Of course, Li Hongzhang knew what his teacher was talking about, and he couldn't help but sigh. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Since Xianfeng seven years ago, the relationship between Zeng and Zuo has been sunny and cloudy, with constant pimples and turmoil. But compared with the great conflict between Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang in February of the seventh year of Xianfeng, everything is insignificant.

The seven years before and after Xianfeng was one of the most difficult and painful periods in Zeng Guofan's life. At this time, the Hunan army he founded had been fighting for three years and had made many achievements, but the situation was becoming more and more embarrassing: because Emperor Xianfeng was defensive against him and refused to give him the status of supervision, he led the army for three years, and has been in a lonely position, and it is not difficult to use soldiers, people, and salaries. Especially during the period in Jiangxi, because there was no administrative power in their hands, although the Hunan army fought hard all day to defend Jiangxi, it was still regarded as an extra burden by Jiangxi Province, and was always squeezed out and troubled by the bureaucrats. Zeng Guofan was bullied, full of depression, exhausted, desperate, and almost mentally collapsed, so that he said the following words in a letter to Liu Rong: "Everything is unsuccessful. Today counts the day and dies, the king and his log tomb, if you don't give in for me, you won't be blind under the spring. ”

At this time, a letter came from the family, Zeng Guofan's father died on February 4 in the seventh year of Xianfeng. After receiving this news, Zeng Guofan was on the verge of amnesty. He quickly handed over the military affairs to others, and after sending a letter to the imperial court requesting the vacancy, he set off for his father's funeral on February 21 without waiting for the emperor's approval.

As the minister leading the troops, leaving the barracks without authorization is a serious violation of military discipline. Zeng Guofan, who has always sworn loyalty, made this decision at a time of military crisis, which obviously seemed a bit irresponsible. But Zeng Guofan's move was really a last resort. He wanted to express his dissatisfaction with the imperial court through this move, and also wanted to take this opportunity to affirm to the emperor the true situation in which he was "extremely unsuitable". Although Emperor Xianfeng was quite angry, he was well aware of Zeng Guofan's difficult situation, and coupled with the fact that Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan, and Hu Linyi, the governor of Hubei, constantly interceded for Zeng Guofan, he sent a decree to give him a three-month leave to exempt the army from prosecution. Among Zeng Guofan's friends, Hu Linyi, Wu Minshu and others all expressed their understanding of Zeng Guofan's actions, and wrote many times to comfort Zeng Guofan. ”

But Zuo Zongtang sent a letter at this juncture, severely criticizing Zeng Guofan's righteousness. At the beginning of the letter, Zuo Zongtang quoted scriptures and classics, starting from the height of Confucian ethical principles, and criticized Zeng Guo's military return home, which was a manifestation of disloyalty, injustice, and irresponsibility. Next, Zuo Zongtang laughed and scolded again, piggybacking and mocking the soldiers of Zeng Guofan: You Zeng Guofan led the troops to fight, and you have made many mistakes and lost many opportunities. The court thinks that you are loyal and does not care. But this time your actions have made your loyalty questionable. Whether you listened to my advice and went back out of the mountain, I don't know. I don't know if you can help the overall situation of the country with your ability to come out of the mountain again. But if you don't wait for the orders of the imperial court and commission the army to mourn without authorization, it will be indecent and unjust, and I can't help but criticize you seriously.

From talent to quality, Zuo Zongtang criticized Zeng Guofan as useless. One can imagine what Zeng Guofan's mood will be after receiving this letter.

The matter does not stop there, in addition to writing a letter to scold Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang ridiculed Zeng Guofan even more unscrupulously in public. Zeng Guofan's return to Hunan this time is a hot topic of discussion in Hunan officialdom, Zuo Zongtang sees a person, he talks about Zeng's usual face of science, with sincerity, but this time on the grounds of his father's funeral, to blackmail his father, it can be seen that his intentions are not as righteous as he claims.

At this time, it was the most painful period in Zeng Guofan's life, and Zuo Zongtang's slander became a handful of salt sprinkled on Zeng's wounds, which hurt Zeng Guofan to the bone and made him difficult to let go of for the rest of his life. Zeng Guofan did not reply to Zuo Zongtang's letter at all, and since then he has been cut off from Zuo Yinshu.

"Have you ever thought about why the Zuo clan is like this?" Li Hongzhang said.

"Say it." Zeng Guofan smiled.

"Both Shengyu and He Shengliang?" Li Hongzhang said, "If you are born left, how can you be born?" ”

Li Hongzhang pointed out that the reason why Zuo Zongtang is like this is that he has been entangled in the "Yuliang complex" of his life.

Zuo Zongtang pretended to be Zhuge in his life. "Every time I write a book with a friend, I sign Lao Liang and compare myself with Wuhou. And it is said that today is bright or better than ancient Liang. Therefore, he has never expressed his gratitude to Zeng Guofan for bringing him up, and every time he mentions Zeng, there will always be an unspeakable resentment in his heart. There is only one reason, that is, Zeng Guofan occupies the "protagonist" position that should have belonged to him on the stage. Zeng Guofan is the culprit who directly hinders him from becoming "Jinliang". pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the commander, this is where Zeng Guofan is sorry for his Zuo Zongtang.

