1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 99 Regimental Order

At the end of the 29th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, war broke out in Guangxi, famine was rampant, and the people were suffering terribly.

The Qing government's reactionary forces in Guangxi were exhausted from fighting.

After six years of arduous pioneering work by Feng Yunshan, the God Society finally amassed a considerable and usable armed force.

Finally, they had the means to confront the government.

The five-member core decision-making group of the God Society believed that the time was ripe for an uprising, and thus carried out the actions of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who wrote letters and howled like foxes.

Hong Xiuquan and others used the missionary network they had painstakingly built over six years to spread superstitious prophecies: In the thirtieth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, the Qing dynasty's fate was sealed, and the demon leader Daoguang would surely die violently and go to hell within a few months.

The Supreme God will send great calamities upon the world, but all who join the God Society and have steadfast faith will be saved.

Those who do not join the Church of God, whose faith is not devout, and whose will is not firm will inevitably contract the plague.

As the prophecy spread, leaders of the God's Society in various places distributed food to the people and performed rituals to consecrate and make talismans and water to cure diseases for free.

As God’s fame grew, so too did the year, a time of great calamity and hardship, when countless people suffered from hunger and cold.

When poor farmers and bankrupt people heard that there was a God's Society in Guangxi that provided free food and medical treatment, they all moved their families to join the God's Society.

The leadership of the God Society has demonstrated outstanding organizational talent and strong management capabilities.

Quickly organize and manage new and old members according to gender and age.

At the same time, the "Ten Commandments" are constantly reiterated, hymns and prayers are sung morning and evening, strict discipline is enforced, and those who cheat, shirk their duties, or commit wrongdoings are punished according to the severity of their crimes, either by execution or expulsion from the God Society, leaving them to fend for themselves.

As a result, God was able to quickly absorb and assimilate the new congregation, and his strength increased greatly.

As for the private property, it was all confiscated and put into the treasury, and the congregation, whether new or old, had no complaints.

Most of the people who joined the God's Church were poor and destitute.

Their own meager food supply wasn't enough to last them even a few days.

The supplies that sustained the basic livelihood of the congregation mostly came from the grain reserves accumulated in Mengchong, Zijing Mountain, as well as from wealthy families such as the Wei family in Jintian, the Hu family in Huazhou, the Shi family in Nabang Village, and the Peng family in Lianhua Village.

Peng Gang effectively controlled over 10,000 mu of mountain land, was able to collect rent from five villages near Dachong, and also received overt and covert subsidies from the Mugeqiu family in Guixian County.

He was considered a major member of the God Society.

To be precise, they were the third largest family, only inferior to the Wei and Hu families, but much more well-off than the Shi family.

In the spring of the thirtieth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, Guangxi suffered from a severe drought with no rain.

It's another year of disaster.

Hong Xiuquan, Xiao Chaogui, Yang Xiuqing, Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui, Peng Gang, Shi Dakai, Hu Yihuang, Qin Rigang and other high-level members of the God Worshippers held a high-level decision-making meeting in Mengchong.

The meeting decided to issue a rallying order, requiring the leaders of each base to quickly assemble their followers upon receiving the order, take all the property they could carry, and destroy anything they could not take on the spot, leaving not a single grain of rice for the Qing demons.

Farmland, houses, and shops should be sold off as soon as possible if possible; those that cannot be sold should be burned directly.

Once assembled, proceed to the Jintian Regimental Camp as soon as possible.

Once the followers from each base have gathered in Jintian and completed their reorganization, they will immediately raise their flags and launch an uprising, heading straight for Xinwei and Jiangkouwei to seize the money, grain, and wealth of the two markets for the next step of their operations.

Peng Gang calculated in his mind that after the group camp was formed, the number of followers he could gather would be around 30,000.

Although Xinwei and Jiangkouwei are both relatively wealthy large markets with considerable wealth and grain reserves.

However, when averaged across 30,000 people, each person receives a pitifully small amount, which, optimistically, can only sustain the population for about three or four months.

Moreover, this is based on 30,000 people. If nothing unexpected happens, more and more people will join the God Society. The money and food from Xinwei and Jiangkouwei alone will be far from enough to support the great cause of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Where can we get money and supplies?

The ordinary markets and villages within Xunzhou Prefecture had already been ransacked by the Heaven and Earth Society, and since it wasn't harvest time, they couldn't get much grain from the ordinary markets and villages.

As for wealthy households with grain, after Zhang Jiaxiang launched the Great Uprising of the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangxi, they successively moved their families into cities to avoid disaster.

