1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 238 Old Enemy
This was the first time Li Mengqun had come so close to the short-haired soldiers he had been so fond of.

He stood on a light, small boat and couldn't help but look around. What came into view was a well-ordered fleet of ships and energetic, disciplined soldiers of the Left Army.

Li Mengqun was filled with mixed emotions.

Although he felt ashamed of the Qing army's retreat in Guangxi before the battle, he was one of the few Qing officials who still retained a sense of shame.

After closely observing the situation of this arch-rival, even though he was very dissatisfied with it.

Li Mengqun also had to admit that even with the combined strength of the entire Guangxi province, it was indeed impossible to defeat the short-haired Mao in open battle.

Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong avoided battle to preserve their strength and fight another day. This was not entirely out of cowardice or fear of war, but more out of helplessness, because they were truly no match for them.

Before long, Li Mengqun arrived at the Northern King's Boat, which had been converted from the boat used by the Imperial Envoy. He entered the front cabin and met Peng Gang.

There were quite a few people in the front cabin: five staff officers, Peng Gang's two clerks, Zuo Zongtang, and Guo Kuntao.

Peng Gang sat upright in the central seat, dressed simply in a clean homespun round-necked robe and with his hair, which was four or five inches long, wrapped in a net.

However, Peng Gang had an extraordinary demeanor. Although they had never met, Li Mengqun recognized his nemesis, with whom he had fought for more than a year, at a glance.

“Li Mengqun, the magistrate of Guiping County, has met with Weishi.”

Li Mengqun cupped his hands in greeting to Peng Gang, addressing him by the courtesy name he had just learned from Xie Bin.

Li Mengqun came from an official family and achieved early success, so he always had a high opinion of himself.

However, when facing Peng Gang, who was younger than him and a first-generation entrepreneur, Li Mengqun felt somewhat inferior in terms of presence.

"What business does Magistrate Li have with me?"

Peng Gang rarely referred to himself as "this king" or "I, the sovereign" in public, but he still maintained a certain air of authority in front of Qing officials.

"The county magistrate has come here specifically to bestow upon Weishi a life of wealth and honor," Li Mengqun said, forcing himself to remain calm.

"You're offering me wealth and honor? What a joke!" Peng Gang found it laughable. "In terms of wealth, the riches of Yongzhou and Hengzhou prefectures belong to me. In terms of honor, I am the King of Heaven. What wealth and honor can a mere seventh-rank county magistrate like you offer me?"

"Although you have temporarily seized Yongzhou and Hengzhou prefectures and gained temporary power, our Qing army of hundreds of thousands is already attacking southern Hunan from both the north and south. Yongzhou and Hengzhou prefectures can be recovered in a matter of days. As for your kingship, it is nothing more than a self-proclaimed kingship and has no real power," Li Mengqun said solemnly.

"The wealth and honor I wish to bestow upon you will be lasting, not just temporary. If Wei Shi is willing to abandon darkness and embrace the light, Governor Zhou and I are willing to recommend him as a deputy general, holding the rank of second grade."

When Zhang Jiaxiang was granted amnesty, he only received the rank of Qianzong (a military rank). In truth, I know that none of your ancestors held official positions; for you, this is already a meteoric rise.

"How utterly ridiculous! If what you, Li Mengqun, say is true, and Yong and Heng prefectures can be restored in a day or two, then why would you need to come to me? My title of Grassroots King was self-proclaimed, but the titles of Wild Boar Skin and Huang Taiji Khan of the Jurchens were not self-proclaimed either?"

I am not Zhang Jiaxiang. Zhang Jiaxiang rebelled for his own sake, but I rebelled against the Qing Dynasty to set things right and for the sake of all people, not just for the wealth and status of my family.

Let alone a deputy general, I don't even care for the governors-general or admirals of the Qing Dynasty.

Go back and tell Zhou Tianjue to live a few more years, for I will come to take his head sooner or later.

"Someone, see the guest out!"

When Peng Gang heard that Li Mengqun's offer for pacification was only for a deputy general, he couldn't hold back his emotions on the spot.

If Li Mengqun hadn't come alone and looked so sincere, he would have thought the Qing court was humiliating him.

A second-rank deputy general sounds impressive.

However, in the Qing Dynasty, civil officials were valued more than military officials. Not to mention a second-rank deputy general, even a second-rank general might not be able to outrank Li Mengqun, a seventh-rank county magistrate.

It was not uncommon for a deputy general of the second rank to be a general of the first rank; Peng Gang's prisoner-of-war camp had several such generals.

