What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
During zuo Zongtang's work in the shogunate of Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan, he actually took charge of the military and government of Hunan Province for nearly six years as a shogun, and handled all kinds of affairs in Hunan in an orderly manner, regardless of their size and detail, so that Hunan, which was originally relatively poor and weak, was transformed into "the guarantee of the southeast and the world is dependent on", which played an extraordinary role in the process of the Qing Dynasty's suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Zuo Zongtang himself also gained a great reputation, and the people of the time not only had the saying that "the country cannot be without Hunan for a day, and Hunan cannot be without Zongtang for a day", but even the supreme ruler, The Xianfeng Emperor, always had to inquire about Zuo Zongtang when he saw people from the Two Lakes or who were officials in the Two Lakes. Such an evaluation and concern for a curtain friend can be described as unprecedented and unprecedented.
However, this Zuo Shiye, who had achieved great success in Hunan and could be called a "good curtain", was not only impeached by the governor of Huguang as an "inferior curtain" in the end, but also those who usually dared to be angry with Zuo Zongtang and did not dare to speak out, saw that he had finally encountered great trouble, had no misfortune and happiness, and celebrated with the crown. Some people even secretly wrote down several big characters on the gate of the Zuo family, "QinJia Inferior Curtain Deputy Hunan Inspector Zuo Mansion" to vent the dissatisfaction and resentment in their hearts. The most inexplicable was the Xianfeng Emperor, who had previously paid great attention to and attached great importance to Zuo Zongtang, but after seeing Guan Wen's impeachment letter, he completely changed his view of Zuo Zongtang, not only in the upper edict there was the phrase "inferior curtain control", but also ordered Guan Wen and Hubei Zhengyi's official Qian Baoqing to investigate Zuo Zongtang: "If Zuo Mou has an illegal affair, he will do the law on the spot." ”
How did the "good curtain" suddenly become the "inferior curtain"? Can the two be equated at will?
Shi Zai, the elder Zuo Zongtang, who is nearly twenty years old, Luo Bingzhang is a very deeply cultivated person, and in his spare time, he often sits in the office of his friends, and when he encounters Zuo Zongtang assigning errands to colleagues, he is standing next to him and listening quietly, rarely interjecting. One day, Zuo Zongtang and several other closestmates "generously discussed things, aided the ancient and the present, and the wind and the spring", as if they had not seen his arrival, Luo Bingzhang did not care, and listened with great interest for a long time next to him, and did not say a word before leaving.
Shi Zai, once, inspector Yamen fired a cannon, Luo Bingzhang heard it, and somehow hurried to inquire about what happened. The person next to him told him: "Zuo Shiye sent a military report to fold also!" "As a rule, it is a very grand thing to send an army report, and generally the inspector must personally preside over it. Luo Bingzhang didn't know what was happening, indicating that he hadn't even read the folding draft, and Zuo Zongtang sent it out. For such a big matter, Luo Bingzhang also resigned himself to it, which shows the great power of Zuo Zongtang.
Shi Zai, Luo Bingzhang had a concubine brother who spent money to buy the name of "Zuoza Candidate", but he has been idle in Xiangzhong. The concubine was soft and hard and asked many times, and Luo Bingzhang had to implicitly propose to Zuo Zongtang that who had thought that Zuo Zongtang would not give any face, and categorically refused, causing the two people to disperse unhappily.
The above accounts all show that although Zuo Zongtang lived in the shogunate of Hunan as a shogunate, he was actually a person who controlled the political authority of Hunan Province, so from writing the recital to approving the reply, Zuo Zongtang did everything with his own hands, and Luo Bingzhang, as the inspector, was relaxed, and was happy to throw his hands to the treasurer, just signing a word on the document as usual.
Under the control of Zuo Zongtang, Hunan straightened out social order internally and gave economic and military assistance to foreign provinces, which indeed showed a strong provincial demeanor and also made Zuo Zongtang famous in political circles. However, Zuo Zongtang's behavior, saying that the lighter one is overstepping one's bounds and the heavier one is overstepping one's authority and interfering in the administration, is indeed a taboo. Because according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, the curtain does not have any official status, nor can he show his face, but can only hide behind the curtain to make suggestions and deal with documents. Zuo Zongtang did not care about these rules and precepts, broke all the rules and regulations, said what he should say, did what he should do, commanded, gave up who he was, completely entered the role of the second inspector, and walked to the foreground from behind the scenes without scruples. Luo Bingzhang also completely lost his sense of proportion, entrusting all military and political affairs to Zuo Zongtang, and leaving them all at his disposal. This kind of serious and unconventional behavior is indeed intolerable to law and discipline; the official Wensheng impeached Zuo Zongtang as an "inferior curtain (a shogun who was arbitrary, overstepped his authority, and behaved badly)", and indeed did not wrongfully accuse him.
