1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 52 The Militia is Not the Government
"Mr. Feng and Master Hong, along with Lu Liu and others, smashed the Ganwang Temple in Mengchong. When Wang Zuoxin, the leader of the Zijingshan gang, learned of this, he led local gang members to capture Mr. Feng and the leader on the spot while they were smashing the Ganwang Temple, and handed them over to the Dahuangjiang Patrol Office." Shi Da was extremely anxious.

"Mr. Feng and Leader Hong are the backbone of the God Society. Without their backbone, what will become of us?"

Shi Dakai was in Nabang Village in the mountainous area of ​​Guixian County, while Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan were captured by the Zijingshan militia in Mengchong. The distance between the two places was a good two or three days' walk, so the news was somewhat delayed.

He was unaware that Feng Yunshan had already been transferred to the Guiping County government office by Wang Ji, the patrol inspector of the Dahuang River, as a bandit leader of the God Society, and was to be dealt with by Wang Lie, the soon-to-be-appointed magistrate of Guiping County.

As for Hong Xiuquan, he only entered Guangxi for the second time at the end of August last year. He was not well-known in Guangxi Province. In addition, the God God Society did a good job of keeping secrets, so the government did not know that Hong Xiuquan was the leader of the God God Society.

Wang Ji thought Hong Xiuquan was acting erratically and was just an ordinary bandit with a bit of madness, so he didn't take Hong Xiuquan too seriously.

Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing, claiming to be the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother descended to earth, scraped together some "charcoal silver" from the poor charcoal burners of Zijing Mountain and used it to bribe Wang Ji, thus redeeming Hong Xiuquan from the Dahuangjiang Patrol Office.

Feng Yunshan was different. He had been preaching and spreading his faith in Guangxi since 1844, and his reputation had spread far and wide. He had long been the focus of attention of the government and was a key target of concern for various counties in Xunzhou Prefecture.

However, Feng Yunshan did not do anything outrageous, so the government could not find a reason to arrest him.

Therefore, Wang Ji, the patrol inspector of the Dahuang River, dared not make the decision to release Feng Yunshan on his own.

"Wait a minute!" Peng Gang was much calmer than Shi Dakai, and keenly picked up the key information from Shi Dakai's words.

"Meng Chong, Wang Zuoxin, militia... In other words, Mr. Feng and the others were taken away by the militia?"

By putting the three terms together, Peng Gang deduced that this was most likely Hong Xiuquan's bad idea.

Mengchong, later known as Zijing Town, is the most scenic area in the Zijing Mountain region.

The ancestral home and estate of the Wang family, the wealthiest family in Zijing Mountain, are all located in Mengchong.

Wang Zuoxin, the head of the Wang family, was also the head of the local militia in the Zijingshan area, controlling the local militia.

To put it bluntly, Mengchong was the stronghold of the landlords and local militias of Zijing Mountain.

They led a group to Mengchong to smash the Ganwang Temple, which was worshipped by the Wang family.

Only someone like Hong Xiuquan, who was mentally unstable and genuinely believed himself to be the second son of God, protected by a Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, could do something like this—carrying a lantern to the outhouse to find excrement (death).

Feng Yunshan wouldn't do something so stupid.

Hong Xiuquan not only courted his own death, but he also dragged Feng Yunshan, Lu Liu, and others down with him.

“Mr. Feng was indeed taken away by the militia of Zijing Mountain.” Shi Dakai nodded.

"Since it was the militia who took Mr. Feng, this matter is easy to resolve." Peng Gang already had a plan in mind.

"Do you have a way to rescue Mr. Feng?" Shi Dakai's eyes lit up.

“You’re also a militia member, so let me ask you, can Tuan Dong Zhou represent the government?” Peng Gang retorted to Shi Dakai.

"This," Shi Dakai pondered for a moment before speaking.

“The militia commanders, directors, and leaders are not officials officially appointed by the imperial court. If they are acting under the orders of the county magistrate and the magistrate approves, they can represent the government. If there is no written or oral order from the county magistrate, or if the magistrate does not approve, they cannot represent the government and it is the militia acting on their own.”

Shi Dakai himself was a minor leader in the local militia, so it's not difficult to understand the relationship between the militia and the government.

Before the Taiping Rebellion (before 1851), the local militias had not yet been systematically incorporated into the Qing government's bureaucratic system.

The militia were self-defense armed organizations of local gentry. The titles of "Militia Leader," "Tuan Leader," "Tuan Director," and "Tuan Chief" were merely titles and not official positions held by the imperial court.

County and prefectural officials can authorize militia leaders through "Zhawei" (informal official documents), tacitly allowing them to exercise security powers in designated areas and share the security pressure of the Green Camp's patrol and inspection divisions, but they are not included in the official ranks and have no salary or grade.

To put it bluntly, they are just temporary workers who are given some power but have no official status and do not receive a salary.

