Throughout his life, Zeng Guofan believed that "Ning people bear me, I do not bear people". Only one person, feeling sorry, believes that "Yu Ping was born among his friends and has very few negative people, but the negative is very real." This sub-youth is Li Yuandu, the talented son of Pingyang. What's going on here?
One
Li Yuandu ,Zi Ciqing, Daoguang Yuannian (1821) was born in Shalin Village, Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, lost his father at the age of 4, came from a poor family, and lived by spinning and weaving cloth from his widowed mother. But he was talented and intelligent, could recite, and was generous and diligent, and was admitted to Xiucai at the age of 18, became a juju at the age of 23, and worked as a Confucian in Qianyang County. However, after taking the rebbe examination 6 times, none of them won the first place.
At the age of 29, Li Yuandu was given a rare opportunity to be transferred to the capital as a cabinet secretary. Although this is only a seven-pin official rank, after all, from a small county in Hunan to Gyeonggi, where humanities gather, not only can I learn a lot of things, but also greatly broaden my horizons. More importantly, here, he met Zeng Guofan, who had influenced him to be a Xiang person all his life.
Zeng Guofan is 10 years older than Li Yuandu, and although they are both Fellow Hunan compatriots, they know each other in Beijing. At that time, Zeng Guofan and Li Yuandu were only "from you singing" and "asking for poetry", far from establishing the so-called "teacher-student relationship".
In the autumn of the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zeng Guofan Ding's mother returned home, and the first contact between the two came to an end. During this period, the Taiping Army marched aggressively into Hunan, Hubei, Anhui and other places. Zeng Guofan was ordered to go to Changsha and Hengyang to help the regiment to train, and recruited township heroes to organize military exercises, which was the beginning of his life and the management of the army. At this time, Li Yuandu was also transferred to Chenzhou, Hunan Province, to serve as a state school instructor and take charge of education in a region.
At the beginning of Zeng Guofan's military training, everything was in the beginning, and it was difficult to move forward, and he was eager to recruit like-minded people who took the world as their own responsibility to assist him and achieve a great cause. However, at that time, Zeng Guofan was only a resident waiter, did not give a real position, and people spoke softly and were angry everywhere. Serving as its staff is not only extremely risky, but also has no practical benefits and attractive future to speak of, so few people take the initiative to turn to it. During this period, Zeng Guofan's staff were mostly close relatives, friends, children, and revolutionaries. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine that when Li Yuandu entrusted luo jiang buyi and wrote a thousand-word long letter to Zeng Guofan about the current situation and the military strategy, Zeng Guofan's joy overflowed into words.
When Zeng Guofan went through several twists and turns, and finally learned that "Luo Jiang Buyi" was the late Li Yuandu, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. He praised Li Yuandu: "If you are not a juncai, how can you write such an article!" So, Zeng and Li began their first heart-to-heart exchange since they met. Only then did Zeng Guofan know that Li Yuandu was full of ancient and modern knowledge, full of economy, and was comparable to ordinary generations, so he warmly invited him to "introduce and plan the military."
But Li Yuandu was still quite hesitant at this time. After all, he was the only son in the family, and his widowed mother was bitter and hard at that time, raising herself as an adult. Now throw pen from Rong, in the battlefield, once you have a three long and two short, who will come to the old mother in the family to provide for the elderly? However, Zeng Guofan was thirsty for talent, and not only wrote a letter to Li Yuandu in earnest words, knowing his reasoning and moving with affection, but also privately did the work of Li Yuandu's mother and relieved Li Yuandu's worries. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), the 33-year-old Li Yuandu was finally impressed by Zeng Guofan's sincerity and made a major choice in his life - resigning from the official and returning to his hometown of Pingjiang, recruiting 500 local townsmen, and with a little training, he led his troops straight to the Zeng camp in Hengyang and became an important strategist around Zeng Guofan. Since then, Li Yuandu has followed Zeng Guofan around, and Si Played Folding Notes and other pieces. They lived together in a boat, got along day and night, and were also teachers and friends, and their friendship grew deeper and deeper. The relationship between Zeng and Li has thus entered a new period of intimacy.
