Lao Liang said: What is Zeng Guofan's success?

(This article is excerpted from "Old Liang Tells the World 2: Sharp Reflection on People's Livelihood, Wise Literati" by Liang Hongda, published by China Workers Publishing House on July 20 14).

In history textbooks, Zeng Guofan's name can't be bypassed as long as it involves the chapters of the late Qing Dynasty. And we often see books about Zeng Guofan in bookstores and book stands. Most of these books are very thick hardcover, with portraits of Zeng Guofan. The titles are either Zeng Guofan's way of being an official or Zeng Guofan's success in adversity, and so on. In short, in these books, Zeng Guofan is China's "Godfather of Success", and his works are the most classic textbooks of Success in China. However, when we open our history textbooks, we will find that Zeng Guofan is not so "like" in them. In history textbooks, Zeng Guofan is described as the executioner who brutally suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising and the Nian Army, and is called "Zeng shaved his head". Although he affirmed his role in the Westernization Movement, there are obviously many derogatory places and few praise places in history textbooks for his suppression of peasant uprisings. However, if you look at the evaluation of ordinary people, it is very different!

If you carefully study Zeng Guofan's biography, you will find that many celebrities, even some great men, admire Zeng Guofan. Moreover, after Zeng Guofan's death, later generations drew up a couplet for him. How to write? Shanglian: meritorious service, virtue and three immortals; Bottom line: Be a teacher, be a general and be a perfect person. What is "perfection"? That is, a perfect person, with no shortcomings at all. Seeking truth from facts, the evaluation of Zeng Guofan in history textbooks is a bit too harsh. However, saying that Zeng Guofan is "perfect" seems to raise him a little. So, what kind of person is Zeng Guofan? Where is his way to be an official and his way to success?

Zeng Guofan was born in181year and died in 1872. He was born in Xiangxiang, Hunan Province, in a landlord family. People who have achieved something all over the world have a common feature-perseverance. A very important reason for Zeng Guofan's success is his unremitting efforts. Zeng Guofan is not a very clever man. At this point, he inherited his father Zeng Linshu. Zeng Linshu's exam was very troublesome. At that time, after having obtained the provincial examination, having obtained the provincial examination and palace examination, he took the examination level by level. Zeng Lin passed 16 times, and was not admitted until 17 times, when he was 43 years old. Zeng Guofan also began to take the imperial examination in his teens, and was not admitted to the scholar until he was 23 years old. It can be seen that Zeng Guofan's success depends on hard work, not talent.

There is an interesting thing recorded in an ancient book, which is of course a bit exaggerated. Zeng Guofan studied at home when he was eighteen or nineteen. Nobody had such a nightlife before. Everyone slept in the morning, and I woke up in the morning. Zeng Guofan burns the midnight oil to study every night. One day, while he was reading at night, a thief came in. After the thief climbed over the wall and entered the hospital, he looked around and thought about squatting under the window! When everyone is asleep, I'll pry open the door and steal something. However, Zeng Guofan has been burning the lamp to study, and the thief has been waiting. Zeng Guofan read Fan Zhongyan's "Yueyang Tower" that night. He looked at it for a while and recited it for a while, but he couldn't recite it anyway. Recite the first paragraph repeatedly, remember the first sentence and forget the second sentence, remember the first sentence and forget the second sentence, and repeat. The thief waited more and more anxiously under the window and kept talking to himself: Dear Grandpa, finish reciting it quickly. When you finish reciting, the light goes out so that I can go in and steal. As a result, Zeng Guofan kept grinding, but he couldn't recite it. Finally, the thief really didn't move. He got up angrily from under the window and slammed it. He scolded, "You idiot, you can't recite this stupid article. I'll recite it for you: Teng was stationed in Baling County in the spring of four years ... "The thieves all recited it, but Zeng Guofan didn't, which shows how stupid he is. Of course, this story must have exaggerated elements in today's view, but such a story can be handed down, which also proves to some extent that Zeng Guofan is by no means a talented person. Moreover, Zeng Guofan later held a high position, and no one should deliberately fabricate such a story to discredit him. However, we also feel Zeng Guofan's unremitting efforts from this story.

But then again, can you stick to it? Of course not. This is only the basic condition for success. You see, after Zeng Guofan became an official, he was promoted to ten levels in ten years, and finally he was promoted to the governor of Zhili, a university student in Wuyingdian, and was awarded the first-class righteous Hou Yong. The official title of Hou shows that he didn't just rely on perseverance-of course, he didn't rely on money to bribe. He relies on "understanding the current situation" and knows how to adapt to the times. In addition, his grasp of the big situation is particularly accurate.

