Chapter 31 Six left a will for his son

The Governor's Yamen Gate of Baoding City suddenly became lively this morning.The eldest son, Zeng Jize, was busy making arrangements. A long firecracker was hung on a bamboo pole about ten feet high, and a row of drummers stood under the firecracker.After a while, the second son Zeng Jihong also came out, followed by a group of servants from the mansion.The people around felt strange: looking at this posture, it seems that the governor's yamen is having a happy event today, but there are no lanterns and festoons, red and green hangings;I saw the old family member Jing Qi trotting over from the main road ahead, and said to Jize: "My lord, the carriage is coming soon!" After speaking, he walked to the drummer team and ordered to get ready.

While talking, a large carriage pulled by three horses was parked in the large area in front of the gate. Ji Ze hurriedly pulled Ji Hong over and knelt in front of the carriage.Li Zhaoqing, Li Hongzhang's younger brother, got out of the car.As soon as he got out of the carriage, Jing Qi waved her hand, and a group of servants who had already prepared walked over, and hurriedly unloaded twenty-four large logs eight feet long and one foot two inches in diameter from the carriage. , A red cloth strip is tied around the waist of each log.At this time, the firecrackers blared, the drums and music blared, and Brother Jize kowtowed to the log.Jing Qi yelled, and the forty-eight servants lifted up twenty-four logs, stepped on the steps in a file, and entered the yamen.Ji Ze and Ji Hong walked last with their heads down.

It turned out that these twenty-four logs were used for two sets of coffins.Last year, on the eve of Zeng Guofan's departure from Jiangning, Li Hongzhang came to see him off and asked his teacher what private matters he had in Jiangnan.Zeng Guofan told him quietly that he had ordered two sets of coffin materials in Jianchang, Jiangxi, and asked him to bring them to Baoding when it was convenient.Li Hongzhang kept this in mind. On the eve of going to the northwest, he handed over the matter to Zhaoqing and asked his younger brother to go to Jianchang to supervise it.He wanted to give these two sets of coffins to his mentor as his own gift, to show his filial piety as a disciple.

Zeng Guofan met Li Zhaoqing affectionately in his study, and inspected the Jianchang wood that had been transported thousands of miles away.But seeing that the roots are bright and straight, with fine texture, after a careful sniff, there is a faint fragrance.White wavy stripes are often seen on Jianchang wood, so it is also called Jianchang flower board.This Jianchang flower board is known as the best material for making coffins, and Li Zhaoqing personally selected it from tens of thousands of pieces of wood, so there is no reason for it!While discussing how to make the next step, the patrol newspaper: "The imperial decree has arrived!"

Zeng Guofan hurriedly changed into court clothes and came to the court. Zhou Shouchang, who had just been promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Officials, came with the decree in person and read aloud: Chonghou said that the people of Jin County started a quarrel with the Catholic Church, and now they are trying to suppress it. Please send officials to Tianjin to investigate and deal with it.Zeng Guofan's illness has not yet recovered, and he has already taken another one month's leave recently. However, this case is of critical importance. If Zeng Guofan's spirit can support him, he will go to Tianjin to discuss with Chonghou.The gangsters abducted people, gouged out their eyes and dissected their hearts.Since it is said that those who were involved in the church were found to have evidence, they should testify clearly with foreigners and punish the bandits according to the law to eliminate local harm.Until the people gathered together to beat the consul to death, burn down the church, demolish the nursery hall and other places, this trend cannot last long.The first person who caused trouble will be investigated and punished, so as to be fair.

If there is any uncoordinated handling by the local officials, they should also be investigated together and not defended.Zeng Guofan's affairs should be aware of the situation, handle it quickly and equally, and maintain the overall situation in order to conform to public opinion. This is it. After the Tianjin incident, as the governor of Zhili, Zeng Guofan had already made preparations to go to Tianjin to investigate and deal with it. He was not surprised by this imperial decree. Deeply agree.But it will be difficult to do this, and Zeng Guofan knows it very well.However, he couldn't refuse, so he had to answer: "My minister, Zeng Guofan, complies with the order."

After Zhou Shouchang read the imperial edict, he immediately walked over and helped Zeng Guofan, who was sick and weak, with both hands, feeling a surge of pity in his heart. "Brother Disheng, this is an extremely difficult matter, and there are many discussions in Beijing." Zhou Shouchang said with concern. "I know." Zeng Guofan was very depressed, "But as the governor of Zhili, can I ignore the troubles in Tianjin?" "Either way," Zhou Shouchang looked at Zeng Guofan's long, wrinkled and slightly swollen face, and his eyes whose upper and lower eyelids were almost completely close together, and said sincerely, "I'll go and reply to the Empress Dowager, saying that you are seriously ill in bed and cannot get up. , please ask the queen mother to brief someone else."

