01
In the early morning of July 27, the 11th year of Guangxu (1885), the 74-year-old Hunan people stopped breathing for the last time. He died while serving in the Huanghua Pavilion at the north gate of Fuzhou. As soon as he died, it meant that the last pillar of the Qing Dynasty had fallen, how long could this edifice last? After receiving the mourning, the Empress Dowager Cixi's mood was complicated. "China can't live without Hunan for a day, and Hunan can't be without Zuo Zongtang for a day" The words are still in my ears, but Zuo Zongtang is gone. It's okay to go, this Han man is too tough, too unrestrained, and doesn't even participate in the salute on Halloween. But the state has to be expressed, otherwise who will work for the court? So the edict was immediately distributed to all provinces: posthumously presented Zuo Zongtang as the Taifu, the kindness of "Wenxiang", and the reward of 3,000 taels of funeral silver. On the night after the Empress Dowager Cixi issued the edict, the heavy rain in Fuzhou poured down, and suddenly a thunderclap was heard, and the city wall in the southeast corner was suddenly torn a large mouth several zhang wide, and the residents of the city were safe and sound. The common people said that Zuo Zongtang died, this is the will of heaven, and he wants to destroy my Great Wall. Zuo Zongtang died, and Zuo Gongxing was marked with a lantern with the words "quiet" and "avoidance". has been replaced by an everlasting lamp covered with white veil, and the heavy breath of death is overwhelming. This white light announces the end of the strong voice of the times, this is an era of fighting and resisting foreign insults, and Zuo Zongtang is the mainstay. And Zuo Zongtang, who has seven titles, including "Marquis of Kejing, Scholar of Dongge University, Prince Taibao, First Class Light Cavalry Captain, Reward Wearing Yellow Jacket, Governor of Liangjiang, Minister of Nanyang Trade Affairs", this man who has been glorious for half his life, finally withdrew from the stage of history. The French breathed a sigh of relief. They are capturing the island of Taiwan, and their warships are still flexing their muscles in the East China Sea. Zuo Zongtang set up a decisive battle with them and issued a mobilization order to "cross the sea and kill thieves". They have suffered Zuo Zongtang's big loss and know that he is a lion. A lion leads a flock of sheep, all lions; And a group of lions was led by a sheep, and each of them became sheep. As soon as Zuo Zongtang died, the dragons were leaderless.
The British breathed a sigh of relief. The British consul erected a sign in the Shanghai Concession that read, "Chinese and dogs are not allowed to enter", and Zuo Zongtang found out about it, and ordered the guards to immediately destroy it, confiscate the park, and arrest the culprits. Zuo Zongtang, who was sitting in a green sedan chair carried by eight people, was wearing a yellow coat, wearing a jewel on his head, three dazzling eyes, holding a goose fan, his face was full and majestic. As soon as he entered the concession, the concession authorities immediately changed to the Chinese dragon flag, and the foreign soldiers and police whipped the road. When Zuo Zongtang died, there was no need to be so respectful to the Chinese.
The Russians breathed a sigh of relief. Zuo Zongtang drove them away from Xinjiang, took back the Ili they had occupied, and even used military vehicles to transport coffins, and moved the Suzhou camp several hundred kilometers forward to Hami. As soon as Zuo Zongtang died, there were no more hard bones in China.
Li Hongzhang breathed a sigh of relief. A month earlier, he had signed the "Sino-French Treaty of Vietnam" with France in Tianjin, which was an out-and-out treaty of loss of power and humiliation signed by the Chinese army after its major victory on the battlefield, and was an unprecedented miracle in the history of world diplomacy.
Zuo Zongtang led the opposition, saying that "for China, ten French generals are not as bad as one Li Hongzhang", and also said: "Li Hongzhang has made a mistake and will be infamous through the ages." The national public opinion was in an uproar, and the masses were angry, which made Mr. Li Er embarrassed, and Li Hongzhang was angry that this Hunan man did not understand China's national conditions. decided to take Zuo Zongtang's subordinates and kill chickens to show monkeys. He instructed his cronies Pan Dingxin and Liu Mingchuan to frame Wang Debang, the leader of the "Kejing Dingbian Army," and Liu Xuan, the leader of the Taiwan Military Guard, and exiled them as soldiers.
