Chapter 25 Section 25

When the governor of Liangjiang returned to his post and the governor of Jiangsu Li Hongzhang specially granted the imperial envoy, when the special envoy delivered it to Zhoujiakou, Zeng Guofan was playing Go, and he opened the imperial post by the side of the chessboard. He continued to play chess without making a sound. A "kalpa". A game of chess after lunch is Zeng Guofan's only hobby. The more he gets annoyed, the more vigorous he plays chess. However, black and white can't make him forget his worries.This "big dragon" is the canal, and that "big dragon" is the Yellow River, and what is advancing and running around is the Nian army.He is not good at playing "killing chess". After the death of the monk king, he has realized the principle of knowing clumsiness, being good at defending, and being stable. Li Hongzhang is inside.

Now let Li Hongzhang play this game of chess!He couldn't tell what he was feeling, whether it was worry or anger, grievance or chilling? He also felt that he should not have such grievances after more than 30 years of perseverance. However, he exhausted all his restraint and could only deal with it with the word "Ting", but he couldn't let go of it no matter what. "Zi Mi!" He finished playing chess and asked his friend Qian Yingpu, "Do you remember what I said to Li Shaoquan when I left Jiangning last year?" Qian Yingpu naturally remembered that Li Hongzhang, who handed over the defense of the governor of Liangjiang to Li Hongzhang, who was the acting governor of Jiang in May last year, said when he boarded the boat and went north, "Never return to his post!" Yulin sent a boat to send Mrs. Ouyang back to Hunan, and Li Hongzhang did his part, waiting for the truth to be eliminated.Now it seems that something has changed, Qian Yingpu doesn't know how to answer?He just nodded vaguely.

"Shaoquan came to pick up my imperial envoy. I still have the original intention." Zeng Guofan stretched his five fingers like a comb, and straightened his gray beard. Receiver, as for me, please still draw up a manuscript for me according to your original intention." He said and handed over the edict. Qian Yingpu didn't want him to be so stubborn!With his body, he really should go back to Jiangning and take a good rest, but it's useless to persuade him with these words, let's rely on him first, and discuss it later. "That's how you word it," Zeng Guofan read slowly, "I'm sick, and I can't win the post of governor of the two rivers. If I leave the camp and return to the office, I'm afraid I'll be afraid of being ridiculed. So I'm still in the military camp to take care of everything and maintain the Hunan and Huaihe Rivers. The heart of the army is the righteousness of the ancients who are not obedient."

"Marshal!" Qian Yingpu felt that there was an argument that might make him reconsider, "The imperial envoy's customs defense has been handed over, and he will not return to take over the supervisor's office. What is the order?" "That's reasonable!" Zeng Guofan thought for a while and said, "There is an expedient plan. First, carve a wooden Guanfang with the text saying: 'Co-organize the University Scholars and Governors of Liangjiang and the First-Class Marquis of the Camp Guanfang', and cut off the corners after the opening of the gap is ordered. Pay it off."

You can't have no seal in your hand, in fact, you have to.Qian Yingpu took the decree and quietly went to see Zeng Jihong, Zeng Guofan's second son. He had just arrived in the camp to visit his relatives.Now that there is this edict, indicating that there is no need for His Majesty to see it, Zeng Jihong is naturally relieved because he spared his father a long journey. "Second brother, please be happy! If the old man refuses to return to his post, Li Shaoquan will not be able to come, and the matter will become a stalemate, and the trouble will be very serious!" Twenty-one-year-old Zeng Jihong was stunned, and after a while he said, "Brother Qian, you know, the old man doesn't allow us to discuss business with him."

"This is not an official business! The court is sympathetic to the ministers and treats them with kindness. The elderly are loyal to the country, and those who are juniors should have the idea of ​​being juniors." Why didn't Zeng Jihong want his father to return to his post?The whole family hoped so. Even before planning to move out of the supervisory office, his mother expressed that she would rather live in Zhoujiakou than go back to Hunan.Now that the news is coming, how can you not try to persuade him? So the two discussed and made an appointment with Muyou, and went to see Zeng Guofan together.Although he is upright, he likes to chat and tell jokes the most, so it is common to meet in his bedroom or study after dinner.Talking and talking to get to the point, you said what he said to persuade him to dismiss his original intention. Only then did Zeng Guofan understand that everyone came here for something, so he just listened quietly.

