Preface
There are only a lot of sufferings in ancient history, and Li Hongzhang of the late Qing Dynasty lamented that if it doesn't rain in the north again, it will be doomed together, and then Zeng Guoquan, who was in it, also realized the cruelty of reality. But you must know that these two are famous big names in the late Qing Dynasty, what can stump them?
Moreover, in 1878, we know that the Qing Dynasty focused on the Westernization Movement, but let's not forget that the "Ding Wuqi Famine" was a famine that displaced tens of thousands of people and increased the number of hungry people. Among them, the situation in Shanxi and other places in the north is the most serious, what will Zeng Guoquan, who is the governor of Shanxi, do?
1. Zeng Guoquan conquered Tianjing
Speaking of Zeng Guoquan, he must think of Zeng Guofan, and the significance of these two brothers in the late Qing Dynasty can be described as great. Zeng Guoquan is also a smart person, during the preparation of the Hunan army, Zeng Guofan naturally needs his own people, and Zeng Guoquan is the most suitable one.
As one of the main generals of the Hunan Army, it was Zeng Guoquan's duty to fight the Taiping Army. In 1862, the Hunan army was ready to attack. At this time, Anqing has been conquered, where should you rush if you don't rush to Tianjing?
Zeng Guoquan is a general with troops, and the Jizi battalion is his confidence. Although Zeng Guoquan only brought more than 10,000 people, they were all elite soldiers. As a result, they were the first to be stationed in the suburbs, and then the precarious Taiping army ushered in a battle for life and death.
Although the Qing army won this battle, it was a torturous battle for both Zeng Guoquan and the Taiping army.
After Zeng Guoquan led the army to approach, Li Xiucheng also came. The number of the Taiping army reached 300,000, even if in addition to Zeng Guoquan's team, there were other generals and soldiers fighting together, but the number of personnel in other teams could not even be compared with Zeng Guoquan, and they also needed to consider the safety of the grain route.
In this way, what should the Qing army take to win. Moreover, Zeng Guoquan is not a comprehensive person, and the recklessness is one thing, and the environmental impact of the local epidemic is another.
Looking at it this way, it is not easy for Zeng Guoquan to win this battle, he is also very aware of his situation, and the people in the Jizi camp are also the same. Even for things that are certain, it is more difficult to convince the soldiers.
However, this war is indispensable and cannot be stopped. Zeng Guoquan and others could only fight against it, and after a hard time, Zeng Guoquan's team was only a few thousand, and he was injured because of it.
Fortunately, there were still generals in the Qing army who were fortunate enough not to disgrace their lives, so they were able to stubbornly defend and stretch the battle line. After more than a month of unfolding, both sides can be said to be exhausted, Zeng Guoquan after losing most of his troops, it cannot be said that he was defeated, but it should be said that he ushered in a turnaround.
Because most of the Qing army's losses were no more than 5,000 people, and Li Xiucheng's Taiping army lost tens of thousands of people, but after such a long time, he still remained steady. At this time, Suzhou was in an emergency, so why did he waste time like this? In short, Li Xiucheng was a little hasty in collecting his troops, but he gave Zeng Guoquan a chance.
During this period of time in Yuhuatai, it was a dark period for everyone, but Zeng Guoquan survived, and not only the strength of the Jizi battalion, but also the Hunan army founded by his good brother Zeng Guofan won the general trend on the battlefield, and reinforcements from all walks of life arrived, and Tianjing was also at his fingertips.
At the moment when the gate of the capital was blown up, tens of thousands of people would face endless destruction and plunder, Zeng Guoquan, as the victor, he was just a murderous general.
2. Zeng Guoquan Shanxi Governor
In the second year of Guangxu, Zeng Guoquan went to Shanxi to take up the position of governor. This position is obviously a bit out of place for him, and in the event of a famine, how should he, a fierce general, deal with it?
