1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 79 Luo Dagang's Middle-Aged Confusion
When Luo Dagang arrived at Honglian Village, it was already mid-November.

He arrived at Honglian Village in the morning. When Luo Dagang arrived, Peng Gang's students were doing their morning exercises on the playground.

Sharp whistles, powerful footsteps, and resounding commands echoed across the playground.

The chilling atmosphere that hit him sent shivers down Luo Dagang's spine.

He had learned from Su Sanniang and Chen Ajiu that the people Peng Gang was training now were all veterans who had seen battle and bloodshed.

"Even the standard marching drills in Guangzhou don't have this kind of imposing presence," Luo Dagang couldn't help but exclaim. "Could it be that their ancestors came from a military family?"

"Peng Xianggong's troops are not only impressive in their marching, but also very practical. On their first march, no one fell behind, and when they attacked Wang Dazuo's residence, not a single person was killed or injured," Su Sanniang said thoughtfully.

"If the boat corps can have such strong support, it will surely succeed and will not repeat the mistakes of the 26th year of the Daoguang reign and this year at Jiangkouwei."

Peng Gang wrote a sign on the wooden board that read "Study hard and make progress every day." When Luo Dagang and Su Sanniang arrived, he called Li Qi and asked him to go to the storeroom to get nails to nail the board above the blackboard in the classroom.

"Brother Gang! Long time no see. Did your trip to Guangzhou to purchase supplies go smoothly?"

Peng Gang rubbed his hands excitedly and eagerly welcomed Luo Dagang to the tea stall next to the classroom, personally serving him hot tea.

The blacksmiths have already forged more than a dozen gun barrels, and the carpenters are also working on hand-cranked drill presses.

Now we're just waiting for the high-carbon steel to be used to make the drill bits.

There's also spring steel, a special type of steel that's hard to find in Guangxi, and he can't make it himself.

Currently, the firing mechanism of his homemade flintlock pistol is stuck on the material spring steel.

He could directly cast and polish the other parts, but he couldn't find any alternative materials for the spring plates.

"Everything that could be bought was bought for Master Peng, but Master Peng only has five taels of gold left."

Luo Dagang waved to the men behind him, signaling the boatmen to bring the goods up. At the same time, he took out a five-tael gold bar, weighed it in his hand, and tossed it to Peng Gang.

Peng Gang noticed that the submarine crew behind Luo Dagang were unfamiliar faces, speaking with a Cantonese accent, presumably old buddies he had brought back from Guangdong.

The speed at which the boat army could assemble its forces was astonishing. Only half a year after the boat army's defeat at Jiangkouwei, Luo Dagang and Su Sanniang had already raised a force of six or seven hundred men.

Before Peng Gang could even warm the gold bars in his hands, he shoved them back into Luo Dagang's calloused hand: "We can't let the brothers from the submarine force make a wasted trip."

The submarine force is expanding, and Luo Dagang is involved in smuggling, so he will definitely need to go to Guangzhou and Hong Kong to purchase military supplies.

Peng Gang hopes to continue purchasing arms from Hong Kong and Guangzhou through the submarine smuggling channels.

Luo Dagang was a straightforward江湖人 (jianghu person, a person from the martial arts world), and he didn't hesitate or pretend to refuse. He readily accepted the five taels of gold.

"Let me have a sip of tea and catch my breath. You can take a look at your goods first." Luo Dagang sat down with his teacup in hand.

Aside from the fact that metric units of measurement were really hard to find, Luo Dagang managed to buy French scales and rulers as substitutes. Everything else, however, he managed to buy.

There are fourteen used Indian-made brown basses, but unfortunately only four of them have bayonets.

They also managed to buy sixty pounds of gunpowder from the British.

Peng Gang bought 360 jin of high-carbon steel and 230 jin of spring steel. He was overjoyed; high-carbon steel and spring steel weren't as hard to obtain as he had imagined.

Although the price of high-carbon steel was two qian of silver per jin and the price of spring steel was nearly five qian of silver per jin, which was incredibly expensive, it was worth the money.

Peng Gang is now considering whether Luo Dagang can stop by Hong Kong next time he goes to Guangdong to buy goods and see if he can buy a used lathe directly.

"Brother Luo, when do you plan to go to Guangdong next?" Peng Gang walked into the tea stall and sat down opposite Luo Dagang.

