Zeng Guofan, the first minister of the Qing Dynasty, what can we ordinary people learn from him?

Zeng Guofan was called the first perfect man in Qing Dynasty. Chairman Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai-shek and Liang Qichao all spoke highly of it.

Mao Zedong: Simple and honest and approachable, I waited on Ceng Wenzheng alone and watched him clean up the battle of Hongyang. It was perfect. If you change places with people today, can it be so perfect?

Liang Qichao: My name is Ceng Wenzheng Ji and I have to repeat it three times a day.

Throughout Zeng Guofan's life, it can be roughly divided into the following stages.

I. Childhood

It is said that one day, a thief sneaked into Zeng Guofan's house, wanted to steal something, and hid it on the beam. The thief saw a young man reading the endorsement at the bottom and thought, wait until the back of the book is finished, then come down and steal. However, a few hours later, Zeng Guofan still endorsed at the bottom. The thief couldn't wait any longer, so he jumped down from the beam and said contemptuously, I've never seen you so stupid, I can recite it. So, the thief recited an article from beginning to end in front of Zeng Guofan, exactly the same. Zeng Guofan looked at the thief dumbfounded, but the thief did not agree and left.

Zeng Guofan's IQ is an ordinary person, and there is nothing extraordinary.

Second, the juvenile school stage.

Before Zeng Guofan, none of the old Zeng family studied, all of them were farmers. Through the efforts of several generations, I finally got a solid family business in Grandpa Zeng Guofan's generation, but it still exists.

A serious problem, there are no scholars at home. It was Zeng Guofan's father who broke the spell. However, Zeng Guofan's father still failed to get a scholarship after taking the 16 provincial exam, but only got the 17 provincial exam.

It can be said that IQ is average. As a son, Zeng Guofan had a similar experience with his father. I took part in the rural examination six times, but I still didn't get the scholar. Everyone advised Zeng Guo that he was not the material for reading.

The examiner really hates Zeng Guofan. The examiner rebukes Zeng Guofan for his unreasonable articles. Someone once posted Zeng Guofan's paper on the wall of the examination institute as a negative teaching material to warn future generations not to follow suit.

Zeng Guofan, who participated in the provincial examination for the seventh time, was finally admitted to the scholar. Since then, Zeng Guofan's exam career has been exceptionally smooth! I took the exam once, and the next year I took the Jinshi exam. Zeng Guofan was only 27 years old this year.

Third, the official stage in Beijing.

Zeng Guofan was assigned to imperial academy after he was admitted to Jinshi. Before entering Beijing, Zeng Guofan brought a lot of money from home because Zeng Guofan's salary was not enough for daily expenses.

Zeng Guofan was appreciated by Emperor Xianfeng. Through seven years' efforts, he was promoted from a small official with seven products to a big official with two products, but Zeng Guofan still did not get rid of poverty. Imperial government

It's not enough to give yourself a salary. You can only wait for local officials to come to Beijing and ask for a job to receive a symbolic tip to maintain the basic life of the family.

When he was an official in Beijing, Zeng Guofan missed his hometown and relatives especially, but he couldn't go home because of economic tension.

It can be seen that Zeng Guofan is relatively clean as an official. Although life was difficult, he persisted. Zeng Guofan's life creed is: modesty and dedication.

Fourth, the main heroes who suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.

When the Qing government was suppressed by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zeng Guofan volunteered and founded the Xiang Army. However, the funds for this unit belong to local armed forces.

The regular army of the Qing Dynasty was composed of the Eight Banners and green camp, and was defeated by the Taiping Army.

Zeng Guofan's Xiang army adopted the stupid method of "fighting hard and fighting in secret". March forty miles every day, and then let the soldiers dig deep and wide trenches and build walls to protect the camp. Protect yourself before you win. By this stupid way, the Taiping rebels were besieged, and Hong Xiuquan's Tianjing was finally broken.

Five, the Westernization Movement period

Anqing Inner Ordnance Institute was established in Anqing, trying to learn western technology and manufacture new guns and ammunition. This was the first military workshop in the Qing Dynasty to manufacture modern weapons by hand.

The above briefly introduces Zeng Guofan's life, so what can we ordinary people learn from him?

1, rewards and punishments are clear, people are connected with each other, do not defend their shortcomings, and are not jealous of others.

Zeng Guofan thought that morality could inspire others when he fought against Taiping Army in his early days. Later, I found that although "there were many applicants", all the people who had defected to him had gone to Hu Linyi, so I asked Zhao Liewen, "Everyone has left me, why should they all go to Gong Hu?"

Zhao said: "Everyone has his own selfish interests. What if he can't be an official, can't get rich, and doesn't leave? " Once said, "What should I do?" Zhao said, "If you gather the private interests of many people, you can become the public of one person!" I can hear you clearly. In his letter to his younger brother, he wrote: "I used to be in the military camp and didn't care about it." He didn't spend money indiscriminately, but he didn't care. "

Later, Zeng Guofan established an effective incentive mechanism to reward meritorious subordinates, and adopted the policy of "soldiers give money and literati give names" according to different needs.

Zeng Guofan's salary in Hunan is much higher than that in green camp. Soldiers can support their families besides their own use. The official salary is not only higher, but also "moistened at public expense". He also clearly formulated the norms of rewarding silver, and used it to "drum up the heart of being competitive."

In addition, he turned a blind eye to the robbery in the war and adopted a tolerant attitude. After the Xiang army captured Nanjing, all the property in the city was robbed and none was handed over to the court.

After Zeng Guofan served as an imperial envoy and governor of the two rivers, he often used every opportunity to sponsor his staff to be an official.

