Chapter 32 Three, do you remember the first time you met me?

A few days later, the Ministry of War handed over a copy of the notice: "Zhejiang inspector Li Yuandu made up for it."Zeng Guofan was very annoyed after receiving this edict. It turned out that after Li Yuandu pleaded guilty at Qimen, in a fit of rage, he demanded back the arrears from Liangtai, dismissed Ping Jiangyong, and went straight back to Hunan.Soon, the imperial decree was issued, and Li Yuandu was deposed as a member of Taiguang Taoist in Huiningchi.Zeng Weifan hoped that Li would come to him after thinking about it behind closed doors for a period of time.Unexpectedly, Li Yuandu got in touch with Wang Youling again, and recruited 8,000 people, known as the "Anyue Army". Several victories.Jiangxi governor Yuke asked the emperor for his merits, and the emperor rewarded him with the title of chief minister.After entering Zhejiang, in order to retain this army for a long time, Wang Youling tried his best to recommend it to the emperor, so he came up with this edict.Li Yuandu was disobedient to control and showed no friendship. He blatantly betrayed the Hunan Army again and again, and joined the He Guiqing Group, which had always been hostile to the Hunan Army. Anger turns to anger, and from anger to hatred, the friendship that has shared weal and woe for many years in the past no longer exists, and the promise of thanking children and in-laws does not have to be fulfilled.He didn't want his staff to write a ghostwriter, so he personally drafted a memorial, and listed three crimes for Li Yuandu: one was that he did not wait for the trial after he was dismissed, and returned to his hometown without authorization; The third is to stay on the way to Zhejiang, which will delay the fighter.He also admitted that he did not know who he was employing and that the recommendation was wrong, so he asked the emperor to hand over Li Yuandu to the Ministry for strict punishment and never hire him.

From this, Zeng Guofan remembered Li Hongzhang's intercession for Li Yuandu.It is wrong to intercede for generals who have lost land, but since Li Hongzhang left Qimen for more than a year, Yuan Jiasan, Shengbao, Dexinga, Wang Youling and others invited him many times to promise Yizhongbao. Unemployed, just like when we met at Jianchang Hotel that year. Compared with Li Yuandu's dissatisfaction, how precious is Li Hongzhang's loyalty, not to mention his talent and friendship are superior to Li Yuandu's!Thinking of this, Zeng Guofan immediately sent Peng Shouyi to Raozhou Mansion to bring Li Hongzhang to Anqing with his personal letter.

Li Hongzhang is here.His understanding of his mentor is deeper than that of his mentor.He knew that although his mentor was well-known in the government and the public as a famous minister of Confucianism, he was by no means a pedantic Confucianism gentleman. Those who are reprimanded and change families will be hated deeply, on the contrary, those who remain loyal after being alienated will be doubled by them.Zeng Guofan's move was indeed spotted by Li Hongzhang.The son of the Nian family, the apprentice, coupled with shrewdness, talent and loyalty, made Li Hongzhang re-enter Zeng Guofan's backstage, and he was particularly favored by this powerful mentor from four provinces.

At this time, Chen Yucheng was deceived by Miao Peilin and died at the hands of Shengbao, while Li Xiucheng's business of building a second small paradise based in Sufu Province reached its peak. The whole of southern Jiangsu, except for Zhenjiang City where Feng Zicai was stationed and a corner of Shanghai, all the land was in the hands of Li Xiucheng.Li Xiucheng paid attention to economic development and implemented a light tax system, which won the support of the majority of farmers.The peasants sang and praised: "Moso bamboo shoots, yellow at both ends, the peasant leader Li Zhongwang, the landlord saw him like the king of Hades, and the peasants saw him surpass his own mother." Suzhou and Changzhou citizens built memorial archways one after another to express their respect for Zhongwang.Li Xiucheng took in another 200,000 people including Tong Ronghai and Zhu Yidian of Shi Dakai who had retreated from the West Expedition Road in Qianshan, Jiangxi. The army grew stronger and stronger, and then captured Hangzhou in one fell swoop, and Wang Youling was forced to commit suicide.The Taiping Army's momentum in southern Jiangsu and Zhejiang caused Shanghai to be in panic day and night.

Shanghai is the most affluent city in China. The monthly income of only lijin and donations reaches 600,000 taels of silver. The gentry also gathered here.Both foreigners and the government organized armed forces to try to prevent the Taiping Army from attacking Shanghai. The most famous of them was the Changsheng Army, a Chinese-foreign mixed army commanded by the American Wall and armed with foreign guns and cannons.But after all, the strength was insufficient, so Qian Dingming was recommended to go to Anqing, and Zeng Guofan was asked to send the Hunan Army to Shanghai as soon as possible.

