In the long river of modern history, there are only two armies with unique spiritual strength. This is the Hunan Army and the Whampoa Military Academy. Although the latter is called a military school, it is actually an army. The Hunan Army upheld the legitimacy of an existing system, while the Whampoa Military Academy wanted to create a new system. Originally, the two were not equal in time and in the consciousness of army building, and even completely dislocated and resisted each other. However, this kind of contradictory political demand, each with its own master, cannot erase the similarity of the two spirits. Both sides have to defend the royal road, and there is also a legacy in training soldiers and cultivating values. The reason for this inheritance is that the leaders of both are different from ordinary warlords, but great people with a deep rational spirit. Thus, the Hunan Army started China's modernization, and the Whampoa Military Academy is a combination of traditional and modern military culture and spirit. The two have written magnificent chapters together at different historical stages.
Zeng Guofan and the spirit of the Hunan army
The Hunan army was a regimental training armed force created in Hunan to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, also known as Xiangyong, based on the Xiangxiang practice of Yong. The title of "Hunan Army" comes from Wang Minyun's "Records of the Hunan Army" (first drafted in the fourth year of Guangxu (1878)) and Wang Ding'an's "Records of the Hunan Army" (written in the 15th year of Guangxu (1889)), both of whom were members of Zeng Guofan's staff for many years.
The former is documentary, while the latter is more praiseworthy.
The core of the spirit of the Hunan army is the spirit of Zeng Guofan's application to the world, which is the high condensation of the sudden rise of Huxiang culture in the late Qing Dynasty. The spirit of the Hunan army in a narrow sense refers to a kind of spiritual heritage jointly owned by a collective that is not afraid of death, does not love money, loves the people, is loyal, and is self-disciplined, created by Zeng Guofan who trained the Hunan army and led Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi, Luo Zenan, Guo Songtao and others. The spirit of the Hunan army in a broad sense is the rational spirit of "the rise and fall of the world, and the responsibility of the husband" in the Huxiang culture since the late Qing Dynasty.
Under the leadership of Zeng Guofan, the Hunan army "fought to the death with a hard village", practiced the conceited cultural will of "only Chu is talented", and created the modern myth of "no Hunan can not be an army". The spirit of the Hunan army can be traced back to the spirit of science pioneered by Zhu Xi and Zhang Yan during the Yuelu Academy in the Southern Song Dynasty, and inherited Wang Chuanshan's practical ideas of "being righteous and upright", "controlling me with righteousness" and "paying attention to the life and death of the people". In modern times, Wei Yuan opened his eyes to the world with the spirit of openness, and in the generation of Zeng Guofan, he collected the culmination of the thousand-year-old Huxiang culture, and perfectly interpreted the spirit of Huxiang culture with the spirit of the Hunan army.
The influence of the spirit of the Hunan army on China is shocking and inspiring in modern Chinese history. Hunan Monster Yang Du, the ancestor is the Hunan army, and he himself also studied under the king of the Hunan army, Minyun, and won his imperial skills. During his stay in Japan, he had the best relationship with Cai Jie, and Cai Yi would go to Yang Du's house for dinner on his vacation days, and both of them praised the leaders of the Hunan Army. Cai Yi later compiled "Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing", while Yang Du wrote a long poem "Hunan Youth Song", both of which were fond of the spirit of the Hunan army.
Yang Duzhi's "Hunan Juvenile Song" was written in conjunction with Liang Qichao's "Juvenile China Says" and was published in Liang Zhi's Xinmin Cong Bao (Nos. 38 and 39, October 4, 1903). At that time, "the two of them were together, and the best in the world was also." ”
The lyrics say:
I am a native of Hunan and sing Hunan songs. Hunan teenagers are good at skills, but when the times are dangerous, why should they be in Hunan? …… In today's world, the former case is reversed, and the Hunan army will be condemned. ……
When I heard this, I was heartbroken, and I was speechless to thank my compatriots. also said a piece of fellow countryman to talk about the ridicule of the Hunan people. …… The state affairs are sad and unknowable, who should be responsible for Zeng and Hong Quzhi. When Mo Dao started the incident, there was no one or two to be a teacher. Luoshan Township School teaches the art of war, and dozens of disciples are strong. Rushing across the horse in the morning, talking about the curtain at dusk.
Nowadays, educating Gui Wuyong, how does Luo Gong know what he means? Jiang and Peng rangers are only coupled, and they don't understand that they are loyal to the monarch but save their friends. ……
China is now Greece, and Hunan is Sparta; China should be Germany, and Hunan should be Prussia. Gentlemen, gentlemen, be cautious about this, don't say anything in a hurry! If the Chinese nation dies, unless the people of Hunan die......
