1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 235 You are a talented man, why did you become a thief?

Around 3:30 p.m., Peng Gang, who had just returned from teaching the third cohort of students at the Children's Camp, entered the inner courtyard and bumped into Zuo Zongtang, who was having a pleasant conversation with Zhang Ze.

When Zuo Zongtang saw Peng Gang return, perhaps because he had some questions to ask Peng Gang, he was no longer as arrogant as when they first met yesterday. He stood up to greet him and said, "I, Zuo, have been waiting for the Northern King for a long time."

“Zhang Ze, didn’t I tell you to send someone to inform me as soon as Mr. Zuo woke up?” Peng Gang glanced at Zhang Ze.

"It's not his fault. I told him not to bother you," Zuo Zongtang said, coming to Zhang Ze's rescue.

"After reading Your Highness the Northern King's masterpiece last night, I have many questions. I hope Your Highness the Northern King will not hesitate to answer them for me."

Peng Gang gestured for Zuo Zongtang to sit down as well, saying, "Mr. Zuo, please feel free to ask any questions."

"Who was the teacher of the Northern King?" Zuo Zongtang asked the question he was most curious about, wanting to know who Peng Gang's teacher was.

Upon hearing this question, Peng Gang was taken aback. He couldn't very well tell Zuo Zongtang that it was taught to him by his middle school geography and history teachers.

"This is a secret of heaven, and cannot be revealed." Peng Gang dodged the question. "Apart from this issue, Mr. Zuo may ask any other questions."

Peng Gang was unwilling to reveal who his teacher was, and Zuo Zongtang did not press him further, so he directly cut to the academic question: "Since ancient times, there has been the saying that the sky is round and the earth is square. Why does the Northern King think that the world we live in is on a sphere, or on a tilted sphere that rotates 80,000 miles a day? Forgive my bluntness, but the Northern King's statement is too shocking and I find it hard to believe."

After a moment's thought, Peng Gang explained, "The *Zhoubi Suanjing* states: 'When the sun reaches its northernmost point, it is midday in the north and midnight in the south.'"

If the earth were a flat surface, how could day and night be opposite in the north and south? Only if the earth were a sphere, with sunlight illuminating only half of it, could this phenomenon be explained.

The *Zhoubi Suanjing* also states: "The sun's rays extend 167,000 li outwards; at the winter solstice, the sun travels south, and at the summer solstice, it travels north."

If the earth were upright, day and night would be equally divided. However, because the earth's axis is tilted, like a tilted sphere, sunlight shines obliquely on the northern border, resulting in longer days and obliquely on the southern regions, resulting in shorter days.

As he spoke, Peng Gang ordered someone to fetch a lantern and an egg, using the lantern to represent the sun and the egg to represent the earth, and then they entered a dimly lit hut with very poor lighting.

Shining a lantern on an egg and rotating it demonstrates the alternation of day and night, illustrating the principle of "sit-and-walk" motion.

Zuo Zongtang watched Peng Gang's demonstration intently, and seemed to understand something: "So, the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter are due to the tilting of the earth's axis."

Peng Gang only wanted to explain the Earth's rotation to Zuo Zongtang, but he didn't expect Zuo Zongtang to be able to think of the obliquity of the ecliptic. Zuo Zongtang must have had some basic knowledge of astronomy and calendar systems.

Zuo Zongtang continued, "The Northern King once said that within twenty years, there will be two foreign countries bordering China that could threaten China: Russia and England. I already know something about Russia, which the Northern King mentioned."

However, I, Zuo, am not very familiar with England. My understanding of the maritime nation of England, as described by Wei Moshen, is only superficial and incomplete. What is a colony, and why is there the saying "the empire on which the sun never sets"? I humbly request Your Majesty's clarification.

In fact, before the Opium War, the Qing emperors were already aware that the East India Company's territory had infiltrated the border areas of the snowy regions.

During the Jiaqing reign, the Resident Minister in Tibet, Ximing, discovered the East India Company's espionage activities and petitioned to restrict foreign merchants from entering Tibet. However, at that time, the entire court was closed-minded and knew very little about the world outside the Celestial Empire, which was like a birdcage. No one associated these external forces that suddenly bordered them with Britain.