Zeng Guofan, who was desperately short of money, absolutely could not see Shanghai fall into the hands of the Taiping Army. He sent people to Heyetang quickly, and asked his ninth brother, who was recuperating at home, to take on this task. Zeng Guoquan refused.His eyes were fixed on Jiangning City.After capturing Anqing, Zeng Guoquan believed that he had both the ability to attack the city and the number one lucky general in the world, so he had no choice but to defeat Jiangning.On this point, Zeng Guofan also felt the same, seeing that he didn't go, he didn't force it. If the ninth brother doesn't go, who will he send?Zeng Guofan weighed the generals under his command one by one: Li Xuyi is a sick man, Bao Chao is a reckless man, neither can take on this important task; Zhang Yunlan and Xiao Qijiang are not generals; Zhenqian cannot be alone; Jun, has never been regarded as a confidant, so how can you rest assured to let them do such a big matter; Peng Yulin and Yang Zaifu are certainly suitable, but since you want to fulfill Lao Jiu's number one skill in the world, how can you break his navy's auxiliary wings!

For several days, Zeng Guofan was restless because of it.After dinner that day, he deliberately went out of the city and went for a walk a little farther away.It was late autumn, the vegetation was withered, and the outside of Anqing City was in depression.Zeng Guofan was touched by the scenery, and Song Yu's famous sentence of sad autumn came to mind: "It's sad, autumn is the air, and the grass and trees are swaying and decaying. If you are traveling far, you will climb the mountain and see the water to see you back." Suddenly , He remembered that he had been in the army for eight or nine years.Over the years, the imperial court spent tens of millions of taels of silver and mobilized nearly one million troops to fight from Guangxi to Jiangsu, but the long hair could not be extinguished, and the trouble became more prosperous.When will Tianxin get tired of chaos, and when will the people find peace?And I am aging before I am old, and the Hunan Army is already dying. Can I see peace again in my lifetime?For a while, Zeng Guofan was in a turmoil, depressed and unable to control himself.He simply picked a clean stone, sat down to rest, Jing Qi stood by and waited.

Zeng Guofan narrowed his presbyopic eyes and looked around aimlessly.From a distance, I saw two fast horses flying dust, rushing from the west hillside, and entered the city gate in a hurry, followed by three running and barking black dogs chasing after them.Zeng Guofan was envious of the bravery of the horse riders. "Jing Qi, who is the rider on the horse, have you seen it clearly?" "It seems that Li Jianguan and his younger brother Zhaoqing may have returned from hunting in the Western Mountains." The riding skills of the two men just now also attracted Wang Jingqi's attention, and he watched them enter the city.

"Oh!" Zeng Guofan responded softly.Yes, Li Zhaoqing came to Anqing the day before yesterday, and Li Hongzhang even brought him to pay his respects!Li Hongzhang's four brothers: Hanzhang, Hongzhang, Hezhang, and Zhaoqing, all of them not only have the elegance and beauty of a scholarly family, but also have the strength and vigor of the people in Huaibei. Zhaoqing said that he and his third brother, Hezhang, recruited in Luzhou There are more than a thousand village braves, guarding their hometowns, and they have fought thirty or forty battles, large and small, and they also have a group of capable people.

While speaking, the youthful look was revealed from time to time, which Zeng Guofan admired very much.A thought quietly appeared in my heart: How about sending Li Hongzhang to Shanghai?But right now he doesn't have a single soldier, can he form an army in a short time? Zeng Guofan returned to the Yamen and discussed this idea with Zhao Liewen.Zhao Liewen fully agrees.He also gave two more important reasons: one is that the Zeng family is too prosperous and has too much military power, so we must guard against slander and reserve a way out.Taking advantage of the current prosperous period, let Li Hongzhang come out to build a Huai army, called another branch, which is actually a family.In the event of an accident in the Zeng family or the Hunan Army, as long as Li Hongzhang and the Huai Army are there, the overall situation will not break down.The second is that the Nian Army in Henan and northern Anhui is very powerful. After the recovery of Jiangning, it will be the main enemy.After fighting for a long time, the habit of military camps will inevitably breed, and the Hunan army will not accept the water and soil in the north. In the future, it will have to rely on the Huai army recruited from northern Anhui.As soon as Zhao Liewen said these two reasons, Zeng Guofan couldn't help admiring him wholeheartedly, and was happy to have such visionary talents around him.Although Li Hongzhang still has many deficiencies as his successor, he is the only one who weighs the pros and cons.

