Zeng Guofan inherited the independent style of Tongcheng School Fang Bao and Yao Nai, and founded the "Xiangxiang School", an ancient prose in the late Qing Dynasty. He talks about ancient prose, emphasizes the sonorous tone and tries his best to cover it up. Ancient prose is profound and magnificent, which can convey the spirit of Han Fu, so it has a magnificent artistic conception and can get rid of the disadvantages of Tongcheng School, which is called by later generations. The Zeng family had a patriarchal clan system in Tongcheng, but it changed and developed later. As a model of the text, he compiled a hundred kinds of miscellaneous notes on classics and history, which is not controlled by Tongcheng and is called Xiangxiang School in the world. Yan Fu, Lin Shu, Tan Sitong and Liang Qichao were all influenced by his writing style in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. He is the author of hundreds of Quezhai Anthology, Poetry, Reading Record, Diary, Shu Shu, Letters from Home, Family Tune, Miscellanies of Classics and History, and 18 poems. No less than 100 volumes, known as the Complete Works of Zeng, spread all over the world. He is also the author of The Way of Learning and Five Proverbs.

Military value

In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), in November, the Taiping Army left northern Hunan and conquered Hanyang. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), Zeng Guofan established Yingyong, a place called Xiang Army, which was divided into army and navy. Soldiers recruited farmers in Xiangxiang area, and their wages were about three times that of green camp. The whole army only takes orders from Zeng Guofan. In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), 6,500 soldiers from the 13th Army Battalion and 5,000 soldiers from the 10th Navy Battalion assembled in Xiangtan and fought to the death. The first battle was defeated by Taiping Army in Yuezhou and Jinggang. Zeng Guofan drowned himself several times. When he writes a book, he can only laugh at himself with "repeated defeats and repeated wars." After the reorganization of the army, Yuezhou and Wuchang were reoccupied, and the Taiping Army withdrew from Hunan. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1May 858), Jiujiang was stormed. In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), Ceng Guoquan surrounded Anqing, and was famous for "camping hard and fighting to the death". Tongzhi for three years (1864), the Xiang army attacked Tianjing (Nanjing). Zeng Guofan in military uniform

Taiping Army resisted Xiang Army, which made Xiang Army suffer enough. When Nanjing broke, Zeng Guofan said, "The change of Guangdong bandits has ravaged sixteen provinces and occupied more than 600 cities. Among them, Li guarding Feng Guantun, Kai Wing Lam guarding Jiujiang and Ye guarding Anqing are even more indomitable. On the slope of Jinling City, more than 100,000 thieves did not surrender, and they gathered and burned themselves without regret. It is a rare drama in ancient and modern times. " After Zeng Guofan entered Nanjing, he pursued the policy of "Three Lights" and "... was searched and killed in sections ... more than 100,000 thieves were killed in three days, and the Qinhuai River was littered with corpses, while ... the flames lasted for three days and three nights. In fact, more than100000 are ordinary people. Li Gui, a Nanjing scholar, said: "If you stand on the side of the government forces, you will be plundered after the defeat, or burned and killed after the victory. Especially when it is unbearable, it is even more cruel than a" thief ". I don't want to say anything, nor dare I say anything. (Gui Li: A Record of Sorrow) Zhao Liewen, Zeng Guofan's aide, recorded the destruction of Nanjing in detail in the Quiet Diary: "... nine times out of ten people who died along the street were old people. Those who have children under two or three years old also think it is a game, crawling on the road. All the women are under 40 years old, and all of them are injured by the elderly, or dozens of knives, dozens of knives ... ". Ceng Guoquan is a mass murderer and shuddering. "Xue Shuai" Peng Yulin is not satisfied with this. He wrote to Zeng Guofan twice (the siege of Anqing in 65438+the siege of Jinling in 08665438 +65438 +0864), demanding to put aside the righteousness above family. Ceng Guoquan robbed a lot of property in Nanking, and Zeng Guofan told the court that "a pavilion of a false palace thief burned to ashes, regardless of who donated it to the state treasury. However, it is never uncommon to restore the old nest without any goods, which is beyond my original intention. " Zeng Guofan put Li Xiucheng to death to cover his mouth. Xiang generals' incorruptibility, courage and strict military discipline are important reasons for their bravery and good fighting, and they also make the Xiang army awesome in the world. As a result, war-torn provinces have come to Hunan to recruit warriors, which has become a common practice. Therefore, there is a saying that there is no Hunan in the world.

