Why did Zeng Guofan refuse to be the emperor four times in his life after his death?

143 years ago today, 1872 On March 20th, Zeng Guofan, an important official of the Qing Dynasty, passed away.

Zeng Guofan, formerly known as Zicheng, was born in Bohan, Sheng Di and Han nationality, and was born in Yang Shuping, Xiangxiang County, Changsha District, Hunan Province. At the end of Qing Dynasty, he was the founder and commander-in-chief of Xiang Army. Military strategist, philosopher, politician, calligrapher and writer in Qing Dynasty, founder of Xiangxiang School in late Qing Dynasty. One of the "four famous ministers of ZTE" in the late Qing Dynasty, from the official to the governor of Liangjiang, the governor of Zhili and the university student of Wuyingtang, was awarded the first-class volunteer Hou, nicknamed. Mao Zedong said, "Give it to your neighbor, just for Ceng Wenzheng." Express admiration for the deceased fellow villagers.

Human life

Jiaqing was born in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Xiangxiang, Changsha, Hunan, an ordinary farming family. Nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan as the eldest son. The ancestors were mainly farmers, and their lives were relatively rich. Grandpa Zeng Yuping's education is not high, but he is experienced. His father, Zeng Linshu, was a scholar, and his eldest son, Zeng Guofan, was naturally educated by two grandfathers.

When he was 6 years old, he went to school. He is diligent and tireless. In the twelfth year of Daoguang, he was a scholar and married the daughter of Ouyang Cangyun. I didn't pass the exam twice, and then I studied hard for a year. In the eighteenth year of Daoguang, at the age of 28, palace examination was admitted to Tongjinshi. From then on, he embarked on the road of official career step by step, and became a favorite pupil of Zhang Mu, a military affairs minister. In Beijing for more than ten years, he successively served as imperial academy Jishi Shu, moved to be a teacher, worked as a bachelor, worked as a cabinet official, inspected the affairs of the secretariat, worked as an assistant minister of the Ministry of War, an assistant minister of the Ministry of Industry, an assistant minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and an assistant minister of the official department. He worked tirelessly along this road and was promoted to a second-class office step by step. Seven years, ten steps.

In the second year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan lost his mother at home. At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement has swept half of China. Although the Qing government mobilized a large number of officers and men of the Eight Banners green camp from all over the country to deal with the Taiping Army, this decadent armed force was already vulnerable to a war [2]. Therefore, the Qing government issued a reward order for eternal punishment many times, trying to use the landlord forces in various places to curb the development of revolutionary forces, which provided an opportunity for the emergence of Zeng Guofan's Xiang army. In the third year of Xianfeng, the Qing government gave him the opportunity to seek strength to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He took advantage of the situation in his hometown of Hunan, relying on the complicated interpersonal relationship between mentors and friends, and established a local Yong ying named Xiang Yong. During the period, Yong 'an First People's Hospital First People's Hospital Second People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital Second People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's First People's First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital First People's Hospital Second People's Hospital Second People's Hospital Second People's Hospital

In this movement, he criticized the peasant war of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for "poisoning all beings" and "quoted China's ethics for thousands of years, which was swept away. What's more, this strange change in the Qing Dynasty is a strange change in the famous religion of Confucius and Mencius crying graves since the founding of the People's Republic of China. " Then, he called on "everyone who can read and write can sit still and think nothing." "He stood at the moral high ground, so he mobilized the broad masses of intellectuals at that time to participate in the struggle against the Taiping Army, laying a solid foundation for future victory. Zeng Guofan brutally suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising and used severe punishment. There is a saying in history: "one person was sent to the public, and the other was worn away to bear the trial of bandits." "If the solution is serious, a decision will be made immediately. If it is light, the staff will die, but if it is heavy, it will be beyond the reach of the whip. " ... the case was immediately reported and brought to justice, and there was no expectation of delay. " Not only did he kill himself directly, but his father and his fourth brother also killed people. Some people accused him of killing too many people, calling him "Zeng Bald" and "Zeng Butcher" [3]. It is said that children in Nanjing will cry at night, and as soon as their mother says "shaved once", the children will stop crying. Zeng Guofan is good at employing people, setting an example and observing military discipline. Wherever the army went, people went their separate ways. One of the eight books, March without disturbing the people, may be summarized in the period when the Xiang army eliminated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the Qing army with backward military quality, Xiang Army became one of the main forces in southern China to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Zeng Guofan was awarded the first-class righteous Hou Yong, becoming the first scholar in Qing Dynasty who was named marquis of Wu. Later, he served as the governor of Liangjiang and Zhili, and the official to the mansion. 1864, his brother Ceng Guoquan led the Xiang army to capture Tianjin and became a hero in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