Zeng Guofan no longer hesitated, he wanted to support Li Hongzhang with all his strength for the current crisis of saving Shanghai, and even for the next hundred years. Hearing that he was going to recruit the Huai army and rescue Shanghai, Li Hongzhang was even more excited than when he was a Jinshi in Hanlin.He knows very well the truth that in times of troubled times, a gun is the king of grass.The monthly donation in Shanghai is 600,000 yuan, half of which can be used to raise 50,000 elite soldiers; with 50,000 elite soldiers in hand, who can do anything! When Li Hongzhang excitedly reported his plan to recruit 50,000 Huai troops to Zeng Guofan, he was hit with a cold water: "Shaoquan, the general is planning instead of being brave, and the soldiers are good but not many. You have forgotten this old saying." Zeng Guofan said solemnly: "A recruitment of 50,000 people at a time, mud and sand, fish and dragons are mixed, there must be few decent people, and many scoundrels. Look at Changmao, there are hundreds of thousands to two hundred thousand at every turn, and sometimes they even claim to be millions. In fact, they are all mobs. After a little setback, they scattered and fled. Such soldiers, no matter how useful they are! It’s just a waste of food and salary. This time you return to Luzhou to recruit braves, you must use the method that Mr. Luo Shan and I recruited Xiangyong in the past. Rooted, down-to-earth and hard-working farmers, and slippery vagabonds, even if they are smart, we don’t want them.” "My teacher taught me that." Li Hongzhang nodded hurriedly, "Then I will recruit 20,000 yuan first." "Twenty thousand is too much." Zeng Guofan shook his head. "How about ten thousand?" "Five thousand first." Zeng Guofan extended a slap. "Okay, I'll recruit five thousand first!" The obedient Li Hongzhang hurriedly nodded in agreement.I thought to myself: When I arrive in Shanghai, I have money, and after opening up the situation, I can't help how many recruits! "Teacher, everyone says that you know people well. My disciples would like to ask you to teach you some ways to recognize soldiers' bravery. When I go back this time, I will choose more promising officers and soldiers." "Knowing people, there are many mysteries and complexities. It cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences. Some of them cannot be conveyed in words but can only be understood. The key lies in the experience of the person who knows the person. I once made up a few formulas. Let me read it to you." Zeng Guofan said with a smile, "Evil is judged by eyes and noses, true and false is judged by lips, fame is judged by spirit, wealth is judged by spirit, ideas are judged by fingers and claws, and disturbance is judged by tendons. in the language." Li Hongzhang recited it lightly, and said: "These few formulas are concise and to the point, but the disciples are ignorant and feel a little vague. It's like looking at lips when they are true or false. What kind of lips are true and what kind of lips are false? ?” Zeng Guofan laughed loudly: "It's hard to say. What I said just now can only be understood but cannot be expressed in words. What I mean is that you have to figure it out by yourself. Dongpo said that there are many things in the world that can only be understood in the heart and cannot be achieved. Yu Bi, this is the most true thing about meeting people. However, you are asking about identifying soldiers and bravery, which is the simplest in the art of matching people, so let me explain a few words to you in detail!" Zeng Guofan stroked his gray hair. With a long beard, he said solemnly, "First look at the facial features. The best is to look at the eyes, straight nose, and thick lips. The second is to look at the skin. The best is thick and dark skin, with many calluses on the hands. The third is to look at the speech." .It is best to be dull and reticent. These three are the main ones, and the others are secondary." Zeng Guofan's three standards of bravery inspired Li Hongzhang a lot.He said respectfully: "Students must choose five thousand strong Huai troops according to what their mentor taught them." Li Hongzhang's father, Li Wen'an, went to the Ministry of Punishment to supervise the arrest of Si Langzhong, and he was named Yushi. He and his elder brother Hanzhang were also officials outside, so the Li family was quite prestigious in Luzhou. , had a lot of contacts with other regiment leaders. When Li Hongzhang raised his arms and called out, there were a lot of applicants. Within a few days, the number of recruits reached 50,000 to 60,000.Li Hongzhang did not dare to disobey his teacher's will. According to the three standards of bravery, he selected 5,000 people from them and formed ten battalions. Three brothers, Zhang Shusheng, Zhang Shushan, and Zhang Shuping, who were friends of the Li family for many years, Zhou Shengbo, Zhou Shengchuan, and Liu Mingchuan , Pan Dingxin, Wu Changqing, Hezhang, and Zhaoqing were the battalion officials, and they were successively named the first battalion, the second battalion, the third battalion, the first battalion, the second battalion, the Mingzi battalion, the Dingzi battalion, the Qingzi battalion, and the Hezi battalion. , Zhao Ziying.Twenty days later, Li Hongzhang marched into Anqing with 5,000 Huai troops neatly, and was inspected by the governor of Liangjiang on the military field outside Jinbaomen. Zeng Guofan was quite satisfied when he saw that most of the five thousand warriors were strong