Ideological scholarship

Zeng Guofan, as a famous politician in modern times, was indifferent to the corruption and decline of the Qing Dynasty after the prosperous period of Ganjia. He said: "The country is poor, but people are distracted, which is very serious." As for "scholar-officials are used to being worried and accommodating", "prosperous times are neither white nor black, neither painful nor itchy" nor "hating secondary bones". He believes that "the bad governance of officials is all caused by group curtains, and it is sincere to seek officials to eliminate the disadvantages of curtains." Based on this, Zeng Guofan put forward that "the administration should get the people first". For those who need both morality and tools in times of crisis, they should advocate honesty, respect benevolent government, oppose tyranny and disturb the people, and must severely punish those officials who take bribes and pervert the law. As for the financial and economic relationship between the national movement and people's livelihood, Zeng Guofan believes that the way to manage money is to make full use of the surplus and deficiency, be down-to-earth, be honest and clean, and "gradually seek rectification, not be eager for quick success." Zeng Guofan mentioned agriculture as the basic strategic position of the national economy. He believes that "people's livelihood comes first, and the national economy takes good years as credit." He demanded that "in today's counties, emphasizing agriculture is the first priority." Influenced by the two Opium Wars, Zeng Guofan had his own views on the diplomatic relations between China and the West. On the one hand, he hates westerners invading China, thinks that others should not snore and sleep next to his couch, and opposes borrowing teachers to help him suppress it, so he is deeply ashamed of using foreign countries. "On the other hand, it is not blindly exclusive and advocates learning from advanced science and technology in the West. For example, he said that buying foreign cultural relics ... visiting thoughtful and intelligent people, starting with practice, and then trying to establish, ... can restrain hair tangles, be diligent and far-sighted. Zeng Guofan was a famous Neo-Confucianism master in the late Qing Dynasty with profound academic attainments. He said: "A person who can really read is good and more expensive than being strong", and he should have the spirit of "three years of old rain, three years of diligence, five nights of solitude and eternal youth". The beauty of writing or masculinity, "focusing on adventure"; Or female beauty, "the key is to get the taste of nature. "To write an article, you need to work hard on the momentum." Qi can do things by reason, but no matter how reasonable it is, it is not gray. "We should pay attention to proper details, people's details, and people's details", and "knowing each other and being simple" is also "the writer's first priority. "For Wengui, we have to find our own way." The way of writing is beautiful and handsome in the weather. "."Clear rhyme, sonorous, is the first wonderful scene of the article ". With the ability to educate children, the Zeng family has cultivated good children from generation to generation. Although it is a big family of Houmen, there has been no dude in 100 years, which cannot be said to be the success of Zeng Guofan's educational thought. The theoretical system of Zeng Guofan's family education is: taking the Eight Classics as the classics, taking the Eight Treasures as the latitude, interspersed with four key words, three auspicious words and three unbelievers, the latitude and longitude are coherent, and the context is connected, forming a complete theoretical system of family management; This theory is different from China's traditional core idea of educating future generations, and it opposes the theory that famous family trainers such as Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Xi and Yan Shi have always adhered to and put into practice. It is of great practical significance to the educational confusion faced by almost every family in today's society. Zeng Guofan's battlefield plan began with the compilation and training of Xiang army and the rule of the country by scholars, and suppressed the largest peasant uprising in China history-the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. His military thought is extremely rich in connotation, and it does have something extraordinary. He believes that the number of soldiers is small, but fine, "serenade is strong", "the more soldiers, the weaker the strength; The more reimbursement, the poorer the country. "Advocate the separation of military and political affairs and take responsibility. He bought foreign guns, cannons and ships, which promoted the modernization of China's military weapons. To run the army, strict military discipline is the first, and at the same time, it is intended to cultivate "harmony" and the soldiers are United. He believes that "the general has the heart of death, and the foot soldiers have no life. "There are four requirements for choice:" First, know people well, second, be good at restraining the enemy's situation, third, be brave in doing things, and fourth, run the business in an orderly manner. "Zeng Guofan's strategy and tactics are the most abundant in his military thought, which is worth learning today. Such as "fighting like a rabbit." "Quiet as a virgin", the skill of subject and object is wonderful, "Zhazhai fights to the death", the navy should not