1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 69 Those Who Understand the Times are Wise [Bonus Chapter, Please Read!]

The morale of the attacking submarine crew was very high, and Chen Ajiu also performed very bravely.

He used the door panel as a shield with his left hand and walked at the front with a ghost-head knife in his right hand, slowly making his way up the slope.

Upon seeing people climbing the slope towards the residence, the instructor Liu, steward Yu, and Wang Dazuo's relatives inside either urged the guards and trainees to fill the gaps, or cursed and pushed the musketeers to the firing ports, ordering them to fire in an attempt to repel the advancing boatmen.

Fifteen or sixteen dark gun barrels protruded from the opened firing ports, emitting a sparse popping sound, interspersed with two or three feathered arrows being thrown out of the holes.

The intermittent, diarrhea-like firepower did not deter the veteran submarine crews. Seeing that the veterans did not retreat, the new crews, driven by herd mentality and wishful thinking, followed closely behind them.

Initially, due to the gradient and distance, the submarine crew suffered no casualties.

As they got closer to the mansion, the enemy musketeers and archers gradually improved their shooting accuracy.

The submarine force began to be hit.

At the cost of three casualties, Chen Ajiu finally led his boatmen to the edge of the courtyard wall, shoved aside the door panel, and swiftly deflected a weak arrow flying towards them.

Seeing that the gap had been blocked, Chen Ajiu, feeling excited and his blood boiling, skillfully set up a bamboo ladder and climbed up.

Separated by only a wall, Chen Ajiu could clearly hear the hurried footsteps, angry shouts filled with despair, and the cries and sobs of women and children inside the courtyard.

The musketeers of the boat army were clearly more well-trained than the rabble inside the courtyard. They used either brown basses or muskets and fired into the large firing ports by feel, instantly killing six or seven Wang family members and guards who were using muskets.

Six or seven musketeers were killed instantly. The Wang family members and guards in the courtyard were horrified. The musketeers were so frightened that they turned and ran away, losing all will to fight.

At this critical moment, it was the two Sichuan镖局 (security escort agency) officers, Instructor Liu and Manager Yu, who stepped forward, calmly commanded, and stabilized the situation.

"Throw the fire cup!"

"Bamboo Dart Throwing!"

With a knife in his mouth, Chen Ajiu barely managed to climb the bamboo ladder and peek over the courtyard wall when two Sichuan accents reached his ears. At the same time, he suddenly saw two bamboo spears heading straight for his head, which startled him so much that he fell off the ladder and managed to dodge the spears.

As Chen Ajiu, still in shock, fell, thirty or forty ash bottles and fire pots soaked in nitrate cotton ropes were thrown over the wall.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering pots, lime stung the eyes, iron filings splattered, and chili powder filled the air outside the courtyard wall, causing both new and veteran submarine crew members to cough and choke.

Liu, the instructor in the courtyard, seized the opportunity and intended to shoot Chen Ajiu. However, Chen Ajiu was in the blind spot of the shooting range, so he had to release a stray arrow through the firing port, which shot down an old boatman who was busy wiping his eyes.

After their attack was thwarted, Su Sanniang beat the drum and waved the flag to urge Chen Ajiu and his men to retreat.

Unwilling to give up, Chen Ajiu had no choice but to regroup his troops and retreat when he was unable to break through the offensive.

The morale of the Wang family members and guards inside the mansion was also low; they simply watched the boat army retreat without giving up the pursuit.

Although the submarine force achieved some successes in the battle, it also suffered considerable casualties.

One old brother was killed, two new brothers were killed, and four or five others were injured.

Peng Gang asked Zhang Ze to fetch medicine to treat the wounded submarine crew members.

Chen Ajiu looked at his wounded and wailing boatmen brothers, as well as the three corpses being carried down, with unbearable shame and remained silent.

While Peng Gang instructed the artillery crew to continue firing and apply pressure, hoping that each member of the crew could fire a few shots and become familiar with the operation of the mountain-splitting cannon, he calmly read through the records that Li Qi had handed him.

The next day, the shelling continued without any attack.

"Master Peng? When do you plan to attack the Wang family's residence?"