After finishing the repeated explanations, he opened his mouth: "Your words are all reasonable, but I don't know my painstaking efforts. The purpose of never returning to office is determined by me after careful consideration. Let alone how I feel today, I will stick to it. The original intention was definitely not to be angry. Zimi, I just drafted a paragraph myself, you can arrange it in the presentation. " As he said that, he took out a page from the drawer and handed it to Qian Yingpu. Everyone gathered around to look at it, and saw that what he wrote was: "If you are a general, you will resign; It is easy to find peace in danger, and it is easy to take refuge. I teach the trilogy on weekdays, and every time I use perseverance and loyalty as the law, and fear of difficulties and tricks as a warning; now I leave the camp due to illness and live in the Jinling Government Office. , self-contradictory, not only to be ridiculed by the clear discussion, but also to be snickered by the trilogy! The minister internally treats the sickness, externally treats righteousness, it is okay to reduce the power of affairs, but not to return to the original post."

The trilogy will not snicker, no matter the Hunan Army or the Huai Army, who doesn't know the character of the "Marshal"?As for clear discussion and discussion, it may be inevitable, but it is his reputation for true Taoism that comes and goes.Zeng Jihong thought to himself, it would be futile to argue directly with the words of righteousness, and he had to take a slant. "Father!" he said, "My son thinks that there is still room for discretion in the phrase 'perseverance and loyalty are the law'." Zeng Guofan likes his son to talk about writing and learning with him the most. Although he argues, he doesn't think it is disobedient.His godson is also based on the person, the second Ji Hong's structure is not as generous as the eldest Jize, so every time he is taught to write, "you must develop your momentum and make your pen strong, so as not to be restrained and stagnant." .Now there is an article that is obviously well-reasoned, but there are flaws to be picked out. This is to build a platform on the ground, "the pen makes the strong", which shows that he has already entered the country, so he asked happily: "Why don't you think carefully, why don't you say something?" Let me hear the truth!"

After finishing speaking, he looked halfway into the air, slowly twirled his beard, and seemed to be listening attentively. This made Zeng Jihong a little nervous. After thinking about it for a while, he boldly said: "Worry, slander, and fear of ridicule do not seem to be 'perseverance'. And "loyalty" does not mean avoiding danger. The imperial court chooses people for the land, and according to my son's opinion, it is not easier to raise wages in the rear than to fight in the front." Zeng Guofan nodded and smiled: "The previous meaning is not bad. It's a pity that the latter revealed its flaws. So you must remember," he said with a straight face, "If you know what you know, you don't know what you don't know. If you pretend to know, you will stand up if you argue. You can't stand it. You said that the imperial court chooses people for the land, which means that you want me to return to office to raise salary for Li Shaoquan.

As soon as this sentence was said, all the friends smiled knowingly; the youngest, Li Hongyi, spoke more bluntly, "The commander-in-chief's words really hit the nail on the head." ’, Li Gongbao was afraid that he would not come! There is an ‘Emperor Imperial Envoy’ here, what should I do?” "That's right! This is my painstaking effort." Zeng Guofan said in a deep voice, "Think about what I wrote on the second day of November, how did you say it? It's not difficult to understand. Counting the days, I will issue this return to office At the time, I hadn’t seen my notebook, but of course I have now, so if I resign again, it will probably be God’s will!”

