It's a day, up. After getting up, read a book, that is, breakfast. Spinning news, Meng En put Jiangxi main examination. Not engraved, as a thank you to the lord Kaoen fold, and as a leave of absence home film.
——Xianfeng Diary of June 12, 2002
This year was the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zeng Guofan was 42 years old, and it was already his 19th year as an official in Beijing. He was the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, Zheng Erpin, equivalent to the current deputy minister. He held important positions, had a lot of affairs, and had to read and write on a daily basis, so he developed the habit of getting up early and trying to push things forward.
But
It was June 12, and Zeng Guofan slept lazily and got up late. He wrote in his diary that "it is the day, and the feast rises", that is, the evening rises.
Get up, wash up, read a book, eat breakfast... Just like the current North Drift office workers quickly busy early in the morning, Zeng Guofan received a notice to let him travel to Jiangxi to be the chief examiner. In his diary on this day, he wrote that "Meng En put Jiangxi to take the main examination", using the word "Meng'en", indicating that he regarded this opportunity for a business trip as the grace of the emperor.
In fact, he wanted to be the chief examiner of Jiangxi for more than two years.
As early as three years ago, when the previous emperor Daoguang was on the throne, Zeng Guofan was eager to be sent to the local government as the chief examiner. Why is it not good to let the Beijing official do it, and why do you have to go out on a business trip to be a chief examiner?
This is mainly because Zeng Guofan's burnout period has arrived, and the midlife crisis has come.
In fact, Zeng Guofan did a very smooth job as an official in Beijing, everyone said that he was stupid, said that he was wooden, in fact, he was not ambiguous about being an official, and also broke many promotion records in the Qing Dynasty officialdom:
From the time Daoguang twenty years ago when Zeng Guofan left his hometown to beijing to do the Hanlin Review (Qipin), his official fortune seemed to be installed on an accelerator, constantly rising, rising, rising. In the seventh year of Daoguang, he was promoted to the rank of cabinet scholar and ceremonial attendant, entered the ranks of senior Beijing officials, and became the first Hunan person under the age of 37 to serve as a Erpin official in the Qing Dynasty, breaking the record of Hunan people being promoted in the Qing Dynasty. Zeng Guofan "seven moves in ten years, even jumping ten levels", from seven products to positive two products, this speed is also unparalleled in the Daoguang Dynasty.
Being an official is so smooth, Zeng Guofan should not have a midlife crisis. In fact, he was also very satisfied, very excited, and felt that he was also remarkable. When he first arrived at the Ceremony Department as a right attendant, he was very active. Every day to the ministry to deal with government affairs, never absent from work, take the initiative to work overtime, work in an orderly and serious manner, subordinates are admired and admired.
The emperor also put him in charge of the affairs of other ministries, and every time he was in charge of one, he studied carefully, which can be described as conscientious.
For example, when he was concurrently serving as a left waiter in the Punishment Department, he encountered the Case of Qi Shan. Qi Shan was a major minister of the Daoguang Xianfeng dynasty, with a high position of authority and wide connections. He was best known for privately ceding Hong Kong Island to the British during the Opium War, and the Daoguang Emperor was furious and dismissed him from his post and confiscated his family property. However, such a heavy minister was soon reused. In the first year of Xianfeng, Qi Shan was impeached for abusing his power and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for discussion, and the three legal divisions were tried. Because Qi Shan's connections were widespread in the capital, everyone wanted to excuse him during the trial, turned a blind eye to his crimes, and even said that they would summon the division officers who reported Qi Shan.
Zeng Guofan also participated in the trial, and he felt that the judges were all fools, watching Qi Shan's crimes not be interrogated, but asking trivial matters in a roundabout way, and also summoning the clerk to confront Qi Shan. Looking at Qi Shan's side again, there was no criminal at all, talking and arguing endlessly. Where is this criminal being tried? Zeng Guofan was anxious in his heart, stood up and said loudly: "Although Qi Shan is the supreme general, but we are ordered to investigate and deal with him, and it is our duty to interrogate him!" Although the position of the clerk is low, there is no reason to summon the trial officer and the offender to confront each other. If the officials who tried the case were punished for this, who would dare to try them in the future if they were guilty? Moreover, the edict only allowed the meeting to interrogate Qi Shan, and did not say that the secretary should be summoned, if it was necessary to summon the clerk, then please ask for instructions, and after obtaining the emperor's consent, it would be feasible. ”
These words were all over the place. Everyone was thinking: What happened to this Zeng Guofan, what was he talking about? Didn't he know that Qi Shan was the supreme general and had a wide network of contacts? Doesn't this offend Qi Shan? How could he be a stunned young man? Shouldn't everyone tacitly accept this triage as a formality? Where is he singing?
However, Zeng Guofan, the "stunned qing", was speechless at that time. The history books record that he "fought very hard, resisted the tone of his words, and sat down to be frightened." It was his insistence that Qi Shan was eventually exiled again and charged with the army of Jilin. Of course, Zeng Guofan also offended Qi Shan's power group.