1852, Zeng Guofan just served as the examiner after taking the provincial examination in Jiangxi, catching up with his mother's death. People who used to be officials, if their parents died of illness, had to go back to their hometown to observe filial piety for three years, which was called "Ding You". Therefore, Zeng Guofan must go back to his hometown in Hunan for three years. However, one thing helped Zeng Guofan. It happened that Hong Xiuquan launched the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising in Jintian, Guangxi. In the blink of an eye, a single spark could start a prairie fire, and there were uprisings in many parts of the country. When the Qing government heard the news, it immediately sent troops to suppress it, but the peasant uprising was huge, and it was not enough to rely solely on the Eight Banners and green camp. Then, the Qing government began to call on all localities to organize armed groups to fight against the Taiping Army and share the worries for the country.

Zeng Guofan is a civil servant, not good at using soldiers, but when he thinks about it, he feels that the country is employing people. Although I am filial to my mother at home, I also want to share my worries for the country and can't be idle! Therefore, from 65438 to 0853, Zeng Guofan organized his relatives, friends and fellow villagers to serve as assistant ministers, and started Yingyong in full swing. However, the battle cannot be completed entirely by enthusiasm. Zeng Guofan was beaten to death and suffered heavy losses.

Zeng Guofan, though he knows people well and is good at their duties, can't go out alone. Once he led troops to fight and lost. What's the point of him thinking I'm still alive? Dead! Come on! Want to commit suicide. Fortunately, I was persuaded by my subordinates. At that time, when many places lost the battle, they stopped forming local Yingyong, but Zeng Guofan didn't. After the defeat, we persisted and developed a number of troops. Many people feel that they have to follow him if they want to compete for fame and fortune. So he fought so many defeats, but the more he lost, the stronger he became, and finally he formed the world-famous "Xiang Army". 1864, Zeng Guofan and his younger brother Ceng Guoquan conquered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and became the heroes of the Qing court in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising.

This is the first way for Zeng Guofan to succeed-he is good at grasping the current situation keenly. Including the Westernization Movement he later advocated. Of course, as the official grows bigger, there will always be more and more people staring at you, and the smallest fault in you will be easily magnified. So Zeng Guofan came to this position, so many people stared at him, and he can continue to be promoted, and his position is very stable. The key point is that Zeng Guofan himself is not greedy. What do you mean, neither greed nor occupation? Neither greedy for this right nor greedy for money.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom suppressed, Zeng Guofan mastered military power, and his power was frightening. This made the emperor and the empress dowager very anxious. After all, Zeng Guofan's meritorious service is outstanding, and he can't explain to the world without promotion; Zeng Guofan has always supported the Xiang army since he was promoted, and after he was promoted, he relied on foreign self-respect and probably threatened the imperial power. Therefore, the court finally decided to send the Eight Banners to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. One thousand zeng guofan rebellion, ready to pick up him.

Zeng Guofan understood that this is not aimed at himself? He thought he was a loyal minister and a good general, and worried about the country and the people all day long, but in the end he let the emperor guard it himself. Zeng Guofan's people were furious, and they opened a guard and worked hard for the Qing dynasty, but in exchange for suspicion! Some people even suspect that Zeng Guofan monopolized the money after the fall of Tianjing in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In fact, Zeng Guofan is not greedy at all. Not much money was confiscated from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and all of it was turned over to the state treasury. In addition, according to unofficial history, Li Xiucheng, one of the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, offered to meet Zeng Guofan after his defeat and arrest. Zeng Guofan saw him and said what he wanted to say! Li Xiucheng said to Zeng Guofan: I am not afraid of death. I dare to resist, proving that I am not afraid of death. I'm sorry I met you. We were all wrong! I am fighting for my life, it is a baby destined to grow up; You are fighting for your life. This is a dying court. I have got rid of the child who didn't grow up now. If I shout with my arms, I can't leave Jiangsu and Zhejiang and pull out 200 thousand troops. Clear The Demon's army in the country adds up to only 500,000, and it is a fragile army. If the two of us join hands, why should we worry about Clear The Demon? Why are you worried about not restoring the Han family?

Li Xiucheng's words are definitely a great temptation for ordinary people, but Zeng Guofan flatly rejected the loyal Li Xiucheng. Back to his camp, more than 30 junior officers persuaded him to promise Li Xiucheng to participate in the rebellion, saying that the emperor was too suspicious and we had no good fruit to eat! A sly rabbit dies, and a running dog cooks; Birds are exhausted, and good bows are hidden; When the enemy country is destroyed, the counselor dies. This Qing dynasty is going to kick down the ladder and kill the donkey. We can't do this anymore.

