Zeng Guofan and Nian Gengyao are two famous generals separated by a century and a half in the history of the Qing Dynasty. However, in the end, one of them became a famous official of ZTE, and the other had his home confiscated and was sentenced to death. What is the reason that caused the two people to have such different endings?

Nian Gengyao

1. Military and political foundation

Nian Gengyao died in the 39th year of Kangxi He was promoted to Jinshi in 1700, and nine years later he was appointed governor of Sichuan when he was still in his third year. During his tenure, he promoted advantages and eliminated disadvantages, and was courageous in governing. When he was the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, he put down the Qinghai rebellion forcefully and showed both wisdom and courage. As a result, he won the praise and trust of Kangxi, and his official career was prosperous.

When Emperor Yongzheng began to be suspicious of Nian Gengyao, he completely lost his ability to exclude dissidents and spread his wings to the local area. Nian Gengyao once impeached Sichuan Governor Cai Ge, causing the latter to be dismissed from office and sentenced to death by the Ministry of Punishment. After Yongzheng learned about it, he immediately rejected the judgment of the Ministry of Punishment. Instead of killing Cai Lao, he promoted him to Zuodu Yushi, responsible for impeaching Nian Gengyao. Not only that, Yongzheng also transferred or dismissed Nian Gengyao's cronies such as the governor of Gansu and the admiral of Sichuan. Nian Gengyao had no power to resist.

These actions of Yongzheng sent a signal to the officials: Nian Gengyao was no longer favored by the emperor, but became the target of the emperor's punishment. As a result, officials who had been hit by Nian Gengyao began to impeach him enthusiastically. Neutral ministers tried their best to draw a clear line between them and Nian Gengyao. Even Nian Gengyao's subordinates and cronies also added insult to injury and tried to protect themselves.

Although Nian Gengyao had more than 200,000 troops at his peak, and the military discipline was very strict during the war. On the surface, he only obeyed Nian Gengyao, but in fact, they were all children of the Eight Banners fighting in a foreign land. It is a government-controlled force, and its allegiance is actually to the emperor. Their family members were basically at the rear, and most of them were unwilling to sacrifice their lives for Nian Gengyao's ambition.

However, Zeng Guofan's path to becoming an extremely popular minister was completely different from Nian Gengyao's. He was a Jinshi at the age of 28, and nine years later he was promoted to the title of Bachelor of the Cabinet and Minister of Rites. His official career was also very smooth. However, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom surged and shook the foundation of the Qing Dynasty's rule, Zeng Guofan's path of struggle was completely different from the upper-level route taken by Nian Gengyao. From then on, he embarked on a bottom-up grassroots route. The "Hunan Brave" he trained was completely different from the regular army commanded by Nian Gengyao. Most of his soldiers were simple and strong local farmers, and his generals were selected from Zeng Guofan's fellow villagers, relatives and friends. Scholars, these people are closely connected by ties of clan, blood, family friends, etc., and are far more united and stable than the local soldiers recruited by the government from various places under Nian Gengyao.

Nian Gengyao in film and television dramas

2. Financial power

Another huge difference in power between Zeng Guofan and Nian Gengyao is reflected in their financial control Strength. During Nian Gengyao's counterinsurgency campaign in the northwest, all military expenses for food and drink were borne by the central government. As long as Nian Gengyao opened his mouth, the emperor would devote all the financial resources of the country to satisfy him. However, the power of national taxation had always been controlled by the central government. Nian Gengyao could only ask for it, but had no right to collect taxes himself. Even if Nian Gengyao raised troops to rebel, he could not use the relatively poor and weak northwest provinces under his control to fight against the central government, which had far more abundant human and financial resources.

Zeng Guofan was different. The Qing government delegated power to local organizations to organize "team training" entirely because of its own lack of financial resources. Just replenishing and reorganizing the defeated Green Camp and Eight Banners was enough to make it stretched. As a result, the central government ceded some of its local financial powers such as donations, taxation, salt affairs, royalties, rates and customs duties to the landlord armed forces. This allowed the Hunan Army to achieve independence in food and salary from the beginning.

