Chapter 3 Three respects win over slack, righteousness wins over lust; know the male, keep the female

When Jiujiang was captured, the Taiping Army was already in a disadvantageous situation in Jiangxi. Luo Dagang and Zhou Guoyu were ordered by the King of Heaven to lead more than 30,000 officers and soldiers of the Taiping Army in Jiangxi from Raozhou and Guangxin to fight with Li. Xiucheng's troops in Zhejiang joined forces to guard Tianjing in the north and Fujian in the south. Li Xiucheng, a native of Teng County, Guangxi, is an important military general who rose after the internal strife. This person is both wise and brave, loyal to the kingdom of heaven, and is highly valued by the king of heaven.After the internal strife in Tianjing, Shi Dakai went to Beijing to preside over the government with the sincere support of the generals.But at this time, Hong Xiuquan was frightened by internal strife, and he no longer dared to fully trust people with different surnames. In name, he respected Shi Dakai as the righteous king, but in fact he handed over the power to his two fatuous and corrupt elder brothers, Hong Renfa and Hong Renda, and sealed them. As King An (later renamed King Xin) and King Fu (later renamed King Yong), he supervised Shi Dakai.Shi Dakai was so angry that he led more than 100,000 elite soldiers to leave Beijing.The Kingdom of Heaven is once again in danger.Hong Xiuquan acted decisively, reorganized the highest military leadership group, and appointed Zan Wang Meng De'en as the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief of the Chinese army; Li Xiucheng's cousin Li Shixian was the commander of the left army, and Wei Changhui's younger brother Wei Jun was the commander of the right army.

After Luo Gang, Zhou Guoyu and Li Xiucheng reunited, there was a huge momentum, and Zhejiang was in a hurry. The imperial court wanted to transfer Xiangyong to Zhejiang urgently, but Zhou Tian, ​​the admiral of Zhejiang, was too weak to command, so he had to appoint the imperial envoy and the admiral of Jiangnan Daying He Chun to command.It happened that Hechun was ill and could not be ordered.Hu Linyi took this opportunity to join the official Wenhuo to play urgently, asking for the recovery of Zeng Guofan, and encouraged Luo Bingzhang to support him.After Xiangyong left Hunan, Luo Bingzhang was very supportive in money and food, and the relationship between Zeng and Luo was greatly improved.Luo Yi didn't want Xiangyong to fall into the hands of the Manchus, so he happily played and promised that Hunan would continue to fully support Xingjiao.The imperial court looked around and found that there was indeed no suitable person to replace Zeng Guofan, so they rewarded him with an empty title of Minister of the Ministry of War and ordered him to rush to the front line; the grain rate.

Zeng Guofan received the edict on the third day of June in the eighth year of Xianfeng, and left Heyetang in full dress on the seventh day of the first day.He no longer bargained with the imperial court, and wanted to take the real position of governor. Instead, he was afraid of taking back his order. Before leaving home, he sent Jing Qi to rush to Changsha with the memorial of "I was ordered to aid Zhejiang, and I will choose to send troops today". Say hello.The reason why Zeng Guofan was ordered to go on the road immediately was that besides his eagerness to reunify Xiangyong to repay his long-cherished ambitions, there was another thing that convinced him that this aid to Zhejiang was a good omen for a smooth road to meritorious service.

Six years ago, when he was still in mourning for the Jiang family, Zeng Linshu told Zeng Guofan brothers that forty years ago, he went to Nanyue to burn incense and worship Bodhisattvas, and obtained a lottery at Shangfeng Temple. Signed cloud: start with both pearls, and the glory will shine in Hangzhou.Zeng Linshu was overjoyed, and came back and said to Jiang: "I will have two sons who will serve as officials in Zhejiang from now on." "It's really effective!" Zeng Guofan thought, "It's a pity that my father died, otherwise, how happy I would be to see my son bring bravery into Zhejiang!"