With the heroic spirit of a hundred battles, first save Hunan and then China. In the first battle, he fought for life and death. All the kings should be the national soldiers, and the boys should be their pawns.
In the poem, Yang Du linked the history of Hunan with the fate of China, eulogized the bloody nature of the leaders of the Hunan army, and issued a tragic cry of "If the Chinese nation dies, unless the people of Hunan die", he clearly expressed his ambition to become a pawn to save the country, and declared that the poet himself is the representative of the spirit of the Hunan army.
In 1918, Mr. Yang Changji, who had an important influence on the young Mao Zedong, wrote an article entitled "The Status of Hunan People in China", saying that "in the past 100 years, Hunan Province has been full of morale, clouds and thunder, and talents have been produced in large numbers, which are rare in all provinces and unprecedented in ancient times." …… The support of the country is not limited to people in one place, but the concentration of talents and the trend of the times have not been without bias. Prussia in Germany is really the center, Kagoshima in Japan is a lot of heroes, and Hunan is in China, which is slightly the same. ”
During the same period, Chen Duxiu also eulogized the perseverance and self-improvement spirit of Hunan people in modern times. In his "Welcoming the Spirit of the Hunan People," published on January 5, 1920, he said, "What is the spirit of the Hunan people?" If the Chinese nation is destroyed, unless the people of Hunan are dead. No matter what Yang Du is like, he can't talk nonsense about people. The fighting spirit of Hunan people is not something that Yang Du is talking about, and it can indeed be proved by history. …… Zeng Guofan, Luo Zenan and other people a few decades ago were such scholars who 'fought to the death' and fought to the death! Huang Keqiang (i.e. Huang Xing) went through hardships and led a brigade of Hunan soldiers to resist the Qing army brigade in Hanyang; Cai Songpo (i.e., Cai Yi) led 2,000 Yunnan soldiers who were short of bullets and fought to the death with 100,000 Yuan troops, what a tenacious soldier they were! "We welcome the spirit of the Hunan people, the spirit of their struggle, the spirit of their struggle to build bridges, and the bridges they build are much more majestic and exquisite than those built by Wang Chuanshan, Zeng Guofan, Luo Zenan, Huang Keqiang, and Cai Songpo."
Therefore, the spirit of the Xiang Army, which is the culmination of the spirit of the Hunan people, was the representative of the spirit of the Chinese people before the appearance of the Huangpu Military Academy. With the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy, this spirit was also integrated into the new revolutionary army.
Among the cadets of the first phase of the Whampoa Military Academy, there are three most prominent figures, and they are called "the three heroes of Whampoa." "They are: Jiang Xianyun, a native of Xintian, Hunan; Chen Geng, a native of Xiangxiang; He Zhenhan, a native of Yueyang. All of them are from Hunan. Among the 7,399 graduates of the first to fifth phases of the Huangpu Military Academy, 2,189 were Hunan cadets, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the total.
Contradictory evaluation of Zeng Guofan and the Hunan army
Due to the lack of soldiers, in order to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the imperial court appointed 43 ministers of regimental training at that time, intending to develop and use civilian forces, thus giving the Hunan army the opportunity to rise on the stage of history. Of these ministers, 42 later died or left, and none of them achieved a career, except for the Zeng State Domain, which became stronger and stronger the more he fought, and finally pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the later Twist Army.
The most important reason why Zeng Guofan was able to succeed was his unique personal charm. Its morality, meritorious service, and speech, several sages, no one in the late Qing Dynasty can compare, and the spirit of Zeng Guofan is the core of the spirit of the Hunan army.
Li Hongzhang said in "Zeng Wenzheng Gong Shendao Monument": "The public governs the army, plans and then moves, bends without yielding, and is as heavy as a mountain." All the generals, although they are far away from the public, will abide by the constraints and remain unchanged. It can be seen that it has absolute leadership and influence on the army.
Rong Hong, who left the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom after returning to China in the early days, and later joined the shogunate of the Zeng State Domain, commented in "The Chronicles of Western Learning and Eastern Progression": "Zeng Wenzheng has a sense of confidant in Yu, and his cognitive ability is enough to seek Chinese evolution." Zeng Wenzheng is the most famous figure in Chinese history, and his peers are all regarded as Taishan Beidou...... His talent is big and modest, grand and condensed, he can be called a complete true gentleman, and he is the first-rate person in the Qing Dynasty. ”
"Qing History Manuscript" commented that Zeng Guofan "Since the rise of Zhongxing, there is only one person." However, it is an indisputable fact that Zeng Guofan served a decaying and declining court. Under the logic of the revolution, the landlord class represented by Zeng Guofan, because it was the Han people who served the Manchus, became the target of attack during the Xinhai Revolution and became the first traitor.
