From the position point of view, these four are all governors, and from the grade point of view, college students are the first in grade. Among them, Li Hongzhang is a college student in Wenhua Hall, with the highest status, followed by Zeng Guofan, a college student in Wuyingtang, with the second position; Zhang Zhidong is a university student in Tijen Hall, and his position is even worse. Zuo is a college student in Dongge, with the lowest status.
In the Qing Dynasty, the system of three halls and three halls was implemented, and the order was Baohe Hall, Wenhua Hall, Wuying Hall, Wenyuan Pavilion, Tiren Pavilion and Dongge Pavilion. Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan and Zhang Zhidong are all scholars, and only Zuo is a juren, so he ranks last.
For me, the title mainly comes from military service, while Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo all led troops to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement and all had military service. Zeng Guofan, as the leader of Xiang army, was the first person to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Zuo was also the hero to recover Xinjiang. Therefore, the two men were awarded Marquis before their lives; Li Hongzhang was an earl before his death, and after his death, he was awarded the first-class marquis. Zhang Zhidong has no military merit, so he has no title.
In recent years, "I don't know Li Hongzhang when I am young, but I know the main hall when I am generous" describes Li Hongzhang as a real hero to turn the tide, while history regards him as a sinner who humiliated the country and a powerful minister who betrayed the country and sought glory. Treaty of shimonoseki, signed in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, was reviled by Li Hongzhang most, but whether treaty of shimonoseki was signed or not was not Li Hongzhang's fault at all, but his defeat.
A series of unequal treaties signed by Li Hongzhang, from the first time he signed them, were doomed to bear a lifelong stigma. But history is like this. If it weren't for Li Hongzhang, he would have ruthlessly chosen another "backburner". This is not his misfortune, but the misfortune of that era.