In the past three weeks, I have been listening to "The Biography of Zeng Guofan" by Himalaya. This large biography written by teacher Zhang Jun sounds like it has been very beneficial. Personally speaking, when reading biographies of famous people, I cannot read summary biographies, but rather the editing of the author's preferences. This biography of Zeng Guofan is relatively detailed, and there is indeed a lot worth learning and pondering. Of course, there is no such thing as a biography based entirely on fact, and there cannot be one.
At present, 325 episodes of this biography have been listened to. Zeng Guofan has passed his sixtieth birthday, and it should be said that it is coming to an end. It is indeed of great benefit to listen carefully to such a biography and combine it with my own experiences and insights from more than ten years in society.
The outside world has different opinions on Zeng Guofan, and the biographies are also different. Some biographies describe Zeng Guofan as a very stupid person (his father-in-law, a scholar, was also considered knowledgeable in the local area. When Zeng Guofan was a child, , is willing to marry his daughter to him, which is enough to reflect that he is by no means a stupid person), but a very diligent person, and finally reached a relatively high position in life. This kind of gameplay should be learned successfully, but it is indeed unreasonable.
From what I heard from this book, Zeng Guofan should be a very diligent person, but his memory is not very good, and his ability to react on the spot is not too fast. However, Zeng Guofan is very cautious, thoughtful and good at planning. He is a conspiracy. The type that is determined and then acted upon. Many of his decisions in the book were made after pondering for a long time, which should be his advantage. Zeng Guofan is definitely not a stupid person. He probably has a poor memory. In fact, judging from his experience, he also has some cleverness.
In my opinion, Zeng Guofan's ability to reach such a height in life from a peasant boy should be said to be a manifestation of great wisdom and foolishness, and also a good interpretation of the two types of people in society.
One type of people is what we often call smart people who are visible to the naked eye and articulate. There are indeed many such people in life. But from my observation of this kind of people, most of them don't have very good achievements. The main reason why he doesn't have great achievements is because he knows that he is a little smart, but he cannot develop the habits of diligence, perseverance and careful thinking. Therefore, this kind of people often take advantage of their words and can often gain the so-called upper hand in small things and relationships. But at the same time, they will be too complacent and eventually stop moving forward. Most of their lives will be very dull. According to modern people, when a person has a strong sense of superiority, his psychological quality will eventually be poor and he will not be able to do something calmly.
The other category is those who seem to have mediocre qualifications, but can often go further. This kind of people have mediocre qualifications and lack of eloquence. When they were young, they rarely received much praise from the outside world. Instead, they were snubbed and ignored by the outside world from time to time. Such people do not need to subconsciously act smart to the outside world all the time. They can often develop the habit of diligence and eventually make a difference. The psychological quality of such people is naturally excellent. Coupled with diligence and the reason that they think they are not smart and can make better decisions by trying to figure out everything, they can often have a better life.
After listening to this book, the first question is, why was Zeng Guofan able to rise to prominence in an environment like feudal society where it was difficult for farm children to get ahead?
1. Family conditions: It has been hundreds of years since the Zeng family reached the generation of Grandpa Zeng Guofan. The accumulation and efforts of generations before have made the Zeng family well-off or somewhat wealthy. people. This is very important. Without an economic foundation, studying in ancient times was just a luxury. In addition, the series of financial aid that followed were even more wishful thinking. This should be said to be the decisive foundation.
2. Family tradition: It should be said that Zeng Guofan’s life achievements were largely due to the foundation laid by his grandfather, because from the time he was born to the time he entered officialdom, his grandfather was in charge of the family. So his grandfather's character and thoughts led the family. "His grandfather Zeng Xinggang summed up the "eight characters and three disbeliefs" family management formula, which became the heirloom of the Zeng family to convey positive energy. The "eight formulas" refer to books, vegetables, fish, pigs, breakfast, sweeping, examination and treasure. "Books, vegetables, fish, pigs and sweeps" refers to reading, growing vegetables, raising fish, feeding pigs, sweeping the floor, and working for home life. "Treasure" is a close neighbor and a good friend. The "three disbeliefs" are not believing in medicines and doctors, not believing in immortals, and not believing in monks and witches." Although his grandfather was not very literate, after the prodigal son returned, he was indeed insightful and managed the family well. He was a rare farmer in that era. His grandfather advocated diligence and getting up early. It should be said that Zeng Guofan benefited from this throughout his life, and of course it was also a life of hard work.
3. Habits developed as a blessing in disguise: Because Zeng Guofan had mediocre qualifications and poor memory, the outside world gave him more criticism than praise. He developed the habit of being diligent, perseverant, and good at making decisions after careful consideration. Of course, he suffered more derogations, which also gave him stronger psychological endurance and the ability to deal with many difficulties later on.
