Zeng Guofan was a famous minister of the ZTE in the late Qing Dynasty. He, Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong were collectively known as the "Four Famous Ministers of the Late Qing Dynasty". They were definitely important ministers who contributed to the Qing Dynasty. From Zeng Guofan to Wuyingdian Grand Scholar and Governor of Liangjiang, he was a veritable official of the feudal frontiers. During the Tongzhi period, he was also awarded the title of first-class Yiyong Marquis, which was inherited hereditary. After Zeng Guofan's death, he received the posthumous title "Wenzheng", which is rare among civil servants in history.

Zeng Guofan’s life is simply a model of successful learning. Therefore, in modern times, he was sought after by many people, and his reputation reached its peak.

The reason why Zeng Guofan succeeded has a lot to do with his principles of conduct. Therefore, Zeng Guofan does have a lot to learn from.

Zeng Guofan was stupid since he was a child, but he firmly believed that diligence can make up for stupidity. Moreover, Zeng Guofan has great perseverance and perseverance. He constantly accumulates and summarizes past experiences and lessons, and persists in doing what he believes in. In most cases, Zeng Guofan also succeeded. This can be said to be the biggest source of Zeng Guofan's success, and it is also the most worthy of our study.

According to Zeng Guofan’s own recollection, a thief once went to his home to steal. The thief climbed onto the roof and found Zeng Guofan endorsing the book. The thief thought that he would wait until Zeng Guofan finished memorizing the book and went to bed before going to steal again. As a result, Zeng Guofan recited an article repeatedly, and it was almost dawn before he could recite it.

The thief waited all night and couldn't bear it anymore. He jumped off the roof and recited the article loudly to Zeng Guofan. Then, the thief said to Zeng Guofan, "You are so stupid. Why are you reading? You can't remember such a simple article." Then, walk away.

Zeng Guofan looked at the retreating figure of the thief, dumbfounded, and then in chaos. However, Zeng Guofan did not give up because of this, but instead studied harder. In the end, his hard work paid off. When he took the examination for the third time, he finally got the 42nd place in the top three, and was awarded the title of Jinshi.

Zeng Guofan was stupid, average in reading, and somewhat average in fighting.

Zeng Guofan trained the Hunan Army and prepared for a decisive battle with the Taiping Army. As a result, the Battle of Yuezhou failed; the Battle of Jinggang was defeated by the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan was so ashamed and angry that he drowned himself in anger. Fortunately, he was rescued by his subordinates. After that, Zeng Guofan regrouped, conquered Xiangtan, captured Wuchang and Hanyang, and surrounded Jiujiang, finally earning some face.

As a result, Zeng Guofan was not happy for a while. In the battle of Hukou with Shi Dakai, more than 100 warships were burned by the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan was forced to jump off the ship to escape. The ship and documents he took were all obtained by Shi Dakai. Zeng Guofan was so angry that he wanted to commit suicide again, but was stopped by his subordinates again.

Because Zeng Guofan always jumped off the boat, someone later gave Zeng Guofan the title of "Diving Champion".

Zeng Guofan suffered repeated setbacks in the war. As a generation of "movie king", Zeng Guofan could not help but perform. However, after the performance, he did not give up. The well-known saying of "building a stronghold and fighting a dull war" was summed up by Zeng Guofan through constant practice. To this day, it still affects many people.

In life, Zeng Guofan worked tirelessly to correct many of his bad habits. I don’t know what the effect will be, but at least Zeng Guofan did self-examination every day. For example, in order to quit sex, Zeng Guofan wrote in a diary every day and scolded himself, saying that he must quit and not do it again. The only unsatisfactory thing is that Zeng Guofan seemed to barely achieve this ambitious goal before he died.

Zeng Guofan once expressed his views on reading in his letters home: "When scholars study, they must first have ambition, secondly have knowledge, and thirdly have perseverance."

When it comes to doing things, Zeng Guofan believes: "When a person does something, he must concentrate on it with all his energy, and he must be unremitting from beginning to end, without any change of ideas... If a person has no perseverance, he will achieve nothing in his life."

