Chapter 49 Section 49: Recommending Chen Yuangun to teach

Zeng Guofan returned to the mansion full of thoughts, locked himself in the study after dinner, and closed his eyes to meditate. Judging from Emperor Daoguang's complexion, it may be difficult to last for a long time. His face is dull, his eyes are dull, his whole body is tired, and his phlegm is red. This is a sign of the end.Although this was caused by Emperor Daoguang's hard work, it was also closely related to natural and man-made disasters.Emperor Daoguang may know that his days are numbered, so he talked with a Han official about many things that should not be talked about. What does Emperor Daoguang want to do?The Qing Dynasty used force to pacify the Central Plains. The princes in the palace would never confide their hearts to the Han ministers, and they resolutely guarded against the Han people.Especially after the pacification of the San Francisco, the Han people were even more out of power.But why did Emperor Daoguang tell himself these things?Could it be that he is terminally ill and confused?

He opened his eyes, found the requiem incense, lit one, and sat cross-legged on the kang. There is no doubt that Emperor Daoguang did regard himself as a minister around him.Although this is related to Mu Zhang'a's recommendation, it also faintly reveals that Emperor Daoguang was disappointed with the Manchus, and his focus was gradually shifting to the Han people. The rule of the Han Dynasty by the Manchus was the ancestral edict written by Nurhachi on the "Jade Document", and it cannot be changed unless the emperor has great courage.Daoguang's ability to confide his heart to a fourth-rank minister of the Han Dynasty also just shows that the emperor lacks people around him.Thinking of this level, Zeng Guofan felt faintly uneasy again.

Seeing the essence through the surface of Emperor Daoguang's words, he hoped that he could truly be a good official among the courtiers who was both honest and courageous, influencing one or even several generations of officials, and continuing the Qing Dynasty.This is both public and selfish.The public heart is for the country, and the selfish heart is for the prosperity of the royal family. Zeng Guofan had a headache and his limbs were numb from thinking about it. He got off the kang and wanted to refill another incense stick. At this moment, Zhou Sheng walked in quietly: "My lord, it's already the third watch, you should take a rest."

"Oh..." Zeng Guofan said to himself, "It's midnight, it's time to rest." After sleeping for several hours, it was dawn. Zeng Guofan had just woken up when Zhou Sheng rushed in and said, "My lord, I just got the letter. Chen Yuangun's concubine is gone!" "What?" Zeng Guofan was taken aback, "You mean Yi'an is gone?" Zhou Sheng said: "Yes, the steward of the Chen residence has just left, and Chen Hanlin would like to let your lord go over." Zeng Guofan said to Zhou Sheng while changing his clothes: "Hurry up and prepare the sedan chair."

Zhou Sheng was taken aback, and asked in a low voice, "Skipping breakfast?" Zeng Guofan said: "Chen Hanlin has no relatives in Beijing, so he might be in a hurry. I have to hurry!" When he arrived at the Chen Mansion, Chen Yuangun was sitting in the living room and weeping alone.Seeing Zeng Guofan walk in, he just yelled "Disheng" and was speechless. The housekeeper hurriedly took the clothes Zeng Guofan took off, and said: "My grandma gave birth yesterday, and I found three or four midwives to no avail. After tossing around until noon, the young master was born, but grandma is gone!"

"Where's the young master?" Zeng Guofan asked. Chen Yuangun said: "Crying all the time, the maid is hugging and coaxing. I lost my mother when I was born, cough!" The housekeeper said: "The young master is so hungry that he can't eat anything. What should we do, we can't..." Zeng Guofan said anxiously: "Send someone to find a nurse right away, the child needs to be nursed!" One sentence reminded Chen Yuangun, and he didn't even think about it, so he hurried out and sent someone to find a nurse. Chen Yuangun, a native of Chaling, Hunan, was a Jinshi of Zeng Guofan's last subject, and was a reviewer of the Imperial Academy at that time.Marry his wife, Yi Shi, and give it to An Ren.Yi An gave birth to his first child, but it was in trouble, so why not make Chen Yuangun grieve.