Last spring, Zeng Guofan hurriedly returned home for the funeral without waiting for the emperor's approval, which aroused Zuo Zongtang's great dissatisfaction.He cursed Zeng Guofan wantonly for being selfish and incompetent, and fled the battle. Zuo Zongtang is a person who never hides his emotions. Once the emotions come up, he is desperate. When he scolded Zeng Guofan vigorously, he even said that this old friend he admired was useless. , and he dismissed it as hypocrisy.Zuo Zongtang took the lead in the attack, and for a while there was an uproar in Changsha official circles, which greatly stimulated Zeng Guofan, who lived in Heyetang for mourning.He was already haggard physically and mentally, and after this blow, he suffered even more.Zeng Guofan hated Zuo Zongtang, who didn't miss his old love, and also hated the ignorant Changsha officialdom. He vowed never to speak to Zuo Zongtang, and never interact with Changsha officialdom.

On the way to Changsha, Zeng Guofan thought for a long time about how to meet Zuo Zongtang.The previous oath has naturally passed. Now that he has returned to lead the army, how can he not talk to Zuo Zongtang?Zeng Guofan, who has fully realized, can no longer care about all the words Zuo Zongtang scolded him a year ago, except for the word "hypocrisy".He hated others' hypocrisy the most in his life. He never imagined that the word he hated the most would be added to him by an old friend who had known him for more than 20 years. How could he not make him angry and sad!Thinking of this, Zeng Guofan decided to reduce the meeting with Zuo Zongtang to the minimum standard, and imitated Confucius' method of meeting a man, and when he went out, he went to his home, left a name card, and left in a hurry.This is the most ingenious method, saying that you have seen it and then not seeing it, and saying that you have not seen it and then seeing it again.After thinking about it, this method is not good.Zuo Zongtang, who is arrogant and perceptive, will see through this old trick at a glance, and the consequence will inevitably be that the relationship between the two will further deteriorate.

No matter to Xiangyong or to him personally, Zuo Zongtang has great kindness in front of him; what's more, talents are rare, and he didn't care about the several suggestions for the Jiangxi war at the time. bright words.In Zuo Zongtang's letter, he repeatedly said that the way to use troops is to judge the situation, and it is just that he lacks skill in judging the situation.This is a rare general material in ancient and modern times!In the future, he has to be reused, and let him lead a team to take care of himself, and he must not be indifferent! After thinking for a long time, Zeng Guofan decided to take this meeting with Zuo Zongtang as his first step in turning to Huang Lao's technique, and to test the effect on the spot.

Last night, Luo Bingzhang sent someone to tell Zuo Zongtang that Zeng Guofan had said when he called on him that he would personally come to Zuofu to visit his old friend this morning.Luo Bingzhang was well aware of Zuo Zongtang's stubborn temper, so he took special care of him, hoping that he would stop worrying about what happened last year, and take his initiative to visit this time as a good opportunity to put aside the past and reconcile as before. Zuo Zongtang's hatred for Zeng Guofan still persisted, and he was reluctant to see Zeng Guofan.In March of this year, he took his wife and children from Dongshan, and lived with Tao Guang and his wife in the Tao Mansion outside Jianzi Bridge.Early in the morning, Zuo Zongtang sent Tao Gong to inquire about Zeng Guofan's visit at the intersection outside the gate, and report to him at any time.He himself took his old cousin Wu Weicai, who had never come from Xiangyin, to inspect the construction of the back garden.

There is a large piece of barren land behind the Tao mansion. Tao Guang ignored it in the past. Zuo Zongtang saw it as a pity that the barren land was there, so he designed a garden by himself and ordered people to construct it according to the drawings.Now, the garden is about to be fully completed. In the middle of the garden is a large pool.There are hundreds of fish in the Yingying clear water, and the green lotus leaves cover the water, adding a bit of tranquility.In midsummer, the pink lotus is blooming all over the pond, just like the West Lake has moved from Hangzhou to Changsha.Zuo Zongtang looked at Huanxi and named it "Wuhou Pool".The soil excavated from the pond was piled up next to it, forming a small hill on which some young pines were planted.No matter how hot the summer southerly wind is, filtered by pine and bamboo, it also becomes greener and cooler.Zuo Zongtang called it "Wollongong".At the foot of Wollongong, there is a house made of bamboo fences and a thatched roof.There is a Guqin on the short table in the middle of the house, and the owner's favorite ancient painting "Longzhong Dui" is hung on the wall.This hut was named "Yin Xian Lu".

