1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 15 Strange Stone Market

Pingzaishan Honglianping is the mountain area of ​​Qiu Gusan, a wealthy Hakka man from Guixian County.

Qiu Gusan's eating habits and reputation were notoriously ugly and distasteful throughout Xunzhou Prefecture.

In the Qing Dynasty, the transaction of land and houses was not as simple as one hand paying money and the other hand delivering the goods. Fair trade in land and houses existed only in theory.

This is especially true for ordinary people like Peng Gang who have no power or influence.

If Peng Gang doesn't want to be devoured by Qiu Gusan, leaving not even bones and scraps, he needs to find a reliable middleman.

The only middleman he could think of, and who he had a chance of persuading, was his teacher, Liu Bingwen.

Liu Bingwen was a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in the eighth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign. His family was poor, and he had to borrow money to cover his travel expenses for the three provincial examinations. After passing the provincial examination, local gentry offered to help him with his travel expenses to Beijing for the imperial examination, but he politely declined each time.

In the end, Liu Bingwen gritted his teeth and sold his family's dozen or so acres of meager farmland and twenty or so acres of mountain land to barely scrape together the travel expenses to go to the capital for the imperial examination.

Fortunately, he passed the imperial examination on his first try, although he only achieved the lowest rank of the third-class Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). However, this was a height that most scholars of his time could never reach in their entire lives.

Liu Bingwen's career after his leap to success was not smooth. He wasted five years in the capital before finally obtaining a ninth-rank substantive post as the registrar of Jiang County, Shanxi.

Unwilling to believe that the local officialdom was even darker and more corrupt than that in the capital, Liu Bingwen, who was upright by nature and did not know how to blend in with the crowd, was soon ostracized by his colleagues after less than a year in office. Disheartened, Liu Bingwen resigned and returned to his hometown.

After returning to his hometown, Liu Bingwen neither joined a secretariat nor acquired land. Instead, he made a living by teaching in a private school, which he enjoyed immensely.

With Guangxi's cultural heritage waning, the establishment of a school by a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations naturally attracted many local gentry who were eager to send their children to study under Liu Bingwen.

However, Liu Bingwen had his own principles. He didn't accept just any student. Regardless of their wealth, he would personally interview any student who came to him seeking knowledge before accepting them.

Liu Bingwen didn't care about tuition fees. If poor students could only send coarse rice and grains as tuition, Liu Bingwen would still teach them without discrimination.

People may mock those who transcend vulgar interests and remain untainted by the mud, whether they are considered pedantic or aloof.

Peng Gang respected and admired him from the bottom of his heart.

The Peng family had a tradition of combining farming and scholarship for six generations, but he was the only one to pass the county examination and become a student, largely thanks to the guidance of the renowned teacher Liu Bingwen.

Peng Gang, who graduated from the county high school in his previous life and ranked fourth in the county in the college entrance examination, was able to enter Xiangshan University. He has a deep understanding of how important educational resources are.

One of his college roommates came from a key high school directly under the provincial education department in a neighboring province.

Peng Gang was shocked when he first learned from his roommate that their school's rate of students admitted to top-tier universities exceeded 98%, and that his college entrance examination score was only the average level in his class.

Upon arriving at the Qishi Market, Peng Gang went to a butcher shop and bought twenty catties of pork belly, remembering that his teacher, Liu Bingwen, had a fondness for it.

As Peng Gang passed by Shi Ji Charcoal Shop carrying twenty pounds of pork belly, he curiously peered inside and happened to catch a glimpse of Shi Dakai, dressed in colorful clothes, talking to a man.

Shi Dakai also noticed Peng Gang passing by and hurriedly invited him to come in and sit down. He then introduced the equally wounded man beside him to Peng Gang: "This is Qin Richang from Liuhe Village. He has just joined the sect and will be one of our brothers from now on."

"Has the matter in Liuhe Village been resolved?" Peng Gang asked.

“The local people are all bullies who prey on the weak and fear the strong. If you are more assertive than them, they will be more afraid of you,” Shi Dakai said.

"What are your plans after joining the sect, Brother Richang?" Peng Gang looked at Shi and Qin, who were arm in arm and calling each other brothers. The two had a very harmonious relationship at the moment.

It's hard to imagine that Qin Richang, a fierce general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, did not die at the hands of the Qing dynasty, but was instead killed by his good brother Shi Dakai, Yun Zhongxuefei.

With a future valiant and skilled general of the Heavenly Kingdom right before him, it would be impossible not to have the idea of ​​winning him over and recruiting him for his own use.

Given Peng Gang's current situation, it's uncertain whether he or Qin Richang will take over.

Peng Gang had no choice but to withdraw his unrealistic idea.

He has no money, no people, no connections, and no reputation. Qin Richang is at least a mining foreman who is skilled in martial arts. Why should he follow Peng Gang?

“Let’s continue with the militia training.” Qin Richang chuckled and said, “A single tree cannot make a forest, and one person cannot represent the masses. I made many brothers while working at the silver mine in Longshan. I plan to go back to Longshan with the leader and Mr. Feng to recruit them into the sect and militia training.”

After the brawl in Liuhe Village, Qin Richang realized that a single tree cannot make a forest, and he wanted to return to Longshan Silver Mine to recruit some of his brothers to join the cult.

