Chapter 18 Section 18 Zeng Guofan's Principles of Making Friends

Before leaving the government office, Peng Yulin turned over and knelt down on the ground, kowtowing and saying, "Thank you Master Zeng for saving me!" Zeng Guofan helped him up and comforted him, "It's the magistrate who is confused. My brother is acting chivalrously and acting out of reason. Only a foolish tolerance can cause this accident. Seeing your words and deeds, Zeng must be a great talent for the country in the future. I hope you cherish it!" Peng Yulin hurriedly said: "It's rare for your lord to praise you so much! Your lord is really useful for the day when you can go through fire and water without hesitation! Listening to your lord's tone, it seems that you have some research on metaphysics. Now the lord wants to take you to a place to meet a People from other places, I don’t know if my lord is interested? Yulin asked a hexagram when he came here, and today I think about it, it’s not bad at all, why don’t my lord also ask a hexagram?”

Peng Yulin's words aroused Zeng Guofan's interest, which was also a common problem among scholars at that time.He grabbed Peng Yulin's hand: "I have to go back and close the stall, right? How about going back to the inn with Zeng after asking the hexagrams?" Peng Yulin smiled and replied: "There is no stall! It's just a few pieces of torn paper. Yulin will take the adults to ask the hexagrams. It's just that the grassroots are penniless now, so the adults can only spend the money." The two laughed loudly, and the passers-by were baffled by the laughter, and they all watched the fun in a daze.

In a remote thatched cottage outside the north gate of Xiangguo Temple, an old man is drinking tea and reciting aloud.Zeng Guofan looked at the old man, he was more than 70 years old, with a white scalp and only a little silver hair around him, he was not a monk or a monk; a messy yellow beard hung on his chest, his nose was up and down, faintly The style of Lao Tzu. Peng Yulin took Zeng Guofan's hand, motioned to the old man, then both knelt down and said together: "Please greet the old man, late student!" Let’s report the horoscope of your birthday. The old man’s eyesight is dim, so please forgive me if he is not sure. However, thirty big money per person is indispensable. The three meals of the old man depend on this.”

Zeng Guofan took out sixty big coins and lined up in front of the old man, thought for a while and said, "The late was born on the eleventh day of the eleventh day of the Jiaqing sixteenth year at Haishi." Peng Yulin said: "The late student was born on September 19th, the 21st year of Jiaqing." The old man closed his eyes and was silent for a while, then he began to mumble something, and he opened his eyes suddenly after murmuring for half an hour.Without saying a word, he stood up, went straight to the desk, spread out two pieces of straw paper, then picked up a pen and dipped it in ink, and began to write little by little.It didn't take much time to write words on the two pieces of paper.

The old man thought for a while, then looked back at Zeng Guofan, then took out a large bundle of papers from a broken cabinet next to the bed, and tied them tightly with a thick hemp rope.He picked up another piece of paper that he had just written on, regardless of whether the ink was dry or not, he folded it randomly, together with the bundle of paper, stuffed it into Zeng Guofan's arms, and said, "I have learned all I have learned in my life on this bundle of paper. I hope to figure it out in the future.” Zeng Guofan hugged the bundle of papers, looked at the old man inexplicably, wanted to say something, but couldn't find a topic for a while.

But the old man turned around early and picked up another piece of paper and handed it to Peng Yulin, saying: "God's will can't be violated, let's go, both of you." After speaking, he sat down on the futon again, closed his eyes, and remained silent. Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin looked at each other, they had to salute deeply, stood up unhappily, and backed out.After leaving the door, Zeng Guofan breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "It looks like a warlock who is used to wandering around the rivers and lakes, or he seems to have colluded with brother Xueqin. He doesn't know how deep his skills are?"

Peng Yulin said: "My lord, don't wrong people, as if the two of us want to share the sixty coins equally. Let's take a look at what is written first, whether it is accurate or not, his way of doing things will be clear at a glance." ?" Zeng Guofan took Lapeng Yulin's hand and said, "Come back to the inn with me and watch it again. You still have to tell me "Gongjinshui Warfare"! After shopping for a long time, the tough man should be hungry." Peng Yulin was no longer as cautious as before, he smiled and said: "Yulin doesn't have a tael of silver. I think it's better to accompany me to find an acquaintance to sell this "Gongjinshui Warfare" in exchange for a few dollars. Two silvers, I'll do my best to thank you for your kindness in saving me!"