He wrote a lot in his life, but "Letter from Home" is the most popular and influential. In the fifth year of Guangxu, that is, seven years after Zeng Guofan's death, Nakagawa Publishing Company printed "Zeng Gao Gong Shu" edited by Li and Li Hongzhang. Zeng Guofan, a Neo-Confucianism scholar, advocated paying equal attention to reason, words, chapters and textual research in literature. Works 0755 to 79000, prose, letters and poems 0755 to 79000. I am also good at employing people and have close ties with other famous ministers in the Qing Dynasty, such as Zuo and Li Hongzhang.

In the ninth year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan, then governor of Zhili, was ordered to go to Tianjin to handle the Tianjin religious plan. On June 2 1870, thousands of people gathered in front of the French Catholic Church in Tianjin on suspicion that the Catholic Church used the nursery as an excuse to kidnap people and kill babies. Uncle Feng, the French consul, thought that the official was not playing hardball. He ran into Liu Jie, the magistrate of Tianjin, with a gun in the street. He shot and killed a servant in Liu Jie on the spot. The public was furious and killed the French consul in Tianjin, Feng Shu, and his secretary, Simon. Then, 10, nuns, 2 priests, 2 French consulate staff, 2 French nationals, 3 Russian nationals and more than 30 China believers were killed, and the French consulate, Wanghailou Catholic Church and local British and American missionaries were burned. After the incident, Britain, the United States, France and other countries jointly protested and dispatched warships to show arrogance. After Zeng Guofan arrived in Tianjin, considering the situation at that time, he did not go to war with France. "But when Hebei made peace, one of the charges of not being attentive should be denied." At the request of France, he decided to finally execute 18 people who killed the first person and exile 25 people. Zhang Guangzao, the magistrate of Tianjin, and Liu Jie, the magistrate of a county, were dismissed and sent to Heilongjiang to compensate foreigners for the loss of 462,000 silver. Chonghou sent a mission to France to apologize. As a result of this negotiation, court officials and public opinion were very dissatisfied, which greatly affected Zeng Guofan's reputation. Tongzhi died in Nanjing on February 4th, 11th year. The court gave a teacher, who was called "Zheng Wen" after his death. His cemetery was damaged in the Cultural Revolution of Tongxi Temple in Fulongshan, Pingtang Town, Wangcheng District, Changsha City today, and there are relics such as stone horses.

History: Zeng Guopan is one of the most influential figures in the history of China. His life, his wisdom and his thoughts have deeply influenced China people from generation to generation, so that Zeng Guofan died more than one hundred years ago and people are still talking about him. Some critics said: Zeng Guofan was the last person in China's ancient history, and the first person in modern history if the characters were taken as the age. This sentence summarizes Zeng Guofan's personal role and influence from a certain angle.

Revealing the Secret: The Real Reason for Zeng Guofan's Refusal to Be Emperor for Four Times in His Life

Zeng Guofan's former residence is a national key cultural relic protection unit. After careful transformation, not only party and government leaders, experts and scholars, but also ordinary people came to visit. Everyone is most interested in the "Gao Qian" family of the real feudal dynasty. No matter how the world changes, this family has always maintained a strict family style, and no one has been disabled for several generations, and they have all made achievements. Zeng Guofan's two sons: Ceng Jize was a famous diplomat and Zeng Ji Hong was a famous mathematician; 23-year-old Jinshi Zeng; The fourth generation Sun and Zeng Baosun are university presidents and famous educators. The fifth and sixth generations are all over the world, and most of them have achieved something.

