Chapter 11 Section Eleven Dedicated to Zeng Guofan

During the few days at home, Li Hongzhang's tea and food were tasteless, and he was so depressed that he couldn't cheer up anything.When he was helpless, his eldest brother Li Hanzhang, who served as a staff member under Zeng Guofan, wrote him a letter, saying that he had suffered from acclimatization in Jianchang and was vomiting and diarrhea. At the end of the letter, Li Hanzhang told Li Hongzhang: "It's nothing serious, don't tell mother." Li Hongzhang's eyes lit up, and he immediately sent a letter to Fuji, saying that his brother fell ill in the Jianchang military camp and wanted to take a long vacation to visit him.The letter was sent by Zhaoqing to the Fuji barracks on a fast horse in January of the ninth year of Xianfeng (AD 1859).

Fuji read the letter over and over several times, but found nothing suspicious, so he had to give leave. On the day Zhaoqing arrived home, Li Hongzhang simply packed up his luggage, took his family member Zhang Sheng, and rushed to Jianchang by the shortcut in disguise. At this time, Zeng Guofan, the commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army, was in the trough of his life when he lost his general and brother.He sat alone at the table, holding a cup of tea, staring at a map on the table carefully. This is a map of Anhui Province drawn by the Ministry of Households during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.

Zeng Guofan pointed his finger at the top of Sanhe Town and refused to move it away for a long time.His 6,500 elite Hunan troops died here. Just at this time, a soldier came in quietly and reported: "My lord, Li Hongzhang of Hefei is asking to see you!" Zeng Guofan took the badge and looked at it, and saw that it said "Li Hongzhang, a student of the Anhui Tuanlian assistant, and the third-rank inspector, Li Hongzhang nodded①", so he put down the badge and said, "Let him in!" But he thought to himself: "This Li Shaoquan , I probably can’t get along in Anhui anymore!”

After Li Hongzhang came in, he knelt down on his knees in front of Zeng Guofan, kowtowed three times respectfully, and said, "Student Li Hongzhang, please greet my teacher!" Zeng Guofan hurriedly left his seat, helped him up with both hands, and said, "Shaoquan, please get up quickly. Come, serve tea for Mr. Li!" After Li Hongzhang got up, Zeng Guofan pointed to the wooden chair beside the table and said, "Shaoquan, sit down and talk." , have you met your elder brother?" Li Hongzhang replied: "As soon as the disciple arrived in Jianchang, he rushed to greet his mentor, but he has not yet gone to see his elder brother. How is your mentor?"

Zeng Guofan responded casually, "It's okay", and then said: "Shaoquan, your elder brother started to vomit as soon as he arrived in Jianchang, and he just got better today. As a younger brother, you should take a look at him before you come to see me. Late!" Li Hongzhang replied: "There is a mentor here, and the disciples dare not go to see the elder brother first." The soldiers came in holding tea and placed it in front of Li Hongzhang, saying, "Master Li, use it slowly", and then withdrew.Zeng Guofan sighed softly and said, "Shaoquan, it's been five or six years since we broke up?"

Li Hongzhang replied: "It has been six years since my mentor left the capital in the second year of Xianfeng." Zeng Guofan raised his head, narrowed his eyes and said to himself: "It's been six years, Shaoquan, if I remember correctly, you left the capital with Lu Xianji in the next year, and soon joined Fuji's sect. Calculated like this , you have been in Anhui for less than five years. When you left Beijing, you were the editor of the Seventh Rank Imperial Academy. After five years, you have already become the top student of the Third Rank. You have been promoted to the Eighth Rank in five years. It should be very satisfying to be around!"

Zeng Guofan clearly satirized him for not being able to stick to one end; and not being able to stick to one end, but Zeng Guofan hated him deeply.Li Hongzhang blushed, and replied calmly: "My teacher is very aware of the details, and it is imperative for the disciples to transfer to Fuji halfway. Master Lu did not allow other people to intervene, and he was the only one who took care of the money and food. The disciples were all good. I have nothing to do, so I can only ask for leave. The disciples are the Anhui regiment training assistants appointed by the clear decree. Mr. Lu does not use the disciples, but Fuji tells the disciples to go to the governor's yamen to practice bravery. , there is no third way for disciples to go! How come disciples do not know what kind of person Fuji is?"

