In the previous section, it was said that Zeng Guofan kept filial piety at home, but he was concerned about the affairs of the world.
The situation was very unfavorable to the Qing Dynasty, and since the Taiping Army revolted, its power had expanded very strongly, and everywhere it went, it was unstoppable, and it was even in Kezhou County. Compared with the Taiping Army, the Qing army was vulnerable, and it collapsed at the touch of a button, which really lost the face of the Xianfeng Emperor.
On April 5, the Taiping Army broke through from Yong'an, went north to besiege the provincial capital of Guilin, Buke, and continued north, where it was intercepted by the Qing army's Jiang Zhongyuan at Jeonju Yidu, and Feng Yunshan was hit by Qing artillery fire and died of his wounds. On May 19, he left Guangxi and entered Hunan Province, Kedao Prefecture and Chenzhou.
Landlords and rich people from all over the world and famous eunuchs in Xiangzhong also fled with their families. Among them, the Guo Songtao brothers and the Zuo Zongtang brothers also fled to the Zimu Cave on Yuchi Mountain.
The Taiping Army's Western King Xiao Dynasty, guiwen, was empty of troops in Changsha and led a division to attack Changsha, and was killed in battle during the siege on September 12. When Zeng Guofan heard the news that the Taiping Army was besieging Changsha, he hurriedly wrote a letter and sent people to send to Jiang Zhongyuan and several other friends day and night, asking them to bring troops to rescue Changsha. When Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing led the main force to Changsha City, changsha was already surrounded by heavy troops, and they were all "recruited heroes" who could fight wars (recruited soldiers and brave soldiers, not belonging to the regular army of the imperial court), and the Taiping Army entangled in Changsha for nearly three months and still failed, so it withdrew from the siege and rushed north to conquer Yuezhou and Wuchang, and the power grew to nearly 300,000 people. Land and water go hand in hand, "the sails cover the river, and the towns that pass through it are invincible to the wind."
This development made the Qing army shudder, especially the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The generals he sent out to suppress the Taiping Army either died on the battlefield or deserted, allowing the Taiping Army to occupy several cities in a short period of time. Half of the Qing Dynasty was no longer secure, so the Xianfeng Emperor was furious. In fact, before the Xianfeng Emperor also knew that the Eight Banner Soldiers and the Green Battalion soldiers were lazy and weak, and had no fighting spirit, but he did not expect to be so weak, like a scattered sand, the wind blew and scattered.
Of course, Zeng Guofan was very concerned about the military situation in various places. After the fall of Wuchang, Zeng Guofan's friend and Governor of Hubei, Chang Dachun, hanged himself at the city gate, his wife, eldest son, and eldest granddaughter all committed suicide, and his second son and daughter-in-law were all plundered by the Taiping Army. Chang Dachun is also a Native of Hunan, and is very familiar with Zeng Guofan, and the two families have very close contacts, and eight years ago Zeng Guofan once wanted to marry him as a child and daughter. Therefore, Zeng Guofan was naturally shocked to hear this news, saying: "I am afraid that the Chang clan will have no end." Miserable!" Although Xiangxiang is remote, there are eggs under the nest, and if the dynasty collapses, the Zeng family cannot be completed alone.
Logically, he should come forward.
His good friend Guo Songtao arrived in Xiangxiang, and Guo Songtao had known him for many years and knew him very well, and urged him to come out of the mountain: Gong Su has the ambition to clarify, and now he does not take advantage of the time to serve himself, such as Jun's father He?
Guo Songtao said it very clearly: You used to complain in your letters that you were in the imperial court in a step-by-step manner, that you were lifeless, that you could not revitalize the revolution, and that your political ideals could not be realized. Heroes are born in chaos, and now the world is in chaos, is it not a good time for you to make meritorious achievements, display your talents, and realize your ideals in life? You complain all the time that God does not give you a chance, and now, isn't it the opportunity given by God?
Zeng Guofan also wanted to go out of the mountain, but he couldn't venture out of the mountain, because the emperor approved him to keep filial piety, and if he went out like this, once the emperor held him accountable and said that he resisted and disobeyed, it would be equivalent to putting his head down to the emperor's sword and dying!
He was not so stupid, and if he wanted to go out of the mountains, he would also have to be famous, and he would have to be approved by the emperor.
Therefore, on the same day, he began to draft a recital, and on the development of the Taiping Army and the qing army's combat, he said a lot of things, and then learned from Zhuge Lianglongzhong's correct appearance, and put forward several suggestions: First, allow local officials and noble gentry to organize regimental training to resist the thieves; second, dispatch officials who can recruit good warriors; third, reform the administration of officials; fourth, reuse Han officials; fifth, at the right time, appease the thieves, and then try to; and sixth...