Sun Yat-sen and the revolutionaries hated Zeng Guofan to the core, and for revolutionary purposes, Zeng Guofan became a political symbol that had to be defeated. Dr. Sun Yat-sen repeatedly criticized Tsang and praised the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Sun Yat-sen said: "During the Xianfeng period. The rebels of the Daping Heavenly Kingdom came from Guangxi, and the southeastern provinces were under the guidance of the ...... And the Han people Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang and other training Hunan army, Huai army, in order to kill the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, before and after 14 years, the Han people slaughtered each other, the Manchu people sat down in peace to have China, all of which are a hundred years of things. My father and son are also familiar with it. …… He Zeng, Hu, Zuo, and Li Zhu are the hearts and livers that want to make their motherland survive and revert, and make their compatriots free. And revert to slavery? ”
As a revolutionary, Zhang Taiyan wrote a poem in the vernacular in 1906, signed "Xizhen". For example, in addition to the brutal rule of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he directly scolded Zeng Guofan as a traitor: "Don't play drums, don't play gongs, listen to me sing this song." …… Hell sank for 200 years, and suddenly met the king of heaven, Hong Xiuquan; The Manchus fled to the Rehe River, and Zeng Guofan came to be a traitor. ”
Zhang Tai Flame
As a master of Chinese studies, Zhang Taiyan commented on Zeng Guofan in the "Commentary" in the early years of the Republic of China: "Those who have been in the country are praised as sages, and those who are praised are the culprits. Zhang Taiyan's contradictory evaluation reflects the different attitudes towards Zeng Guofan from different positions at that time.
Two other famous political leaders during the Republic of China had a very high opinion of Zeng Guofan. Their evaluation reflects the long-term historical value of Zeng Guofan and his Hunan military thoughts.
Chiang Kai-shek studied Zeng Guofan for a long time in his life, and repeatedly warned his subordinates that they should read more books by Zeng Wenzheng, Hu Linyi and others. Zeng Wenzheng's family letters and books are a must-read for any politician. When he reviewed the "Annotations on the Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing", he said: Zeng is enough to be a teacher of our people. At the Whampoa Military Academy, he instructed students with Zeng Guofan's "Love Folk Song". Chiang Kai-shek was a figure who had a great influence on the Whampoa Military Academy after Sun Yat-sen, and his evaluation of Zeng Guofan made Zeng Guofan and the spirit of the Whampoa Military Academy have a direct connection.
Another important figure who influenced the spirit of the Whampoa Military Academy and the connection with Zeng Guofan was Mao Zedong. During the first Kuomintang-Communist cooperation, Mao Zedong, who was a Communist, was acting as the Propaganda Minister of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, and was invited to give a lecture at the Whampoa Military Academy, and personally participated in the preparation, enrollment, and political instructor work of the Whampoa Military Academy.
Mao Zedong was deeply influenced by Huxiang culture, and first recommended Wang Chuanshan, and because of Yang Changji's relationship, he was directly influenced by Zeng Guofan. Mao Zedong wrote a long letter to Li Jinxi on the occasion of the opening of the school year on August 23, 1917, "Letter to Li Jinxi", in which Mao Zedong gave in-depth reflections on social change and social governance. It talks about his evaluation of Zeng Guofan and Chinese historical figures.
Mao Zedong said, "Today's people are called Yuan Shikai, Sun Wen, and Kang Youwei. Sun and Yuan Wu don't care, Dukang seems to have a slight origin. However, if you look closely, its origin cannot be pointed out where it actually is, and it is only for the dazzling sound of Chinese words, and there is no wonder of erecting a stem and supporting branches and leaves. Those who are foolish about the so-called origin are just advocating learning. However, learning is like a foundation, and people today have no learning, so the foundation is not thick, and they are afraid of collapse. Foolish to his neighbors, he served Zeng Wenzheng alone, and watched him clean up the battle of Hong Yang, which was perfect. So that the present man may change his place, and he will be as perfect as the other? …… Those who want to move the world should move the heart of the world, and not show signs in vain. Those who move their hearts should have a great source. ”
The so-called great foundation and great source is to transform the thinking of the people. Mr. Huaizhong (i.e., Yang Changji) said that a certain Japanese gentleman with oriental ideas is not practical in life. Honestly! What I mean is that Western thought may not be exhaustive, and a few parts should also be reformed at the same time as Eastern thought. ”
Sun Yat-sen's demands for political revolution closed the door to Zeng Guofan's study. Because of the limitation of his knowledge, Chiang Kai-shek's study of Zeng Guofan was limited to his skills in governing the army and his way of life. Mao Zedong's evaluation of Zeng Guofan is different from and higher than that of Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek: he emphasized that Zeng Guofan's achievements come from his origin, that is, learning and thought. Learning and thought are the great source. With this origin, you can move the heart of the world, and if you move the heart of the world, you can move the world. If we talk about the root cause of the final change of hands in the world, from the different angles and depths of the three people's evaluation of Zeng Guofan, it can be said to be a hint.
