Zeng Guofan's inspirational sayings and aphorisms: Nothing is difficult in the world if you work hard

Zeng Guofan said that an official should have five kinds of diligence:? The first is physical diligence: the dangerous and long road, experience it yourself; A difficult situation, experienced firsthand. The second is diligence: when you meet a person, you must look at it in detail; when you receive an article, you must review it repeatedly. The third is diligence: put away things that are easy to throw away; record things that are easy to forget in a notebook. The fourth is diligence: when dealing with colleagues, encourage each other; when dealing with subordinates, teach them again and again. The fifth is diligence: if you are sincere, gold and stone will be opened; if you think hard, ghosts and miracles will be revealed. ?

Although Zeng Guofan’s "Five Diligences" is the way to be an official, it is also the way to conduct yourself in the world:

One is to be diligent

What Zeng Guofan said: "Be diligent" means practicing and setting an example.

Zeng Guofan once said: "I say that the emperor may not be intimate with someone on small matters, but a minister must be intimate with someone."

This is what Zeng Guofan said and what he did. Zeng Guofan required himself to get up early in the army. No matter what kind of weather it was, no matter what kind of environment it was, he would "dance upon hearing the chicken", train troops, supervise training, and handle various affairs. Zeng Guofan said to the lieutenants of the army: "The way to train soldiers must be practiced day and night, and then one can gradually become more familiar with it." Like a chicken hatching eggs, like a furnace refining elixirs, you can't leave for even a moment. ?The Analects of Confucius says: ?If his body is upright, he will not do what he is told; if his body is not upright, he will not do what he is told. ?

Words are not as good as words and deeds. This is how Zeng Guofan influenced his staff and generals. Whether you are practicing as an individual or managing a team, it is crucial to set a good example for those around you and your subordinates.

2. Eyesight and Diligence

What Zeng Guofan called "eyesight and diligence" is to recognize people from the subtleties.

When Zeng Guofan assigned Li Hongzhang to train the Huai army, Li Hongzhang brought three people to see him and asked Zeng Guofan to assign positions to them. Unfortunately, he happened to go out for a walk after dinner. Li ordered the three of them to wait outside while he went indoors. When Zeng came back from a walk, Li asked Zeng to meet the three of them.

Zeng said there was no need to summon him again, and said to Li: The person standing on the right is a loyal and reliable person who can be assigned logistics and supply work; the person standing in the middle is a person who violates the law and can only be trusted by others. Can give him a trivial job; the person standing on the left is a superior talent and should be reused. ?

Li Jing asked: ?How did you see it?

Zeng smiled and said: ?When I came back from a walk just now and walked in front of three people, the person on the right He lowered his head and did not dare to look up, which shows that he is respectful and respectful, so he can be assigned the supply work. The man in the middle appeared to be respectful on the surface, but as soon as I walked past, I immediately looked left and right, and I could see that he was being obedient, so he couldn't be used. The man on the left always stands upright, looking straight in the eyes. He is neither arrogant nor humble. He is a general. ?

The person on the left that Zeng Guofan pointed to as a "general" was the famous Liu Mingchuan who later served as the governor of Taiwan.

Zeng Guofan recognized people from the subtleties and developed his keen eye. The staff of the Zeng Mansion was at its peak. The staff made great contributions to Zeng Guofan's efforts in pacifying the Taiping Army.

Three: Diligent Hands

What Zeng Guofan said: Diligence in Hands is actually to develop a good habit.

Zeng Guofan developed three good habits in his life:

First, the habit of introspection: Zeng Guofan wrote a diary every day. Zeng Guofan said: The only two things we can rely on are improving our morality and cultivating our profession. . Advancing virtue means being filial to one's brothers, benevolence and righteousness; cultivating one's profession means writing poetry and prose. I am the master of these two. If I get a ruler, I will use it. If I get an inch, I will use it. If you cultivate one point of virtue today, you will have accumulated one liter of grain; if you cultivate one point of karma tomorrow, you will have one penny left over; if the virtue and karma are both increased, then your household wealth will increase. As for fame, wealth and honor, they are all determined by fate and have no control over them at all. ?Zeng Guofan practiced self-cultivation by writing a diary, reflecting on his own shortcomings in aspects such as dealing with others. Through such reflection, he continued to cultivate himself.

The second good habit is the habit of reading. He stipulated that he must read no less than ten pages of history every day and write no less than half an hour after meals. Zeng Guofan said: People's temperament is difficult to change due to their innate nature. Only reading can change their temperament. Ancient people who were good at physiognomy also said that reading can change the physiognomy.

?By insisting on studying, Zeng Guofan not only changed his temperament, but also honed his perseverance. At the same time, he also increased his talents and understood many principles of life, which also made him a great scholar.

The third good habit is to write family letters. It is said that Zeng Guofan wrote no less than 253 family letters in 1861 alone. He continued to educate his younger brothers and children by writing family letters. Under Zeng Guofan’s words and deeds, the descendants of the Zeng family Everyone is talented.

As the saying goes, habits determine character, and character determines destiny. Zeng Guofan developed good habits, which not only made Zeng Guofan himself successful, but also influenced the descendants of the Zeng family.

Four: Diligence in speech

Zeng Guofan’s “diligence in speech” was the way he got along with others.

Zeng Guofan believed that when colleagues get along with each other, two tigers fight against each other, and the winner also mourns.

It is said that Zeng Guofan did not have a good relationship with Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan. In the third year of Xianfeng Dynasty, when Zeng Guofan first organized team training in Changsha, Luo Bingzhang did not take Zeng Guofan seriously at all, nor did he care about Zeng Guofan's work. Very supportive. When there was a conflict between Green Camp and Tuan Lian, he always turned towards Green Camp.

What made Zeng Guofan particularly aggrieved was that after the defeat of Jinggang and the Hunan Army retreated to Shuiluzhou on the outskirts of Changsha, Luo Bingzhang came to see off his guests at the pier only a few dozen meters away from Zeng Guofan's ship. Zeng Guofan thought that he came specially to visit and comfort him, and he was very grateful in his heart. Unexpectedly, after seeing off the guests, he turned around and left, pretending that he had not seen Zeng Guofan! He also ridiculed Zeng Guofan's defeat with Changsha officials.

Despite this, Zeng Guofan did not argue with words, but adopted a tolerant attitude. When he came out for the second time after observing his father's filial piety, he paid a special visit to Luo Bingzhang with a very humble and respectful attitude. Very enthusiastic, as if the previous incident never happened. This surprised Luo Bingzhang, and he stated on the spot that if the Hunan Army encounters any difficulties in the future, we in Hunan will do our best to help.

?You have established yourself in advance to establish others, and you want to achieve others and achieve others. , not only allowed him to achieve his own achievements, but also made famous officials such as Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Mingchuan, Hu Linyi, etc., and realized the short-lived resurgence in the late Qing Dynasty.

Five Days of Diligence

What Zeng Guofan called "diligence" is actually the quality of a firm will.

Whether Zeng Guofan was doing scientific research or pacifying the Taiping Army, he suffered repeated defeats and battles, and there was a sincere belief that supported him. Work hard in all aspects, and the results will come naturally.

Zeng Guofan said that all the mediocre people in the world, ancient and modern, are defeated by the word "lazy". ?Use diligence to cure laziness, and use diligence to cure mediocrity. Whether it is self-cultivation, self-discipline, or how to behave in society, there will be no difficulty in the world with diligence. ;