1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 71 Are you teaching me how to do something?

Led by Wang Dalei, Peng Gang's men searched the Wang family mansion inside and out, and found only 1,256 taels of silver and 16 taels of gold, including gold and silver jewelry.

Because Wang Dazuo came from a local militia background, he had many militia members to support, and a considerable amount of grain was stored in his granary. There were still 220 shi of rice and 380 shi of various coarse grains in the granary. There were also 26 large livestock that had not yet been slaughtered.

In terms of military supplies, they received six muskets, ten homemade guns, and thirty-eight catties of gunpowder.

The six muskets were in good condition, probably smuggled from the Green Standard Army, while the homemade guns were crude and of poor quality.

As for land, Wang Dazuo owns a considerable amount of farmland and mountain land in places such as Dachong, Shanbatang, Fulukou, and Mushan Village.

There are 340 mu of paddy fields and 1,080 mu of dry sloping land. Although the land in Zijing Mountain is barren, most of these fields are poor and thin.

But given the total area, if managed properly and without any disasters, some grain can still be harvested.

Regarding mountain land, Wang Dazuo owns more than 3,300 mu (approximately 220 hectares), but the locations are all relatively remote, resulting in low commercial development value. Like Honglianping, even charcoal production is considered too troublesome and inconvenient for transportation.

As for workshops and shops, Wang Dazuo had a blacksmith shop, a small dye shop that also served as a pawnshop, a tea oil press, and two charcoal kilns near Dachong.

Wang Dazuo's two most valuable shops were not in Dachong, but in two grain shops in Sanjiang and Xinwei.

Peng Gang selected twenty-eight clever and quick-witted young men who had some basic cultural background and knew a little arithmetic.

He instructed Wang Dalei to take these young men and teach them how to survey and measure the fields.

Peng Gang handed the written notice to Li Qi, asking Li Qi to copy it several times and post it in Dachong, Shanbatang, Fulukou, and Mushan villages, and have literate young men read it to them to spread the word.

All land returned to him was subject to rent payment only for three years, from the 28th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign to the 31st year of his reign (Daoguang did not have a 31st year; he died in the 30th year of Daoguang's reign).

During these three years, they will pay him 40% rent each year. After the three years are up, no more rent will be paid, and all the land will belong to them.

"What a disgrace, Director Peng! You've divided up so much land? If you can't manage it all, you can rent it out! If that's not possible, I can take care of it for you!"

Wang Dalei glanced at the contents of the notice and even suspected that Peng Gang was a reincarnated virtuous person.

They offered 40% rent, paid for three years and then said they didn't want the land anymore, but they actually wanted to return it.

Are there really people in this world who don't like Landmark?
"Wang Dalei, I haven't even settled accounts with you yet, and you're already telling me how to do things?" Peng Gang glared at Wang Dalei.

If it weren't for the fact that Wang Dalei was somewhat useful and not involved in any murder cases, he wouldn't have had the chance to stand here and talk to him.

Wang Dalei shuddered in fright and stopped talking, afraid that Peng Gang would bring up old grievances.

Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing had not yet captured the fortified stronghold of the Wang family in Mengchong, and they had not sent anyone to contact him for help, clearly indicating that they did not want Peng Gang to get involved in Mengchong's affairs.

Peng Gang didn't want to go there and make a fool of himself, so he took advantage of the free time to hold a public trial of Wang Dazuo's family and their accomplices in Dachong.

I heard that Peng Gang intends to execute both Instructor Liu and Steward Yu as the ringleaders.

Chen Ajiu, mindful of the skills and martial arts prowess of Instructor Liu and Steward Yu, felt a pang of regret for their lack of talent.

In order to save their lives, Instructor Liu and Steward Yu hurriedly expressed their desire to join the Heaven and Earth Society's boat army to Chen Ajiu, and were at Chen Ajiu's beck and call.

Chen Ajiu then pleaded with Peng Gang to spare the lives of Instructor Liu and Steward Yu, and to allow them to join the Heaven and Earth Society's boat army.

Peng Gang refused without much thought.

Instructor Liu and Steward Yu were originally bandits from Sichuan. After being taken in by Wang Dazuo in Dachong, they became his accomplices for many years. The numerous crimes they committed are too many to count.

There are at least nine known cases involving murder, and sparing their lives would hardly appease the public or quell public anger.

Peng Gang sighed. No wonder the Heaven and Earth Society couldn't achieve anything significant; they accepted all sorts of garbage.

When the money and provisions were distributed to the boatmen, Su Sanniang and Chen Ajiu did not take any silver, but instead took 120 shi of rice and 200 shi of coarse grains. Late July of the 28th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign.