"Although the British 'colonies' are similar to our tributary states, they have three differences."

One difference is that the indigenous people were forced to abandon their ancestral customs, learn the English language, and adopt English customs, which was called civilization.

The second difference lies in the plundering of land and wealth. Unlike Ryukyu and Vietnam, which paid tribute annually, the British, with the East Indies and companies like the Hudson Company as their henchmen, plundered the gold and silver mines and fertile lands of their colonies, seizing wealth and capital to nourish their homeland. The annual gold and silver plunder exceeded ten years of the Qing Dynasty's revenue.

The three colonies were directly under the jurisdiction of the garrison, and their establishment was limited to official appointment; a governor-general was also dispatched to command troops and guard the colonies.

As Peng Gang walked, he took out a simple world map and drew the main areas of the British colonies on it, pointing to each location and explaining its features.

"The land I have enclosed is all major colony seized by the British barbarians with their steamships and warships."

Hong Kong and Singapore are the gateways to the South China Sea.

Australia, a place once a land of exile, is now plundered for its wool mines.

India, after the Mughal Empire was destroyed, the East India Company purchased the local princely states and incorporated them into its territory. The company collected revenue from these territories, amounting to half of the country's taxes, and euphemistically called them the jewels of the British Queen's crown. Much of the opioids sold by British merchants originated from this region.

Canada obtained its wealth by killing Indigenous peoples, logging, hunting wild animals, and using their timber and fur to meet its own needs.

Because of the Earth's rotation, there is always one place in its territory where the sun shines, hence the name "the empire on which the sun never sets."

"So, in that case, the British have more territory, wealth, and even national strength than our Celestial Empire?" Zuo Zongtang's brows furrowed more and more as he listened, unable to recover from the shock for a long time.

According to Peng Gang, the Qing Dynasty was no longer the most powerful celestial empire in the world; the British island barbarians were.

"Including colonies, yes." Peng Gang nodded. "The two powerful neighbors I described in my book, England and Tsarist Russia, were only those neighboring countries that had the ability to invade us in a narrow sense."

"What do you mean? Are there other countries that can invade us?" Zuo Zongtang looked up at Peng Gang.

"We live in the age of sea power. Any naval power can sail from the southeastern coast, board a sturdy ship, and carry a powerful cannon to strike directly at the fertile coastal lands, and even the capital," Peng Gang said.

The current territory of the Qing Dynasty, in the context of an era of land power, was a very perfect territory. The geographical environment was also quite favorable.

The southwestern countries like Vietnam and the northeastern countries like Korea were all subservient vassal states.

At this time, the only threat posed by Tsarist Russia was focused on the Ottoman Empire in the Near East and had no intention of looking eastward.

Even looking eastward, the construction of the Eurasian Railway wouldn't begin until the end of this century. Limited by geographical barriers, Tsarist Russia couldn't project much military force into Central Asia and Northeast Asia to threaten the Qing Dynasty.

Unless the Qing Dynasty itself backs down, it will be very difficult for Tsarist Russia to seize territory from the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, even if they were ceded, they could not threaten the core territory of the Qing Dynasty or shake the rule of the Qing court.

During this period, the main threat to the Qing Dynasty came from its maritime borders. Any foreign power with a stronger navy than the Qing Dynasty could invade the Qing Dynasty and extort money from it.

He spent the whole night discussing geography with Zuo Zongtang, who was completely absorbed in the subject.

The following day, Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao decided to visit Peng Gang's camp in Lingling.

Peng Gang had no intention of letting the tiger return to the mountain, so he asked Zhang Ze to take the two of them around to see the sights.

Passing by the recruit training camp, the veterans from Guangxi were either training new recruits from Hunan or teaching them to sing songs like "The Song of Chasing the Manchus" and "Chop the Heads of the Tartars with a Big Sword," which were either abridged or heavily modified.

These songs sent chills down Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao's spines and necks.

Compared to the military camp, Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao were most interested in Zuo's army's children's camp.