and strong; but among the ten battalion officials, only Pan Dingxin was from Juren, He Zhang Zhaoqing was from a family of scholars, and the other seven were either salt lords, horse dealers, or unemployed. Two or three of the vagrants, or the local tyrants, could not read a single word. Zeng Guofan was very worried about this.Fortunately, these battalion officers are all excellent in martial arts and have the majesty to control the soldiers. Now that they have formed an army and marched to Anqing, Zeng Guofan didn't say anything more.Qian Dingming was very anxious, seeing that the army had been built, he wished they could fly to Shanghai immediately, so he hired seven foreign ships at a high price of 180,000 taels of silver, and wanted to transport 5,000 Huai troops away at once. Such a grandiose deployment of troops and generals shocked the world. The Huai army officers and men felt that they were very generous, and the Hunan army officers and men were all jealous. They wished to open this foreign meat one day, and the people of Anqing had never seen this world. .Early in the morning, on the pier by the river, there are people of all ages supporting each other. The Huaining Restaurant on the upper and lower floors outside the South Gate is the largest restaurant in Anqing City. Three days ago, it began to reject all guests and was busy preparing for a grand farewell banquet for the Huai army heading to Shanghai. From the hour of Chen, woolen sedan chairs and horses stopped one after another on the lawn in front of Huaining Restaurant.At noon, the broad lawn was crowded with sedan chairs and horses. At this time, a group of guards came and cleared a two-foot-wide passage.Then, a long sedan chair slowly lifted up and stopped by the lawn.Out of the leading green baize sedan chair came out the hosts of today’s banquet—Imperial Envoy, Co-organizer, Prince Shaobao, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Zeng Guofan, governor of the four provinces and Liangjiang.He was wearing a poinsettia coral top and an umbrella-shaped red tassel hat, a blue-colored nine-python five-claw robe embroidered with crane patches, and powder-soled soap satin boots on his feet. After getting off the sedan chair, he stood still at the entrance of the passage without opening his eyes. step.Immediately afterwards, from the second blue woolen sedan chair, the main object of today's farewell party - Li Hongzhang, the commander of the Huai Army and the commander of Shao Taoist in Yanjin, Fujian Province, according to the rank of inspector.Today he is wearing a third-grade sapphire with a red tasseled hat on top, and a dark red robe with nine pythons and five claws embroidered with peacock patches.Then, Li Xuyi, Yang Yuebin, Peng Yulin, Bao Chao, Duolonga, Kang Fu and other civil and military officials came out of the various sedan chairs one after another.The old battalion officers and sentries in the Hunan Army remember that such a grand event was only the time when Wuchang City presented a waist knife.After everyone got out of the sedan chair, Zeng Guofan stretched out his right hand and said to Li Hongzhang, "Please, Shaoquan!" When Li Hongzhang heard this, his face flushed with panic, and he hurriedly said, "Master, please, and the disciples will wait on you later." Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "Today is your farewell farewell, and you should go first." Li Hongzhang was in a hurry, and said repeatedly: "Please, teacher, please, teacher!" Seeing that Zeng Guofan was still standing still with a smile, Li Hongzhang bowed deeply, and said: "The mentor gave the disciple such a big face today, and the disciple's body and bones are not enough to repay." Speaking of this, Li Hongzhang was so excited that tears filled his eyes. Zeng Guofan nodded, seemingly satisfied with this sentence, so he stopped being modest and walked into Huaining Restaurant with his usual steady steps, followed by Li Hongzhang, Peng Yulin and others. Thirty tables of banquets were set up on the first and second floors of Huaining Restaurant, and there were already all the generals above the battalion officers of the Hunan and Huaihe Armies, as well as important officials in Anqing officialdom, gentry and celebrities, as well as Qian Dingming and the seven The captain of a foreign ship and so on.As soon as Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang and their party entered, the people waiting on the first floor stood up to welcome them.Zeng Guofan stretched out his hand with a smile, waved at everyone a few times, then climbed the stairs to the second floor.There are only five tables on the second floor, and the characters here are of higher status. The first table is reserved for Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others.As soon as Zeng Guofan sat down, steaming hot dishes of various colors came up one after another. Anhui cuisine is as famous as Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, Hunan cuisine, Hangzhou cuisine, Fujian cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine, and Shandong cuisine, and is known as the eight major cuisines in China.The dishes in Anqing City Hotel are representative of Anhui cuisine.Although the city has only been out of war for half a year, because the Governor's Office and the Hunan Army Command are located here, old officials and new nobles gather here, especially those Hunan Army generals who made a fortune on the battlefield, holding the "drunk lying on the battlefield" Lord Grim, with