It is a pity that the Whampoa Military Academy founded by Sun Wen did not deeply understand the above meaning. Even so, Zeng Guofan's establishment of the Hunan Army and Sun Yat-sen's and Chiang Kai-shek's management of the Whampoa Military Academy still have an intrinsic spiritual connection.
The spiritual connection between the training of the Hunan Army and the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy
Although the Hunan Army was later disbanded and created a precedent in the history of modern Chinese warlords in a certain sense, the Hunan Army became the beginning of the modern Chinese military spirit because of the personal spiritual pursuit of its founder, Zeng Guofan, and the mission of national rejuvenation.
The spiritual pursuit of the Hunan army first lies in its mission of saving politics and culture, and serving the country with loyalty has become the highest moral pursuit of Zeng Guofan's founding of the Hunan army.
First of all, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's destruction of China's traditional culture of etiquette and humanity cannot be tolerated. Zeng Guofan said that because of the turmoil in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, "once China's thousands of years of etiquette, righteousness, morality, poetry, and books were swept away," he "was furious and defended my way." ”
Second, Tsang hated the corruption of the national army, so it was necessary to create a new army. When the Hunan Army was founded, the Eight Banners and the Green Battalion were already corrupt. Taking the green camp as an example, Wang Ding'an said: "Yu Kou Fa,...... The generals and the generals do not get used to each other, the soldiers and the soldiers do not know each other, the victories are jealous, and the defeats do not save each other...... Conscription is becoming more and more complicated, and it is not possible to use a single soldier. Therefore, Zeng Guofan decided not to want a battalion of soldiers. The so-called "no battalion soldiers", "do your best to recruit new bravery, do not mix a soldier, do not overcollect a pen, sweep away the old traces, and open up a new face." ”
Third, this army must be loyal to the country. Zeng Guofan said that the training of the Hunan army, "all rely on the word loyalty, do not forget the king, say loyalty, do not lose faith in friends, call righteousness." Put the need for moral loyalty first. He advised Zeng Guoquan to "focus on state affairs, and if you don't bring courage, you will die in Jinling, and you will be a man with lofty ideals." ”
It can be seen from the above that when Zeng Guofan founded the Hunan Army, he gave it a lofty spiritual temperament. This kind of spiritual temperament is also a kind of inheritance of the traditional Chinese military spirit. And its inheritance can be found in the Whampoa Military Academy.
The spiritual pursuit of the Whampoa Military Academy can be found in the interpretation of three famous figures.
One of them is Cai Yi. Indeed, Cai died young 8 years before the birth of the Whampoa Military Academy. However, the "Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing" compiled by him became the political and military textbook of the Whampoa Military Academy after being supplemented by Chiang Kai-shek on a limited basis. Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi were the most prominent leaders of the Hunan army. Thus, there is the relationship between the spirit of the Whampoa Military Academy and the Hunan Army.
The reason why Cai Yi compiled "Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing" is a concentrated embodiment of his patriotic ideology of "military nationalism" that "the knowledge of soldiers, the spirit of soldiers, the skills of soldiers, and those who are not limited to those who obey the army, and all the people of the whole country have it". Cai Yi worries about the fate of China: "If we live today and do not popularize 40,000,000 people with military nationalism, then China will really die." Therefore, he advocated that the martial spirit of the people should be awakened through military education for the whole people, and that "if you want to build a military citizen, you must first cultivate the soul of the country." ”
Therefore, when Cai Ye took office as the assistant commander of the Yunnan New Army, he was entrusted by Zhong Lintong, the commander of the town, to compile a "spiritual speech", and then extracted the remarks of Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi on the army, and classified and edited them into "Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing", and added comments at the end of each chapter to expound his military thoughts. The purpose is to forge the soul of the nation and expel the great powers. In 1917, the book was published by the Shanghai Zhenwu Book Company. Liang Qichao wrote the preface.