Two
Although Zeng Guofan founded the Xiang Army, he was not a successful commander. Zeng Guofan "won with generals, and defeated by self-generals", and the several defeats at the beginning of the war between the Xiang Army and the Taiping Army were all "masterpieces" when he was his own commander.
In the first month of the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Zeng Guofan personally led more than 17,000 officers and men of the Xiang Army's land and water divisions and set off in a mighty way. After nearly two years of rigorous training, Zeng Guofan was full of ambition and full of spirit, hoping that he could make a splash and turn the tide of the tide. However, he did not want to suffer a fierce defeat in Jinggang a few days later. If he had not withdrawn quickly, Zeng Guofan would have inevitably become a prisoner of the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan was extremely depressed, felt faceless, and prepared to commit suicide to apologize. When the ship reached Tongguanzhu on the other side of Jinggang, Zeng Guofan branched out and plunged into the water. Fortunately, Li Yuandu had foreseen it earlier and busied himself with ordering people to enter the water to rescue him.
Zeng Guofan was unfavorable this time, and his suicide was not saved by his subordinates to return to Changsha, "despised by the officials and gentry of Tong Province", and Zeng Guofan regarded himself as the first of the "five great shames" in his life. He was pessimistic to the extreme, and when he returned to Changsha, he refused to change his clothes, unkempt, and did not drink or eat. What's more, he wrote a will and secretly ordered his eighth brother Zeng Guobao to buy the coffin for him, ready to commit suicide again.
At this time of poverty and embarrassment, most of Zeng's staff dispersed, and the friendships such as Guo Songtao and Liu Rong could not be avoided, and Li Yuandu always followed around and did not abandon. As a result, Zeng Li's feelings were further deepened, and he became a close friend of hardships and hardships, loyal to the feelings of teachers and friends.
Lee Yuanji Images
At this moment, the good news from Xiangtan that Taqibu and Peng Yulin defeated Shi Dakai's general Lin Shaozhang came, and the Xiang army could finally raise its eyebrows and breathe. Facts have proved that Zeng Guofan's efforts in compiling and training the Xiang army have not been in vain, and the north and south of the Yangtze River finally have a usable army. However, the Xianfeng Emperor's impression of Zeng Guofan was too bad, and he not only scolded him, but also removed him from his position as a ceremonial attendant, "instructing him to wear a crime and suppress thieves", and the original subordinate Taqibu became Zeng Guofan's superior. But this was not the biggest blow to Zeng Guofan. According to the Qing Dynasty system, dismissed officials were not allowed to have the right to play on the fold. The courtiers could not reach it, and it was naturally difficult for the emperor to understand the suffering of the people below. Li Yuandu knew what it would mean to lose the right to play the special fold. He was worried about zeng guofan's future, but also worried about his own fate. One night, Li Yuandu presented a copy of the recital of "Zeng Guofan, a minister who was dismissed from his post and treated for crimes, begged for a special performance to speed up the incident" to Zeng Guofan, who was confused. After seeing it, he was greatly displeased, because after his dismissal, it was a "crime" to play a special recital, and the Xianfeng Emperor had a lot of suspicion at this time, and the result of the performance would definitely be more fierce and less auspicious. But Li Yuandu always insisted on his own opinion, and Zeng Guofan had to agree. Li Yuandu changed the original folds one after another, and took the ever-changing military situation and the need to report to the saints at any time. After writing, seal on the reach. A few days later, the imperial court issued an edict granting Zeng Guofan a single title. After Li Yuandu won the right to play for Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan trusted him more. The two of them are sleeping in the same room, swimming in the same boat, eating the same food, inseparable. And most of the things like the folding letter are also from Li Yuandu's hand.
