For the fall of the late Qing Dynasty, many people blamed Cixi for the crime. If she hadn't monopolized the political power and done many ridiculous things, how could the Qing Dynasty have gone all the way down from prosperity to prosperity? Under her dictatorship, the voices of civil uprisings were endless, and peasant uprisings such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were repeatedly prohibited. In order to repel the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Cixi entrusted Zeng Guofan with a heavy responsibility, and Zeng Guofan's Xiang army also lived up to expectations and suppressed the uprising.
Zeng Guofan
In fact, in the midst of this suppression, Zeng Guofan had half a million heavy troops in his hands, and if he really rebelled, relying on half a million troops, there was a good chance that the whole world would really belong to him. But why didn't he want to rebel?
It should be said that Zeng Guofan was a well-known politician and strategist, who had been familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood, and also knew the art of war. In the years of mixed officialdom, Zeng Guofan had long practiced the art of ruling the world. In the face of the uprising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he established the Xiang Army and turned the tide, which showed that its strength was extraordinary. Since he had great power and could compete with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it was reasonable to say that as long as he dealt with Cixi, there was bound to be hope of gaining power. However, in the hearts of most people, Zeng Guofan was loyal to the late Qing Dynasty, and had no second thoughts, and also saved Cixi from sitting firmly in the position of empress dowager, listening to the government and wielding power.
In fact, Zeng Guofan did not want to rebel, but he had concerns, so he did not start for a long time. Cixi has been in power for many years and has been groping and playing in the official arena for many years, how can she not understand the harm of power dominance? She knew that Zeng Guofan held great power in his hands, and as long as she wanted, her Great Qing would suffer a catastrophe. Therefore, when giving Zeng Guofan great power, the old fox Cixi was also paving the way for himself. In this case, Zeng Guofan's concerns were twofold, one was Zuo Zongtang and the other was Li Hongzhang, both of which were two pawns of the Qing Dynasty.
Li
From the perspective of kinship and estrangement, Zuo Zongtang was a disciple of Zeng Guofan, and in the final analysis, he was still a close confidant of Zeng Guofan. Obviously, Cixi also understood this and made good use of it. In order to prevent Zeng Guofan's strength from growing, Cixi reused Zuo Zongtang and used Zuo Zongtang's power to restrict Zeng Guofan's development, and zuo Gong's people were all known to be loyal, so how could they do something rebellious? Therefore, Zuo Zongtang is equivalent to the eyeliner that Cixi inserted in Zeng Guofan's Xiang army, and as long as Cixi finds a little change, he may give Zeng Guofan a blow to the head. With the support of Cixi, Zuo Zongtang formed a Chu army, the purpose of which was not only to confront the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also to play a role in restraining Zeng Guofan's Xiang army.
Tso
This is the role of Zuo Zongtang, and the role of Li Hongzhang is also the same. Li Hongzhang was also a disciple of Zeng Guofan, but for various reasons, he broke away from the team alone and formed a Huai army to plan to go it alone. If you really want to say that the strength of the Huai Army is far inferior to zeng guofan's Xiang army, but after all, they are all people who have seen blood on the battlefield, and they all have blood and momentum, and once they are done, it is difficult for Zeng Guofan's army to taste any sweetness.
It was precisely because of Zuo Zongtang's Chu army and Li Hongzhang's Huai army that Zeng Guofan did not dare to make any moves for many years. Zeng Guofan and Cixi had known each other for many years, and had long seen Cixi's old spicy and unkindness, so in order to save his life, he first reduced the number of the Xiang Army, and then let his relatives go to Beijing to serve, so as to dispel Cixi's doubts. It was also under his measures that he saved himself and ensured the peaceful life of the Qing people as much as possible.