1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 284 On the right track
"Last year, the actual amount of silver collected from the population of Huangmei County was 2,661 taels, 4 mace, 6 fen, and 3 li. Huangmei County had approximately 240,000 people. Although there are some discrepancies, the figures are roughly correct."

Yang Xun pondered for a long time and estimated the population data of Huangmei County, while adding his own insights.

"Of course, this is last year's figure. Last month, the Taiping Heavenly Army passed through Huangmei County and took away about 30% of the people in Huangmei County."

The situation in Huangmei County was different from that in Wuchang Prefecture. Wuchang Prefecture had many wealthy counties, and the villagers were reluctant to leave their hometowns and longed to return. Many people were willing to risk returning.

Huangmei County was barren and its people impoverished; many voluntarily joined the Taiping Heavenly Army, and few returned home.

At this point, Yang Xun paused, glancing at Peng Gang out of the corner of his eye.

Although household registration statistics existed in the Qing Dynasty, the statistical technology of that era was limited.

In addition, the household registration statistics in the Qing Dynasty focused on taxation rather than actual conditions, only caring about the money collected in the end, making it difficult to obtain accurate population data. It was a common practice to infer the population estimate from the tax revenue.

According to the customary conversion of Dingyin (a unit of currency) in Hubei, approximately one tael of Dingyin corresponded to eighty to one hundred people.

Yang Xun was a clever man. Peng Gang's special inquiry into Huangmei County's population, land data, and tax situation was mostly to gather information about Huangmei County in preparation for tax collection.

Since he is still the magistrate of Huangmei County, he should truthfully inform Peng Gang of the actual situation in Huangmei County.

If he only reports good news and hides bad news in order to please Peng Gang, and then taxes Huangmei County based on a population of 240,000, he will have no recourse.

"Continue," Peng Gang said expressionlessly, gesturing for Yang Xun to continue.

Military commanders of all regiments, battalions, and companies of the Left Army were required to report the local situation to Wuchang upon entering the area, and Hou Jiyong, deputy commander of the Fourth Regiment, was no exception.

Hou Jiyong reported to Peng Gang that the Eastern Palace had taken about 20% of the population from Huangmei County, the most in Huangzhou Prefecture, which was not much different from Yang Xun's statement.

"Huangmei County originally had more than 27,300 hectares of farmland and ponds, and more than 36,500 shi of rice and wheat. The summer tax on wheat and silk was included in the autumn grain tax, which was converted into a total of more than 28,133 taels of silver."

In addition, there was an additional tax levied on rice transported by donkeys (a surcharge on grain transport), equivalent to more than 1,134 taels of silver. The total amount levied was more than 29,268 taels of silver.

The actual amount of silver collected under the population tax was 2,661 taels and a little over. The total amount of silver collected under the grain tax and population tax was 31,929 taels and a little over. This is the amount of the regular land tax in Huangmei County.

In addition, there are two other items: grain transported to the capital and grain stored in the south for military and civilian use in the province. These two items are not converted into silver but are only taxed as grain.

Of these, more than 2,800 shi of grain were transported from the Grand Canal, and more than 9,400 shi of grain were transported from the south.

The remaining items, such as reed tax, miscellaneous taxes on lakeshores, and silver for artisans, totaled less than eight hundred taels.

Peng Gang roughly understood that the Qing government could still extract more than 32,000 taels of silver and more than 10,000 shi of grain from Huangmei County, a poor county in Hubei Province, every year.

As Peng Gang was pondering, Yang Xun suddenly knelt down before him again and pleaded, "This autumn harvest, most of the rice and wheat in Huangmei County were harvested by the Taiping Army, leaving the people of Huangmei County with no means of livelihood for next year."

“I know you’re overthinking it. You don’t need to worry about taxes for the next two years,” Peng Gang said.

The autumn harvest is over, and even if we had enough manpower, it would be too late to recruit more.

Wuchang Prefecture and Huangzhou Prefecture were severely affected by the war and need time to recover. Peng Gang does not intend to levy taxes on these two prefectures immediately.