Having gradually recovered from yesterday's grief, Chen Ajiu saw that Peng Gang was only firing cannons and still had no intention of organizing an attack, so he couldn't help but lean closer to Peng Gang and ask.

“Keep firing the cannons without taking any action. The iron bullets we brought can only last for another day at your rate. They can’t withstand your constant use.”

Su Sanniang wasn't an impatient person. She just felt that Peng Gang's way of fighting was too wasteful of gunpowder and shells and couldn't last long. What would they do after they ran out of ammunition?
"Can't we fight for another day? What's the rush? We'll take the mansion in less than two days," Peng Gang said confidently, referring to his notes as he wrote his speech.

An impregnable fortress often crumbles from within.

Only about twenty of his clansmen, two instructors, and a steward were truly devoted to Wang Dazuo. The other sixty or so guards and trainers in the courtyard were not only not of one mind with Wang Dazuo, but most of them also had grudges against him.

On the morning of the third day, the familiar sound of cannons woke up Wang Dazuo and the others.

"Damn it! What a waste of money! Gunpowder is free!"

Inside the courtyard, Wang Dazuo, gritting his teeth, glanced resentfully at his precious home, which had been ravaged by artillery shells, his heart breaking.

He thought the other side would stop after firing a few shots, but to his surprise, they kept firing cannons and ammunition into his yard as if it were free. In two days, they not only killed five or six people, but also destroyed his house.

"Third Master! Those damned bastards outside are starting to bark like dogs, spouting nonsense about him being the new head of the Zijing Mountain gang, saying things like 'discretion is the better part of valor.'" The pale-faced Steward Yu hurriedly came to the inner courtyard and told Wang Dazuo. "What?" Disturbed, Wang Dazuo went to the firing port by the wall and clearly heard the shouts outside.

"Listen up, all you guards in the courtyard! I am Peng Gang, the newly appointed head of the Zijingshan Regiment."

"Wang Dazuo is colluding with Luo Dagang, a pirate from the Heaven and Earth Society, to commit treason! This is a heinous crime punishable by death by a thousand cuts and the extermination of nine generations of his family! Do you want to take your entire families with you to be buried with him?!"

“I have come to Dachong on the orders of Magistrate Yang to arrest the traitor Wang Dazuo, to punish only the ringleader and not implicate the innocent.”

"Wang Zuoxin of Mengchong has already been taken away by the patrol and inspection department. Is your dilapidated house more impregnable than the Wang family fortress in Mengchong?"

"Those who understand the times are wise. My family has been farmers for generations. Considering that you are all of good origin, I will give you a chance to turn over a new leaf and reform your ways."

"Those who are willing to abandon darkness and embrace light, and those who are willing to atone for their crimes through meritorious service, I will not only forgive their past transgressions, but I will also return to you the fields, houses, and mountains that Wang Dazuo previously seized from you, and I will personally accompany you to the county government to transfer the ownership!"

“Li Xiaoshuan! You were originally a wealthy family. Your ancestors had reclaimed wasteland and farmed the mountains for four generations, and only then did you accumulate a little bit of wealth, giving you a glimmer of hope for the future.”

Have you forgotten how, during the locust plague of the nineteenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, Wang Dazuo, taking advantage of your father's illiteracy, colluded with Liang Shuli to misrepresent a permanent contract as a redeemable one, deceiving your father into signing it and swindling your family's twenty-one mu of paddy fields away?

Your father was so angry about this that he died! If your father knew this in the afterlife, his eldest son would be working as a watchdog for Wang Dazuo!
After you pass away, how will you face your father! The people of Chongli used to praise you as a very filial son! Truly filial!

"Wei Tianli! What a fine name! A true man of integrity! How could he be willing to be Wang Dazuo's dog?"
Have you forgotten how Wang Dazuo pursued your family for rent in October of the 24th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign?
On the first day, they'll make your whole family kneel on roof tiles; on the second day, they'll pour excrement into your mouth.

On the third day, Liu the Instructor and Yu the Steward took turns raping your wife and daughter. Before the end of the year, your wife and daughter both hanged themselves.