"Do you think that Wang Zuoxin leading the militia to arrest Mr. Feng and Master Hong was at the behest of the county magistrate of Guiping?" Peng Gang continued to ask.

"How could that be! The magistrate of Guiping County set off firecrackers right after the New Year. He's about to be transferred elsewhere. He'd love for Guiping County to be peaceful so he can quietly pocket his last bit of money and leave." Shi Dakai was certain that this was definitely not the intention of Wang Lie, the magistrate of Guiping County.

Because Wang Lie, the magistrate of Guiping County, started setting off firecrackers right after the New Year.

Setting off firecrackers results in a discount on the property tax for land and house transactions.

The statutory deed tax rate in the Qing Dynasty was 3%, but local authorities would levy additional "fire loss" and "transfer fee," so the actual deed tax collected often fluctuated between 5% and 11%, leaving considerable room for manipulation. Due to the excessively high actual deed tax, many people chose not to use official deeds or transfer ownership for land and housing transactions in order to evade the tax.

During the Qing Dynasty, local officials would offer a discount on property tax when they took office or left office, in order to attract and encourage people to transfer property and make a fortune.

As long as they pay the 3% to the imperial court, the rest is all theirs.

Of course, there are many local officials who are unwilling to put even 3% into the official treasury and instead keep it all for themselves.

That's why they say a clean prefect (county magistrate) can earn 100,000 taels of silver in three years.

Apart from Guilin Prefecture, other parts of Guangxi are generally very poor.

It's unlikely that the magistrate of Guiping County could amass 100,000 taels of silver in three years, but if he were skilled at accumulating wealth, he could certainly amass 30,000 to 50,000 taels in three years.

As for the prefect of Xunzhou, after serving for three years, he couldn't even earn 100,000 taels of silver. He would probably be ridiculed by his colleagues for being incompetent.

"As long as it's not the government's doing, getting Mr. Feng out shouldn't be difficult. Don't worry, stay here with me tonight, and we'll go together tomorrow to rescue Mr. Feng."

This matter is not difficult to resolve; it's simply a matter of how much it will cost. Peng Gang reassured Shi Dakai.

The God Society has not yet been classified as an illegal organization like the Heaven and Earth Society. For the past four years, Feng Yunshan has been developing believers under the slogan of persuading people to do good, without raising the slogan of opposing the government.

The incident of smashing the Mengchong Ganwang Temple can be considered a big deal or a small deal.

If this matter can be characterized as a conflict between the God Society and the Wang family of Zijing Mountain, then some money can be used to get Feng Yunshan out.

The biggest challenge was how to meet with the magistrate of Guiping County.

Peng Gang was just an ordinary citizen; he couldn't simply meet the county magistrate whenever he wanted.

If Shi Dakai had approached him a few days earlier, Peng Gang would have truly been helpless in this matter.

Peng Gang now has some gold and silver on him. If he finds a way to meet with the magistrate of Guiping County, there is a good chance he can persuade the magistrate to release the man.

Feng Yunshan had helped him before, so this was a good opportunity to repay the favor he owed Feng Yunshan and, incidentally, make his presence known and gain some recognition within the God's Society.

Seeing Peng Gang's confident demeanor, Shi Dakai, who had originally planned to seek help from Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing to break into prison and rescue Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan, Lu Liu, and others, felt somewhat relieved.

Peng Gang asked his two aunts and Zhao Hanwei to prepare something nice for Shi Dakai and his group that evening.

Meanwhile, the younger students from Groups 1 and 2 were asked to vacate their dormitories; they will sleep in the classrooms and cafeteria tonight.

Shi Dakai and his entourage carried large and small bags to Honglianping and delivered a lot of living supplies to Peng Gang.

As the owner of the mountain area, Peng Gang couldn't possibly let Shi Dakai and his men eat the dry rations he brought and sleep in the charcoal burning yard.

After dinner, Shi Dakai and the others rested, and Peng Gang convened a meeting with the young men from Groups One and Two.

Let them speak freely and summarize the gains and losses of the self-defense counterattack against Zhang Zhao's submarine force from the Heaven and Earth Society a few days ago.

Especially the mistakes made.

Peng Gang had never fought in a war before and had limited military experience.

He could only gradually accumulate military experience in actual combat, learning as he fought, figuring out how to fight and how to fight well, and minimizing losses.

Although he won the battle against Zhang Zhao in the end, he was ultimately safe and sound.

However, the losses were too great, with five people killed.

Peng Gang's family was poor, and five people died in every battle. After three or four more battles, his family's wealth was completely depleted.

He was grooming these young men to become future officers or even officials, not cannon fodder.

He would be heartbroken if even one person died, let alone five. One of them was a deputy team leader with a little bit of education who was extremely loyal to him. Such a promising talent would be hard to find even with a lantern.

(End of this chapter)