On the opposite side are the four tigers of the Zeng family: Zeng Guohuang, Zeng Guohua, Zeng Guoquan, and Zeng Guobao. Zeng Guofan looked at them one by one. The brothers gathered less and left more on weekdays, and at the juncture of rise and fall, they went into battle together. The eldest of them was just thirty years old, and the youngest was only twenty-two. Guohua 28, Guoquan 26.

According to historical records, Zeng Guohuang (1820-1886), formerly known as Guoying, was the Marquis of Cheng, and ranked fourth in the clan. Zeng Linshu's second son, born as a donor prisoner. He was nine years younger than his eldest brother, Zeng Guofan. He is eight years older than his brother Zeng Guobao.

In this way, among the five brothers, the eldest brother studied outside and became an official, so he naturally became the eldest of the other four brothers.

Therefore, he understood earlier than the other younger brothers, and of course took up more time to help his father with household chores.

After the Taiping Rebellion broke out in Guangxi in January 1851, its effects soon spread to Hunan. Several small-scale party uprisings occurred in Xiangxiang one after another, and Zeng Guohuang immediately helped his father Zeng Linshu organize a township group and cooperated with the Xiangxiang magistrate to suppress it.

Of course, Zeng Guohuang's main focus is still on housework. As he said in his letter to Zeng Guofan: "When my younger brother first learned agriculture, he was able to appreciate the true interest of the countryside. ”

At the end of 1852, Zeng Guohuang went to Changsha with his brother Zeng Guofan to train Xiangyong as an assistant, and also to manage the matter of salary, and later, he went to Hengyang to train the Hunan army.

He is experienced and meticulous, and the deep Zeng Guofan praised: "Since Brother Cheng came to the provincial assistant, he has worked hard, and he must be close to each other." In the balance of months, especially dedicated. ”

Because his father Zeng Lin was paralyzed by a stroke, Zeng Guohuang had to leave the barracks and return home to serve wholeheartedly, and at the same time run a township regiment.

After his father's death in 1857, Tsang Kwok-huang was in charge of the household. In order to make his brothers in the army have no worries, he tried his best to follow his brother's instructions in supervising his children and nephews and observing the family style of half-farming and half-studying.

The reason why most of Zeng's descendants have become useful talents, especially why Zeng Jize and other brothers can make a career that is beneficial to the country and the nation, has a great deal to do with Zeng Guohuang's multifaceted care and patient supervision when they were teenagers.

Zeng Guohua (July 14, 1822 – November 15, 1858) was the sixth brother of Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guohua Wenfu, No. 1 Shenzhai, Xingkuan 6. Kiyota student.

In the second year of Daoguang (1822), he was born on the 26th day of May in Renwu. Passed on to Zeng Linshu's third brother Zeng Jiyun. In his early years, he was a prisoner.

In the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang, he failed in the township test, and later participated in the group training. In February of the seventh year of Xianfeng (February 1857), Ding's father was worried, and "he returned with the text". In February of the eighth year of Xianfeng (April 1858), he joined Li Xubin's department to "run military affairs".

The meritorious service calendar was first selected to choose Tongzhi, rewarded the Lan Ling commander with the Hu Nan soldiers, and Xianfeng died in the three rivers of Luzhou in October of the eighth year of Xianfeng. It is a pity that he died at the age of thirty-six.

Xuan was posthumously presented to the Taoist according to the Taoist rules from the preferential shirt and the Taichang Temple Qing posthumously presented to the general doctor, enshrined in the Jingshi Zhaozhong Temple, and the local capital Zhaozhong Temple where the family died in battle. The National History Museum established a biography, the royal funeral silver gave an altar, and the knight was given the rank of the captain, which was martyred. Grant to the senior doctor.

Zeng Guoquan, born in 1824 and died in 1890, was known as Yuanfu and his name was passed down to Heng. A native of Xiangxiang, Changsha Fu, Hu, the ninth brother of Zeng Guofan, who has tried and failed, a general of the Hunan Army, known as the "Nine Marshals".