Although Zuo Zongtang's official position is only a doctor in the military department with the rank of Sipinqing, he is actually already famous at this time.As early as the fifth year of Xianfeng, Yushi Zong Jichen recommended talents to the imperial court, and his name was impressively listed at the top.Since then, whenever people from the two lakes came to Beijing, Emperor Xianfeng asked Zuo Zongtang.Not long ago, Guo Songtao was summoned in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, asked about Zuo Zongtang's situation in detail, and encouraged him to work hard.When he learned that Zuo Chang felt sorry for his fame and was eager to take the test, Emperor Xianfeng said with relief: "Why should you be proud of being a Jinshi? Serving the country with articles or making contributions to the industry, which one earns more? He has such talents, so he must give full play to it." When these words reached Zuo Zongtang's ears, it naturally aroused his ambition to do something grand, and made him even more pretentious.Although he is forty-seven years old this year, he is still very energetic.A few months ago, Zhang's concubine gave birth to another son for him.Nearly half a hundred people added a male, and he was overjoyed.

The two old cousins ​​came side by side to a stone bull statue by the Wuhou Pool.This is a big and strong buffalo, the head, belly, tail, and hooves are all well carved, especially the pair of curved horns, which draw two circles on both sides of the head, which is both realistic and beautiful.The size of the whole stone ox is exactly the same as that of a real ox. In addition, it is carved out of black rock. From a distance, it looks like a plowing ox that has just bathed in the pond! "Cousin, you have Wuhou Pond, Wollongang, and Yinxian Lu in your back garden. I know that. You are Zhuge Liang today, and you can't do without these names. But why do you want to carve a stone bull and put it here? Is it rare? Does a stone cow look good!" asked Wu Weicai, his cousin, pointing to the stone cow. This cousin of Zuo Zongtang is the second son of his third aunt.It was a coincidence that the two were born at the same time in the same year, the same month, and the same day.Wu Weicai lived on the east side of the Xiangjiang River, and Zuo Zongtang lived on the west side of the Xiangjiang River. On his birthday, the two people who announced the good news unexpectedly met by the riverside.After a few years, when I grow up, everyone will strive to be a cousin, and no one wants to be a cousin.Zuo Zongtang said to Wu Weicai: "Let's stop arguing. Whoever reads well will be the elder brother." As a result, Zuo Zongtang always came first in every exam, and Wu Weicai finally gave in and called Zuo his brother. .Wu Weicai failed in his studies, and his family fell into trouble after he joined, so he changed his career and became a butcher. The two cousins ​​once asked someone to count the horoscope together.After Zuo Zongtang reported the time of Gengyin on Bingwu Day, Xinhai Month, Renshen Year, the blind man pinched his hands for a long time, and suddenly said loudly: "Congratulations, congratulations, this is a sign of great wealth and great honor." Zuo Zongtang was overjoyed. Wu Weicai was also happy, and hurriedly said to the blind man: "My horoscope is also Ren Shen Xin Hai Bing Wu Geng Yin, you can do the math for me too." The blind man also pinched him for a long time, then touched his head, touched his hands, sighed and said, "Although the horoscope is good, it's a pity that the place where you were born was not chosen. Are you born in the east of the river or the west of the river?" "Hedong." Wu Weicai replied. "That's right." The blind man rolled his white eyes and said, "Those born in the west of the river will kill tens of thousands of people, and their generals will enter the prime minister; those born in the east of the river will kill tens of thousands of animals, butcher pigs and sheep." Thirty years later, as expected, Zuo Zongtang worshiped his prime minister and made him a marquis, and Wu Weicai became a butcher for the rest of his life.Zuo Zongtang specially rewarded the blind man with five hundred taels of silver.Unexpectedly, the blind man's life was not good. He was sick and had no money to treat him. He died early and had no wife or children.Zuo Zongtang built a good tomb for