1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 267
As the capital of Hubei Province, Wuchang had numerous government offices within its city limits, including those at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels.

After entering the city, Yang Xiuqing assigned royal residences to the princes.

The Governor-General's Office of Huguang was designated as the Heavenly King's Palace, the Governor's Office of Hubei as the Eastern King's Palace, the Hubei Provincial Governor's Office as the Western King's Palace, the Hubei Provincial Judge's Office as the Southern King's Palace, the Education Commissioner's Office as the Assistant King's Palace, and the Wuchang Prefecture Governor's Office as the Wing King's Palace.

Since Peng Gang had already occupied Hanyang, he used the Hanyang Prefecture government office as the Northern King's residence. When he was in Wuchang, he used the Jiangxia County government office, which was attached to the city, as his temporary headquarters.

After the princes were settled, the purge of the Qing officers and generals in Wuchang began.

Despite the poor performance of the Qing army in the Battle of Wuchang, there were many Han Chinese officers and generals in Hubei who were blindly loyal to the cause.

General Wang Jinxiu, Education Commissioner Feng Peiyuan, Provincial Treasurer Liang Xingyuan, Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Li Qinggu, Circuit Intendant Wang Shoutong, Wang Donghuai, Lin Enxi, and Assistant Magistrate Zhou Zuxian were either killed by the Taiping Army that stormed the city yesterday, or committed suicide with their families to die for the Qing.

As for the performance of the Manchu and Banner officials, it was truly indescribable; not a single one of them was a true Baturu (a Manchu noble title).

Apart from the fact that Admiral Shuangfu was killed by Yang Fuqing while trying to escape after realizing the situation was not good while guarding Wenchang Gate.

The Manchu officials, including Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Ruiyuan, Prefect of Wuchang Mingshan, and Magistrate of Jiangxia Xiulin, were captured by the Taiping Army because they did not even have the courage to die.

And that doesn't even include those who escaped beforehand.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom always dealt with Manchu officials by the death penalty.

The entire families of Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Ruiyuan, Prefect of Wuchang Mingshan, and Magistrate of Jiangxia Xiulin were paraded through the streets and then executed by slow slicing.

I heard that Chang Dachun, the governor of Hubei, had a rich collection of books in his office, including many rare and valuable ancient books.

Peng Gang went to the Hubei Provincial Governor's Office, which had been converted into the Eastern Prince's Mansion, and asked Yang Xiuqing for these ancient books.

Inside the Eastern Prince's Mansion, Yang Xiuqing sat upright in the main hall, looking preoccupied.

The Battle of Wuchang.

Yang Xiuqing originally intended to pave the way for Yang Fuqing, but things didn't go as planned. By a twist of fate, Hu Yihuang was promoted and gained the credit for being the first to ascend the mountain.

If someone else had taken the credit for being the first to reach the summit, it would be fine; at best, they might be appointed as prime minister.

After all, so far, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has only appointed two prime ministers, and there are still twenty-two prime minister positions vacant.

Indeed, many inspectors and even commanders were included in the list of prime ministers this time.

However, Hu Yihuang had a very high starting point; he was already the prime minister, and according to the current official system, there was no higher position he could hold.

The next highest rank one could attain was a marquis.

Yang Xiuqing had originally planned to bestow titles upon Yang Fuqing and the others, but now that he was considering bestowing a title upon Hu Yihuang, he felt somewhat uneasy.

Upon hearing that Peng Gang, the Northern King, was visiting, Yang Xiuqing composed himself and received Peng Gang.

Upon seeing Yang Xiuqing, Peng Gang went straight to the point: "Greetings, Fourth Brother. Chang Yaotou has always been fond of collecting books. I imagine he has quite a collection in his inner quarters. Fourth Brother, could you please bestow these books upon me?"

Although Yang Xiuqing composed himself, he couldn't completely hide his troubled expression.

Peng Gang guessed that it was mostly related to Hu Yihuang's achievement of being the first to storm Wuchang.

Many people in the Southern Palace are now advocating for Hu Yihuang to be granted a marquisate or even a kingship.

Yang Xiuqing had no use for these ancient books, so she simply did Peng Gang a favor and gave them to him: "There are indeed many books. This fellow's study and side rooms are full of books. Since Seventh Brother likes these books, then I will give them to Seventh Brother."

"Thank you, Fourth Brother." Peng Gang thanked Yang Xiuqing.

Chang Dachun was indeed very good at collecting books. Peng Gang filled several boats with the books confiscated from his house, enough to open a library.

"The Chang family didn't die. Seventh Brother, would you be interested in meeting them?" Yang Xiuqing asked.

Chang Dachun originally wanted to commit suicide.

But Chang Dachun was afraid of death and hesitated to make the decision to hang himself.

