1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 16 Teacher
Peng Gang and Shi Dakai were both Liu Bingwen's prized students. Liu Bingwen was very pleased that the two students came to visit at the same time and invited them to have dinner together.

After dinner, the three of them chatted in Liu Bingwen's courtyard, and Peng Gang took the opportunity to explain his purpose.

Upon learning of Peng Gang's purpose, Liu Bingwen was somewhat displeased and said earnestly, "You have good talent. I cannot guarantee that you will become a Juren or Jinshi in the future, but you can still become a Shengyuan and find a job in the Sixth Branch of the county."

The imperial examination system in the Qing Dynasty was extremely competitive. A county would gather hundreds of students and select a dozen or so to become a student; a province would gather tens of thousands of students and select a few dozen to become a successful candidate in the provincial examination; and the whole country would gather thousands of successful candidates and select a hundred or so to become a successful candidate in the imperial examination.

The path to the imperial examinations was so difficult that it could be described as a thousand troops crossing a single-plank bridge.

Being a student of the lowest rank is not considered an official degree. Peng Gang only passed the county examination, the simplest and most basic of the three examinations for students of the lowest rank. To obtain the most basic degree of student, he still needed to pass the prefectural examination and the academy examination.

Hong Xiuquan failed the second round of the prefectural examination, failing it several times in a row.

The prefectural examination consisted of three sessions: the first session was on memorizing classics, the second session was on writing essays, and the last session was on policy discussions. The three sessions tested students' ability to memorize, their literary talent, and their political views.

One had to pass these three exams to officially become a student, also known as a scholar, and thus enter the ranks of those seeking official positions.

At that time, Hong Huoxiu's best result in the imperial examination was passing the first round.

Peng Gang had read Hong Xiuquan's writings and some of his poems. To be honest, it's hard to say whether the fact that others couldn't pass the exam suggests cheating in the imperial examinations.

The fact that Hong Xiuquan failed the Guangzhou prefectural examination precisely demonstrates that the examiners of the Guangzhou prefectural examination were fairly and competent.

Peng Gang had no interest in taking the imperial examinations. Even if he were to pass by chance, given his family's circumstances, what could he possibly achieve? His fate might be even worse than that of his teacher.

Furthermore, considering the century of national humiliation in modern times, Peng Gang had no desire to serve as an official of the Qing Dynasty or be a lackey and henchman of the Aisin Gioro clan.

Although Hong Xiuquan was often delirious and his mental state was somewhat unstable, Peng Gang still greatly admired his ambition to establish his own imperial examination system.

Given his own expertise in the Four Books and Five Classics and the Eight-Legged Essay, it would probably be easier for him to establish his own examination system than to take the imperial examination.

“Those who wish to govern their country must first regulate their families; those who wish to regulate their families must first cultivate their personal lives. How can a student who cannot even do the most basic things like cultivating oneself and regulating one's family have the face to take the imperial examinations and talk about governing the country?” Peng Gang said with a very firm attitude.

"The student only wants to fulfill his father's last wish: to raise his two younger siblings. He hopes that the teacher will grant his request."

Seeing that Peng Gang was determined and resolute, Liu Bingwen stopped trying to persuade him and only felt sorry for him: "Since that's the case, we are teacher and student, so I will go with you tomorrow."

But let me be frank: I am but a poor, pedantic scholar from the countryside, powerless and without influence. The local gentry only show me superficial respect; when it comes to practical matters, whether they can actually help you is not something I can guarantee.

If it were an ordinary student, Liu Bingwen might not have been willing to help.

However, Peng Gang was a student favored by Liu Bingwen, and he ranked second in the county examination last year, which can be considered as living up to Liu Bingwen's expectations.

"I am deeply grateful for your words, teacher." Peng Gang is extremely thankful that Liu Bingwen was willing to act as a mediator.

Liu Bingwen was right. Landlords and wealthy men are more excited about land and houses offered to them than men in Balat are about to see a lizard; they are unlikely to give up their profits.

Peng Gang only hoped that Qiu Gusan would go easy on him out of respect for Liu Bingwen.

Before parting, Peng Gang asked Liu Bingwen to borrow a map to take a look. Liu Bingwen hesitated slightly, pondered for a moment, and then nodded in agreement.

Peng Gang returned to Shi Ji Charcoal Shop with the map in his pocket and asked Shi Dakai for lodging. He borrowed mulberry bark paper and a fine brush and began to copy the map by the faint light of a bean oil lamp.

Seeing that the oil lamp was too dim, Shi Dakai ordered someone to bring two candles and light them, and the originally dark room suddenly became much brighter.

Liu Bingwen's map is not very detailed, and its scale differs greatly from reality.