In the preface, Liang Qichao talked about Cai Yi's great spirit of patriotism and national salvation: "Songpo claims to be a military officer, not a big volunteer, with the purpose of saving the country and death as his belonging, which is not enough to cross the sea of suffering and put the country on a smooth road. Now Songpo has to return, and the desire to save the country has not reached its eventuality. …… However, this spirit of Geng Geng, which often remains in the subtleties of our people, can resurrect Zeng and Hu, and make Songpo immortal, so as to relieve the thousands of disasters and difficulties in the future, and enter the smooth road beyond the sea of suffering. And more than ten chapters of this quotation really reveal the great spirit of our people. ”
The second is Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek, a figure who had a great influence on the Whampoa Military Academy, had always been fond of the Hunan army leaders' ideas on managing troops. In 1924, Chiang Kai-shek used Cai Yi's "Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing" as a textbook for the Whampoa Military Academy, and published a chapter of "Treating the Heart" as "Supplementing the Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing".
Chiang Kai-shek emphasized that "after reading the collections of Zeng and Hu Zhuji, I want to pick up their words and deeds first, so that I can become a book for future generations to serve comrades, and leave a history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future. Its meaning is earnest, its words are concise, not only the treasure of those who govern the army, but also the good rules of those who govern the heart and the country. I hope that if the comrades of this school are compiled, then they will have a foundation for governing the army and the country in the future! Although Chiang Kai-shek's chapter on "Governing the Heart" is not directly about military affairs, Zeng believes that "the way of self-cultivation is not difficult to cultivate the mind." ”
The idea of "being handsome with will" and "braking with static" and "braking with stillness" and so on managing the army from the perspective of self-cultivation had a profound impact on Chiang Kai-shek and thus on the Whampoa Military Academy.
On December 14, 1924, Chiang Kai-shek also ordered the publication of the "Love Folk Song", which was made by Zeng Guofan in the eighth year of Xianfeng for strict military discipline. Chiang Kai-shek's slight modification was the discipline dogma preached by the Whampoa Military Academy.
On January 2, 1925, Chiang Kai-shek "hand-copied Zeng Wenzhengjia's sayings and compiled the spiritual education records" as educational materials. On September 6, Chiang Kai-shek said in his graduation speech at the second phase of Whampoa: "The most important thing for a soldier is the spirit, and now you are going out to teach people, and the most important books, such as "Supplementing the Quotations of Zeng and Hu Zhibing", the school's "Daily Lesson Questions and Answers", "Revolutionary Army Criminal Regulations", "Recruits' Spiritual Education Questions and Answers" and other books, should be read from time to time. ”
From the phenomenon that "Quotations of Zeng Hu Zhibing" has become the teaching material of the Whampoa Military Academy, we can see the influence of the spirit of the Hunan Army on the Whampoa Military Academy. "Shaping the soul of the nation" and "governing the heart" are the most important spiritual legacies.
The third is Sun Yat-sen. The one who had the most foundational impact on the spirit of the Whampoa Military Academy was none other than Sun Yat-sen.
The most important thing in the spirit of the Whampoa Military Academy is to save China from peril. On June 16, 1924, Sun Yat-sen, as the premier of the military academy, personally presided over the opening ceremony, and in his 7,000-word speech, Sun Yat-sen emphasized the most about saving the country and the people. He said that the opening of the military academy "is the only hope for the creation of a revolutionary army to save China from peril!" The revolutionary army is a soldier who saves the country and the people" and shoulders "the responsibility of saving the country and the people." ”
The students also came to save the country and the people. For example, in the written examination for the entrance to the military academy, Chen Xikong (Whampoa No. 5) asked the political question: "What is the Three People's Principles?" He recalled, "The coalition forces of the five provinces did not engage in any political study at all, so I did not understand what the Three People's Principles meant." But I also gave an answer, and wrote this sentence on the test paper: 'I don't care about the Three People's Principles and the Four People's Principles, I only know how to save the country and save the people'. ”
It can be said that before the emergence of the new revolutionary army, the only military forces in modern China that had similar military forces with the mission of saving the country were the Hunan Army and the Whampoa Military Academy. At the institutional level, the two are enemies of each other, but in terms of military spiritual pursuit, the two are similar.
Fierce soldiers: the spirit of governing the army of the Hunan Army and the Whampoa Military Academy
Once the highest spiritual goal has been established, it is time to achieve this idealistic goal. In this regard, we can see the similarity between the Hunan Army and the Whampoa Military Academy in strictly administering the army.