After Zeng Guoquan took office, the first thing he saw was the tragic disaster, how hungry were the people? They were eager to grind stones into powder. And it has been recorded that thousands of people can starve to death in a day, and most of the people who are alive are so skinny that they may be hanging for a breath.
For this reason, Zeng Guoquan has come up with a lot of effective measures to solve this situation, and there is no shortage of people who feel that he is indeed a smart person.
Zeng Guoquan started with taxes, which was the most common in Qing disaster relief, and it was also very necessary to put it in the governance of Shanxi. But if you want to implement it, it's a bit difficult, after all, you still have to pass the imperial court.
In this way, Zeng Guoquan's performance does not stop, and what he wants to do is to reduce taxes, and then delay the military salary and other money and food to the greatest extent. In total, there were more than 20 performances before and after, in order to ensure that the lives of the victims of the disaster can be normal.
In addition, in the face of the disaster victims who have nothing, there is not a grain of rice, even if they win the opportunity, I am afraid that there is no life to do and no blessing to enjoy. So Zeng Guoquan is also very direct, so cook porridge for them to eat.
He scattered all over Shanxi to set up factories and build porridge sheds. Obviously, the former cooks porridge and the latter cooks porridge, and the two sides cooperate to ensure that at least a large part of the victims have a mouthful of hot food to eat every day.
You must know that in the Qing Dynasty, this meal was not free, it was lent by the imperial court to the common people, and everyone knew that it was borrowed and returned. And Zeng Guoquan played again, trying to reduce this "return".
After all, it was obviously a bit difficult to wait for them at the time. If it is reduced, it will not be for the court and even for himself to win the hearts of the people, and only such disaster relief measures can really play a role, and it can also be said to be carried out smoothly.
In the end, there were indeed a lot of victims, but Zeng Guoquan would not let them do nothing, after all, relying only on the relief of the imperial court would not last long. In this way, Zeng Guoquan proposed to work for relief, and in order to resume production, they are undoubtedly the largest labor force in repairing rivers and transporting grain.
There are many more relief measures in a series of disaster relief measures, and Zeng Guoquan has laid a great foundation for the local recovery. Subsequently, Zeng Guoquan's image among the people changed, and even the negative influence has decreased a lot.
3. Zeng Guoquan's toughness
Zeng Guoquan, as a fierce general, has killed countless people. But it is not for nothing that he can persist in Yuhuatai for a long time.
Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang's way of waiting for the army, we have heard of it. What is advocated is undoubtedly "sincerity", and Zeng Guoquan is not. It's just that Zeng Guoquan's attitude towards enemies and friends is very clear, and his own people must be sincere, but he is very "deceitful" in dealing with enemies and using soldiers.
At that time, Zeng Guoquan's elder brother Zeng Guohua went to be the commander, and he, the younger brother, even wrote a letter telling him to do everything fairly, especially in the distribution of food in various camps.
Moreover, Zeng Guoquan can be regarded as having a clear distinction between rewards and punishments, and the rewards are heavy rewards and severe punishments. Zeng Guoquan thought that only in this way could a brave general fight against the enemy, and followed him from birth to death. It is even said that this can unite the morale of the army and boost morale.
Then when Zeng Guoquan attacked Jinling, he ordered all the soldiers to not only punish those who cowered and retreated, but also "punished". In short, his methods are very tough, but he does manage to make the soldiers scramble to kill the enemy. In this way, the speed of Jinling's offensive was greatly accelerated.
epilogue
There is also a lot of controversy about Zeng Guoquan, and it is difficult to say what kind of person he is. But it is indeed him who kills people, and he is also the one who provides disaster relief and peace to the people. As the commander of the late Qing Dynasty, his actions after conquering Tianjing were despicable, and he even had a bad reputation for burning, killing, and looting.
But when the people were in danger, Zeng Guoquan made a great contribution, and millions of hungry people in Shanxi were rescued, and Zeng Guoquan did not lose a good governor.