Article author: Zhen Jingjun
One day in March of the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), Zeng Guofan wrote down four sentences in his diary: "Modesty and thickness are noble faces, and humility and tolerance are noble faces." To have something is to be rich, and to have something in mind is to be rich. "Is this trick of Zeng Guofan's knowledge of people right?"
Looking at his achievements in understanding people over the years, it can be seen that according to incomplete statistics, Zeng Guofan recommended baoju's subordinates in his lifetime, and more than 400 staff members gathered by the Zeng shogunate in more than 20 years, and 47 people who were later officials to sanpin and 33 to overseers. Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Peng Yulin, Guo Songtao, Shen Baozhen, Liu Mingchuan, Liu Rong, Li Yuandu, Luo Zenan, and other materials of the late Qing Dynasty were all recommended by Zeng Guofan. Therefore, folklore says: "The great minister of the country, know the zengmen!" ”
Therefore, the four "rich and noble phases" summarized by Zeng Guofan above are still very reasonable and can stand the test of time. If this passage is translated into modern words, we can understand that a person with his own "noble spirit" will often have these three characteristics. Maybe it is to say: a person is becoming more and more "noble", and there are often these 3 signs on the body. Let's take a look!
1. Be careful;
Zeng Guofan was cautious and cautious all his life, such as walking on thin ice, and when fighting, he pursued steady and steady fighting, and did things with trembling. Every time he was promoted or gained a good reputation, he was sincerely afraid and in awe, because he knew very well that "the extremes of things must be reversed, and the prosperity and decline of the heavenly way", as he concluded: "The heavenly way is jealous, the heavenly way is jealous, and the heavenly path is taboo."
Every time the Zeng family received a reward from the imperial court, everyone was very happy, but Zeng Guofan thought calmly, looked at each other coldly, and warned the family: "Blessed cannot be enjoyed, and the potential cannot be exhausted", "When the prosperity is often in decline, when the scene is read", and so on. The blessings of the Zeng family are getting heavier and heavier, but Zeng Guofan realizes that this is a bad sign, and warns his family in his family letter: "The wealth and wealth are too heavy, and it is not a good elephant ear", and the person requires a lack of blessings, and pursues the life realm of "the flower is not fully bloomed and the moon is not round".
In July of the third year of Tongzhi (1864), the Xiang army attacked Tianjing, and the commander of the Xiang army, Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan's brothers, had the greatest merit, Zeng Guofan was given the title of Prince Taibao and a first-class marquis for his merits, and was hereditary replaced, and rewarded with two eyes; Zeng Guoquan rewarded the prince with the title of prince for his merits, and was awarded the title of first-class Wei Yibo and given two eyes. It can be said that the prestige and prestige of the two Zeng brothers reached the peak of their lives at this time.
However, Zeng Guofan was well aware of the principles of "meritorious and high-powered lords" and "birds do their best to hide their bows, and cunning rabbits to die and lackeys to cook", and he once again showed a cautious side, and in August of the same year, he took the initiative to ask the imperial court to dismiss 25,000 Xiang troops. This move was in line with Empress Dowager Cixi's wishes, and it also eliminated the suspicion of the imperial court, so Zeng Guofan was even more valued by the imperial court and was extremely favored.
His younger brother Zeng Guohuang was proud and complacent and acted recklessly, and Zeng Guofan wrote a letter to warn his younger brother to guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and to be cautious and cautious, and said: "Between heaven and earth, modesty is the way to carry blessings, arrogance is full, and full is poured."
In addition, Zeng Guofan also warned his younger brothers in his family letter: "Ding Jing is safe and worried, these five words are always available, and everything is there." Without these five words, it is Meng Lang to do", that is, the five words of "Dingjing and Tranquility" need to be kept in mind at all times, and everything is practiced, if you leave these five words, doing things is rash, reckless, marginal, and unreliable!
The careful and cautious style of doing things has penetrated deep into the blood and bone marrow of Zeng Guofan, and he is cautious and cautious in every step he takes, cautious in advance, unrepentant afterwards, and always uses "half ninety for those who walk a hundred miles" to encourage himself, and finally he is also the most blessed.
The Sixty-Fourth Chapter of Lao Tzu's Dejing says, "If prudence is the beginning, there will be no failure", and when things are about to be completed, we must be as cautious as we were at the beginning, and there is nothing that cannot be done.
At the beginning of "Cai Gen Tan", it is said: "The deeds of Si Li to expose the world and the earth must be walked on thin ice", and if a person wants to establish earth-shattering career achievements, he must go through a dangerous test like walking on thin ice.
These words are all a warning to people: be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years, life is not as good as nine times out of ten, the more cautious, the less mistakes are made, the less they will incur failure, and if you insist on laughing until the end, the rich and noble atmosphere on your body will be more and more.
2. Modest and low-key;
Shuyun: "Full of losses, humble benefits", the taboo of pride and complacency and success will make a person's blessings sneak away; the only humble and low-key person can accumulate virtue and blessings. Zeng Guofan understood this truth early on, so he was humble and low-key, and did not dare to be proud of himself as an official, and has always pursued the principle of "taking patience as the first meaning of officials".