"On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of lives in Huangmei County, your humble servant thanks Your Highness!" Yang Xun breathed a long sigh of relief.

Huangmei County has just experienced war, and the local people are known for their fierce nature. If they are not given any time to recuperate and taxes are levied immediately, it will most likely lead to civil unrest.

At that time, Yang Xun, as the magistrate of Huangmei County, would certainly be held accountable.

“I’ve always heard that land rent in Hubei is very high, generally around 60% or 70%, and in some places it’s even over 80%, especially in poor counties like Huangmei County.” Peng Gang mentioned land rent in Hubei, “The people of Huangmei County are struggling to make ends meet. I exempted the people of Huangmei County from taxes for two years out of consideration for their hardship. I don’t want the tax exemption I gave to benefit the local bigwigs in Huangmei County.”

Peng Gang knew exactly what kind of person the master was, so he exempted Huangmei County from taxes for the following year.

I'm afraid that once the news gets back to Huangmei County, the local landlords will start scrambling to increase next year's rent, trying to squeeze even more of the taxes he waived into their own pockets.

The number of people Dongdian took from Huangmei County was the highest in Huangzhou Prefecture. Some people from Huangmei County even joined the Taiping Army voluntarily, indicating that this place was a good source of soldiers.

Peng Gang exempted Huangmei County from taxes for a year, with the direct aim of winning the hearts of the people of Huangmei County so that he could recruit soldiers from Huangmei County in the future.

He did not want this move to benefit local bigwigs for nothing.

"Your Highness wants to reduce rent?" Yang Xun guessed Peng Gang's intention and looked troubled. "Since ancient times, it has been difficult for government orders to leave the county. Forcing the people to reduce rent is as difficult as climbing to heaven."

"Just because it's always been this way, does that make it right?" Peng Gang said coldly. "Today, I'm going to break this long-standing, broken rule. Magistrate Yang pleaded for the people of Huangmei County, asking me to postpone the collection of taxes from Huangmei County, but he's making excuses about reducing rent. Does he think I'm easier to bully than the wealthy households in Huangmei County?"

"Your Highness dares not," Yang Xun hurriedly replied. "I wonder by how much Your Highness wishes to reduce the rent?"

"I hope you mean what you say," Peng Gang said with a gloomy face. "I will charge you a maximum of 30% rent. I will send some of my students to assist you in this matter, and Hou Jiyong will also help you. Just go ahead and do it boldly."

Peng Gang had been planning the rent reduction policy for a long time, and it was a land policy that ran parallel to the principle of "land to the tiller".

Limited by manpower, the only time the "land to the tiller" policy has been implemented in Jiangxia County is before the land survey is completed. Peng Gang's goal is to complete the land redistribution policy in at least Jiangxia County before next year's spring planting.

It will take time for the policy to be fully implemented. During this period, rent reduction is the most direct and effective way to gain the support of farmers in other prefectures and counties and benefit farmers, especially tenant farmers.

"Your subject obeys the decree!" Peng Gang's attitude was resolute, and since he had put it this way, Yang Xun had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the task.

After Yang Xun left, Peng Gang met with Zuo Zongtang in Xihua Hall, who had come to report on the progress of the clearing of fields in Jiangxia County.

The land survey in Jiangxia was personally supervised by Zuo Zongtang.

For the past two weeks, Zuo Zongtang has been extremely busy in Qingtian, and Peng Gang hasn't seen Zuo Zongtang for seven or eight days.

"Nearly half of the farmland in Jiangxia County has been cleared and surveyed, and the land registers are being copied and kept in the township registers. In no more than two weeks, the survey registers for Jiangxia County will be completed." As he entered the West Flower Hall, Zuo Zongtang, whose skin was tanned even darker by the sun, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a slight pant.

Peng Gang glanced at Zuo Zongtang's mud-stained trouser legs and the hem of his robe.

Needless to say, Zuo Zongtang must have been running around in the fields and villages these days.