the mentality of how many people will come back to fight in ancient times, whenever he has the opportunity to come to Anqing, he regards it as the gentle hometown of fireworks, and throws a lot of money to restaurants and brothels without hesitation. Anqing city quickly formed a deformed bustling on the ruins.Anhui people in distress flocked to this ancient city by the Yangtze River from southern Anhui and northern Anhui, especially chefs and young girls.Anhui cuisine, a wonderful food garden, reopened on this land. Anhui cuisine is mainly stewed. It pays attention to authentic ingredients. The fire is perfect. The dishes are rich in oil, ruddy in color, mellow in taste, and pure in soup.The Anhui cuisine of Huaining Restaurant is recognized as the No. 1 in Anqing Mansion.Today, the boss and the chefs intend to take advantage of this once-in-a-century opportunity to put on a good performance and spread the reputation of Huaining Restaurant to the whole country, and even want to use the mouth of Captain Yang to spread it overseas.The chefs tried their best to cook carefully. The boss stood at the door of the kitchen and had to taste every dish and nodded before serving it out.At the banquet, whether it is cold dishes, hot dishes, or stewed soups, every dish reflects the flavor of Anhui cuisine.There were voices of admiration at the banquet, and even those foreign captains who were not used to Chinese food gave their thumbs up, so that the faces of a dozen waiters were oily and the soles of their feet were windy.The highlight of Anhui cuisine is aquarium cuisine.I found out that the host of the banquet loves water food the most. Today's traditional pouched crucian carp, steamed shad, roasted lion's head with crab, and saltwater shrimp are even more amazing.The chefs ingeniously placed the words "Fu", "Lu" and "Shou" on the four pots of aquarium dishes with shredded carrots. The four characters "Jubilee" drew applause from all over the restaurant! In order to help the wine, the boss also invited actors from the troupe.I saw that once I was singing the Huangmei ditty "Couple Watching the Lantern" duet: "The fat man came to watch the lantern and was sweating; the thin man came to watch the lantern and squeezed into a muscle; the eldest son came to watch the lantern and stretched his head; He slipped through the cracks of people. My husband and I walked forward, it’s so fun to watch the lanterns and people!” The witty libretto, funny movements, coupled with the melodious Huangmei tune, made the drunken guests burst into laughter.At this moment, how can they remember that just outside Anqing City, on the barren and turbulent Anhui land, millions of people are struggling to die, and there are tragic scenes of mourning and starvation everywhere!When the banquet was in full swing, Zeng Guofan raised his glass and said to everyone: "You all have a drink here, and Shaoquan and I will go to the tea room on the third floor to talk about the relationship between teachers and students." As he spoke, he took Li Hongzhang's hand and walked up to the third floor. An exquisite teahouse has already been arranged on the third floor.Green Wuyuan green tea is brewed in an antique Yixing teapot, and eight colors of seasonal fruits are placed on the table. Zeng and Li are sitting opposite each other. Li Hongzhang said excitedly: "The teacher held such a grand farewell ceremony for the students, which made the students never forget it. No matter what changes happen in the future, one thing will never change, that is, Hongzhang will always be the teacher's student in this life. Uncle Nian's son." Zeng Guofan nodded with a smile, but remained silent.After a while, he looked out the window and asked affectionately, "Shaoquan, do you still remember the first time you met me?" "Remember, remember." Li Hongzhang, who is so smart, never expected that the teacher would suddenly ask such a nonsense question. He recalled with trepidation, "It was the autumn of the 25th year of Daoguang, and it was the best time in the capital. At the age of 22, the student came to Beijing with his father for the first time. On the night of entering Beijing, his father said to the student: I have a man from Hunan in the same year, and his moral writing is ten times better than mine. I will take you to worship him tomorrow. As a teacher. Early the next morning, my father took me to Nian'er Hutong to meet my mentor." "That day you were wearing an ill-fitting silk gown, and you stood timidly in front of me. You blushed and called "Uncle Nian" and then fell silent, like a big girl." Zeng Guofan smiled happily. Li Hongzhang felt embarrassed. "The student has never seen the world. At that time, my mentor was like a god in the clouds in my mind, unattainable." Li Hongzhang couldn't help laughing as he said. "Shaoquan, do you remember what book I was reading at that time?" Zeng Guofan still remembered the scene of that day, and he intended to test the student in front of him. "I remember, I remember." Li Hongzhang replied immediately, "My mentor read "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Gaozu" that day." "Why do you remember it so clearly?" Zeng Guofan was very interested. "The teacher said to his disciples that day that he liked the four books of Zhuang, Han, Shi, and Han the most in his life, and among the four books he loved "Historical Records" the most. Among the "Historical Records", he especially liked to read "Gaozu Benji", so the student remembered it." Zeng Guofan nodded