These points of Zeng Guofan hit the nail on the head of the Qing court, especially the first and fifth articles, and if implemented well, they could indeed suppress the Taiping Army. In the future, when he besieged Nanjing, he used the fifth article, first pretending to be appeased, and then choosing the opportunity to slaughter and kill him after the people put down their knives. I have to say that Zeng Guofan is indeed a fierce person.
Regarding Zeng Guofan's performance, the Xianfeng Emperor took a look at it and threw it aside: Shuo knew that the Eight Banners army of the Great Qing Dynasty was not good, and there was no need for you to point fingers.
Sushun and Duanhua also looked at Zeng Guofan's folds, and the brothers gave their advice to the Xianfeng Emperor: If they want to run a regiment training, let them do a good job, anyway, the imperial court does not pay, it is up to them to do it, the Han people beat the Han people, and protect the Jiangshan of our Manchus, why not enjoy it?
The Xianfeng Emperor, who was favoring Lan Guiren (Cixi) in the harem, had a reason: he was right.
At the end of the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zeng Guofan finally waited for the edict, which was sent by the Inspector of Hunan, Yamen: Zeng Guofan, the former DingYoulang Lang, was from Xiangxiang Township, and he was familiar with his local people in Hunan, so he should send a message and ask him to help him handle the affairs of training villagers and searching for bandits in the province. Yi bi will do his best and live up to his mandate.
The old fox was about to go out of the mountain. When he was out of the mountains, he wrote a letter to Li Hongzhang, who was serving in the Hanlin Academy, asking Li Hongzhang to try to come back and run a group together to practice meritorious service.
After Li Hongzhang received the teacher's letter, he instigated Lü Xianji, the left attendant of the Ministry of Works, to play it, and rushed to write the sonata on behalf of the knife: Run a group to practice well, and share the worries and difficulties for the emperor. The Xianfeng Emperor decreed that Lü Xianji, the left attendant of the Ministry of Works, went to Anhui to serve as the minister of regimental training in Anhui and handle the matter of regimental training and suppression. Lü said to Li: "If the king is a calamity to me, I am commanded to go; I am also a calamity to the king, and I play the tune and go along." Therefore, he accompanied the attendant Lü Xianji back to his hometown to organize a group training.
The Xianfeng Emperor, while agreeing to Zeng Guofan's regimental training, appointed Shangshu Chen Fuen as the minister of regimental training in Jiangxi, and the following year, appointed Zhou Tianjue, the inspector of Guangxi, as the minister of regimental training. Surprisingly, in the first month of 1853, as many as forty or fifty men were appointed ministers of regimental training. Among them, thirteen people in Shandong Province were appointed as the ministers of regimental training, which shows that the Xianfeng Emperor attaches great importance to regimental training in various places. Suddenly, a wave of group training was set off throughout the country.
Zeng Guofan went to Changsha to discuss with Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, to organize group exercises, and at the same time wrote a letter to Jiang Zhongyuan, hoping to get Jiang Zhongyuan's support. The troops led by Jiang Zhongyuan were ten times stronger than the Qing soldiers, and although they did not have the rich Qilu and advanced weapons of the Qing soldiers, they were braver and better at fighting than the Qing soldiers. It can be said that they are the role models and precursors of the local armed forces. After Jiang Zhongyuan heard that Zeng Guofan was preparing to go out to the mountains to run a regimental exercise, he wrote to Zeng Guofan to express his strong support and would help him.
To run a group training, it is necessary to have money and talents, and Zeng Guofan revealed that he had accumulated contacts in Beijing, not only his teacher Tang Jian and his old friend Guo Songtao, but also Liu Rong, Zuo Zongtang, Luo Zenan, Li Xubin, Li Xuyi, Jiang Yifeng and other celebrities. Many of these people were his protégés and friends, and all of them later became generals of the Xiang Army.
In particular, Zuo Zongtang, when the Taiping Army was besieging Changsha and the provincial capital, under the persuasion of Guo Songtao and others, he went out of the mountains at the behest of Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, and threw himself into the camp of defending the Qing Dynasty. Zuo Zongtang entered the city in the days of artillery fire, and Zhang Liangji was overjoyed and entrusted all military affairs to Zuo Zongtang. Zuo Zongtang "adjusted the food of the army day and night, ruled the documents, and drew the guard equipment", and most of the suggestions were adopted and immediately put into practice, and finally the Taiping Army besieged Changsha for three months and withdrew to the north. Zuo Zongtang became famous.
When he arrived in Changsha, he set up a "residence of the minister of training for the co-organized regiment" and issued official documents to the whole province in his personal name to manage the province's social security work.