"Please have a seat, sir. At this rate, with each county being divided into ten-tenths of a mu (a unit of land measurement) every month, we will not only be able to complete the equal distribution of land in Jiangxia County before next spring's planting season, but we can also begin clearing the land in Hanyang County." Peng Gang nodded with satisfaction; he was quite pleased with this progress.

The "zhangce" (丈册) is a type of draft register. The "yulince" (鱼鳞册) (land registration map) and "guihuce" (归户册) (tax register) are compiled based on the zhangce produced during the land survey.

"More than 140 people are responsible for clearing the land. Jiangxia County is right under Your Highness's nose, and most of the land in Jiangxia County is unclaimed, so it will naturally be easier to survey the land in Jiangxia County." Zuo Zongtang took the tea handed to him by Li Ruzhao and took a sip to moisten his throat.

"Thanks to His Highness's protection, fewer people in Hanyang County were taken away. Most of the land in Hanyang was already owned. Clearing land in Hanyang was not as easy and smooth as in Jiangxia County."

"Who stood out during this land clearing operation?" Peng Gang asked Zuo Zongtang.

Currently, most official positions in the areas under Peng Gang's rule remain vacant. Order is maintained by the local garrison troops, while civil administration is temporarily handled by military officers.

Military rule in local areas is ultimately just a temporary measure; Peng Gang cannot relinquish local administrative power to the military indefinitely.

Ultimately, local administrative officials will be selected from the Jiangxia Qingdi Team, a group with relatively high cultural literacy and some administrative experience.

"Overall, the performance of the forty students from His Highness's Academy was truly impressive, especially Jiang Zhongxin and Tan Shaoguang. Their two groups cleared the land both quickly and in large quantities," Zuo Zongtang said without hesitation.

"Where are Liu Dian and Wang Xutao?" Peng Gang was quite surprised. Zuo Zongtang was straightforward and not a sycophant. He wouldn't exaggerate the performance of Peng Gang's students in such a matter of principle just to flatter Peng Gang.

"Many of your and Mr. Wang's students have served in the Sixth Division of their respective counties and participated in the county's major and minor examinations, so how could they be inferior to Tan Shaoguang and the others?" Peng Gang asked.

"Liu Dian and Wang Xutao did indeed serve as minor officials, and they were responsible for land surveys. Land surveys require teamwork. However, in terms of teamwork, my students and Mr. Wang's students are not as good as the students who graduated from His Highness's third-term academy."

"The students who come out of His Highness's academy are far inferior to the students from Hunan in terms of academic ability, and they don't even know all the characters very well. However, His Highness's students are all obedient to their group leaders and rarely quarrel. If there is a dispute, they will hold a meeting to discuss it," Zuo Zongtang replied.

“For example, Liu Dian is too eager to show off and doesn’t consider the feelings of his team members, so they all have complaints about him. Wang Xutao is a bit better.”

"I understand." Peng Gang secretly made a mental note of the matter and mentioned Liu Rong's situation to Zuo Zongtang.

"Liu Rong and Xiao Liang have economic talent, and it would be a real shame to keep them hidden. I want to follow the model of military academies and establish an administrative academy. I would like to invite Liu Rong to be a lecturer and teach the study of governance."

Mr. Zuo has a connection with Liu Rong; I wonder if Mr. Zuo could act as an intermediary?

Liu Rong made significant contributions to governance, education, people's livelihood, and public security, especially in governance. While serving as a staff member for Zhu Sunyi, the magistrate of Xiangxiang County, Liu Rong assisted him in reforming the county's administration, reforming the tax collection system, abolishing the use of clerks as intermediaries, and improving tax collection efficiency without increasing the burden on the county's farmers.

As a result, Zhu Sunyi's performance evaluation ranked him among the top county magistrates in Hunan, and Liu Rong was always relied upon by Zhu Sunyi as his right-hand man during his tenure.

With only the current 140 or so people, it would take forever to completely survey the four prefectures currently under the control of the Northern Palace.

Peng Gang cannot rely solely on these people; he must find ways to train and expand a team of officials who are literate, capable of basic administrative work, and relatively incorruptible.

