1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 41 Carpenter Qin, do you know how to drill holes?
Of the three uncles, the youngest, Xiao Guoda, was the most quick-witted.

Safety is indeed Peng Gang's biggest concern.

Upon arriving in Honglianping, Peng Gang was immediately coveted by the local mountain people who were half civilians and half bandits. This incident served as a warning to Peng Gang.

As the saying goes, "My neighbor hoards grain, and I hoard guns."

Without sufficient self-defense capabilities, hoarding more grain or making more money will only benefit others.

Peng Gang climbed to the mountaintop many times to observe the surrounding terrain and draw detailed maps.

Although the path to the summit is quite steep, it is not insurmountable. If you are familiar with the terrain of Honglianping, you can reach the top.

From the mountaintop, one can overlook the charcoal burning plant from above, with a clear view of all the personnel and buildings. One can retreat to observe the charcoal burning plant, or advance to directly attack it using the terrain advantage.

The charcoal burning site was surrounded by rammed earth walls on the east, west, and north sides, but the south side, which was close to the mountaintop, was the mountain itself, so the rammed earth walls were not very useful.

Peng Gang originally planned to dig a nearly vertical cliff three zhang high on the south side of the mountain, making it difficult for people coming down from the mountaintop to enter the charcoal burning site directly.

But they didn't dig for long before they hit rocks, and they couldn't dig them up by hand, so they had to give up.

Unable to dig through the wall, Peng Gang resorted to digging pits, burying bamboo stakes, and laying barbed wire on the only path to the summit and on the southern side of the mountain.

Peng Gang had considered placing the charcoal burning plant directly on the mountaintop.

However, this created problems with the size of the site and the water source.

After all, Honglianping was a charcoal-burning plant that also served production purposes, rather than a purely military fortress.

The problem at the mountaintop can only be addressed once these young men have trained and the charcoal burning plant has more manpower, then a watchtower can be built and people can be stationed there permanently for surveillance.

The charcoal burning plant in Honglianping gradually got back on track. Third Uncle Xiao Guowei returned to the charcoal burning plant carrying a basket of live chickens he had collected from nearby and found Peng Gang.

“Third nephew, now that you’ve settled down in Honglianping, with the help of your eldest and sixth uncles, I can finally relax.”

"Is Third Uncle here to say goodbye?" Peng Gang had already guessed Xiao Guowei's purpose.

Peng Gang's sixth uncle, Xiao Guoda, was only five or six years older than him. They had been married for less than four years and had only one child. Their family ties were not so deep, so they had decided early on to bring their family of three to work at Peng Gang's charcoal factory.

Although Xiao Guoying, the eldest brother's father, had a large family, he was quite domineering at home and made all the decisions. After weighing the options, Xiao Guoying also decided to bring his family to work for Peng Gang.

Third Uncle Xiao Guowei wasn't as assertive, and the family wasn't ruled by him alone. After much deliberation, Xiao Guowei decided to return to Tongguchong.

My maternal grandparents' family doesn't treat everyone equally.

The eldest uncle was the eldest son, so he was naturally not treated poorly; the sixth uncle was the youngest son, so he was inevitably spoiled.

Xiao Guowei, caught in the middle, was in a rather awkward position.

Speaking of the Xiao brothers' weddings, the eldest and sixth uncles' weddings were much grander than the third uncle's, and the dowries were also more generous.

The third aunt complained about this a lot, and the third uncle, Xiao Guowei, also felt that he was in the wrong. Whenever there was a disagreement in the family or the couple disagreed, Xiao Guowei always lacked confidence and had to take into account the opinions and attitudes of his wife and her family.

These days, Peng Gang's eldest uncle Xiao Guoying and sixth uncle Xiao Guoda have talked to Peng Gang about Xiao Guowei's intention to return to Tongguchong.

Peng Gang understood Xiao Guowei's difficulties and did not try to keep him or complain.

Xiao Guowei withstood the pressure from his family and put aside his own affairs to help Peng Gang open the mountain for more than two months. This kindness is already very heavy, and Peng Gang dares not ask for more.

“Your third aunt and cousins ​​are still in Tongguchong. Your third uncle’s family can’t do without him,” Xiao Guowei said helplessly.

Why wouldn't he want to stay in Honglianping and work at his nephew's charcoal factory? Every family has its own troubles, and Xiao Guowei had his own reasons.

“I understand my third uncle’s difficulties. He is the pillar of the family.” Peng Gang didn’t say much, but gave Xiao Guowei four taels of silver and personally escorted him down the mountain.

