No matter his career, family or academic attainments, his life has been extremely successful.

except for a few ups and downs of his official career, his career has been prosperous, and his achievements of seven liters in ten years are extremely rare even in the current officialdom.

Later, with the meritorious military service to pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he was an absolute man of the hour, combining many official positions and honors, such as Prince Taibao, a university student, a governor of the two rivers, and a first-class brave warrior.

As a matter of fact, Zeng Guofan is definitely not a "Fang Zhongyong" genius. As can be seen from many relevant historical documents, he is somewhat dull and a very "stupid" person.

Zeng Guofan's "stupidity" is first reflected in his pursuit of fame by reading.

He began to take the county exam at the age of fourteen, and took it seven times before and after. He didn't get into the scholar until he was twenty-three, and he was the second from the bottom.

In the twelfth year of Daoguang, Zeng Guofan took part in the scientific research for the sixth time, but was told by the academic platform at that time that he was "too shallow in arts and sciences".

Being humiliated by this, he gritted his teeth and worked hard. After that, in the seventh exam, he finally won the scholar, and later he was successfully promoted to the middle school, and he was selected as an academician.

Compared with Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang of his contemporaries, Zuo is only one year younger than Zeng, but he is a well-known "child prodigy" figure. At the age of fourteen, he took part in the county examination and ranked first. Li Hongzhang was also a scholar at the age of seventeen.

Zeng Guofan was also an angry young man with a quick temper in his early days. He was full of political ambitions, and he was bent on making a great career in the depressed situation of internal and external difficulties in the late Qing Dynasty. He was a typical "head-on" style in dealing with people and could not play Tai Chi at all.

When Daoguang died, Xianfeng, who was 2 years old, came to power.

he made a bold move, deposed him from being a senior official in the DPRK, and made it clear that he was "begging for words".

Xianfeng just talked about it, but Zeng Guofan took it seriously.

first, he appeared in ying Zhao Chen Yan Shu, denouncing the unhealthy trend in officialdom at that time, throwing eggs at stones and putting himself on the opposite side of the civil and military officials in the Manchu dynasty.

Then, he appeared in "Three Ends of Honor and Virtue", pointing out that Emperor Xianfeng was shrewd in minor matters, confused in major matters, headstrong and dishonest. The emperor was angry, and in a rage, he wanted to severely punish Zeng Guofan, thanks to several ministers who were close to him in the DPRK.

for a time, Zeng Guofan became the target of public criticism, and he was the target of everyone's concentrated fire and criticism.

moreover, Zeng Guofan's tactics are not necessarily brilliant.

Zeng Guofan's most brilliant stroke in his life was the establishment of the Xiang Army, which completed the extermination of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Nian Army.

He changed from literature to martial arts and knew nothing about marching and fighting. He had to read all kinds of military books to get the true scriptures.

unlike Zuo Zongtang's brilliant military wisdom, Zeng Guofan was not good at "clever attack" but only "stupid attack".

Before every battle, he will do extremely detailed research, figure out the deployment, logistics and other links, and never fight an unprepared battle.

when he meets something particularly difficult to conquer, he will fight against time and never make a move until he drags the other side to exhaustion.

explained by the fashionable psychological point of view today, Zeng Guofan is a typical "slimy" personality, which is slow and inflexible.

Zeng Guofan finally learned his lesson when others were near middle age.

that is, from then on, he gradually changed from an "angry youth" who lost his life to the emperor, to a "wily" Confucian scholar who was very suitable for officialdom.

Zeng Guofan took command personally after he founded the "Xiang Army". On the surface, Xianfeng entrusted him with a heavy responsibility, but in fact, he was wary and refused to give him real power. He changed from a second-rate "Beijing official" to a "temporary" cadre in a place with a false name, and he was in an embarrassing situation.

I have been posted in Hunan and Jiangxi successively, which broke the local interlocking interest network and touched the "cheese" of the officials of the two places, so I was extremely unpopular with the local dignitaries.

thus, Zeng Guofan's inner pain at that time can be seen.

Just as his father died, Zeng Guofan took a bold move and made a rare "out of line move" in his life: he memorialized a letter, in which he showed his grievances and difficulties to Xianfeng, and without waiting for Xianfeng's reply, he left the army still in Jiangxi and went straight to his hometown in Hunan.

I wanted to exchange this for real power from the emperor, but I didn't think that this "sympathy card" would make Xianfeng follow suit, and he was relieved of his military power. Zeng Guofan was completely heartbroken and had to study behind closed doors on the day of mourning for his father.