The wealthy households that didn't retreat into major cities weren't just ordinary wealthy households, but super-wealthy ones, possessing their own easily defensible fortresses. Taking all factors into consideration, Peng Gang believed that directly attacking the cities offered the highest cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

Currently, the main force of the Green Standard Army in Xunzhou Prefecture has been taken out by Li Dianyuan to suppress the Heaven and Earth Society, leaving the defenses of various cities much weaker than last year.

Of course, Guiping City is an exception.

After Li Mengqun took office as the magistrate of Guiping County, he transferred local militias to strengthen the city's defenses.

In addition, Guiping City is located at the confluence of the Qianjiang and Yujiang rivers, surrounded by rivers on three sides, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Even if Luo Dagang's submarine force, which was on good terms with Peng Gang, had ships, it would be difficult to launch a pincer attack on Guiping City.

Firstly, Guiping City was built to a higher standard, meeting the standards of a prefectural city, with thicker and higher city walls.

Secondly, while the Green Standard Army militia and the soldiers of the God Society and the submarine force might not dare to engage in close combat, they certainly dared to fire cannons and guns from afar across the river.

Apart from Guiping City, Xunzhou Prefecture has three county towns for Peng Gang to choose from.

These are the county seats of Guixian County, Pingnan County, and Wuxuan County.

Guixian County had already been looted by Zhang Jiaxiang. Not only was there little money and grain left, but it was also far from the Zijingshan and Pingzaishan bases.

Even if we capture Guixian County, the money and grain we gain will probably not be enough to compensate for the money, grain, and ammunition spent on attacking Guixian County.

Pingnan County is located on the Xunjiang Plain and is famous for its rice and silk production, making it one of Guangxi's granaries.

Pingnan County is relatively prosperous, and the Heaven and Earth Society has not yet visited it.

However, Pingnan County is far from the county seat and is located downstream. The God Society does not have steamships that can travel upstream, so how to transport the money and grain back after the capture is a big problem.

After weighing the options, Wuxuan County became the most suitable county to attack.

Wuxuan County is the closest, and the money and grain obtained can be quickly transported to Zijing Mountain and Heping Mountain by land or waterway via the Qianjiang River.

Furthermore, Peng Gang had made prior arrangements in Wuxuan, setting up charcoal shops within the city, which would allow him to coordinate with outsiders and take over Wuxuan County at a relatively low cost.

Of course, Wuxuan County also has its drawbacks.

The biggest drawback is that Wuxuan guards the confluence of the Qianjiang and Hongshui Rivers.

The Qing government initially established the Wuxuan Camp here to garrison troops and defend against Yao rebellions, so it had a strong military character.

Wuxuan County was the last to be developed and the poorest of all the counties in Xunzhou Prefecture. Taking Wuxuan would yield less money and grain than other counties.

After the meeting of the God Society's high-ranking officials ended, Peng Gang told Feng Yunshan and Yang Xiuqing about his plan: "Mr. Feng, Brother Xiuqing, I have been training troops for two years. I want to postpone my trip to the Jintian Regiment and instead attack Wuxuan to obtain provisions to replenish the Holy Treasury."

"You want to attack Wuxuan? But you only have seven or eight hundred soldiers under your command. Can you take a county town? We used two thousand men to attack Wangjiawei Fort back then."

Feng Yunshan and Yang Xiuqing were surprised and expressed doubts about Peng Gang's decision.

The fiercest battle the God Society's armed forces participated in before their formal uprising was the attack on Wangjiawei Fortress in Mengchong.

Yang Xiuqing was a participant and commander in this battle. The God Society suffered heavy losses in this battle, losing three or four hundred people before they were able to capture Wangjiawei Fortress.

Therefore, in Yang Xiuqing and Feng Yunshan's preconceived notions, large settlements protected by city walls were difficult to attack, and they hesitated to venture into them.

The leaders of the God Society preferred to attack large, relatively wealthy settlements like Xinwei and Jiangkouwei, which lacked city walls.

But where in Guangxi can they find such new and old embankments to fight?

If there were so many prosperous new markets and river mouth markets, they wouldn't have needed to rebel.

If ordinary people can at least have enough to eat, have work to do, and have a livelihood, no one is willing to risk their lives to rebel with them.

Even the God Worshippers wouldn't have such a large following in Guangxi, let alone a membership of over 30,000.

The failure of Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan's early missionary work in Guangdong is the best example.

In fact, the quality of life for people in Guangdong was generally low during the same period, but not as bad as in Guangxi. They were just barely hanging on to survive.

(End of this chapter)