How to govern the army? In addition to the above-mentioned strict selection of soldiers and the use of battalion soldiers in recruitment, the first is the strict selection of generals. Moreover, these standards are derived from Zeng Guofan's personal moral requirements and the special needs of war. At the beginning of Zeng Guofan's determination to serve the frontier, he issued an inaugural declaration in Changsha's "Book of Justice and Justice of the Prefecture and County": "Since the order of the national domain, it has been terrifying day and night. Self-degree can be shallow, not enough to make a living, only the six words of 'no money, not afraid of death' are always self-targeted, to quality ghosts and gods, to the monarch's father, that is, to call on the heroes of my hometown. Guo Songtao sighed: "Zeng Gong intended to benefit the overall situation of the world, and he regarded this body as a feather, not from today." Zeng Guofan encouraged himself with his generosity to die, and also asked for generals.
Because it is rare to be talented, it is necessary to put forward clear selection criteria. When the Hunan Army was first founded, Zeng Guofan once put forward four points: "Those who lead the army must first be able to govern the people; second, not to be afraid of death; third, don't be anxious for fame and fortune; Fourth, endure hardship. …… If there is loyalty and righteousness, then the four are mutually explanatory; If there is no loyalty, righteousness and blood, it looks like four. Don't be afraid. ”
With the enrichment of Rong Ma's career, according to the requirements of different times, Zeng Guofan has constantly adjusted the selection of generals, but the ability to fight and moral loyalty are the two requirements that he has never given up. This topic is mentioned many times in the family letter.
Second, cultivating morale is the key to leading troops. He said: "The military is the most noble, and it must have a competitive spirit, a domineering spirit, a jealousy of the immortal name of a hero, and an admiration for the image of wind and thunder. "When the division talks about military affairs, the victory or defeat of the Lord is not in the form but in the air."
Thirdly, unity among the forces is the key to victory. The so-called "Hunan army is invincible, all thanks to each other's rescue." Although they have deep grievances and hatreds on weekdays, they still take care of each other in battle; Although they had a quarrel in the morning, they still rescued each other in the afternoon. ”
Fourth, it is necessary to strictly administer the army and build an army with strong combat effectiveness with strict discipline and discipline. To this end, Zeng Guofan compiled various ballads and camp rules, including "Song of Keeping Peace", "Song of Victory of the Sailors", "Song of Victory of the Army", "Song of Love for the People", "Song of Disbandment", "Camp Rules" and so on.
Zeng Guofan believed that the army should not be lenient, and it should not be petty benevolence and righteousness. "The little benevolent, the thief of the great benevolence...... Leniency cannot govern the army. He laid down very strict rules for the camp, stipulating that "the rules should be quiet, courteous, lawful, and orderly." …… Adultery and plunder must be beheaded, and patrol orders must be investigated. ”
Composed in the eighth year of Xianfeng in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, when the camp was established, "Love Folk Song" is a typical portrayal of Zeng Guofan's use in the world after he came from Rong as a Confucian master. It can also be said that it has opened a precedent for the military's political discipline and ideological work in modern China.
"Love Folk Song" directly linked the Hunan Army and the Whampoa Military Academy. At the end of 1924, Chiang Kai-shek's "Song of Love and Folk Songs" basically copied the original text of Zeng Guofan. It's just that as far as the author knows, the last few paragraphs of "When you come out to be a soldier, you are also a person" do not seem to be included.
Let's take a look at the spirit of governing the army at the Whampoa Military Academy. First, let's look at the admissions requirements first.
The purpose of the military academy was to train military cadres for the National Revolution, so the academic requirements for them at that time were the same as those for universities, which were secondary school graduates. The requirements for physical fitness, thought, and character are stricter than those for university admissions.
According to the scattered school history, the enrollment requirements for each phase are slightly different, and since the earliest enrollment brochure has not yet been discovered, the enrollment brochure contained in the 1925 "Investigation of the Whampoa Military Academy" is now cited as an example.
Qualifications are as follows:
1. Age: over 18 years old, under 25 years old.
2. Education: Graduated from the old secondary school and graduated from a school equivalent to the middle school.
3. Body: good nutritional status, strong and hard-working, no eye diseases, hemorrhoids, lung diseases, willow diseases and other diseases.
4. Ideology: Members of the Chinese Kuomintang, who can understand the necessity of the rapid completion of the national revolution, or who have the possibility of accepting the party's doctrine, who do not contradict the ideas of the party's doctrine, and who have been introduced by the party's members.
With its clear proposition of national salvation and positive concept of life, the Whampoa Military Academy has summoned aspiring young people across the country. According to Zhang Zhizhong (Baoding Military Academy Phase 3 Infantry Division, former Huangpu Military Academy enlisted student captain, chief of education) recalled: At that time, the youth of the whole country had a slogan, that is, "Go to Huangpu!"
