Zeng Guofan was very successful as an official.He started as a scholar, established an army, led the heroes, turned the tide, and helped the building to collapse.He is good at advancing and retreating. After annihilating the Taiping Army, his fame and career are in full swing. At this time, he can be extremely calm. The foundation of his own power-the Hunan Army.He was born into the prime of life, without major setbacks, and there are not many successful people like him in the traditional officialdom. The basis of Zeng Guofan's success is his deep understanding of officialdom.Zeng Guofan's officialdom skills are like Tai Chi masters, good at resolving various difficulties invisible.His adviser Zhao Liewen recorded such an interesting story:

In the ninth year of Xianfeng, a mysterious figure appeared in Tongcheng with several entourages. He claimed to be a high-ranking official from Beijing who visited various places for military affairs. He also openly accepted the courtesy of a monarch and his ministers.People thought it was a private visit from the prince, relatives or even the emperor himself, and they were amazed. He took the yellow paper as an edict and ordered a county magistrate to deliver it to Zeng Guofan's camp.Zeng Guofan looked at his "edict", sometimes he called himself "Yu" in the text, and sometimes he called himself "Zhen".But between the lines, it seems to reveal some insider information about the politics of the capital.If it was placed in the past, Zeng Guofan would definitely arrest him quickly and send him to the capital for punishment.But at this time, Zeng Guofan had already understood the beauty of the law of "immortality and immortality", and he didn't want to "raise a big prison" because of it, so he put this letter aside, "don't ask and don't investigate it".Seeing that the blackmail of Zeng Guofan was unsuccessful, this person turned to "deliver an edict" to the official document of the governor of Huguang, and the official document interrogated him, "it was not true, and he did not investigate it deeply", and this person "later disappeared".

Zeng Guofan was originally a person with a mediocre IQ.Zeng Guofan took the county examination from the age of fourteen, took the examination seven times, and did not pass the examination until the age of twenty-three, and he was the second-to-last.Compared with his contemporaries, his mediocrity is obvious.Zuo Zongtang, who was one year younger than him, participated in the Xiangyin County Examination at the age of fourteen and ranked first.Li Hongzhang was also a scholar at the age of seventeen.Liang Qichao, who was later than Zeng, Zuo, and Li, was even more talented. He was a scholar at the age of eleven and a scholar at the age of sixteen.

Liang Qichao said: "Wen Zheng is not an outstanding genius, he is said to be the most blunt among all the sages at the time." Zuo Zongtang has always looked down on Zeng Guofan, and has repeatedly criticized him mercilessly for being "short of talent" and "lack of talent". , "Talent is also too lacking", "every military machine suffers from dullness and stagnation".Student Li Hongzhang also said to his face that he was too "confucian and slow".Zeng Guofan himself often said that "my life is shorter than my talents" and "my nature is stupid and soft".He said that when he was reading and doing things, his reaction speed was very slow: "I am blunt. Others can read two or three lines, and I can't finish a line when I read it quickly. If others do it immediately, I can't think about it for a few hours."

Most of his extraordinary official skills come from tempering. Zeng Guofan was a typical angry youth in his early years.Single-line thinking, solipsism, cynicism, and arrogance.When doing things, he has a single method, a tough style, pure rigidity and fierceness, and is indomitable.He always has a mentality of "everyone is drunk and I am alone" towards people, so he runs into walls everywhere and gets blamed at every turn.For example, his memorial to the emperor was "straightforward and passionate, without paying attention to methods and methods." I got the impression that Zeng Guofan was brave to commit crimes, rebellious and difficult to control.This is also one of the important reasons why Emperor Xianfeng could not trust him and dared not give him great power.Although Zeng Guofan has learned some superficial power skills in the officialdom, he has the trouble of being unable to draw a tiger. He said in his family letter: "As for the handover of the officialdom, my brother has a little understanding of the situation, and it is inappropriate to have a belly. Soft, so they are lonely everywhere.”

