xianfeng, and continued to adopt a laissez-faire attitude towards the situation in Guangxi.

The personnel adjustments in Guangxi have indeed brought about some changes to the situation in Guangxi.

What Peng Gang felt most clearly was that after the Battle of Dateng Gorge, he no longer needed to worry about the Qing army in Wuxuan and Xiangzhou areas of the upper reaches of the Qianjiang River harassing his Pingzaishan base area; he only needed to guard against the Qing army in Guiping City.

With virtually no defensive pressure, he can focus on training, attending classes, and managing his base.

With Xiang Rong entering Guangxi from Yongzhou in southern Hunan in early May, stationing troops in Guilin, and launching an attack on Chen Yagui, the defensive pressure on Peng Gang in the Wuxuan and Xiangzhou directions increased sharply.

The situation in the direction of Guiping City is not very optimistic either.

Gu Yuankai, the prefect of Xunzhou, and his former superior Zheng Zuchen were both dismissed from their posts and punished.

The position of prefect of Xunzhou was taken over by Liu Jizu, who was on the waiting list for the position.

As soon as Liu Jizu took office, he realized the importance of controlling the waterways.

Liu Jizu believed that the reason why the God God Society rebels were able to run rampant and cause trouble everywhere in Xunzhou Prefecture was due to the convenient water transportation within Xunzhou Prefecture.

If the government troops control the waterways within Xunzhou Prefecture, even if they cannot wipe out the God God Society rebels, they can at least limit the range of their activities.

Unfortunately, the Guangxi naval forces are of little use, and the rebel bandits of the God Worshippers are extremely arrogant. It is virtually impossible to regain control of the waterways of the Qianjiang, Yujiang, and Xunjiang rivers by relying on the Green Standard Army militia.

Liu Jizu then turned his attention to the boat corps active on the Xunjiang River.

At this time, Luo Dagang, under Peng Gang's instruction, also carried out united front work with the boat troops within Xunzhou Prefecture.

I have heard that the Taiping Army has very strict discipline, and Peng Gang's Left Army is the most disciplined of all the Taiping Army's armies.

Many boatmen, especially their leaders, were wavering on whether to join the Taiping Army in their grand endeavors.

Luo Dagang managed to recruit just over four hundred low-ranking boatmen into Peng Gang's left wing.

They learned that Peng Gang and Luo Dagang were trying to win over the boat corps in the Xunjiang area.

Liu Jizu was extremely anxious and offered high-ranking positions and generous salaries to the Tiandihui boatmen in Xunzhou Prefecture, and launched a large-scale campaign to recruit them.

The Tiandihui boatmen, including Tian Fang (Big Carp), Hou Zhi (Roll-Mouthed Dog), and Guan Ju (Big Guy), who had long been active on the Xunjiang River, were successively appeased.

The Tiandihui boat army, which was appeased, was incorporated into the Xunzhou Prefecture Naval Camp and competed with the Taiping Army for control of the Three Rivers waterway.

Initially, Liu Jizu did not have high expectations for the newly formed Xunzhou Prefecture Naval Battalion. He simply wanted to recruit the boatmen in Xunzhou Prefecture who had not yet joined the God God Society, in order to prevent the boatmen from being used by the God God Society rebels.

Unexpectedly, these recruited submarine troops, once given official status and paid their share of money and supplies, proved to be even more effective than the Green Standard Army.

They quickly regained control of most of the Xunjiang and Yujiang waterways for the government.

The Taiping army was skilled in land warfare, but had few troops adept at naval warfare, and soon lost control of the Xunjiang and Yujiang waterways.

Only the Qianjiang waterway in Peng Gangping's base area in the mountains remained under the control of the Taiping Army.

The Xunzhou Prefecture naval force, composed of recruited boatmen, could easily defeat the other naval units of the Taiping Army, except for the two boatmen of Luo Dagang who were active in Qianjiang.

This is also related to the fact that the Taiping Army's high command at this time emphasized land forces and neglected naval forces.

In addition to Peng Gang specially training two boat battalions and equipping them with heavy weapons such as mountain-splitting cannons and muskets to enhance their naval warfare capabilities.

The other Taiping generals only used the navy as a waterborne supply corps for transporting supplies and had no immediate plans to build a naval force. As a result, they suffered greatly when facing the Xunzhou Prefecture naval battalion, which was composed of former river bandits and had relatively professional naval warfare skills.

Of course, the Taiping Army has also had its share of good news in the past two months.

The best news was that Xiao Chaogui, Yang Xiuqing and others had put in their best efforts and, after more than a month, finally captured Pingnan County in mid-May. Pingnan County Magistrate Ni Tao hanged himself.

The Taiping Army's prestige grew ever stronger.

Unlike Peng Gang, who meticulously planned for over a year and cleverly seized Wuxuan County, this was different.

Pingnan County was captured by the Taiping Army through a proper and forceful attack.

The Battle of Pingnan County proved that the main force of the Taiping Army at this stage had the ability to capture cities at the county level.

Although the Taiping army captured Pingnan County, it also suffered heavy casualties, with several hundred people killed or wounded.

The total casualties from all the battles since the uprising began did not exceed those from the battle to capture Pingnan County.

It was learned that the Taiping Army had successfully occupied Pingnan County.

Hong Xiuquan was overjoyed and moved from Jintian Village to Pingnan County.

In Pingnan County, he announced the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, changed the title of Taiping Master to Heavenly King, and appointed his youngest son, Hong Tiangui, as his successor.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first thing to do was naturally to reward the meritorious officials.