Zuo Zongtang wrote a letter to complain for his subordinates, and he was about to turn over the case, Zuo Zongtang died, okay, it's a hundred, the banner of the main battle faction fell, and Li Hongzhang, who was hiding in the capital, finally breathed a sigh of relief in the face of the death of this political enemy who had been fighting with him for more than 30 years. He no longer had to scruple to hunch his waist in front of the world powers, trembling and signing the unequal treaties.
Death, for the dead, is the end. But for the living, it's a desperate pain. Zhongxing important ministers of the Qing Dynasty, Lin Zexu and Zeng Guofan...... Dead one by one, in the vast Kyushu, where can you still hear the cry of revival? The Great Qing Qi is exhausted.
Fortunately, Zuo Zongtang died, and some people gloated, hiding in a dark corner and snickering, which proved the strength and greatness of the deceased. Zuo Zongtang is a real hero and a patriot, and at the moment when the nation is in danger, he will definitely offend the selfish interests of some people. You want to defend your home and defend the country, he wants to invade the city and plunder the land, and some colleagues are willing to be slaves of the country, and the Chinese nation is only left with the cry of this strong man, how can they not be afraid of him?
In Chinese history, who is as invincible as Zuo Zongtang and regained a large area of land with an iron fist? Su Wu drank blood and hair, mighty and unyielding; Zhang Qian is thousands of miles away from the mountains and communicates with the Western Regions; Ban Chao has no pen to follow Rong, and Xirong does not dare to cross the Tianshan Mountains; Zu Ti smelled the chicken and danced, hitting the middle stream; Shi Kefa was generously martyred, and his soul was full of plum blossoms...... What they left behind is just a piece of heart-wrenching stories, the tragedy of looking up to the sky and howling, and the spirit of singing and crying, so that future generations can admire and sigh infinitely, and no one can compare to Zuo Zongtang - to recover one-sixth of the great rivers and mountains for future generations, leaving me to gallop the vast territory often so some people have concluded that Zuo Zongtang is a person through the ages.
02
Zuo Zongtang is a hero created by the times. In that era of mixed fish and dragons and mud and sand, the Qing Dynasty had no pride in directing the country, no domineering spirit like autumn wind sweeping away leaves, like a dying old man, relying on medicine to maintain the continuation of life.
Zuo Zongtang was born in the seventeenth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1812), the word Ji Gao, the name Pu Cun, and a native of Xiangyin, Hunan. At the age of four, he studied at the Wutang School at home with his grandfather, and at the age of six, he began to study Confucian classics such as the "Four Books" and the "Five Classics", and at the age of nine, he began to learn to compose Bagu Wen.
In the sixth year of Daoguang (1826), 15-year-old Zuo Zongtang participated in the Xiangyin County Examination and ranked first. In the following year, he took the Changsha Fu test and won the second place. In the ninth year of Daoguang, 18-year-old Zuo Zongtang began to read Gu Sheyu's "Reading the Minutes of History Fangyu", Gu Yanwu's "The Book of Diseases of the Heavenly Counties" and Qi Nan's "Outline of Waterways". These are completely different from the Confucian classics. It is these unorthodox studies that laid the foundation of knowledge for Zuo Zongtang's future success, and Zuo Zongtang participated in the Hunan Township Examination as a prisoner and ranked 18th. In the next six years, he went to Beijing three times to take the examination, but failed to pass the examination. Zuo Zongtang's initial state of mind was complex and confusing.
He later said, "Reading should be the study of the world, and the name of the subject is especially advanced to the ear." He did not go to the sinking of life in pessimism, and he did not linger on the landscape like a somewhat sour literati, although his poetry and literary talent were outstanding. He decided not to take the exam anymore, why should he exhaust his life on the way to the exam like Fan Jin? Since then, he has been "determined to make progress", planning to "grow up as a farmer and die", and find a new way to serve the country.