Many people with high emotional intelligence are generous and have won a wide range of contacts. Networking doesn't mean how many people you use, how many people you call around and how many people do their best for you, but how many people you help. Remember this old adage: "When you pass through a narrow place, keep a step away from pedestrians;" When the taste is strong, subtract three points for people to eat. "Work hard, the future of Mo Wen.

2, clumsy and clever, diligent and clever.

Zeng Guofan is not a talented person. Regarding his IQ, there are many comments that he should be "the capital of China people".

But Zeng Guofan's victory lies in his ignorance of tricks and his willingness to "work hard". Zeng Guofan studied with stupid kung fu: if he didn't understand the previous sentence, he wouldn't read the next one; If you don't finish reading this book, you won't touch the next one; One day's study is not completed, and the next day's book will never be refreshed. Using these stupid methods, Zeng Guofan laid a solid foundation of Confucianism and laid a good foundation for future promotion.

3. Learn from Zeng Guofan's self-reflection and long-term enterprising perseverance.

Professor Li Bo said in Lecture Room that Zeng Guofan had done two great things in his life. One is to wipe out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the other is to launch the Westernization Movement. Ordinary people should learn from Zeng Guofan's introspection and perseverance. It is his persistent self-education and self-motivation that enabled him to complete the transformation from an ordinary person to "the head of a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty".

Li Bo commented: "A person's achievements in life are not necessarily related to whether you are smart or not." Zeng Guofan and thieves are the best examples. So, what made Zeng Guofan accomplish "establishing morality, making contributions and making statements"-the most admired achievement in this feudal society? It is still his persistent self-correction and self-denial.

Zeng Guofan kept a diary, and Qiu Quezhai kept a diary for a lifetime. Until the day before his death, he kept a diary even though he could not see one eye. What he is most proud of is that he can "study every day" no matter how busy and critical the situation is. Libo commented that Zeng Guofan has only one greatest advantage, that is, he can constantly reflect and learn all his life; Make continuous progress in reflection, introspection and study, and truly achieve "three provinces and self-improvement"? .

Zeng Guofan wrote a pair of couplets. The first part is: either a saint or an animal. From this, we can see that he is strict with himself and determined to become a sage. Today, we ordinary people learn from Zeng Guofan because we want to learn from his wisdom and thoughts with universal enlightenment value. This wisdom is "self-education". From the perspective of pedagogy, the biggest education is self-education, which is self-education. Zeng Guofan's qualifications are average, and he also has common personality defects. He has done many wrong things in his life. But he has the most difficult advantage for ordinary people, that is, he dares to reflect and introspect anything, any mistakes and shortcomings, and demands and examines himself with a lofty belief. This lofty belief is the Confucian ideal of "nourishing qi and calming the world" and the moral spirit of "benevolence, loyalty and forgiveness".

Zeng Guofan biography: the world is the most clumsy, can win the world.

Zeng Guofan, who once studied, is also a "stupid child" in the eyes of relatives and friends. He has no talent and endowment, and even thieves who steal from his family laugh at his stupidity. But he can reach the realm of sages by four words: diligence and perseverance. Reading Zeng Guofan's collected works, we can know from his narrative that Zeng Guofan was not plain sailing in his pursuit of official career when he was young, but after many failures, humiliations, failures and even life and death tests, he gradually achieved Zeng Guofan's legendary life.

4, or seek stability.

Zeng Guofan himself once said: "The most clumsy person in the world can also defeat the smartest person in the world." Because of Zeng Guofan's difficult experience in the imperial examination, he shaped his philosophy of "being stupid and knowing the way" and practiced it all his life, which cultivated his diligence, hardship and down-to-earth spirit different from ordinary people. He has never taken detours or shortcuts in his life. He always does it in the stupidest way in others' eyes, such as studying and taking the imperial examination. When he led the troops to fight, he also "made a hard camp and fought a protracted war", never relying on clever tricks, but relying on tenacity to fight the enemy to the end. Pay attention to "sincerity" in interpersonal communication, treat people sincerely, and don't play with your mind. It is such a "clumsy" spiritual foundation that prompted him to reach the realm of "three immortals" who will make contributions and stand firm in the future.

5. Experimental spirit and open attitude.

Although Zeng Guofan was deeply influenced by traditional Confucian culture, he was not as hidebound as ordinary Confucian scholars. He is always willing to try and try hard. Even as a civil servant, he is willing to try a field he has never touched-building an army in times of national crisis. What courage and perseverance this should have! Without funds, he raised money everywhere; Without personnel, he recruits everywhere; Without experience, he tossed and turned. In this way, he established the famous Xiang army!

In the face of foreign aggression, he will not blindly reject western ideas and technologies. He knew how to "learn from foreigners to control foreigners", changed the traditional concept of governing the country in the past and established international relations on the basis of mutual respect. This seems normal now, but at that time, it was a revolutionary view!

Zeng Guofan's life is magnificent. During the turmoil in the late Qing Dynasty, he founded the Xiang Army, launched the Westernization Movement, and trained famous ministers in the late Qing Dynasty such as Zuo and Li Hongzhang. For him at that time, it was his greatest contribution to the country to devote himself to death, purge the country's turmoil and find the road to rejuvenation.

6. Learn from Zeng Guofan's pragmatic attitude.

In a word, Zeng Guofan learned to think big and start small. Focus on the overall situation: a successful person should have a long-term vision when running a business, regardless of trivial matters and have a broad mind. Start small: some things must start small, and only by accumulating bit by bit can we achieve great things. We should do business, study and educate our children.

Later generations summed up Zeng Guofan's life with a couplet: "Lide made meritorious deeds, made three immortal words, served as a teacher and was the first."

As an ordinary person, learning Zeng Guofan's way of dealing with people will be of great reference and help to his career development, family prosperity and children's education. Remember, diligence can make up for mistakes, and modesty is the best way to live and treat others.