1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 371 The Entire Hubei
"The eternal sinners of the Qing Dynasty, are they not also the heroes of the Heavenly Kingdom?" Hai Ying sneered and waved her hand.

The dozens of strong militiamen and yamen runners brought by Haiying did not bow upon entering the hall. Instead, they quickly dispersed and surrounded Luo Raodian and his associates.

The strong local militia and the robust constables from Xiangyang looked at Luo Raodian and his men with rather hostile eyes.

Haiying herself abandoned her usual humble and cautious demeanor, standing ramrod straight with a complex yet resolute expression on her face.

Luo Raodian defended Xiangyang with the mindset of dying with the city, while Haiying's loyalty to the Qing court was not as high as Luo Raodian's.

Chonglun, a Manchu official from the Plain Yellow Banner in Hubei, did not care about the gains or losses of Xiangfan. Before the Northern Army even reached Xiangfan, he abandoned Xiangfan and fled north ahead of time, disappearing without a trace.

Why are these Han officials risking their lives?

After joining the Northern Palace, Zuo Zongtang, Liu Qixian, Yang Xun, and others all prospered.

Given the current situation in Xiangyang, offering a pledge of allegiance to the Northern Palace and protecting one's family and advisors is not such a bad option.

"Haiying? What do you mean by this?"

Hai Ying's words made Luo Raodian's heart sink, his pupils contracted sharply, and he involuntarily tightened his grip on the sword hanging at his waist. Several of Luo Raodian's personal guards also sensed something was wrong and immediately protected Luo Raodian.

"Lord Luo, the outer city has fallen, and General Shao has surrendered. The inner city is vulnerable and cannot be defended alone. Continuing to resist will only lead to death. For the sake of all the people of Xiangyang, and to prevent this ancient city from being ravaged." At this point, Haiying paused, took a deep breath, and said something that shocked Luo Raodian.

"Your Excellency, I humbly beg you, for the sake of the people, to cease hostilities and accept our surrender."

"Surrender?"

Luo Raodian looked at Hai Ying in disbelief, unable to believe that the prefect of Xiangyang, who was known for his composure and competence, would utter such treasonous and shameless words.

"You...you want me to surrender to those rebels? Haiying, have you lost your mind?!"

"I am perfectly sober," Hai Ying said calmly, meeting Luo Raodian's gaze with composure.

"The tide has turned; further casualties will be of no use. Zuo Jigao and Liu Binghuai have already surrendered, and the Northern King comes from a family of good farmers and scholars; he is not a heinous villain. Lord Luo, those who understand the times are wise!"

"Bullshit!" Luo Raodian was completely enraged, veins bulging on his forehead, pointing at Hai Ying's nose and cursing loudly.

"Haiying! You shameless scoundrel! You ungrateful traitor! The court has treated you well, and I have never wronged you, yet you dare... dare to collude with the short-haired rebels and betray the court!"

Luo Raodian trembled with rage, his voice growing increasingly shrill: "Have you wasted all the Confucian classics you've studied? Where is your loyalty, righteousness, and sense of shame?! Do you deserve the Emperor's great favor? Do you deserve the honor of your Hai family ancestors?!"

"And you too!" As he continued his tirade, Luo Raodian turned to the militia and yamen runners who had followed Hai Ying, "Do you all want your entire families executed for following this traitor in his rebellion?!"

Faced with Luo Raodian's overwhelming anger and harsh rebukes, a fleeting hint of shame flashed across Haiying's face, but it was quickly replaced by a fierce expression.

He knew that once the arrow was released, there was no turning back; he either wouldn't do it at all, or he would go all the way.

"Lord Luo, forgive me!" Hai Ying said no more, and abruptly waved her hand, "Take him down!"

"Protect the master!" Luo Raodian's personal guards drew their swords, ready to fight.

Since Haiying dared to use Luo Raodian as a pledge of loyalty, she must have made thorough preparations.

He brought only his most trusted confidants, and they outnumbered him.

In an instant, a fierce firefight broke out in the lobby.

Although Luo Raodian's personal guards were brave and fierce, they were ultimately outnumbered and fell one after another in pools of blood.

Although Luo Raodian himself was over sixty years old and a civil official, he still showed his courage in the face of danger, drawing his sword to stop the militia and yamen runners who rushed towards him.

However, one's fists are no match for four hands, and he was quickly tackled to the ground by several militia officers, who held him down and took his knife away.

