Ahem, get to the point. Since he is a modern historical figure, let's talk about Zeng Guofan (PS: for Zeng Guofan, Moonstone bought a biography, but I still admire it after reading it)
Zeng Guofan was born in the middle and late Qing Dynasty. He is a key figure in the modern history of China. He is known as the first of the "four famous ministers in the late Qing Dynasty" and the grandson of the famous Ceng Zi in the seventies. Zeng Guofan, who was born in a famous family, actively demanded progress. He passed the reading examination, and successively passed the examinations of scholar, juren and Jinshi. Although he passed the exam many times, he was different from his contemporary Hong Xiuquan. His repeated failures and attempts also showed Zeng Guofan's indomitable character, which laid the foundation for his Xiang army to defeat the Taiping Army later.
Zeng Guofan was regarded as the first minister in the late Qing Dynasty, which was closely related to his contribution to the Qing court and even modern China. After Zeng Guofan suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army, he served as a local official, and successively served as the highest local official in the Qing Dynasty, such as the Governor of Liangjiang and the Governor of Zhili. He actively promoted the Westernization Movement and became a local representative of the Westernization Movement. With his efforts, China established the first batch of modern industries and sent the first batch of western students, which laid the foundation for China's later modernization.
In rectifying the bureaucracy, Zeng Guofan realized the corruption of the Qing court at that time and advocated the reform of officials and the army. His troops are usually selected from villagers, and a considerable number of generals in the army are Confucian scholars. Such reforms have made his troops very effective. The Qing court later reorganized the new army and borrowed from Zeng Guofan's reform of the army.
In terms of culture, Zeng Guofan also has his own unique achievements. He was the founder of Xiangxiang School in the late Qing Dynasty and a master of calligraphy. He followed Neo-Confucianism and summarized the essence from it. After the fall of Nanjing, he protected many ancient buildings and maintained them, leaving valuable cultural wealth for future generations.
There is also his personality cultivation and the way of managing his family. He advocated frugality and opposed corruption and waste, which was valuable in the era of corruption in the imperial court at that time and left a lot of valuable experience for future generations.
However, no one is perfect. Zeng Guofan has made great contributions in politics, economy and culture. However, some of his practices have also produced many negative effects and evaluations.
When suppressing Taiping Army and Nian Army, Zeng Guofan was cruel, especially after capturing Nanjing, he slaughtered Taiping Army and gained the notoriety of "shaved his head". Although he advocated the Westernization Movement, he still retained a lot of feudal loyalty to the monarch, which also made the Westernization Movement retain a lot of feudal remnants in the Qing Dynasty and could not change the situation at that time. In the "Tianjin religious case", Zeng Guofan's compromise and concession, although in line with the views of the Qing court at that time, damaged the feelings of the Chinese nation and became a stain on his life; Most importantly, his reform in the army solved the problem that the fighting capacity of the Qing court army was low because of corruption at that time, but it also brought about the problem of "soldiers following"-this was also the basis for Yuan Shikai to control the emergence of the new army and the regime of Beiyang warlords, which made modern China enter an era of Beiyang warlords.
In any case, Zeng Guofan, as one of the four famous ministers in the late Qing Dynasty, should affirm his historical achievements. From him, we should find the essence: stupid birds fly first, because they are stupid in reading, and many exams only fail, but this indomitable will is worth learning from young people; Being able to accept new things and find the essence from tradition should also be praised.