"In the autumn of 2004, I promoted 27 people, and in the autumn of 86, I promoted 6 1 person. I am fortunate to be a strong family. " This is a rumor that when Zeng Guofan was born, a monk who went through the door was ignorant, a bit like Jia Baoyu from Yulai, and he was destined to be extraordinary in the future. In fact, these three sentences actually sum up Zeng Guofan's ups and downs.
At the age of 24, he was promoted to the imperial examination at the age of 27. He has been an official in Beijing for eight years and has been promoted to the sixth grade. His life ended at 6 1 year. He committed suicide three times in his life and was saved. He eventually became a famous minister and a powerful family.
Looking back on Zeng Guofan's ups and downs, his words and deeds are not only intriguing, but also leave enough room for imagination and thinking for future generations. Through the ups and downs after Zeng Guofan's success, we may get some thoughts and inspirations about self-cultivation, learning, being a man, guiding the situation, educating future generations and continuing family wealth.
About cultivation and knowledge. Zeng Guofan is not clever, but he has rare tenacity and valuable self-discipline. The most admirable expression in the book is that he has kept the habit of getting up before dawn and starting a busy day all his life. Strict cultivation and self-discipline, coupled with extraordinary perseverance and strong will, have enabled Zeng Guofan, who is generally talented, to go further and wider. The neo-Confucianism and realistic cultural environment in Hunan have had a great and profound influence on young Zeng Guofan, making him not only read selected books of ancient poems and books, but also become a great scholar. He applied what he had learned and became the pioneer of Westernization Movement and the promoter of sending the first batch of 30 international students to study in Europe and America. In terms of cultivation and knowledge, Zeng Guofan's excellent qualities such as diligence, hard work and modesty are worth learning, even though the wheel of the times has gone far and far.
About humans. In dealing with people, Zeng Guofan experienced an obvious change from the early Xiang army's conquest of Taiping Army and Xiang Yong's resistance to the late Taiping Army campaign and the extermination of Nien Army in the north. Zeng Guofan experienced several ups and downs in his promotion in officialdom in the early stage, showing arrogance, leaving no room for anything and disrespecting his colleagues, which led to discord, alienation and constant friction with the major generals in the later stage of the battle, and finally put himself in a dilemma. In the later period, the edges and corners of his life were gradually smoothed out, and he began to understand how to deal with bureaucrats more smoothly. Whenever there is a big battle, a must-read book and a powerful person in the DPRK, their words are sincere, reasonable and well-founded, and they make suggestions; Moreover, every time a new official takes office, he will visit local dignitaries in order to mingle with them. As his friend said, Zeng Guofan in the officialdom later knew how to hide his strength, protect himself, be more sleek and sophisticated, and completely lost his upright and outspoken character when he was young. However, it is undeniable that Zeng Guofan is diligent in introspection in dealing with people, knows how to reflect, and can converge his exposed sharpness in time, which really helps him to embark on a bigger historical stage and establish greater achievements.
Maybe we still need to think about the truth. Everyone is born with edges and corners, and the arrogance of youth is like a long and sharp thorn on a hedgehog. When he really left the society and integrated into the group and team, the edges and thorns on his body must undergo a dynamic adjustment. After all, people are ultimately pursuing advantages and avoiding disadvantages. This philosophy of life is indeed a learning that needs to be practiced all one's life.
About making the best use of the situation. Zeng Guofan really handled the situation well. When his younger brother Ceng Guoquan led the growing Xiang army to attack Tianjin, the capital of Taiping rebels, he was faced with the powerful Hong En of the imperial court and various extra rewards. Zeng Guofan rarely saw the "danger" contained in the "machine", cut off his wings in time, showed weakness in time, avoided his overreaching, and deepened the suspicion and exclusion of the Tseng brothers by the Qing court. The wisdom and pattern among them are naturally beyond the reach of ordinary people.
I want to go carefully. Zeng Guofan is a man who will move according to the situation. It has always been the common strategy of people with strategies in history to move according to the situation and make efforts by taking advantage of the situation. Everything in the world is really like the yin and yang sides of Taiji Bagua, which are constantly interdependent, good and bad, mutually confirming and borrowing each other. This may also be the origin of the simple truth that happiness brings sorrow.
"If enterprises don't stand, they can't cross." Leave some room for yourself and others in everything. This is not plain sailing, but a harmonious policy. Only in this way can you have a place to swim around without being completely blocked.
On the education of future generations and family fortune. Regarding the education of future generations, Zeng Guofan's Letter from Zeng Guofan has shown us its wisdom and long-term vision. No matter the exhortation to Ceng Guoquan, the younger brother who led the troops to fight, or the expectation and warning given by his son every time he fell down and became seriously ill, the good demeanor and family style of this great scholar and a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty were displayed in an unobstructed view.
Zeng Guofan's life's merits and demerits have always been mixed. In the last few years of his life, what he did in dealing with the "Tianjin Religious Plan" in Tianjin left him with a strong personality stain. But in his life, his personality charm and brilliant thoughts still attract future generations to remember and learn from.
Everyone lives in a specific historical era and social environment, just like leaves wither in different festivals. It is really difficult for us to use the standard of "evergreen" to demand the merits of each leaf. However, "people live all their lives, and plants grow in spring!" As long as you have bloomed reasonably and ethically in your post, no one can deny the vitality and brilliance that you once brought to the world around you when you bloomed.
Perhaps this is the greatest significance of reading Zeng Guofan's biography, and it is also the greatest value of our insight into every historical figure.