1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 22 Go up the mountain!

Peng Gang built up the group of charcoal burners in Lianhuaping, Pingzai Mountain, as the foundation for his future team.

Peng Gang wanted to get to know the first batch of people as well as possible.

The best choice is impoverished teenagers aged 15, 16, or 17 from this village and neighboring villages who have no family.

Being young means that one's thinking is not yet fully solidified, that one is highly malleable, and that one learns quickly. At fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen, in three years one will be around twenty, the prime of life. Not having a family means having no weaknesses, no worries about the future.

The two Lu brothers not only perfectly met the above conditions, but also knew a few characters, which Peng Gang considered to be very promising talents.

Lu Qin and Lu Qian did not hesitate for long and agreed to follow Peng Gang into Pingshan to start a coal-making business.

The two brothers believed that no matter how hard or difficult the days of shoveling charcoal were, they would never be as hard or difficult as their current lives.

It is currently the spring planting season, and grain prices in Guangxi are at a high level, with each shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice selling for 2,800 wen (another unit of dry measure).

Peng Gang kept only some food rations, sold the eighteen shi of grain stored in his home, and exchanged it for twenty-five taels and two qian of silver from the grain dealer.

He then selected twenty-two other young men from Qingfeng Village, neighboring villages, and Qishi Market who were in similar circumstances to the Lu brothers, whose backgrounds he knew well and who had clean records.

Of the twenty-four teenagers, including the brothers Lu Qin and Lu Qian, ten came from Qingfeng Village, seven from neighboring villages, and the remaining seven from Qishixu.

Peng Gang underestimated the lower limit of the decline of the world. He originally thought he would have to spend some money and grain to buy people.

Who would have thought that in this world, as long as you are willing to give them a bite to eat and paint them a picture of a bright future, these hungry teenagers are willing to follow you.

At the Qishi Market, Peng Gang encountered several small landlords who, like him, were looking for servants in the market.

Two of them were scholars who appeared to come from similar backgrounds to him.

However, these two scholars were very particular about the servants' appearance, and after picking and choosing for a long time, they still couldn't find one they liked. These two scholars must have come to look for pageboys.

Upon seeing Peng Gang lead seven teenagers away from the market, and noting that the teenagers were not particularly good-looking, the two scholars pointed at Peng Gang and made nonsensical remarks about his "unique taste."

Of the boys brought back, eighteen were Hakka, three were Zhuang, and three were Tujia.

Peng Gang originally did not intend to include the young Tujia men in the first batch of recruits, but these three young Tujia men each had their own strengths, and he was very satisfied and fond of them.

These three young Tujia men.

A tall and sturdy man, clearly a martial arts expert, knocked down three or four troublemakers in succession at the Strange Stone Market.

He had attended a private school for two and a half years and knew some characters.

Although one of them could neither fight nor read, he was very clever and witty, and quite likable, because he could recite auspicious sayings like a jingle.

Therefore, Peng Gang made an exception and accepted these three Tujia teenagers.

“These young men, except for this Tujia young man who can speak auspicious words, are all skinny and can’t do any work at all. Ah Gang, are you sure you want to sign the contract with them and take them into the mountains to burn charcoal?”

As Peng Gang led back a group of skinny, middle-aged beggars from outside, Xiao Guoda's brows furrowed into a deep frown.

"These teenagers, let alone carrying wood, would have a hard time even carrying forty or fifty pounds of charcoal along mountain paths! How about we give them some sweet potatoes to send them away and hire a dozen or so capable adults?"

Xiao Guoda's words made sense. Of the twenty-two boys, only Zhang Ze, a Tujia boy with a quick wit and a ruddy complexion, and Huang Dabiao, a Tujia boy with a martial arts background and a good physique, were thin and pale, as thin as bamboo poles. They could barely stand, let alone work.

Upon hearing that they were to be sent away, the boys all looked flustered. One Hakka boy hurriedly carried the eight-immortal table in the main hall to prove that he was strong and capable of working.

“I don’t have the strength to do heavy work right now. After eating a few good meals and resting for a while, I’ll be able to do it again,” Peng Gang said.

“You’re kind-hearted enough to give them a bite to eat. If these kids were in my territory, nobody would even give them a second glance,” Xiao Guoda said sternly to the group of nervous teenagers with a dark face.

