Chapter 10 In the third section, the flat ground grows ten thousand feet high

Zeng Guofan's life is a life of continuous self-attack and self-improvement, so it is also a life of constant rebirth, changing temperament, and increasing skills. Zeng Guofan named his study after "Qiu Que". From youth to old age, Zeng Guofan lived in constant self-blame, constantly seeking and criticizing his own shortcomings. For example, for the shortcoming of impermanence, he has been unremittingly attacking it all his life.In the 22nd year of Daoguang reign, Zeng Guofan wrote in his diary: The root of my illness is inconsistency. If you set up a rule today, you will still be slow tomorrow. There is no routine to follow.

On December 14th, the seventh year of Xianfeng, at the age of forty-six, he wrote to his younger brother: I have committed the ills of impermanence all my life, and I have really suffered a lot.When you are in the Imperial Academy, you should pay attention to the words of poetry, so that you can dabble in other books to diversify your aspirations;When I was in the sixth part, I didn't pay much attention to official business.Leading troops outside, you can't do your best to rule the military, or read and write to mess up your will.Sitting is old and nothing can be achieved. Even in the case of the navy, it is also difficult to dig a well to reach the spring.Brother should take it as a warning.

In the ninth year of Xianfeng, at the age of forty-eight, he wrote to his son: For the rest of my life, there are no permanent disadvantages, and nothing can be achieved.If you have no success in virtue and career, you can also be deeply ashamed.If you are caught in the military affairs, you will kill him by yourself, and the original intention will change in the middle, especially if you don't have a permanent big one, you will use it as an internal shame.If you want to make some achievements, you must start with the word Youheng. From birth to death, he lived "as if walking on thin ice, as if facing an abyss, trembling with fear".Let us read some passages from his diary in his later years:

On August 20th in the eighth year of Tongzhi (three years before his death): There are many mistakes in what Nian has done in his life. He has been in a high position for a long time, but his virtues and knowledge are useless. On March 30, the ninth year of Tongzhi: Go to bed at two or four.The eye disease is getting more and more serious in the day, the old is useless, and the anxiety is very serious.The reason why those who are depressed and unhappy is always because their fame and heart are not dead, so they should be punished painfully to support them for the rest of the year. On the first day of October in the tenth year of Tongzhi:

Yu Qian had a letter to Yun Xianyun, and modern dignitaries are not as barren as Yu.Lixue's words are false for receiving Junxian's letter.I know it very well, so there is no false accusation! Until four days before his death, on the first day of February in the eleventh year of Tongzhi, there were still these words in his diary: My spirit has been scattered for a long time, and I can't finish the items that should be settled for a long time; the items that should be cleaned up can't be checked for a long time, like a mountain of fallen leaves, with no home to return to. Success, there is no virtue, the boss is hurt, and I am terrified and ashamed!

This is called "decades as one day". After repeated tempering again and again, Zeng Guofan's temperament and personality gradually changed.He became more and more persistent and persistent in doing things. Even in his later military life, as long as he had time every day, he still insisted on reading and writing.He treats people more and more generously, thoughtfully, and sincerely, and has more and more friends every day.His quality is becoming more and more pure, he stands higher and higher, and sees farther and farther.After countless repeated struggles, at the age of forty-six, he was finally satisfied with his perseverance. He concluded: "Before the age of forty-six, there was no perseverance in doing things. In the past five years, I have deeply learned the lesson. There is constant."

When Liang Qichao praised Zeng Guofan's "persistence", he said: Zeng Wen is in the army. Every day, he must read several pages, fill in several entries in his diary, practice one piece of calligraphy, and play one game of Go...he will take it as a routine all his life.From the perspective of ordinary people, isn't it mere trifles and has nothing to do with the general situation?But I don't know that restraint and perseverance are the most important things in life. Those who are good at aiming at others will always have the power to aim at them. Ordinary people pass middle age, their personality is fixed, their memory and learning ability decline, and their aggressiveness gradually slackens, thinking that an old dog cannot learn new tricks.But Zeng Guofan is in the process of learning and progressing all his life.He wrote to his brother:

Brother's writing style should not be too self-deprecating, close to self-abandonment.Yu Zirenzi (forty-three years old) left Beijing. For twelve years now, he has asked himself about official documents, letters, military affairs, official affairs, entertainment, and calligraphy.My brother is forty years old, and I am three years younger than I was when I was Renzi. Is it a lie to say that there will be no progress after that?Give up? In his later years, Zeng Guofan summed up his life experience and said that a person's life is like a process of fruit ripening.Don't be in a hurry, and don't slack off.Human efforts and heaven's cultivation will make a tree grow taller quietly, and it will also make a person mature slowly: "If you don't choke or help, you can see how the flat ground grows ten feet tall."