1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 182 Good Servant!
Amidst falling snow and the brightly decorated Forbidden City, Emperor Xianfeng, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty with real power, entered the Spring Festival of the first year of his reign (1851) with an extremely gloomy mood.

In the East Warm Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Emperor Xianfeng's face was ashen, his expression gloomy, and he stared intently at a screen with several names written on it, as if he were detached from worldly joy and celebration.

At the end of the year, two civil and military officials from the south, on whom Emperor Xianfeng had placed high hopes, died one after the other in western Guangdong.

Two of the three key figures carefully selected by Emperor Xianfeng to suppress the God Society and the Heaven and Earth Society in western Guangdong have already been eliminated.

The only remaining carriage was the worst of the three.

Before the new year, the heartbroken Emperor Xianfeng posthumously awarded Lin Zexu the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and the posthumous name of Wenzhong.

Loyalty means risking one's life to serve one's superiors, and it means not shying away from danger and difficulty.

Zhang Bilu was granted the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and posthumously honored with the title of Wuzhuang.

A hero is one who defeats the enemy and overcomes chaos! A hero is one who dies on the battlefield!
Compared to Zhou Tianjue, who was also posthumously awarded the title of Wenzhong, and Wulantai and Shengbao, who were posthumously awarded the title of Wuzhuang, this was a significant improvement.

The posthumous titles of Wenzhong and Wuzhuang for these two individuals are truly well-deserved and of high value.

The imperial court spent five million taels of silver, but not only did it fail to eliminate the God God Society bandits in their infancy, the bandits grew stronger with each suppression, and even showed a tendency to move north, east, and out of Guangxi.

Emperor Xianfeng was extremely anxious.

Although Guangdong was the emperor's southern treasury, the Guangdong Customs alone could deliver more than 1.5 million taels of customs revenue to the Qing Dynasty's national treasury every year.

However, the Lingnan region had not yet touched the very foundation of the Qing Dynasty, so Emperor Xianfeng was not afraid of the God Society bandits entering Guangdong.

Emperor Xianfeng feared that the God Society rebels would infiltrate Hunan from the north and then spread outwards to wreak havoc on Hunan and Hubei provinces and the Yangtze River region.

The two lakes and two rivers were vital financial centers of the Qing Dynasty and could not be lost.

If the cultists continue to spread their poison throughout Hunan and Hubei, it will surely shake the foundation of the imperial court.

Emperor Xianfeng would never allow such a thing to happen.

However, he had only been on the throne for less than a year, and the old officials of the previous dynasty were either incompetent or too old.

The new dynasty's capable and energetic frontier officials had not yet been discovered and cultivated.

It is unknown who is capable of taking over Lin Zexu's important responsibilities.

Emperor Xianfeng pondered for several days but still could not find a suitable candidate.

Remove the word "temporarily appointed" from Zhou Tianjue's title and let Zhou Tianjue take over as imperial commissioner on the spot.

While this move may be convenient, Zhou Tianjue is also a former high-ranking official of the dynasty, whose reputation and experience are sufficient to appoint him as an imperial envoy.

Zhou Tianjue's fame, however, comes from the moral qualities described by Qingliu as loving the people like his own children, hating evil like an enemy, not being afraid to offend people, and daring to speak frankly, rather than from his talent.

Zhou Tianjue's personality is too straightforward and too eccentric.

Such a person is suitable to be an advisor or remonstrating official, but not a regional official.

After nearly a year as emperor, Emperor Xianfeng gradually developed his own methods for employing people and no longer consulted his teacher, Du Shoutian, on everything.

The office location was also moved from the familiar Imperial Study to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Unfortunately, the situation of the Qing Dynasty did not improve because he mustered the courage to step out of his comfort zone or because of his efforts to revitalize the country; the vision of its revival remained a distant dream.

"The Heaven and Earth Society bandits are gradually being quelled, but the God God Society bandits are becoming increasingly fierce in their suppression. Before his death, Lin Wenzhong wrote a tearful memorial stating that the bandits were showing signs of spreading out of Guangxi. The bandits are truly a major threat to our Great Qing. Do you two ministers have any capable officials to recommend for overseeing the suppression of the God God Society bandits?" Emperor Xianfeng raised his head slightly and looked at Du Shoutian and Mu Zhang'a standing in front of him.

"I recommend Li Xingyuan, the former Governor-General of Liangjiang, as Imperial Commissioner."

"This humble servant recommends Sai Shang'a, a Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall, as Imperial Commissioner."

Du Shoutian recommended Li Xingyuan, and Mu Zhang'a recommended Sai Shang'a.

Li Xingyuan and Sai Shang'a were also candidates for imperial commissioner that Emperor Xianfeng had been considering in recent days.

As a Grand Councilor, Sai Shang'a frequently visited the Imperial Study, and Emperor Xianfeng was well aware of Sai Shang'a's capabilities.

Although Emperor Xianfeng hoped to appoint a more trustworthy Manchu, he remained clear-headed.

Emperor Xianfeng did not believe that Sai Shang'a, the God Society bandit leader whom even Lin Zexu had failed to quell quickly, was capable of being wiped out.