"Listen up, everyone! If anyone dares to slack off or try to cheat when we get to the mountain area, I'll make sure your boss kicks them out first!"

Peng Gang hadn't expected his uncle to be so perceptive, playing the stern cop without consulting him, leaving the twenty-four naive teenagers completely bewildered. "Uncle, have you caught all the fish in the pond?" Peng Gang changed the subject and asked.

He only said he would sell the fishpond to the Qiu family, but he didn't say he would also sell the fish in the fishpond to the Qiu family.

“These past few days, your third uncle and I have been idle anyway, and we were afraid those beasts in our family would try to steal your fishpond again, so we drained the water out of the pond and made all the fish into smoked dried fish,” Xiao Guoda said.

"Let's get the food ready, give them two good meals, pack up and set off tomorrow."

As he spoke, Peng Gang led his three uncles into the kitchen and cooked white porridge with the leftover food.

These teenagers hadn't had a decent meal in ages, and the five large pots of plain porridge they cooked were licked clean.

Early the next morning, Peng Gang set off with all his possessions: seventy-one taels of silver.

The journey to Honglianping was treacherous, so Peng Gang didn't dare carry all his money with him.

He kept only six and a half taels of silver ingots on his person, and had his younger brother Peng Yi and three uncles hide the rest of the loose silver on their person.

As for the rather heavy coins, they were carried by the relatively trustworthy brothers Lu Qin and Lu Qian.

Lu Qian enjoyed this trust and showed it off to his peers as an honor.

Lu Qian's behavior of not flaunting his wealth quickly drew a reprimand from Peng Gang.

Seeing Lu Qian being reprimanded, the other peers all showed smug and gleeful smiles.

Serves you right for showing off! You got scolded by the boss, didn't you!
Peng Gang thought to himself that of the two Lu brothers, the elder brother Lu Qin was more mature and acted more steadily.

Lu Qin accepted the coins and silently put them into his satchel, afraid that others would find out, let alone show them off.

The blacksmith shop in Bitanxun can make anything, except iron pots.

When Peng Gang passed through Bitanxun last time, he learned about the local prices. Apart from firewood and river delicacies, everything else was generally more expensive than at Qishixu.

When passing through Qishi Market, Peng Gang asked his uncles to buy five iron pots, as well as some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, and sugar to carry to Honglianping.

He then prepared some small gifts at the market to take to his teacher Liu Bingwen's house, both as a token of gratitude and as a farewell.

After saying goodbye to Liu Bingwen and leaving Liu Bingwen's courtyard, Peng Gang bumped into Qiu Zhongliang.

"Senior brother, Zhongliang has been waiting here for a long time." Qiu Zhongliang greeted Peng Gang as senior brother in a very familiar manner.

"Why aren't you studying properly at the academy? What are you waiting for me for?" Peng Gang asked, full of suspicion.

He and Qiu Zhongliang had only met a few times and were not very familiar with each other; they were merely nodding acquaintances.

"I heard that you were going to Honglianping, so I came here to see you off," Qiu Zhongliang said.

Peng Gang didn't have a good impression of the other members of the Qiu family, but he got along well with Qiu Zhongliang and didn't dislike him.

“I’m a year older than you, you can just call me brother,” Peng Gang said to Qiu Zhongliang. “Thank you for seeing me off. You should go back to school now. The teacher is very strict. If he finds out that you’ve sneaked out to see me off, he’ll punish you with a ruler.”

“I have already reported to you, sir.” Qiu Zhongliang took out three ten-tael silver ingots from his purse and handed them to Peng Gang.

“Sir, you are very strict. In a small place like Qishixu, I have nowhere to spend money. Brother Peng needs money for many things, such as charcoal burning. Consider these thirty taels as my token of appreciation.”

"You want to lend me money at exorbitant interest rates?" Peng Gang didn't understand what Qiu Zhongliang was up to. Did this kid want to lend him money at high interest rates?
Although his relationship with Qiu Zhongliang was fairly harmonious, and they could barely be considered friends, it wasn't close enough for him to casually give away thirty taels of silver.

Thirty taels is not a small amount. In previous years, when the Peng family was doing well, they could barely earn that much in a year.

　The last round of recommendations went poorly, and I've heard that following the story is very important! I'd appreciate it if you could all give me a chance to follow the story! I'll do my best to write a good one! Thank you all for your support!
　　

(End of this chapter)