Peng Gang now only regrets the lack of manpower and wishes he could split himself into two people.

It's such a waste to leave a talented person like Liu Rong imprisoned and idle.

Peng Gang hoped that Zuo Zongtang could persuade Liu Rong to serve as a lecturer at the Administrative School.

"The Jiangxia land clearing project is on track, and my burden is not so heavy anymore. I should step forward and offer some advice." Zuo Zongtang also felt sorry for Liu Rong and readily agreed.

Inside the East Warm Pavilion of the Forbidden City in Beijing, a thousand miles away.

Emperor Xianfeng's face was ashen as he silently perused the secret reports submitted by his servants.

Bandits in western Guangdong ravaged Hunan and Hubei, and their influence spread to southern China.

The provincial capital of Hubei, Wuchang, has been captured, and the Manchu city of Jingzhou has fallen. All four thousand Manchu soldiers in Jingzhou, along with their families and bondsers, perished. Now, the provincial capital of Anhui, Anqing, is also in imminent danger.

These increasingly explosive pieces of news arrived one after another, leaving Emperor Xianfeng breathless with pressure.

This is something that has never happened since the Revolt of the Three Feudatories.

Thinking of this, Emperor Xianfeng's hands trembled uncontrollably as he flipped through the secret memorials.

He always felt that even God was against him.

The most ferocious rebels in the two hundred years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, they didn't start their uprising earlier or later, but they did so precisely when he ascended the throne.

This diminished much of his initial ambition to revitalize the nation when he first ascended the throne.

How can we talk about a revival of the Qing Dynasty if the bandits in western Guangdong are not eliminated? How can we expect the Qing Dynasty to last for ten thousand years?
After reading He Chun's secret memorial, Emperor Xianfeng's gaze fell on a thick stack of memorials on his right.

Emperor Xianfeng, however, showed no intention of reading these memorials.

These memorials were urgent reports sent by officials and ministers of all ranks in the Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui regions.

He had seen too many memorials submitted by officials at all levels.

Emperor Xianfeng could now roughly guess the contents of a memorial simply by looking at who submitted it.

The memorials submitted by people from the Hunan and Hubei regions were mostly reports of victory, complaints, and requests for provisions and pay.

The contents were nothing more than reports of how many Taiping rebels and short-haired rebels the government troops had killed, and reports of the cunning and ruthlessness of the Taiping rebels and short-haired rebels, as well as reports of a critical shortage of money and provisions, requesting the allocation of funds and pay.

The memorials from Jiangxi and Anhui were urgent requests for assistance.

In the year or so since his ascension to the throne, Emperor Xianfeng not only learned how to quickly review memorials, but also saw through the true nature of his officials.

Since the uprising of the rebels in western Guangdong, the imperial court has spent more than ten million taels of silver on military expenses, yet the rebels in western Guangdong have only grown stronger and more numerous with each suppression.

This resulted in the loss of several high-ranking officials, including imperial envoys, governors, admirals, and generals.

Not only did they lose important towns like Jingzhou, Mancheng, and the three towns of Wuhan, but they also allowed the bandits in western Guangdong to easily reach Anqing.

Those lackeys and servants under his command actually had the nerve to report a victory!

Emperor Xianfeng became increasingly depressed as he thought about it.

"Your Majesty, this is a memorial from Imperial Commissioner Sai Shang'a, and from Prefects Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Mengqun."

Grand Secretary Su Shun quietly approached the East Warm Pavilion with the memorials from Sai Shang'a, Jiang Zhongyuan, and Li Mengqun, and spoke in a low voice.

“Li Mengqun obtained the proclamation from the bandits in western Guangdong and some filthy songs sung by the short-haired bandits. The content of the proclamation posted by the bandits and the songs they sang was extremely disgusting. This servant is worried that these filthy things will offend Your Majesty’s eyes. It would be better if Your Majesty did not look at them.”

After nearly two years on the throne, Emperor Xianfeng had gradually gained control of the court.