What is even more fatal is that Zuo Zongtang's temper is very bad, and his sense of responsibility is too strong, and he trains people if he is not happy, which is rare to give people a good face. Consciously or unconsciously, he really regarded himself as the second inspector of Hunan. But he just didn't think about it: China is a country that pays great attention to moderation and fame, and the real inspector, because of the appointment of the emperor, has a name that is unified with his authority, and all the civil and military officials below the inspector must absolutely obey his leadership, even if he is mean and unkind or even acts recklessly, people can only swallow their anger and bear it in silence. But if the right to act as an inspector is exercised without the name of the inspector, the situation is very different, and people will be disgusted and disgusted. In particular, the major officials of all parties below the inspector are only one rank away, and their status is not much higher than that of Zuo Zongtang's residents and the status of the shogunate master. If in normal times, when people saw them, they would have nodded their heads and bowed long ago, and now it is only because of Inspector Luo's excessive trust, and someone on the left is so ignorant of the sky and the thickness of the earth, and he does not look at these people with big eyes, and treats them all as puppets and decorations, which is not like a mouse that climbs on the scale pole, and cannot weigh a few pounds or twos? Therefore, over time, Zuo Zongtang and the senior officials under the inspectors will inevitably have many unpleasantness, and even accumulate a lot of resentment. It can be said that in the minds of some people, Zuo Zongtang is no longer a good kind, but a monster that is too ostentatious and makes too many enemies, making it difficult for people to understand and accept.
Since everything Zuo Zongtang did in Hunan Province's Inspector Yamen seriously exceeded his status as a close friend and was intolerable to law and discipline, why in the past six years, why did no one openly question and criticize it, and the above did not pursue it, and had to wait until after the official and civil servants were impeached, and then they fell together and pushed down the wall? It turned out that in the late Qing Dynasty, because officials were generally incompetent and busy with various official entertainment, they had neither the heart nor the ability to handle official affairs well, nor did they care about specific affairs, so The master changed from "ruling by the officials" to "ruling on behalf of the officials", jumping from the backstage to the front desk, and becoming an indispensable force in the daily operation of the country. Although the imperial court was very angry about this, it was like a monkey picking up a piece of ginger, wanting to eat it, wanting to abandon it, so it had to go with the flow. It can be said that the over-inflated role of the master and the phenomenon of dislocation of officials and curtains are both unique to the official places of the late Qing Dynasty and a long-standing common phenomenon, and although the imperial court understands its shortcomings, it is unable to solve them, and finally can only seek compromise in the power conflict.
When Zuo Zongtang entered Hunan to inspect Yamen, it was an extraordinary period when the Taiping Army was suppressing Hunan and Hubei, and the Two Lakes region was in a state of decay, so both Guan Wen, the governor of Huguang, and the Xianfeng Emperor in Beijing had to rely on Han bureaucrats such as Luo and Zuo to resist the Taiping Army. As the Minister of Chincha sitting in Wuhan, the Manchu magnate Guan Wen needed the Han bureaucracy to "block the left to the right" for him and maintain the situation of the two lakes. Under such circumstances, no matter how out of line Zuo Zongtang's performance was, there were more gossip in Guanwen's ears, no matter how much unaccustomed he had in his eyes, and no matter how much resentment he had in his heart, he could only endure for the time being. By the time Guan Wen had impeached Zuo Zongtang, the situation had completely changed, and the Taiping Army had basically been expelled from the Two Lakes, and he could strike his opponent with a heavy punch without scruples. Although Xianfeng himself had some understanding of Zuo Zongtang's position and role in Hunan, and did not have a good feeling for Zuo Zongtang himself, and hoped that he could be used by the imperial court, once there was a dispute between the Han and the Manchus, Xianfeng was still more likely to believe the words of the Manchu magnate Guanwen, and was happy to meet his requirements, and quickly handed Zuo Zongtang over to Guanwen to deal with. This is because among the three core figures of the Xiang Army, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Hu Linyi, only Zuo Zongtang was a lowly official, did not control the armed forces himself, and his position was the most fragile, and he first became a victim of the internal struggle of the ruling clique, which was inevitable.
Therefore, Zuo Zongtang suddenly changed from a "good curtain" to an "inferior curtain", in addition to Zuo Zongtang's own performance did give people a handle, but also mainly the power struggle between the officialdom and the Manchu-Han contradictions that always existed within the ruling group played a leading role.