1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 94 When Spring Comes Next Year
"When the Heaven and Earth Society and the government troops fight to the point of mutual destruction, that will be the day our God Society rises," Feng Yunshan asked Peng Gang with great confidence and anticipation.

How many soldiers does Ping Zaishan have now?

Peng Gang pointed to the playground and two large thatched classrooms and said, "What Mr. Feng sees now is all my troops."

Following the direction Peng Gang pointed, Feng Yunshan roughly estimated the number of soldiers. He frowned and asked Peng Gang repeatedly, "Is that all the soldiers you have? You have the support of the Qiu family, and Meng Chong has also provided a lot of aid to Ping Zaishan. Logically speaking, you should have plenty of food and money. How come you have only trained such a small number of soldiers?"

There were one hundred people on the playground, plus two hundred people in the two large thatched classrooms, making a total of only three hundred people.

It's really unreasonable that with such abundant resources, they could only train such a small force.

Ling Shiba, who was far away in Xinyi, Guangdong, and received almost no support from the Mengchong headquarters, wrote to Feng Yunshan last month to inform him that he had more than a thousand capable soldiers under his command.

Comparing the two, if it weren't for Peng Gang's strict discipline and ability to obey orders, making him a rare and formidable soldier in the guild, Feng Yunshan would have doubted Peng Gang's ability to manage an army.

"That's all. Quality over quantity is the key to a good army," Peng Gang said.

At present, Peng Gang is more concerned about the quality of the army than its quantity.

Although three hundred people is a small number, Peng Gang is training these students to be officers, not ordinary soldiers.

Even if only half of these students succeed, they will still have no problem building a team of thousands or tens of thousands of people in the future.

Furthermore, in the early stages of the God Society's uprising, they fought mostly in the mountainous areas of Guangxi.

No matter how many troops you have, you can't deploy them in the deep mountains; it only increases logistical pressure.

In terms of military experience, Peng Gang felt that the God Society was not as experienced as the old hands in the Heaven and Earth Society.

Even Luo Dagang and Zhang Zhao knew that as long as they had dozens of elite loyalists by their side, it wouldn't be difficult to make a comeback and rebuild a force of several hundred or even a thousand people.

“That being said, three hundred people are still too few. The sect leader and Xiuqing both have high hopes for you,” Feng Yunshan said with his hands behind his back.

"After discussion, we have decided to issue a command to gather all members next spring. At that time, we will organize members into groups and assign them positions according to their past merits and development."

You have done great service to God and are highly experienced, that's undeniable. But you have too few followers. If you still have only this many followers next spring, it will be difficult for me to secure a high position for you within the organization.

Peng Gang understood Feng Yunshan's thoughts. A month ago, Xiao Chaogui had already brought Wei Changhui, who had been involved in the family crisis relief efforts, into the core decision-making process, further consolidating Xiao Chaogui's position as the number one person in the God Society.

Of the five core decision-makers in the God Society, Wei Changhui is Xiao Chaogui's shadow, and Yang Xiuqing is very close to Xiao Chaogui.

Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan were actually in a relatively weak and disadvantageous position within the decision-making body.

Feng Yunshan simply wanted to secure a high position for him, or even bring him into the core decision-making process, in order to counterbalance Xiao Chaogui.

To be honest, Peng Gang joined the association at the beginning of last year.

In terms of seniority, he's neither too old nor too new.

Feng Yunshan said he was a senior figure, clearly comparing him to Wei Changhui.

Seniority is relative; compared to Wei Changhui, Peng Gang is indeed considered senior.

Peng Gang wasn't particularly interested in high positions within the God's Church; he was more concerned with the timing of the group's order to be issued.

Historically, the God Society issued the order to reorganize its armed forces in July or August of 1850, which was the late summer or early autumn of the following year.

Feng Yunshan just clearly told him that the regimental order will be issued next spring, which shows that history is no longer completely following the original historical trajectory.

The earlier release of the group camp order means that God will start things earlier!

"Wouldn't it be too rushed to start next spring?" Peng Gang felt that Feng Yunshan was being too hasty.

"The local militias have repeatedly provoked us and prevented us from spreading our faith. There is a great deal of discontent within the church. If this drags on any longer, I'm afraid even I won't be able to stop them."

We have great power in Zijing Mountain, Penghua Mountain, and Pingzai Mountain, and the government can't gain any advantage.

However, the believers in Xiangzhou, Tengxian, Xinyi, Luchuan, Bobai, and other places far from the Three Mountains are weak and isolated, and the government and local militias are pressing them hard. The longer we bide our time, the more dangerous it will be for them. We are all God's children, and we cannot only care about ourselves and ignore the lives of our brothers in other places.

"Furthermore, the Heaven and Earth Society has recently achieved repeated victories, attacking fortified villages and seizing counties. The leader and the court officials are worried that if we do not rise up against the Qing dynasty soon, once the Heaven and Earth Society succeeds, there will be no place for our God Society in Guangxi." Feng Yunshan said with deep concern.