Zeng Guofan lived in the late Qing Dynasty, the officialdom was very corrupt, the army was extremely corrupt, and the national army could no longer quell the catastrophe.Therefore, he created the Hunan Army and led the troops to fight.However, Zeng Guofan's upright and stern style, the temperament of a gentleman and the despicable character of local officials are incompatible with each other.At the same time, the imperial court believed that it was not a blessing for the country that a registered servant could gather tens of thousands of troops with a single call, and he dared not let him go.Zeng Guofan led the army for three years, but he never had a formal title.Because he has no clear authority and refuses to collude with local officials, although he traveled to various provinces to defend the territory, he was excluded and made things difficult everywhere.The local government has been refusing to supply the military salaries of tens of thousands of troops, borrowing from left to right, often without a meal, and often fighting hungry.

At this moment, he received his father's obituary.He immediately went to the school to ask to go home to observe his filial piety, and expressed all the sorrow and resentment he had suppressed for a long time.He hoped that this time the emperor would understand his difficulties and grant him powers. But Emperor Xianfeng still couldn't believe him.At this time, the power of the Taiping Army is gradually fading, and it seems that there is no serious problem without Zeng Guofan.So he pushed the boat along the way and approved him to go home and guard the system for three years, which actually lifted his military power.

This blow to the head almost knocked Zeng Guofan unconscious.He never expected that years of hard work and hard work would lead to such a result.This is a great blow to him who is dedicated to making contributions and dedicating himself to it.Those magistrates who usually opposed him were all overjoyed.In February of the seventh year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan returned to his hometown in the countryside in despair, in an extremely bad mood.Zeng Guofan locked himself in the room, read the scriptures and history and Lao Zhuang repeatedly, and replayed all the situations since he started the army over and over again in his mind, thinking hard about the reasons for his failure.

After more than a year of living in the countryside, Zeng Guofan seemed to be a different person when he came out of the mountains again.He overcame barriers, was not defeated by setbacks, but developed greatly.Acting and doing things, from the original founder, to a tact.In the eighth year of Xianfeng, due to the tense battle situation, the emperor had to re-appoint Zeng Guofan.This time, he didn't mention any conditions, and immediately went out of the mountain. When he arrived in Changsha, he first visited all yamen, even the small Changsha county yamen.For those magistrates who had a deep grudge, he tried his best to win over and comfort them, "tasting them with huge profits".He said in his family letter: "In the past in the military camp, Yu did not make unreasonable recommendations and did not use money indiscriminately, so he was not attached to people's hearts. Recently, he has speculated on the wind and changed his previous ambition." Selfish and selfish for his own use, great strength but softness, great wisdom and stupidity, this sophisticated and unpredictable demeanor of Confucianism and Taoism is like a fish in water in the officialdom.

In other aspects, Zeng Guofan has also changed a lot. He was more gentle and gentle in his early years. "My younger brother Yuan said that I have more than kindness and kindness but not enough power. Brother Cheng often said at this time."But later this shortcoming was corrected.In the later period of his official career, he said: "I have been in the army for many years, and I regard soldiers as my children. As for enforcing military laws to punish scum, there must be more than enough." The domineering spirit can be seen. The later in life, the more events he experienced, the more sophisticated and ordinary Zeng Guofan's official skills became: "Recently, I have experienced a lot of changes, and I have been working hard towards the ordinary. It is not exhausting. The position is too high and the name is too heavy. Dangerous way." He has been able to see through the ups and downs of the officialdom, and he is not tempted at all: "When it is very lively, your Excellency says that the situation of the spectators will be over, but you don't know that the singer's prosperity has died down. It was earth-shattering, and it had nothing to do with me."

