The first strategist of the late Qing Dynasty, all the predictions came true
Master: Ancient Think Tank Qing Dynasty Staff: Zeng Guofan Think Tank Zeng Guofan: The founder of the Hunan Army Car Accident Scene Xiucai: Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Guofan, a stubborn character, was once evaluated by Xianfeng in the Forbidden City as "a puppet living in Lu,......I'm afraid it's not a national blessing." He has been in politics for many years and has been criticized, but he has the courage to be open-minded and willing to accept the advice of his staff.
His staff had a profound influence on his self-cultivation, making him realize his own shortcomings. He once said to his staff member Chen Nai: "Yu is a good person these days, and it is not good to see that there are many people."
Militarily, he changed the concept of "employing soldiers in people, not in weapons." Among the many staff, the most far-sighted is Zhao Liewen. Zhao Liewen became famous at a young age, he was accepted by Zeng Guofan at the age of 23 in the fifth year of Xianfeng, and he showed amazing talent in his first appearance.
When Zeng Guofan first met Zhao Liewen, he may not have been optimistic about this young scholar, so he only arranged for him to visit the land and water battalions of the Hunan army in Zhangshu Town. After the visit, Zhao Liewen believed that the Hunan army's battalion system was slack, and the military spirit was old, and it might be difficult to rely on.
Although Zeng Guofan was unhappy with this, Zhao Liewen did not express further opinions. Soon after, Zhao Liewen resigned to Zeng Guofan on the grounds that his mother was seriously ill, but before leaving, he heard the news of the defeat of Zhou Fengshan's Hunan army at Zhangshu.
Despite this, Zhao Liewen was included in the list of talents recommended by Zeng Guofan under the order of the imperial court, and became Zeng Guofan's core staff. On the evening of June 20, the sixth year of Tongzhi, the two had a long conversation, and Zhao Liewen even made it"The Qing Dynasty will die within fifty years"The famous prophecy.
In February of the first year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan began to prepare for an attack on Tianjing, because Emperor Xianfeng had promised"The King of the Conquerors of Jinling", the great opportunity for meritorious service was left to the fourth brother Zeng Guoquan.
However, in the end, the imperial court did not fulfill its promise, and Zeng Guoquan was only rewarded by a first-class earl.
The Hunan army led by the Zeng brothers had been constrained and guarded by the imperial court since its inception, but in the Battle of Tianjing, they fought valiantly, showing unparalleled courage and determination.
Zeng Guoquan fought bloodily on the front line, and Zeng Guofan coordinated all parties in the rear and coped with the scrutiny of all parties. Although Zeng Guoquan did not officially serve as governor of Zhejiang, he could still report the military situation to the imperial court alone on the front line, but the imperial court stipulated that he must pass through Zeng Guofan, who was far away in Anqing.
In the second year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guoquan asked Zhao Liewen to come to the Jinling camp to give him advice and draft a recital, which undoubtedly freed Zeng Guoquan from complicated affairs.
His thoughtful consideration in dealing with Li Xiucheng, the loyal king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, made great contributions to the victory of this battle. In the third year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guoquan besieged Tianjing City, but due to the delay in conquering it, the imperial court began to lose patience.
At this time, the imperial court had ordered Bai Qiwen to lead the "Changsheng Army" to go and let Li Hongzhang attack from Shanghai. On the 15th day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, the day before the Hunan army launched a general attack, Zeng Guoquan received a message in the Longjizi camp, and all the generals expressed their willingness to go all out.
On June 16, 1856, the Hunan army, led by Zeng Guoquan, captured Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the loyal king Li Xiucheng was captured. At the same time, Li Hongzhang's Huai army also began their operation, which became known as the "Hongzhang Sixteen Pull Battalion".
After Li Xiucheng was captured, Zeng Guoquan wanted Li Xiucheng to be tortured to death because his brother Zeng Guohua died in battle. According to the "Nengjingju Diary", he even put a knife and an awl in front of Li Xiucheng during the interrogation, intending to slowly cut off his ears.