him, and a tall stone tablet was erected in front of the tomb.Wu Wei was so angry that he secretly smashed the stele at night. This is a rumor story, presumably not true.There really is such a blind man in the world who can predict things like a god. He has long been looking for an opportunity to get rich for himself. How could he be poor, sick, homeless and homeless! At that time, Zuo Zongtang listened to his cousin's question and said sternly: "You don't understand this, I was originally Altair descending to earth." "Altair descends to earth? How do you know?" The butcher was surprised. "On my thirtieth birthday, Taibai Jinxing personally entrusted me with a dream, saying that I was Altair in my previous life, and that I am destined to bear hardships and burdens for the world in this life." Wu Weicai saw that his expression was solemn, and he didn't seem to be joking at all, so he sighed: "No wonder I have the same horoscope as you, but the fate is so far apart. It turns out that you are a star descending from the sky, how can I compare with you!" Zuo Zongtang stroked the corner of the stone ox without saying a word, obviously agreeing with the old cousin's emotion. "Master, Zeng Shilang has arrived at Yingpan Street." Tao Gong hurriedly ran into the back garden to report. "Sit in a sedan chair or ride a horse?" Zuo Zongtang stopped stroking the stone cow, and looked at the Tao family with shining eyes. "Servant Zeng came in a sedan chair, a big green woolen sedan chair." "Go and pass on my words. Close the gate and the small gate. No one will see any guests today. Tell him to take a sedan chair back to his residence!" Zuo Zongtang ordered firmly. "Yes!" Although Tao Gong obeyed the order, his feet did not move.He was deeply puzzled: Zeng Shilang made a special trip to visit, why did he close the door? "What are you doing standing there? Go!" Zuo Zongtang waved his hand, "It's the concierge's business to close the door. You still go outside to observe. If there is any movement, you will report." Tao Gong went out.Wu Weicai said: "Cousin, if you do this, Minister Zeng will be offended." "Let him take the blame." Zuo Zongtang looked at the stone cow carefully again, and said to the old cousin, "Do you think its chin should be a little fatter?" Zuo Zongtang said while He touched his fat chin, as if the cow was carved out of him. "Master, Zeng Shilang got off the sedan chair at the entrance of Simali and walked here on foot." After a while, Tao Gong came in again to report. "What! He got out of the sedan chair?" Zuo Zongtang was surprised.After a short pause, he asked again, "What kind of clothes is he wearing? Official clothes, or plain clothes? How many people are there in his entourage?" "He didn't wear an official uniform, but a long gray gown, and he had no entourage. He was alone." Tao Gong had been a post in the Tao Mansion for twenty years, and he was competent in handling affairs and observed things carefully. "You read it right?" Zuo Zongtang asked in a drawn-out tone. "That's right." Tao Gong replied simply. Zuo Zongtang pondered for a while, and said decisively: "Open the side door on the right to welcome you!" "Ji Gao, I haven't seen you for more than four years. You look younger than before!" Zeng Guofan just came in from the threshold on the right, saw Zuo Zongtang at a glance, and greeted Zuo Zongtang first.The sincerity of the smile and the intimacy of the tone, as if there had never been any cracks in their friendship, as close as ever. "Disheng, it's you!" Zuo Zongtang was quite surprised by Zeng Guofan's attitude, and said repeatedly, "Sit in the study, sit in the study." While shouting to offer tea, he hurriedly handed over the old cattail fan in his hand. "It's hard for you to let go in such hot weather!" Zuo Zongtang said, looking at Zeng Guofan.I thought to myself: I haven't seen him for more than four years, he is indeed much older.After thinking about it this way, I feel that my wanton criticism of him last year was a bit too much. "After meeting Luo Zhongcheng yesterday afternoon, I will come to see you. Luo Zhongcheng said that you have been feeling unwell for the past two days, so please advise me not to bother you at night." Zeng Guofan gently shook his big cattail fan, and asked with concern, "Are you feeling better today?" ?” "It's much better. I'll go to the yamen tomorrow