Another reason for Zeng Guofan's success as an official is that he is good at studying historical experience.He loves to read books summarizing his experience as an official. In his diary, there are often records such as "reading the "Regulations on Political Affairs", and extracting one or two excerpts, so as to compile the "Government of Officials" by himself".Zeng Guofan admired Wang Huizu, a famous screener in the Qing Dynasty very much, and devoted himself to studying the official scriptures written by him. "Read the books written by Mr. Wang Longzhuang Hui Zu such as "Zuozhi Yaoyan", "Xuezhi Conjecture", "Menghenlu" until the second watch. His "Yongxun" teaches the words of the descendants, and the language is practical and can be read In the past few months, I have neglected everything, except for playing chess and reading books, I am lazy every day, and I stay in the pavilion with many business affairs, reading Wang Gongshu, and I don’t feel terrified!” Until the end of his life, he still couldn’t forget "Five Kinds These two books are Legacy Regulations and Records of Words and Deeds of Famous Officials.Through reading history, Zeng Guofan summed up the universal meaning of "four failures of officials": "Those who are lazy and take office lose, those who act arrogantly and recklessly lose, those who are greedy and unscrupulous lose, and those who repeat and cheat often lose." In addition, Zeng Guofan also loves to read history books and philosophy books.He has attached great importance to his life and worked hard to work hard.Kao, Zeng's life, read through at least five times.He read dialectics from this ancient classic, and read a lot of principles of life, which had a profound impact on his posture in the officialdom. "In the past, people used the officialdom as a metaphor. A lonely boat with a leaf was overturned in the huge waves every day. If you were a little timid and couldn't steer the rudder, you would fall into the water." On the surface, everyone in the officialdom is harmonious, but behind them there are murderous intentions everywhere. Difficult to grasp. "The matter of the capital and the news of the privy secretaries change at any time, and there are ups and downs. Those who are expected by the public are cast aside in an instant, and there are also doubts and slanders. Those who are full of opinions are calm in an instant." He knows well that when the moon is full, the water is full. Yi Zhidao, when things are going well, always think of danger. "About being a high-ranking official, in a state of peace and prosperity, there is a way to be in danger or humiliation. The ancients said that wealth and honor often go through crisis." He is good at observing "time" opportunities, so as to make the most beneficial choice for himself. "Where there is prosperity, there must be decline, and it is impossible to predict. Mrs. Wang teaches her children, grandchildren and women. She often thinks of being unofficial among writers, and always has the meaning of being humble and thrifty. The blessings will last forever and the rest of my heart will be greatly comforted." Zeng Guofan's attitude towards money is also very unique. There is an interesting thing in Zeng Guofan's information. He set a homework list for the female family members of the Governor's Mansion, because Zeng Guofan did not allow too many servants to be hired in the Governor's Mansion, and there was not enough manpower. Zeng Guofan asked his female family members to be self-reliant and do housework by themselves. live.In the seventh year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan set a work schedule for his daughter and daughter-in-law.Every day after breakfast, side dishes, snacks, and wine are made, which is called food.Spinning flowers or weaving linen in the morning is called clothing.After lunch, they do embroidery and other fine work, and at night they also make shoes, which is rough work.Therefore, the female family members of the Governor's Mansion can hardly rest from opening their eyes in the morning to resting at night.Such a family member of the Governor's Mansion, I believe that there must be no second family in the Qing Dynasty.At that time, every night in the Governor's Mansion in Nanjing, Zeng Guofan held candles to review official affairs while his female relatives lit lamps and weaved cloth. It should be said that this is a very moving picture in Chinese history.This is Zeng Guofan's clean side. He also has a "dirty" side.Zeng Guofan also ate and drank a lot. In the tenth year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan once went to Suzhou to inspect his work. Most of his daily schedule was to accept banquets from local officials.Before leaving, he also set up two tables to invite officials from Suzhou.This style is the same as that of any official in the late Qing Dynasty.In his later years, Zeng Guofan would also send ice and charcoal tributes to Beijing officials every year, totaling several thousand taels of silver. Zeng Guofan's biggest entertainment in officialdom occurred in the seventh year of Tongzhi, because in this year he was transferred from the governor of