1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 74 Magistrate Yang's Admonition
With the support of the powerful Wei family in Jintian Village, Xiao Chaogui contributed the most to the attack on Mengchong Fortress. Having tasted power for the first time, he became arrogant and attempted to seize all seven thousand taels of silver for himself.

This time, Yang Xiuqing unusually sided with Feng Yunshan, securing 1,500 taels of silver for Peng Gang, as well as the charcoal shop left by the Wang family in Jiangkou Market.

“Chao Gui isn’t listening to me right now, so this is all I can get for you,” Feng Yunshan said with a guilty look on his face. “The Meng Chong matter was all your doing, and you deserve more.”

"Thank you, Mr. Feng. Please make good preparations and transport the three thousand shi of grain promised to Yang Xun to Guiping City as soon as possible." Peng Gang accepted the 1,500 taels of silver and the charcoal shop in Jiangkouwei.

Before the construction of Jintian Reservoir, grain could be transported directly from Mengchong Sanjiang (Zijing Town) to Guiping City by waterway.

The waterway from Sanjiang to Guiping City is divided into two sections. The upstream section is from Sanjiang to Caicun River (seven or eight li east of Jintian Village, later known as Caicun River of Jintian Town).

This section of the river flows through the Zijing Mountain area, where the current is relatively fast, posing a significant risk to boats.

Only a few brave and resilient old rafters from Zijing Mountain would raft down this section of the river.

The downstream section flows through the Xinwei Plain, and one can take a small boat downstream from Caicun River directly to Guiping City.

Food is precious, so God will adopt a more conservative approach to transportation.

The journey from Sanjiang to Caicunjiang does not take the route along the fast-flowing waterways; instead, it is transported by oxen and mules, and carried by human labor, to Caicunjiang.

After arriving at Caicunjiang, the goods were loaded onto a ship and transported to Guiping City.

Peng Gang happened to be going the same way, so he took the villagers from the nearby Dachong area to the county to find Yang Xun to transfer the ownership of their land.

Wei Zheng, who had recently joined the God Society, was very proactive in his work.

He had already packed the grain and fodder prepared by the Wei family into burlap sacks and bamboo baskets labeled with the words "Donation from the God Society," and then loudly proclaimed to the people in the nearby villages that the God Society had raised three thousand bushels of grain to help the county provide relief to the disaster victims on both sides of the Xunjiang River.

After passing Lianjiang Village, you enter the Qianjiang River section.

As the grain-carrying fleet passed through this area in a high-profile manner, Peng Gang saw Wang Ji, the patrol inspector of the Dahuang River, setting up a roadblock on a sandbar near Nutan to intercept passing merchant ships.

Merchant ships carrying other goods were allowed to pass after paying a small toll, but grain ships were allowed to enter but not leave.

"Inspector Wang, we are grain merchants from Wuxuan. We need to transport our boats back to Wuxuan. We hope Inspector Wang can do us a favor." The Wuxuan grain merchants, passing through Nutan, gritted their teeth and handed three taels of silver to Wang Ji.

Surprisingly, Wang Ji, who was always greedy for money, did not accept the bribe from the grain merchant from Wuxuan. He pushed the silver away and said, "Since you are a grain merchant from Wuxuan, why are you going back to Wuxuan without selling the grain?"

"Inspector Wang, whether we sell our own grain or not, whether we sell it in Wuxuan or Guiping, will it violate the law?" the Wuxuan grain merchant asked.

“It’s not illegal. Magistrate Yang understands the difficulties you out-of-town grain merchants face in transporting grain, and the hardships the boatmen endure, so he specially sent me here to share your burdens.” Wang Ji wrote a note to the Wuxuan grain merchants.

"Guiping County will lend you half of your sixty-two shi of grain, and you can take the other half back. After October, remember to bring this note to our county to collect your grain."

"Inspector Wang, the current grain price is several times higher than the price after October!" After reading the note, the grain merchant from Wuxuan protested to Wang Ji.

"We already said you'd come to the county to collect your grain in October! Our county will return every single grain to you!" Wang Ji roared. "If you keep babbling, I'll lend you all sixty-two shi of grain!"

Merchants cannot fight with officials, so the grain merchants of Wuxuan could only swallow their losses, leaving half of their grain behind and taking the other half back to Wuxuan in frustration.

Peng Gang and Wang Ji were acquaintances who had drunk together at the same table in Guiping.

Wang Ji also received news that the God Society wanted to transport 3,000 shi of grain to the county. As a mere inspector, he naturally dared not make things difficult for Yang Xun, and let the grain pass without even checking it.

Peng Gang met Wang Ji and curiously asked him why he had set up a roadblock to stop grain merchants from Wuxuan.