Three
In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Zeng Guofan led the Xiang Army's marine division into Poyang Lake, and was blocked by the Taiping Army at the mouth of the lake. The Taiping Army saw that the Xiang army's large ships were lonely, so they sent small boats to quickly surround Zeng Guofan's camp, and at the same time set fire to the ships, and the ships took advantage of the wind to enter Zeng Guofan's camp. The Xiang Army's marine division could not resist, and dozens of ships were instantly reduced to ashes. The next day, the Taiping Army converted the captured ships into the appearance of officers and soldiers, and according to the upstream of the lake, the Xiang army followed suit, and then cut off their way back to the lake mouth. Under the onslaught of the Taiping Army, the Xiang Army's marine division was not supported, and many people were killed and wounded. Zeng Guofan's boat was also surrounded by groups, and in the hopelessness, he committed suicide by throwing himself into the water again. Li Yuandu saw the situation and sacrificed his life to save each other, and finally carried Zeng Guofan across the river with all his strength, so that Zeng was once again spared.
In this defeat, Zeng and Li both felt the pain of the skin, but the reactions of the two sides were very different. Since then, Zeng Guofan has emphasized a "retreat" word when encountering things, that is, not to do things that are absolutely the way of the people, and to leave a few more tricks in everything. Li Yuandu, on the other hand, felt the importance of independent commanding the troops from the defeat in this war and began to seek a change from "pen barrel" to "gun barrel".
In the first month of the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), at the insistent request of Li Yuandu, Zeng Guofan finally agreed to let him return to his hometown to recruit braves and practice on his own.
Objectively speaking, this was an inevitable requirement for the development of the war at that time - the fiasco at the mouth of the Jiujiang Lake, Zeng Guofan even lost a ship, mainly because the Xiang Army's marine division was lonely, far away from the land division, and could not cooperate with each other. Therefore, Zeng Guofan urgently needed a mobile unit that could not only be closely guarded on weekdays, but also be able to connect the two divisions of water and land at critical moments. This is the opportunity for Li Yuandu to "sharply manage Pingjiang Yong". But subjectively, Li Yuandu was able to rise from a staff member to a general, in the final analysis, because of the extremely deep personal feelings between Zeng and Li. In fact, Zeng Guofan, who had "the wisdom of the people," was not optimistic about Li Yuandu going to lead the troops to fight, believing that "it was not his strength" and wanted to "stop it" several times. However, at the beginning of the founding of Pingjiang Yong, he and the Xiang Army's marine division and Za Nankang were close to each other, arching each other, and used to protect Zeng Guofan's close body, and the military effect was still very obvious.
However, Li Yuandu, who had great ambitions, was not satisfied with being a "pro-army guard", and a few months later, he led Pingjiang to move to Hukou. Zeng Guofan repeatedly tried to persuade him to stop it, and since then the two have been separated and each lives on one side. During this period, although Zeng Guofan and Li Yuandu gathered less and left more, after all, they were not far apart, and the friendship was still the same. Therefore, in February of the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), Zeng Guofan was worried about the death of his father, and without the approval of the Qing court, he and Zeng Guohua left the Xiang army camp to return to the home system, and the most reassuring person was Li Yuandu. Therefore, before leaving, he repeatedly wrote to Li Yuandu, Yin Yin said that he was wronged, and shen qi was guilty. And back to his hometown, the suspense is as old as ever, and he has repeatedly told his brothers to let them get close to Li Yuandu, which shows the deep relationship between the two.
In June of the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), Zeng Guofan was self-defeated by the Xianfeng Emperor because he unsuccessfully demanded real local power from the Qing court, and was stripped of his military power and allowed to end his system of citizenship. Zeng Guofan was dumb and ate Huang Lian, and there were words of suffering. He lives idly in his hometown, feeling nostalgic for the past, and he still remembers Li Yuandu, who shares his hardships and has a deep friendship. In his letter to Li Yuandu, he reiterated the "three do not forget" vow, and even wanted to marry his children and relatives, "with the heart of not daring to bear righteousness."