If there were any capable Manchus, the most trustworthy Manchus would naturally be his first choice, but unfortunately, capable Manchus are extremely rare.

Just as Du Shoutian and Mu Zhang'a were about to argue, Emperor Xianfeng, who had anticipated this, raised his hand to stop them. After pondering for a long time, Xianfeng slowly spoke: "My two ministers, please do not argue. I have my own opinion. Li Xingyuan is from Hunan and was a capable frontier official in the previous dynasty. He is currently visiting relatives in Hunan, so it will be convenient for him to go south to take up his post. The military situation in western Guangdong is critical, so let Li Xingyuan go south to western Guangdong to take up his post and preside over the overall situation of suppressing the religious bandits."

Li Xingyuan, courtesy name Shiwu, was a native of Xiangyin, Hunan, and a high-ranking official during the Daoguang reign.

After much deliberation, among the currently unemployed officials in the provinces, the most suitable person to go to Guangxi to oversee the suppression of the God Worshippers was none other than Li Xingyuan.

Emperor Xianfeng's purpose in appointing Li Xingyuan was very clear.

Lin Zexu's last memorial to Emperor Xianfeng before his death made it very clear that the God Society bandits were no ordinary bandits; they were tightly organized, cunning, and difficult to eradicate. After leaving Xunzhou Prefecture, they showed signs of heading north to Guilin and entering Hunan through the Xiang-Gui Corridor. He hoped that Li Xingyuan could shoulder the responsibility of protecting his hometown.

Although Li Yuanfa, the leader of the Hunan Heaven and Earth Society, has been beheaded.

However, remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society still exist in the southern Hunan region.

According to Lin Zexu's report, if the God Society bandits in Guangxi were to merge with the remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society bandits in southern Hunan, their strength would increase, making the situation even more difficult to handle and suppress.

Guangxi's fragmented and relatively isolated terrain allows for effective defense, making it a more efficient and efficient defense. If the God Society rebels were to enter Hunan, they could easily access the Yangtze River via the Xiang River, thus gaining a decisive advantage in their invasion of Hunan and Hubei provinces.

Emperor Xianfeng was well aware of the vast difference between Li Xingyuan and Lin Zexu.

Emperor Xianfeng did not expect Li Xingyuan to be able to contain the God Society rebels in the area of ​​two mountains and one prefecture, just like Lin Zexu.

They didn't expect Li Xingyuan to quickly wipe out the God Society bandits.

Emperor Xianfeng was quite satisfied that Li Xingyuan was able to control the activities of the God Society rebels within Guangxi and proceed gradually.

As for the fact that the Catholic Church bandits would wreak havoc in Guangxi and cause widespread suffering, Emperor Xianfeng did not care.

If the two lakes and two rivers were the body and internal organs of the Qing Dynasty, then Guangxi, located in the remote southern border region, whose annual revenue was less than the customs duties of Guangdong before it was opened to foreign trade, could not even be considered a limb, but at best a toe.

A person can live even if their toes are cut off. What Emperor Xianfeng was worried about was that before he could cut off his toes, the poison from his toes would spread through his legs to his internal organs.

Li Xingyuan was the sharp blade sent by Emperor Xianfeng to cut off the poisonous toes.

"Your Majesty is the wisest ruler."

Seeing that Emperor Xianfeng already had a suitable candidate in mind, Du Shoutian and Mu Zhang'a wisely kept quiet and stopped arguing.

After a year of training, the young emperor before us is gradually taking on the appearance of an emperor.

He is no longer the insecure new emperor who, upon ascending the throne at the beginning of the year, would tremble with nervousness when summoned to court, lacked his own opinions, and relied on his regents to make decisions on everything.

"I am tired. You two ministers may leave now." Emperor Xianfeng dismissed Du Shoutian and Mu Zhang'a.

The new imperial commissioner has been selected, and the civil official has been chosen.

The next thing to consider is, of course, the military officials.

Compared to civil officials, military officers had a much narrower selection pool.

Emperor Xianfeng was still able to select a few candidates from the legacy left to him by his father, Emperor Daoguang.

The military commanders searched far and wide for suitable candidates, but could not find any.

If there were any capable generals available, Emperor Xianfeng would not have reinstated the retired and frail old general Zhang Bilu at the beginning of the year.

Before his death, Lin Zexu recommended two people to Emperor Xianfeng.

One was Xiang Rong, who suffered repeated losses after entering Xunzhou Prefecture to fight, and was stripped of his peacock feather and demoted to acting admiral but retained to redeem himself.

One was Jiang Zhongyuan, a county magistrate who led local militia into battle during his period of mourning and achieved remarkable results.

Xiang Rong rose from humble beginnings in the military, working his way up from a common soldier to a military commander. He fought in Qinghai and Xinjiang, and before entering Guangxi, he captured Li Yuanfa, a notorious bandit leader from the Tiandihui in southern Hunan.

After entering Guangxi, they also defeated Chen Yagui, a notorious bandit leader of the Guangxi Tiandihui who was active in Guilin, and never suffered a defeat.

To say he's mediocre and incompetent is an exaggeration; he certainly has some ability.

