Zeng Guofan was a politician and strategist at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the founder and commander of the Xiang Army, and was called "Zeng Hu" together with Hu Linyi, and the "Four Famous Ministers of Late Qing Zhongxing" with Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang and Zhang Zhidong.
Zeng Guofan had a profound impact on the politics, military, culture, and economy of the Qing Dynasty, and he served the Qing government all his life, serving the Governor of Liangjiang, a scholar of Wuyingdian University, and was given the title of Marquis of Yiyong of the First Rank, and was posthumously known as "Wenzheng" and later known as "Zeng Wenzheng".
Zeng Guofan's most famous book is the Book of The Family of Zeng Guofan. The content of this book is very rich, covering personal cultivation, education, family management, financial management, dating, politics, employment, health care, military and other aspects.
In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned family letters, Zeng Guofan's works also include the book "Ice Book", which is a classic work about knowing people and meeting people. This is his summary of his own identification of talents and the appointment of talents, a treasure book about this aspect, and a secret that penetrates people's hearts.
Many people want to learn the skills of knowing people, and then see through others in interpersonal communication, so that there will be fewer detours.
But we should be clear that our purpose in knowing people must be pure. It is extremely bad not to know people in order to learn the strengths of others, and if we use people with various purposes, then we will judge people by their appearance, and often we will not see the inner things of others.
This is why he warned the world again and again: "The few things you know, the less trouble you have, and the more you know, the more you know, the more you are unnatural." This is also his experience.
Why did he write this book? Rumor has it that it is related to his previous deception.
In his early years, he was very confident in his own knowledge and employment of people, and even overconfidence, and his team contributed a lot of talents to the Qing court, such as the famous Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang and other bigwigs, which were all from his team.
However, even the most intelligent people will inevitably have a time to overturn, this time he never expected that he fell into the hands of a charlatan, and suffered losses, so he learned a lesson and committed himself to writing such a wonderful book "Ice Book" to warn future generations that only by identifying people first can they use people.
So how did he get fooled?
When he was the commander of the Xiang River, his power fell to the opposition, which can be said to be windy and rainy.
However, he was a very cautious, modest man, and often a courtesy to corporals, so there were many people with lofty ideals who came to visit.
Some people want to saddle up the horse around him and pave the way for future soaring, but there are also a few opportunistic people who want to make some benefits here.
One day, a guest came to his house, and he used to be very proud of his ability to meet and know people. Seeing the visitor Yu Xuan Ang, a table of talents, he had a good impression of him with his first impression.
When the two talked, he found that the man's eloquence was good. He stripped away the cocoons of current affairs, made wonderful comments, and gushed endlessly.
His eloquence was not very good among the celebrities at that time, otherwise he would not have fought back without being angry with Zuo Zongtang before, not that he had cultivated himself, but that he himself understood that he was not Zuo Zongtang's opponent in terms of eloquence, so he chose to let go.
Hearing this man's words, he began to be interested in him. After a big talk, he talked about the officialdom, and he asked the visitor a question: What should he do if he finds that his subordinates are deceiving their superiors?
After hearing this question, the person said solemnly: "Whether a subordinate deceives the superior depends on the personality characteristics of the superior." ”
The words were very novel, and he suddenly became very interested, and he put his face forward.
When the visitor saw his performance, he smiled slightly and said, "I think there are only three situations in which you are deceived or not. ”
At this moment, his face moved forward a little.
The visitor continued: "People like Hu Linyi are shrewd and capable, discerning, and will not be deceived, while Zuo Zongtang is a person with a heart as a needle, fierce in nature, and people dare not deceive." Both of them are heroes. ”
At this point, the visitor deliberately stopped and secretly observed his reaction, but his curiosity had been aroused by this time, and he quickly asked: "What about the third case?" ”
The man smiled slightly and said with an admiring tone, "The third situation is like lord Zhongtang, and at this point, Hu and Zuo Gong are not as good as you." You have always been polite and sincere. It has reached a state where people cannot bear to deceive, whether they cannot deceive or dare not deceive, they are using external forces to suppress the deception of subordinates, and not being able to deceive is a moral inspiration, so it seems to be more precious. ”
This invisible top hat hit his lower arms, and he usually did not show his face at this time, but he showed a smile that he had not seen for a long time.
He hurriedly responded to the peace: Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, too prestigious, once a certain deserved ah...! In my heart, I secretly decided to reuse this person, after all, this kind of talent is very rare.
This man was warmly received by Lord Zhongtang in the palace, and after staying for several days, Zeng Guofan began to entrust him with heavy responsibilities, asking him to carry a huge amount of money to complete the task of purchasing artillery ships.
However, to his great surprise, as soon as the man left, there was no more news.
Later, when the matter was reported to the Governor's Office, his subordinates recommended that a sea-based fishing document be issued to arrest the man. But he thought about it for a long time and said, "Forget it, let him go."
His personal bodyguard saw him sitting in the study at night, but whispered in his mouth: "People can't bear to be deceived? People can't bear to be deceived? ......”
Behind every successful person, there is a lot of unknown bitterness and pain, and Zeng Guofan is the same, through this deception, he re-examined his shortcomings, summed up the method of understanding and using people, so that he could achieve great success later, and was also known as "late Qing Half Sage".
He kept a diary every day, examined and reflected on his daily words and deeds, and continued to put forward more requirements for himself: to be diligent and thrifty, to be humble, to be kind, to be honest, to know fate, to cherish blessings, etc., and to strive to build himself into a sage at that time. Many people think that personality cultivation is an empty thing, that self-cultivation is an illusory thing, and even pedantic, but his life's career, self-cultivation is the most important reason for the success of his career.
Xu Zhongyue commented on his statesmanship, character and personal cultivation that few people can match. He was perhaps the most admired and great scholar-type official in nineteenth-century China.