What is Zeng Guofan's lifestyle?

Zeng Guofan's life, whether in political exchanges or in leading troops to fight, was won by the words "modesty", "concealment" and "sincerity". \x0d\ Let's look at Zeng Guofan's "modesty" first. In order to maintain his hard-won fame and fortune, Zeng Guofan was cautious in everything, humble everywhere, and insisted on the view of "keeping the vacancy". He often tells his family that the blessings are endless and the potential is endless. He summed up his own experience and lessons, saying, "After eight years of tempering in Xianfeng, I learned to be afraid of my destiny, my words and my father." Also, he always thought: "Modesty between heaven and earth is the way to carry happiness." He profoundly pointed out: to go to the public, it is necessary to force correction; Strive for fame and gain, and then retire modestly. If a family business is opened, it must be forced to correct it; Being happy means being modest. If you answer the characters, you must force correction; If you enjoy it with your wife and slaves, you should retire modestly. If you make great achievements in the outside world, you are famous, and you ask for fields and homes at the same time. Both of them are objects, and you won't last long without plans to retire. \x0d\ Zeng Guofan was an official in Beijing when he was young. He is full of vigor and vitality. In addition, he had a smooth journey, promoted to a higher position, and was full of pride. "It's a good thing to be enemies with those famous and powerful people." In the early years of Xianfeng's life in Changsha, he also criticized others frequently, especially the feud with green camp and the conflict with Hunan officialdom. He still remembers the struggle with Chen in Nanchang, and all this was done in the direct way of Confucianism and Legalism. Although it seems to have won, it has actually buried more hidden dangers. Another example is the participation of Qing De, Chen and Bao Qibao, which are still emotional. When dealing with it, it was simply pleasing to the eye. I didn't expect it to be sharp-edged and too strong, which hurt these bureaucrats up and down, virtually setting up many obstacles for myself and burying many unexpected hidden dangers. \x0d\ Later, after profound introspection, Zeng Guofan began to realize the reasons why he often did things carelessly, which made Zeng Guofan further realize some ways of being a man in officialdom: "Arrogance and talkativeness have two evils. Looking at the reasons for the rise and fall of former officials and the recent disasters in officialdom, we have to regard them as cardinals. " After summing up these experiences and lessons, he painstakingly studied the Taoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and after chewing silently, he finally realized it. In particular, Lao Tzu advocated using circuitous ways to achieve the goal, thinking that "softness wins, weakness wins"; "The world is the softest and the world is the strongest"; Water is the softest, water is good, and the sea becomes below. Water can bend and stretch, and slowly penetrate into many of the most mysterious places. Looking at the mighty river, rushing eastward, heading straight for the sea, without tumbling, roaring or surging, leisurely detouring on the vast plain, with its reason and self-restraint, its depth and generosity. Many difficult things in the world can be achieved by circuitous, indirect and weak ways, defeating the strong and leaving no hidden dangers. At this point, Zeng Guofan has always maintained a calm and modest mentality throughout his life. \x0d\ Let's look at Zeng Guofan's "forbearance". When he was young, Zeng Guofan went to Changsha to study. At that time, his desk was in front of the window. Then a classmate came. Because he came late, his desk had to be arranged in the corner. One day, he suddenly shouted to Zeng Guofan: "There is light in the window recently. Why do you want to shut others out? " Zeng Guofan moved the table silently, but this one was still not satisfied. The next day, while Zeng Guofan was away, he moved his desk to the window and moved to the corner. Zeng Guofan came without saying a word and has been reading in the corner ever since. Later, Zeng Guofan was admitted to Juren, and this person came to find fault again. He was very angry: "You have a good foundation in learning, which was originally mine." The other students next to him were wronged by Zeng Guofan and asked, "Isn't it necessary to change the position of the book case?" This classmate said unreasonably, "This is why he took away my good feng shui!" " "The other students said," that's good. You have to go back to the corner. You will definitely win the bid next year. " Everyone burst into laughter, and the classmate looked embarrassed. Zeng Guofan has been listening. X0d has been mentioned many times in the Biography of Zeng Guofan by Tang Hao Ming, the most famous of which. 