Li Qinggu, a fellow mourner who had agreed to hang himself with Chang Dachun, tried to persuade him to stay, but to no avail. Frustrated, Li Qinggu had no choice but to take his own life first, telling Chang Dachun to think twice.

It wasn't until the Taiping army stormed the governor's office that Chang Dachun gritted his teeth and made up his mind to hang himself, but he didn't die and was captured alive by the Taiping army. "Let's meet him," Peng Gang nodded and said.

He was also eager to see what kind of person this Manchu official, who could so ruthlessly burn down the city and kill more than 20,000 people in the outer city of Wuchang, was, the so-called "local magistrate."

Before long, several guards from the East Palace, dressed in short jackets with green trim, escorted Chang Dachun to the main hall of the governor's yamen.

Peng Gang looked the old man from Hunan up and down as he was forced to kneel on the ground.

Chang Dachun had an ordinary appearance and no fierce look.

As a provincial official, he didn't have a particularly imposing presence, but he was very scholarly, like an old Confucian scholar.

This pedantic old scholar, with a single order, directly cost the lives of more than 20,000 people in Wuchang.

It is truly a misfortune for the people of Wuchang to have such mediocre people who have spent most of their lives immersed in their studies and are ignorant of the ways of the world occupying high positions and doing nothing.

Such people are more terrifying than purely evil people in high positions. At least those bad people know what kind of people they are and what bad things they do; they have some self-awareness.

Chang Dachun looked ashen-faced, but remained relatively calm and did not roar.

When Peng Gang walked up to him, he only glanced at Peng Gang, snorted coldly, and turned his head away.

"Chang Dachun, do you know who I am?" Peng Gang looked down at Chang Dachun, who was kneeling on the ground, with a cold gaze.

"Who are you, and what does it have to do with me?" Chang Dachun still kept his head turned away, not daring to look Peng Gang in the eye.

“I am Peng Gang. The books in Tanyin Pavilion are quite good, and I gladly accept them. The books in your inner quarters are also very good, and I gladly accept them as well. Thank you for collecting these books for me,” Peng Gang said with a smile.

The guards escorting Chang Dachun were also very clever. They lifted Chang Dachun up like a chick, making him watch helplessly as the men brought by Peng Gang carried out his life's treasures from the inner courtyard, box after box.

For someone like Chang Dachun, who is obsessed with books, it's easy to break his spirit and make him lose his guard.

He learned that the tall, burly young man in front of him was Peng Gang, the short-haired bandit leader who had raided his home and stolen all his books from his hometown in Hengyang.

Chang Dachun struggled violently, roaring hysterically, "You are Peng Gang! I will kill you! Kill you! Those are my books! My books! Can you peasants even read books? Do you deserve to own these books? It's a terrible waste! Put them down! Put them down! Give me back my books! Give me back my books!"

“I am more deserving of these books than you. Good books should not be kept on high shelves or collected by a single family.” Peng Gang waved his hand, signaling the guards in the East Hall to take Chang Dachun away. He then turned to Yang Xiuqing and asked.

"What does Fourth Brother plan to do with Chang the Demon?"

Chang Dachun, his wife Liu, his son Chang Jisong, his daughter-in-law Ma, and his granddaughter Chang Shuying were all captured by the Taiping Army.

“Chang Yaotou’s crimes are heinous. Many of the martial arts practitioners have joined our Heavenly Kingdom. I must give an explanation to the new martial arts practitioners. If this family is not severely punished, it will not be enough to appease the anger of the martial arts people,” Yang Xiuqing said without hesitation.

To be honest, the situation in Wuchang was somewhat unexpected for Yang Xiuqing.

Based on past experience, the larger and wealthier a city is, the deeper the hostility of the local people towards the Taiping Army.

The enthusiasm and eagerness of the people of Wuchang to join the Taiping Army were beyond the expectations of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's leaders.

Yang Xiuqing now even has the idea of ​​opening a preaching center in Wuchang and personally going there to preach and spread his teachings.

This was partly due to Chang Dachun and Shuang Fu breaking their promise and setting fire to the outer city of Wuchang.

However, Peng Gang believes that the deeper reason lies in the fact that after leaving Hunan, the Taiping Army had gained momentum and was poised to sweep across the country and change the dynasty, which attracted many speculators.

"Fourth Brother is wise!"

Peng Gang agreed with Yang Xiuqing's handling of Chang Dachun's family.

Just then, Yang Xiuqing's strategist, Qian Jiang, brought several local scholars to see Yang Xiuqing.

Most of these scholars came to join Yang Xiuqing.

Peng Gang wanted to discuss the next strategic plan with Yang Xiuqing, but it was not convenient for him to stay any longer. He bid farewell to Yang Xiuqing and prepared to return to Hanyang to handle the affairs of the North Palace.

(End of this chapter)