Peng Gang not only teaches the students of the third cohort, but also all the children in the children's camp, whether they are from Guangxi or Hunan. However, the content taught is much simpler and less extensive than that taught to the students of the third cohort.

The curriculum only teaches the pinyin system created by Peng Gang, simple commonly used characters, and basic elementary mathematics.

The teachers who taught them were all young children not much older than them, and these children were also students of Peng Gang.

The teaching method was also novel, with dozens of children in a class, sitting around a blackboard to listen to the children's teacher give a lecture.

Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao sat in on several classes and felt that this teaching method was much more efficient than the traditional private school model, and could teach many students at once.

Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao couldn't help but marvel at it.

The impact of classroom teaching was greater for him than military training.

The method of mass training of soldiers has existed since ancient times, but mass teaching of children to read is something they have never seen before.

Both of them were scholars, and they knew very well what this meant.

Even if Peng Gang cannot gain the support of scholars across the land, he can still cultivate the scholars he desires in large numbers.

Moreover, there are currently quite a few scholars who have come to serve Peng Gang and are working under him.

"If this teaching method of short hair can be promoted, one teacher can teach dozens of students. Even if there are naughty students in a class, many students can still learn something. Compared with private schools, it is twice as effective!" Zuo Zongtang exclaimed.

Guo Kuntao had to admit: "The Northern King is a man of great talent, but alas, he is a thief."

"What is a thief?" Zuo Zongtang countered. "Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were thieves to the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also a thief to the Yuan Dynasty."

After academic exchanges and spending these days together, Zuo Zongtang's attitude towards Peng Gang has changed significantly, and he has become indecisive.

"Does Ji Gao think the Northern King is more like Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, or Zhu Yuanzhang?" Guo Kuntao seized on this opportunity to ask Zuo Zongtang.

"Chen Sheng and Wu Guang met with bad ends. How many of those who served Zhu Yuanzhang also met a good end?" Zuo Zongtang pondered for a moment and said, "He is him."

In May, after recruiting soldiers in Chenzhou, Yang Xiuqing went north to Yongxing County, where he took a boat to Hengyang, intending to join forces with Zuo Jun.

Before heading north, Yang Xiuqing issued a divine decree to Peng Gang, instructing him to go to Yongzhou Prefecture to receive Feng Yunshan's troops as they entered Hunan.

Peng Gang's recruitment work in Yongzhou and Hengzhou prefectures went relatively smoothly.

The Zuo Jun army now numbers 150,000, and the proportion of young and middle-aged men recruited from Hunan is relatively high.

The Left Army no longer needs to worry about reserve troops, and it's about time to move its camp away from southern and northern Hunan.

Although the left army had almost finished recruiting, Peng Gang did not stop recruiting new soldiers and continued the recruitment work.

Feng Yunshan's Southern Palace suffered a considerable loss in its efforts to block the main force of the Qing army in Guangxi in Quanzhou, and needed to be replenished with fresh blood.

Peng Gang recruited these people for Feng Yunshan's Southern Palace.

Before setting off, Peng Gang wrote back to Yang Xiuqing, informing him that he would immediately head south to meet Feng Yunshan. He also reminded Yang Xiuqing that Sai Shang'a had already amassed a large number of troops in Changsha, and that it was not advisable for him to advance alone. If Sai Shang'a were to launch an attack south, he was determined to stop the enemy outside Hengzhou Prefecture.

Yang Xiuqing's military command abilities far surpass Xiao Chaogui's; he is a rare talent. Peng Gang is quite reassured by Yang Xiuqing's military performance. He believes Yang Xiuqing won't cause any trouble.

Upon learning that Peng Gang was about to capture Quanzhou City and engage in battle with the Qing army in Guangxi, Zuo Zongtang and Guo Kuntao were very interested and wanted to see firsthand how Zuo's army fought, so they requested to accompany him.

Peng Gang allowed the two men to accompany him, so that they could see how incompetent the Qing government troops were in front of Zuo Zongtang's army, shattering their, especially Zuo Zongtang's, illusions about the Qing government.

(End of this chapter)