In his early years, he followed his brother Zeng Guofan to build the Hunan Army, and led an army alone in the sixth year of Qing Xianfeng. In the third year of Tongzhi (1864), he was awarded the title of first-class earl by breaking the city.

In 1856 (the sixth year of Xianfeng), he led the Hunan army to aid Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, and fought against the Taiping army.

In May 1860, the siege of Eucalyptus was carried out. Captured in September 1861. In 1862 (the first year of Tongzhi), he was awarded the envoy of Shajiang and Jiang Subu, and surrounded Tianjing in May.

In 1863, he was promoted to governor of the river. In July 1864, Tenkyo was captured. In 1866, he was transferred to the north governor, but failed to fight against the Twist Army. In 1867 he retired due to illness.

After 1875 (the first year of Guangxu), he successively served as the governor of Shanxi and Zhaxi, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and the governor of Liangguang. In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), he was the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of trade affairs.

In the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), he was awarded the first-class Wei Yibo and added the title of prince and prince. He died in office in 1890 at the age of 66. "Loyalty".

Zeng Guoquan has a smooth career and good cultural governance, and he has also made great achievements in martial arts.

In 1856, after the Hunan army led by Zeng Guofan was defeated at Hukou in Jiangxi, it was besieged by the Taiping army in a narrow area around Nanchang, and the situation was very dangerous.

In order to rescue his brother, Zeng Guoquan and Huang Mian, the prefect of Ji'an, persuaded 3,000 people to donate and raise Yong to rescue Jiang Xi, and even trapped Eucalyptus Fu and other places, and entered the siege of Ji'an.

The Taiping army held on to the death, waiting for reinforcements, and it was very difficult to attack the city. Zeng Guoquan and others adopted the strategy of digging trenches and building fortifications, and implemented the strategy of encircling for a long time and besieging them for a long time.

Later, after attacking Eucalyptus Qing and trapping Tianjing, Zeng Guoquan won by digging trenches and besieging the city, so he had the nickname of "Zeng Iron Bucket".

After the Tianjing Incident, Hong Xiuquan used a group of young generals such as Chen Yucheng, Li Xiucheng, and Lin Shaozhang. First of all, Chen Yucheng led his troops to conquer Luzhou, and then cooperated with Li Xiucheng to defeat the Qing army at Wuyidu, and then took advantage of the victory to pursue, went straight to Hukou, broke through the Jiangbei camp of the Qing army, and relieved the siege of Tianjing.

Subsequently, more than 6,000 elite divisions of the Hunan army were annihilated in the battle of Sanhe Town, a strategic location, and the generals of the Hunan army, Li Xubin and Zeng Guohua, were killed at the same time.

Just when Zeng Guofan was suffering from the fiasco of Sanhe Town, Zeng Guoquan led his Hunan army and broke through the city of Ki'an. From the Battle of Ki'an, Zeng Guofan saw the stubborn and unyielding character of the ninth brother Zeng Guoquan and his ability to lead troops to fight, and decided that he was a figure who could take on great responsibilities.

Since then, Zeng Guofan has regarded the Jizi Battalion Xiangyong led by Zeng Guoquan as his descendant and took care of it everywhere.

Zeng Guoquan really lived up to his brother's high expectations, fought bravely, and conquered everything. It can be seen that Zeng Guoquan is the first person who can fight among the five brothers.

Zeng Guoquan's greatest achievement was to conquer Eucalyptus, after three arduous offensive and defensive battles, a large number of elite soldiers of the Taiping Army were strangled, including Chen Yucheng's 4,000 elites. In the end, he finally seized this strategic place and opened the door to defend Tianjing.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty rewarded Zeng Guoquan with the title of "wisdom and courage" as a political envoy and wore a yellow coat.

The youngest brother, Zeng Guobao, was the youngest, but he died the youngest, at the age of 33.

Zeng Guobao (1829-1862), the word Ji Hong, and the word Shiheng. In 1859, he died in Sanhe Town due to his grief and indignation brother Guohua, joined the Hunan army and changed his name to Zeng Zhengan. Great achievements.