When he got married at the age of twenty-three, Zuo Zongtang wrote a couplet in his new house: "I don't have half an acre, and I am worried about the world; Read through 10,000 volumes, and God handed over to the ancients". The declaration of majestic mountains and rivers is an encouragement to himself and a portrayal of his life. Thirty years later, in March of the fifth year of Tongzhi, when Zuo Zongtang wrote a family motto for his children in his apartment in Fuzhou, he also wrote this couplet.
In 1838, Zuo Zongtang passed through Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and met the famous fellow Tao Shu, who was the governor of Liangjiang for more than ten consecutive years, and was the representative of the world at that time. Tao Shu was particularly enthusiastic about Zuo Zongtang's arrival. They had a fate.
It was the spring of a year ago, and Tao Shu returned to his hometown. Passing through Liling, a couplet from the county mansion made him feel excited: the spring palace language is calm, and the heart stone of the twenty-year-old family mountain is there; The great river flows day and night, and the children of Bazhou are looking forward to returning.
This couplet expresses the admiration and welcome of the hometown people to Tao Shu, and also expresses the most proud experience of Tao Shu's life. Walking into the mansion, you will be greeted by a landscape painting with two small poems: a county with good mountains for the public, and two degrees of green water for Junqing.
It means that the peaks that stand proudly in Liling County are all born with the awe-inspiring righteousness of Tao Gong. Little Liling, there is actually my confidant! This feudal official in his 60s immediately asked to meet the author of this poem.
Zuo Zongtang came, a young man in his twenties, who was the head of Lujiang Academy at the time. Tao Shu decided to postpone the return date, and had a long talk with Zuo Zongtang, who had never known his life, all night to discuss current affairs. Zuo Zongtang wasted no time in proposing to worship Tao Shu as a teacher and imitate it all his life. Tao Gong loves talent and readily agrees.
So, a down-and-out poor man became the four-grade staff of the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion. Tao Shu even proposed to marry the Qin and Jin dynasties with the Zuo family, and married his only son Tao Shu, who was only five years old, to Zuo Zongtang as his son-in-law, showing his importance to Zuo Zongtang's talent and character. It was here that Zuo Zongtang began to get in touch with military affairs, and began to understand the strength of Yiren's ships and artillery and the general trend of the world. He linked his fate to the fate of the imperial court.
Zuo Zongtang began to try his edge for the first time. So much so that a few years later, in 1849, the national hero Lin Zexu passed through Changsha and named Zuo Zongtang, who was studying in his hometown.
I went to see Lin Zexu at night. 37-year-old Zuo Zongtang was in a hurry, excited, stepped into the air, and fell into the water. Lin Zexu smiled and said, "This is your meeting gift?" ”
As soon as Lin Zexu saw him, Chaos' eyes suddenly lit up, he was really "looking for him thousands of times in the crowd", and the person who could entrust him with a lifelong event had found it. He handed over all the materials and maps he had compiled in Xinjiang to Zuo Zongtang, and said: "I am an old man, and I have no ambition to resist Russia, and there will be no day of achievement." Over the years, I have been paying attention to talents and want to entrust this important task! He also said that in the future, there may be people who can control the southeast of the ocean: Xinjiang in the west, and there is no one who is the king. With my years of hard work, I will dedicate it to my feet, and I may be able to use it in the future to govern Xinjiang.
Lin Zexu, who was more than a year old, said this with a bloody heart, like a dying entrusting orphan, and later Zuo Zongtang conquered Xinjiang, bringing with him the map drawn by Lin Zexu. At this moment, Zuo Zongtang's eyes were moist, and he secretly made a vow in his heart that he would never live up to his trust! Before parting, Lin Zexu also wrote a couplet: "If the country lives and dies, how can it be avoided because of misfortune and fortune." ”
This is a famous saying, and Zuo Zongtang takes this couplet as his motto and motivates himself from time to time. He said: Every time I encounter difficulties and difficulties, I sometimes retreat, and I am really ashamed of my confidant. After returning to Fujian, Lin Zexu was seriously ill, knowing that the days were short, he ordered his second son Cong Yi to write a suicide note on his behalf, and repeatedly recommended Zuo Zongtang to Emperor Xianfeng as a "peerless genius" and "extraordinary talent".
Zuo Zongtang's name attracted the attention of the capital.