Zeng Guofan is true. It was his determination, knowledge and perseverance that he firmly believed in, as well as his diligence and enterprising spirit, that eventually led him to achieve great success. Therefore, he is also called by some people as the half saint among the "two and a half saints" in the past and present, and is also called "the perfect man in ancient and modern times".

Can Zeng Guofan be called a "sage"?

Let’s first take a look at Zeng Guofan’s criteria for becoming a “sage”, namely, establishing virtue, meritorious services, and speaking up.

Building virtue is naturally a virtue.

Zeng Guofan told us a truth, as long as you don’t spend so much money, then you are not greedy. Therefore, Zeng Guofan is very honest. Not bad, Zeng Guofan achieved the basic moral principles of ancient officials. However, the treasures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom disappeared without a trace after Zeng Guoquan captured Tianjing. Later, Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang sent by Cixi to investigate the matter, was also assassinated, triggering the famous "Horse Assassination Case." Finally, Zeng Guofan went out to investigate the case personally and let it go.

Do we still have to prove that Zeng Guoquan is Zeng Guofan’s biological brother? Of course not necessary. We can only pretend to know nothing about what Zeng Guofan actually did.

As for meritorious service, it is naturally the contribution made to the country or the people.

Zeng Guofan did this very well. He led the Hunan Army to put down the rebellion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army, turned the tide, and saved the Qing Dynasty in the last days. He was definitely a meritorious official who contributed to the Qing Dynasty. Otherwise, he would not be awarded the title of ZTE Famous Minister.

If Zeng Guofan "licked the Manchus and suppressed the Han" because he took the Qing court's salary, cannibalism and loyalty, it is understandable. However, when he was dealing with the Tianjin religious case, he blindly blamed the Tianjin people and flattered France, which was despised. It is not an exaggeration to call him a "Zeng Guo thief".

In addition, Zeng Guofan killed a lot of people when he was pacifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Among those killed, in addition to surrendered soldiers and prisoners, there were also many innocent civilians. From then on, the Zeng brothers got the nicknames "Zeng Shatou", "Zeng Butcher" and "Zeng Lao Tao". This inevitably makes Zeng Guofan's "merit" full of flaws.

The Tianjin Mission Case and the massacre of innocent people not only damaged Zeng Guofan's credit, but also damaged Zeng's moral character.

To speak out means to write a book, a letter, a diary, and leave your own words in order to educate the world.

Formally speaking, Zeng Guofan did this. The family letters and family mottos he wrote were collected into books and circulated for hundreds of years. Especially after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan's works were sought after by many people, and even praised by many great men.

However, if you really understand Zeng Guofan in detail, you will find that he is a very complex contradiction. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, it would be "Life is like a play, it all depends on acting skills." If Zeng Guofan had no city government, he would not be able to reach the status of a feudal official.

We may never guess Zeng Guofan’s true thoughts. However, we might as well learn from his behavior. If we can squeeze out a little time, then we might as well use this time to write some content that teaches people to be kind, such as letters home, diaries, or just writing a book. By the way, you can also deeply reflect on the mistakes you have made, and add a high-sounding reason to excuse yourself. Then, we are likely to become role models for future generations.

The world has misunderstood the original meaning of establishing virtue, meritorious service and reputation.

Establishing virtue, meritorious service, and speaking up are not the criteria by which the ancients judged whether they were saints.

This standard comes from "Zuo Zhuan". Shu Sunbao said: "The most important thing is to establish virtue, the second is to perform meritorious service, and the third is to establish words. Even if it lasts for a long time, this is called immortality."

The original meaning is to set a noble moral example, or to establish great achievements, or to write a book. As long as you make achievements in any of them, then this person will live on even after his death, achieve eternal immortality, and be remembered by the world forever. An ambition to remember.

Don't say that Zeng Guofan did not meet the "Three Standings" standard. Even if he did, he still lacked too much compared with Confucius and Wang Yangming. Relatively speaking, Confucius and Wang Yangming are called "sages" and can be recognized by most people. Zeng Guofan's achievement is not that he became a saint, but that he did achieve part of the three standards of "immortality", and by virtue of this part of his achievement, the world will always remember him.