Liangjiang to the governor of Zhili.He went to Beijing to have an audience with the Empress Dowager Cixi and the emperor. When he left Beijing, according to the official practice at that time, he had to send a pen to the Beijing officials as a farewell ceremony, that is, a parting ceremony.Fourteen thousand taels of silver was spent, which he felt was not very rich. Summarizing Zeng Guofan's economic income and expenditure in his life, we can say that he is an atypical honest official.On the one hand, he really had a clear conscience and didn't take a penny into his own pocket.But on the other hand, his "cleanness" is different from the practice of upright officials in traditional Chinese history. He is not like Hai Rui, who is so clean that he can see the bottom line and strictly abide by the regulations of the state. No money is taken; things that cannot be done according to the state regulations are not done at all.Such an upright official is a facade-like upright official who can't do anything practical.At that time, if an official was so clean, he would become a public enemy in the officialdom, and no one would recognize you.Because your actions obviously imply that others are not clean, you cannot have any friends in the officialdom, and you cannot have any strength to support yourself. Zeng Guofan has a saying, he said "especially unwilling to be named as an upright official", which means that he does not want others to think that he is an upright official. His way of being in harmony with the light and respecting the official rules and unspoken rules is to a certain extent It eased the conflict between himself and the officialdom, which is beneficial for him to unite all forces that can be united, mobilize resources from all aspects, and do some big things for the society.So Zeng Guofan is an atypical upright official with clean inside but turbid outside, square inside but round outside. As an official, Zeng Guofan has accumulated a lot of valuable official experience: First, be patient and cautious, opportunities are often endured.He is good at enduring the unbearable of ordinary people, and has survived countless catastrophes. Second, we must work hard on interpersonal communication.Zeng Guofan had numerous friends throughout his life, and all of his close acquaintances were quite outstanding figures.Zeng Guofan's achievements in his life were partially helped by his friends; his career success, from a certain point of view, is the success of being good at employing people.Conversely, he is better at putting himself in the shoes of others, supporting and repaying his friends, and spare no effort.Almost all of Zeng Guofan's subordinates were recommended by him, and twenty-six of them became governors and ministers, that is, ministerial officials.Fifty-two people have become third-rank or above, that is, senior officials above the deputy ministerial level.In addition, there are countless Taoists, prefects, prefects, and county magistrates.Before and after the recovery of Tianjing, the Hunan system was "staggered in civil and military affairs for half the world". Third, use power when necessary. In 1856, the second Opium War broke out, and the British and French allied forces marched towards Beijing. In a panic, Emperor Xianfeng ordered Zeng Guofan, who was suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, to send troops north to King Qin. Years of hard work came in vain.Therefore, in the face of the edict to go to the aid, the Zeng family resorted to power and strategy, and talked about his loyalty to the emperor and his subordinates: "The edict to divide the troops to the north is what the ministers should do. The reason for our generation is to steal the name. Those who are attached by the public rely entirely on the word loyalty and righteousness. Not forgetting the ruler is called loyalty; At the same time, he adopted a delaying tactic. In the name of discussing with the emperor who to send to the north, he made many memorials and went back and forth, delaying the most urgent time until the Sino-foreign peace talks no longer required him to send troops to the north. Fourth, he controls his subordinates with strictness and sincerity.Zeng Guofan has a clean and upright style of work and is very strict with his subordinates. He has established a solid authority within the group, enabling the Hunan Army Group to obey the command of Zeng alone.He can control people with "sincerity" and is good at gaining the trust of others.Zeng believes that in the officialdom, "everyone who deals with people is not enough to move people if there is no true meaning."He pays attention to "sincerity", so that everyone can believe in his sincerity, so as to reduce political enemies and get more friendship. Therefore, Zeng Guofan treated people and things all his life with sincerity as the foundation and clumsiness as the use.All his life, he asked himself: "Don't speak big words, don't seek false fame", and in doing things, "I would like people to take advantage of me, and I definitely don't want me to take advantage of others."Others deceive him with tricks and falsehoods, but he still treats