The Qing court has completed a power reshuffle, the powerful Mu Party has fallen, and the current chief Grand Councilor is Qi Junzao, while the Imperial Tutor Group, led by Du Shoutian, has gained power.

Su Shun, the seventh-generation descendant of Prince Zheng Xian, Jirhalang, and the sixth son of Prince Zheng Shen, Wuergong'a, is showing signs of replacing Mu Zhang'a's original position and is currently one of the most trusted relatives and important officials of Emperor Xianfeng.

Su Shun was originally just a third-rank Assistant General, one of the Eight Banners youths who spent their days walking birds and drinking wine and women in the streets of the capital.

At the beginning of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Su Shun was well-versed in Chinese studies and knowledgeable about history, customs, advantages, and disadvantages. He was favored by two former incompetent princes and important officials, namely his elder brother, Prince Zheng Duanhua, and Prince Yi Zaiyuan, who took him in as an assistant to handle government affairs.

Su Shun was not only efficient in his work, but also bold and decisive. He was not afraid of offending the Manchus and had a good relationship with Han officials. He quickly attracted the attention of Emperor Xianfeng and was promoted to Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet.

"How could anything be more unbearable than these memorials on my desk?" Emperor Xianfeng said impatiently.

"Send it up!"

The names of Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Mengqun were recorded on his screen. They were among the few talents who dared to take on responsibilities and were capable of suppressing the bandits in western Guangdong since the uprising began. They were new officials of the new dynasty who were carefully examined and promoted by Emperor Xianfeng.

In the past, the memorials submitted by Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Mengqun were all substantial.

The main channels through which Emperor Xianfeng obtained effective information about the Taiping Army, besides the secret reports sent by the lackeys on the front lines of the bandit suppression, were the reports from Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Mengqun.

The short-haired are more ferocious than the long-haired. They are skilled in both naval and land warfare. The long-haired and short-haired are not one and the same. The short-haired do not believe in these religious beliefs.

It was mostly Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Mengqun who informed Emperor Xianfeng.

"Whoo."

Su Shun presented the memorials of Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Mengqun to Emperor Xianfeng.

Even though Su Shun had given Emperor Xianfeng a heads-up, Emperor Xianfeng was already mentally prepared.

However, upon opening Li Mengqun's memorial and clearly seeing the "Song of Expelling the Manchus" that Li Mengqun had copied onto the memorial, and the content of Yang Xiuqing and Peng Gang's proclamation about expelling the Manchus and restoring China, one would find...

Emperor Xianfeng, already depressed, suddenly felt dizzy and nearly fainted.

Previously, when I learned that the Taiping rebels referred to the Manchu officials and soldiers as "Qing demons" and called him "Emperor Xianfeng the Demon Head," I was deeply moved.

Emperor Xianfeng was furious, but not to the point of breaking down his defenses.

The words "Tartars" stung Emperor Xianfeng deeply.

Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the only man who could respond to his ministers' memorials was the Emperor Yongzheng. This angered the Emperor so much that he wrote the extraordinary book "The Great Righteousness Awakens from Delusion," intending to dispel rumors and argue that regardless of Chinese or foreign origin, only the virtuous could rule the world. However, Yongzheng inadvertently confirmed numerous political rumors and exposed palace secrets and royal scandals to the public.

The other Manchu emperors, especially Emperor Kangxi (Yongzheng's father) and Emperor Qianlong (his son), were extremely secretive about their barbarian identity.

The poem "Song of Expelling the Manchus" was sharp and incisive, cursing all the emperors of the Aisin Gioro clan throughout their lineage. It enraged Emperor Xianfeng, who trembled with rage and wished he could grind all the Manchus to dust.

"master!"

Upon seeing this, Su Shun quickly stepped forward to help Emperor Xianfeng up.

"I am fine!" Emperor Xianfeng said through gritted teeth, struggling to support himself on the imperial desk.

"The long-haired rebels are detestable, but the short-haired rebels are even more detestable! Is there not a single one of my court officials who can control the short-haired rebels?! Where is Sai Shang'a?"

(End of this chapter)