Zeng Guofan (181165438+1October 26th-1872 March 12) is called Zeng Hu with Hu Linyi, and Li Hongzhang, Zuo and Zhang Zhidong.
Zeng Guofan was born in Baiyangping (now Daping Village, Ye He Town, Shuangfeng County, Loudi City, Hunan Province), an ordinary farming family.
There are nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan is the eldest son. Ancestors mainly worked in agriculture and lived a relatively well-off life. Although my grandfather has little education, he is experienced. His father is a scholar, his eldest son and grandson Zeng Guofan, and he was educated by two grandfathers since childhood.
Shushan has a diligent way. Zeng Guofan, Zuo, Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang, four famous ministers in the late Qing Dynasty, were not the smartest one when he was a teenager. In Zuo and Zhang Zhidong's biographies, there is a saying that he is less wise, so how did Zeng Guofan finally succeed in counterattack?
Zeng Guofan was enlightened at the age of five and entered his family school at the age of six.
There is an interesting story about his study as a child.
When Zeng Guofan was young, his talent was not high. In fact, he is quite stupid. It is difficult for him to learn. One night, he was studying at home. He read an article many times, but he just couldn't recite it. He read and recited over and over again.
The night is already deep, and he still has no back. That's a terrible worry for a person.
It turned out that a thief came to his house, lurking under the elm tree in the study, trying to wait until he finished reading and went to bed before entering the house to steal. But the thief is waiting outside the house. He just didn't see Zeng Guofan sleeping. The thief couldn't wait any longer. He jumped into the room angrily and said to Zeng Guofan, "What book are you reading?" I memorized it after listening to it several times! "So the thief recited the article from beginning to end, and then walked away.
Rumors may not be credible, but Zeng Guofan's study struggle is true.
Zeng Guofan finally became famous all over the world by his own efforts.
After seven repeated attempts, Zeng Guofan of 1826 (six years of Daoguang) ranked seventh at the age of 15. Ten years later, Daoguang went to study at the Down's Ancestral Hall in Hengyang, and one year later, he transferred to Lianbin College in Xiangxiang.
After that, he tried again and again It was not until the 13th year of Daoguang that 22-year-old Zeng Guofan was admitted as a scholar. From the age of fourteen to the age of twenty-two, Zeng Guofan took the exam seven times in a row, and finally got his wish and got a little better.
In the autumn of the 14th year of Daoguang (1834), Zeng Guofan took part in the Hunan Provincial Examination and won a prize. After fifteen years of Daoguang, he failed to take Sun Shan's exam. After staying in Cohen in Daoguang for 16 years, he still failed the exam. However, compared with his father, who was admitted to a scholar in seventeen years, Zeng Guofan has made too much progress. Naturally, he will not be discouraged by these two defeats.
1838 (in the eighteenth year of Daoguang), Zeng Guofan took the exam again and finally got the pilot. Palace examination ranked 42nd among the top three, and was given the background of Jinshi. From then on, he embarked on the road of official career step by step, and became the favorite pupil of Zhang Mu, Minister of Military Affairs.
Compared with his contemporaries, Zeng Guofan's written test results are lacking, but his interview results are impressive. His calm attitude was appreciated by the emperor. He was personally selected as the second by Daoguang and was appointed as the Jishi Shu of imperial academy. He entered imperial academy as a fellow scholar, and Zeng Guofan was the only one since the founding of the Qing Dynasty. In this way, Zeng Guofan finally set foot on his official career and changed the fate of the Zeng family's farming for generations.
Since then, he has served as a judge of the Hanlin Academy, an assistant lecturer of the Hanlin Academy, an examiner after having obtained the provincial examination (Sichuan), a supervisor of Wenyuange, an assistant lecturer of bachelor's degree, an assistant minister of rites, and a right assistant minister of the Ministry of War.
During his more than ten years in Beijing, Zeng Guofan persevered along this road of official career and was promoted to the second-class office step by step. Seven strokes in ten years, ten steps in a row.
In the first year of Xianfeng, Xiang Army was founded, and Hong Xiuquan organized an uprising in Jintian Village, Guiping, Guangxi. Under the impetus of Liu Rong, Luo Zenan and others, Zeng Guofan criticized Emperor Xianfeng in "Respecting Chen Shengde and Preventing Fraud".