Zeng Guofan deviated from his usual serious attitude and said with a smile, "When you sell "Gongjinshui Warfare", our chests should be attached to our backs." The two walked and talked all the way, and came to the inn without knowing it.After entering the inn, Zeng Guofan specially asked the store owner to quickly stir-fry two side dishes, one meat and one vegetarian, and boiled a pot of old shochu for Peng Yulin.Zeng Guofan didn't drink alcohol at all, because his ringworm disease would flare up violently whenever he encountered alcohol, which meant that he would never have anything to do with alcohol in his life.

After the food and wine were served, Zeng and Peng each took out the posts written by the old man, and suddenly they both laughed. Peng Yulin took the post from Zeng Guofan, and saw four lines of gatha written on it: Zeng Guofan took the post from Peng Yulin, and saw that there were also four lines of gatha written on it: Zeng Guofan unwrapped the bundle of papers, and saw the word "Bing Jian" inscribed on the front page. After reading the contents for a long time, he realized that it was a book about people, almost like "Mai Shen Xiang". Zeng Guofan wrapped the repack, smiled and said to Peng Yulin: "It's not recommended by my brother, I really suspect that I met a quack warlock. Leave him alone, let's have dinner first, and after dinner, you have to tell me "Gongjinshui Warfare" "What about it!" Peng Yulin was not humble, and started to eat voraciously.

After the meal, the two walked into the guest room without taking a sip of tea, so Peng Yulin took out the "Gongjin Water Warfare" chapter by chapter and explained it in detail.The innkeeper brewed a pot of Maojian tea, quietly put it on the case, and quietly backed out.Neither of them noticed that Peng Yulin was engrossed in speaking, and Zeng Guofan was fascinated in listening. The Qing Dynasty has always emphasized horseback kung fu since Nurhachi, and the weapons that the princes came to know were bows and arrows, broadswords, spears and the like.Therefore, historians say that the mountains and rivers of the Qing Dynasty were built on horseback.As for water warfare, I don't even know much about the tools used in water warfare.In the past few years in the capital, Zeng Guofan has participated in several parade ceremonies held by the Eight Banners, and also participated in the parade of the Green Camp twice, but he has never seen a sea exercise held.The water battle of the Qing Dynasty was almost blank.Zeng Guofan has been worried about this for a long time.Now, Peng Yulin has not only read and thoroughly understood this "Gongjinshui Warfare", but also talked about many of his own ideas, many of which were heard by Zeng Guofan for the first time.Zeng Guofan began to secretly admire the person in front of him who was five years younger than him.

It was very late that Changshun and Taizhuang came back drunk.Zeng Guofan hurriedly introduced the two guards to Peng Yulin, and said to them: "This is my fellow villager, it's rare that he can explain the battle on water so thoroughly!" Peng Yulin hastily greeted Changshun and Taizhuang.Several people sat down again. Whether intentionally or not, Changshun took another look at Peng Yulin.Seeing it, Zeng Guofan thought to himself: "The chief guard is really different from ordinary guards!" Then the four of them chattered nonsense for a while, until Chang Shun was reeling, and Taizhuang even snored several times. The chief and the stage finally couldn't take it anymore, so Zeng Guofan asked the shopkeeper to open a room alone, and helped the dizzy two to the bed.After a while, both of them were snoring, obviously exhausted. As the conversation got hotter, the topics naturally increased, and Zeng Guofan took off his clothes again to let Peng Yulin watch the ringworm.Seeing this, Peng Yulin was taken aback.Peng Yulin never expected that Zeng Guofan's ringworm disease was so serious: his chest, back of his heart and limbs were all covered with hard scabs, which fell off piece by piece when he touched it with his hands.Fortunately, the face and neck are still fair, and there are no spots on the hands. As soon as Peng Yulin's heart moved, he immediately concluded that the fellow countryman in front of him was definitely not someone who would take nothing for granted. Peng Yulin remembered that when he visited Huashan five years ago, he heard an old Taoist say that different people must have different bodies.This alien is either a great man who is rich and powerful and saves the people from the disaster, or is a vicious man who stirs up troubles and turns black and white and pushes the country into the abyss of disaster.Mr. Zeng in front of him has triangular eyes and ringworm all over his body. Is it possible that Hunan, which has outstanding talents, will produce another great person who shakes the world and weeps ghosts and gods?Peng Yulin caressed the ringworm on Zeng Guofan's body, and swore, "Even if Yulin travels all over the world, he will also eradicate your ringworm!" That's what Peng Yulin said, and he did the same.But until Zeng Guofan left this world, Peng Yulin's vow was not fulfilled.That night, Zeng Guofan and Peng Yulin talked until the second half of the night.After Peng Yulin left, Zeng Guofan took out a notebook from his luggage and wrote down his principles for making friends: "People who are trustworthy, unofficial, organized, and less boastful can make friends!"