In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Zeng Guofan was under great pressure. He led the start-up Hunan army to rush into battle at the urging of the imperial court, but suffered a heavy defeat from the Taiping army in Jinggang, Zeng Guofan was deeply ashamed, and even had the idea of committing suicide by throwing himself into the river.
However, his staff member Zhang Shoulin rescued him in time. You must know that suicide by throwing yourself into the water at that time was a popular way to die, and many defeated ** used it as a means of relief to avoid becoming a prisoner of the enemy army or being punished by the imperial court.
For Zeng Guofan, although he was defeated in the war and suffered great humiliation, if he had to suffer even greater humiliation after winning the battle, then this was obviously a premeditated action against him.
Zeng Guofan led the Hunan army to successfully recover the provincial city of Wuchang occupied by the Taiping army, demonstrating outstanding military talent and being widely praised by the government and the public. Emperor Xianfeng was very excited about this and was ready to promote him to the governor of Hubei, but Zeng Guofan was humble and polite, saying that he was not suitable for the position.
However, before Zeng Guofan sent his resignation, Emperor Xianfeng ordered Tao Enpei, an opponent of the Hunan army, to serve as the governor of Hubei, resulting in Zeng Guofan only retaining the vacant position of "the right attendant of the Qin Mission".
Zeng Guofan's portrait Zeng Guofan has been in Beijing for ten years, has insight into the unspoken rules of officialdom, and knows that someone is calculating him. Sure enough, a close friend in Beijing quickly revealed that it was Qi Junzao, a university scholar, who did it.
Qi Junzao suggested to Xianfeng that Zeng Guofan, as a Han official, held military power, and then held real power, which was not good for the imperial court. The **, who was jealous of the talent, also fanned the flames: "Hong Xiuquan is gone, Zeng Guofan is here." ”
Xianfeng's face changed greatly, and he quickly withdrew his life. When Zeng Guofan was a three-year-old child in the imperial court, the generals of the Hunan army were furious and expressed their unwillingness to fight. Zeng Guofan patiently taught his subordinates not to act recklessly, but to put the interests of the country first.
At the critical moment, passively slacking off the war and striking the war without authorization will seriously damage the professional ethics and social impact of military personnel, and the consequences will be unimaginable. Since then, whether it is Zeng Guofan or the soldiers of the Hunan army, although they are unhappy in their hearts, they still put their blood into the battlefield of defeating the enemy.
Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, and Anhui provinces relied on the support of the Hunan army to ensure that they did not fall into the sphere of influence of the Taiping army.
Zeng spent nearly six years at Hong Xiuquan's former residence, and although he won many battles, he was never promoted. The local ** even dared to bully this man with outstanding military achievements, and even suspected that his wooden seal was privately engraved.
Although Zeng Guofan was deeply affected by the local evil, he always insisted on knocking out his teeth and swallowing blood. The Qing Dynasty army fought against the Taiping army, and there were two main groups: the Jiangnan camp under the command of Hechun and Zhang Guoliang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the Hunan army under the command of Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi.
The Qing Dynasty was apparently worried about the dominance of the Hunan army, so it hoped that the two armies would be able to restrain each other. The Jiangnan camp claimed to have 50,000 or 60,000 men, but in fact there was too much water, and they dug long trenches around Tianjing, trapping the Taiping army, hoping that the Taiping army would run out of ammunition and food, and finally surrender.
As a result, the soldiers of the Jiangnan battalion were arrogant and drank all day long, or hung out in casinos and smoke houses. At the beginning of the tenth year of Xianfeng, the Taiping army broke through the Jiangnan camp for the second time.
Hu Linyi and Zuo Zongtang were both glad for Hechun's failure, and seemed to be ready to beat gongs and drums and set off firecrackers. Hu Linyi firmly believed that there was no reliable army in the whole country, and Beijing could only reuse the Hunan army, so it was only a matter of time before Zeng Guofan changed from a fictitious post to a real post, and became a governor.
Zeng Guofan: From the Meritorious Earthquake to the Initiative to Withdraw the Hunan Army The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom swept through southern China, and the Qing court had no choice but to rely on the Hunan army. As a result, Zeng Guofan was reused as the governor of Liangjiang, and unified the military forces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces.
The Hunan army finally ushered in victory, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated. However, when the generals of the Hunan army were looking forward to the reward of the imperial court, they waited for the second consecutive attack of the imperial court. The Qing court violated Emperor Xianfeng's promise and only gave Zeng Guofan a "Hou".
Then, the imperial court began to investigate why the Hunan army let more than 1,000 people including the Young Heavenly King Hong Renji escape. Although the Hunan army took Tianjing, their generals became the target of the government and the opposition, and were regarded as the culprits for letting go of the remnants of the Taiping army and robbing the gold and silver treasures.
In the face of the persuasion of his generals, Zeng Guofan went the opposite way and took the initiative to dismantle the Hunan army he created.
Zeng Guofan responded to the persuasion of his subordinates with the couplet "Relying on the sky and the sea and countless flowers, and the flowing water and high mountains know themselves", emphasizing that people must have firm faith and enthusiasm. The Hunan army of Zeng Guo was praised as "no money, not afraid of death" with the purpose of "loyalty, righteousness and blood".
However, at the critical moment, Zeng Guofan chose to compromise. Gu Hongming made an incisive evaluation of this, believing that the greatest thing about Zeng Guofan was his spirit of "not being full".
After the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng Guofan had a powerful military at his disposal, but instead of using it to overthrow the regime, he chose to maintain the unity of the country and avoid a catastrophe that could lead to a civil war.
The display inside Zeng Guofan's former residence makes people think deeply: in Zeng Guofan's heart, blood does not only mean personal courage, but more importantly, the courage to sacrifice personal interests for justice.
Therefore, he voluntarily gave up the power and the army in his hands and became a lone leader.