1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 204 Old acquaintance

“In a few days, I will take you to meet your cousin. If he is willing to exchange you for a shi of rice on the battlefield, no, even a jin of rice, I will let you go back on the spot.” Peng Gang said to Jiang Zhongxin, while gesturing for his attendants to remove the long robes and mandarin jackets and the portrait of Confucius with the money-rat tail, and replace them with a statue of Confucius in the imperial robes.

"Really?" Jiang Zhongxin's eyes lit up, but his expression immediately dimmed again.

When he was first captured, Jiang Zhongxin did have high hopes that Jiang Zhongyuan would exchange him and the other twenty or thirty captured Chu soldiers for him.

Now, for some reason, even though Peng Gang changed the exchange price to a symbolic price of one shi or one jin, Jiang Zhongxin didn't dare to have too much hope for his cousin.

"When have I ever broken my promise?" Peng Gang retorted.

"Your Majesty, I have a question for you," Jiang Zhongxin said after a moment's hesitation.

"Ask." Jiang Zhongxin used to call Peng Gang a traitor, but suddenly addressed him as the King of the North, without even using the word "false." Peng Gang was slightly surprised.

Seeing that Jiang Zhongxin adopted the posture of someone begging for help, Peng Gang gave Jiang Zhongxin a chance to ask questions.

"How do you solve these two linear equations in two variables?" Jiang Zhongxin took out a piece of paper.

Peng Gang glanced at the equations written in letters and Arabic numerals on the paper, written horizontally, and found it somewhat unbelievable.

For the past six months, Jiang Zhongxin has been in the POW camp, and half of the core personnel in the POW management office are Peng Gang's students.

In their spare time, they would teach prisoners of war some simple and basic mathematical knowledge such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

As far as I can remember, none of the students at the prisoner-of-war administration were particularly good at math or capable of teaching algebra.

When Peng Gang was in Pingshan, he compiled three simple mathematics textbooks: elementary, intermediate, and advanced mathematics.

Beginners teach addition and subtraction, intermediate students teach multiplication and division, and advanced students only learn some simple geometry and algebra.

Among Peng Gang's students, including his younger brother Peng Yi, only a very small number were able to learn advanced mathematics; you could count them on two hands.

"Who taught you these questions?" Peng Gang thought that some brilliant minds had been forgotten by him at the prisoner-of-war management office.

"I was bored, so I used my work points to exchange for a set of math textbooks that you guys use. I'm learning to do problems to pass the time and relieve boredom," Jiang Zhongxin said.

So Jiang Zhongxin is self-taught; it's true that a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy learns things quickly.

Peng Gang guessed that Jiang Zhongxin must have a certain mathematical foundation to have learned to this level in just over half a year.

Ritual, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics—after all, mathematics is one of the six arts of a gentleman.

However, mathematics was not an independent subject in the Qing Dynasty's academy education system, and its content was greatly weakened or even ignored.

There were schools that systematically taught geometry and algebra during this period, but these schools were all church schools located in the five open ports. These church schools taught these subjects to train compradors and missionaries.

Jiang Zhongxin received an education from the Hunanese school of practical learning from a young age.

In addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and the Eight-Legged Essay, the Hunan School of Practical Learning also taught geography (historical geography, military geography, frontier geography, surveying), official administration, land tax, canal transport, salt administration, border defense, peasant uprisings, water conservancy, and engineering.

When they discussed issues such as geography, river management, canal transport, and land taxation in their policy essays, they implicitly required computational skills, but the focus remained on policy analysis rather than mathematics itself.

Among the many practical disciplines taught by the Hunan School of Economics, geography was particularly outstanding.

Wei Yuan, Zou Hanxun and his son Zou Shiyi, and Yan Ruyi and his son Yan Zhengji were all top geographers in Hunan and even the whole country in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zuo Zongtang, Luo Zenan, Jiang Zhongyuan, and Liu Changyou, members of the Hunan Army Group, were also highly accomplished geographers.

Jiang Zhongyuan's ability to choose the perfect locations of Suoyidu and Shuitangwan for ambush was also related to his profound knowledge of geography; Jiang Zhongyuan was very familiar with the hydrological conditions of the Xiangjiang River.

Peng Gang ordered someone to bring pen and ink, solved two linear equations in two variables, and corrected the errors in Jiang Zhongxin's solution, telling Jiang Zhongxin to go back and study them on his own.

As Peng Gang was about to mount his horse and return to the Quanzhou government office after leaving the Confucian Temple, his maternal uncle, Xiao Guoying, who had been waiting outside the temple for a long time, suddenly called out to him.

