Zeng Guofan's life spanned several dynasties of Jiaqing, Daoguang, Xianfeng, and Tongzhi. His life was a meritorious one for the late Qing Dynasty, but for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the people at the bottom, he was an accomplice and executioner. The positions they stand on are different, and the evaluations can be described as worlds apart.
We cannot look at the problem from God's point of view, and for Zeng Guofan himself, the path he chose was undoubtedly officially admired and hoped for by the scholarly class.
Hardships and hardships have been successful, and Zeng Guofan's life has crossed many hurdles.
The family background is average, he studied hard, and he was repented of his marriage
Zeng Guofan's ancestors were not from an official family, his father was a teacher in a private school, and he was admitted to Xiucai when he was fifty years old. There are 8 siblings, and he is the hope of the whole family. In 1838, at the age of twenty-seven, he was finally admitted to the Jinshi and began his career journey. He began his enlightenment at the age of five, and after more than 20 years of struggle, he finally ushered in the dawn of his future.
It is not an easy thing to read a book to get results. What's more, at the age of twenty-seven, he was admitted to the Jinshi, and his days of studying must be boring.
In fact, Zeng Guofan did not pass the Xiucai examination until he was 22 years old (1833), and the next year (1834) he was promoted to the examination.
Before the age of 22, he had a time when he was herding pigeons by his fiancée. The woman's Wang family dislikes that his family is not a big family, and he has no fame. So on the day of the wedding, he rashly repented of the marriage. This should be a big bump in Zeng Guofan's life. The world is hot and cold, and life is full of flavors, and he can be regarded as experiencing cold eyes and discrimination. Fortunately, in the end, his mentor married his daughter to him and saved him.
encircled and suppressed the Taiping army, was ambushed, and jumped into the water with grief and indignation
Zeng Guofan, who was admitted to the Jinshi, has been very smooth in his career since then, and has also made many powerful people and mentors. Due to the recommendation of the nobles, Zeng Guofan began to return to his hometown to establish a regimental training and form the Hunan army. And 1854 was destined to be another hurdle for him. In April of that year, he was ambushed by the Taiping army, which led to the defeat of Jinggang. Filled with grief and indignation, he couldn't hold his face and was eager to commit suicide by throwing himself into the river, but was finally stopped. At this time, he was still thin-skinned, which couldn't help but remind people of the scene of Su Dongpo's throwing himself into the river in the Wutai poetry case. The self-esteem of the literati was relatively thin at first. Fortunately, his subordinates hugged him in time. In the later period, the Hunan army won more and lost less, opening the perspective of God, Zeng Guofan made a little fuss, maybe this was his first big defeat, for the first time, he took it more seriously. This hurdle also made him understand that he was in conflict with the soldiers, and he was not suitable for commanding on the battlefield in person, but only suitable for overall planning and sitting in the office.
Breaking the city and slaughtering the city, the reputation is not good
As a literati influenced by benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith, after breaking the city and then slaughtering the city, it should seriously violate his principles of life, but he did it anyway. captured Jiujiang, he slaughtered; captured Anqing, he slaughtered; captured Tianjing, and he was even more slaughtered. By the end of the war, the military discipline of the Hunan army he led had been seriously corrupted. The reason for this is that he was unable to pay the Hunan army on time, and arrears of wages in the army were common. And the ransacking of Chengchi has become a disguised salary. For this, it is estimated that it will also be a hurdle in his heart. Without money, no one would work for him and the Qing dynasty he maintained. He knows that very well. Maybe when he dreams back in the middle of the night, he will be shocked in his dreams. "Showing the bodhisattva's heart by thunderbolt" may be a little encouragement to him.
The Hunan army was dismantled in an attempt to protect itself
The truth of rabbit dead dog cooking, Zeng Guofan naturally understood. As a result, Zeng Guofan took the initiative to request the dismantling of the Hunan army. Of course, some people also persuaded him to claim the emperor and restore the Han people, after all, he had a heavy army. However, he refused. Holding heavy troops was jealous of Cixi, withdrew the army, and was afraid that the imperial court would cross the river and tear down the bridge, what should be done, it is estimated that Zeng Guofan will also be sleepless for a few days.
The Tianjin teaching plan has been criticized
In the Tianjin teaching case, because Zeng's handling results seemed to be suspected of favoring foreigners in China, he was scolded as a "national thief" by the officials and people at that time, which was somewhat similar to his student Li Hongzhang. And the criticism from the government and the opposition also deeply hit his body and mind, and his physical condition deteriorated. This is perhaps his biggest hurdle.
The stabbing horse case is suspicious, Cixi is suspicious, and her heart is sick
Ma Xinyi was an important pawn used by Cixi to balance Zeng Guofan and the Hunan army. The occurrence of the horse stabbing case made Cixi suspect that it was done by the Xiang army, but she was also afraid that the truth would have serious consequences if it surfaced, so she acquiesced to an ambiguous investigation result. In short, there is a mustache. This is undoubtedly a heart disease of Zeng Guofan in his later years. Two years later, Zeng Guofan died of illness, and the hardships of his life were over.
postscript
Zeng Guofan was twenty-seven years old, and it can be said that he was not smart; Organizing regimental exercises, organizing the Hunan army, and quelling the rebellion cannot be described as not mighty; Promoting talents, promoting younger generations, and setting up foreign affairs can be said to be far-sighted. However, the results of his work were ultimately only to renew the life of the late Qing Dynasty. Dialectically, the talents he cultivated later became the gravediggers of the Qing Dynasty. What did he leave behind? A few volumes of letters, the way of heaven and earth.