Of course, the Qing government also took some measures to curb the expansion of Zeng Guofan's economic power. For a long period of time, the Qing government was unwilling to grant Zeng Guofan and his subordinates the position of governor of the provinces. Emperor Xianfeng was happy to appoint Zeng Guofan as "acting governor of Hubei" for a while, but he soon withdrew the appointment and only rewarded him with the false title of Minister of War. This allowed officials at all levels in various provinces to constrain Zeng Guofan financially.

However, Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army actually controlled the war in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, forcing Zeng Guofan to rely on the richest provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang under his control to compete with the central government. Its strength was not inferior to that of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Qing court, which was exhausted by internal and external troubles, could not withstand such troubles anyway. It could only take some measures to restrict Zeng Guofan, but did not dare to take drastic measures like Yongzheng did to punish Nian Gengyao. It can be seen that the difference in outcomes between Nian Gengyao and Zeng Guofan has a lot to do with the prosperity and economic self-sufficiency of the areas they controlled.

Zeng Guofan

3. Different visions

In addition, Zeng and Nian’s political sense and ambitions are also very different. This is mainly reflected in the handling and The ability to grasp the scale and timing of the central relationship.

In the beginning, Nian Gengyao was an honest and capable official. As the emperor's favor deepened, he went to great lengths to cultivate party members and strive for power and wealth, completely unaware that the emperor's favor was just fate. military dependence on him.

This was not the case with Zeng Guofan. Although he held military and political power in the four provinces and contributed to the annihilation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and was "unparalleled in power," he had a clear understanding of the central government's attitude. When someone told him how the Qing court restrained the Hunan army and persuaded him to rebel against the Qing, he was unmoved and said that his power was indeed too great. It was understandable that the Qing court was suspicious of him; in order to reassure the Qing court, he neither Although he took power, he was not greedy for money. He was respectful to the emperor and later the Empress Dowager Cixi, and rarely participated in the factional struggles of the central government. This made it difficult for the central government to find clues. The imperial court and Zeng Guofan's political opponents could not find 92 crimes like Nian Gengyao's.

Zeng Guofan’s grasp of the unpredictable imperial politics was far better than that of Nian Gengyao. For example, the central government transferred him from the governor of Liangjiang to the governor of Zhili. Although it was a promotion, it was to transfer him away. "Old nest", Zeng Guofan was well aware of this temptation, but he happily took office without giving any excuse to the Qing court. After Nian Gengyao was transferred to Hangzhou General, he stopped halfway and wanted to wait for the emperor to change his mind. This kind of political naivety not only resulted in the fact of disobeying the holy orders, but also gave the excuse of "rebellion" without asking, which ultimately led to death.

In addition, when Zeng Guofan first pacified the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he cut down the Hunan Army without waiting for the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was suspicious of him, to take action. He also sent people to the capital to open up connections and spread to high-level officials that the Hunan Army had no intention of going north to fight for power. Public opinion, try to keep a low profile. Nian Gengyao failed to seize this opportunity. Instead of retreating due to the lessons learned in previous dynasties of "rabbits die and dogs cook", he instead arrogantly asked for officials and money, which was undoubtedly asking for his own death.

Although Nian Gengyao and Zeng Guofan were both "savior" generals who made great contributions, due to differences in political wisdom, power base, and crisis public relations capabilities, their final endings can be described as mixed. The difference.

Quotes by Zeng Guofan

What do the endings of the two of them tell us? In today’s terms, I think it is

1. When starting a business, your subordinates must be loyal and reliable, and they must have good relationships with their peers

2. Economic independence is a must, and only by mastering the economy can we have the right to speak

3. Public relations awareness, that is, when dealing with foreign affairs, we must seize the opportunity and keep a clear mind

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