As Li Hongzhang was talking, his eyes suddenly turned red, and tears fell involuntarily, and he choked up and said: "If the teacher doesn't ask today, the disciple will not say these things. Only the disciple knows the difficulties of the disciple! The disciple has come to this day , How many things are decided by oneself?" After speaking, tears came down like rain. Zeng Guofan persuaded: "Shaoquan, don't be sad! I'm just asking casually, so don't be suspicious. You are an official of the imperial court, whether you are with Lu Xianji or Sui Fuji, you are doing things for the Qing Dynasty. Lingtang Are you and your family all right?"

Li Hongzhang stopped his tears and replied: "Mr. Xie is concerned, my mother and the whole family are fine." Zeng Guofan said: "Shaoquan, Changmao has broken my Luzhou twice, didn't he hurt anyone in the mansion?" Li Hongzhang replied: "Responding to my mentor, my disciples have already moved their families to the countryside in advance. Changmao first broke through Luzhou, but only destroyed the house in Hefei." Zeng Guofan got up and moved the map away, and said: "We have been talking for a long time, and I am also tired. You, go and see your elder brother, and use it here for dinner. You are tired all the way, I want to wash the dust for you Well!"

Li Hongzhang got up hurriedly and said: "Thank you for your kindness, teacher, please rest first, and the disciple will come to serve you later." Li Hongzhang walked out of the big tent with ease.He knew that his mentor had begun to forgive himself. What kind of person is Li Hongzhang's mentor?How can Li Hongzhang, who has already entered the ranks of officials, still respect him so much? Zeng Guofan was born in Xiangxiang, Hunan Province. His original name was Zicheng, his courtesy name was Bohan, and his nickname was Disheng.In the twelve years since he first entered the officialdom, he jumped ten ranks in a row, and reached the second rank at the age of thirty-seven, setting the first record in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty; at the age of forty-two, he was also the servant of five departments, becoming the youngest among Han officials A senior official with a red top.

