One is Confucius, the other is Wang Yangming, and the other is Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Guofan's life is full of controversy, but his accomplishments in dealing with people and cultivating personality are beyond doubt.
"Speaking slowly is expensive, being gentle is rich, and being virtuous is prosperous" is his eternal words left to future generations, and it is also the condensation of his wisdom life.
0 1
It is expensive to speak slowly.
Confucius said: a gentleman speaks but doesn't do it.
Really smart people know how to think twice. Words are faster than brains, and speaking without thinking will only bring disaster.
Zeng Guofan, when he was young, also planted his mouth several times.
He often calls a spade a spade, mocking classmates and friends as inferior to himself, seizing the opportunity to make friends with colleagues and showing his abilities everywhere.
As a result, I offended someone once and I didn't know it.
Until one day, in the court, facing the newly enthroned Emperor Xianfeng, he blurted out the accusation: "Small things are smart, big things are confused, and they are only cosmetic, not practical."
Emperor Xianfeng was furious and wanted to punish him. Fortunately, other college students tried to defend themselves to avoid being convicted.
After this robbery, he suddenly woke up. He made a remark that "you can't do things with your heart and you can't talk with your mouth", reminding yourself to keep in mind that you should be steady and speak slowly.
Since then, Zeng Guofan has been particularly cautious.
According to historical records, after Zeng Guofan's speech, he must have been said after others had finished, and he said, you have to prepare ten sentences, otherwise it will be an ice.
Because of this, he was able to become one of the few people in history who served as Lord of Gao Zhen, but died a fair death.
Plato said: "a wise man speaks because he has something to say;" Stupid people talk because they want to talk. "
A wise man speaks with his head; Fool, talk with your mouth.
Before you speak, slow down three points, keep a clear head and keep your thoughts smooth, so as not to say irrational words that you regret.
Wang Langya, the "first noble family in China", experienced dynasty changes and lasted for thousands of years, creating the miracle of three saints and thirty-five prime ministers.
In his family training, the first rule is: speak slowly.
The depth of the water slows down the flow, and the late words are expensive.
Keeping your mouth shut is keeping your blessing.
02
Soft people have money.
There is a story in Aesop's Fables:
The sun and the wind argue about who is the best.
But no one can convince each other. Finally, they agreed that whoever takes off the clothes of passers-by first is the best.
Next, the strong wind puffed up his cheeks and blew hard, but the more he blew, the tighter passers-by wrapped his clothes.
The sun gently sprinkled sunlight on passers-by, getting warmer and warmer, and slowly pedestrians took off their coats.
It turns out that being gentle and kind is more powerful than being forced to do things, and being too tough is often counterproductive.
Forced pressure, only yield; Soft, but what you get is faith.
Zeng Guofan, who has just entered the officialdom, has a sharp edge and likes to be tough when he is in trouble. On the surface, it seems that the dust has settled, but in fact it hurts the harmony and loses people's hearts.
Finally, I was finally deprived of my military power and went home in a mess.
During that time at home, he repeatedly introspected and realized that it was too rigid and easy to fold, but it was soft and lasting.
When dealing with people, we should not be soft and tactful, we can advance and retreat, and we are doomed to failure.
After his comeback, he was low-key, modest, gentle and polite, and brought the word "soft" to the extreme.
In order to ease the relationship with Zuo, as a coach, he chose to go on foot to show his sincerity.
Go to him, in the face of Zuo Fu only opened a side door of spite, he calmly walked in, an enter a door to look at yourself.
Because of this, his later popularity, popularity and career are invincible.
There is an old saying: Shui Rou is strong, and it benefits everything without dispute. Water is the king of all valleys, and it is good at it.
Softness is never cowardice, but a strength, a mind and a pattern that penetrates people's hearts.
Be gentle with people and things, and you can beat the big with small ones.
03
Morality and honesty make people prosper.
Zeng Guofan advocated "three taboos" in his life: avoiding the coincidence of heaven, avoiding the surplus of heaven, and avoiding the second of heaven.
"Don't be clever" is the first, that is, be kind and don't be opportunistic.
He doesn't accept bribes. Although he is the governor of the two rivers and holds the richest province in his hand, his life is very poor.
For his family, Zeng Guofan often beat and warned not to make ill-gotten gains and pay attention to accumulating virtue and doing good.
He is generous to students or colleagues, never cares about gains and losses, and tries his best to help them.
Even after Zuo impeached him, he still actively planned military supplies for him, so that he could successfully recover Xinjiang. Finally, the old stubborn Zuo had to admire his kindness and generosity.
Therefore, he was deeply supported and loyally followed by people around him. Even after his death, the Zeng family remained prosperous, producing more than 240 famous talents in the past 200 years.
As he once said, sincerity in the world can overcome falsehood in the world, and only stupidity in the world can overcome cleverness in the world.
Honesty is better than lies, and clumsiness is better than cleverness. What can make a person and a family go far is never a shrewd calculation, but a simple one.
Faith can last for a long time, and virtue can be far away.
In 2009, at the risk of bankruptcy, Cao Wangde closed the factory with an investment of 800 million yuan.
The person in charge was heartbroken and asked him inexplicably: "The government has disposed of the garbage by landfill, why should it be closed?"
Cao said: "Although it is no problem to do this in a short time, our daily garbage output is too large. If it is accumulated for a long time, it will still become the source of harm to future generations. We can't ignore the safety of the surrounding villagers for immediate interests, we must close it! "
It is also because of his kindness and kindness that he became the later glass king and his career became more and more prosperous.
As the saying goes: stingy people are blessed with thin enjoyment, while generous people are blessed with thick enjoyment.
Life is like a long river flowing into the sea. It has never been the gain or loss of a pass or the loss of a place, but Hongpei, where all rivers converge.
Kindness is a person's greatest wealth, but also the greatest blessing.
Zeng Guofan said: Be an official for a while, and be a man for a lifetime.
The end of a person's life is ultimately included in this practice.
Caution leads to disaster reduction, gentleness leads to success, and virtue leads to happiness.