Second, we should promote education in school and values that are not afraid of death, love the people, and not greedy for money.
The Whampoa Military Academy has a striking couplet on both sides of the school gate that is well-known to the world: the upper one is "If you are greedy for life and fear of death, you should not enter this gate"; the lower one is "Seek another way to get promoted and make a fortune", and the horizontal one is "Revolutionaries come." At that time, the teachers and students of the Whampoa Military Academy were familiar with such a slogan: "Don't want money, don't want life, love the country, love the people." In addition to the slogans of "love the country" and "revolutionaries come", it is no coincidence that the rest of the slogans are directly the slogans used by the military of Zeng Guo and Xiang.
Third, emphasize the spirit of the Whampoa school motto of love and sincerity. The victory of the Hunan army depended on the unity and mutual assistance of all units and on the loyalty to Zeng Guofan. The success of the Whampoa Military Academy also relied on the spirit of revolutionary solidarity of love and sincerity, but the difference was that the object of its early loyalty was the concept of national salvation of the Three People's Principles. In the later period, he served Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang, with some changes.
Regarding love and sincerity, Chiang Kai-shek said: "Let him know the greatness of revolutionary learning and the essence of revolutionary principles, which is nothing more than my school motto of 'dear and sincere'." If you don't kiss, you will leave, if you don't love, you will be jealous, if you don't know it, if you don't do it, if you don't know it, if you don't love it, if you don't love it, if you don't Honesty is clear, honesty is strong, honesty is golden and open, and the situation is human; Comrade? My comrade is reluctant!"
Fourth, establish and enforce strict military discipline. Strictly govern the army, which is similar to Zeng Guofan's governance of the Hunan army. The level of rigor is astounding.
Whampoa has five types of military law. They include: the "Revolutionary Army Joint Sitting Law" (which is as strict as the "law on the spot" pioneered by Zeng Guofan), the "Revolutionary Army Criminal Regulations", the "Revolutionary Army Punishment Regulations", the "Trial Regulations", and the "Army Prison Rules".
The Whampoa Military Academy cultivates the spirit of professional soldiers who "regard obedience to orders as their duty". As Sun Yat-sen said, "Respect, strength, perseverance, integrity, diligence, unity, obedience, integrity, and obedience to orders, loyalty to duty, and maintenance of reputation are the basic principles of a soldier." ”
It can be seen from the above that although the Whampoa Military Academy is a new-style revolutionary army, it still absorbs many of the ideas of the old-style army and the Hunan army in strictly administering the army. And because its leaders have a soft spot for the Hunan army, there is a direct spiritual connection between the two.
The positive contribution of the Hunan army
Although the Hunan army is an old-style army and maintains the old-style dynastic system, the Hunan army has directly made a historic and positive contribution to China in another matter: it was the Hunan army that created the precedent of China's modernization, that is, the Westernization Movement. In the process of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng Guofan realized the power of foreign guns and artillery, and insisted that "non-foreign artillery should not be used" and "ships and cannons should not be completed", thus beginning China's modernization. He spearheaded the establishment of China's first modern military factory (Anqing Ordnance Institute). He also supported Li Hongzhang to establish the Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, and on this basis, opened a translation hall, cultivated outstanding modern talents, introduced modern science and technology, and laid the foundation of China's modern industry. Zeng Guofan supported Ding Richang and Zuo Zongtang in founding China's first sea
Military school and the first naval force (Fuzhou Ship Administration). Before his death, Zeng Guofan also adopted Rong Hong's suggestion and selected young children to study in the United States, which promoted the modernization of China's education and directly promoted China's opening up process.
The Whampoa Military Academy became the central force of the revolution in China's modern revolution and played an important role in the process of resisting foreign aggression in the War of Resistance Against Japan, and some statistics say that in the first four years of the full-scale outbreak of the war, from 1929 to 1933, about 25,000 officers graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy and its branches, 10,000 were killed. The Whampoa Military Academy also prepared a large number of military and political talents for the birth of New China, and played an irreplaceable positive role in Chinese history in the 20 th century.
The warlordization of the Hunan army and the formation of the Whampoa system
The fate of the Hunan Army and the Whampoa Military Academy in the later period has a certain similarity, and both of them developed towards factionalization, and their early spiritual transformation took place.