1857, Zeng Guofan returned to the lotus pond for the second time because of his father's funeral. This is a time when his military affairs are unfavorable and he is in an awkward position. It was also the time when he reflected the deepest and pondered the Immortality Sutra, so he came back to find him. "I have been an official for many years, and I often work hard on the word" hard-working ".This is his experience. To be a low-key person, to be frustrated and humiliated, to climb a hill and be clever, and what a gentleman can bear is Zeng Guofan. But his "forbearance" is not blindly forbearance, but kind forbearance, forbearance when it is unbearable. Zeng Guofan endured the suspicion, rejection, neglect, renege and various injustices of the emperor, empress dowager and Mongolian relatives and friends, but he was "tolerant" to those who wrongly committed crimes against his country, army and greed, or participated in a book or drew his sword. \x0d\ In the first year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan was promoted to the position of Governor of Liangjiang River, with a river surface of 3,000 miles, and all the handsome flags fluttering in the wind were "Zeng". As the commander-in-chief of the Xiang army who is advancing 300,000-400,000 troops, he is not complacent at all. Instead, be cautious everywhere. Please read his letter to his younger brother, and you will know his mentality at that time. He reminded earnestly, "Our family is currently in its heyday. How many times has this happened recently? After the sun rises to the highest point, it will drift to the west, and our home is now the highest and most fulfilling time. We don't have to wait for the weather to come, people will come. Your brother and I should try to do it ourselves first. " After Zeng Guofan was appointed Governor of Liangjiang River, he became more stable and treated his colleagues and subordinates with humility everywhere. Power between rivals is often given up. Since Xianfeng awarded the governor of Liangjiang and an imperial envoy in June ten years ago, Zeng Guofan knew that his status was getting higher and higher and his reputation was getting wider and wider, so he wrote many times to reduce part of his power, or asked the court to send another minister to Jiangnan to do it. After conquering Nanking, he immediately beheaded Xiang, and asked his younger brother Ceng Guoquan to stop and reflect on himself after returning home. "Bow your head and worship the sheep and say everything is too empty." "The people who have lived for a long time have returned to life and returned to the five lakes for spring fishing." In the extremely happy days, Zeng Guofan never forgot to knock a wake-up call for himself and his brothers, eliminating hidden worries seamlessly, showing his extraordinary sobriety and talent. \x0d\ Finally, let's look at its sincerity. Zeng Guofan emphasized that "sincerity" must come from the heart, which is called "blood sincerity". Zeng Guofan emphasized: "Honesty opens the stone, and ghosts and gods avoid it." He simply regards "blood honesty" as the only criterion in his life. Zeng Guofan not only asked himself to "have a sincere heart, but also asked and bound people around him with" bloody sincerity "everywhere. In a letter to his ninth brother, Ceng Guoquan, and his eldest son, Ceng Jize, he said, "The mistake of a bosom friend is the hardest thing. Heroes are heroes and sages are sages because they are aboveboard. Can pass this level, the heart will be extremely happy, save how many entanglements, save how many malice and ugliness. People who steal pseudonyms are in trouble; Negative concealment, accidents; If you are worried, something will happen. " . In another letter to his subordinates, he even emphasized that "the clerk's heart is full of twists and turns, dishonest, and often incompatible with the officers." I will try my best to distort my personal feelings, pour out everything, and make the rough people in the military calm. There is no doubt that this is also sincere. Be honest-oriented, use diligent words carefully, and avoid great embarrassment and defeat. "It can be seen that Zeng Guofan won people's trust with sincerity and finally achieved great success. \x0d\ In a word, "blood honesty" is an important principle of Zeng Guofan's life and a vital spiritual strength. Because of this spirit as a pillar, his Ministry will be more loyal and would rather die than surrender, and no one has ever betrayed him. On the other hand, the leading group of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not have the spirit of bloody sincerity, so that they killed each other and lost their morale. Later, many people even defected to the enemy, such as General Wei Jun. Later, the Eight Kings rebelled against Tan Shaoguang, and even Li Xiucheng, who was known as the loyal king, rebelled (folk unofficial history records that Li Xiucheng's rebellion actually bought time for the prince to escape, which is not credible). Cai E, a descendant of Zeng Guofan, agrees with Zeng Guofan's "blood sincerity": "The heart of our country is destroyed by the word" false ". ? The society is still false, and its disaster is slow; The army pays attention to falsehood, and its disaster is rapid and fierce. Since we are soldiers, we should spare no effort to reject the word "fake" and uproot this sexual root completely. We can rule the soldiers by words, be generals and be soldiers. "\x0d\ Zeng Guofan's life, ups and downs, glory and humiliation coexist. Although he didn't reach the peak, he never fell into the abyss. There are no wonderful fragments, but there is a gorgeous whole, which can always save the day and turn the corner. This has an important relationship with Zeng Guofan's adherence to the principles of "sincerity", "modesty" and "forbearance" all his life.