03
Zuo Zongtang is a lonely person, and he really has some "everyone in the world is drunk and I am sober". In the face of broken mountains and rivers, why are there always so many people who "businesswomen don't know the hatred of the country, and they still sing backyard flowers across the river"? In the prosperous era of Kangqian, the majestic horn, the exciting horseshoe, the pomp and circumstance of the crown like a cloud, and the swaying honor guard of Cuihua are already the yellow flowers of tomorrow. The beginning of a dynasty is always a group of heroes, majestic.
Later, there was no conquest, no fighting, no sharpness, and the palace gradually bred pleasure and debauchery. The descendants of Aixin Jueluo, who grew up in the arms of harem women, are short-minded and thin, and have weak bones. They are repeating the history of the decline of the previous dynasty.
The reason why Zuo Zongtang is lonely is because he sees too far and seems a little out of place among the public; He walked too fast, often looking around only to find it empty; He thought too deeply, and thought so hard that others could not reach him. For example, Zuo Zongtang hopes to prevent the tragedy of the country's collapse and family collapse, and he wants to fight. Others don't have that mentality. Although the country was terminally ill, the majestic palace was crumbling and cold on all sides.
The emperor did not have a strong mentality, although he tried to cheer up, and the ministers in the court were gossiping and vying for power. Zuo Zongtang thought that this country is not Manchu, but belongs to each of us and belongs to the Chinese nation. No matter how deep the suffering of the nation is, no matter how embarrassing the situation of the country is, his heart should and can only belong to this country and the nation, because the blood of this nation flows in his veins. Now that it is Manchu rule, defending the imperial court is defending the country. With this traditional mentality, Zuo Zongtang accepted the invitation of Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, and decided to go out of the mountain to assist the government and join the main curtain of the governor's yamen.
In the ninth year of Xianfeng, Pan Zuyin, a scholar at the Hanlin Academy, wrote a note to Emperor Xianfeng, which said: "The country cannot be without Hunan for a day, that is, Hunan cannot be without Zongtang for a day." ”
Pan Zuyin was a talented son of Wu County, and later became the official of the Criminal Department. His two sentences made Zuo Zongtang's name spread all over the country overnight. At this time, Zuo Zongtang was serving as a staff member of Luo Bingzhang, the new governor of Hunan. Pan regards the role of an unofficial and unemployed staff member as so important and high, and he is at stake in the safety of the country. It can be seen that after a few years of hard work, Zuo Zongtang has become a hero in the eyes of adults!
Most people with ability are arrogant by nature and look down on mediocre people. Fan Xie, the chief soldier of Yongzhou Town, went to the governor's yamen to do business, Zuo Zongtang gave him a cold bench, and mocked him with words. How could Fan Xie suffer from this nest of anger, and sued the capital, saying that Zuo Zongtang was a "bad scene". Emperor Xianfeng was also very angry, and ordered the Governor of Huguang to deal with the matter, and if it was true, Zuo Zongtang would be corrected on the spot. The official snickered that Fan Xie's complaint was his single-handedly planned. This Manchurian magnate has long wanted to kill chickens to show monkeys, and killed the "bad curtain" Zuo Zongtang, which can be used to fight the increasingly powerful Han forces.
At this time, the country and the nation are facing unprecedented changes, the fierce foreign guns and foreign cannons of the West are aiming at China, and the disaster of destroying the country and exterminating the species is imminent, while the incompetent and jealous villain is still engaged in internal friction and hiding in the secret room to carry out conspiracy and plotting.
There is always some force for justice. There are many people who sponsor Zuo Zongtang. As early as the last years of Daoguang and the early years of Xianfeng, Tao Shu, Lin Zexu, Hu Linyi, He Changling, Guo Songtao, etc. had recommended Zuo Zongtang to be of great use. Pan Zuyin said that it is insignificant for individuals to stay or go. And Xiang Yong kept the province, and also supported Hubei, Jiangxi, Guangxi, and Guizhou, all of which were not bad, although Luo Bingzhang had a good plan, but in fact, Zuo Zongtang made a decision. If Zuo Zongtang leaves, Hunan will collapse, and the overall situation in the southeast will be over.