With such thoughts, Qin Richang was not one to be content to be subservient to others.

"Are the cult leader and Mr. Feng also in your county?" Peng Gang asked.

The leader was Hong Xiuquan, the spiritual leader of the God Worshipping Society. Hong Xiuquan lived in Guangdong for most of the year, and only returned to Guangxi last year after hearing that Feng Yunshan's missionary work in Guangxi was making progress.

This time, Hong Xiuquan enjoyed the offerings from his followers and even took two new concubines for dual cultivation. He made no mention of his past experiences of not being able to adapt to the climate and water of Guangxi and his reluctance to burden his cousins.

“Mr. Feng and the cult leader are both in Cigu Village,” Shi Dakai said.

Peng Gang was already a member of the cult, having been personally baptized by Feng Yunshan. Shi Dakai had no reason to conceal the whereabouts of Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan from Peng Gang.

The armed conflict in Liuhe Village was orchestrated behind the scenes by Feng Yunshan. Feng Yunshan hoped to send a signal to the Hakka people in Guixian County that as long as they joined the God Worshipping Society, they would receive its protection.

This aims to attract more Hakka people from Guixian County to join the God Worshipping Society and strengthen its influence in Guixian County.

"If I had known this would happen, I should have stopped by Cigu Village to visit Mr. Feng on the way here," Peng Gang said with regret.

Seeing Peng Gang carrying a large string of pork belly, Shi Dakai quickly guessed Peng Gang's purpose in coming to the Strange Stone Market: "You want to visit your teacher and ask him to act as your intermediary?"

"We can't just come empty-handed to trouble you, teacher," Peng Gang said with a smile.

Qin Richang was a perceptive and principled man. When he heard Shi Dakai and Peng Gang talking about their teacher, he packed up the straw mat, black umbrella, joss paper, incense, candles, firecrackers, and other offerings he had just bought at the Qishi Market and bid them farewell.

"You two talk, it's getting late. I have to go back to move my grandfather's grave. My family is waiting for me."

After escorting Qin Richang to the market, Shi Dakai also bought some pork belly and went with Peng Gang to visit Liu Bingwen.

Liu Bingwen's residence was near Qishi Market. Qishi Market was not large, and it didn't take long for the two of them to arrive at Liu Bingwen's residence.

Liu Bingwen's courtyard was not particularly grand, only slightly better than Peng Gang's. If one did not know beforehand, one would never guess that this was the residence of the county's foremost Confucian scholar.

The person who opened the door for Peng Gang and Shi Dakai was their teacher's wife, Madam Li.

"Master's wife, we apologize for our presumptuous visit and trouble you," Peng Gang and Shi Dakai said, bowing to their master's wife.

"If you're coming to visit your teacher, then come to visit your teacher. You know your teacher's temper. Why bring so much stuff?" Li scolded as she welcomed the two in and personally brewed hot tea for them.

"Your teacher is still teaching at the academy. You two should sit down for a while."

Peng Gang and Shi Dakai sat for a while, and out of boredom, Peng Gang walked to the bookshelf and curiously examined the books inside.

Liu Bingwen had a rich collection of books, including "The Diary of Shu You", "The Complete Works of Tao Wenyi", "Jingshi Wenbian", "Four Kinds of Anwu", and "Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms".

Of the many books, Peng Gang only recognized "Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms," and had little knowledge of the others. Tao Wenyi should be Tao Shu, an important minister during the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns, who rose to the position of Governor-General of Liangjiang.

Peng Gang learned about Tao Shu while reading Zuo Zongtang's biography.

Tao Shu was not only a highly capable bureaucrat, but also had a keen eye for talent. The Tao and Zuo families were related by marriage, and Hu Linyi, who was then acting as the prefect of Anshun, Guizhou, and had just begun his official career, was also a son-in-law of the Tao family.

Although Tao Shu has been gone for nine years, the seeds he sowed in Hunan during his lifetime are taking root and sprouting.

The rise of the Hunan clique of pragmatic officials, who grew up under the influence of Tao Shu, is imminent.

Based on Peng Gang's limited understanding of late Qing history, he guessed that these books were mostly written by pragmatic bureaucrats.

Liu Bingwen placed "The Complete Works of Tao Wenyi" in the most prominent position on his bookshelf, presumably because Tao Shu, the late renowned statesman of the practical school of statecraft, was Liu Bingwen's role model and idol.

Perhaps Liu Bingwen was just an obscure, pragmatic official during his tenure.

What attracted Peng Gang most on the bookshelf was not the collection of books written by the pragmatic school, but a folded map of Guangdong and Guangxi covered in dust.

This is a good thing!

Peng Gang's eyes lit up when he saw the dusty map of Guangxi.

He was a map enthusiast, and three maps were displayed in his office in later generations: one was a map of the People's Republic of China, and the other two were administrative division maps and topographic maps of Guangxi.

Although he had looked at these two maps countless times and knew them by heart.

However, it is still very difficult to draw a relatively accurate map of Guangxi without any map references or tools.

As cooking smoke rose and the sun began to set, just as Peng Gang was thinking about the map of Guangdong and Guangxi on Liu Bingwen's shelf, Liu Bingwen, dressed in an indigo-blue homespun long gown, returned gracefully from the school next door, bathed in the setting sun.

(End of this chapter)