However, the locations of settlements and the general orientation of rivers and mountains are fairly accurate.

Peng Gang copied the map while simultaneously revising and supplementing it based on later generations' memories, striving to create a more accurate map.

Peng Gang studied mechanical design, manufacturing and automation during his undergraduate studies. He drew countless mechanical drawings. His hand holding the pen is very steady, and the lines he draws are clear and concise, without any sloppiness.

It took Peng Gang about two hours to finally complete the copy of the map of Guangdong and Guangxi collected by Liu Bingwen. He then spent another hour making another copy of the map and presented it to Shi Dakai. "I didn't expect you to have such skills. The map you copied looks even more accurate and detailed than the original, sir," Shi Dakai said in surprise.

Shi Dakai was a discerning man; he had been to many places and measured the land with his own feet.

The cities he visited included Guixian County, Wuxuan County, Xunzhou Prefecture, and Tengxian County in neighboring Wuzhou.

Among young people, Shi Dakai was considered to have traveled far and wide and was quite knowledgeable.

Based on his personal experience, Shi Dakai believed that the locations of cities marked by Peng Gang on the map and the distances between them were more accurate than those on the original map.

"This map is for you." Peng Gang handed the second copy of the map to Shi Dakai. "Keep it safe; it might come in handy someday."

"Then I shall accept it without hesitation." Shi Dakai happily accepted the map.

Shi Dakai was quite satisfied with the map, but Peng Gang thought it was still not accurate enough and needed to be gradually improved and supplemented in the future.

From the Battle of Jintian after the issuance of the regimental and battalion orders to the breakout from Yong'an and the northward march to Hunan and Hubei, the Taiping Army stayed on the Guangxi battlefield for more than a year and a half.

Peng Gang didn't know whether the flapping of his wings would affect the future course of events, but having a relatively accurate map of Guangxi would ultimately be beneficial for future battles.

The earthen walled village where the Qiu family lived was located in Muge Village in the southern part of Guixian County.

Muge Village is about a hundred miles away from Qishi Market. Fortunately, the road is mostly a smooth official road, making the journey easy. The area along the way is the most scenic part of Guixian County, located on both sides of the Yu River, so it was relatively peaceful and we did not encounter any bandits.

Unlike before, when we traveled over mountains to Honglianping, we encountered two leaders of the Heaven and Earth Society in Qianjiang alone, and were on tenterhooks the whole way.

Qiu Gusan's earthen walled village is not near water but against the mountain, like a giant beast lurking on the mountainside, covering an area of ​​at least 35 acres, and is of a grand scale.

The fortress was surrounded by high walls made of rammed earth.

The rammed earth used to build the wall was not ordinary rammed earth, but was made by mixing yellow mud, lime, glutinous rice, brown sugar, and high-quality river sand from the Yu River according to an ancestral formula, in order to achieve the best defensive effect.

The fortress wall was over three zhang high and at least one meter thick.

The walls have holes for shooting, and the guards kept by the Qiu family can be seen patrolling around the earthen fortress from time to time, with strict security.

To build this largest Hakka walled village in Guixian County, the Qiu family spent as much as 200,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice and grain, and the construction period lasted as long as 18 years.

Standing on the mountainside where the fortress is located, the paddy fields below are clearly visible, and the more than 4,000 mu of paddy fields in this area all belong to the Qiu family.

Peng Gang looked up at the imposing Qiu family earthen walled village.

I've heard that the Qiu family is extremely wealthy, with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver hidden in their cellars alone. I wonder if that's true or not.

To find out the truth, we must storm the Qiu family's earthen fortress, remove the silver stored in the Qiu family's cellar, and carefully count it to determine whether it is fact or rumor.

Although Qiu Gusan was wealthy, none of the Qiu family members had any official titles. He had to donate money to become a student of the Imperial Academy, which was a way of paying for a ticket to the gentry class.

Qiu Gusan was overjoyed to learn that Liu Bingwen, a renowned scholar from the county, had come to visit him. He did not neglect him and personally went out to greet him.

"I was unaware of Mr. Liu's visit; I have failed to greet you properly!"

Qiu Gusan knew about Liu Bingwen's family background, but Liu Bingwen had the Jinshi degree that the Qiu family had always dreamed of, and was a famous Confucian scholar in the county and even the entire Xunzhou Prefecture.

Regardless of Liu Bingwen's intentions, Qiu Gusan, who considered himself a member of the gentry class, at least outwardly maintained respect for this renowned scholar.

Peng Gang followed closely behind Liu Bingwen. Amid Qiu Gusan's smiling face, he glanced up at the plaque of a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination above the main gate, and stepped over the high threshold of the Qiu family's gate.

(End of this chapter)