It turns out that at the beginning of the flood in Xunjiang, Yang Xun sent people to Wuxuan, which was not affected by the disaster, and Guixian, which was less affected by the disaster, to spread the news that grain prices in Guiping had risen sharply, in order to attract grain merchants from neighboring counties to sell grain in Guiping and try to suppress grain prices in the disaster-stricken area of ​​Guiping.

Unexpectedly, grain merchants from Wuxuan and Guixian, along with major grain merchants from Guiping, colluded to raise grain prices.

Seeing more and more starving people dying and joining the Heaven and Earth Society, Yang Xun was extremely anxious and enraged. He then hardened his heart and targeted grain merchants from other places, forcibly borrowing their grain.

Even grain merchants from other regions who were about to leave Guiping after hearing rumors were not spared by Yang Xun. He ordered the patrol and inspection offices to intercept these merchants at key waterways leading into and out of the disaster-stricken area of ​​Guiping. Yang Xun of Guiping County already knew that the God Society, under the guise of donating to disaster victims, had secretly donated three thousand shi of grain to Guiping County.

Although three thousand shi of grain were gradually transported to Guiping City.

After hearing and confirming that the county had received several thousand shi of grain, grain merchants in Guiping City and its surrounding markets, seeing that the autumn harvest was approaching and that there would only be more grain available, causing grain prices to plummet, rushed to lower prices and sell their grain.

For the first time since the disaster struck, grain prices in the disaster-stricken area of ​​Guiping County have shown a downward trend.

Grain prices gradually fell, and the disaster victims on both sides of the Xunjiang River heard that God had raised several thousand bushels of grain for the county to donate to them, so the commotion was not as fierce as before.

With hope of getting food, many disaster victims who had originally wanted to join the Heaven and Earth Society temporarily abandoned that idea.

The situation in the disaster-stricken area of ​​Guiping County was thus brought under control.

Yang Xun, who was working in the signing room of the county government, was both happy and angry.

The good news is that the disaster relief grain has finally been secured. He now has enough grain to suppress grain prices, allowing the disaster victims to survive until the autumn harvest, giving them a breather and enabling them to continue to eke out a living.

Furthermore, having received over 4,300 taels of silver, he no longer needs to worry about this year's official salary and usurious loans.

What worries me is that now the whole county, and even the prefectural governor, know that Yang Xun and the God of War are deeply involved.

If the three thousand bushels of grain had not been delivered under the banner of the God Worshippers, Yang Xun would naturally have felt grateful to Peng Gang and the God Worshippers.

But now, Yang Xun already felt that the new chairman of Zijing Mountain, whom he had personally helped to promote, had slipped out of his control and was not as simple as he had imagined.

Especially after taking over Wang Dazuo's land, Peng Gang, who had no land, actually took the opportunity to swallow Wang Dazuo's land.

He glanced at the villagers of Dachong and his neighboring villages, who were waiting outside the signing room for the property transfer and were extremely grateful to Peng Gang.

Yang Xun suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, and he shuddered, not daring to think about it any further.

If we don't want land, then what we want is people's hearts.

The answer to which type of people need human kindness the most is obvious.

After making inquiries from various sources, Yang Xun is now certain that Peng Gang is also a high-ranking member of the God Worshippers Society.

He realized that God was not as simple as it seemed, and might be even more terrifying and troublesome than the Heaven and Earth Society.

"Go to my advisor to handle the transfer of ownership," Yang Xun said, rubbing his forehead, suddenly feeling a headache coming on.

“Peng Gang, you are a scholar with good talent. Don’t spend all your time hanging out with those charcoal burners. Live your life peacefully, spend your time reading classics, try to pass the imperial examinations, get a good job, and start a family. I don’t want any more trouble to happen on Zijing Mountain, understand?”

Yang Xun wished he could cut ties with Peng Gang immediately, but things had already come to this point, and it was impossible to sever ties with Peng Gang at lightning speed.

Yang Xun's mind is now filled with thoughts of saving enough money to donate an official position in his hometown of Hunan and leave Guiping, this place of trouble.

"I will keep in mind the magistrate's teachings," Peng Gang said with a smile.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is in half a month. I was personally trained by the County Magistrate, and I am deeply grateful for his kindness. In half a month, I will send my Mid-Autumn Festival gifts as promised."

Logically speaking, since Peng Gang did Yang Xun such a big favor and saved Yang Xun's official position, Yang Xun should have invited him to dinner.

Yang Xun made no comment, but instead gave him some platitudes about living a good life and taking the imperial examinations, which shows that Yang Xun must have realized something.

"You're so polite." This was truly a sore subject. Yang Xun was about to explode, but considering the many people watching and that Peng Gang hadn't done anything seriously wrong, a sudden outburst and a swearing outburst would be unbecoming of an official. He could only take a deep breath to calm himself and speak slowly.

"This county official is incorruptible, so you need to waive your Mid-Autumn Festival gifts. I am tired, you may take your leave!"

(End of this chapter)