Zuo Zongtang once wrote a preface to a painting called "Old Picture of Copper Officials". Tongguan is the place where Zeng Guofan threw himself into the Xiangjiang River after the defeat of Jinggang, and the old picture of Tongguan is to paint Zeng Guofan's suicide that year. There is such a sentence in Zuo Zongtang's preface: "Gong (Zeng Guofan) did not die of Tongguan, fortunately." That is, he died in the copper official, and it is said that he will level the southeast, and he will let the nest be resigned, so there is no hope for the successor? Not really. ”

The meaning of this sentence is that Zeng Guofan did not die when he threw himself into the water, of course, it is a blessing for the world. But if he is dead, the world will not be saved, and it is not like that.

This sentence can be said to reveal the secret of Zuo Zongtang's heart. Zuo Zongtang really wanted Zeng to die at that time, so he should be the one who "leveled the southeast and punished the nest". He believes that if this big drama is directed by him, it will definitely be much more exciting than Zeng Guofan's direction.

I think that at the beginning, the idea of creating the Hunan Army was jointly proposed by Zeng Guofan and him. Zeng Guofan's most powerful assistant, Taqibu, was first discovered and recommended to Zeng Guofan by his Zuo Zongtang. Zeng Guofan built the Hunan army and led the troops to fight, how much wisdom did he Zuo Zongtang contribute? In terms of the general strategic policy, how many times has the results proved that he Zuo Zongtang is more clever than Zeng Guofan?

However, it is useless to say any of this. Looking back on the past and the present, everything is still out of the word "family name" (the reason why Zuo Zongtang was so angry after learning that Lin Yizhe was given the birth of a jinshi is also for this). Although Zeng Guofan was mediocre, he occupied a favorable position early because of his smooth name. He Zuo Zongtang had made all the preparations for "One Hands to the Sky" early, but because he had no name, he couldn't fully display it. Although he was finally used by the emperor, it was as "too late", he got up too late, and it was too late to catch up with Zeng Guofan. missed this opportunity, and he Zuo Zongtang had no hope of becoming the first in the world in this life.

After the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the people at that time evaluated the world's figures, each in the order of Zeng, Zuo, and Li, everyone thought that this was the glory of Zuo Zongtang, but Zuo Zongtang was quite unimpressed. In fact, he thinks that he is the only one for a while, far higher than Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang.

"Yes! I heard that he once said to Guo Yunxian: Your Excellency is a good reason, and you want to be among Zeng and Li, if you have nothing to see in your life, but with a strong eye, how can it not be reached! Zeng Guofan sighed, "This is what he said in his heart." ”

"Don't say that Zuo Ji is high." Li Hongzhang changed the topic in time, "How does the teacher look at Guo Yunxian?" ”

"Guo Yunxian has seen people, his articles are peerless, and he has the talent of the world, but the habit of being a scholar is too heavy. A few years ago, I had a lot of trouble with Jiyun in Guangdong, and I was right. In the early years in the capital, when I saw the literary brilliance of Yunxian, I was very eager to accept it, and I introduced it from the center. Later, he was appointed Xiangfu, and he repeatedly thought about delaying it. Compared with the governor of Yue, the court asked Huang Xinnong if he could win the appointment of Yuefu, and Jiyun impeached Huang and the feudal secretary Wenge, and Bao Guo was able to serve as Yuefu, and Ling brother was able to serve as the feudal secretary. Jiyun is certainly not as talented as Yunxian, but after all, he is more virtuous than Yunxian, and Yunxian and Jiyun compete for power, which makes the superintendent discordant. Yun Xian himself is also indecent. first abandoned Mrs. Qian, and then welcomed the Qian family, and her old concubine was ordered to meet each other. In the house, the lady is the first, the concubine is the first, and the Fufu Department is carried into the gate together with the lady and the lady, such as the three green sedan chairs. Why don't you call public opinion boiling? And Yun Xian blatantly ignored it. ”

"No wonder Yuefu can't do it anymore." Hearing these anecdotes, Li Hongzhang laughed.

"But then again, the talent of Yun Immortal is rare in the sea, but his talent is not resent in the closed territory. He is talented and angry, and he can't bear the drama. He can only come up with ideas, offer plans, and plan in the curtain. He has great insights into foreign affairs, and I want to sponsor him to go abroad for an inspection this year, and what he has seen will certainly be much deeper than that of Zhigang and Bin Chun. Looking at his complexion, he is by no means the same as he was old in Changsha Chengnan Academy, and maybe he will have some amazing deeds in his later years. Zeng Guofan said again.

"When the Tianjin case occurred, the whole country was turbulent, opposing soft concessions, and Yun Xianli overrode public opinion and denounced the Qing Dynasty for misleading the country, which is really commendable." Li Hongzhang said.

"Yes, he's more knowledgeable than conventional." Zeng Guofan said, "In addition, you have to pay attention to Lin Kunyu. ”

"Although Lin Kunyu is young, he is honest and humble, subordinate, shrewd and capable, not only is he a good hand at doing foreign affairs, but he dares to do anything, but he is ......" Zeng Guofan said, and sighed again, "This son's scheming is too deep!" ”

"Why did the teacher say that?" Li Hongzhang said curiously.

"I originally thought that this son was just very knowledgeable, and he had the courage to understand it...... Who would have thought that he would be a character with virtue, ability, power, and strategy......" Zeng Guofan looked at Li Hongzhang and said leisurely, "Shaoquan really thinks that his mission to France this time is specifically for the Queen Mother to return the national treasure?" ”

"Is it ......?"

"Yuxi thinks that foreign aid is what he wants to do!" Zeng Guofan said, "And Suo Bao curries favor with the two palaces, and those who do it are not just for the sake of flying Huang Tengda!" ”

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