Emperor Xianfeng was finally moved and pardoned Zuo Zongtang. It is already a dull court, how much I hope to have a little masculinity!
04
Xinjiang is in an emergency!
During the Qianlong era, the Qing army quelled the rebellion of Hezhuo in the Western Regions and recovered all the land. Xinjiang is not new at all, it is a sacred territory that has been a mainland since the Han Dynasty. In the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), the bandit leader Agubo proclaimed himself king in Xinjiang, established himself as the Zhedeshar Khanate, and announced his independence from the Qing court. Russia seized the opportunity to occupy Ili, and Britain also eyed it with the intention of carving up the northwest.
The 1.6 million square kilometers of Xinjiang disappeared from the actual territory of the Qing Dynasty.
Ten years later, in the early days of the dynasty, Li Hongzhang, an important minister of the three dynasties who leaned towards the government and the opposition, said to the Empress Dowager Cixi: "Xinjiang is a land outside the country, a vast desert, thousands of miles of red land, barren land, and sparsely populated. During the Qianlong period, he pacified Xinjiang and poured all the strength of the whole country into collecting thousands of miles of open land in vain and increasing millions of expenses, which really outweighed the losses. In Yichen's view, Xinjiang is not recovered, and the vitality of the limbs is not harmed, and it is better not to take back Yili. ”
Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, spoke: "The north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains are rich in grain production, melons and fruits, cattle and sheep are everywhere, and herds of horses are coming. Coal, iron, gold, silver, and jade are abundant. The so-called thousands of miles of desert is actually a pot of treasure. ”
Zuo Zongtang is iron-clad: "I am in Dingding Yandu, Mongolia is in the north, and there has been no beacon police for more than 100 years...... It is the one who values Xinjiang so he protects Mongolia, and the one who protects Mongolia so he guards Beijing. …… If Xinjiang is not solid, then Mongolia is uneasy, and the bandits in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Shanxi are invaded from time to time, and it is impossible to prevent it. The situation is very different from the past. The Russians are expanding their territory day by day, from west to east for more than 10,000 miles, connecting with our northern border, and only the middle section is covered by the Mongolian department. The salary should be far away, and the curve should be the first, especially for those who are not prepared. ”
In Zuo Zongtang's view, "if we plan to stop the army at this time and withdraw the fence, then I will retreat and advance the foot", and it is imperative to recover Xinjiang. Victory is a battle, and defeat is also a battle. If you don't fire a single shot and give up thousands of miles of territory to others, won't you become a sinner of the Chinese nation through the ages? National feelings are the strongest and most profound in Zuo Zongtang's heart, and when the most critical moment for the nation comes, there is only one choice, that is, to fight for peace, to defend the glory of the nation, until the final victory.
It seems that the difference between "coastal defense" and "plug defense" is a debate between two people, a contrast between two ways of thinking, and in essence a struggle between two lines. In the face of the billowing gunpowder smoke covering the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, one is to quickly extinguish the gunpowder smoke and quell the catastrophe; One is to let it go, just to not hurt the vitality.
Li Hongzhang has a group of supporters, since he was in charge of the Huai Army alone, and after the first place in the military service of pacifying the Twist Army, he successively served as the governor of Huguang and Zhili, and the official worshiped the scholar of Wenhuadian University. He is a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, while Zuo Zongtang is a native of Hunan. Li Hongzhang looked down on this Hunan man from the bottom of his heart, thinking that he failed to do three things, and it was impossible for him to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister. Zuo Zongtang didn't mind, and made a big joke in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi.
He wrote a recital to the emperor and prepared to go to Beijing to participate in the palace examination. is already a first-class member of the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, how can he go to take the entrance examination for the promotion of officials? The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces was smart, and immediately issued an edict: He was specially promoted to the East Pavilion and worshiped as a scholar of the East Pavilion. Li Hongzhang was devastated when he heard the news, and in desperation, he had to write a letter of congratulations.
