Text/Xu Yongchao
Among Zeng Guofan's brothers, Zeng Guoquan (1824-1890) was the closest to him. For this brother, Zeng Guofan vigorously promoted, zeng Guoquan lived up to his brother's high expectations, conquered Tianjing, and made an immortal contribution. However, because of his reckless personality, he was not reactivated by the imperial court until after his brother's death.
In fact, at the beginning, Zeng Guofan did not agree with his brother to join the army, after all, it was too risky to lead the soldiers to fight, and he still hoped that he would take the road of the imperial examination and get a correct birth. In order to prove himself, the fledgling Zeng Guoquan fought several victorious battles with his heart. After several battles, Zeng Guofan believed that with the help of his ninth brother (Zeng Guoquan), "the overall situation may have a turnaround." From then on, he began to teach Zeng Guoquan with all his heart.
Zeng Guoquan has the personality traits of Hunan people, eating bitterly, dominating the barbarians, and walking in the black. Once he identified the path of military merit, he began to work honestly and stupidly, and with the teachings of his brother, Zeng Guoquan quickly learned a set of means to defeat the enemy.
In order to make his brother meritorious, Zeng Guofan repeatedly gave him special care. The Xiang army once lacked grain and wages, so Zeng Guofan stipulated that the generals must obtain his prior approval to recruit troops, but Zeng Guoquan often made up his own mind, privately invested soldiers, and later expanded to 50,000 people, helpless Zeng Guofan had to break through the rules many times and increase the supply of grain. When attacking Anqing, he also vigorously defied the public opinion, insisting that Zeng Guoquan directly gong Anqingcheng, and the rest of Duolong'a, Li Xubin, and Bao Chaozhong would cooperate. Zeng Guoquan took "forming a hard village and fighting a stupid battle" as the guideline, dug a long trench under The City of Anqing, besieged the city for three months, and repeatedly repelled the Taiping Army intending to break through with advanced weapons such as cannons and muskets, and finally conquered Anqing. After the city was destroyed, Zeng Guoquan connived at the soldiers to kill and plunder in the city. In just three days, more than 40,000 people died in the entire Anqing City, establishing a hell on earth.
Zeng Guoquan fought wars like dirt and killed people like hemp, but his strategic vision was far less than that of his brother. After the capture of Anqing, the Xiang army prepared to march under Jinling City. At this time, the Taiping Army attacked Shanghai, and the local gentry asked the Xiang Army to send troops to rescue them. After a long time, Zeng Guofan decided to send the ninth brother as the main one, and Li Hongzhang as the deputy to the rescue. Zeng Guoquan, who was bent on occupying tianjing and making the first contribution, did not listen to his brother's arrangement. Zeng Guofan was overwhelmed, so he had to send Li Hongzhang, who took the initiative to ask for help. Afterwards, Li Hongzhang, who rescued Shanghai, not only obtained huge financial resources, but also used this to understand the world situation and set up foreign affairs. On the other hand, Zeng Guoquan not only took three years to conquer Tianjing, but after the fact, he was jealous because of his high merits, and he was not the same as Li Hongzhang.
However, at that time, Zeng Guoquan did not have the heart to think about this, and he was planning to conquer Jinling. He adopted the tactics he had used in Anqing, like an iron barrel that encircled Tianjing. After the city was destroyed, Zeng Guoquan once again went on a killing spree, "Nineteen dead bodies along the street are old people, and their young children under the age of two or three are also killed as a play." For a time, "Qinhuai is a long river, and the corpse is like hemp." On the other hand, soldiers were organized, kilns were dug up everywhere, and treasures were plundered, and it is said that more than twenty ships were loaded. It can be seen that it is greedy.
Zeng Guofan was well aware of the principle of cunning rabbits dying and running dogs cooking, so after pacifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he took the initiative to request the dismissal of the Xiang Army and let Zeng Guoquan "open the vacancy and return home to adjust." Seven days later, the imperial court came down to approve the document and agreed to his request. Zeng Guoquan did not understand his brother's bitterness, and openly complained and ridiculed the imperial court. But at this point, Zeng Guoquan could only return to his hometown with a full stomach of grievances.
Two years later, the imperial court appointed him as the governor of Hubei. During this period, because of the gap with the governor of Huguang, Guan Wen, he was forced to return to his hometown again. After this incident, Zeng Guoquan really understood his brother's painstaking heart, turned out the family letters written to him by his brother over the years and read them again, sighing: I am really the first stupid person in the world.
After Zeng Guofan's death, the idle Zeng Guoquan was once again appointed by the imperial court as the governor of Hedong River and the governor of Shanxi. This time, he was no longer as sharp as before. At that time, the nine northern provinces were in a famine, ten rooms and nine empty, and shanxi was even more tragically cannibalized. In order to relieve the disaster, he went all out, and there were countless living people. In order to express their gratitude, the people built shrines for him.
In the Sino-French War of 1882, he acted as the viceroy of Liangguang at the imperial court for his "old military and exclusively dependent on it". In 1884, he became the governor of Liangjiang, reaching the peak of his personal power. Six years later, Zeng Guoquan died in office at the age of 66.