After a while, Liu Chuanying, Shao Yichen, Chen Gongyuan and others arrived one after another, and Zeng Guofan directed everyone to reassure Yi'an people.Chen Yuangun's residence is leased, and the owner is afraid of bad luck, so he is not allowed to stop.Zeng Guofan asked Zhou Sheng to take the post to contact the Guandi Temple outside the city, and finally succeeded, and Yi'an's coffin was suspended in the Guandi Temple.After the nanny was found, the little boy also stopped crying. Not long after, Zeng Guofan saw that Chen Yuandun was depressed all day long and couldn't keep up his spirits on business, so he asked Chen Yuandun to resign from his servants and leave the house to move to Zeng's mansion with his nanny.Chen Yuangun and the nanny each lived in a house, but they ate three meals a day in one place.Chen Yuangun talked about state affairs with Zeng Guofan every day, played Go, and his mood gradually improved.

Ever since there were more Chen Yuangun and his sons in Zeng's mansion, life passed much faster than usual. Two months later, Chen Yuangunding's father left Beijing and returned home, leaving only his son in Zeng's family for foster care.Chen Yuangun named his son Yuanji before parting.When Chen Yuanji became an adult, he married Zeng Jiyao, Zeng Guofan's daughter. Zeng Guofan wrote elegiac scrolls and elegiac couplets for the old master of the Chen family, all of which were packed into the bag and brought back by Chen Yuangun.The coffin of the Yi'an people was also taken out from the Guandi Temple, and someone was specially hired to escort it.

Zeng Guofan escorted the coffins of Chen Yuangun and Yi Anren out of Beijing with a tolerance. Seeing Chen Yuangun help the coffin move forward, Zeng Guofan's tears blurred his eyes.He knew that he had lost a close friend in the capital, and the capital had lost a direct official. Chen Yuangun is a well-known Zhitongzi in the capital, and a well-known scholar in the Hanlin Academy.Because of his temper, many Beijing officials don't have much contact with him, and he himself knows that his broken mouth has offended many people, and many Beijing officials can't tolerate it, so he has kept it for a long time. He thought of resigning, but he suffered from no chance.

He had talked with Zeng Guofan many times about his thoughts. Zeng Guofan was well aware of the pain in his heart. Although he tried to persuade him a few times, he finally knew that Chen Yuangun was not suitable for officialdom, and he would leave after all. Take this trip to Beijing as an example, except for Zeng Guofan, Huang Zishou, Shao Yichen and other colleagues, officials above the ministerial level did not even send a banner.When Zeng Guofan returned home for the funeral, even the emperor rewarded him with a condolence curtain, let alone the ministers. This is certainly related to Zeng Guofan's academic prestige, but it is also directly related to the emperor's appreciation and Mu Zhang'a's promotion; especially Zeng Guofan's frugal life, strict requirements on himself in official affairs, self-denial, and consistency in words and deeds. Even more admirable.

How many officials in Beijing who speak a set of words and act in a set of tunes are too many to count!The most ridiculous thing is the dudes who are set up in the name of supervision and fairness. They are obviously supervision, but what they do is patrol the night to check on whoring officials today, and eat flowers and wine on vacation tomorrow.This is an extremely embarrassing thing that even the emperor of the Qing Dynasty knows. Chen Yuangun's Ding father was worried this time, and Zeng Guofan knew that he had to quit the officialdom. After sending Chen Yuangun away, he wrote a letter to the benevolent Mr. Tang Jian.In the letter, I begged Mr. Tang, and Mr. Tang turned to the head of Changsha Yuelu Academy (the name used for the lecturers of the academy in the past dynasties), hoping to find a teaching position for Chen Hanlin in Yuelu Academy, Lianbin Academy or Changsha Academy. Although teaching and educating people is not the director of Chen Yuangun, but he was born in two rankings after all, so he still has some skills.Zeng Guofan knew very well that Tang Jian followed the doctrine of the mean. Although he had a prejudice against Chen Yuangun, he had a lot of admiration for Zeng Guofan.Zeng Guofan's fame is closely related to Tang Jian's praise.