Since ancient times, Yan Zhao has been a generous and sad person, and Xiang Qian has many perseverance people. The Jianghuai Plain, the water town of Qugang, has a soft human nature, and there are many sleek and afraid of death. Li Hongzhang belongs to the latter category. What he said, his indifference to the rivers and mountains of the motherland, and his prevarication of recovering Xinjiang by emphasizing "coastal defense" over "plugging defense" are really appalling. Once life loses its sense of nationality, it becomes humble in an instant, no matter how rich and rich it is materially, how noble and prominent its status is.
Although Li Hongzhang was later enthusiastic about foreign affairs in order to improve himself, and later generations had some praise, his attitude on the issue of recovering Xinjiang hurt the hearts of many Chinese. synonymous with? Hurry up and beat the drums of war in Xinjiang! The Chinese nation has run out of patience. How can blind retreat from national interests be exchanged for peace and tranquility? For example, when Zeng Guofan was handling the "Tianjin Teaching Case", he indiscriminately killed innocents and curried favor with foreigners, in exchange for the aggressors pressing forward step by step.
Zuo Zongtang took the case, "China has the worry of Xiao Wall, and all countries have no pond fish and the like!" For this reason, he lost peace with Zeng Guofan, and he advocated exchanging war for peace and using war to maintain the unity of the country. Now, Zuo Zongtang's tough proposition to recover Xinjiang has finally been approved by the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces. In the eyes of the imperial court, the concern for the crisis can show the patriotic enthusiasm of the loyal ministers and good generals, and test their fierce loyalty.
There was no wind, no month, no one to see him off, Zuo Zongtang was out of Beijing one night, Cixi appointed him as the minister of Qincha, supervising the military affairs of Xinjiang, and he was going to Lanzhou to make preparations for the expedition. This resolute, tenacious, and ambitious Hunan man is facing internal and external troubles, and "fatigue, lack of salary, lack of food, and difficult luck", but he is full of confidence.
"Sixty people, how can they still have the idea of greedy merit? Therefore, those who bear the burden of one force, this idea can be learned. "He carried the map of Xinjiang drawn by Lin Zexu back then, carried the trust of tens of millions of Chinese, and burned the fire of justice in his heart, and he was going to fight a just war.
After replacing a group of arrogant and absurd Manchurian officers and retraining the team, Zuo Zongtang led 60,000 Huxiang children to set off from Lanzhou, which was the spring of the second year of Guangxu (1876). Three cannon shots rang out from the Governor's Palace, and Zuo Zongtang's team marched westward, mightily. Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, how many people have traveled long distances here, gone to the Peerless Domain, and opened up today's territory, how can the ancestral legacy be lost in the hands of our generation?
Zuo Zongtang is a real military strategist, firstly, because of his natural talent; Second, they are generally at the same level as the opponents they are playing against on the battlefield; The third is the earth-shattering feat of recovering Xinjiang. In Changsha that year, the biggest regret of the winged king Shi Dakai was to let go of Zuo Zongtang, who he met by chance, and exclaimed that he would let the tiger return to the mountain, and he would definitely be the one who would fight against the Taiping Army in the future.
Later, as expected, Zuo Zongtang commanded the troops to fight against the Taiping Army, the Hui Army, and the Twist Army, and the strength of both sides made the character of the war quite good. Leaving aside the significance of these great victories and defeats, from the perspective of the area where the war was fought, from Lianghu to Liangguang, from Huainan to Huaibei, tens of thousands of troops confronted each other, and such a magnificent stage can be called a spectacle in the history of warfare. The battle was so fierce, the horses' hooves splashed, the metal clashed, and the blood sprayed into a rainbow. How many times did Zuo Zongtang climb out of the pile of dead people and join the battle.
He is a strong man born in despair, and a great husband who is good at choking the throat of fate. He started as a staff officer of the headquarters, and gradually became a commanding commander among thousands of arrows.
There is no way back in the war to regain Xinjiang. Under the snow-capped Qilian Mountain, the long wind of hunting rolled up the big wind. This is not a decisive victory in the ordinary sense, this is a war to preserve national dignity. The soldiers of the battle were in high spirits and won by surprise. This is a fight for the unity and integrity of the Motherland, so cold-blooded becomes boiling, and the cowardly becomes a red-eyed angry lion. Zuo Zongtang is proud that the children of Huxiang are charging into battle in the bloody rain, pursuing and defending the spirit of war, and in fact, they are also reshaping their own national spirit.