At that time, Zeng Guofan was forty years old and had been in the Beijing official field for more than ten years, of course, he knew the current situation of the official field, and he also knew the consequences of openly demanding the punishment of the powerful ministers.
However, he chose to be different, choosing to have his own ideas and stick to his own ideas. This practice of not following the tide and not fearing the powerful takes courage. However, when later generations commented on this matter, many people accused Zeng Guofan of being stunned and did not know how to be flexible, offended the powerful, criticized him for not being smooth and ignorant of current affairs, and then praised him for "changing the law in middle age" and becoming round and smooth. In fact, this small story was recorded in the "Annals of Zeng Guofan", and I think historians should also feel that the spirit of Zeng Guofan is rare, and record it for future generations to remember it and learn this spirit. Whether at that time or now, Zeng Guofan's spirit of daring to insist on his heart is the most valuable, this spirit makes him different, makes him outstanding, and it is precisely because of this that there is a Xiang Army. That's where we should really learn from him.
However, daring to stick to his heart made it impossible for him to integrate into the official arena at that time. Everyone has their own ideals and meanings in life, and Zeng Guofan's ideal of life is not to rise to the top and get rich.
After a brief moment of pleasure brought to him by his rapid promotion, he slowly discovered that the work of the ministers and officials in the imperial court was so boring, boring, and meaningless. Every day he was caught up in all kinds of chores, dealing with various drawbacks brought about by the defects of the system, dealing with various problems arising from the personnel struggle, and although he was of high rank, he could not do anything about any problem, as if he were a screw in a dilapidated machine that was about to be stripped of a thread. His professional life was extremely bleak, and he himself helplessly wrote a poem to laugh at himself:
Although I am on the top of the Xiaohan, the instrument is small only the bottle and the bottle. Like a donkey, not a donkey, not a horse, self-hatred is good.
Therefore, Zeng Guofan wanted to escape from Beijing life for a short time, go to other places or go home to visit relatives and change the air. However, in ancient times, there was no tourism industry like today, which could be walked away, and Zeng Guofan, who was a poor Beijing official, did not have much money to let him escape From Beijing. At this time, you need a publicly-funded travel opportunity, and it is a very good choice to be the chief examiner in Jiangxi. Not only can you solve the problem of road fees, but you can also get some additional income, but also make friends and collect disciples. More importantly, Jiangxi is close to his hometown in Hunan, and he can still go home to visit his relatives. More in one fell swoop.
So he always wanted to fight for this opportunity. When Daoguang was twenty-nine years old, he felt that the timing was almost the same, his qualifications were enough, and the external Jiangxi main examination must be his own. He wrote to his brother, "I have a lot of hope for getting the Jiangxi main examination this year, and when the time comes, I will bring my parents and brothers to Jiangxi, and our whole family will be lively and lively together." (If you take the exam this year, you are quite expected to get the main exam in Jiangxi, and the relatives of the Ji family can go to Jiangxi to have a happy life.") ）
But who thought that half to kill Cheng biting Jin, for some reason this beauty difference actually gave to his colleague Tian Jingtang, which made Zeng Guofan very frustrated. This is equivalent to his own opportunity for promotion and salary increase suddenly given to others, Zeng Guofan thought that his parents in Hunan had not seen each other for many years, he was very uncomfortable, and he doubted what the significance of his being an official in the capital was. He said in the letter, "Looking south at the family mountain, far away from the hall, I really don't know what the eunuch has a little taste!" ”
The opportunity for "promotion and salary increase" is gone, and then he thinks of the daily trivial work, thinks of the flattering, corrupt and inefficient officialdom, thinks of the people who are in hot water and the people are not happy, he feels that his work is meaningless, and he mentions in his letter to his brother that "I am close to the eunuch field, quite tired of its customs and does not supplement the national economy and people's livelihood, but where the situation is, I cannot retreat." ”
In other words, Zeng Guofan's professional burnout was more serious, and the midlife crisis had arrived, and he could not enter or retreat in the official field.
Zeng Guofan, who is already forty years old, is difficult not to be confused, and he cannot find the meaning of life and work for the time being.
But who would have thought that the next year, the Daoguang Emperor would ride the dragon to the guests, and the new emperor Xianfeng would succeed to the throne.
New people and new atmosphere, the new emperor opened up the way of speech, Zeng Guofan even put forward various opinions, most of the Xianfeng Emperor gladly adopted, Zeng Guofan's official fortunes went further. In the second year of Xianfeng, I did not expect that the emperor sent himself to Jiangxi to do the main examination, and the dream of many years ago suddenly came true, and happiness came too suddenly.
Zeng Guofan quickly wrote a recital to thank the emperor, and took twenty days off to return to his hometown to see his parents. He had been in Beijing for fourteen years, had not taken a leave of absence to return home in fourteen years, had not seen his parents in fourteen years, and he was anxious to see his parents. Take the opportunity to take a trip home.
Zeng Guofan couldn't help himself, packed his bags and went on the road.
(To be continued, please pay attention to the "New Biography of Zeng Guofan - Zeng Guofan in the Diary of the Folding")
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