When we returned to the Honglianping charcoal yard on the mountain, it was already evening. The two groups of teenagers at the charcoal yard had finished work and gathered around the stove. Some were chopping firewood, some were carrying water, some were starting a fire, and some were washing rice and vegetables. The division of labor was clear.

After more than two months of training and adjustment, the two groups of teenagers gradually developed a preliminary sense of division of labor, cooperation, and teamwork.

Their sense of time is also stronger than that of farmers who work at sunrise and rest at sunset.

By the mid-19th century, clocks were not particularly rare items in Qing China, and their prices had dropped to a quarter of what they were at the end of the Qianlong era.

Unfortunately, Peng Gang is currently short of money, and even if the price of clocks plummeted after the opening of the five ports, he still cannot afford them.

时下欧洲中产圈层流行的银壳怀表在伦敦的售价是8～12英镑（56～84两白银），制表业发达的瑞士地区钟表的价格会稍微便宜一点，但也要80～120法郎（50～75两）。

The price of clocks near the port was basically more than double that in Europe.

Even if Peng Gang sold all his possessions at this stage, he wouldn't be able to buy two silver pocket watches.

A poorly made iron-core wall clock with a daily error of 15 minutes would be much cheaper, costing only twenty-odd taels of silver.

I might consider buying one when I have more money later.

Wei Shoushan took his old profession very seriously after returning to it.

From selecting and stacking the materials to sealing the kiln and igniting it for smoldering, every step is done with great care, for fear of making a mistake and wasting good wood.

After practicing by firing four kilns of mixed charcoal, Wei Shoushan officially began firing high-grade hardwood charcoal and granite charcoal.

Based on Wei Shoushan's past experience in charcoal making, these two kilns, once fired, can yield two thousand catties of hardwood charcoal and eight hundred catties of Gang charcoal.

Hardwood charcoal and granite charcoal are of higher quality, and their selling price and profit margin far exceed those of mixed charcoal and bamboo charcoal.

Hardwood charcoal sells for about seven or eight coins per pound in Jiangkou Market, while Gang charcoal sells for about ten coins per pound.

Theoretically, these two kilns of charcoal could yield eleven taels of silver once sold.

Even if sold at Jiangkou Market, after deducting the profits from the merchants' association and brokers, one could still get eight taels of silver. The cycle for firing one kiln of charcoal was five to seven days, and conservatively estimated, one kiln could produce four kilns of charcoal per month.

The biggest expense in Honglianping right now is undoubtedly food rations.

Although the staple food in Honglianping consisted of rice and relatively cheap coarse grains, it still cost thirteen or fourteen taels of silver each month to buy rice to feed the thirty or so mouths in Honglianping.

Including Wei Changgong's monthly wages of three taels and three qian, his two uncles' monthly wages of four taels, and other miscellaneous expenses, Peng Gang needed to earn twenty-four taels of silver each month to maintain the balance of income and expenditure in the mountain area.

In other words, Peng Gang only needs to produce five kilns of hardwood charcoal each month to maintain the operation of the mountain area.

Now that the production issues have been resolved, Peng Gang's next concern is solving the transportation and sales problems, and selling the coal from Honglianping to Jiangkouwei.

Jiangkouwei, as its name suggests, is located at the mouth of the river.

He could travel by waterway along the Qianjiang River and hire boats to transport charcoal from Bitanxun to Jiangkouwei.

More than a thousand boat households live in the Pingzaishan section of Qianjiang. These boat households own boats and can be rented to transport charcoal.

As for the sales issue, after much thought, Peng Gang couldn't find any shortcuts, so he could only join the Jiangkouwei Chamber of Commerce and reluctantly let them take 10% of the profits first.

Just as he was thinking, Qin the carpenter, who had finished making the earth hull, stone mortar, and bellows for Peng Gang, came to settle his wages.

Earth hullers, stone mortars, and bellows are all tools used to husk rice.

The staple food in the South is rice. Rice needs to be husked. In this era, there were no rice milling machines. The only way to remove the husks was to use manual labor to husk the rice and then shake the bellows to separate the husks from the rice. It was a very troublesome thing to eat a bowl of shiny and fragrant white rice, and it required a lot of hard work.

In his previous life, when Peng Gang was young, the rice his family ate was carried by his father and grandfather on a mountain road for eight or nine kilometers to the rice mill in the township to be milled into rice and then carried back.

Peng Gang often went to the rice mill with them, and he had a general understanding of the basic structure of the rice milling machine. Peng Gang had studied hard during his university years, and with his professional level, he might be able to design a barely usable rice milling machine through continuous trial and error.

However, it was wishful thinking to try to build a rice milling machine in the Qing Dynasty, which had no industrial base whatsoever.