At the urging of Zeng Guofan, Li Yuandu was finally escorted into Zhejiang by Hu Linyi to participate in the war. Li Yuandu defended Guangfeng and Yushan in western Zhejiang, but after several days of fighting the enemy and relieving the danger of Zhejiang' territory, He was praised by the local officials and people, and his reputation was greatly shaken. The Inspector of Zhejiang played to the Qing court as a Taoist, and Li Yuandu finally relied on his own efforts to establish his hopes and create a world.
Four
In May of the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), at the joint request of Hu Linyi, Luo Bingzhang and others, the Qing court reactivated Zeng Guofan. After Zeng Guofan returned, he immediately asked Li Yuandu to return to the Xiang army camp and transfer Pingjiang Yong to Shen Baozhen. At this point, Zeng and Li were able to divide and reunite. In order to make up for his guilt, Zeng Guofan immediately played Bao Yuandu according to the title of envoy and added the title of Yong.
Zeng Guofan asked Li Yuandu to return to his side, originally out of good intentions. As far as the public was concerned, he knew that leading troops to fight was not suitable for Yuandu, and doing so was also to use his strengths; in private, staying away from the danger of the battlefield in the midst of planning was not a kind of care for Li Yuandu and his old mother. However, Li Yuandu, who had been on the battlefield and full of ambition, obviously did not accept the affection of Grand Marshal Zeng, and soon went home to rest on the grounds of taking leave of absence to return to his hometown to visit his mother, and even Zeng Guofan repeatedly urged him to return to the camp, and he also pushed it again and again. Li Yuandu was idle at home for nearly a year, until the new Governor of Zhejiang, Luo Zundian, intended to re-summon him to lead Pingjiang to aid Zhejiang, and then he was ready to go back to the mountain. At this time, the relationship between Zeng and Li had begun to crack.
Li Yuandu calligraphy
Of course, at this time, he did not forget to consult Zeng Guofan. Li Yuandu did not make the trip in time, and the war situation in Zhejiang changed suddenly. In February of the Xianfeng Decade (1860), the Taiping Army captured Hangzhou, Luo Zundian was killed in the line of duty, and Li Yuandu's return to lead the army was stranded. At this time, the new Governor of Zhejiang, Wang Youling, took advantage of Li Yuandu's dissatisfaction and became close to him, repeatedly defending him and appointing him as a Daoist in Zhejiang. Zeng Guofan was greatly dissatisfied with this, and he clearly told Li Yuandu that Wang Youling's move was aimed at dividing the Xiang army, and that Li Yuandu's defection to Wang's men was also suspected of betraying Shimen. Li Yuandu realized the seriousness of the problem, and seeing that Zeng Guofan had already given the governorship of Liangjiang at this time, there was no need to change the court himself, so he promised not to go to Zhejiang. Therefore, Zeng Guofan asked the Qing court to grant Li Yuandu the title of Anhui Huiningchi Taiguang Dao, from the empty name of Wen chu Dao in Zhejiang to become the local magistrate of southern Anhui. But Li Yuandu, who had just taken on heavy responsibilities and was proud of the spring breeze, did not expect that what awaited him was an unforgettable fiasco.