4. The vision of the family: Because his grandfather was not very literate, he was eventually killed by a squire and lost a lot of money. He was asked to establish a vision of the family, which was to cultivate talented people. This is the vision of their family. His father took exams for half his life and finally became a scholar. He also took exams many times and finally reached a peak that is difficult for ordinary people to reach. Therefore, this is the vision that his family has worked hard for for generations, and it also prompted him to subconsciously have such an idea and work hard for it.
4. The accumulation of several generations: First, we mentioned that the family economic foundation is the accumulation of several generations, so Zeng Guofan's learning of this matter is also a process of accumulation. His grandfather strictly trained his father to study. It can be said that he was born in a "scholarly family". Therefore, although his father took the exam for a long time before he was admitted as a scholar, he had an enlightening teacher, which was also the accumulation of knowledge. We modern people say that parents are the starting line for children, and this is what we mean. If Zeng Guofan had been born more than 20 years earlier, that is, in his father's generation, it is estimated that it would be difficult to reach such a height. In addition, his father-in-law is a scholar, so this is a breakthrough brought about by the accumulation of knowledge. Of course, this is only one aspect. After all, his other brothers are all average in their studies.
5. Opportunity and management: It can be said that in Zeng Guofan's era, there were definitely many people who had the same qualifications and knowledge as him, or even better than him. But for him to reach the top, opportunity is a very important aspect. First of all, he managed and met several people who supported him. It was also a chance for him to have Mu Zhang'a, and it was also his management and intention. After he became a minister, he went home to mourn. As a result, the Taiping Army made too much noise and the local regiment needed someone to calm down the situation. He was just in time. If he had been in the capital at this time, he would definitely not have established the Hunan Army, let alone conquer Jinling, and eventually become a Marquis and Governor of Zhili.
6. Think carefully: Zeng Guofan was always cautious when he won. Although this was also criticized by the outside world, it took a year or two to defeat a Taiping Army city, but this should be said to him. The pros outweigh the cons. He figured out everything and studied everything to prevent him from making too many mistakes rashly. He always pondered over the edicts he gave to the emperor and the queen mother over and over again, striving to make the right decision and avoid being hasty and causing the emperor's displeasure and affecting his official career.
7. Self-discipline: Anyone who has heard the biography of Zeng Guofan should all agree on this. His self-discipline is indeed very impressive. He has been keeping diaries since the Daoguang period, so he has such a detailed biography that we can hear. This is very commendable. Years of self-discipline have given him a good character, and he will not be criticized or make mistakes because of lack of self-discipline. He has never been like Zuo Zongtang, who almost lost his head because others did not say hello. He would not be like his ninth brother, who would become arrogant after having achieved success, and end up disastrous in the end. This all stems from Zeng Guofan's self-discipline, which meant that when he died, he was still the governor of Liangjiang.
8. Good at learning: As an ancient scholar, he was actually studying before he became an official. According to the current point of view, his knowledge is still very narrow. The follow-up methods of being a person, an official, and a manager must be learned slowly by oneself. In addition, the follow-up is to lead troops to fight. The knowledge set is wider. It involves four departments, and they cannot be relied on. Only when you stop learning can you make a difference. According to modern people's point of view, Zeng Guofan should be a growing talent. Including later, it even involved Westernization, military manufacturing, etc.
9. Learn from the strengths of others: Although Zeng Guofan is also a stubborn person, he can still listen to opinions. He later led troops to fight, which involved too many aspects, such as the army, navy, guns, etc., and the scope was too wide. Many of them required assistance from people in the professional field. He also had many staff members, including Only in this way can he be able to deal with so many matters.
10. Low-key and humble: Zeng Guofan has maintained a low-key style throughout his life, which should be said to have allowed him to go further. Li Hongzhang incurred more than 800 impeachments in his life, but Zeng Guofan did not have such a situation. It should be said that it was largely due to his low-keyness and humility. He also understood the fickleness of life, the cycle of ups and downs, and orderly profit and loss. Therefore, he did not become arrogant when he became a high official, and he did not make many enemies or grudges. . On the contrary, the domineering ninth brother was sent home soon after he was promoted to governor of Hubei. Comparing the two, we can see how rare it is for Zeng Guofan to go through three dynasties.
Of course, any success or failure cannot be summed up by one or several reasons. Life is inherently complex. On the road to success and failure, changes in small factor variables on the input end can often lead to huge differences on the output end. Therefore, for such a historical figure, if you want to summarize the reasons for his success, you can only make partial generalizations.
Of course, it is difficult for an ordinary person to judge, let alone such a historical figure. As for me, I can only speculate a little bit, and I will think of others as I see them. However, such a historical figure cannot be fully described in just a few words. Today I will write an essay for the purpose of daily class.
Flowing Water Fairy Tale written on January 7, 2021