"Hai Ying! Traitor! Scoundrel! You will die a horrible death!"

Luo Raodian, pinned to the ground, struggled fiercely, his eyes blazing with fury, and continued to curse angrily.

"Even as a ghost, I will not let you go! When the imperial army arrives, I will tear you to pieces!"

Luo Raodian never expected that he would not die in battle on the walls of Xiangyang, nor die for his principles in the government office, but would instead fall at the hands of the prefect of Xiangyang whom he trusted.

This anger of betrayal burned like poisonous fire within him.

"Ho...ho..."

Luo Raodian's curses gradually turned into painful gasps. His face turned from red to purplish-red, and his eyes widened as he stared intently at Hai Ying.

Suddenly, Luo Raodian coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body convulsed violently a few times, then his head lolled to the side and he lay still. His eyes, filled with boundless hatred and resentment, remained open until his death.

The lobby fell silent instantly, with only heavy breathing remaining.

A constable checked Luo Raodian's breath, shook his head, and reported, "Your Excellency, Luo... Luo Raodian... he's not breathing! It seems he suffered a stroke..."

Hai Ying was taken aback. He quickly stepped forward and knelt down to examine the body closely. Luo Raodian was indeed dead.

"Dead? How could he... just die like that?" Haiying murmured to herself, her voice filled with regret.

Luo Raodian was originally his most important pledge of allegiance and a stepping stone to advancement, in addition to surrendering the city.

But now Luo Raodian is dead, he was so angry with him that he died.

A dead Luo Raodian is far less valuable than a living one. At best, it can be considered as eliminating stubborn enemies, which is far less meritorious than capturing him alive and persuading him to surrender.

Luo Raodian was the backbone of the remaining militia and Green Standard Army in Xiangyang.

With Luo Raodian dead, the situation in Xiangyang was hopeless.

Haiying contacted the Northern Palace army, which had already occupied the outer city of Xiangyang, to enter Xiangyang and take over the city. They purged the remaining enemy forces within the city, followed the precedent of Fancheng, and controlled Xiangyang. Haiying then dispatched a fast horse to Wuchang to report the victory.

Peng Gang was overjoyed to receive the news that Xiangfan had been captured.

Peng Gang was not only pleased with the capture of Xiangfan itself, but also with the addition of several generals under his command who were capable of independently leading troops into battle. This was even more gratifying than the capture of Xiangfan.

As promised, Peng Gang instructed Peng Yong to lead a regiment of new recruits northward along the Han River to join the main army from Xiangfan and head to Yunyang Prefecture to wrap up the war in Hubei.

"The battle in Xiangfan is nearing its end. Lu Qin, Xie Bin, and Zhang Ze reported that there is still some grain stored in the two cities, so our logistical pressure is not so great. Xiangfan does not need so many laborers now. Can we send some of them back to their hometowns?" Peng Yi asked Peng Gang, leaning forward.

The main forces of the Qing army in northern and northwestern Hubei were all in Xiangfan.

Although there were some remnants of the Qing army in Gucheng, Guanghua, and Junzhou counties in the northwest of Xiangyang Prefecture, as well as in Yunyang Prefecture, most of them were ragtag old, weak, sick, and disabled.

Moreover, since Hai Ying, the prefect of Xiangyang Prefecture, and Shao Heling, the general of Xiangyang Town, have already surrendered, there will be little resistance to either recruiting or suppressing the remaining Qing troops in Gucheng, Guanghua, and Junzhou counties, and there will be no need to send too many troops.

Sending one or two regiments to Yunyang Prefecture would be considered an honor for the local Qing army.

The front lines no longer need so many laborers, and Peng Yi hopes to dismiss some of them to save some expenses.

“The battle in Xiangfan is not over.” Peng Gang shook his head and said, “A temporary armed occupation and establishing a stable and long-term rule in the area are two different things. The section of the Han River above Zhongxiang, the capital of Anlu Prefecture, has been silted up for many years. We organized laborers to dredge the river on the spot.”

Most of the laborers recruited for this campaign against Xiangfan came from Huangzhou Prefecture.

Currently, apart from Huanggang County and Qizhou County, all other counties in Huangzhou Prefecture are experiencing food shortages, albeit to varying degrees. Even if some of the laborers in Huangzhou Prefecture are sent back to their hometowns, a way must be found to support them, otherwise they will inevitably turn to banditry sooner or later.

It would be better to find them some work and have them dredge the Han River on the spot.