On the afternoon of June 5th+February 2nd, 2007, Tang, the only famous writer in China who won the Yao historical novel award twice for Zeng Jiaxun and Zeng Complete Works, and the chairman of Hunan Writers Association, came to the Yellow River Institute of Science and Technology. He not only accepted the letter of appointment as a "visiting professor" of the college, but also gave a lesson to college students through the story of Zeng Guofan's four refusals to the emperor in the Yellow River forum of the college.

Tang said that Zeng Guofan was persuaded to be emperor four times in his life. Can you be an emperor? Why didn't he become emperor? There are many popular sayings about this. Tang analyzed the contrast of various political forces and the complicated political structure at that time.

He said that although some celebrities advised him, Zeng Guofan had no idea of being an emperor subjectively. From a farmer's son who studied hard at school to a senior official in Beijing, there were few quick promotions in the Qing Dynasty, which was obviously closely related to the special reuse of the royal family. Therefore, I am grateful to Manchu. In addition, Zeng objectively did not have the strength to compete for the throne. Although he found the item.

Tang said that Zeng Guofan's life course includes three levels. The first level is ordinary and smooth, the second level is to spend it in happiness, and the third level is to have a career and achievements, leaving something tangible for future generations. Zeng Guofan, whose talent is not high and his family is poor, made a wise choice on the road to fame in life with his own cultural background, moral principles and political wisdom.

Zeng Guofan was an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, known as "the first official in the late Qing Dynasty" and "the model of officialdom". He turned the tide, helped the late Qing Dynasty tide over the difficulties, and played a mainstay role in the "rejuvenation of the same light". His knowledge and articles are eclectic, realizing the ideal realm of Confucian achievements, virtue and words "three immortals". He is known as "the first perfect person in China". The Zeng family is a famous family in history, and there has never been a "black sheep" in 100 years. Zeng Guofan's inheritance and development of Confucian educational thought has achieved great success.

He said, "the minister of the country is more important than learning, and courtesy is good." He studied hard all his life, respected Confucianism and emphasized pragmatism. He became the master of reviving Confucianism after Confucius, Mencius and Zhu and achieved great success in his career.

Liang Qichao said Zeng Guofan in "Preface to Zeng Guofan: Blood Sacrifice Burning Black Rain": "Not only in modern times, but also in adults who have never seen it in history; However, our country is the only one that cannot see the whole world. However, Wen is not an unparalleled genius, and he is also considered to be the slowest of all sages. His suffering will also be reversed for life; Those who are immortal in virtue, achievements, words and achievements are far away from Beijing and have the power of their lives. They are determined to get rid of popular customs, but when they are sleepy, they know that they are willing to do so, and they are willing to do so. They are brave, diligent, hardworking and try again.

Traveling around Shihai, we can see that "no, it runs in the family" is an insurmountable spell for most official families. However, there are many outstanding figures in the Zeng family, such as Zeng, Zeng Guangquan and Zeng Zhaolun, and explore the mystery of the Zeng family. Zeng Guofan's "four wills" left to future generations played a decisive role.

On March 12th, 11th year of Tongzhi, 62-year-old Zeng Guofan took a walk with the help of his son Ceng Jize. He said: "I have fought many wars in my life, and fighting is the most harmful." I have committed a crime, so my descendants will never send a single soldier to fight again. "Suddenly, he shouted" My feet are numb "and fell on his son, instantly speechless. In a crisis, he raised his hand and pointed to the will written on the table, with the following effect:

I have been an official for more than 30 years, and I am the best official. However, I have accomplished nothing academically, let alone in virtue. The old man was injured, and I felt scared and ashamed. I will say goodbye to you forever, and I will dedicate four articles to teach your brother.