Peng Gang turned around and was quite surprised to see the two people Xiao Guoying had brought with him. "Commander Chen? Teacher?"

One of these two men is Chen Xingwang, the former garrison commander of Bitan.

One of them was his mentor, Liu Bingwen.

Chen Xingwang was an old acquaintance of Peng Gang.

In a disheveled state, dressed in rags and with his braid cut off, Chen Xingwang appeared before Peng Gang. Peng Gang didn't recognize him at first glance.

As for Peng Gang's mentor Liu Bingwen, before the uprising, Peng Gang was worried that the Qing government would retaliate against Liu Bingwen. He and Shi Dakai went to Liu Bingwen's home to try to take him away. However, Liu Bingwen was unwilling to leave Qishixu, and he and Shi Dakai did not force Liu Bingwen.

When Chen Xingwang and Liu Bingwen appeared in Quanzhou, Peng Gang guessed that the Qing government must have taken action against Liu Bingwen.

Based on Peng Gang's understanding of Liu Bingwen, Liu Bingwen would not leave Qishixu unless his entire family's life and property were threatened.

"I dare not accept such praise. This humble citizen, Chen Xingwang, greets Your Highness the Northern King. May Your Highness live a thousand years!" Chen Xingwang bowed deeply to Peng Gang and cried out, "Your Highness the Northern King, we have been searching for you for so long!"

"Get up, let's talk as we walk." Peng Gang gestured for Chen Xingwang to stand up, then walked to Liu Bingwen's side and helped him walk towards the state government office.

Liu Bingwen remained silent the whole way, while Chen Xingwang kept observing Peng Gang's expression and talked on and on about Peng Gang's journey of turning from darkness to light.

Chen Xingwang claimed that he was inspired by Peng Gang's noble moral character and felt disgusted by the Qing army's act of kidnapping the teacher.

With a heavy heart, he killed Zhou Tianjue's family and escorted Liu Bingwen's family all the way north to inquire about and search for Peng Gang's team.

When Peng Gang defeated Zhang Bilu, he arranged a funeral for Zhang Bilu, allowed Zhang Bilu's soldiers to keep vigil for him, and provided Zhang Bilu with a fine coffin. He also had Chen Xingwang and Zhang Zhenyue escort Zhang Bilu's coffin back to Guiping.

In comparison, Zhou Tianjue's method of using Liu Bingwen as a hostage to persuade Peng Gang and Shi Dakai to surrender was indeed despicable.

Chen Xingwang was a smooth talker, and his escorting Liu Bingwen's family to join Peng Gang was suspected of being opportunistic.

But we should judge by actions, not intentions, regardless of Chen Xingwang's purpose in joining Peng Gang.

At least Chen Xingwang managed to safely deliver Peng Gang's teacher, Liu Bingwen, to Peng Gang's side.

Chen Xingwang deserves great credit for this.

Liu Bingwen was a pragmatic official with the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). Even if Liu Bingwen was unwilling to serve Peng Gang, he was still a good role model.

"My servants all depend on me for their livelihood, so I hope Your Highness the Northern King will grant me a job." Upon arriving at the Quanzhou government office, Chen Xingwang did not stand on ceremony and directly asked Peng Gang for a job.

Now that Liu Bingwen is also present, it's a good opportunity to ask for a job; such a good opportunity won't come again.

Although Chen Xingwang was a Green Standard Army officer, he was different from people like Xie Bin and Yang Huwei.

Xie Bin and Yang Huwei were both professionally trained officers in the Green Standard Army and were skilled in combat.

Chen Xingwang was a Green Standard Army officer who came from a position through donation and was not familiar with military affairs.

Letting Chen Xingwang lead troops into battle will harm both himself and others.

Aside from his lack of military skills, Chen Xingwang also had his merits; he was good at business.

Back in Bitan, Chen Xingwang ran his small business with great success, proving himself to be a talented individual.

"The Saint Ku is short-handed, so you'll have to go there for now and assist Peng Yi. You'll be treated like a company commander. If a better or more suitable job comes up in the future, I'll give you priority consideration, and we'll make further arrangements then." Peng Gang thought for a moment and then made the arrangements for Chen Xingwang.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Chen Xingwang had been a prisoner of the Left Army and knew a little about its official system.

Peng Gang gave him a high-ranking position and good treatment, allowing him to serve directly under Peng Gang's younger brother without having to fight on the front lines. Chen Xingwang was very satisfied with this arrangement.

(End of this chapter)