Introduction: There is a saying that was once very popular: "To be an official, you must learn from Zeng Guofan, and to do business, you must learn from Hu Xueyan." So what should we learn from Zeng Guofan? Associate Professor Li Bo said in the book "Zeng Guofan's Family Instructions": "Many people think that he has the skills to be an official in both directions. In fact, Zeng Guofan himself summed it up in one word, only one word 'poor'."

Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan said in his family letter to his ninth brother Zeng Guoquan: "Since I was thirty years old, I have been ashamed of being an official and making a fortune, and it has been shameful and hateful to accumulate money in the eunuch's pocket and leave behind my descendants. Therefore, I made an oath selfishly, and always If you don’t rely on being an official to make a fortune and leave it to your descendants, I will never say it again.” It means that I am ashamed of being an official and being poor. If the inheritance I will leave to my descendants in the future includes the money I earned as an official, I will die with my eyes closed. It's up to you.

Zeng Guofan said this, but how did he do it? After Zeng Guofan's death, all his inheritance was left to his two sons, brothers Zeng Jize and Zeng Jihong. Under the education of their father Zeng Guofan, these two brothers were both extremely diligent and thrifty people. When Zeng Jize was a diplomat stationed in Britain and France, all his salary went to the diplomatic embassy and foreign affairs, but he had always lived a frugal life. The same is true for his younger brother Zeng Jihong. He worked as a low-level official in Beijing and his salary could not even support his family, making his life very difficult. You know, Zeng Guofan had just passed away not long ago. If he had left a lot of inheritance, he wouldn't be stuck here.

There are generally three reasons why Zeng Guofan valued the word "poor" so much. First, in official circles, "poverty" is the way to protect yourself. Zeng Guofan was a Communist, but he was a Manchu official. Throughout the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court was very careful about *** being an official, and was especially wary of *** being a high-ranking official, an official with real power, or an official with military power. Second, whether in officialdom or not, "poverty" is the way to "goodness". For men, the two most dangerous things are money and power. In the sixth year of Xianfeng's reign, Zeng Guofan wrote a special letter to his nine-year-old son Zeng Jihong. There was a sentence in it: "Though hard work and frugality will not lead to failure, arrogance and fatigue will not lead to defeat", which became a famous saying in family governance at that time. Third, it was due to Zeng Guofan's personal beliefs, the Confucian belief of "benevolence, loyalty, forgiveness, etiquette, justice and integrity" that made him determined to be an honest and good official.

Zeng Guofan’s secret to being an official was the word “poor”, and he used it to educate his children and family. Although there was a need to protect his own life through official philosophy, the main reason should be determined by his own moral sentiments. . After he died while serving as the Governor of Liangjiang, the relics that Zeng Guofan's family moved back to their hometown in Hunan from the Governor's Mansion of Liangjiang in Jinling were basically books. Zeng Guofan was poor and happy, and his life was worthwhile.