In the spring of the Xianfeng Decade (1860), the Taiping Army launched a new round of attacks, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and other places were in a hurry, and Zeng Guofan led the army to qimen. At this time, Jiang Zhongyuan, Luo Zenan, Li Xubin, Zeng Guohua, and other Xiang generals who could stand alone had all been killed in battle, and Zeng Guofan was inevitably overstretched in employing people. On the seventh day of the first month of August, Li Yuandu led the newly recruited 3,000 Pingjiang Yong to the Qimen camp, and Zeng Guofan ordered him to hold Huizhou. Of course, he knew that leading soldiers to fight was not Li Yuandu's strength, but he really couldn't find a more suitable candidate, so he repeatedly said before his departure, who knew that Li Yuandu didn't care. Where did Li Yuandu know that at this time, the military affairs of southern Anhui had fallen into adversity and were full of crises. Pingjiang Yong marched into Huizhou City on August 14, and on the 16th, the Taiping Army general Luo Gang led 40,000 horses to the city of Huizhou. After all, Li Yuandu was a man of letters leading troops, and he was still relatively amateur militarily, but he had won several victories in succession, and he could not help but be a little fluttery. At this time, he had long forgotten Zeng Guofan's "five chapters of the covenant law" and "you can only stick to it, not go out of the city to fight a decisive battle", and also ignored the Xiang Army's most important method of encampment and fortification warfare, and hastily led his army out of the city to confront the Taiping Army attacking Huizhou City, hoping to take advantage of its unstable foothold and make a quick decision. Who knew that Pingjiang Xinyong had not fought in battle, and collapsed in a battle, so he had to retreat to the isolated city and look forward to support.
The roof leaked during the overnight rain. Just as Li Yuandu was deploying everywhere and tired of fighting, the Green Battalion army in the city, which was originally dissatisfied with the lack of pay, suddenly gathered and mutinied. They responded with the outside world, counterattacked, and opened the city gate to allow the Taiping Army to swarm into the city. Pingjiang Yong, who had just arrived at the end of the war, suddenly panicked and scattered in a hurry. The army was defeated like a mountain, and although Li Yuandu tried his best to resist, he was weak in heart and lacked skills in returning to heaven. In the end, under the escort of a small number of relatives, they struggled to break through and escaped from the city. On August 25, the city of Huizhou was lost.
Five
The seriousness of the loss of Huizhou is comparable to the loss of the street pavilion in the Three Kingdoms period, which not only turned Qimen into a front line, but more importantly, Zeng Guofan's meticulous deployment was completely disrupted, and the war situation in southern Anhui took a sharp turn for the worse. Zeng Guofan, who was in the midst of the terrifying waves, was far from the calm and composure of Zhuge Liang when he staged the "Empty City Plan", and he had secretly shown despair and secretly wrote a will, which was sent to his two sons in the family and confessed his aftermath.
Even in the case of "worrying for days, even in the evening can not sleep", Zeng Guofan did not blame Li Yuandu too much for his dereliction of duty, but only thought that he was "exaggerated and vain, overwhelmed", but worried about his life and death. Confucianism advocated killing to become benevolent, sacrificing life for righteousness, and the Qing court gave preferential treatment to civilian and military officials who were killed and martyred in battle. Therefore, when Zeng Guofan received a letter from Li Yuandu to report defeat, Fang knew that he was not killed in battle, nor was he martyred, and he was very angry that he said "too much to decorate the wrong words". When he saw that Li Yuandu had no remorse or apology after his return, he was even more angry. Therefore, Marshal Zeng, who ruled the army strictly, also disregarded his past feelings and decided to tear up the horse and sternly impeach Li Yuandu to the imperial court, asking him to "dismiss him from his post and ask him for questioning." But after all, Zeng Guofan remembered the personal friendship between the two, and did not make further accountability, but only let him suspend his post and return to his hometown, thinking about it behind closed doors.
Although the defeat of Huizhou caused a rift in the relationship between Zeng and Li, it was indeed caused by Li Yuandu's faults, and Zeng Guofan, as the leader in charge, played impeachment, which is not excessive. Therefore, this incident did not cause much harm to the teacher-student friendship between the two people. Later, Li Yuandu was anxious to get rid of the unfavorable situation and looked forward to a comeback, but he did not listen to the persuasion of Hu Linyi and others, and did not hesitate to betray the division and turn to Wang Youling, so as to worsen the relationship between the two. Zeng Guofan once again played the impeachment of Li Yuandu, and the Qing court dismissed Li Yuandu from his post and "sent him to serve in the military platform." At this time, Zeng Guofan and Li Yuandu had reached the brink of complete rupture and strangeness. Later, after Zuo Zongtang, Shen Baozhen, Li Hongzhang and other joint guarantees, the emperor withdrew his life, and Li Yuandu was spared from being sent to the border and released to the countryside.