The power system, the pressure in the rice milling chamber, the control of the drum speed, the durability of materials used in easily worn parts such as drums and screens—any one of these aspects could severely restrict his control.

You can buy well-husked rice in the major markets of Xunzhou Prefecture, but Peng Gang never buys ready-made rice.

One reason why high-quality rice is expensive is that hulled rice is very prone to mold in the humid environment of Guangxi, resulting in a short shelf life and poor storage.

Hulling rice yourself and using the rice husks sifted out by the winnowing machine can be used to feed chickens and ducks, converting them into high-quality protein, which is much more cost-effective than buying rice directly.

After inspecting the earth huller, stone mortar, and bellows and confirming there were no problems, Peng Gang didn't nitpick or try to deduct wages. He readily paid Qin the carpenter and then asked a question that left Qin scratching his head: "Qin the carpenter, do you know how to drill?"

"Drilling holes? Making holes in the wood?" Carpenter Qin was baffled by this sudden question.

“Yes, drill a hole in this piece of wood.” Peng Gang led the carpenter, Qin, to a piece of elm wood that was fifty centimeters in diameter and about one and a half meters long.

"Cut it from the middle?" Carpenter Qin glanced at the carefully selected elm wood and understood what Peng Gang was going to do.

“Yes, chisel it in the middle and build a wooden cannon.” Peng Gang nodded and said without any hesitation.

Peng Gang had in-depth contact with and understood both the Green Standard Army soldiers of Bitan Xun and the Green Standard Army soldiers of Shangdongtang Xuntang.

Since arquebuses, gunpowder, and lead bullets can all be sold, building a wooden cannon isn't a big taboo.

Peng Gang even saw several mountain-splitting cannons in Qiu Gusan's fortified village, with the inscriptions still intact.

These mountain-splitting cannons originated from the Guangxi Green Standard Army.

“I can do this job. I need to split this wood in the middle, carve out the cannon barrel along the heartwood, and finally tighten it with iron hoops. But you’ll have to invite blacksmith Wu to make the hoops; I don’t know how to forge iron.” Carpenter Qin held up two fingers to quote his price.

"Two taels of silver, which includes the wages for hiring blacksmith Wu. Of course, the cost of the iron materials for blacksmith Wu will be calculated separately."

The mountain area where Peng Gang works is quite dangerous, and a powerful tool is indeed needed to pacify the mountain. As long as Peng Gang can accept this price, Qin the carpenter can consider taking on the job.

"Okay, as long as you can build it, the wages are negotiable." The price wasn't unreasonable, and Peng Gang agreed.

"How big of a cannon barrel do you need?" Carpenter Qin asked for detailed specifications.

"Three inches, can this piece of wood withstand it?" Peng Gang thought for a moment and said.

"This piece of material is quite good. As long as it's not loaded with too much gunpowder, it can withstand the strain," Carpenter Qin nodded.

"I'll pay you four taels of wages, and make me two more small ones." Since they had already invited Wu the blacksmith up the mountain, it would be a waste to only make one wooden cannon, so Peng Gang decided to make two more small ones.

Given the current conditions in Honglianping, let alone cannons, they can't even make bird guns. They can only make two wooden cannons that can be fired to scare away the petty thieves in the area.

Anyway, once the wooden cannon is made, smear it with charcoal to blacken it and place it at the entrance. This black, thick, and long thing can intimidate the bandits watching from afar and give up their idea of ​​attacking Honglianping.

Having accepted the new job and taken a deposit of one or two taels of silver, carpenter Qin happily went down the mountain to find blacksmith Wu, and on the way home, he visited his wife and children.

Carpenter Qin and blacksmith Wu were very enthusiastic, and the next day they brought their tools to Honglianping.

Peng Gang watched with great interest as carpenter Qin and blacksmith Wu made wooden cannons, and also learned some basic blacksmithing skills.

The small wooden cannon was easier to make, so after discussing it, the two decided to first use lychee wood to make a small wooden cannon to practice.

“Master Peng, we haven’t made any wooden cannons in a long time, and we’re quite rusty. These are all very good pieces of wood. If, in case, I mean in case, we ruin your wood, I hope you won’t blame us.”

Wu the blacksmith recalled his previous experience of being ripped off by Chen Xingwang, so he consulted with Peng Gang before starting work.

"It's alright. If the wood is ruined, I'll just use it to make charcoal. There's plenty of wood in Honglianping. You can just go ahead and do it." Peng Gang told Wu the blacksmith and Qin the carpenter to go ahead and do it without worry.

Honglianping lacks everything except wood; Peng Gang can afford to wait for a few pieces of timber.

(End of this chapter)