He saw that his brothers and nephews had an ominous aura of pride in them, so he repeatedly warned his family: "All the talented people in the world and in the past and the present are defeated by one proud word", "Pride is fierce virtue, laziness is decay, both are the way of the family", "The ancient saying that the fierce virtue causes the defeated to have about two ends: long pride, many words", and so on. It was under the bitter heart and earnest teachings of Zeng Guofan that the behavior of the descendants of the Zeng clan became restrained and humble, which also laid a good foundation for the longevity of the Zeng family.
From ancient times to the present, examples of rich but three generations abound, why? The main reason is that the children of rich families, arrogant and lascivious, do not know how to be humble and low-key, and then incur the punishment of god. As Zeng Guofan said when he taught his son in his home letter: "No matter how small the family, the peasants, industrialists, and merchants, diligent and thrifty, there is no unhappiness, arrogance and fatigue, and there is no undefeated." ”
The "I Ching" specifically talks about "modesty", that is, the heavenly path is profitable and humble, the authentic road becomes profitable and humble, the ghosts and gods are harmful and blessed, and the humane evil is profitable and humble. It can be seen from this that whether it is the Heavenly Dao or the Dao, or even the Three Realms of Man, Ghost, and God, they all pursue one principle: the humble one, the blessed; the proud one, the blessed.
"Shang Shu" Yun: "Arrogant and unscrupulous will end in evil", those who are proud and complacent, many acts of injustice will kill themselves, and eventually there will inevitably be evil retribution.
Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" Chapter 24 says: "Those who see themselves are not clear; those who are self-righteous are not manifested; those who are self-destructive are useless; those who are self-effacing are not long", and self-righteousness, self-righteousness, self-boasting, and arrogance are all acts of pride, and there are no good results. And from the perspective of the Tao, these impatient and ostentatious behaviors can only be said to be leftover tumors. Because they are repulsive things, the righteous will never do it.
On the contrary, a person is humble and humble, not to fight for contention, to be selfless into a big selfish, to be more subtly invisibly, in order to always be better than not to argue and not to spend, and in the end it is a blessing that is more rewarding, and the blessing is the strongest. Therefore, the more modest and low-key people are, the more "noble" they have, just as the "I Ching" says: "Lao Qian, a gentleman has an end, Ji"!
3. Tolerance and generosity;
Shang Shu Junchen Yun: "If there is forbearance, it is beneficial; there is tolerance, and virtue is great", which means that a person must be able to endure so that things can be done well; with a broad mind, he can have noble character, and only with great virtue can he carry things.
To become a big thing, there must be a big pattern, a big realm; a person often thinks about small interests, not only is it difficult to achieve things, the popularity will become worse, and it will also make his own blessings more and more shallow.
Take Liu Bang and Xiang Yu as an example: Liu Bang was a generous man, and every time he won a victory, he did not hesitate to reward his meritorious generals; and Xiang Yu was not only stingy in rewarding money, but even the officials and lords were not willing to reward the meritorious generals, which naturally chilled the hearts of the generals. Liu Bang often opened his eyes to those who made mistakes, and even meritocracy, and used them in a big way; while Xiang Yu was small-minded and liked to be geng, so that both Chen Ping and Han Xin flowed to Liu Bang's camp, the former becoming Liu Bang's senior strategist, and the latter becoming Liu Bang's general.
Liu Bang was open-minded and generous, from the flow of advice, he could always pool his wisdom at key moments, adopt the correct opinions of others, and then make the right decisions; and Xiang Yu was self-conscious, indispensable, always liked to act obstinately, and forced away the senior strategist Fan Zeng around him, and he also became a lonely man step by step, and finally lost his way and did not help. Therefore, from the comparison of the pattern, Liu Bang tolerated generosity and Xiang Yu was narrow and conceited, which also led to the victory or defeat of the Chu-Han dispute was already doomed.
Confucius said: "People do not respect me, I am talentless; I do not respect people, I am immoral; people do not tolerate me, it is my incompetence; I do not tolerate people, I am immeasurable; people do not help me, I do nothing; I do not help others, I am not good!" ”
In life, we think more empathy in everything, tolerate others more, forgive others with a forgiveness heart, and blame ourselves with the heart of responsibility, we can make many problems solve, as someone on the Internet summed up: "Find problems from yourself, think about it; find reasons from others, think crazy." ”
If I really am a steel-making furnace, why worry about hard metal and heavy iron that is difficult to melt? I am indeed a huge ocean and a long river, so why worry about the inability of the dirty ditches flowing everywhere? A person has achieved tolerance and generosity, calmly faced the setbacks and tribulations in life, rich and apologetic, poor and poor, and long-lived, and naturally finally can "embrace all kinds of rivers, tolerance is great", extraordinary achievements, and the noble spirit on the body is overflowing.
epilogue:
Being cautious and cautious, seemingly stupid, but in fact is great wisdom, a little bit of saving blessings, their own nobleness will continue to increase; being humble and low-key is an auspicious omen for attracting auspiciousness, and it is also more able to retain the good blessings given by God, the more modest and more blessed; to be tolerant and generous, to forgive others is to be kind to yourself, to be kind to others, to be good to yourself, to achieve others is also to achieve yourself, so in the end you can achieve fame.
Therefore, a person is becoming more and more "noble", and there are often these 3 signs on the body - caution, modesty and low-key, tolerance and generosity. You may wish to check yourself to see if you have these characteristics, if there is one, it is also worth congratulating.
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