Li Yuandu, who was not depressed in Fuxian Township, inherited the humanistic character of Chinese intellectuals who "are not related to the poor and the lowly, and do not draw from the rich", initiated and compiled the "Pingjiang County Chronicle" in his hometown, participated in the compilation of the "Chronicle of Hunan Province", and founded shuangxi Academy in his hometown. He also completed more than 30 kinds of works such as "Outline of the First Zhengyi of the National Dynasty", "Tianyue Mountain Pavilion Copy", "Tianyue Mountain Pavilion Poetry Copy", etc., which are self-contained and have considerable academic value.
Two years later, the Xiang army conquered Tianjing. After hearing the news, Li Yuandu rejoiced at the victory of the Xiang army. "The heart of serving the country in his life is still there", he forgot that he was a Bai Ding who had been stripped of his post for the people, and once again struggled to write a book to Zeng Guofan, writing a long book of thousands of words to Zeng Guofan.
Li Yuandu's utter sincerity also touched Zeng Guofan. In addition, Li Hongzhang, Peng Yulin and others have spoken many times. Therefore, zeng guofan went to the Qing court on August 13, the third year of Tongzhi (1864), to ask for merit for Li Yuandu.
Although Li Yuandu was repeatedly impeached by his old friend Zeng Guofan and had resentment, after all, he saw Zeng Guofan's sincere regrets, and all the grievances were laughed. After that, the two maintained long-term correspondence and exchanged greetings every New Year's Day. After Li Yuandu's "Outline of the First Events of the State Dynasty" was written, Li wrote a letter and sent the manuscript to Zeng Guofan to ask him for a preface. This book was highly respected by Zeng Guofan.
The day after New Year's Day in the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), Zeng Guofan's life came to an end at the age of 62. After Zeng Guofan died of illness, Li Yuandu wrote 12 poems to send tribute, in which he gave high praise to Zeng Guofan. One of them reads:
Recorded in the Yuan Rong curtain, Wu Xi and Anhui East.
Follow the Day of Sorrow, life and death laugh.
At the end of the road, there are many reasons, and in the early stages, I am responsible.
Thunder and rain and dew, one example is the spring wind.
A good "early I was negative", indicating that Li Yuandu finally realized his own problems later, had a clear understanding and reflection on the previous problems, and expressed his apologies.
A good "one case is a spring breeze" will gently blow away the gap between each other.
After experiencing the ups and downs of the eunuch sea, especially after Zeng Guofan changed his attitude, Li Yuandu was still not immune to the impeachment of others, and at that moment he may have truly realized his fundamental problems, so there was a reflection of "I was responsible for the public in the early stages".
In the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), the Sino-French War broke out. In the spring of the following year, Empress Dowager Cixi summoned Li Yuandu. The 65-year-old Li Yuandu was appointed as a political envoy and envoy to Guizhou, responsible for the administrative affairs and prisons of the whole province. The old Ji Futuo, determined to be in a thousand miles. Li Yuandu really lived up to the expectations of the public, and has made remarkable achievements in office for more than 3 years. But the overload of work finally made him sick. On September 27, the thirteenth year of Guangxu (1887), Li Yuandu died at the Guizhou Government Envoy's Office, which can be called a death in the line of duty.
Li Yuandu once wrote affectionately in the last poem of "The Weeping Master": "Cheng Men is now dead, and Li Xue is reborn." Using the allusion of "Cheng Men Lixue", he expressed his wish to be a teacher and student again in the next life, which was deeply affectionate and touching.
After Li Yuandu's death, shiren attached him to the Zeng Wenzheng Ancestral Hall in Changsha, without waiting for the "next life", Zeng Guofan and Li Yuandu were together again, and they were never separated again...
Source: Magazine of All Walks of Life, Issue 9, 2021
Author: Ye Xing