Emperor Xianfeng didn't finish reading it, but fell to the ground angrily and immediately summoned the minister of military affairs to convict him. If Qi Junzao, Ji Zhichang and others hadn't interceded for him, he would probably have an accident. Zeng Guofan was very nervous after learning about this situation, and immediately blamed himself for this admonition. From then on, he never dared to make irresponsible remarks about the emperor himself and the fundamental decision of the court.
1852 (the second year of Xianfeng), Zeng Guofan died at home because of his mother. At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement has swept half of China. Although the Qing government mobilized a large number of Eight Banners Army and green camp officers and men from all over the country to deal with the Taiping Army, the Eight Banners Army, which has been proud since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, has been in a state of war after years of singing and dancing.
Therefore, the Qing Dynasty issued many orders to reward the Yong Tuan, trying to use the landlord armed forces in various places to curb the development of the forces of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Taking advantage of the Qing Dynasty's eagerness to seek strength to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, relying on the complicated interpersonal relationships such as mentoring, relatives and friends, he established a local Yong Ying named Xiang Yong in his hometown of Hunan. In the training of troops in Hengzhou, "the various modes of guns, knives and anchors, and the position of sails and paddles were all tested by ourselves, and they racked their brains", and sent people to Guangdong to buy western cannons and establish a navy.
During Ying Yong Xiang Yong's time, he was serious in military discipline and opened up a new army. He divided his 5,000 people into ten battalions, such as Ta, Luo, Wang and Li, and moved his territory from Changsha to Xiangtan, so as to avoid confrontation with green camp in Changsha.
After more than a year's preparation of Taiping Army and the training of Xiang Army, Xiang Army started from person to person, and Zeng Guofan published "Begging Guangdong Bandits". In this article, he claimed that Tian Ping Tian Dao Movement was a "poisonous creature" and "cited thousands of years of etiquette and ethics in China, once it was swept away. This is not only a strange change in the Qing dynasty, but also a strange change in Ming religion since the opening of the port. Confucius and Mencius wept bitterly in Jiuquan, and then called for "anyone who can read and write can sit still", standing at the commanding heights of morality, so they mobilized the broad masses of intellectuals at that time to participate in the struggle against the Taiping Army, laying a solid foundation for future victory.
Zeng Guofan appointed Chu Ruhang as the navy division and Taqibu as the pioneer of the army, commanding 17000 men and sending troops north. Unexpectedly, he started badly and lacked practical experience. He was defeated by the Taiping Army of Shi Xiangzhen in the Jinggang water war, drowned himself and was rescued by his men.
After two months' renovation and reorganization, the two places were finally connected. Emperor Xianfeng was overjoyed and asked Zeng Guofan to act as the governor of Hubei. However, the great scholar Qi Juanzao said: "Zeng Guofan is an assistant minister, and he is like a husband, and his husband lives in the valley. It' s a blessing for more than 10,000 people to start from now on. " Emperor Xianfeng withdrew the imperial edict and only awarded Zeng Guofan the title of assistant minister of the Ministry of War.
Later, against Shi Dakai, the famous Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Shi Dakai attacked the Xiang Water Camp and burned more than 0/00 Xiang warships. Zeng Guofan took the lead, but he never wanted to be captured by a ship. "All the books and volumes are lost." Zeng Guofan was so angry that he planned to ride a horse to see the enemy die. And Liu advised him not to do so.
After Zeng Guofan was besieged in Nanchang for several months, he didn't expect the civil strife in Tianjing to help him. Soon, Hong Xiuquan and Yang clashed, which was the so-called Tianjing incident, and the siege of Nanchang began to be solved. The soldier Yong recruited by Zeng Guofan in Changsha, the capital of his hometown, was set as the auspicious word camp and entered Jiangxi.
After several major failures in the battle with Taiping Army, Zeng Guofan pondered over the strategy of managing soldiers. He felt that Ren Jun, a famous Southern Song Dynasty soldier Yue Fei, was easy to win the support of the people, so he wrote "Love Folk Songs" to train Xiang Army.
The military discipline is strict, and the combat effectiveness has really improved a lot. Zeng Guofan invaded all the way and finally captured Anqing, a border town in Nanjing.
Emperor Xianfeng was very happy and ordered Zeng Guofan to supervise the military affairs of four provinces (Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi), and the governor and the following towns were informed and bound.