each other with sincerity and clumsiness.His thoughts are: "Even if people come with tricks and tricks, I will still respond with obscurity and sincerity and foolishness; after a long time, people's intentions will disappear. If you fight each other and meet each other, there will be no end to revenge." "Ordinary people use hypocrisy Come, I will go with sincerity, and after a long time, the hypocrites will also tend to be sincere." Zeng Guofan did what he said.Prompted by Yu Liang's emotions, Zuo Zongtang refused to accept Zeng Guofan all his life.As his disciple, Li Hongzhang often played games with him and showed his selfishness.Zeng Guofan never changed his care, love, tolerance and support for Li Hongzhang because of his love for Li Zhicai.It is precisely because of this simple way of dealing with the world that Zeng Guofan has many friends in his life, and his advisers are like clouds, fierce generals are like rain, commanding well, getting help from others, and achieving the final victory of the "Battle of Hong and Yang". Wu Fang made a wonderful analysis of the complexity of Zeng Guofan in "The Energy and Limitation of Transmitting Thoughts——From Zeng Guofan to See the Ins and Outs of History": "Zeng Guofan's The main reason for his success is that he has grasped the essence of traditional political culture. He has both principles and flexibility. In the Qing Dynasty, this kind of "two-handed" pattern (Confucianism and legalism or the integration of Confucianism and Legalism) was practiced by Zeng Guofan again. It doesn't matter whether his Neo-Confucian attitude is fake, the situation is really bad. Therefore, Zeng Guofan can say 'sincere pretense'. This is probably an embarrassing truth in the history of Chinese political thought." Although later historians uncovered so much evidence of Zeng Guofan's "falsification", in all fairness, we have to admit that Zeng Guofan was still the most loyal to the court among the officials in the late Qing Dynasty.Except for a very few cases involving the interests of his family, brothers, and old friends, most of the time, he has implemented the principle of treating each other with sincerity and clumsiness over ingenuity.On major issues involving the fundamental interests of the country, he has always disregarded his own interests and served the country with his own body.For example, in the process of handling the Tianjin religious case, for the sake of the national interest, he did not hesitate to take the charge of "traitoring the country" and being willing to be a "scapegoat", ruining his reputation for many years.As a result, Li Hongzhang said in his letter on August 21 of that year: "After my teacher came to Tianjin, Zhang Shu was always honest. Every time he was held hostage by others, this Hongzhang dared not come out." After middle age, Zeng Guofan finally became harmonious in the battle with the world.However, this kind of mellowness is not in his nature. It is realized from falling down again and again by the indomitable spirit, and it is born from the simplicity and strength.This is the difference between Zeng Guofan and others, so his mellowness is based on simplicity and integrity, which is not the same as the secular world's oily wit and strength. Zhao Liewen, Zeng Guofan's secretary in his later years, said: (Zeng Guofan) He has worked hard over the years, and the ones who fight against bandits are only three or four out of ten, and the ones who are fighting against secular grammar are no less than five or six out of ten. That is to say, although Zeng Guofan's pacification of Hong Yang will forever be recorded in the annals of history, he spent only three or four tenths of his energy fighting the peasant army in his life, but only five or six tenths of his energy fighting the officialdom. These words are painful and profound.This is a terrible price that anyone who wants to do things in China has to pay. Zeng Guofan has done all of his meritorious service, morality, and speech.As far as meritorious service is concerned, he extended the life of the Qing Dynasty for another sixty years, which is not insignificant.As far as Lide is concerned, he always demanded himself according to the standards of sages and sages. Outstanding figures of his contemporaries such as Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong all respected him highly, and even fifty years later, two great figures who dominated China, Chiang Kai-shek And Mao Zedong, also coincidentally regard him as their spiritual idol.Speaking of Liyan, as the last great Confucian in China, he practiced Confucianism personally, entered the classroom, and had profound attainments. He left a complete collection of millions of words. It has benefited ordinary people to this day. Zeng Guofan's success in life proves the strong vitality of traditional culture, which can partially offset the accusation of "empty and useless" Confucianism.Zeng Guofan's achievements in his life were completed under the support of traditional culture.The strong sense of mission of taking the world as his own responsibility, the grand ambition of self-cultivation, governing the family, governing