The situation in the late Qing Dynasty went from bad to worse. With the outbreak of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Qing government faced a pattern of internal troubles and foreign invasion. The Eight Banners' green camp Army was vulnerable, and all foreign wars were defeated, which made the old lady Cixi happy. The bandit troops started a prairie fire, and more and more land was swallowed up. Seeing that most of China is almost gone, if the master of the Qing court doesn't want to do it, the Hong Party will hit Beijing in the foot. In an emergency, Cixi finally issued an imperial edict to encourage local landlords to set up private armed forces out of their own pockets. Even this order was a correct move, which improved the situation in the Qing court. Ying Yong rose suddenly, and Zeng Guofan, the leader of Xiang army, was the most successful.

In the end, Zeng Guofan's Xiang army stabbed Nanjing directly and ended the gang boss's lair. As a result, the Qing court changed the policy of rejecting Han officials and boldly reused Zeng Guofan, a Han official, so that he rose all the way.

The reuse of Zeng Guofan in the Qing court actually brought other benefits, because under his recommendation, the Qing court had two more available talents. One is left, and the other is Li Hongzhang. Zeng, Li and Zuo were all Han Chinese and played an important role in the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty. They are called the three famous ministers of ZTE in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zuo and Zeng Guofan are both from Hunan, and Zuo is one year younger than Zeng. Unlike Li Hongzhang, Zuo's early career was bumpy. Later, he was promoted by Zeng Guofan for actively suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Li Hongzhang is different. His father and Zeng Guofan are good friends and have smooth exchanges in the DPRK. In his early years, he became Zeng Guofan's aide, and his career was smooth.

Therefore, both Zuo and Li Hongzhang benefited from Zeng Guofan's kindness to some extent. They were still half Chinese, and later held important positions in the court. So what is the relationship between them?

As the saying goes, one mountain can't accommodate two tigers, and neither Li nor Li is mediocre. We know that Zuo is straightforward, aloof, and sincerely promises the country. He dares to compete with foreign countries for the sake of his country. How brave and heroic it was to carry the coffin westward and vow to recover Xinjiang and be ruled by the Qing court bullied by the state. However, Zuo Gong also has weaknesses, that is, he is not good at dealing with the relationship with the staff, and he is not sophisticated enough, which leads to a poor career in his early years, and therefore he is full of contempt for Li Hongzhang, who is sophisticated and cunning in officialdom. When facing foreigners, Li Hongzhang's servile appearance made him extremely disgusted.

In Li Hongzhang's view, he is at home in officialdom and in power. Of course, he doesn't like this soldier who only clamors for war, wastes military expenses and pretends to be lofty. Therefore, and Li have actually been fighting in North Korea.

This struggle continued until 1885. At that time, Zuo regretted his death because China was unbeaten in the Sino-French War, and Li Hongzhang finally lost his old enemy.

1On September 5th, 885, at Zuo's funeral, colleagues from the imperial court came to offer their condolences, and Li Hongzhang also appeared, but his appearance made the Li family very uneasy. Zuo and Li have always been at odds, and now Zuo Gongxian has passed away. I wonder how Li Hongzhang will be ridiculed.

However, when Zuo Jia saw the elegiac couplet sent by Li Hongzhang, he was relieved before he retained it, and wrote: "Thirty years, harmony without difference, but I regret not cutting it, and my husband knows me; It can be seen that Yaoyao's nine imperial edicts, within the civil rule, outside the martial rule, love the people for the world, finally reveal Li Hongzhang's rare open-mindedness between the lines. He regards Zuo as his opponent and confidant. Although political views are different, Zuo holds a very high position in Li Hongzhang's heart, and he is full of awe for this opponent.