It's more worthwhile to spend money to hire them to dredge the Han River than to spend it on unpaid relief or bandit suppression.

Just then, Liu Bingwen, the principal of Wuchang Normal School, found Peng Gang: "Your Highness, the primary schools in Jiangxia, Hanyang and Hanchuan counties have been established and have begun to enroll students."

Last year's first cohort of teacher trainees have all been assigned to teach at elementary schools in Jiangxia, Hanyang, and Hanchuan counties.

The first batch of students can only meet the needs of primary schools in three counties. Your Highness now governs almost the entire Hubei province, and the teacher training program with over two hundred students per batch will likely be insufficient to meet the needs of primary schools in various regions.

Next year, more prefectures and counties will be able to implement the policy of "land to the tiller" and "schools built around temples and shrines," leading to an exponential increase in the demand for teachers in elementary schools. The number of teacher trainees, two hundred per term, is far from meeting the needs of elementary schools in various prefectures and counties.

Liu Bingwen hoped that Peng Gang could allocate some funds to Wuchang Normal School to expand its scale and enroll more students.

"Didn't Wuchang Normal School enroll a group of students who failed the imperial examinations last year?" Peng Gang instructed Hu Chunfang, the official in charge of ceremonies beside him, to find a seat for Liu Bingwen.

Liu Bingwen gets angry when he talks about the batch of unsuccessful candidates that Wuchang Normal School enrolled last year: "Most of these unsuccessful candidates came to Wuchang Normal School as a temporary measure to prepare for the next imperial examination. Their ambition was not to become teachers in elementary schools, but to take the imperial examination and pursue an official career. You can't count on these people."

Compared to the Wuchang Administrative School, where students could participate in the Qingtian Team after training and then serve as deputy heads of the four departments in local prefectures and counties, the Wuchang Normal School had very limited appeal to unsuccessful candidates.

Although Peng Gang had promised the normal school students of Wuchang Normal School that if they did well in their teaching work after graduation and joined local primary schools, they could be directly promoted to the education department and enter the education system.

However, the first batch of normal school graduates from Wuchang Normal School have only just started working in the past few months, so there is no way to assess their teaching performance. At present, no lecturers from the elementary school have been promoted to work in the education system.

The unsuccessful candidates in the imperial examinations recruited by Wuchang Normal School last year were not only those rejected by the administrative school, but they also had no interest in becoming teachers in elementary schools.

Liu Bingwen had little hope for the batch of students who failed the college entrance exam that Wuchang Normal School had enrolled last year, and he did not expect Wuchang Normal School to be able to retain them.

Liu Bingwen still preferred the students who voluntarily applied to enter Wuchang Normal School, and he personally interviewed and recruited them.

These students were not so eager for quick success and were willing to work diligently in the primary schools in various prefectures and counties.

"Sir, do you plan to expand Wuchang Normal School and increase the number of students?" Peng Gang asked.

Peng Gang addressed Zuo Zongtang, Liu Rong, and others as "Mr." primarily out of respect and courtesy.

And Liu Bingwen was indeed his husband.

Liu Bingwen took out a bound plan document from his pipa sleeve and handed it to Peng Gang.

Peng Gang took the plan document handed over by Liu Bingwen and began to examine it. Liu Bingwen's plan document was written in great detail, indicating that it had been planned for a long time and was not just a whim.

Peng Gang focused on reviewing the funding requested by Liu Bingwen for expansion and increased enrollment.

More than 23,000 taels were used to expand Wuchang Normal School, and more than 17,000 taels were used to enroll 300 more students, as well as for the daily expenses of Wuchang Normal School.

It is true that primary schools lack sufficient teachers.

It wasn't just the counties and prefectures that Liu Bingwen mentioned were about to open elementary schools that lacked sufficient elementary school teachers.

In counties where elementary schools have been established, apart from Jiangxia County, the first county in Hubei Province to do so, which has a relatively sufficient number of teachers, Hanyang and Hanchuan counties also face a significant shortage of elementary school teachers. It is quite common for an elementary school to have only one teacher.

Liu Bingwen's request was reasonable and the amount of funds he requested was not much, just the purchase price of a medium-sized second-hand paddle steamer. Peng Gang instructed Peng Yi to allocate the funds in full.

Education should never be neglected, no matter how poor we are, especially since Peng Gang is not poor at all.