If you wear it like this, you will suddenly realize it, and you will be moved!The memorial on the second day of November was aimed at explaining that "the commander of the army, who is not a governor and has the power to manage money, will not be able to cope with the military salary, and the soldiers will be hard to use." Decline, and when the illness recovers slightly, "About the beginning of Lawei spring, I will see you in Beijing," which means that Li Hongzhang will be appointed as the imperial envoy to the governor of Liangjiang to suppress the twisting. From this point of view, in August, "Order Li Hongzhang to take the governor of Liangjiang" Guan Fang will be stationed in Xuzhou, and will handle military affairs", that is, he intends to make him a "commander of the army" first, so as to make a statement for the future. "Marshal!" Li Hongyi said excitedly, "It's really rare to be prepared for Li Gongbao like this!" "No, no. I'm thinking about the overall situation. Looking around the sea, Zuo Jigao may not be necessary in the northwest, but Li Shaoquan must be in the southeast. And Li Shaoquan's plan to suppress Nian is naturally up to his plan. There is a letter, and none of you have ever done it." I have seen it, and I have to let you read it today to know the key to the grievances." After Zeng Guofan finished speaking, he opened the box where the secret documents were stored, and took out a letter to Li Hongyi.The letter is from Li Hongzhang, and the date is "September 14, Tongzhi four years" - a year ago, Li Hongyi didn't read the letter, so he calmed down and thought about it, what was the big deal at that time? As soon as I thought about it, I remembered that there was a secret decree at that time, sending Li Hongzhang to lead troops to Luoyang, Henan, to be in charge of military affairs on the West Route to suppress Nian, and at the same time asked Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Wu Tang to "let each other do business" and agree to disagree with such a plan. Arrangements: Wu Tang, the Governor of Water Transport, acts as the Governor of Liangjiang, Li Zongxi, the Secretary of Jiangning, acts as the Governor of Water, and Ding Richang, the Department of Supervision and Transport of the Two Huaihe Rivers, acts as the Governor of Jiangsu? Sure enough, Li Hongzhang's letter was about this important matter. He did not wait for Zeng Guofan, who presided over the letter business, to consult first, and expressed his opinion first.At the beginning of the letter, it said that the Heluo area was "a place that must be fought". On the one hand, it was necessary to prevent the spread of the Hui chaos in Shaanxi, and on the other hand, it was necessary to suppress the Nian bandits. Return the two armies of Liu Shengsan and Yang Dingxun.” Liu Shengsan—Liu Mingchuan was the first general of the Huai Army, and Yang Dingxun was from Sichuan. He was originally a subordinate of his fellow villager Bao Chao. Chao was slandered and forced to switch to the Huai army.Because he was a guest general, he was afraid that the Huai army would despise him, so he fought very bravely.Li Hongzhang's recovery of Jiangsu was most effective when he surrendered from Hong Yang's army. He was originally affiliated with the Hunan Army. Cheng Xueqi, who was sent by Zeng Guofan to support Li Hongzhang, and this Yang Dingxun were all equipped with foreign guns. , strong first. Then there is talk about payment, "The court ordered my younger brother to be on the same road. The soldiers and the payment seem to be in a joint operation. The boundary is slightly drawn. At present, there will be no excuses, and it will be easy to reimburse in the future." The method proposed by Li Hongzhang is that the Anhui and Jiangning feudal departments The income of Jiangning, Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places under his jurisdiction belonged to Zeng Guofan, while the customs income of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Taicang and Shanghai belonged to him. All the friends in Daying passed this twenty-page secret letter here, and all of them were horrified and moved!Everyone knows that Li Hongzhang is smart, knows current affairs, knows how to be an official, and is good at business management. However, his meritorious deeds and wealth are promoted and cared for by Zeng Guofan, so he thinks that he respects his "teacher" when he meets everyone, out of sincerity , there is no doubt about it.Who would have realized that he was so stern towards the "teacher" now!He needs good soldiers and good generals, but also pays a lot of money. If according to what he said, the "teacher" in Zhoujiakou can only be like Marquis Wu in the "Empty City Plan", playing the piano and defeating the enemy! Although everyone was indignant in their hearts, Zeng Guofan was the most important, and among the public, he always only praised people's strengths, regardless of their shortcomings, so they didn't dare to say anything, just tried their best to calm down their emotions and focus on him. Let's look at his letter worded "doing my part", what other tricks are there? Next, we will talk about the main topic of the Shangyu, that is, the situation in Liangjiang after Li Hongzhang led his troops to "ride to Heluo".In order to repay her kindness, the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to promote Wu Tang out of the ordinary, and