with a smile: "Shaoquan, let me tell you again, I love these few lines in "The Benji of Gaozu": "Er Empress Lu asked: 'After your Majesty is a hundred years old, Xiao Xiangguo will die, who will replace him? ” Shang said: “Cao Shenke. ’ Asked secondly, Shang said: ‘Wang Ling can. '" Li Hongzhang finally understood Zeng Guofan's intentions. He stood up from his seat and said reverently: "Students will never forget the cultivation of their mentor, and live up to their high expectations." "That's good." Zeng Guofan pointed to the empty seat and said, "Sit down, I still have a lot to say to you." "Students listen to the teacher's teachings." Li Hongzhang sat down, clasping his hands between his legs, just like when he was studying in Nian'er Hutong. "Shaoquan, let me ask you, do you know the situation in Shanghai?" "About Shanghai, my disciples know a thing or two, but I don't know what kind of situation my mentor wants to ask?" Ever since he learned that the Huai army was to be formed to rescue Shanghai, Li Hongzhang immediately made an in-depth study of Shanghai through various channels in his usual meticulous style. Research. "Talk about Shanghai's current defense first." "Shanghai's current military strength has roughly five aspects." Li Hongzhang said clearly, "One is the imperial court's defense forces in Shanghai, which was originally the third target of the Soviet governor Xue Huan. After expansion, there are nearly 4,000 people. Later, some people went from Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, and Hangzhou one after another, and together with the Xiangyong recruited by Xue Huan on the spot, the total number of defense troops of the imperial court was about 30,000." "Xue Huan is a hateful person. He sent Teng Silin to Hunan to recruit brave people. Fortunately, he sent a letter to tell me. I'm sorry for him, but I kept all the 4,000 people Teng Silin recruited." Jiyun is the character of Xiangfu Mao Hongbin, who was the same year as Zeng Guofan. "Xue Huan is jealous that Hunan people can fight, and he also wants to build a Hunan army by himself." Li Hongzhang continued, "The second is regiment training, because there are a lot of people, and it is estimated to be around 100,000. The third is British and French foreign soldiers. , They are designed to protect the country's concession in Shanghai, with about 3,000 people. The fourth is the Chinese-foreign mixed foreign gun team headed by Walter, with 5,000 people. The fifth is the Chinese and Foreign Defense Bureau, initiated by British Counselor Bacharley , the host is a prominent figure among the officials and gentry in Shanghai, rich and well-off, but without an army." Li Hongzhang knew the military power of Shanghai like the palm of his hand, which satisfied Zeng Guofan.Thinking to himself: Not only Lao Jiu is far behind in this level of precision, but even I myself may not be able to match it. It can be said that the blue is better than the blue. "Which of these five aspects of military strength do you plan to rely on?" "The students will mainly rely on Hua Er's foreign gun team." Li Hongzhang replied after a little thought. "By the way, your idea is very good." Zeng Guofan smiled approvingly, "This is the first thing I want to tell you. After arriving in Shanghai, you must have a good relationship with foreigners. Guard Shanghai and prevent it from falling into the hands of Changmao. On this point, the interests of foreigners are the same as ours. Huaer’s foreign gun team can fight, far better than Xue Huan’s green battalion, and we will coordinate with Huaer in the future. Foreigners come to China, not for country. Xianfeng In August ten years ago, foreigners entered Beijing and did not harm or destroy our ancestral temple. They are currently assisting me in Shanghai, Ningbo and other places to fight against rebellion. Both have virtues for me, and China should not forget the big ones and blame the small ones. But I have always been wary of foreigners. I have never advocated using the power of foreigners to recover cities. Since ancient times, those who use the power of outsiders to do things have many troubles after they are done, so we must pay attention to them. So when you arrive in Shanghai, use There is a principle of foreign military power, that is, it can be used to defend Shanghai, but not to help recover other cities. Foreigners are greedy in nature, and they are too demanding. You must be clear about this. In a word, dealing with foreigners is inseparable. Four sentences: Speak faithfully and faithfully, conduct with sincerity and respect, know how to guard against but not suppress, first alienate and then kiss. Do you understand what this means?" "The mentor means to get along with them with integrity and only use their strength to protect Shanghai. It is not advisable to get close to them at the beginning, in case they look down on them. After our army has shown its prestige, foreigners will naturally move closer to us." Li Hongzhang like The six classics are annotated in a meaningful way, and the teacher's words are expounded and developed. "That's right." Zeng Guofan nodded slightly in satisfaction, "It seems that you will be more sophisticated than me in dealing with foreigners in the future. I am relieved of that. Second, Shanghai is a trading port with a lot of goods, but it faces water on three sides. It is easy to attack and difficult to defend. It is far less important than Zhenjiang in military affairs, and Zhenjiang is close to Jiangning, which