1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 54 Luo Dagang's Transformation [Bonus Chapter, Please Read and Vote!]

Compared to Zhang Zhao, Luo Dagang's moral bottom line is much higher.

Luo Dagang cared a lot about his reputation, so he didn't raid the charcoal burning plant at the slightest provocation. Instead, he went up alone and politely explained his purpose: "I am Luo Dagang from Qianjiang. Is the plantation owner here? Could you sell me some grain and salt? I'll buy some grain and salt and then leave without causing you any trouble."

Peng Gang turned to look at Shi Dakai and Shi Zhenlun: "Do you know anything about Luo Dagang?"

Like Zhang Zhao, Peng Gang and Luo Dagang had only met once.

The difference is that Peng Gang's first impression of Luo Dagang was much better than Zhang Zhao's.

Peng Gang didn't know much about Luo Dagang, nor did he know the nature of his relationship with Zhang Zhao.

They dared not easily let Luo Dagang in to make a deal with him.

Zhang Zhao's remaining bandits were already so troublesome, so Luo Dagang's reputation was even greater than Zhang Zhao's, and the bounty was also higher.

The remaining pirates under Luo Dagang's command should be more powerful than those under Zhang Zhao's command.

“Luo Dagang is my friend. He’s a loyal and trustworthy man, and I’m willing to vouch for him.” Shi Dakai saw through Peng Gang’s concerns and vouched for Luo Dagang.

Luo Dagang was brave and skilled in battle, and his submarine force was very powerful. Since last year, Feng Yunshan and Shi Dakai had been trying to recruit Luo Dagang into the God Worshipping Society in order to strengthen the society's power.

Unfortunately, Luo Dagang looked down on the God Society and refused their invitation, and in the end, they only made friends.

“Since they are Da Kai’s friends, let’s give them some food.” Peng Gang gestured to the young man guarding the door to open it and let Luo Dagang in.

Luo Dagang was quite surprised to see that Peng Gang was the owner of the mountain farm, and that Shi Dakai, Shi Zhenlun, and others were also there. His surprise was followed by joy.

Overjoyed, Luo Dagang clasped his hands in greeting and said, "So it's the mountain area of ​​the God Society brothers."

"The local militia in Gui County were all saying that Brother Da Gang had his head cut off by Li Dianyuan at Jiangkouwei and was trying to take credit for it. At the time, I thought it was all nonsense." Shi Zhenlun was very happy to see Luo Da Gang.

“Brother Dagang is one of the best heroes in our Xunzhou Prefecture. Li Dianyuan and his Green Standard Army rabble soldiers in Xunzhou Prefecture don’t have the ability to take Brother Dagang’s head.”

"Let's not talk about the Jiangkouwei incident," Luo Dagang sighed. "If it weren't for the spies from the government army infiltrating Da Tou Yang's team and tipping off the authorities in advance, so many of my good brothers wouldn't have perished in the Dahuang River."

"Are Brother Dagang and Brother Datouyang sworn brothers?" Taking advantage of this opportunity, Peng Gang inquired about the relationship between Luo Dagang and Zhang Zhao.

"Sworn brothers with Big Head Sheep?" Luo Dagang scoffed. "A scoundrel who forgets righteousness for profit, whoever becomes his brother is doomed!"

Luo Dagang was still resentful about what happened at Jiangkouwei, and Zhang Zhao continued to use him as a rearguard to draw the government troops' firepower, without even sending him a message.

Luo Dagang was betrayed by Zhang Zhao more than once.

If it weren't for the failure of the boat army uprising in the 26th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, which severely weakened the boat army and left it short of manpower, Luo Dagang would never have wanted to drag Zhang Zhao along to attack Jiangkouwei.

Among the various units of the submarine force, Luo Dagang and Su Sanniang's submarine force had the best relationship, almost like allies.

He had a good relationship with Tian Fang (Big Carp) and Qiu Ersao, but his relationship with Zhang Zhao was the worst.

Luo Dagang looked down on Zhang Zhao, who was fickle and had no principles or bottom line.

Hearing Luo Dagang's words, Peng Gang breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Luo Dagang would seek revenge on him for Zhang Zhao's matter, but now it seemed that he had worried too much.

After chatting for a while, Luo Dagang was quite surprised to learn that Feng Yunshan had been arrested by the government: "How do you plan to rescue Mr. Feng? Will you break him out of prison, or will you spend money to bribe your way out?"