It is precisely this one-year mourning period that has completely completed Zeng Guofan's "transformation".

After learning from a painful experience, he began to seek a way out from the study of Huang Lao, and began to calm down and think about his way of dealing with people in the first half of his life.

Lao Zeng, who is stupid, has finally come to his senses. He understands Lao Zi's wise words, and his character is too rigid to overcome rigidity with softness. Once he leaves in a hurry, he will easily go sideways and hurt himself.

when Xianfeng reactivated him later, Zeng Guofan seemed to be a different person.

He became modest, low-key and peaceful. He began to use that once despised "official culture" for his own use, and gradually achieved perfection. But the only difference is that he always maintained a high degree of sobriety and amazing self-control so as not to make himself fall into the turbid stream.

Zeng Guofan's success was achieved by the old and stupid methods of "determination" and "conservation".

In Zeng Guofan's Letters, Zeng Guofan's Family Instructions and other works, the word "constant" that can be seen everywhere has always been a "tightening spell" hanging over Zeng's head.

After becoming an official in the DPRK, I decided to be a perfect person and look like a "saint". He used "day classes" to supervise himself. He went to bed from morning till night, and wrote everything in his diary, always reflecting and waking up.

Zeng's formula of "constant" is also a stupid method to some extent, and even seems a bit ridiculous today.

He reads, and he never reads other books until he has finished one. I didn't understand a word, and I never read the next one.

on the road of seeking "constancy", Zeng Guofan can be said to have struggled with himself all his life.

In order to persist in the task of reading and writing every day, he was in the middle of social activities and forced himself to go home and sit in the study.

He has been reading, writing and practicing calligraphy for decades. Even in the busiest period of military affairs, he insists on these habits every day.

Especially after he successfully quit smoking for many years, he has strengthened his road to perseverance, because decades of smoking addiction have been overcome, so what else can't be dealt with calmly?

at this point, Zeng Guofan honed his determination to pursue constancy with the rare spirit of "ascetic monk", which is particularly rare at that time and today.

"Be strict with yourself and be lenient with others." This sentence has been well reflected in Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan had a wide circle of friends in his life, and his disciples were numerous and talented. His disciples were all over the world, occupying all the important local departments in the Qing Dynasty. There were 13 governors and as many as 14 governors.

and the social method he uses is just a word "wide".

all his life, he asked himself "not to talk big, not to seek false reputation," and to do things "rather than let me take advantage of others." Others deceived him with cleverness and falsehood, but he still treated him with tolerance.

When it comes to money, character, personality cultivation, etc., he is strict with his sons, daughters and nephews, but in terms of seeking fame and wealth, Zeng Guofan does not ask much of his children.

He doesn't want his children to live in Wen Da and be rich. He only wants his children to "study hard and never be afraid of going without food."

In the face of poor and needy distant relatives and neighbors, Zeng Guofan often taught his children to give a helping hand, to give more support to the in-laws whose families are in poverty, and not to despise alienation. What's more, he asked his son to write to his mother-in-law more often and visit him often.

When a friend was martyred, Zeng Guofan supported his wife and children. Subordinates who died in the line of duty never forgot to send money to their families every year.

What is most worth mentioning is the half-life entanglement between him and Zuo Zongtang.

In many materials about Zeng Zuo, the "scientific research complex" and "Chongqing Liang complex" which influenced Zuo Zongtang's life are mentioned.

Zuo became famous when he was young, and he was famous in Xiangxiang, but the road to scientific research was bumpy, and he was only a little "juren"; Once brilliant, his official career was exceptionally smooth.

when they met, one was the "master" of the governor, while the other was already a second-class official of the imperial court.

Therefore, Zuo Zongtang has been looking at Zeng Guofan through colored glasses all his life, and he is very critical of him, criticizing him and returning evil for good, but Zeng Guofan has never returned his hand.

It is no exaggeration to say that Zuo Zongtang's later position in a high position is closely related to his spare no effort to recommend him, in addition to his rare strategy and military talent.

Zuo Zongtang bowed his head in the face of Zeng Guofan who repaid evil with good.

"magnanimous and peaceful, without boasting, I look like an old teacher." This is Fang Zongcheng's evaluation of Zeng Guofan in his later years, which outlines an ordinary portrait, but if you think about it carefully, "stupidity" is not a kind of great wisdom. After all, the elephant is invisible, and the softness is also strong.