After Peng Yi and Liu Bingwen left Xihua Hall, Peng Gang walked to the sand table in Xihua Hall, looked down at the entire sand table from a god's-eye view, and reached out to pull out the blue flags representing the Qing army planted in Xiangyang and Fancheng.

Our gaze fell upon the area near Changsha, where the blue flags are most concentrated in the Hunan region.

After capturing Xiangfan, the three towns of Wuhan, Jingzhou, and Xiangyang formed a strategic defensive network.

Peng Gang has established a firm foothold in Hubei. From now on, no matter which direction the Qing army attacks Hubei and advances on the three towns of Wuhan, the difficulty will be incomparable to that of last year.

Hunan and Hubei are integrated, forming a relatively complete geographical region.

With Hubei secured, the next strategic focus naturally shifts to Hunan.

The Qing army in Hunan posed the greatest threat to Hubei, and the Northern Army had a good popular base in southern Hunan. As long as they could capture Changsha, a fortified city, they would be able to succeed.

While it may not be possible to pacify the entire Hunan province with a single proclamation, it is certainly possible to sweep through it completely.

Furthermore, given the current situation around Hubei, the Qing army in Changsha poses the greatest threat to Hubei.

In early July, in the eastern suburbs of the capital, the sound of cannons could be faintly heard, and smoke and dust obscured the sun.

Under the leadership of Wei Changhui, Lin Fengxiang and others, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's Northern Expeditionary Army had already captured Tongzhou, the last line of defense for the capital city. They then halted their troops outside the city and engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the Qing army led by Senggelinqin, Shengbao, Xiling'a and other Qing generals in the suburbs of Beijing.

The last time the capital was so bustling was in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the first year of the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the first year of the Yongchang Emperor of the Shun Dynasty.

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation in the Forbidden City, Emperor Xianfeng appeared pale, with sunken eyes, and looked extremely tired.

Although Senggelinqin, Shengbao, Xilinga and others had gradually gained the upper hand in the fierce battle against the Taiping rebels who had fled north in the suburbs of Beijing.

Furthermore, the Taiping rebels in the suburbs of Beijing lacked heavy artillery for siege warfare. Even if the Taiping rebels dismantled a large number of heavy artillery pieces from Tianjin and transported them to the suburbs of Beijing, those heavy artillery pieces from Tianjin would have limited effectiveness in attacking a city of Beijing's scale.

The capital city was not lacking in heavy artillery, and the defending forces of the capital had a great advantage in firepower and logistics against the Taiping rebels who were attacking the city.

As long as there is no major chaos within the capital city, it can still be defended.

The crisis facing the capital that Emperor Xianfeng was in was much better than that faced by Emperor Chongzhen more than two hundred years earlier.

At least Emperor Xianfeng had relatively abundant funds and grain, and enough troops to mobilize, so that all the court officials could come to court, and the hearts of the people in the capital were still on the side of the Qing Dynasty.

However, the fact that the Taiping rebels in western Guangdong had marched all the way from Guangxi to the capital after only three years on the throne was undoubtedly a great humiliation for the Qing Dynasty in its more than two hundred years of existence, and Emperor Xianfeng looked extremely displeased.

Just then, a series of hurried and frantic footsteps broke the silence outside the hall.

"Good news! It must be good news!"

Emperor Xianfeng silently prayed that the people outside would bring good news.

Grand Councilor Qi Junzao practically tumbled in, not even having time to properly bow before collapsing to the ground, holding aloft the urgent dispatch from 600 li away. His voice trembled as he cried out, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Huguang... Huguang, 800 li urgent dispatch! Xiang... Xiangfan... is lost!"

"what?!"

Emperor Xianfeng suddenly sprang up from his throne, his vision went black, his body swayed, and he almost fell over.

The eunuchs nearby rushed forward to help him, but Emperor Xianfeng pushed them away.

Emperor Xianfeng stared intently at Qi Junzao, asking incredulously, "You...you say it again? Where was it lost? It was Fancheng...only Fancheng was lost, right? Xiangyang is still here, isn't it?!"

Emperor Xianfeng still harbored a sliver of unrealistic hope that he had misheard, or that he had only lost Fancheng, while Xiangyang, the main city, remained, and that the situation in Hubei had not completely collapsed, leaving room for recovery.

Qi Junzao kowtowed, sobbing uncontrollably: "Your Majesty... it's... it's Xiangyang and Fancheng... both have fallen! The short-haired rebels have completely occupied Xiangyang and Fancheng! All the key places in Hubei have been lost!"

(End of this chapter)