Zeng Guofan was a famous minister in Qing Dynasty, a famous thinker and military conductor. One of his famous skills is that he can recognize people, which is what we usually call poisonous eyes. The average person can accurately tell this person's personality and ability at a glance. When he met Cixi for the 65438th time, he wrote his comments on Cixi in his diary after he came back. Later, people compared what Cixi did all her life, which completely proved that his view of Cixi was correct.
Empress Dowager Cixi, except for her vicious means and great desire for power, did not have much mind and extraordinary talent. She only relied on her own strength and the status of the empress dowager to listen to politics on the pretext that the king was young. It is said that her cultural level can't even write a good article. In the secret documents she wrote, people also found many typos, and the grammar was upside down and the handwriting was not correct. Most importantly, as the highest authority in the late Qing Dynasty, she did not have lofty political ambitions and ideals, nor did she have the ability to correctly handle state affairs. She's just fighting for power and profit and rejecting dissidents.
Because Zeng Guofan put down the unrest in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Cixi personally met him and gave him a great reward. This is Zeng Guofan's 1 meeting with Empress Dowager Cixi. After he came back, he wrote down his views on Empress Dowager Cixi in his diary. What is his evaluation of Cixi? Just ordinary? That is to say, according to his experience and skills of knowing people, he thinks that Empress Dowager Cixi is just an ordinary woman with no talent and ability, and even lacks in being a person. Now let's compare all the performances of Empress Dowager Cixi in her life. She really didn't have the ability to handle political affairs, nor did she make any contribution to the Great Qing Dynasty. On the contrary, many decisions are wrong, which shows that her ability is quite general as Zeng Guofan said.