A year later, the whole territory of Xinjiang was recovered. This is the most exciting event in the history of the late Qing Dynasty, and it is the most glorious stroke in the evening sunset picture of the late Qing Dynasty.
Zuo Zongtang thus entered the sequence of great national heroes in Chinese history.
05
Throughout Zuo Zongtang's life, the most glorious thing was to recover one-sixth of the country. This is his personal glory and pride, and it is also a blessing to the country. Yang Changrui, the governor of Zhejiang and Zuo Zongtang's old friend, went to the Western Regions after the Qing court restored Xinjiang as a province. The new willow is 3,000 miles, leading the spring breeze to cross the jade pass.
Reflecting the generosity and sadness of the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Zhilian's "Spring Breeze does not pass the Yumen Pass", outside the Yumen Pass, what is the spring mood raised by the willows? I read this poem when I was in elementary school, Little Hearty Field, infinite admiration for heroes.
Later, I went to Xinjiang and saw a collection of Tang sentences inscribed by Zuo Zongtang at the Zhaozhong Temple: Where is the Sunset Township Pass, and a few people who fought in ancient times.
I know that this fellow of mine has never planned to return to his hometown since he invited Yingxi to go on a journey to the west and his gray hair was on the border. In a letter to his family, he expressed this ambition: "There must be someone to do everything in the world, and the country cannot do without Shaanxi and Gansu, and Shaanxi and Gansu cannot do without the governor. "He has long put his personal life and death aside, even if it is an abyss, he will never turn back, and would rather be shrouded in horse leather. Once a person links his own destiny with the destiny of the motherland, he will die in honor and disgrace, fame and fortune, and his personality will be great and support the backbone of the Chinese nation.
Zuo Zongtang was originally a literati, but he was a literati who lived for politics. In the middle of the time, he left a lot of couplets and poetry, worrying about the country and the people, and it was heartwarming to read. Zuo Zongtang is an official, but he is an official who worries about the country and the people. His official has done a big enough, from a cloth coat to a first-class official, majestic in all directions. If he had taken the money, fished and fleshed the people, or changed the way of living, then there would be one less national hero in Chinese history, and we may stand on the other side of history today and sigh the incompleteness of the motherland.
The personality of a member of a nation not only reflects the character and spiritual outlook of the nation, but also has a direct impact on the survival and development of the nation.
It is not so much that the broken mountains and rivers have achieved Zuo Zongtang's fame, but that Zuo Zongtang has created this period of history.
The first time he went to Beijing for the examination, 22-year-old Zuo Zongtang looked at the northwest and paid attention to Xinjiang's provinces and reclamation. He wrote a poem and said: The stone area ring soldiers do not count the years, when the country was reopened, the camel was thousands of miles away from the official rice, and the sand moraine was thousands of years this stone field.
The province is still annoying him, and Xingtunning spends money?
The general Mo is even more sorrowful, and his livelihood is also pitiful.
Recovering Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang had specially went to the Lin Zexu Temple in Fujian to pay homage, and mourned silently in front of the statue of Lin Gong, he did not forget to complete this mission is the instructions and expectations of Lin Gong that year, he even regarded himself as the successor of Tao Shu and Lin Zexu, and wrote couplets in the Tao Lin Second Gong Ancestral Hall: Three Wu Song Love, Whale Wave Peace, Water Control and Salt, such as Gong are immortal; Thirty years of sound dust, Hong mud puppet step, Hunan Hanshang, now I come again.
It was this person who focused on the application of the world rather than being skilled in the eight strands, who took on the important task of restoring the sovereignty of the society. The historical existence of Zuo Zongtang profoundly reveals the soul of the nation. The spirit of Zuo Zongtang and the personality of Zuo Zongtang typically and truly embody the essence of the spirit of traditional Chinese literati. It can be said that Zuo Zongtang has shaped the spiritual model of traditional literati with all his life fire.
We affectionately call for Zuo Zongtang and call for the character of loyalty and martyrdom, and our country, our nation, and our people all need the purification of heroic character.
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