The Xiang Army, rather than the Xiang Army, was the "Zeng Family Army", because this large number of troops and strong combat effectiveness only obeyed the orders of Zeng Guofan alone; although Zeng Guofan, as a traditional literati, knew nothing about leading troops to fight, this did not prevent Zeng Guofan from training an army that was brave in battle, fearless of death, and strictly disciplined.
Zeng Guofan's way of training troops is also simple to say, it is nothing more than high military salaries, strict rewards and punishments, and clear discipline; of course, Zeng Guofan also has innovative places, that is, to strengthen the ideological construction of the army, and also wrote a military song in a targeted manner; facts have proved that the practice of strengthening the ideological construction of the army implemented by Zeng Guofan is very effective, and the Xiang army is not necessarily the most elite unit in history, but it is one of the most capable of fighting a hard battle.
Zeng Guofan relied on the opportunity of the Xiang Army to destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and climbed to the peak of his life; although he had already achieved ten years and seven moves, jumped ten levels in a row, and became a legendary deed of the Erpin Grand Officer, zuo shilang of the Ministry of Works should be his limit, because Mu Zhang'a, the military minister who had been helping him, had been dismissed from his post and investigated, and he was a Han chinese, and it was impossible to access the core power.
However, in the process of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng Guofan was promoted to the post of Shangshu of the Bingbu and governor of Liangjiang, and supervised the military affairs of Jiangnan as the minister of Chincha; later he was given the title of Prince Taibao, and was ordered to supervise the military affairs of the four provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.
After the capture of Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng Guofan was also given the title of Prince Taibao (there is still a big difference between the titles of Prince Taibao and Prince Taibao), a first-class marquis, hereditary resignation, and a reward for wearing a double eyelid; if nothing else, the hereditary first-class marquis and the reward of the double-eyed dazzling were already the culmination of the Qing Dynasty.
This was an absolutely unimaginable glory for ordinary people, but did Zeng Guofan care at that time? He really didn't care, even if the Qing court gave him the title of king and rewarded him with three eyes, he didn't necessarily care, why? Because he had a powerful Xiang army, regardless of whether the treasury incident of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was true or false, the Xiang army alone plundered for many years, and the accumulated wealth was not a small amount.
It can be said that as long as Zeng Guofan has ideas, there is a chance for the south to say that he is lonely, but why did he finally choose disarmament, and why? Some people say that it is because Zeng Guofan is foolish and loyal, and some people say that it is because Zeng Guofan feels that he is old enough that his sons are not talented enough, and they are worried about repeating Wu Sangui's mistakes; is this really the case?
Zeng Guofan was indeed very loyal to the Qing court in his early years, but during his suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he was by no means an honest man in terms of several strikes by "Ding You" or other means; and it has been circulated in the wild history that Zeng Guofan was indeed moved after he obtained the "Jade Seal" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
As for the question of age, although Zeng Guofan's son may indeed not be a weapon, his fourth brother Zeng Guoquan is a talented person who is not inferior to him, and may even be above him, the key is that Zeng Guofan is more than ten years younger than Zeng Guofan, and the candidate for heir is more than enough; then why did Zeng Guofan finally choose to disarm in order to show loyalty to the Qing court?
In fact, Zeng Guofan's disarmament and the abandonment of his ambitions were forced, his Xiang army was different from Li Hongzhang's Huai army; the reason why Li Hongzhang was able to grasp the Huai army and not let go was because the Huai army was built at a time when the war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had become clear, and Zeng Guofan's Xiang army was built at the most critical moment of the Qing Dynasty.
What's the difference? The difference is naturally very big, there is the Xiang army in front, Li Hongzhang can calmly and solemnly observe military discipline; and Zeng Guofan originally agreed with the generals of the Xiang army to "take a three-day holiday" after the siege of the city, and this holiday is not our current holiday, but let the soldiers wantonly act for three days, burning and looting.
Although it was quite effective in the early stages, in the following time, the Xiang army was gradually corrupted, especially compared with Li Hongzhang's Huai army and Zuo Zongtang's Chu army, the Xiang army had gradually decayed, similar to the original Green Camp and Eight Banners. Moreover, the Xiang Army practiced the strategy of feeding the war with war, and if there was no war, it would eat itself back.
Fight against the Qing Dynasty? Zeng Guofan did not think about it, but there was no chance of victory, at least Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang would not follow him, and at that time Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang could completely suppress his Xiang army; when fighting a downwind war, those squires and landlords were naturally willing to invest in him, but in the face of danger, who would invest in him? Zeng Guofan thought very clearly about this, only by disarming, he could get out smoothly, and the Xiang army had produced so many governors and inspectors, even if the Xiang army was not there, he could still control the overall situation.