Luo Dagang and Feng Yunshan had some acquaintance. Although he had not joined the association, Luo Dagang still admired Feng Yunshan's character.

He was willing to lend a helping hand to Feng Yunshan when he was in trouble.

"We'll use silver to ransom you. Our God Society isn't as brave as your submarine force. For now, we'll have to avoid the government's wrath," Peng Gang replied.

Currently, the most capable armed force within the God's Church is the group led by Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang under Xiao Chaogui, whose combat strength is comparable to that of the submarine force.

In terms of armed conflict, they were virtually unmatched in Guangxi; however, when it came to confronting the government, they were still lacking in skill.

“What use is bravery? Mr. Feng is right. To fight against the government, we need not only fists and swords, but also brains.” Luo Dagang took out the gold and silver from his bundle and distributed them to Shi Dakai and Peng Gang.

"Although we didn't manage to break into Jiangkouwei, I still managed to rob a few wealthy people and get some gold and silver. Mr. Feng is on the government's blacklist, and the ransom demanded by the government will certainly not be low. You can use this gold and silver to rescue Mr. Feng."

Luo Dagang used to think Feng Yunshan was too cowardly and looked down on him.

Having learned two painful lessons from the uprising of the boatmen and the defeat at Jiangkouwei, Luo Dagang gradually began to agree that Feng Yunshan's approach was correct, and his opinion of the God Society was not as bad as before.

While Shi Dakai was still hesitating about whether to accept Luo Dagang's money, Peng Gang declined Luo Dagang's offer and also told Luo Dagang about Zhang Zhao's situation.

“Brother Dagang needs even more money to recruit soldiers and horses. I just wiped out Zhang Zhao a few days ago, so I don’t lack money.”

Upon learning the details of Zhang Zhao's incident, Shi Dakai, Luo Dagang, and Shi Zhenlun all stared at Peng Gang in astonishment.

The news of Zhang Zhao's annihilation hadn't spread yet; they only just learned that Zhang Zhao had actually been killed by Peng Gang.

As for the plain lanterns and white banners hanging at the charcoal burning site, Shi Dakai and the others always assumed that Peng Gang hung them up to mourn his father, Peng Xin, and did not think of anything else.

“Good riddance! He ruined the reputation of our submarine force. The mountain people in Pingshan run away whenever they see me, Luo Dagang, and they think I’m the same as Zhang Zhao. As a result, I haven’t been able to buy a single grain of rice or a single grain of salt since I came to the mountains.”

Luo Dagang felt no regret for Zhang Zhao's death, nor did he think of avenging Zhang Zhao, as he and Zhang Zhao were never on the same side.

Zhang Zhao is the kind of person who will follow whoever offers him the best treatment. He can join the submarine force and accept government offers of amnesty, something Luo Dagang cannot do.

Luo Dagang's purpose in going into the mountains was the same as Zhang Zhao's: to evade the search and capture by the government troops and to find Qiu Ersao, who had reined in her horse, to lay low. The two groups took almost the same route.

Since Zhang Zhao had also entered Pingzai Mountain, the massacre of the mountain people he saw on the way was not necessarily done by government troops, but could have been done by Zhang Zhao and his men.

The government troops were still searching for Luo Dagang in Pingzai Mountain. Luo Dagang did not want to implicate Peng Gang. He obtained some food, salt, and herbs from the charcoal kiln, said goodbye, and continued his westward escape with his more than forty old brothers from the boatmen, heading to Lema.

It was not advisable to bring too many people when going to the county government office to redeem the people from Magistrate Wang Lie. Peng Gang told Shi Zhenlun and others to wait for news at the charcoal burning site, while he and Shi Dakai took three gold bars weighing a total of about a hundred taels and a dozen taels of loose silver and went down the mountain to find Xie Bin.

Xie Bin had just reported his military achievements to Huang Zhenyue, the garrison commander of the Xunzhou Left Battalion, and was currently a rising star in the Xunzhou Green Standard Army.

With promotion and wealth just around the corner, Peng Gang wanted to use his connections with Xie Bin and Huang Zhenyue to see if he could meet with Wang Lie, the magistrate of Guiping County.

　He didn't advance from the second round, so whether he can be revived depends on reading this week! Please read on!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)