to do business." At this time, Tao Gong brought a large bowl of cut watermelon.Zuo Zongtang greeted Zeng Guofan to eat watermelon.Zeng Guofan was not polite, picked up a piece of melon, and ate it in big mouthfuls. Seeing Zeng Guofan's innocent expression, Zuo Zongtang faintly felt apologetic, and said, "Is my uncle buried properly? Over the past year, there have been many trivial things, and I didn't give him the old man's burial." I'm so sorry." "Where, where!" Zeng Guofan wiped his mouth with a towel, and said, "This time, I can handle the affairs of my father and fulfill the filial piety of a son, all thanks to you!" "Where did you say that?" Zuo Zongtang was puzzled for a moment. "Jigao, I was in Shuiluzhou that year. If it wasn't for your enlightenment, I would have died as an unfaithful and unfilial sinner. There is no time for my father to be buried!" Zeng Guofan's attitude was extremely sincere and sincere.Seeing him here and now, Zuo Zongtang never mentioned his criticism of him last year, but recalled the scolding in the cabin that night with gratitude, and couldn't help being greatly moved.He is a straightforward person, and he felt that he should express his apology. "Disheng, when you came back from Jiangxi last year, I thought something was wrong and said something you didn't like to hear. You don't mind, do you?" "Jigao, let's see where you are going! We have been in touch for more than 20 years, and we are like flesh and blood. Can you still remember those few words? Besides, what you said makes sense." Zeng Guofan said sincerely, " Just like back then, although your words are a bit harsh, you are purely kind. In the past few years, under very difficult conditions, you have raised 2.9 million taels of silver for Xiangyong. You have made great contributions to the Jiangxi battlefield. Your contribution is much greater than mine. I regret that I did not adopt some of your military suggestions earlier, otherwise Jiujiang and Hukou would have been captured long ago." "That's exactly what he said!" Zuo Zongtang has never been modest and polite. My idea of ​​taking the initiative. Being strong and steady is your strength, and not being able to win by surprise is your shortcoming. If you want to be victorious in every battle, you must combine the two. This time you come back to lead troops, I hope you can do more Pay attention to judging the situation and winning by surprise." "You are right. My failure lies in being too plain and lacking in clever strategies. In this regard, you will give me more advice in the future." This sentence is half to win Zuo Zongtang's favor, and half to win Zuo Zongtang's favor. It was also from Zeng Guofan's heart.During this period of time, he reviewed his mistakes and saw this problem very clearly. "Indeed, your fighting is the same as your character." Zuo Zongtang said with a smile, "You should be prudent and honest, but soldiers are tricky, the more cunning the better." "Not bad, not bad!" Zeng Guofan also laughed heartily. After a while, he said in an extremely earnest tone: "To be honest, I am not qualified to command Xiangyong, you are the real commander." These words reached Zuo Zongtang's heart.However, no matter how straightforward he was, he couldn't say "he can replace him", so he smiled slightly and said, "Xiang Yong's commander is you. This is ordered by the emperor. Who can deny it? Let's see how the war will develop in the future." , if necessary, I can also lead an army myself to be your auxiliary wing." "If so, that would be great!" Zeng Guofan stood up excitedly, walked to Zuo Zongtang, and said solemnly, "Jigao, I want to ask you something." "What's the matter?" Seeing his serious look, Zuo Zongtang thought to himself: Most likely he begged me to raise a large salary for him. "When I was guarding the lotus leaf pond, I took the meaning and made up a couplet. I wanted to write it in seal script and hang it in my living room. Unfortunately, my seal script is too poor. You are a master of Sanxiang seal script. Please write it for me. how?" To say that Zuo Zongtang is a master of seal characters is obviously an extra compliment.There are many calligraphers in Hunan, and there are many who can write good seal characters. Zuo Zongtang knew that his calligraphy, including seal script, was at best second-rate in Changsha.However, Zuo Zongtang has always