Zeng Guofan said absolutely not. He made a particularly wise move-reporting to the court, disbanding the Xiang army and sending his ninth brother Ceng Guoquan back to his hometown in Hunan. No matter how much you doubt me, the root cause is that I have an army in my hand! I dissolved the Xiang army, and then the emperor sent someone to take over the rest of the trench, and all the doubts of the court disappeared at once. Why? The imperial court was most worried about the army. If the army is disbanded, what threat can it pose to the imperial court? The emperor and the queen mother realized that they were really loyal! Zeng Guofan was not greedy for power and money. In this respect, he is very remarkable.

Some people say that anyone who is a big official in history is greedy, but it is not. There are two situations here, the first is to strive for integrity in character, and the second is to be born uninterested in money. Zeng Guofan is the first kind, and he strives for the integrity of his personality. When training the Xiang army, he never forgot the words "not greedy for money, not afraid of death". Of course, these six words were not created by him. Yue Fei mentioned them when he was training Yue Jiajun. The original sentence is: "Civil servants don't love money, and military commanders are willing to die. Why worry about the world? " To what extent did Zeng Guofan not love money? The pants worn by the youngest daughter at home are generally old. Usually, my sister wears it to my sister, and my sister-in-law wears it to my sister-in-law. Zeng Guofan also warned his daughter in his family letter: "Don't make more clothes, especially those that are too big and gorgeous." Some people think it is a joke to hear this, saying that Zeng Guofan, as such a big official, still cares about such a small amount of money? This is not a joke, but a true story.

Relatively speaking, Zeng Guofan is very generous to his subordinates, and he tries to take care of everything he can think of. There is such an interesting story. Zeng Guofan wants to promote his subordinates, one is Peng Yulin and the other is Li Hongzhang. When promoting these two people, he asked everyone to recommend them. Some people say that Peng Yulin is the best, some people say that Li Hongzhang is the best, and Zeng Guofan said, tell me, why are they so good? An aide said: "Peng dare not bully, Li Gongjing dare not bully." Zeng Guofan said that since the brave can't be bullied, so can the wise. What about me? The audience suddenly fell silent. After a while, the officer behind Zeng Guofan said, "Whether it's Peng or not, all fierce people dare not bully, Li Gongjing and Ming people dare not bully, and the benevolent people can't bear to bully." This flattery has been adopted! Zeng Guofan was very happy after hearing this. Later, the clerk went to Yangzhou to manage salt affairs and made a fortune. Therefore, this is called "wearing a thousand clothes, not wearing flattery." But it also shows that Zeng Guofan knows his subordinates well on the one hand and is very kind on the other.

In addition to the above, the secret of Zeng Guofan's success is that he always reflects on himself. Zeng Guofan listed several commandments for himself. The first is to abstain from color. Everyone has worldly desires, and most men will like it when they meet beautiful women. So, how did Zeng Guofan restrain himself? Zeng Guofan has the habit of keeping a diary. He kept a diary from the age of 29 until his death. Therefore, future generations study Zeng Guofan, one is to read Zeng Guofan's letters, and the other is to read Zeng Guofan's own diary. He mentioned many times in his diary how to cultivate one's morality.

1842, Zeng Guofan's good friend Chen Yuan bought a concubine, and Zeng Guofan was invited to his house for a drink. During the dinner, Chen ordered his concubines to come out to receive visitors. When Zeng Guofan met Chen in the Kim family, he couldn't help chatting her up. After chatting for a while, he also knew that they were fellow villagers in Hunan. After chatting for a while, Zeng Guofan looked back and suddenly found that Chen Yuan's face was unhappy. As the saying goes, a friend's wife cannot play. Zeng Guofan was shocked when he saw it. After returning home, he wrote this in his diary: "I saw the color today, and it really was an animal." In short, in my diary, I always see Zeng Guofan's reflection on himself.

Zeng Shen, a disciple of Confucius, said, "I save three times a day-am I unfaithful?" Don't believe in making friends? Can't you learn? "I visit myself three times a day. Zeng Guofan was taught by the sage's way and reflected on himself many times in one day. His reflection also influenced future generations, such as Chiang Kai-shek. When Chiang Kai-shek was young, his private life was quite chaotic, and he married several wives. According to the declassified diary, Chiang Kai-shek and Song Meiling wrote such a passage after they got married, saying that where I went today, I saw a beautiful woman and couldn't help but be moved and quit. In short, Chiang Kai-shek spoke highly of Zeng Guofan. When he was young, he also studied Zeng's collected works with great concentration, and came to the conclusion that he was "stupid and approachable and independent". This shows the great influence of Zeng Guofan.