plays a key role in attacking Jiangning. Although Feng Zicai is loyal and brave, he is not talented enough. Once you have established a firm foothold in Shanghai, you must try to move to Zhenjiang. I will also ask the imperial court to transfer Feng Zicai away." Li Hongzhang did not expect this.He nodded heavily twice, expressing that he had kept this important instruction in mind. "The other one is personnel issues. There are three people in Shanghai, see how you will get along with them." "Which three people are you referring to?" "One He Guiqing, one Xue Huan, and one Wu Xu." Zeng Guofan pointed his fingers and named them one by one. Li Hongzhang never thought about this matter.He looked at the teacher blankly, thought for a while, and said: "He Guiqing lost the city and land, shot and killed the gentry, and the government and the people are angry. I guess he will be arrested by the court sooner or later. As for Xue Huan and Wu Xu, since their governors and vassals The position of the secretary has been withdrawn, and he has been following He Guiqing closely, and his disciples will never associate with them after they arrive in Shanghai. It is only the position of Su Fu, who will be released by the court?" Zeng Guofan looked at Li Hongzhang and sneered, "Who do you think Su Fu will release?" Li Hongzhang said seriously: "The disciples think that Zuo Jigao should be the most suitable one." "Zuo Jigao will be released to Zhefu, and the Shangyu is about to arrive." Zeng Guofan said flatly. Li Hongzhang was startled, and thought to himself: Zuo is the governor of Zhejiang, it seems that it must be recommended by the teacher; besides Zuo, Peng Yulin is the most suitable, but since he is not allowed to be fussed by Wan, naturally he will not be fussed by Su either.After a pause, Li Hongzhang said mysteriously: "Men, there is one person who is quite suitable. I wonder if my teacher has thought of it?" "Which one are you talking about?" "Lin Wenzhong's son-in-law, Shen Youdan, a former soldier in southern Jiangxi, and a student of the same age. This man has the style of Wen Zhonggong, honest and upright, and he has done military affairs under the mentor's curtain. It's also very suitable." "Youdan is good." Zeng Guofan looked at the group of sailboats moving slowly on the river downstairs, and nodded inadvertently.Shen Baozhen has long been selected as his governor, but Shen is more suitable to replace Yuke in Jiangxi, but this is still being proposed and cannot be said. "Anyone else?" Li Hongzhang pondered for a moment, and said: "Students usually don't pay enough attention to talents, so I can't think of them for a while." Zeng Guofan said with a smile: "This person is thousands of miles away, but he is close at hand." "The teacher refers to the disciples?" Li Hongzhang was taken aback, his blood boiled immediately, and his face and neck were flushed. "Shaoquan, I've already made up my mind. You are very careful and restrained, and now you are leading the Huai army in Shanghai. You are the most suitable candidate for Su Fu. I will send you away today, and I will recommend you tomorrow." This was something that Li Hongzhang could not even have imagined a few minutes ago. He was so excited that he could not speak for a moment. He only looked at his mentor who was better than his father with infinite gratitude with his eyes full of brilliance and tears. "You are right about He Guiqing. Some impeached him, while others protected him. A few days ago, the emperor asked me what I thought, and I said these two sentences: 'The border officials regard the city guard as a great festival, and it is not appropriate to say that they are subordinates. For the sake of progress; ministers judge meritorious crimes based on their hearts, and they don’t have to weigh whether they have public gifts or not.” It seems that He Guiqing will not be alive soon.” Zeng Guofan still said in a flat tone, “It is true that Xue Huan is in the same party as He Guiqing, but this person is not in the same party as He Guiqing. Prince Gong’s relationship is extremely close. His Sufu was withdrawn, but he was still appointed as an imperial envoy to handle trade and negotiation affairs along the southeast coast and along the Yangtze River, and was managed by the Prime Minister’s Office of State Affairs. Think about it, if there is no Prince Gong to rely on Come on, can Xue Huan get this fat job? Shaoquan, let me tell you, maybe Xue Huan is the eyes and ears of Prince Gong An in Shanghai." "Teacher, my disciple understands that since Xue Huan has left Fuzhuan and specializes in business affairs, there is no need for my disciple to offend him and confess him. God promises a good deed, and I will go down to the earth to keep you safe." Li Hongzhang's brain is clear at one point. Zeng Guofan nodded lightly, and continued: "Wu Xu has long controlled Jianghai Customs and held the financial power in Shanghai. He is very good at business. I heard that this time he tried his best to invite the Hunan Army into Shanghai, and it was he who used the money to rent foreign land. This shows that Wu Xu is different from He Guiqing. You want to use this God of Wealth. After you become Su Fu, please restore Wu Xu to the post of Secretary of the feudal clan and Guan Dao, and tie him tightly. "Teacher, I understand. This is not only true for Xue Huan and Wu Xu, but also for Shanghai and Jiangsu officials in principle. As long as he is not following He Guiqing wholeheartedly against us, the disciples will