Be careful and you will feel at ease. The truth of self-cultivation is nothing more than the difficulty of cultivating the mind and nourishing the nature. Since we know that there are good and evil in our hearts, it is impossible to do our best to do good and eliminate evil. This is your own performance. Whether the heart is deceiving itself or not, others have no way of knowing. Mencius said that the world is worthy of heaven and the world is innocent. The so-called "cultivating the mind" must keep the inner clarity and low desire. Therefore, people who can be cautious and independent will not feel guilty when they reflect on themselves. They can face heaven and earth and fight against ghosts and gods. There will never be a time when their behavior is without regret, but their hearts are contracting. If people have nothing to feel guilty about, they will be calm in the face of heaven and earth, and this kind of mood will be pleasant and peaceful. This is the first road to self-improvement in life, the best prescription and the first essence of self-cultivation.

Second, the main strength. Pure at home, neat and serious at home, is a matter of respect; It is a sign of respect to go out to see the distinguished guests and treat the people as big sacrifices. Cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's nature, the people are peaceful and obedient, and the world is peaceful. This is the effect of respect. Wisdom comes from these aspects. The seriousness is getting stronger every day, the leisure is getting lazier and lazier, everything.

My daughter was born on 1852 in the apartment of Hu Jiajia and Zeng Guofan. Qi zhou, Zeng's grandson, said, "Grandma is Zeng Guofan's youngest daughter, and Hunan people call her Manchu. Zeng Guofan is very serious about his family, but he is different from all women and loves her very much. " When the woman reached the age of 12, Zeng Guofan told her fortune, and then he said to his wife with satisfaction, "A perfect woman is Amitabha." Zeng Guofan is very accurate. The youngest daughter really lives the longest among several brothers and sisters and has many blessings.

Third, the pursuit of benevolence makes people happy. Generally speaking, all people take the principle of heaven and earth as their heart and the qi of heaven and earth as their body. I am like all folk things. If you only seek self-interest, but don't know forgiveness for the people and love for all things, it is the same root. As for senior officials, they have the responsibility to save the people from hunger. Through learning, we have a superficial understanding of what is important, and we have the responsibility to let the hindsight know. Confucius' education is greater than seeking benevolence, and the most important thing is the word "cultivating talents". Who doesn't want to be independent? If they can stand on their own feet, they can compete with everything. Does anyone want to join?

Fourth, ghosts and gods also respect participation in labor. If a person's daily clothes and diet are equivalent to his daily efforts, everyone who sees him will agree with him, and ghosts and gods will praise him as a self-improvement person. If farmers and weavers work hard all year round, they can harvest loads of grain and feet of cloth. However, rich people are comfortable and happy all day, doing nothing, but every meal should be delicious. Dressed in brocade and embroidered robes, they slept on high pillows and were responsive. This is the most unfortunate thing in the world, and ghosts and gods don't agree with it. How long can this last? Ancient sages were diligent in self-discipline and always thought for themselves. Therefore, it is necessary to practice one's skills, temper one's bones and muscles, and work hard in difficulties in order to increase one's wisdom and knowledge. For everyone's sake, we must starve ourselves, trap ourselves from the mire, and take it as our fault that we didn't catch thieves and robbers. In thirteen years, Dayu managed water, stayed out of it, and Mozi shirked his responsibility to help the world, all of which were models of extreme frugality, self-cultivation and efforts to save the country. Therefore, hard work can make people live longer, and ease can make people die young; Hard-working people do their best, and comfortable people are abandoned because of incompetence; Diligence helps the people, which is envied by the gods, and ease is not conducive to people, and ghosts and gods are not envious.

These four articles are the rest of ten years' life. Your fraternity will remember your trip and pass it on to your children and grandchildren. Zeng Yujia can last forever, and talented people come forth in large numbers.

Zeng Guofan's will has a far-reaching influence on his descendants. His son Ceng Jize became an official and engaged in diplomatic work after Zeng Guofan's death. Ceng Hong studied mathematics all his life; Zeng's grandson became an academician after Jinshi. Most of the great-grandchildren and great-grandchildren went abroad to study, and none of the descendants of the Zeng family joined the ranks, or even a few were officials. Zeng's descendants abided by their ancestors' last words, stayed away from the political and military circles of intrigue, lived in seclusion, and realized the last wish of "eternal life and a generation of talents". If Zeng Guofan had known, he would have laughed for a while.