Zeng Guofan was cautious and independent, with the first day of October in the 22nd year of Daoguang as the dividing line. Before this day, his hard work was fragmentary and accidental. On July 14th of the previous year, he visited Mr. Tang Jinghai and asked about the essentials of reading and self-cultivation. Mr. Tang advised him to take The Complete Works of Zhu Zi as the course and practice it. He also introduced to him the diligent methods of the famous Neo-Confucianism scholar Mr. Wogenfeng at that time. According to his diary of this day, after listening to Mr. Tang's words, he was "obviously ignorant." However, from this day to the first day of the next year's lO month, for more than a year, he made only two self-criticisms in his diary. One time, Daoguang swore to quit smoking on the first day of September 21, and the other time was the next day. He blamed himself for "getting smarter and getting nowhere in his studies. What a victory! ..... From now on, I can't escape! " His meditation only started on December 12th of this year, and it lasted for * * * five times on 13th, 16th, 18th and 19th. Its purpose was not to be cautious about independence, but to cure diseases. "If bamboo teaches meditation, it means that you can be happy without medicine." He really consciously did cautious independence, which was in the year of his 3 l age, that is, 22 years of Daoguang. Yan Zi is not ignorant of his shortcomings, but he knows a few things ... If he fails to observe this, he will be relieved and unable to accept it ... He was also taught to write a day class, and he should write it immediately, so it is not appropriate to follow it. " The so-called "knowing a few", this is the words in the Book of Changes, a few, the slightest movement, that is, the activity of every thought in the deep heart; Every thought is known by oneself, which is called "knowing a few", which is similar to the meaning of "cautious independence". Under the urging of Mr. Wogenfeng, he really stopped following the rules. From this day on, he learned to look like Mr. Wogenfeng every day, sitting quietly, reading the Book of Changes and writing a diary to check his psychology and behavior. On the 26th of this month, in his letter to his younger brothers, he introduced the situation of practicing cautious and independent kungfu during this period: "Mr. Wogenfeng is very strict in sincere kungfu, and he has a daily lesson book. During the day, the difference between one thought and one thing is lost, and everything is written in books. All books are written in letters, and one book was ordered in March. Since B, there are thirty books today. Cover it with the strictness of being cautious and independent. Although you think about it accidentally, you will immediately cure it and write it in the book; Therefore, every sentence in the book you read is an essential medicine. ... since the first day of the month of L 'O, I have followed the example of Gen Feng, and I have written everything I read every day in the book, so that I can learn from it and write regular script. ..... I have always had the disadvantages of being constant. Since I wrote this day lesson book, I can be sure to be constant for life ... I have been remembering day lessons since October 1, and I want to turn over a new leaf. Thinking that there was a gap with Xiaoshan in the past, it was really a dynasty's anger and unkindness, that is, I wanted to go to the door to apologize. It happened that Xiao Shan came to celebrate her birthday on the 9th, and she went to Xiao Shan's house for a long talk after the night. On the 13th, I invited Xiao Shan to dinner in partnership with Daiyun, and since then, I have laughed as usual and let bygones be bygones!

Yang Zhen was transferred to Jingzhou secretariat and Donglai satrap for four times. When he took office in the county, he passed by Changyi, and Wang Mi, a Jingzhou scholar he had recommended in the past, was making a county magistrate in Changyi. In the evening, Wang Mi went to visit Yang Zhen, took ten catties of gold in her arms and gave it to Yang Zhen. Yang Zhen said, "I know you, but you don't know me. What's the matter?" Wang Mi said, "It's so late, no one can know about it." Yang Zhen said, "God knows, God knows, I know, you know. How can you say that no one knows? " Wang Mi withdrew in shame.

Yang Zhen's Twilight for Gold tells the story of Yang Zhen's refusal to accept bribes at dusk. The beauty of this article lies in the word "Twilight". In the dead of night, without the knowledge of a third party, Yang Zhen, as Wang Mi's boss and his teacher, resolutely refused to pay a large sum of money, and made a solemn statement. This is a matter that cannot be tolerated by nature, jurisprudence, people and reason. His spirit of "being cautious and independent" is commendable and can be called a model for all generations. Although the story is small, its educational significance is not small. A person, from small to large, is an official for the people, day and night, someone is absent, and he can be strict with himself, not greedy, refusing gifts and bribes. His noble character and moral norms are well-known. This is a very good material for ideological education, thus expanding students' thinking, guiding students to understand the educational significance contained in Yang Zhen's words and learning to be a noble person.