the country and the world, and the broad mind of the people and the people are the spiritual motivation that supports Zeng Guofan to struggle through hardships and setbacks.The cognitive tradition of seeking truth from facts, applying the world, and being reflective and honest enables him to learn wisdom and experience from his predecessors, from others, and from himself, so that he can deal with complex world affairs with ample leeway.The moral principles of treating people with sincerity, loyalty and forgiveness enable him to be upright and upright, not to be entangled in vulgar tastes, accept the small dirt of others, become a great virtue for himself, use his personality power to subdue people, absorb people, and make heroes for me Use it, and it will eventually become a great cause. The Confucian spirit in Zeng Guofan is dynamic, flexible and tolerant.Unlike those stupid and shallow bureaucrats, he has mastered the true spirit of Confucianism.He said: "If you learn from ancient times, you should read more books; if you learn from today, you should look for role models." Among Qing scholars and officials, he, a famous Confucianist, was the first to treat foreigners equally.He advocated that the principle of good faith should also be implemented in dealing with foreigners.He initiated the use of Western-style weapons, initiated the Westernization Movement, sent students to study abroad, and pioneered the spread of Western learning to the East.Under the atmosphere at that time, it was impossible to do this without great vision and insight. Of course, with his own efforts, he cannot restore the powerful decline of traditional society accumulated over thousands of years.American Sinologist Inmarie wrote in "Tongzhi Zhongxing": "Not only a dynasty, but also a civilization seems to have collapsed, but due to the extraordinary efforts of some outstanding figures, they finally survived from death and lasted for another 60 years. This It is Tongzhi Zhongxing." However, the "Tongzhi Zhongxing" he spent his whole life in exchange for is nothing but a false prosperity, and the fate of the late Qing Dynasty cannot be saved anyway.At the end of his life, Zeng Guofan was deeply disappointed with the bewilderment and chaos of the late Qing court, the vicissitudes of the times, and the hard work of his life.In the tenth year of Tongzhi, he heard that the Yangtze River Navy, which he founded with great difficulty, had degenerated into a disaster for the people under the influence of the whole social atmosphere, and he couldn't help feeling deeply.In his letter to Zeng Guoquan, he said: "The Yangtze River Navy, there are annoying rumors outside: or if there is a domino in the folks, they will take a gamble and discuss it. If they get thousands or more, they will be released; or Search people's boats and nearby people with private salt and small money, extort money and release them; ask for oil money for beating at night; do not cover the masts of gunboats when pulling fibers on civilian boats; ; and even cover up private salt and robbery and other disadvantages. I set up a navy, which cannot eliminate the harm of the Yangtze River, but instead creates harm for the Yangtze River." "And what was done in the past was as serious as the navy It makes people ridicule." "Yu has always been melancholy, and I feel that there are many things in my life that I should be ashamed of. I am recently blind in my right eye and my body is weak. I think it is difficult to make up for my past mistakes. I have no academic achievements in this life. I am ashamed." Yujiacheng is like what the sages call long-term relatives." Zeng Guofan, who claimed to be a "hero" and "stubborn all his life", lost his arrogance in his later years.Pessimism and disappointment became the main colors of his later life.He often talked about the future of the Qing Dynasty with Zhao Liewen, an aide around him. He said: "The springs in the capital are all dry, the imperial river is cut off, there are no gentlemen in the dynasty, and the personnel are chaotic. I am afraid it will not last forever." The death of the sect." This is not the failure of him alone, but the failure of traditional culture as a whole.Facts have proved that traditional culture, as a part, has its broad and profound, healthy and promising side; as a whole, it is anti-scientific, which cannot be compensated by any perseverance.This is where Zeng Guofan's tragedy lies. Because of the times, it is impossible for him to jump out of the embrace of traditional culture.He wrote in the last diary entry of his life: his life was "like a mountain full of leaves, with no home to return to. The boss is wounded, and he is terrified and ashamed."He left the world for which he had given everything in deep melancholy and disappointment. Zeng Guofan used his whole life to prove the height that a person's willpower can reach, and at the same time, prove the limitation of a person's willpower.However, his spirit of trying to shape a perfect self at any cost will be admired forever by the latecomers.His hopeless efforts have erected a monument to the human spirit that cannot but be awe-inspiring.