1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 30 Upper Dongtang (Part 2)
The person who led Peng Gang into the courtyard was Ma Binghou Jiyong, the leader of the patrol team.

Hou Jiyong was also a Hakka, but he was not a Hakka from Xunzhou Prefecture; he came from Longzhou Hall in Taiping Prefecture.

A "ting" was an administrative unit in the Qing Dynasty that stood between a prefecture and a county, and was mostly located in border regions.

The hall can be further divided into the directly subordinate hall and the scattered hall.

A Zhili Subprefecture was directly under the Provincial Administration Commission (a provincial-level administrative unit) and was on the same level as a prefecture, but its jurisdiction was usually smaller or located in a special position, such as Xiamen Subprefecture and Danshui Subprefecture in Fujian Province, and Songtao Subprefecture in Guizhou Province.

Santing was subordinate to a prefecture or directly governed state, and its status was equivalent to that of a county. However, its management functions were more complex than those of a county. It usually had to undertake some functions such as border control and management of aboriginal people, such as Tengyueting in Yunnan, Lifanting in Sichuan, and Xiaozhenanting in Guangxi.

Hou Jiyong's hometown was Longzhou Hall, which belonged to Taiping Prefecture.

Longzhou Hall is located on the border between Qing and Yue, and is very close to the famous Zhennanguan Pass.

Thanks to their shared ethnic identity and Peng Gang's remarkable performance in the face of danger, the two hit it off quite well on the way.

According to Hou Jiyong, Shangdongtang was a newly established outpost, and most of the outpost soldiers were mountain people who had lived in the area for generations. They had only joined the Green Standard Army five or six years ago.

Only he, Xie Bin (an external commissioner), and two musket operators were veterans of the Green Standard Army from Zuojiang Town.

During the tenure of Chen Liansheng, the former deputy general of Sanjiangkou in Guangdong, as the commander of Zuojiang Town, they were favored by Chen Liansheng and promoted to personal guards.

As Chen Liansheng was transferred to Guangdong as a guerrilla commander in Lianyang Battalion and a military officer in Zengcheng Battalion, they also went to Guangdong together.

During the First Opium War, Chen Liansheng's Green Standard Army was almost completely wiped out in the Battle of Shajiao Fort, and Chen Liansheng and his son died one after another.

At that time, Xie Bin, the battalion commander, led the three fellow villagers who had survived the British gunfire back to Guangxi.

Without the protection of Chen Liansheng and his son, they returned to Guangxi and became homeless dogs, unable to return to the army.

After several twists and turns, and with the help of many people, he was finally able to put on the military uniform again.

This story, with its many twists and turns, is quite intriguing.

If Peng Gang's guess is correct, during this period of inactivity, Xie Bin must have led them to become outlaws, robbed some money to raise enough funds for bribes, and then re-registered as members of the Communist Party.

Hou Jiyong asked Peng Gang to wait in the yard for a moment, while he went straight to the stable and whispered something to a strong man who was cleaning the horse's body and combing its mane with a pig bristle brush.

Although Hou Jiyong was a cavalryman, his meager salary was far from enough to support his horses. For Hou Jiyong, the title of cavalryman was more of a title in name only.

The Qing army had specific rations for the feed supply to its warhorses. The Eight Banners warhorses were supplied with nine dou of black beans and sixty bundles of hay per month, while the Green Standard Army horses received half that amount.

Although withholding horse rations was a serious crime under the Qing Dynasty law, punishable by eighty strokes of the cane for minor offenses and exile for major offenses, it was an open secret in the army that withheld horse rations.

Hou Jiyong would only try to rent a decent horse to fool his superiors during the rare autumn inspections in order to keep his actual vacancy as a cavalryman.

The small but well-cared-for native Guangxi horse in the stable does not belong to Hou Jiyong, but to Xie Bin, who is outsourced to the stable.

In the entire Shangdongtang area, only Xie Bin has the ability to barely afford to raise a native Guangxi horse.

The Qing government had a horse administration office in Guangxi and set up an official horse farm in Liuzhou to provide military horses for the local garrison.

In the later years of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, the horse administration in Guangxi fell into disrepair, and the Guangxi Green Standard Army relied on purchasing its warhorses from local chieftains and horse traders.

The local chieftains generally sold local horses from Guangxi to the Green Standard Army, while horse traders mostly sold Sichuan and Yunnan horses to the Green Standard Army.

The native horse in the stable must have been bought by Xie Bin from the chieftain.

"Are you Peng Tantou from Lianhuaping? Have you already met with Battalion Commander Chen?"

After listening to Hou Jiyong's introduction, Xie Bin, dressed in casual clothes, put down the boar bristle brush in his hand, slowly turned around, and looked Peng Gang up and down with suspicion.

The ownership of Lianhuaping still belongs to Qiu Gusan. Peng Gang only rented the mountain area from Qiu Gusan and, strictly speaking, cannot be considered the owner of the mountain area.

There was nothing wrong with Xie Bin calling Peng Gang "Charcoal Head," but Peng Gang always felt that the name sounded a bit strange.

"Peng Tantou visited Chen Bazong."

Seeing that Xie Bin had doubts about Peng Gang's identity, Qin the carpenter interjected.

Xie Bin's furniture was also made by carpenters from Bitanxun, and he recognized the carpenter, Qin.

There was no need for Qin the carpenter to deceive him on this matter. Hearing Qin the carpenter say this, Xie Bin finally dispelled his doubts.

“Honglianping and Shangdongtang are only a few hills apart. From now on, we’ll be neighbors who see each other all the time. I hope Commander Xie can take care of us.” As he spoke, Peng Gang stepped forward and handed Xie Bin a heavy ingot of five taels and ninety-three taels of Guangding silver.