Even men without a crotch have more backbone than you! Your uncle really ruined such a good name by giving you this one.

If I remember correctly, your uncle, One-Eyed Wei, in Flower Bud Village originally had both eyes.

In the eighteenth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, simply for glancing at Wang Zuoxin's newly acquired concubine, he had his right eye blinded by Wang's smoke!

“Wang Dalei, you actually passed the county examination in Guiping County in the 25th year of the Daoguang Emperor’s reign! It was your cousin Wang Dazuo who bribed the county magistrate Wang Lie to take your place!”

“Wu Yuanrong, in the twenty-third year of the Daoguang Emperor’s reign, your cow gave birth to a calf. You originally planned to sell the calf to raise money for your mother’s medical treatment.”

Wang Dazuo insisted that your cow was bred from his bull, and that the calf belonged to him, Wang Dazuo, and unreasonably took it from you. Before winter even arrived, your mother died of illness!

“Pan Ali, in the 20th year of Daoguang, during the spring famine, you borrowed three shi of grain from Wang Dazuo. It was agreed that you would receive three shi, but you only received two shi, and those two shi contained almost one shi of chaff and sand.”

You have no power or influence, so you can only swallow this bitter pill. Three years later, you will owe him twenty-four bushels of grain.

To pay off their debts, the whole family was forced to submit to Wang Dazuo, and they didn't even know your daughter had been sold to a brothel in Xinwei!

"He Shicheng, you originally owned a mountain area of ​​over 150 mu."

"You'd better watch yourselves. I'm giving you a chance to get revenge and receive a reward. Capture the Prince of Xian and you'll be rewarded with seventy mu of paddy fields and dry slopes, and one hundred and fifty taels of silver!"

Whoever captures and presents Instructor Liu and Steward Yu will be rewarded with 20 mu of paddy fields, 60 mu of dry sloping land, and 100 taels of silver!

I, Peng Gang, am a man of my word, and I will pay you the reward in cash. I will personally take you to the county to transfer the land ownership!
If this is a lie, may I be struck by lightning, haunted by vengeful ghosts, afflicted with festering sores, and die a horrible death!

These words, repeated over and over again, reached Wang Dazuo's ears, and he suddenly felt a cold sweat break out all over his body and a chill run down his spine.

Wang Dazuo, filled with suspicion, glanced at the guards around him with a gloomy face. He felt that the way these guards looked at him was obviously different from usual.

Not to mention the guards and trainers, even his cousin Wang Dalei, who was related to him by blood, looked at him with a chilling gaze.

Damn it, this Peng Gang, who gave birth to a child without an anus, has a mouth that's more venomous than a cannon!
Instructor Liu and Steward Yu also felt that the guards and trainers were not as docile as before and were somewhat difficult to command.

The three men were restless, so Wang Dazuo immediately replaced all the people in the courtyard with members of the Wang family.

Instructor Liu and Steward Yu quickly put away the six muskets of the guards.

After putting away the muskets, Wang Dazuo still felt it wasn't safe enough, so he ordered the Wang family members to take away all the swords and spears of the guards and trainees, leaving them only with wooden sticks to defend themselves.

At the foot of the mountain, Su Sanniang and Chen Ajiu, the leaders of the boatmen standing next to Peng Gang, watched as Peng Gang, with the bark rolled up, spoke confidently and assertively that the Wang brothers were in league with the boatmen. They couldn't help but burst into laughter.

This kid is so young, yet his skin is thicker than the courtyard wall.

“You scholars are so cunning and ruthless. Your words are more effective than a cannon. The Wang family and the two instructors and managers probably won’t get a good night’s sleep tonight,” Su San Niang said, unable to suppress a laugh.

Peng Gang raised his hand and pinched his hoarse voice, which had been hoarse from shouting, and handed the speech to Li Qi, telling Li Qi to shout loudly again.

"This is what they mean by 'those who do many evil deeds will surely perish.' If the Wang family had accumulated more virtue in their daily lives, I really would have had no choice but to bite the bullet and attack Wang Dazuo's mansion."

Peng Gang's voice had long since become hoarse.

(End of this chapter)