The collapse of the Hunan army first stemmed from Zeng Guofan's personal concern about his status. After the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the total number of Hunan troops reached 300,000 (the Whampoa Military Academy trained a total of about 230,000 cadets in the 23 sessions of the mainland, including branch schools and training courses, some say 320,000 cadets). And there are many talents among them, and Zeng Guofan himself was awarded the first-class Yongyi Marquis (Wuhou) as a civil official, and his strength and status have reached the level of being able to oppose the Manchu and Han Dynasty. Such a status is really "walking on thin ice" for Zeng Guofan, who has advocated "using Huang Lao internally and showing Confucianism externally" all his life. He himself had plans to dismantle the Hunan army in order to save his life.
The second was the vigilance and distrust from the imperial court. The imperial court mainly reminded Zeng Guofan through the surveillance of Zeng Guofan's descendant and ninth brother Zeng Guoquan. Zeng Guofan made the decision to suspend part of the money, reduce the Hunan army, and ask Zeng Guoquan Chen to return to his hometown.
Finally, of course, the most important thing is that Zeng Guofan already has some understanding of the completion of the mission of the Hunan army. The Hunan army itself was a temporary armed force formed to suppress the uprising and King Qin. Leave when you're done. In the course of his 14-year history, Zeng Guofan gradually discovered that China's modernization was the call of the times, and he also realized that the Hunan army could not be the final decisive force in the implementation of China's Westernization movement. As a result, he dismissed the Hunan army, which had become a burden for him and the imperial court, but left behind a large number of outstanding talents (more than 1,000 foreign leaders, including Li Hongzhang, were recommended by Zeng Guofan).
Ironically, it was Zeng Guofan who discovered Li Hongzhang. At the beginning, Li Hongzhang worked in the shogunate of Zeng Guofan and was deeply appreciated by Zeng Guofan. In 1861, the Taiping army in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was compressed into Shanghai, and the merchant gentry in Shanghai were willing to pay 600,000 taels of silver per month for the protection of the Hunan army of the Zeng Dynasty. Zeng Guofan sent part of the Hunan army to Li Hongzhang, who returned to Anhui in March 1862 and formed an 11-battalion Huai army. After the dismantling of the Hunan Army, the Huai Army became a quasi-modern army with extremely strong combat effectiveness after the Hunan Army. It was Li Hongzhang who later rose to become a national bureaucrat under one person and above 10,000 people, and his Huai army generals were promoted one after another. Wu Changqing of the Huai Army took Yuan Shikai into North Korea and gave Yuan Shikai a chance to come out. After Yuan Shikai returned to China, he trained a new army at a small station in Tianjin, and since then, he has become the originator of modern warlords in China. This causal connection makes people have to sigh about the fate of Zeng Guofan and the Hunan army. In other words, the final influence of the Hunan army is inevitably related to the history of the rise of warlords in modern China.
The change of the "love and sincerity" of the Whampoa system
The Whampoa Military Academy is a revolutionary army, not just a military academy, and its essence is to save the country and the people. However, its fate is similar to that of the Hunan army. A total of 23 military academies were held on the mainland. However, the motto of the Whampoa Military Academy was distorted by the actions of Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang after the rebellion and revolution. This is the problem of the so-called "Whampoa system".
The Whampoa Department was born as a result of Chiang Kai-shek's tenure as president of the Whampoa Military Academy from 1924 to 1947, when he took advantage of his position to gradually train a considerable number of revolutionary armed forces into armed forces loyal to him personally and to the Kuomintang.
There are two main parts of the Whampoa system. First, at the beginning of the establishment of the Whampoa Military Academy, Chiang Kai-shek selected instructors from the Baoding Military Academy, the school where he graduated, the Army Lecture Hall, and even the Japanese Noncommissioned Officer School. The second is the Whampoa students trained by them, mainly the students of the first seven phases of Whampoa. Marked by the April 12 coup, Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the expansion of the First Army of the National Revolutionary Army into the First Army, and established his personal absolute leadership over the Revolutionary Army by launching the Shanghai Massacre. In the subsequent pacification of the warlords and the "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army, the Whampoa system was the main force.
After that, Chiang Kai-shek took advantage of the favorable opportunity of the Anti-Japanese War to comprehensively promote the Whampoa cadres. Most of the military and political leaders at and above the division level are from the Huangpu department. The Whampoa became a real Kuomintang army, not a state army, and became Chiang Kai-shek's main force in the ensuing civil war.
Chiang Kai-shek's cultivation of the Whampoa system was a distortion of the spirit of Whampoa, and it was also a blasphemy against the "love and sincerity" advocated by himself. Especially during the civil war, a considerable number of the high-ranking generals on both sides of the war were Whampoa students or instructors, which cannot but be said to be a trick of fate.