Furthermore, Peng Gang was, after all, a scholar who had passed the preliminary examinations, and Xu Wuzhi was a condition for his recruitment.

This thought process is truly unique.

Not to mention Peng Gang, even Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao standing to the side couldn't help but shake their heads repeatedly. Li Mengqun was at least somewhat familiar with Mao Zedong, and in principle, he shouldn't have been so short-sighted as to offer Peng Gang a military rank of deputy general.

Li Mengqun was naturally aware of Peng Gang's value and capabilities.

Unfortunately, the highest offer Zhou Tianjue could offer him for pacification was only a deputy general position.

"Farewell."

Li Mengqun originally wanted to try again, but Peng Gang showed no willingness to be appeased and had already given the order to leave, so he had no choice but to give up and leave dejectedly.

After the Xiangjiang River near Shuitang Bay was dredged, Peng Gang continued south to meet Feng Yunshan, Hu Yihuang, Shi Xiangzhen, Wei Zhijun, and others.

After the two armies joined forces, scouts were sent out to find that the Qing troops under Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong had already gone far away. So they led the main army away from Quanzhou City and headed towards Lingling City.

The Southern Palace was short of boats; even Feng Yunshan didn't have a decent boat to ride on. Peng Gang gave Feng Yunshan a converted large cargo boat as his vessel.

Under Peng Gang's guidance, Feng Yunshan boarded a new boat and sailed through Suoyi Ferry. He leaned on the railing and gazed at the rolling Xiangjiang River. The fleet of boats stretched for thousands of miles, with banners obscuring the sun. The two banks were like a long dragon, with no end in sight.

For some reason, this grand spectacle saddened Feng Yunshan, and his eyes welled up with tears: "The cause of the Heavenly Kingdom is thriving, but unfortunately, the court officials will never be able to witness it with their own eyes again."

“Even though your brother-in-law is gone, life must go on,” Peng Gang comforted Feng Yunshan.

Although they are all "sons-in-law of God," the relationships between each "son-in-law of God" vary in terms of closeness.

Feng Yunshan had known Xiao Chaogui since the beginning of his missionary work at Zijing Mountain, and it has been five years since then.

Xiao Chaogui's contributions to the God Worshippers Society at its inception were even greater than Yang Xiuqing's.

Feng Yunshan is a sentimental person, so it's understandable that he was saddened by Xiao Chaogui's death.

Peng Gang was not a heartless person; it was just that given his relationship with Xiao Chaogui, he was not yet at the point of shedding tears for him.

Peng Gang felt only a little sorry for Xiao Chaogui's death, but no sadness.

He twice tried to save Xiao Chaogui and gave him a warning.

Unfortunately, Xiao Chaogui was a man who wouldn't listen to advice, so Peng Gang had no choice but to put aside his desire to help and respect Xiao Chaogui's fate.

Feng Yunshan certainly understood what it meant for the living to continue living their lives; Xiao Chaogui was dead, but the West Palace still existed.

The fate of the Western Palace is currently the most sensitive topic within the Heavenly Kingdom.

Feng Yunshan had been watching Yang Xiuqing's tyranny ever since the capture of Cangwu City.

Upon reaching Quanzhou, Yang Xiuqing even had Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai flogged.

Currently, among the high-ranking officials of the Heavenly Kingdom, only Feng Yunshan, Hong Xiuquan, and Peng Gang have not yet been punished by Yang Xiuqing.

If Yang Xiuqing was already so autocratic even when he only directly controlled the East Hall, Feng Yunshan did not want Yang Xiuqing to take control of the West Hall as well.

Feng Yunshan had carefully considered Peng Gang's suggestion that the Heavenly King temporarily take charge of the West Palace, which was exactly what Feng Yunshan wanted.

After a moment's thought, Feng Yunshan slowly spoke, expressing his attitude towards the future ownership of the West Palace.

"The court official is dead. According to both reason and law, Youhe should be enfeoffed as the King of the West. Youhe is still young and unable to manage the West Palace. The West Palace should be temporarily managed by the Heavenly King until Youhe comes of age, at which point the power will be returned to Youhe."

Xiao Chaogui's eldest son, Xiao Youhe, is only ten years old this year. Returning the power of the Western Palace to Xiao Youhe will be at least six years from now.

The so-called temporary administration was actually not much different from annexing the West Palace.

Unless, six years later, Zeng Shuiyuan, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang, and others still cherish the old kindness and remain loyal to Xiao Youhe, this pure and honest son.

(End of this chapter)