When Emperor Xianfeng selected Xiang Rong to join the Guangxi clique at the beginning of the year, he regarded Xiang Rong as a capable and renowned general in the Green Standard Army and placed high hopes on him.

What Emperor Xianfeng couldn't understand was why, when it came to suppressing bandits, Xiang Rong was invincible against other bandits, but struggled to win against the Christian bandits of the God Society.

Qin Dingsan was in a similar situation to Xiang Rong. Qin Dingsan had been invincible in suppressing bandits in the past, but he was helpless when facing the God Society bandits.

Is it really as Lin Zexu and Zhou Tianjue said in their memorials, that religious bandits who firmly believe in foreign heresies are not comparable to thieves?

Are cult bandits really that wicked?
Faced with Lin Zexu's recommendation before his death, Emperor Xianfeng, caught in a dilemma, opened the secret memorial submitted by Ulantai, wanting to see how Ulantai evaluated Xiang Rong.

At the beginning of the year, Emperor Xianfeng sent Wulantai into Guangxi to suppress bandits. He did not have high hopes for it, but only sent Wulantai to Guangxi to supervise the army, monitor the actions of Han Chinese border officials and garrisons, and report back from time to time.

Unexpectedly, Ulantai brought great honor to the Manchus. He immediately displayed his prowess upon entering Guangxi, defeating and capturing over a thousand members of the God Worshippers. This greatly excited Emperor Xianfeng, who saw a glimmer of hope for the successful suppression of the bandits.

Little did they expect that the great victory achieved by Ulantai and Jiang Zhongyuan in their debut would be the only glorious moment for the Qing government army in suppressing the God Society bandits.

By the light filtering into the warm chamber through the window, Emperor Xianfeng could clearly see the contents of the secret memorial:

The military commander Xiang Rong had a long military career, was brave and capable, and had repeatedly made outstanding contributions in battle.

This time, however, he led the Chu troops to attack and suppress the bandits of the Heaven and Earth Society in Guilin, and won many battles.

Therefore, he may have been careless and failed to strictly control his troops. Later, he encountered the short-haired bandits of the God Society, who were more ruthless than the bandits of the Heaven and Earth Society. He fought them repeatedly but failed to win. When he tried to control his troops, they were already arrogant and could not fight again.

Furthermore, due to Zhou Tianjue's poor mental state, no solution could be found.

Xiang Rong knew that the Chu soldiers were disloyal and that he had no way to win them back. Therefore, he feared that fighting would be disadvantageous, but not fighting would miss the opportunity. Hence, he made excuses.

However, Xiang Rong has long served in the military and is familiar with battle formations. Currently, all the officers and servants in the military camp are inferior to Xiang Rong.

If a new imperial envoy arrives, he will surely be able to inspire and encourage the troops, or perhaps replace them. Xiang Rong will then be inspired and will still be able to achieve merit.

I, your humble servant, dare to speak so presumptuously, and I am filled with trepidation.

"He's a capable servant! There are still some useful people among the Eight Banners."

After reading Ulantai's secret report, Emperor Xianfeng felt a little better and secretly praised Ulantai as a good servant.

Xiang Rong and Wulantai had no personal relationship, and only Emperor Xianfeng could see the secret memorials, so Wulantai had nothing to worry about.

Ulantai's evaluation of Xiang Rong was exactly the same as Lin Zexu's, indicating that Ulantai's assessment of Xiang Rong was impartial and fair, neither concealing Xiang Rong's abilities nor ignoring his faults. He was a good servant who worked diligently and conscientiously.

Emperor Xianfeng's impression of Ulantai improved, and he had already decided to promote Ulantai to the rank of Commander-in-Chief.

Since Lin Zexu and Ulantai are both speaking up for Xiang Rong and have both approved of him, and there are currently no other capable generals available, and it would take time to send generals from other places.

Emperor Xianfeng decided to give Xiang Rong another chance, appointing him as the Governor of Guangxi, to work with Li Xingyuan and Zhou Tianjue, with both civil and military officials working together to suppress the religious bandits and eradicate the God Worshippers as soon as possible.

Considering the significant losses suffered by Xiang Rong's Chu army and Zhengan troops, Emperor Xianfeng decided to select 4,000 elite Green Standard Army soldiers from Xiang Rong's hometown of Sichuan to serve him.

To prevent the spread of the God Society in Guangxi.

As for Jiang Zhongyuan, the county magistrate in question.

Emperor Xianfeng's gaze fell on Jiang Zhongyuan's name on the screen.

This man is a promising talent, a rare civil official skilled in military affairs. With proper training, he might even become a frontier official for the new dynasty.

Furthermore, given Jiang Zhongyuan's contributions, it is reasonable to reward him with the honorary title of prefect.

It's a pity that Jiang Zhongyuan was a Han Chinese; it would have been so much better if he had been a Manchu.

Following Jiang Zhongyuan's name, Li Mengqun's name was also prominently listed.

However, apart from collecting intelligence on cult members, Li Mengqun has no other merits. In addition, he is too young and lacks experience. Whether to promote him or give him important responsibilities requires careful consideration before a decision is made.

(End of this chapter)