825. A letter from Zeng Guofan: The skill of fortune-telling comes from careful observation of people and understanding of human nature.

Zeng Guofan has the talent of knowing people and being kind, and he is also fascinated by the people and thinks he knows fortune telling.

In the letter "To Yuan Di Ji Dishu Yang Guangzong is an unruly person", Zeng Guofan also said his "physiognomy" skill.

"Yang Zhenna sentry Yang Guangzong, cross hair a plate. I have to worry about its unruly behavior. Yang Zhennan is not good at judging people and things. When I saw something wrong with Ye, I sent him back to my brother, and I allocated another battalion to exchange with my brother. "

Yang Guangzong, the sentry's hair is disheveled and unkempt. I have long worried that he will not be tamed.

"Hair sideways and unkempt" means that this person's hair is thick and hard, so it looks messy. People with such hair often make others feel a little tough, overbearing and unruly.

There is no basis for judging a person's character by his hair. Just because Zeng Guofan's judgment is Monday morning quarterback doesn't mean that he will really "look at his face".

Zeng Guofan recorded many experiences in his diary.

For example, he said that Yang did not dare to look at people easily; Liu Xiangnan is tall and handsome; Liu Lie's eyes are deep, his forehead is high and full, and he looks upright.

Zeng Guofan not only observed people carefully, but also summarized the experience of such people.

He believes that people can be seen from their eyes and nose, and the truth of their words can be seen from their lips; A person's fame can be seen from his spirit, and whether he is rich or not can be seen from his spirit. It can be seen from the nails whether this person has an idea, and from the tendons on his feet how many twists and turns this person has experienced; Want to know whether this person is organized, depends on his language expression ability.

In the Draft of Qing History, Zeng Guofan was commented as follows: "Zeng Guofan is a dignified man with a handsome beard and triangular eyes. He doesn't talk every time he looks at people. After observing for a period of time, this person's character will be clearly seen by him. "

Later generations say that he can read faces because he is good at observing people's words and deeds.

In the letter, Zeng Guofan also pointed out the influence of the war on the people.

"It is very good to leave the team to protect the people, similar to the original intention of Ji' an Sanniu. Unfortunately, we were born in troubled times and unfortunately led troops. Killing people every day is chilling, but we always care about the fields and children with the idea of loving the people. "

From these words, we can see that although Zeng Guofan led troops to fight, it will inevitably have some influence on the people, but he will never forget to love the people. This is also commendable.

In "To Yuan Di Ji Di Cha Man and Employing People", Zeng Guofan told his younger brother a standard for identifying talents by himself.

"I told Shinohara the method of observing people, which is based on ethics, without bureaucracy, more organized and less talkative. In the future, the two brothers can recommend anything they see at any time, and tell their brothers their advantages and disadvantages one by one, or tell Xiaoquan, especially because of their hard work. Quoting a group of honest people who can work hard will have great effects over time. "

He believes that such people can shoulder heavy responsibilities and ask their younger brothers to pay attention at any time, and recommend them to him in time when they meet such talents.

There are many stories about Zeng Guofan knowing people, and one of them is like this.

One day, Li Hongzhang took three people to visit Zeng Guofan. When Zeng Guofan was away, Li Hongzhang asked three people to wait outside.

After Zeng Guofan came back, Li Hongzhang asked him to inspect the three men. Zeng Guofan said: "There is no need to inspect. The honest man standing on the left can send him to do some logistics work; The one standing in the middle is cunning, don't give him too important a position; The one on the right is a general who can shoulder heavy responsibilities. "

Li Hongzhang was surprised and asked him how he knew.

Zeng Guofan replied: "When I came back just now, I saw that the man on the left didn't dare to look at me with his head down. He should be an honest and cautious person." The man in the middle saw me respectfully, but when I walked away, I looked around, showing that he was a duplicitous person; The man on the right always looks forward and stands up straight, which shows that he can achieve great things. "

From this story, we can see that Zeng Guofan really has the talent of knowing people and being kind, but this does not come from physiognomy, but from careful observation and understanding of human nature.

In fact, the man standing on the right, called "General" by Zeng Guofan, is the famous Huai Army Liu Mingchuan, who led the Huai Army to create brilliant achievements in the future and served as the governor of Taiwan Province Province.

Thus, Zeng Guofan does have the ability to identify talents, which can also be proved by many famous ministers and generals he trained in the future.