Feng Yunshan and others did not have the ability to foresee events more than 170 years in advance.

Being in the thick of it, his analysis of the current situation from his perspective, and his judgment based on the overall picture, is reasonable.

However, Feng Yunshan overestimated the Heaven and Earth Society. Their usual behavior was characterized by unpredictable rise and fall, their comings and goings as swift as the wind.

The Heaven and Earth Society, a motley crew, lacked the clear goals and fighting program of the God Society, and was not supported by faith. They came quickly and dispersed quickly, making it difficult for them to gain any real influence.

"I will do my best." Peng Gang secretly noted down the date next spring.

If God wants to start his rebellion ahead of schedule, then the speed of his military expansion and preparations must also be accelerated.

Peng Gang originally planned to train the third batch of trainees before raising the flag and rebelling again, but if Feng Yunshan sets the time for the regimental and battalion orders to be held next year.

It is unlikely that the third batch of trainees will be able to complete the training as scheduled.

It was getting late, so Feng Yunshan had to stay overnight in Honglian Village before heading to Nabang Village in Guixian County to deliver the imperial edict to Shi Dakai.

After dinner, Feng Yunshan, who had nothing to do, shared with him the "Heavenly Calendar" that he had created.

Feng Yunshan's organizational leadership and public speaking abilities are beyond doubt.

However, Peng Gang really couldn't compliment Feng Yunshan's expertise in astronomy and calendar systems.

Feng Yunshan's "Tianli" calendar has many flaws.

The "Tianli" system simply and crudely divided each month into 30 or 31 days, with a total of 366 days in 12 months throughout the year, abolishing the complex leap month system of the lunar calendar.

Traditional solar terms were abolished and replaced with religious festivals such as "Heavenly Brother Ascension Festival" and "Grandfather's Day".

Traditional festivals such as the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival have also been cancelled.

The most critical problem is that the "celestial calendar" is out of sync with the laws of nature, making it impossible for farmers to arrange their agricultural activities according to the celestial calendar as they would according to the lunar calendar.

Such a calendar system has absolutely no chance of being successfully implemented.

Considering that issues related to the "Heavenly Calendar" were not as sensitive as those related to the "Heavenly Laws," Peng Gang still subtly pointed out to Feng Yunshan that formulating a new calendar was not something that could be done overnight.

China has the largest number of farmers, and the new calendar should take into account the solar terms to make it easier for farmers to arrange their farming schedules.

Fortunately, Feng Yunshan was not a stubborn person; he was quite broad-minded and open to advice.

After Peng Gang's reminder, Feng Yunshan thought it made sense and went back to studying his calendar.

Luo Dagang returned from Guangzhou in mid-June.

This time, Luo Dagang brought back seventeen second-hand brown basses, eighty-seven catties of gunpowder, twenty-nine catties of flint, two hundred and forty-two catties of high-carbon steel, two hundred and seventy-seven catties of spring steel, and twelve compasses for Peng Gang from Guangzhou, Hong Kong Island, and Macau.

Peng Gang assembled five self-produced Polu flintlock muskets and armed two new flintlock musket squads.

"I bought this pistol especially for you." After the transaction was completed, Luo Dagang took out a pair of short pistols, each about 23 centimeters long, and gave them to Peng Gang.

Peng Gang accepted the short pistol that Luo Dagang gave him. It was a pair of flintlock pistols with a caliber of 15 mm, made of black steel barrel and walnut stock, and was well-made.

The inside of the stock is faintly engraved with the words: Capt. TJ Mowbray – 18th Foot – No. 07Coy.

The gist of the translation into Chinese is: Captain Thomas J. Mowbray of the 7th Company, 18th Infantry Regiment, with his gun.

The 18th Infantry Regiment was a main force of the British Army during the Opium War, and participated in battles in Guangzhou, Xiamen, Dinghai and other places.

After the war, the 18th Infantry Regiment was stationed on Hong Kong Island for a long period of time.

The fact that a British captain's sidearm was found on the black market indicates that British officers no longer valued the outdated flintlock pistol.

After all, by this time, Britain's big brother, the Americans, had already started using Colts to play American-style Iaijutsu, so it was normal for British officers to look down on flintlock pistols.

"Buy seventeen long ones and get a pair of short ones free?" Peng Gang teased, toying with a flintlock pistol. "When did these foreigners become so generous?"

Although it's an outdated weapon, this thing can really save your life in a critical moment.

Peng Gang happily accepted the pair of flintlock pistols.

"You want something beautiful? These pistols are more expensive than the long ones," Luo Dagang laughed. "Your martial arts skills aren't very good, and I happened to see someone selling them, so I bought them for you to keep for self-defense."

(End of this chapter)