However, when Zhao Liewen learned of the news, he immediately rushed to stop it. Although Zeng Guoquan was angry, he saw that Zhao Liewen had always insisted on not letting Li Xiucheng be killed, and finally decided to write to Zeng Guofan, asking him to decide how to deal with Li Xiucheng.
In his reply, Zeng Guofan supported Zhao Liewen and immediately rushed from Anqing to Tianjing. On June 25, Zeng Guofan arrived in Jinling. On the second night of the first month of July, Zeng Guofan asked Zhao Liewen what to do with Li Xiucheng.
Zhao Liewen replied that Li Xiucheng has been ** for more than ten days, everyone has seen it, and his confession has been recorded, so no one should have any doubts.
However, this thief is very cunning and should not let him enter the capital.
It is recorded in the diary of Nengjingju that Li Xiucheng was killed on the sixth day of the seventh month, and the specific reason Zhao Liewen did not clearly explain, but it is certain that Zeng and Zhao have long been of the same mind and understand that Li Xiucheng must not be escorted to the capital.
Li Xiucheng was captured, and Zeng Guoquan killed him without trial, which caused the same outcome under the circumstances of the time, but it violated the Qing system in terms of procedure and gave people a handle.
According to the record of "Nengjingju Diary", Zhao Liewen once dissuaded Zeng Guoquan on the grounds that "this is a giant chief, and since he was captured, he should be asked for a ruling." After the capture of Tianjing, the imperial court instead increased its defense against the Hunan army, which was obviously because of the battle of Tianjing, rumors of the bad deeds of the Hunan army spread everywhere, and Zeng Guoquan became the focus of discussion between the government and the opposition, and even had the meaning of "high merit and slander".
Why is Zeng Guoquan in a hurry to get rid of Li Xiucheng? The reason may not be as simple as it seems, but at least his explanation does not violate the Qing system, and it can also block the mouths of the people. The presiding judge of Li Xiucheng in the capital is not Zeng Guoquan, and it is difficult to determine whether Li Xiucheng will deliberately frame the Zeng brothers during the interrogation.
If Li Xiucheng is allowed to live, it may become an excuse for the imperial court to attack and accuse, and it may also greatly reduce the merits of the Hunan army, or even offset the merits and demerits, and eventually lead to the collapse of the Hunan army.
Therefore, Zeng Guoquan focused on quick killing to avoid future troubles.
During the interrogation, Li Xiucheng's confession may have been tampered with and used by others, and it may even be secretly instructed by the imperial court to suppress the Hunan army and guard against the Zeng brothers.
Therefore, under this uncertainty, Li Xiucheng's ending is unavoidable. According to Zhao Liewen's conversation with Zeng Guofan, Zeng Guofan believed that the Qing Dynasty might fall within the next fifty years, but he did not approve of this.
In a long conversation late at night on the ninth day of the seventh month, according to the "Nengjingju Diary", Zeng Guofan believed that the virtues of the Qing monarchs were very profound, and their diligent government was very serious in handling affairs, big and small, and this attitude had surpassed that of the previous dynasty.
He also believed that the Empress Dowager was very capable of governing, and her recitals were sent directly to the emperor without any hindrance, which was very rare among female rulers.
It was only after Zeng Guofan transferred him from the governor of Liangjiang to Zhili at the imperial court and gave him an audience with Cixi, the Empress Dowager of Ci'an, and the Tongzhi Emperor that he began to believe in Zhao Liewen's prophecy.
On May 28, the eighth year of Tongzhi, they had a long talk again. Zeng Guofan was extremely disappointed in the imperial court, he thought that the empress dowager of the two palaces was mediocre in intelligence and did not have a word of use; The emperor was reticent and unable to ** his actions; The current situation is all in the palace of Prince Gong in the Military Aircraft Department, and Wen Xiang, Baojun and others have too much power, even exceeding the emperor's .......
Zeng Guofan and Zhao Liewen died in the 11th year of Tongzhi and the 19th year of Guangxu respectively, and although the Qing Dynasty eventually fell forty-four years later, as Zhao Liewen had predicted, neither of them was able to witness the fulfillment of this prophecy.