In the New Year of 1869, Baoding, the provincial capital of Zhili.

Last year's Zhili Province had no drought and no flooding, which was a rare good year, and the war of the Twist Army that had been troubled for many years was finally pacified, and the people also had a rare good year; The sound of firecrackers and firecrackers is heard from time to time on the streets of Baoding City, mixed with the laughter and noise of children, a lively and peaceful scene.

The yamen of the Zhili Governor's Office in the center of the city occupies a vast area, and the buildings in the front hall, middle hall and back yard appear tall and heavy, but at this time it is silent, and there is a slight twilight compared with the noise of the surrounding streets. The governor of Zhili, who has always paid attention to the way of health preservation and admired going to bed early and getting up early, sat in the study tonight, and he had already instructed his henchmen to invite the student Liang Sihan to come and talk.

Master Liang, who was arranged by the teacher to rest in the guest room, did not sleep, and he and his junior brother Huang Feihong, who had already developed a habit of practicing in the morning and evening, had just finished practicing, and received a notice from the teacher, so they quickly washed up and followed the visitor to the study in the backyard of the Supervision Office.

Young Master Liang entered the study and found that only the teacher Zeng Guofan was included, and Zhao Liewen, who was inseparable from him on weekdays, was nowhere to be seen, and his heart sank slightly; The teacher summoned him alone late at night, could it be that he had something to confess? But his instinct told him that it might not be the case. Regardless of these for now, Young Master Liang saluted the teacher and stood aside respectfully; Zeng Guofan squinted, smiled and nodded as if appreciatively: "Zhenxi, there are some things that are not clear about the teacher calling you over late at night, so that I can't sleep at night, so I want to have a good chat with you, and I hope that our teachers and students can make friends tonight."

Young Master Liang suddenly felt overwhelmed, could it be a trivial matter that could make the Governor unable to sleep? Could it be that what he has done is already known to him? Could he have arranged for someone to arrest me? Unconsciously, his face became tense and solemn.

Seeing him with such a demeanor, Zeng Guofan's heart became a little clearer, he chuckled, and said step by step: "You don't have to be nervous, there are only you and me here tonight, you and I can get out of your mouth and into my ears, so you don't need to scruple about anything, you can speak freely in everything, and you will never take the head of your own student to ask for merit and reward, and with my current identity, I can't be promoted."

Hearing this, Young Master Liang's expression softened a little. But having said that, he didn't dare to be presumptuous, so he could only test it: "I don't know what the teacher wants to hear Sihan say?" ”

"Sihan, Sihan? Zhenxi, with your name alone, you can't step into the official career; Although it has been more than 200 years since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the distinction between Manchu and Han is still the same; You don't want to enter the officialdom as a teacher, but your talent is so amazing, and your family background is so superior, you are destined not to spend your life ordinary, but I don't know what your plans are after all? ”

Well, both of them are testing each other.

Young Master Liang replied stubbornly: "Forgive the students for their courage and dare to ask the teacher, is there a future for our country if it continues to develop like this?" ”

"Huh? This one? Zeng Guofan pondered for a moment, this question is really not easy to answer, the Qing Dynasty has reached such a point, is there a future? As a high-level governor of the Qing Dynasty, he naturally knew it, but he didn't dare to express his views directly when he had just advised the students to speak freely. After thinking about it for a long time, Zeng Guofan said: "The Qing Dynasty has indeed been in the Qing Dynasty for a long time, but it can't withstand the fierce medicine of tigers and wolves, and if you want to become rich and strong, you can only develop slowly, but now the Western powers are eyeing each other, I'm afraid that they won't give the Qing Dynasty a chance to develop steadily, alas, it's difficult!" ”

To be honest, Zeng Guofan is also a masterpiece of a generation, his words are really to the point, today's era, is the era of the jungle, as long as your fists are hard enough, you can open up colonies all over the world, no one has talked about human rights in these years, freedom, equality is impossible to talk about, in the eyes of the white race, other colored people are impossible to sit on an equal footing with them.