Unfortunately, in December 1862, he died of illness in the Hunan army camp of Yuhuatai in Nanjing due to overwork, and the strategy of "encircling Tianjing" was changed to be taken over by his brother Zeng Guoquan in 1864.

After Zeng Guobao's death, the prefect of Hualing posthumously presented the cabinet bachelors, gave Zhen Jingyi, Jiang Ning, Eucalyptus Zheng, and Hu Nan to establish a special shrine.

Zeng Guofan wrote an epitaph for his younger brother Guobao, which said: "Wisdom is enough to determine danger and chaos, but reputation is not as good as that of the sages; loyalty is enough to be known by the master, but praise is not caught in life; benevolence is enough to circumvent the trilogy, but the wife and children are not eaten by virtue; knowledge is enough to dispel the suspicion of the masses, but the literary talent cannot express its words." Woohoo Yu Ji! Heaven and man, who is to blame? Arrow is loyal and has no complaints, if it lasts for a long time, it will not be grinding. "I praise him for his loyalty, wisdom and knowledge.

With Zeng Guofan's connoisseurship, he has long known the civil and military talents here, and it is also his reliance and hole cards that he wants to use in the world. After talking with Mai Ke in Gwangju, he re-evaluated the strengths of these people and adjusted some of the arrangements he had originally thought of.

Today, he wants to strategize and make a great effort with the thousand-year-old essence of the Tao of Confucius and Mencius. If you succeed, you will stand on the top of the world, and if you fail, you will not leave any regrets.

"Brothers, would you like to fight with me?" he asked, after a brief explanation. I have talked about everything that should be said, and the key is whether you are willing to do things, even take risks.

"I would like to go with my lord to the soup!" everyone replied in unison without the slightest hesitation.

"Yes! I swear here. No matter what happens in the future, I will share the misfortune and happiness with all of you!"

"Now I declare the division of labor among them:

"Chang Ru, Zhong Yue, the two of you are responsible for the selection of Xiang Yong, 3,000 people each; The criteria for selection and training are all ten people. ”

"Obey your lordship's orders!" Jiang Zhongyuan, Luo Zenan, and Taqibu stood up and replied.

"Xueqin, I will leave the heaviest military affairs to you alone. You are responsible for preparing for the establishment of the Xiangyong Naval Division, at least you must be able to resist the strength of a thousand enemy ships!"

"Obey your lordship's orders!" replied Peng Yulin.

"Gradually, you are in charge of all the overall consideration and arrangement. In my absence, everyone else is at your disposal. ”

"Yes! Thank you for your trust!" Li Hongzhang also stood up to accept the order like a military general. Originally, he wanted to say that he was worried that others would not obey the command, but he didn't dare to say it. Adults don't like wordy.

"Ji Gao, Zhensheng, the two of you serve as the left and right military divisions, and the scholars can focus on the water division. However, military affairs are a game of chess, and you must consider it comprehensively and make overall arrangements. ”

"Yes!" Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi didn't say much, and should accept it.

Finally, there was Rong Hong at the end of the literati, Lao Zeng looked at him and knew that he didn't have a word number, so he called him by his name directly, "Rong Hong, I'll give you a special task." As long as the good things of foreign countries are useful for the military and people's livelihood, whether it is products or technology, they will buy them for me. ”

"Great! I'm familiar with that. As long as you have money. ”

Everyone couldn't help but despise him a little, and he raised money for this kid!

However, Lao Zeng understands that it is difficult to deal with foreigners, especially businessmen, without money.

"Okay, I need money to ask him. He pointed to his eldest brother Zeng Guohuang and said.

Then, the eldest brother was instructed, "First from the savings of the family, and then mobilize all the squires to donate." I'll help you with this. ”

"Big brother has the final say. Zeng Guohuang also stood up and said.

"What about us?" asked the other three brothers, anxious, as they stood up.

The crowd burst into laughter. Lao Zeng didn't laugh. The war was all together, and the five brothers didn't know how many people they could keep. But he said coldly, "Go to your big brother to get training!"