This kid knows how to handle things.

Xie Bin weighed the rather heavy silver nail in his hand, then put it into his sleeve with great satisfaction.

Unlike Bitan Xun, there's almost no profit to be made at Shangdongtang.

Although there were seven positions available for nominal salaries at Shangdongtang, these positions were prioritized for the deputy commanders of the detachment and the officers of the battalion. After the officers of the detachment and battalion had finished their salaries, Chen Xingwang, the garrison commander of Bitan, still had to accept two more nominal salaries.

Xie Bin could only actually receive one position as a "ghost employee".

Xie Bin used almost all of the rations he received without paying them to feed his beloved horse.

Five taels of silver was a large sum of money for him; it was the largest bribe he had received in all the years he had been in Shangdongtang.

As a low-ranking officer at the very bottom of the DPP system, Xie Bin wasn't even considered a senior officer.

His treatment was only slightly better than that of the cavalry.

Xie Bin's official salary was eighteen taels a year, including office allowance (red paper money), living allowance (candle and charcoal silver), two taels and four mace of deducted silver per year, as well as the salary of a Green Standard Army garrison soldier and the personal grain of an infantryman.

Even with full payment, Xie Bin's annual income was less than 44 taels. In reality, Xie Bin could only receive about 28 or 29 taels of silver each year.

As for the system of "integrity allowance" established in the sixth year of Yongzheng's reign (1728), Yongzheng made it very clear: the integrity allowance was established to alleviate the suffering of civil officials, while military officials were not allowed to enjoy the same benefits.

However, later, military officers also had a similar income called "integrity allowance," which was established during the Yongzheng era and was called "personal grain allowance" (supplementary grain allowance) to specifically support the personal guards of military officers.

The quota for grain rations decreased sequentially according to the official rank and grade.

The Admiral has 80 quotas for food rations, the General has 60 quotas, the Deputy General has 30 quotas, the Assistant General has 20 quotas, the Lieutenant Colonel has 15 quotas, the Commander-in-Chief has 10 quotas, the Garrison Commander has 8 quotas, the Captain has 5 quotas, the Battalion Commander has 4 quotas, and the Outer Commissioner has 1 quota.

There are many intricacies involved in allocating provisions. For example, even with the same number of provisions, the number of infantrymen and cavalrymen, and the number of combat soldiers and garrison soldiers, can differ by about two times.

Senior military officers can receive more salaries without actually working, and they have more ways to make money. For them, the accompanying grain rations are not a very important source of income; they are dispensable. Few senior military officers care whether the accompanying grain rations are for horses or for foot soldiers.

Xie Bin, on the other hand, was a low-level officer who had few ways to make money and was more concerned about whether his horse or foot soldier pay was the same as his rations.

In the southern regions, Green Standard Army officers mostly received their rations as foot pay.

To put it bluntly, Xie Bin's total income, both overt and covert, throughout the year is less than what Peng Gang, a wealthy farmer, earns from farming in a year.

"So you're a new neighbor. Commander Chen is my superior. Since you've met Commander Chen before, I'll naturally do my best to serve you," Xie Binxian said slowly.

Do your best?

Doing your best isn't enough; I'm counting on you to do your utmost.

Judging from Xie Bin's attitude and reaction, he only just realized that Peng Gang, a new neighbor, had come to Honglianping.

Peng Gang couldn't help but curse Chen Xingwang in his heart as a treacherous merchant who took the money but didn't do anything and had no credibility whatsoever.

He had already fed Chen Xingwang five taels of silver.

Five taels of silver wasn't much, but Chen Xingwang's refusal to even mention it to Xie Bin was really unfair.

Consider those five taels of silver as feeding the dogs.

Peng Gang thought to himself.

That's what he thought, but the thought of throwing five taels of silver into a dog's mouth and not even getting a yelp in return still left Peng Gang feeling very uneasy.

He turned around, took the bamboo basket off his uncle Xiao Guoda's back, put it on the ground, and said to Xie Bin, "Meat is hard to find in the mountains. This pig leg is specially prepared for Commander Xie. The other dozen or so catties of meat are prepared for the generals in the pond. I hope the generals will not find it offensive."

Chen Xingwang from Bitan Xun is definitely not reliable, and he hasn't had time to train those half-grown boys from Honglianping yet, so they are not yet capable of being of great use.

The only outside help they can rely on right now is probably Captain Xie from Shangdongtang and his ten soldiers.

I wonder if this Mr. Xie is also the type to take money and not do anything.

Upon hearing that they were also in a position, the three soldiers in the courtyard looked at Peng Gang with eager eyes.

Xie Bin didn't keep the meat to himself; he shared all the meat, which weighed over ten kilograms, in the bamboo basket.

After dividing the meat, Xie Bin called his wife to carry the smoked pork leg into the kitchen to cook a simple meal for Peng Gang.

There were cooks in the pond who were in charge of the soldiers' meals, but Xie Bin preferred the food cooked by his wife.

Seeing that Xie Bin's wife was taking care of two children around ten years old, Peng Gang took out a few pieces of candy from his satchel and gave them to the two children.

Xie Bin's two children were quite well-mannered; they didn't accept the candy immediately, but instead stared at Xie Bin expectantly until he nodded. Only then did the two children thank him and accept Peng Gang's candy.

"Thank you so much for your kindness." Xie Bin nodded slightly to Peng Gang in thanks.

Previously, when Peng Gang gave Xie Bin money and meat, Xie Bin only nodded in understanding without saying a word of thanks. However, when Peng Gang gave his child a few pieces of candy, Xie Bin specifically expressed his gratitude.

(End of this chapter)