Zeng Guofan's Philosophy of Life in Tao Te Ching

Zeng Guofan (18 1 1 year165438+1October 26th-1March 872 12), whose first name was Zicheng, whose real name was Bohan. China was a statesman, strategist, philosopher, writer, calligrapher, founder and commander-in-chief of Xiang Army in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zeng Guofan was born in an ordinary peasant family. He studied hard since childhood and entered school at the age of 6. At the age of 8, he can read four books and recite five classics; at the age of 14, he can read Zhou Li, historical records and selected works. In the 18th year of Daoguang (1838), he entered imperial academy and studied under the military minister Zhang Mu. Reluctantly moved to a bachelor's degree in cabinet, assistant minister of does, assistant minister of military, industrial, criminal and official departments. Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi were called "Zeng Hu", while Li Hongzhang, Zuo and Zhang Zhidong were called "four famous ministers of ZTE in the late Qing Dynasty". Official to the governor of Liangjiang, the governor of Zhili, the university student of Wuyingdian, the first-class Yi, posthumous title "Zheng Wen", later called "Ceng Wenzheng".

Laozi mainly described Zeng Guofan's philosophy of doing things in Tao Te Ching-not showing his edge. Tao is indescribable, deep and delicate; Don't show your edge, the divine light is restrained and simple as dust. Tibetan front is a way of self-protection and the embodiment of the essence of Tao. The key to Tibetan front is not Tibetan but Tibetan heart. Zeng Guofan is like this. Although he has always stood in the front line, he can always put a weather-beaten heart into a "safety bag" and hide his own heart.

Zeng Guofan began to make his mark in the struggle to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Since then, he has been out of control and gradually became the minister of the Qing rulers. In the third year of Tongzhi (1864), Zeng Guofan led the Xiang army to attack Tianjing, and the Red Flag won. He made official documents rank first in Shu Jie, which implied humility, especially on the issue of abolishing Xiang Army. Zeng Guofan's hidden front is more obvious. If we don't lay off Xiang, I'm afraid we will play for Gao Zhen and eventually get burned. If the Xiang army is abolished and there is no army in its hands, it will be slaughtered. At this time, Zeng Guofan thought of Li Hongzhang's Huai army. He believes that Li Hongzhang has a friendship of mentoring with himself. If the Huai army can keep it, he will have a backer. So Zeng Guofan kept Li Hongzhang's Huai army on hold, and then asked the court to abolish the Xiang army.

After Zeng Guofan attacked Tianjin, he decided to abolish Xiang Yong on July 4th. On the seventh day of July, he wrote another memorial, in which he said: "There are too many ministers and troops, just to save money, 30,000 to 40,000 people will be abolished." Judging from the materials at that time, Zeng Guofan's reason for abolishing Xiang Army was that Xiang Army had been "a spent force, with no spirit at all", which was totally an excuse, in fact, to preserve our sanity.

After the occupation of Tianjing, the Xiang army led by Zeng Guofan was about120,000. However, after the left Xiang army entered Zhejiang, it was already in an independent state. Before the fall of Tianjin, 10,000 people from Jiang Zhongyi and Xi Baotian had been transferred to Jiangxi, under the command of Shen Baozhen. After more than 20,000 people from Bao Chao and Zhou Kuanshi arrived in Jiangxi, they were immediately incorporated under the authority of Shen Baozhen. All that remained was the 50,000 Xiang troops led by them, and these people were what the imperial court was most worried about. As a result, Zeng Guofan began to abolish the 50,000 Xiang troops around him. Zeng Guofan first left more than 10,000 people stationed in Jiangning under Zhang, the general of Xiang Army, and then let, Zhu Hongzhang and Zhu Nangui lead more than 15,000 people to arrive in southern Anhui, abolishing Xiao Qingyan's main attack on Tianjing (Li Jiubu) with nearly 10,000 people and Wei Jun with more than 2,000 people.

In the first month of Tongzhi four years (1865), Zeng Guofan abolished the Eighth Battalion. In May, Zeng Guofan was ordered to go north to Shandong to encircle the Nie Army. At that time, only Zhang's first battalion was willing to go north with Zeng Guofan, so Zeng Guofan abolished the remaining 7500 people. Later, Liu Lianjie, Zhu Hongzhang and Zhu Nangui were successively abolished. Ceng Guoquan made great contributions when he captured Tianjing, and enjoyed high prestige in the Xiang army. The Qing government was also afraid of him, so Zeng Guofan, in desperation, invited Ceng Guoquan to leave his post due to illness when he abandoned the Xiang army and return home to recuperate. At this point, Zeng Guofan was able to mobilize the army, leaving only Zhang's first battalion and Liu Songshan's old Hunan battalion with 6,000 people.

As early as before the abolition of the Xiang army, Zeng Guofan wrote to Li Hongzhang, saying, "However, the strength is at the end of its tether, and the momentum is gone, and the strength is not enough to make it tortuous. Be sure to let Huai Yong do this in the future. " Frant Gwo has been holding this proposal for a long time. Fortunately, you proved it. When soldiers don't rest, they must cultivate their vitality and get rid of their old age. If Huai Yong is strong, he will not be cut, and Xiang Yong should cut faster. "

The meaning of Zeng Guofan's book is very obscure, and only Li Hongzhang can understand his difficulties: the court is suspicious of General Xiang Huai, who holds the military power, and public opinion adds fuel to the fire. The imperial court wants to kill them quickly. If the Hunan and Huai armies are abolished at the same time, Zeng Guofan will be slaughtered in the future. If the Huai army is retained and the Xiang army is abolished, it will have a great restraining effect on the Qing court. Li Hongzhang not only caught a glimpse of the real intention of the Qing court, but also understood Zeng Guofan's good intentions, so he decided to give consideration to the interests of both sides and take advantage of the fishermen. Li Hongzhang knew that at this time, the army was related to the world, and the rise and fall of the Huai army was related to the ups and downs of its official career. Therefore, Li Hongzhang wrote to Zeng Guofan, expressing his support for the decision to abolish the Xiang Army and keep the Huai Army.

Zeng Guofan's invisibility in officialdom is also reflected in his brave retreat.

Zeng Guofan in his later years was in a very contradictory mood. He doesn't want to be an official, but he has to do it. In his words, "whoever is a big official is peaceful and honorable, and there are ways to be humiliated in real time." The ancients said that wealth often leads to crisis. " ..... resigning peacefully is a good way to settle down. Resignation in troubled times is not a good policy. At the same time, Li Hongzhang heard that Zeng Guofan was going to resign and wrote to him.

Zeng Guofan thought about this for a long time. Later, he thought of a way, that is, he would no longer be an official in the future, and he did not intend to go back to his hometown to enjoy retirement. He just wants to take care of the chores in the barracks and maintain the morale of the army. Don't be aloof, don't be rich and famous, in this way, you can not only eliminate your worries, but also avoid other colleagues making irresponsible remarks about yourself; Neither embarrass the emperor, nor put yourself in a passive position; Not only can you keep your integrity and reputation, but you can also bring yourself a reputation of taking care of the emperor, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

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