"We'll have to wait until after the New Year. There are too many new brothers in the submarine force, and they need to be trained." Luo Dagang laughed. "What? You're already in a hurry to get rid of me as soon as I get back? You don't even treat a mule like that."

"Remember to tell me next time you go to Guangdong." Peng Gang asked Zhao Hanwei to make some snacks to go with the drinks, as he and Luo Dagang were going to have a good drink together today.

"Brother Peng Gang, you are a scholar, so you must know more principles than I do, and your vision is also more far-reaching. I have a question, and I hope Brother Peng Gang can enlighten me." After a few drinks, Luo Dagang started talking.

"Brother Luo, please speak freely," Peng Gang said, putting down his wine glass.

"I have been a member of the Heaven and Earth Society for ten years. I don't understand why every time we start an uprising, we always fail. Is it possible that the Qing Dynasty is not yet finished?" Luo Dagang said, expressing his confusion with resentment.

Luo Dagang had been robbing the rich to help the poor even before joining the Heaven and Earth Society, and later gradually developed into opposing the government.

In total, Luo Dagang launched no fewer than twenty anti-Qing uprisings of varying sizes, but none of them were truly successful.

Having wasted half his life and now in middle age, Luo Dagang felt extremely lost, having yet to achieve anything significant in his anti-Qing cause.

“Brother Luo is a very prestigious figure in the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangxi. Could you gather Zhang Jiaxiang, Chen Yagui, and Qu Zhenzu together to plan something big?” Peng Gang asked in return. Luo Dagang’s question was not difficult to answer.

“I am a member of the submarine force, and they are others. I do not submit to them, and they do not submit to me.” Although they are both members of the Heaven and Earth Society, Luo Dagang subconsciously distinguished himself from Zhang Jiaxiang and the others.

"Six months ago, it was already extremely difficult for me to gather Big Head Sheep and Big Head Fish together to start an uprising. How could I dare to hope to gather Zhang Jiaxiang and Chen Yagui? Besides, most of them, like Big Head Sheep, had the same idea of ​​starting an uprising as me, just waiting for the government to offer them a higher price."

“They are not under each other's command, they are a disorganized mess, and their will is not firm—that’s one problem.” Peng Gang then asked, “And what is the Heaven and Earth Society’s mission?”

"Act on behalf of Heaven, rob the rich to help the poor, overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming." Despite being slightly drunk, Luo Dagang blurted out.

"Less than a century after the fall of the Song Dynasty at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were still remnants of the former Song Dynasty alive. Han Song raised the banner of anti-Yuan and restoration of the Song Dynasty, but what was the result in the end? It was Zhu Yuanzhang who succeeded," Peng Gang said.

"More than two hundred years have passed since the fall of the Ming Dynasty, and the remnants of the Ming Dynasty have long since died out. Compared to the vague and ethereal legitimacy of the Ming Dynasty, the people are more concerned about their livelihood and their daily meals. Whoever can provide the people with food and clothing is the legitimate ruler. Even the White Lotus Sect knows to use the slogan of Maitreya's descent to earth, only talking about saving the world and helping the people, but not about restoring the Ming Dynasty."

If we want things to succeed, just mention expelling the Tartars, restoring China, and equalizing land ownership—twelve characters are enough.

Compared to the brutal rule of the Mongol Yuan dynasty over the Han people, the rule of the Manchu Qing dynasty was more sophisticated and insidious. It broke our backbone and destroyed our clothing and customs. More than two hundred years have passed, and by this time, the slogan of "overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming" has long lost its appeal.

Luo Dagang, lost in thought, watched the troops marching on the parade ground. In less than half a year, Peng Gang's troops had not only increased in number several times, but also looked more elite and disciplined, much more pleasing to the eye than his submarine force.

After much hesitation, Luo Dagang made a difficult request: "Could you teach me your method of practicing marching exercises?"

Peng Gang got up to find the "Infantry Drill Manual" that he had written himself. Seeing Peng Gang get up and leave without saying a word, Luo Dagang felt that he had been too abrupt. How could he just teach someone else's family tradition?

"The methods for practicing infantry drills are all here. Take them back and study them carefully." Not long after, Peng Gang returned to the teahouse and handed Luo Dagang a copy of the "Infantry Drill Manual."

Luo Dagang was taken aback, and then absentmindedly took the "Infantry Drill Manual," bowing and clasping his hands in a fist, saying, "If you ever need my help in the future, just ask."

(End of this chapter)