At this time, the Qing Empire was already a paper tiger that had been exposed, and everyone wanted to take a bite. But there are still many people in the court who don't recognize this, whether they are scholarly or hot-headed, they always feel that they are still a big country in the Celestial Empire. Only a few people like Zeng Guofan knew that the Qing Dynasty no longer had the strength to resist the Western powers.

"What the teacher said is that Western countries are based on industry and commerce, and industry and commerce are developed, which can manufacture and produce countless guns and warships, and arm a large number of armies; However, the Qing Dynasty was still an agricultural country, and the imperial court still did not have any policies to encourage the development of industry and commerce, and our imperial examination system restricted the development of education, and the state treasury had to bear the burden of iron-clad crops. How can the country develop without talent and funds? If this continues, the Qing Dynasty will inevitably become a colony of the Western powers, just like India."

Young Master Liang's words made Zeng Guofan's face more and more solemn, frowning, and not saying a word. It seems that for the patient Daqing, the diagnosis of the teacher and student is basically the same.

After being silent for a long time, Zeng Guofan continued to ask: "The teacher is old, and he is already a dry bone in the grave, you are still so young, you will always have something to do in the future, but the teacher can't understand you now."

Young Master Liang's heart jumped suddenly when he heard this, it seems that Zeng Guofan is going to have a showdown with himself today, and he will not stop if he doesn't spit out some truth; He immediately made up his mind, strengthened his courage, and expressed his attitude: "The students think that the position of the temple is occupied by those who are capable; What is the Capable Person? In the eyes of the students, they can protect their country from foreign forces and give the people an environment to live and work in peace and contentment, so that their lives can be better and better. I wonder if the teacher agrees? ”

Can Zeng Guofan disagree with this? The Governor could only nod his head in agreement, but he then said: "After more than 200 years in this dynasty, the orthodoxy of the world has long been a foregone conclusion.

I have to say that Zeng Guofan's words have been explicit enough, and Young Master Liang couldn't help but laugh when he heard it: "When the Hunan army under the command of the teacher was strong, some people suggested that the teacher learn the yellow robe of the Song Taizu, presumably the original teacher also thought like this."

Zeng Guofan couldn't help but blush, how could he say that he still turned out that black history? Zeng Guofan's pursuit is the three immortal standards of virtue and meritorious service, which is aimed at the Confucian sage, and he really dare not have the idea of changing the dynasty and replacing him, but now the imperial court's suppression of him is too obvious, which is really chilling.

Young Master Liang continued to say in this compartment: "What the teacher said is orthodox in the world, please forgive the students for not agreeing; Where is the orthodoxy in this world? Where does the world come from what noble blood? Ming Taizu was born as a cattle herding baby, and Qing Taizu was even lower, not much better than the savages in the ravine, and they were able to change the dynasty, which is really the nature of the times. Now that the times have changed, the status of our big country in today's world is getting lower and lower, but the Manchu elites are still living a life of drunken dreams and death, how did their extravagant life come about? It's not plundered from thousands of Han people, but how can they be in such a high position? ”

Zeng Guofan shook his head, bowed his head and sighed, it seemed that this student was determined to rebel, but he couldn't refute this; Zeng Guofan is indeed very contradictory, he also sees that the Qing Dynasty has come to an end, and he often talks about these things with Zhao Liewen on weekdays, but he is deeply educated by Confucianism and can't do anything to change the dynasty, but if his students do something to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, how good can the reputation he pursues be? Now that the teacher and student are having a showdown in person, he subconsciously appreciates the righteousness of the students. It's torture!

Zeng Guofan's tiger eyes suddenly opened, and his eyes shot on the student's face like substance: "Zhenxi, who has taken the world as his own responsibility, his pressure is as heavy as Mount Tai, do you have this responsibility?" ”

Young Master Liang straightened his little chest and replied: "Students are the same as teachers, since this body has promised the country, they should be the ones who should do it!" ”