The Taiping Army had already marched to Hubei and Jiangxi, and although Hunan was temporarily respite, the situation was still critical. Hunan has always been the source of the party, and as soon as the Taiping Army left, the bandit forces of the Hui Party, such as the String Society, the Red and Black Society, the Half-Sided Money Society, and the One Incense Society, constantly attacked and tried to follow in the footsteps of the Taiping Army in order to succeed. Stabilizing public order has become a top priority.
Therefore, at the beginning of the mountain, Zeng Guofan took the suppression of bandits as the primary task. As soon as he arrived in Changsha, he showed a vigorous style of doing things, he believed that to control the chaotic world, he would use heavy codes, so he set up a case bureau in the museum, which was actually the establishment of a Hunan Provincial Social Security Strike Hard Command Center. He gathered together the training armed forces of the civil regiments from all over the province, trained them, and then went out to search for and suppress the bandits. He issued a "Letter of Justice and Gentlemen with Hunan Prefectures and Counties" in the Trial Bureau, declaring that in addition to bandits, three kinds of people should be strictly punished.
First, those who have done illegal deeds and are accustomed to creating words and confusing the people as thieves.
Second, deserters, deserters, "robbers and disturbers passing through the townships."
Third, bandits, sticks, "crowds of people to eat (i.e., eat large households) Armed robbers."
Zeng Guofan said that these types of people, those who behave badly, can "shoot and kill" and "rectify the law on the spot." This notice covered with the purple flower official's banner of "Zeng Zeng, the deputy of the Qin Order Regiment Training Minister," was all over the streets and alleys of Hunan's large and small cities, and Zeng Guofan was not only frightening and frightening people, he really dared to do it. Every day, dozens of people are killed, hundreds of people are beheaded, and sometimes even petty thieves are killed.
An atmosphere of terror spread throughout Hunan Province, killing too many people, and he got a nickname of "shaving his head". It was rumored that he was killing people like hemp, and for a time there was a lot of complaints inside and outside Changsha City.
In a letter to his old friend Feng Zhuohuai (ShuTang), Zeng Guofan also explained: ... Those who should be killed and not killed fill the valley, so as to cause the calamity of today's rogues, can we tolerate the good, raise thieves as children, and revive the evil and cause great trouble?
In other words, bandits are now rampant precisely because in the past so many years, local officials have killed too few people. Those who should be severely punished were not punished, but wandered around, which led to the Taiping Army uprising. That's why he had to kill those people to prevent another catastrophe.
Zeng Guofan reported to the emperor: The rogue people in the present township are arrogant but not quiet, and he sees that the first criminals in the murder and theft cases of his husband in previous years are at large, and he also sees that the wanton behavior of bandits and bandits in Canton in recent years has been rampant and uncontrollable, so he thinks that the law is not enough to rely on, and the officials are not afraid enough... The foolishness of the subjects, who want to use the heavy code to rape with a hoe, hope that the good people will have a peaceful life, even if the subjects are cruel and harsh.
But that is to say, the reason why bandits in various places are now very arrogant is because the first criminals in the previous homicide cases have been at large for many years, and now the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom forces are running rampant in the world and cannot be dealt with, so the rioters think that the law and the government are not afraid. Under such circumstances, to establish the prestige of the government, it is necessary to implement a reign of terror. If the world can be peaceful, I am not afraid that everyone will scold me for being cruel and cruel.
The Xianfeng Emperor thought, it makes sense, as long as the Great Qing dynasty is long and peaceful, you will be allowed to kill.
Later, zeng guofan was killed, and the terror policy did have a temporary effect, and bandits everywhere did not dare to act rashly, and social order quickly settled down.
However, criticism of him has gradually surfaced. Zeng Guofan was brave in his duties, and the local officials of Hunan Province not only did not appreciate him, but on the contrary began to dislike him, thinking that he was too cruel. A few months after leaving the mountain, the name was full of slander, and nicknames such as "once slaughtered" and "once shaved his head" spread. In Changsha City, the "grammar officials" were in a big uproar and regarded him as an enemy. Even some of his old friends at that time, such as Li Hanzhang (Li Hongzhang's brother), Kui Lian, Zhu Sunyi, Guo Songtao, and Ouyang Zhaoxiong, wrote to him, expressing their incomprehension and concern about his various deeds. Li Hanzhang wrote to him specifically to "persuade him to suspend his sentence."
Zeng Guofan was for the long-term peace and stability of the Qing Dynasty, he did not do anything wrong, why did this happen? In fact, this situation was within his expectations, and he had already thought about how to deal with it. (Foreshadowing, see the next section)