been very happy.He was happy, and hurriedly said: "What words are you thinking, tell me!" Then he got up and went to the big cabinet to get the paper. "The upper couplet of this couplet is: Respect wins laziness, righteousness wins lust." "Okay!" Before Zeng Guofan finished speaking, Zuo Zongtang interrupted, holding a stack of rice paper in his hand. "The second line is: know the male, keep the female." Zuo Zongtang spread out the paper on the table, and was about to pick up the pen, when he heard the second couplet, he was taken aback: What does this mean?Soon, he understood: Zeng Disheng's cunning was to use this couplet to further express his feelings in front of me.He compared me to a male, and he was willing to be a female.Ugh.It's really hard for him!Thinking of this, Zuo Zongtang stopped writing, and said with a smile: "Brother Disheng, I heard people say that during your mourning period of more than a year, you never left the "Nanhua Sutra" every day, and you seemed to be Lao Zhuang's disciple. In order to be happy for you, I feel sorry for you after hearing this." Zeng Guofan sat down on the chair without showing any emotion, waiting for this strange man to make a different comment. "As Lao Zhuang said, it is good to nourish the heart, but it is not good to do things. Especially in this world, people of my generation should not be fascinated by it." Zuo Zongtang put down his pen and said solemnly, "Today the world is chaotic, and robbers are rising. When the father is restless, and the people are in dire straits, the heroes who rely on him will kill all the bandits and thieves with strong and resolute means, and quickly quell the chaos. What is needed here is the conscience to save the suffering, and what is advocated is the courage The bloody nature of being the first in the world, I secretly think that Rou Tui can only be a self-destructive strategy to teach others to be the leader, and Xiaoyao is an extremely irresponsible evasive attitude. The old and Zhuang way is really not advisable today!" Zeng Guofan was not at all surprised by Zuo Zongtang's impassioned statement, which was exactly the attitude he had embraced for many years.He can only approve without any criticism.However, the state of Zeng Guofan's heart has been sublimated to a new level today, which Zuo Zongtang can't appreciate.He didn’t want to argue with Zuo Zongtang.He knew it was useless to argue.How many people in the world can argue with the angry Master Zuo in front of him?What's more, what he is carrying is the awe-inspiring righteousness of Confucianism that cares about the common people in the world. It can be said that he sweeps away thousands of troops like a mat.Zeng Guofan smiled slightly, nodded lightly, and said, "It makes sense, makes sense!" "Disheng, I already understand what you mean. Let's not write this couplet. I'll give you another one. It's a collection of the words of the Marquis of Wuxiang. It may be more beneficial for you to use your troops to fight." After all, no matter whether Zeng Guofan agrees or not, he wrote it immediately.The first couplet reads: "Collecting people's thoughts, broadening loyalty and benefit." The second couplet reads: "Leniency and minor faults, the general outline." Zeng Guofan clapped his hands and cheered after seeing it, and said happily: "Very good, very good, I accept it. Make a payment!" Zuo Zongtang then picked up the pen again, and added a few lines of small characters at the back: "Brother Disheng was ordered to come back, and asked Yu to write the words of Lao Tzu's 'guarding the female' to restrain himself. Yu thought it was impossible, so he changed the ancient words to benefit him. .Today, in the sixth month of the eighth year of Xianfeng, I will only enter and not retreat.” Zeng Guofan accepted the gift with both hands. "Where are you staying these days?" Zuo Zongtang asked. "Temporarily staying in Chengnan Academy." "I'll come to visit you tomorrow morning and talk to you about some of my thoughts on using troops in Zhejiang this time." "Okay!" Zeng Guofan said gratefully, "I am waiting for you at the academy!" When Zuo Zongtang personally sent Zeng Guofan out, he saw the middle door of Tao Mansion was wide open, and more than a dozen well-dressed servants stood on both sides.Zeng Guofan was secretly proud: The purpose of this trip has been successfully achieved!