In fact, not only Zeng Guofan, but also many Han officials, Cixi could not move.
As a warlord on one side, holding the most elite power in the country, Cixi saw them rely on this force to ascend to power, although it was to fight against the Taiping Army, but would Cixi let them go? The answer was obviously no, cixi had no reason to let go of such a local army that had always been a threat to her rule, not to mention that this army was still subordinate to the Han Chinese.
It should be known that the Qing court implemented a policy of suppression against the Han people, if it were not for special circumstances, it would never grant military power to the Han people, Zeng Guofan held the Xiang army in his hands and was naturally resisted by Cixi, but Cixi could not move him, the reason is only because the Xiang army has become a climate, several Han generals spontaneously united to resist the suppression of the Qing Dynasty.
The status of Han generals in the army has always been very low, why they have come to that position, is because the Taiping Army was too powerful, the Qing court could not defeat them at all, in order to resist this force, the Qing court used Han generals, these people are the generals of the Xiang Army, and Zeng Guofan is undoubtedly the largest force.
Relying on their skillful military command ability, advanced training methods, and the bloodiness of the Xiang Army itself, the Taiping Army was defeated and retreated, and finally several of them had besieged the capital of the Taiping Army, Tianjing, but some time before launching the attack, they began to hesitate, and now they could live, all because of the existence of the Taiping Army.
As a Han commander, naturally they were already familiar with some things in history, without the restraint of the Taiping Army, they were secretly killed by Cixi for only a few months, although there was a Xiang army in their hands, but the Xiang army was not a person, Cixi could still break them up by means.
In order to protect themselves, several Commanders of the Xiang Army came together. As a Han general, Hu Linyi naturally communicated with Zeng Guofan long ago, and then joined forces with Zuo Zongtang, and the alliance of several of them undoubtedly posed a great threat to the Cixi clique, even if the Taiping Army was gone, Cixi would not be able to directly attack them, in the face of collective interests, they always had to stand together.
A few years before the Taiping Army was wiped out, Hu Linyi actually died, and this alliance suddenly became unstable, in order to safeguard the interests of the collective, the information of the alliance was not disclosed on the surface, and they established another new force, the Huai Army.
Li Hongzhang, who was selected as the commander of the Huai Army, came to power, and by the time the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom collapsed, it was too late for Cixi to try to do anything more, the alliance had been formed, even if the internal was not solid, but in the face of Cixi's high pressure, they could always unite steadily and jointly resist the actual ruler of the Qing court, although Cixi tried his best, he still could not suppress these people.
Although Zeng Guofan was not completely loyal to the Qing court, in general, he would not rebel against the Qing, cixi in order to break the alliance between these Han commanders, made a lot of stumbling behind his back, the Xiang army was also disarmed, and there were no small contradictions between the Xiang and Huai armies.
It seems that this alliance is already a very small threat to the Qing court, but only Cixi knows that this is all superficial, if she really wants to do something, these people will definitely hold the group again, Cixi has always been unable to take them, this invisible alliance, existed for more than thirty years, I have to say that their purpose has been achieved, they have saved their lives, so Zeng Guofan and other Han officials can die well.