The main generals of the Taiping Army participated in the attack on Pingnan County.

At this time, in addition to Qin Richang, who was developing the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas on the south bank of Qianjiang, there was Peng Gang, who was managing the Pingzaishan base area.

The remaining major generals of the Taiping Army gathered in Pingnan County.

Hong Xiuquan believed that the Shentian family should be united as one, and issued an edict ordering Peng Gang and Qin Richang to go to Pingnan County to receive their rewards.

When Peng Gang received this imperial edict, he was planning to establish a staff department and devise the next military operation.

To be honest, Peng Gang didn't want to go to Pingnan County.

Peng Gang wasn't very clear about the situation in other places, but he knew the situation in the vicinity of Ping Mountain very well.

The newly appointed governor of Guangxi, Zhou Tianjue, was old and vigorous, even though he was already in his seventies or eighties and nearing the end of his life.

However, after arriving in Guangxi, Zhou Tianjue did not stay in Guilin City under the guise of being stationed in the provincial capital, unlike his predecessor Zheng Zuchen.

Instead, he brought a small number of Guizhou troops who had already entered Guangxi and came directly to the Liuzhou headquarters, indicating his intention to transfer Liuzhou troops to Wuxuan and Xiangzhou.

Reinforcements from neighboring provinces arrived in Guangxi one after another.

Peng Gang wanted to concentrate his superior forces to win one or two battles before the guest army arrived, annihilating a portion of the Qing army's fighting strength to alleviate the pressure of dealing with the subsequent encirclement and suppression by the Qing army, rather than going to Pingnan County to accept the rewards in person.

Qin Richang received the imperial edict from the Heavenly King ordering him to go to Pingnan County to receive his reward slightly later than Peng Gang.

Qin Richang did not want to leave at this crucial moment in managing the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas.

But Hong Xiuquan, Xiao Chaogui, and Yang Xiuqing were urging him on, and he was hoping that after this reward, he could bring his family to the Longshan and Lianhuashan bases to reunite.

Two months ago, when Yang Xiuqing and Feng Yunshan decided to send Qin Richang to the northwest of Guixian County to manage the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas, they promised him that if he could successfully manage the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas, they would secure for him the same rights as members of the Shentian family, allowing him to bring his family with him.

This reward was crucial to Qin Richang's ability to reunite with his family for a long time, so he was very concerned about it and had no choice but to set off for Pingnan County to receive it.

Qin Richang was traveling by boat when he passed Bitanxun. He was surprised to learn from Xie Bin that Peng Gang had not yet set off for Pingnan County, so he went to Honglian Village to visit Peng Gang.

"Has Commander Peng not yet set off for Pingnan County to receive the Heavenly King's reward?"

The headquarters of the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas pioneered by Qin Richang were located in his hometown, Liuwu Village.

Compared to Liuwu Village, Bitanxun and Honglian Village are closer to Pingnan County.

Peng Gang should have received the imperial edict from the Heavenly King ordering him to go to Pingnan County to receive his reward earlier than him.

“I’m waiting for Deputy Commander Qin to go to Pingnan County together,” Peng Gang said. “The Xunzhou waterway is blocked by the Qing demon Xunzhou Prefecture naval camp, so it’s not as smooth and safe as it used to be. It would be best if the two of us went together so we could look after each other.”

Peng Gang couldn't very well tell Qin Richang that the situation around the base area was deteriorating, he had no intention of accepting the reward, and he didn't want to go to Pingnan County.

He and Qin Richang were both from Guixian County and had a good relationship.

During this period, one of them was responsible for managing the Pingzaishan base area, while the other was responsible for developing the base area on the south bank of the Qianjiang River. Their cooperation was indeed harmonious.

However, his relationship with Qin Richang was not good enough for them to talk about everything.

“Since May, Qing troops have been entering Guangxi one after another, and my efforts to manage the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas have not been as smooth as they were a month ago,” Qin Richang said with a sigh.

"Besides visiting Commander Peng, I have another request to make of you in Honglian Village."

Peng Gang habitually referred to the areas operated by the Taiping Army as their base areas. Qin Richang, having spent time with Peng Gang during this period, gradually got used to this term and found it to be a good and accurate one.

Only with roots can one establish oneself; his hometown of Guixian is Qin Richang's root.

Qin Richang was a man who deeply cherished his hometown.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have rushed back to Liuwu Village to relocate his ancestral graves and renovate and expand his old house after making a small fortune working at the Longshan Silver Mine.

If life hadn't become increasingly difficult and unsustainable, Qin Richang wouldn't have been willing to burn down his old house in Liuwu Village and instead responded to the headquarters' order to go to Jintian Camp.

“Pingzai Mountain and the Longshan and Lianhua Mountain bases on the south bank of Qianjiang are closely connected. Qin’s affairs are my affairs. If Qin has any difficulties, please feel free to speak up. We are all brothers of the Taiping Army. There is no need for us to ask for anything.” Peng Gang led Qin Richang into the hall and offered him tea.

The Taiping Army's headquarters moved further and further away.

They moved from Mengchong to Jintian, and now they have moved to the newly occupied Pingnan County.

Once the Qing army attacks Pingzaishan's base, the troops that will be able to support him first will be Qin Richang's troops, not the troops from headquarters.

He would help Qin Richang whenever he could when he was in trouble.

Human hearts are reciprocal; he did not offer any assistance when Qin Richang encountered difficulties in managing the Longshan and Lianhuashan base areas.

If Ping encounters difficulties in the future, don't expect Qin Richang to do his best to help him.

(End of this chapter)