Zuo Zongtang has a very high self-esteem and always calls himself Zhuge Liang, known as "Jin Liang"! But there were too many last resorts in his youth.

After Zuo Zongtang passed the imperial examination, his parents died successively. He spent all his family's savings on buying scholars and passing examinations, and was desperate. So, he had no choice but to join Zhou's family and become a house-based son-in-law. On his wedding night, he wrote a couplet to encourage himself:

I don’t have half an acre, but I worry about the world; I have read thousands of volumes, and I have friends with the ancients.

Zuo Zongtang used this couplet to inspire himself, and from then on he began his cheating life.

It was this couplet that made him work hard to practice the knowledge of "managing the world for practical purposes". It closed the door to the imperial examination for him and made him the most prestigious Xiangjiang talent!

Zuo Zongtang once received an invitation from Lin Zexu to join the show, but he refused because the time was not right.

Zuo Zongtang (set of 2 volumes)/Classic book series of long historical novels

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Hunan at that time The leader of the national officials was Tao Shu, who was Zuo Zongtang's Bole. When Zuo Zongtang was 26 years old, he was ingratiated with Tao Shu, the 58-year-old governor of Liangjiang, and became his children's in-laws and tutors. He relied on this couplet:

Chun Dian speaks calmly, and the twenty-year family mountain seals the heart. In; The river flows day and night, and the children of the eight states are eager to return home

The first couplet "Twenty Years" means that it has been 20 years since Tao Shu became an official. "Jiashan", hometown. The second line of the second line "Dajiang" comes from Xie Zao's poem "Sent from Xinlin to Jingyi at Night to Present to Colleagues in the West": "The river flows day and night, and the guest's heart is sad." "Eight Prefectures" refers to the whole of China. "Looking up", looking up, describes eagerness.

When Zuo Zongtang became the tutor of Tao Shu's only son, he also entered the circle of Hunan officials and started his career as an official.

Zuo Zongtang used the money earned by Tao Shu's family to achieve financial independence and got rid of the trouble of "eating soft rice". At the same time, he met Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi and other senior Hunan officials. In this circle, Zuo Zongtang served as the shogunate of Zhang Liangji and Luo Bingzhang successively, and made great contributions in the process of annihilating the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although it is called the shogunate, it actually has full power and leaves the name of Zuodu Yushi!

In the Qing Dynasty, all governors had the title of "Du Censor", and Zuo Du Censor was more noble. Calling Zuo Zongtang the "Censor of Zuodu" actually means that Zuo Zongtang is the "overlord" above the governor!

Starting from the annihilation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and later the annihilation of the Nian Army, and then later the westward expedition to regain Xinjiang, and went south to preside over the Sino-French War. It can be said that Zuo Zongtang single-handedly supported the "Tongguang ZTE" in the late Qing Dynasty!

After Zeng Guofan conquered Tianjin, Zuo Zongtang asked Zeng Guofan:

What I rely on will be obtained soon; how can I ask about the weight of the tripod?

Zuo Zongtang intended to lead Hunan officials to support Zeng Guofan as emperor, but Zeng Guofan was a coward and quickly changed "like" to "no"!

Coincidentally, when Hu Linyi passed away, the bond between Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan was broken!

The four major shogunates in the late Qing Dynasty were Tao Shu, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Yuan Shikai. They all served as high-ranking officials while managing their personal power. Only Zuo Zongtang was dedicated to the people, selfless, like a lone ranger!

This couplet best expresses Zuo Zongtang’s outlook on life;

Make high wishes and get married. If you have a moderate fate, you will enjoy inferior blessings; choose a high place to stand, find a flat place to live, and walk towards a wide place. Some people say that Zuo Zongtang had low emotional intelligence and was not good at selecting people. The Fuzhou Shipping Bureau was handed over to Lin Zexu's son-in-law Shen Baozhen.

However, Shen Baozhen defected to Li Hongzhang and became the coastal defense faction, openly obstructing Zuo Zongtang's plan to regain Xinjiang!

In fact, this further reflects Zuo Zongtang’s characteristics - serving the country wholeheartedly! Zuo Zongtang advocated the Western Expedition, which meant that the imperial government's finances were tilted toward the west, which would inevitably lead to a reduction in the allocation of Li Hongzhang's power and Shen Baozhen's Fuzhou Shipping Bureau! What fiscal transfer brings is a shift in power! There are too few heroes like Zuo Zongtang who think wholeheartedly about the Chinese nation and do not care about personal gains and losses!