Villagers from places like Dachong, Shanbatang, Fulukou, and Mushan came to witness the execution of the rebellious local tyrant Wang Dazuo, bringing their families with them.

As a result, the threshing ground was so crowded that it could hardly accommodate so many people.

With the sound of gunfire echoing from the threshing ground, Wang Dazuo and his entire family, along with his two accomplices, Instructor Liu and Steward Yu, came to an end their sinful lives.

The dark clouds that had hung over Dachong, Shanbatang, Fulukou, and Mushan Villages dissipated.

Watching the Wang family, who had oppressed them for decades, being executed, some villagers were overjoyed, while others were filled with sorrow.

The good news is that Wang Dazuo's family will no longer be able to bully others in the vicinity of Dachong, but the bad news is that Wang Zuoxin's family, the main branch of the Wang family, is still alive, and they are worried that the main branch of the Wang family will come back to take revenge.

As a result, the villagers, fearing that Peng Gang would simply leave, even blocked the grain transport team that Peng Gang was transporting to Honglianping, preventing them from leaving.

Only after Peng Gang promised that he would not leave Dachong until Wang Zuoxin was eliminated did the villagers in the vicinity stop obstructing Peng Gang's grain transport team.

Anyway, things haven't settled down in Mengchong yet, so it's not convenient for Peng Gang to go back to Honglianping directly right now.

The God of the Gods certainly couldn't embezzle the money and grain taken from the Wang family; a portion had to be allocated to Yang Xun to bribe the government.

Currently, Xiao Chaogui is the leader of the God Society, followed by Yang Xiuqing.

Yang Xiuqing is shrewd and calculating, so Peng Gang is not worried.

Xiao Chaogui was said to be straightforward and have a rather irritable temper.

Peng Gang was worried that Xiao Chaogui's direct contact with government officials would lead to an unmanageable conflict with the government, or even to the point of raising a flag and starting an uprising.

Before the formation of the Communist Youth League, the God Society's armed combat and organizational capabilities were relatively limited, not much stronger than the Heaven and Earth Society.

Otherwise, Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing wouldn't have been unable to break through Wang Zuoxin's fortress for more than half a month.

When Master Chen came to Dachong to collect money and grain on Yang Xun's orders, he also watched Peng Gang execute Wang Dazuo's family near the threshing ground in Dachong.

Master Chen, whose real name was Ke Rang, was from Songpu Town, Ningbo, Shaoxing Prefecture. Although he had only recently become Yang Xun's master, he was a seasoned master with eight or nine years of experience as a secretary.

Chen Kerang didn't care about the fate of Wang Dazuo's family. After all, the conflict between the Tujia and Hakka people in Guangxi was serious. If the Wang family were gone, the Tujia gentry in Guiping County would never stand up for the Wang family, as they had always been at odds with the Hakka gentry.

Some Hakka gentry in the county might feel a sense of shared fate and stand up for the Wang family, but Hakka gentry have never been favored by the government and can't cause much trouble. Yang Xun can keep the Hakka gentry in check.

As for Peng Gang's private punishment of the Wang family, since the Wang family has already been confirmed as having committed the crime of being a member of the Heaven and Earth Society's boat bandits, for rebellious traitors, punishment is not divided into public and private matters.

If Peng Gang wanted to take the heads of the Wang family members to the county to claim the reward, no one would dare to say anything.

"My master wants not only money, but also grain," Chen Kerang stated his purpose upon entering the courtyard and meeting Peng Gang.

"We want both." Peng Gang handed Chen Kerang a cup of hot tea.

"Master Chen, there's no such thing as a free lunch. The God Society is still besieging Wang Zuoxin's fortress in Mengchong. I heard they've already lost over a hundred men. If Magistrate Yang takes all the money and supplies, how are they supposed to survive?"

Yang Xun's demand for grain indicated the severity of the flood, with many deaths near Guiping City. Gu Yuankai, the prefect of Xunzhou Prefecture, put pressure on Yang Xun, who was struggling to withstand the pressure from his superiors.

"How much grain did you get from Wang Dazuo?" Chen Kerang took the tea, held the cup in his hand, and was in no hurry to drink it.

"Nine hundred and six taels of silver, sixteen taels of gold, one hundred shi of rice, and one hundred and eighty shi of various coarse grains." Peng Gang told Chen Kerang the truth about the silver, but he concealed the amount of grain.

The God Society was not officially recognized as a rebel organization by the Qing government, but the Heaven and Earth Society was. Peng Gang couldn't very well tell Chen Kerang without any concealment that he had distributed grain to the boatmen.

(End of this chapter)