For decades, Zeng Guofan, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty, wrote a diary, summarized and reviewed his daily words and deeds, and repeatedly demanded that he should be diligent and thrifty, humble, benevolent, honest, know his fate, and cherish his blessings. According to this, many people believe that Zeng Guofan is a kind person.
That's because you don't see how he cleans up his political enemies.
Zeng Guofan started with the Xiang Army, and after more than ten years of fighting, he finally became famous and became a feudal official of the ruling side, a first-class Marquis of Yiyong, and created the miracle of leading scholars to lead soldiers to be marquis during the Qing Dynasty. During this period, Zeng Guofan's development was not smooth. After all, the rise of the Xiang Army has affected the interests of many people, and Zeng Guofan has naturally made many political enemies.
For example, He Guiqing, the governor of Liangjiang.
He Guiqing, Zi Cong Shan, Horn Genyun, a native of Kunming, Yunnan, was born in 1816, 5 years younger than Zeng Guofan. However, He Guiqing's career path was much smoother than Zeng Guofan's. At the age of 38, he became the governor of Zhejiang and the governor of Liangjiang at the age of 41. At that time, Zeng Guofan was still only hanging on to the identity of a soldier's attendant, leading the Xiang army to fight against the Taiping Army with difficulty.
How did He Guiqing become a political enemy of Zeng Guofan?
It turned out that after the Taiping Army captured Tianjing in 1853, the Qing court mobilized heavy troops from all over the world to besiege Tianjing. The Xiang army led by Zeng Guofan was also in the middle. The Xiang Army was not a national standing armed force, and the grain and salaries needed were raised by the generals of the unified army from the local level. After Zeng Guofan led his troops into Jiangxi and Anhui to fight, the governor of Liangjiang should provide grain and pay. However, He Guiqing repeatedly harassed Zeng Guofan and refused to provide grain and wages, which made Zeng Guofan very embarrassed.
Zeng Guofan was ridden on the head by He Guiqing, and he was ridiculed and hated in his heart, but his city government was very deep and did not have a seizure.
In 1860, when He Guiqing was defending Changzhou, he encountered a large-scale attack by the Taiping Army. Greedy and afraid of death, He Guiqing fled without a fight, and shot and killed 19 local gentry who were blocking him while fleeing. Later, the imperial court held him accountable, dismissed him from his post, arrested him in Beijing, and imprisoned him in the Prison of the Punishment Department, waiting to be released.
He Guiqing has been an official for many years, and there are many patrons in the imperial court, and the university scholars Qi Liaozao, Peng Yunzhang, and others have a good relationship with him and stand up to intercede for him. Empress Dowager Cixi could not make up her mind and consulted Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan said in a secret recital that "The officials of Xinjiang regard the city as a major festival, and it is not appropriate to stop with the words of one of the subordinates; the minister convicts himself of his heart, and does not have to weigh the existence or absence of public courtesy." ”
Zeng Guofan's words made He Guiqing die. On December 21, 1862, He Guiqing was executed at the Caishikou Law Field in Beijing and abandoned the city.
In addition to He Guiqing, Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang, was also a political enemy of Zeng Guofan.
Wang Youling (王有灵; pinyin: Wáng Yīng), courtesy name Xuexuan, was born in 1810 by Hou Guan (侯官; present-day Fuzhou, Fujian). Wang Youling was a classmate of He Guiqing,who was close to him and participated in the camp of excluding Zeng Guofan. Later, Wang Youling took in Li Yuandu, an old general of the Xiang Army, which was equivalent to digging up people's corners and angering Zeng Guofan.
In 1861, the Taiping Army successively captured the cities of Suzhou, Changzhou, Jiaxing, and Zhuji, and Hangzhou, which Wang Youling was defending, was also besieged for a long time. The imperial court ordered Zeng Guofan to send people to Zhejiang to rescue Wang Youling, and Zeng Guofan recommended Zuo Zongtang to supervise the military affairs of Zhejiang. Just as Zuo Zongtang was leading his troops to Zhejiang, Zeng Guofan wrote to him and told him not to move.
Zuo Zongtang then took the Chu army around the border between Jiangxi and Zhejiang.
It was not until the end of December 1861, when the Taiping Army attacked Hangzhou and Wang Youling hanged himself, that Zeng Guofan ordered Zuo Zongtang to quickly enter Zhejiang.
In fact, Zeng Guofan also treated his own people with a cruel hand.
At the beginning of Zeng Guofan's formation of the Xiang Army, he had an aide by his side, named Li Yuandu. Li Yuandu was of great help to Zeng Guofan.
In 1854, Zeng Guofan was defeated in the Jinggang Water Battle, intending to commit suicide by throwing himself into the water, but was rescued by Zhang Shoulin, who li Yuandu had arranged in advance to hide in the rear cabin. In 1855, Zeng Guofan was again defeated by the famous Taiping Army general Shi Dakai at the mouth of The Lake in Jiangxi, with heavy losses. Li Yuandu not only comforted Zeng Guofan with kind words, but also volunteered to return to his hometown of Pingjiang and formed a "Pingjiang Yong" to protect Zeng Guofan's safety. In 1856, when Zeng Guofan was besieged by Shi Dakai in Nanchang, and the situation was precarious, it was Li Yuandu who attacked and led 700 Xiang troops to fight in the northeast of Jiangxi, firmly holding the two cities of Yushan and Guangfeng in Jiangxi, ensuring the safety of the grain route from Jiangxi to Zhejiang, so that Zeng Guofan would not be destroyed.
In 1860, Li Yuandu was outnumbered in the Battle of Huizhou and was defeated, and Huizhou fell to the enemy. Li Yuandu's defeat in this battle was due to his own reasons, as well as Zeng Guofan's fault of "not planning secretly", but Zeng Guofan, in order to shirk his responsibility, impeached Li Yuandu to the imperial court, "please remove Li Yuandu from his post and ask him to show his punishment."
Under the impeachment of Zeng Guofan, Li Yuandu lost his official position and was forced to defect to Wang Youling, the governor of Zhejiang. Zeng Guofan became angry and impeached Li Yuandu again, saying that he did not go all out to rescue Zhejiang: "This officer was both a subordinate before and Wang Youling in the back. The Fa is difficult to forgive, and the emotions are also difficult to forgive. ”
As a result, Li Yuandu was once again dismissed from his post and sent to serve in the military.
[References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan and Li Yuandu's Grace and Resentment, etc.]