I once read such a film review: The body of a mortal is comparable to that of a god. The evaluation is the Iron Man in the movie "Avengers", who saved the entire universe with his flesh and blood.
Of course, this is just a plot that exists in a science fiction movie. However, in the history of our country, there is such a figure, although it is not "the body of a mortal, comparable to the gods", but it is "the assets of the mediocre, comparable to the saints." ”
This person was Zeng Guofan, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty who was known as a "half sage".
In the thousands of years of Chinese history, only a few people such as Confucius and Wang Yangming can be called "saints". However, Zeng Guofan, who was somewhat "stupid" in talent, became a "comparable saint" being.
Therefore, Zeng Guofan's way of success and the method of "counterattack" have always been borrowed and studied by a large number of political and business people. Among them, the wisdom displayed by Zeng Guofan in commanding the Xiang Army to resist the Taiping Army was even more talked about by people.
As we all know, the Xiang Army was founded by Zeng Guofan. However, although the Xiang army fought some victorious battles under the command of Zeng Guofan, it was a local private armed group after all, and could not be compared with the regular army of the Qing government.
Therefore, although Zeng Guofan made many military achievements, the Qing government only gave him an empty title of military attendant, and even the Xiang Army, which he founded, was often discriminated against and ostracized by other magnates.
But who is Zeng Guofan? Nature will not be willing to endure such humiliations. No, the opportunity comes.
Under the strong attack of the Taiping Army, the Qing army's Jiangnan camp was destroyed, and the Qing government seemed to realize that its "regular army" was difficult to shoulder the heavy responsibility. Therefore, Zeng Guofan was appointed as the minister of Chincha and the governor of Liangjiang, and the military affairs of Jiangnan were handed over to Zeng Guofan.
With great power in his hands, Zeng Guofan can finally "open up" in a bold way.
Zeng Guofan then appealed to the imperial court: to capture Jiangnan, it was first necessary to occupy the favorable terrain of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, not to attack from the east, as the previous "regular army" did; secondly, to take Anqing (present-day southwest anhui province) to seize the initiative to capture Nanjing.
Next, Zeng Guofan gathered the elite of the Xiang army and divided the troops into three routes. His younger brother Zeng Guoquan led a road to attack Jixian Pass; his general DuoLong'a led the way to attack Jitong City; and Li Xuyi led a road as a backup to receive the above two lines of soldiers and horses. Zeng Guofan himself commanded the battle remotely.
In June 1860, the Xiang army besieged Anqing in one fell swoop. When Chen Yucheng, the general of the Taiping Army, learned of this, he rushed to support with a team of elites.
But Zeng Guofan was not an incompetent Qing general after all, and the Xiang Army was not a corrupt Eight Banner Army. Although the battle was unprecedentedly fierce, under the command of Zeng Guofan, more than 16,000 soldiers led by the Taiping Army were still defeated by the Xiang Army. Eventually, Zeng Guofan captured Anqing in September 1861.
The loss of Anqing directly shook the Taiping Army's base in Anhui, causing the Taiping Army's capital city of Tianjing to lose an important barrier. At the same time, it also reversed the combat situation between the Qing army and the Taiping Army, and the Taiping Army could only change from the offensive side to the defensive side from then on.
Many people think that the saints, elites, and successful people in the world are all "children of heavenly choice" and seem to be born "destined" to be famous in history. But Zeng Guofan's experience shows that everyone is a mortal, and everyone can become a saint. Why?
At the beginning of Zeng Guofan's formation of the Xiang Army, he was not invincible and invincible. In 1854, the Xiang Army and the Taiping Army fought in the battles of Yuezhou and Jinggang, and suffered successive defeats, so that Zeng Guofan wanted to commit suicide by diving several times. In his letter to the imperial court, Zeng Guofan also mocked himself with "repeated defeats and repeated battles".
Later, Zeng Guofan calmly introspected himself, reinvigorated his strength, adjusted his strategy and the military discipline of the Xiang army, which also captured the hearts of the Xiang army, and the whole army only obeyed the orders of Zeng Guofan alone.
From the capture of Jiujiang in 1858, to the defense of Anqing in 1860, and then to the attack on "Tianjing" in 1864. The Xiang Army was as imposing as a rainbow and breaking bamboo all the way. As a result, the Xiang army led by Zeng Guofan shook the world, and posterity even had the saying that "there is no Xiang army in the world".
The bravery of the Xiang Army is naturally inseparable from the founder of Zeng Guofan, and the "philistine capital" of Zeng Guofan is more powerful than this - the first ship built in Chinese history, the first military engineering school established, the first Western books printed and translated, and the first students who studied in the United States... All of them were promoted at the initiative of Zeng Guofan.
In history, it is difficult for any minister who has achieved great merit to have a good ending, but Zeng Guofan is an exception.
In 1872, Zeng Guofan was walking in the garden in the afternoon, suddenly numb, after the family helped Zeng Guofan back to the study, Zeng Guofan "sat for three moments and died", after the news spread, "the people cried in the alley, the imperial court quit the dynasty for three days", and posthumously named Zeng Guofan as a taifu, the nickname "Wenzheng". Therefore, later generations also called Zeng Guofan "Zeng WenzhengGong".
The so-called nickname is the text that posterity evaluates according to the life and deeds of the deceased. Judging from the words "Wen and Zheng", Zeng Guofan was finally completely "officially affirmed" by the Qing government.
As an ordinary person with an ordinary family and mediocre talents, Zeng Guofan has become a "comparable saint" with his own unique way of being a person and a way of dealing with the world, and his life deeds and wisdom and strategy can be said to be the benchmark for most ordinary people to turn over and a model of "counterattack".