let him remain in office. In order to stabilize people's hearts, we can deal with Changmao together." Li Hongzhang really deserves to be the disciple of his mentor, he can quickly take one corner and reverse three corners. "That's exactly what it means." Zeng Guofan said happily, "It seems that you can be a competent governor in the future." "Teacher, although my student has been a Taoist priest for many years, he has never been a magistrate for a day. He was promoted by his teacher, and he will soon be a governor. The student has no idea what to do to live up to his teacher's expectations." "Shaoquan, that's a good question. I'm going to choose a few things to say today, and you have to remember them well." Zeng Guofan combed his beard with his hands, pondered for a moment, and said unhurriedly, "The job of a governor is to ask for help. , One is in managing affairs. There are four types of seeking people, and there are three ways to seek them. There are also four types of managing affairs, and there are three ways to govern them. The four types of seeking people are officials, gentry, soldiers of the green camp, and recruits. Courage. There are three ways of seeking, which are called investigation, enlightenment, and supervision. Interviews are like birds of prey asking for food, like merchants asking for money; interviews are obtained, and they are distinguished from whether they are worthy or not, and whether they are true or false. The teacher is to teach people to be kind and guide them; It is called military affairs, it is called salary affairs, it is called official affairs, and it is called communication affairs. There are three ways to deal with them, which are called analysis, brief introduction, and comprehensive examination. Analyzing is like treating bones and corners, like treating jade. Cutting. Every thing has to be cut into two pieces first, from two pieces to four pieces, and from four pieces to eight pieces. The more you cut it, the more hanging it will be, and the more you cut it, the finer it will be. Just like Ji Changzhi’s view of lice as a wheel, such as Pao Ding's criticism and guidance always avoids any ambiguity or ambiguity in one point. In brief, although there are thousands of things, the main points can only be said in one or two words. For example, although a person's body is large, the veins and acupuncture points There are only a few places; although there are many volumes, the summary is only a few sentences. The way to control the crowd and the method to teach the next are easy to understand, simple to follow, and slightly complicated to follow. The way of learning is to know and forget every day, and to never forget what you can do every month. The things that are governed every day will be reviewed again in January and two months. Military and official affairs, there are monthly lessons and yearly examinations; As a matter of fact, there is the number of running water on weekdays, and the account of the summation in a few months. In short, in the future, the former is the entry point. These two four categories and three ends are always in the heart, and the way of the governor is more than half. Recently, I have Throughout the history, two sentences can be summed up: Heroes who start businesses in the prosperous age take open-mindedness as their first righteousness; , to be a hero, there is no shortcut other than hard work, and the governor must not be a little slack because of his high position and power." This kind of teaching made Li Hongzhang admire the mentor in front of him so much that he really felt that "looking up is getting higher, drilling is getting deeper, looking ahead and suddenly behind".He knew very well that this was where his teacher's true talents and learnings lay, and he could learn and use them inexhaustibly throughout his life, so he printed every word and sentence on his heart one by one like blotting paper. At this time, the whistle on the river blew, and the seven foreign ships were about to weigh anchor together.Qian Dingming went up to the third floor and said to Zeng Guofan, "My lord, the foreign ship is urging Li to observe." "Okay, let's go down." Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang walked down the restaurant side by side.The five thousand Huai troops had all boarded the ship, and the see-off personnel stood in line on the pier, waving their hands incessantly, and only waited for Li Hongzhang to arrive before setting off.Zeng Guofan sent Li Hongzhang to the springboard, and Li Hongzhang bowed repeatedly to ask his mentor to stop. "Shaoquan, get on the boat, I wish you the best of luck!" "The kindness of the mentor mountain, the friendship of the sea, the students will never forget it!" Li Hongzhang bent down again, thanking him from the bottom of his heart.He was about to turn around and get on the diving board when he was suddenly stopped by Zeng Guofan: "Shaoquan, I forgot to tell you an important matter. I will send you to Shanghai today, just like a married woman. How can you not have a dowry? I will send you three more battalions." : Yang Dingxun's Xunzi camp, Guo Songlin's Songzi camp and Cheng Xueqi's Kaizi camp, a total of 1,500 people, will arrive soon." Li Hongzhang was delighted at first, then uneasy.He quickly adjusted the changes in his feelings, and smiled all over his face: "My disciples are very grateful for the kindness of my mentor!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and stepped on the springboard to the foreign ship.