attack with the wind, choose a good camp, "self-government first, then make an enemy", attack the city in a deep ditch and high base, attack the city in a tunnel, cooperate with land and water, use static braking, "pull out the roots first, then the headland" and so on. The way to make friends in the world Zeng Guofan has a lot of insight into the way to make friends. He believes that making friends is expensive in elegance, and it is necessary to "push honesty and keep integrity, compromise tolerance, and forget about doubts and disadvantages." "Don't take advantage of others in everything. Don't take other people's money seriously. " Brainstorm, listen without being deaf. "The way to observe people is to be ethical but not bureaucratic, organize more and talk less." In terms of life, Zeng Guofan believes that "in this troubled times, the poorer the better." As a senior official, "it is always good to have less money and less production." "forbearance is the first priority for officials", "virtue is damaged by fullness, and happiness is reduced by arrogance". Men must be careful with the word "light". "It is not particularly rich and famous. The prosperity of his family name is determined by heaven, that is, whether the virtue of learning is established is mostly related to heaven. Just laugh it off." "Don't do your own work, don't do your own fame", "The sooner you retire, the better". Zeng Guofan wrote twelve proverbs, which basically summarized his way of making friends in life. Zeng Guofan summed up twelve aspects of cultivation: respect, sitting quietly, getting up early, reading books, reading history, being cautious and independent, nourishing qi, strengthening the body, knowing that the sun will die, knowing that the moon will die, writing, and staying overnight. He believes that the ancient people's self-cultivation has four effects: "Caution alone gives birth to kindness, respect and strengthen the body, benevolence and joy, sincerity and respect". Zeng Guofan did not believe in medicine, monks and witches, immortals, honesty, cleverness, truth and wealth. "Life is poor, know life has no worries." Character cultivation is helpful to his career. First of all, he is sincere and consistent in appearance, and everything can be made public. The second is respect, awe, no evil thoughts in my heart, dignity and dignity. The third is silence. Mind, qi, spirit and body should be in a state of peace and relaxation. The fourth word is sincerity, no boasting, no lying, no empty talk, truth, one is one, and the other is two. The fifth word remains the same, with regular life, moderate diet and regular daily life. The highest state is "cautious independence", with a god holding his head three feet high. He kept a diary every day, checked and reflected on his words and deeds every day, and in his later life, he constantly put forward more requirements for himself: to be diligent, modest, kind, honest, to know life, to cherish happiness, and so on, in an effort to make himself a saint at that time. Many people think that personality cultivation is an empty thing, and that cultivation is an ethereal thing, even a pedantic thing, but Zeng Guofan's lifelong career and cultivation are the most important reasons for his career success. Zeng Guofan thought: "there are about five things in the method of keeping in good health: first, always sleep and eat;" Second, punish poverty; Third, abstinence; Fourth, wash your feet before going to bed every night; Fifth, walk three thousand steps after two meals a day. " The four words "eyesight", "rest", "sleep" and "diet" are the most important ways to maintain health, and you should know how to recuperate when you are recovering from illness. Zeng Guofan set himself twelve ways: respect for the Lord: neat and serious, clear in the bow, when the sun rises. Sit-in: Sit-in for four hours at any time every day to keep calm, such as Zhen Ding. Get up early: get up at dawn, and don't cling to love after waking up. Reading is the only way: don't read his book until it is finished. Reading history: read three histories (Historical Records, Hanshu and Houhanshu) and circle ten pages every day, although things are uninterrupted. Attention: Pay attention to the moment, the first time. Nourishing qi: there is nothing to say to people when the gas storage is demonstrated. Fitness: saving labor, abstinence and dieting. Know everything every day: read and record your thoughts every day. Seeking deep meaning is eccentricity. Yuezi never forgets what he can do: write a few poems every month to test the accumulated amount and the prosperity of qi. Don't indulge in ignorance, it's easiest to drown your heart. Writing: Write for half an hour after dinner. Any pen and ink entertainment is regarded as your own course. Never wait until tomorrow, the more you accumulate, the harder it is to get rid of it. Don't be exhausted when you go out at night. Zeng Guofan's skills of employing people, knowing people, and how to employ people, especially how to use accurate people, are extremely profound. Zeng Guofan's way of employing people is an important part of his success in life. He never blindly selects people and confuses authorization. Instead, he should keep his eyes open and follow the method of "he who sees through people first uses people", which shows his leadership and management wisdom. Four methods of employing people: doing, saving, learning and forbidding; Understand people's essence, qi and spirit; Appoint three kinds of people: wisdom, speech and labor;