Zeng Guofan is deeply grateful for the friendship of his old friend.For a moment, he also felt that he could accept it. He had already asked for leave in advance, and it was not a prevarication.But when he thought about it again, he felt something was wrong.This matter has too much to do with it, and whether it is handled well or not is directly related to the fate of the entire country.Since ancient times, loyal officials encountered national crisis, even if they were seriously ill in bed, they had to be ordered. This is how Lin Wenzhong died on the way to Guangxi, and won the reputation of eternal loyalty. "The life and death of a country that benefits the country should not be avoided because of misfortune and good fortune." Lin Zexu's tragic poems floated in his mind, and he was determined to learn from Lin Zexu: Li Ji is ordered.

"Ying Fu, go back and report to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, saying that I will leave in two days, and I must handle the matter in Tianjin well. Please rest assured, Your Majesty." After sending Zhou Shouchang away, Zeng Guofan sat in the study alone in a daze, not eating or moving, like an old monk in meditation.At night, Mrs. Ouyang personally brought a bowl of ginseng soup and persuaded him to drink it, and advised him to take care of his health for the sake of the country and the family, and to lie down and rest early.He thanked his wife for her kindness and promised to go to bed immediately.After his wife left, he closed the door, turned on the light, took out a pen and paper, and thought about writing something.

Changhuaban arrived on the same day as the edict to go to Tianjin to handle the teaching case, which clearly indicated that his trip to Tianjin would never return.He doesn't have much nostalgia for his declining and sick body; he has a first-rank official residence, a feudal lord and a prime minister, and he has become an extremely human minister, so he has no regrets.What he cared about most were his two sons, worried that they would not be able to conduct themselves well in the future, and worried that the Zeng family would suddenly decline one day.Such a thing is almost inevitable for the big family.He hoped that the Zeng family could avoid it, at least delay it for a few generations.If he wants to write, he has been familiar with it for many years, so he doesn't need to think about it. He keeps swiping the pen without adding points, and he doesn't stop until the cock crows for the first time.After finishing writing, he read it again from beginning to end, feeling melancholy and lonely, unable to control himself.

Yu went to Tianjin recently to investigate the case of beating foreigners to death and burning churches.The temperament of foreign countries is fierce, and the people of Tianjin are accustomed to arrogance.I have repeatedly thought about this trip, but there is no good strategy.Since the third year of Xianfeng's recruitment of bravery, Yu has sworn to serve the battlefield. Now that he is old and sick, when he is in danger, he will never be stingy with death, so as to be proud of his original aspirations.Fear of encounters and difficulties, and you have nothing to do with everything.Here is a little bit of one or two, just in case. If Yu passed away forever, it would be convenient for the coffin to be moved from the canal back to the south of the Yangtze River and back to Hunan.Everything is declined along the way, and no gift is accepted, but Shui Lulue just asks for a brave escort. The memorials over the past years are kept in the home after copying, and left for the descendants to watch.The ancient prose you write should not be sent to others immediately, not because there are too few articles, and if you are young, you can't work hard, and your ambition is not enough to complement it.If anyone knows the past and persuades me to engrave the rest of the collection, I would like to thank you politely.Please tell me. In Yu Sheng's life, he briefly involved in the books of Confucian ancestors, and saw that sages taught people to cultivate themselves, with thousands of words, but the most important thing is not to be jealous or not to seek.Those who are jealous are jealous of the virtuous and harm the ability, jealous of merit and competing for favor, so-called lazy people cannot cultivate, jealous people fear others to cultivate, and so on.Seekers are greedy for profit, greedy for fame, cherishing the land and cherishing benefits, the so-called worry about gain if you don’t gain, worry about loss after gain, and so on.It is not common, and it is exposed to people who are famous and powerful, and it is not common.If you want to benefit, go to the heart first; if you want to build a product, go to the heart first.If you don't want to go, you will be full of thorns; if you don't want to go, your heart will become dirty every day.In addition, these two are often treated with restraint, and the hatred cannot be completely wiped out.If your desires are pure, it is advisable to work hard on these two, and I hope that future generations will abstain from them. Historically, the prosperity of a country and family is all caused by hard work and thrift; its decline is also the opposite.In my life, I also encourage myself with diligence, but I can't be diligent; I also like to teach others with frugality, but I can't be frugal by asking myself.In the future, when you live at home, you must change the habit of extravagance in the yamen and advocate the virtue of diligence and thrift. Filial friends are the auspiciousness of the family.I served as a teacher in the capital for a long time in my early years, and I was very ignorant of the way of filial piety. Later, I went through the army and received a lot of help from my brothers, but I did not benefit them at all.The families of Yu brothers and sisters all have their own fields and houses, and most of them are supported by the ninth brother.After my death, you should treat your uncle as your father, your aunt as your mother, and your cousins ​​as your brothers.Brothers are getting old, and I will not judge whether I can see each other for the rest of my life. If you can follow the two words of filial piety and friendship, it will be enough to make up for my shortcomings.