In the second year of Xianfeng (1852 A.D.), Zeng Guofan was ordered to test Jiangxi, and returned to Ding Muyou halfway. At the beginning of the next year, he was ordered to be the Minister of Hunan Tuanlian to compile and practice Xiangyong. Zeng Guofan now holds the title of Minister of the Ministry of War of the second rank Dingjia, and he is deeply relied on by Emperor Xianfeng. Li Hongzhang worshiped Zeng Guofan from September in the 25th year of Daoguang (AD 1845) until his mother Ding left the capital.Li Hongzhang resolutely came to join him this time, partly because of the relationship between the two of them as teachers and students, and partly because Zeng Guofan had a large army in his hands, and the court could not come up with another person to replace him.What's more, Sanhe Town was injured, and the vitality of the Hunan Army was seriously injured. If Zeng Guofan wanted to revive his morale, he also needed someone to help him. At this time in the Qing Dynasty, the provinces and provinces organized group training, but Zeng Guofan was the only one who achieved results. Li Hongzhang really wanted to know how his mentor managed to run a group to practice successfully.In the next few days, Li Hongzhang either played chess or watched exercises with his mentor, and the friendship between teachers and students gradually increased.But Zeng Guofan just didn't say the words of taking in. One day after dinner, Li Hongzhang was talking with his elder brother Li Hanzhang when Zeng Guofan suddenly sent his own soldiers to pass him on.Li Hongzhang hurried to the main tent of the Hunan Army. Under the lamp, Zeng Guofan spread the map of Anhui Province on the table, pointed to Sanhe Town and said: "I have been thinking about it for several days. Given the terrain of Sanhe Town, how could Changmao raise tens of thousands of horses in one night without making a fuss?" Was it noticed? Li Xubin has followed me for many years and fought countless vicious battles. He can't be so careless! Where is the crux? Shaoquan, you are from Anhui, you should know the situation in Sanhe Town, please tell me. " Li Hongzhang went to the table to look at the map, and said decisively: "Men, this is probably the map of the provinces drawn by the Ministry of Households during the Kangxi period of my dynasty?" Zeng Guofan replied: "Shaoquan is confused. Except for the map drawn once during the Kangxi period, why did I draw the provincial map twice? Aren't all the provinces using these old maps now?" Li Hongzhang said: "My mentor is right. From the time of the holy ancestor to the present, the Ministry of Households has indeed never drawn a provincial map. But this map has too many mistakes, and sometimes there are mistakes based on this map. It is said that since the mentor took over the army, In the battles with Changmao in Huguang, they won many battles, but after leaving the country, there were victories and losses. The disciple boldly believed that the master's repeated victories in Huguang were all due to the familiarity of the terrain." Zeng Guofan nodded in approval, and sighed: "Li Xubin died in the battle in Sanhe Town, probably by mistake on this map. When I was on duty in the Ministry of War, I reported to the court and asked for permission to draw a new map. Long hair, the imperial court has no time to take care of this matter anymore. Cough!" Zeng Guofan suddenly changed the subject and asked: "Shaoquan, you have been here for a long time, in your opinion, what are the shortcomings of our Hunan Army camp?" Li Hongzhang thought for a while and replied: "As far as my teacher is concerned, the Hunan army has both water and land, strong men and strong horses, and they practice hard. The disciples really don't see any shortcomings." Seeing Li Hongzhang's speech, Zeng Guofan hesitated, and couldn't help but smiled wryly: "Shaoquan, you and I have been separated for six years. I can't tell, but you have experienced a long time and become cautious. Say what you see, don't I'm not used to hiding it." Li Hongzhang blushed: "The mentor taught you well, but it's not that the student doesn't want to talk, it's just that I'm afraid that what I say is wrong and it will make you angry." Zeng Guofan smiled and said, "Tell me, I like to hear you tell the truth." Li Hongzhang replied: "My mentor is generous, and my disciples boldly think that soldiers are more expensive than elites, and expensive utensils are not expensive." Zeng Guofan was taken aback when he heard this, and Li Hongzhang stopped talking hastily when he saw this. Zeng Guofan attacked the case and said: "Shaoquan, you have hit the point! The firearms in our Hunan Army's hands are a major weakness! Go on." Li Hongzhang said: "The disciples have been thinking, if I have tens of thousands of Hunan troops, each of whom can have a foreign gun, how can the long hair spread across several provinces?" Zeng Guofan responded: "That's a good point! But foreign guns need to be equipped with foreign bullets to be effective. It's so difficult! You may not know that all of our Hunan Army's forty battalions are in arrears of payment. Your eldest brother The Prime Minister's reimbursement bureau is always frowning. Yong likes to practice, but pay is hard to pay. Shaoquan, you have also held group training, and you should know what it's like!" Zeng Guofan sighed again after finishing speaking. When he returned to his residence that night, Li Hongzhang could not sleep for a long time.Zeng Guofan's palace was too deep, and Li Hongzhang couldn't guess what he was thinking.Li Hongzhang thought to himself that he had made it clear to him, so what worries did Zeng Guofan have? The next day, Li Hongzhang was playing chess with Zeng Guofan, when the soldiers suddenly handed in an emergency document.Zeng Guofan took over, but it turned out that the Taiping Army suddenly sent troops to surround Jingdezhen last night. Jingdezhen was guarded by Wu Guozuo of the Hunan Army; Zeng Guofan pushed the chessboard away, and immediately spread out the map of Jiangxi Province. He pointed to Jingdezhen and said, "Shaoquan, Jingdezhen has just been conquered by me, and Changmao wants to occupy it again. Jingdezhen is the gateway for the Hunan army to enter Anhui. It has a very important relationship, and it must not be lost." I want to send Zhang Yunlan's Fifth Battalion to the nearest rescue. Jingdezhen was first recovered by Zhang Yunlan and Wu Guozuo's Fifth Battalion. Shaoquan, what do you think?" Li Hongzhang looked at the map and asked, "Teacher, I want to know where Zhang Yunlan's army is now?" Zeng Guofan replied: "Yunlan is currently stationed in Tianfan, only two hours away from Jingdezhen, so there should be time." Li Hongzhang thought for a while and asked: "Teacher, who is stationed in Wuyuan? My disciple boldly thought that Zhang Yunlan went to save Jingdezhen, and he had to prevent Chang Mao from Zhejiang and Anhui for reinforcements. If the teacher sent an army to falsely attack Wuyuan, Wuyuan's Chang Mao They dare not move; if another army is sent to block Xiaogushan, the long hairs of Wan Province will not be able to come to help. What do you think, teacher?" Zeng Guofan pondered for a while and nodded, "I heard rumors in Hubei that Shaoquan was quite capable of using troops in Anhui, but I didn't quite believe it. Now it seems that the rumors are true! Well, let's do as you said just now!" Zeng Guofan then dispatched troops and generals, and arranged them one by one.Jingdezhen was soon besieged.