King Gong and the Minister of Military Aircraft did not think so, so it was inconvenient to oppose it openly. Shang wanted Zeng Guofan to raise an objection, which everyone in the camp knew.However, they didn't expect that Prince Gong had to push the problem to Zeng Guofan, and Li Hongzhang had the heart to ask the "teacher" to do it besides the heavy burden. His purpose is to oppose Wu Tang taking over his hand and acting as Governor Jiang.At the same time, he also said that Ding Richang was familiar with foreign affairs, so he was worthy of great use, but he was promoted to be a governor of the Soviet Union, but his prestige was not enough.In addition, Liu Xunjiao, the governor of Jiangsu Province, must be resigned because of Ding Richang's promotion. These statements are nothing more than insinuations, saying that the imperial court's proposal has many obstacles, and then there are warnings that changes in the rear will affect the military pay in the front. ", once acting as Governor Jiang, "employing people for administration, or changing situations", please ask Zeng Guofan to "familiarly plan and make secret reports" to block Wu Tang's drive. However, since he led his troops to march west, someone must come to pick him up. If Wu Tang can't, then who should come?Here, Li Hongzhang used the tone of "or that" to pose a new problem for his "teacher": "or that it is appropriate to adjust brother Xiao" to be the governor of Jiangsu and Minister of Commerce of the five ports: "or brother Xiao is the governor of Jiang", But still with Ding Richang and governor of Jiangsu——Xin saw this thought, Li Hongyi couldn't help it! "Li Gongbao really can't avoid relatives!" He sneered, "How did he come up with it? Could it be that the governor of Jiangsu is destined to be a member of the Li family in Hefei?" This is to say that Li Hanzhang, Li Hongzhang's elder brother, named Xiaoquan, was born in Bagong. He distributed Dangzhi County in Hunan Province and started his business as a food platform for the Hunan Army.In the past three or four years, due to Li Hongzhang's "sacred family", the imperial court favored him, and he was repeatedly promoted. He was still a Taoist in the first year of Tongzhi, and now he has been promoted to the governor of Hunan. If he is transferred to Jiangdu, his official fortune will be very good It is unbelievable. At that time, the letter had reached the end, and Qian Yingpu understood it, and kept nodding: "Oh, oh! So that's where the real meaning lies!" Those who have not passed on the following texts anxiously asked: "What is the true meaning?" Seeing Zeng Guofan's solemn face, and his disapproval of the frivolous comments, Li Hongyi didn't dare to make a fuss, and swallowed his words again, faltering and perfunctory.Fortunately, what is Li Hongzhang's true intention? Although he knows and does not know, everyone knows Zeng Guofan's intention. He wants to recommend Li Hongzhang as the governor of Liangjiang and the imperial envoy, but he has always expressed to the court in the past: It is not appropriate for ministers outside the hut to intervene, "you can't turn your back on what you say, and at the same time it hinders "full of complaints", watching Wu Tang, who has been transferred to the governor of Fujian, but can't take up his post, and it is inconvenient to name him as a security guard, so he can't do it. Ken returned to serve as a side squeeze, hoping to squeeze out a word from the Empress Dowager Cixi: "Since Zeng Guofan refuses to do anything, let Li Hongzhang go!" So everyone dispersed, Qian Yingpu drafted a folded manuscript according to Zeng Guofan's intention, reviewed it carefully, and sent a special messenger to fire a cannon at the gate of the next day to "worship the fold".Zeng Guofan still played a game of Go, worrying about black and white. However, the wording of the imperial edict received was sincere and severe: "Zeng Guofan is a minister of the heart and soul of the country, and he has been in good faith for a long time. When the rebellion is not over, and there is no one to prepare for the food, payment and arms, how can there be no mistakes? Zeng Guofan respected the intention of the imperial court and shared the country's worries. How can he be a bit suspicious and stubborn? He immediately followed the previous order and returned to his post within a limited period, so that Li Hongzhang could concentrate on suppressing bandits and perform his meritorious deeds quickly. After the governor returned to office, In the event of the Xianghuai military, Li Hongzhang should still consult with an open mind, in order to contact. No more firm invitations, but condolences." The six words "no more firm invitations" have indicated that there is no room for negotiation, otherwise it will be very embarrassing in terms of face. Zeng Guofan was helpless.Arranging chores, starting from Zhoujiakou after the new year, and arriving in Xuzhou by land, it took ten days to arrive.After receiving the seal from Li Hongzhang, the two juniors talked in detail about the situation in the Northwest - Zuo Zongtang, governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, had not yet taken office, Zeng and Li were still responsible for suppressing Nian in the west, and Zhang Zongyu had a large share Approaching Xi'an, the court ordered the superintendent to urge help, and was as anxious as a spark.