The road to success has always been a clear road, but this road may be full of thorns and mountains; it may be difficult and windy; and the shortcut to success is often circuitous. Lots of twists and turns and traps. As the saying goes, "The greatest "shortcut" to success is to focus on the present and make unremitting efforts, which is the "stupid" method.
Zeng Guofan, the last Confucian "sage" in Chinese history, always practiced this principle throughout his life. He used the most "stupid" method to become a great Confucian. He also used the most "stupid" but yet It is the most effective method - to organize and train the Hunan army, "fortify the stronghold and fight stupidly", defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and became a generation of "famous ministers of the ZTE".
Zeng Guofan (1811-1872) was originally named Zicheng, with the courtesy name Bohan, the nickname Disheng, and the posthumous title Wenzheng. He was of Han nationality. He was born in the 16th year of Jiaqing in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Xiangxiang, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan (now Hunan). A scholarly family from Tianping Village, Heye Town, Shuangfeng County, Loudi City. An important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder and commander of the Hunan Army. He was a military strategist, Neo-Confucianist, politician, calligrapher, and writer of the Qing Dynasty. He was the founder of the "Xiangxiang School" of prose in the late Qing Dynasty. Together with Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong, he was known as one of the "Four Famous Officials of the Late Qing Dynasty". He rose to the rank of Governor of Liangjiang, Governor of Zhili, Bachelor of Wuyingdian, and was granted the title of First-class Yiyong Marquis. *** once said: "To those who are close to me, I will only obey Zeng Wenzheng." This expressed his admiration for this late countryman.
When the powerful Eight Banners army became corrupted and the Green Camp troops were incapable of fighting, the Qing Dynasty had to rely on local regiments to train armed forces to deal with the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan founded a unique local regiment training - the Hunan Army, recruiting soldiers from his hometown. Supplemented by the Confucian concept of "loyalty and filial piety" and the emotional ties between teachers, students, and fellow villagers, a highly cohesive army was quickly mobilized, and the efficiency was amazing. Most of the generals of the Hunan Army came from intellectuals under the imperial examination system at that time, and the soldiers were drawn from a large number of surplus labor forces after the bankruptcy of the rural areas under the influence of the capitalist economic wave. This formed the biggest feature of the Hunan Army - Confucian scholars led rural slaves. The organizational command system is clear. Unlike the Taiping Army, which was trapped, it will not collapse at the first touch on the battlefield.
If Zeng Guofan advocates "keeping oneself humble", then this is precisely where his wisdom and success lie.
Everywhere the Hunan army under his command went, they built walls, dug trenches, set up camps, and set up camp step by step. They turned offensive tasks into defensive tasks, bit by bit encroaching on the areas controlled by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, in order to win step by step. , to achieve the purpose of "causing people without harming others", this is the "hard stronghold", which attaches great importance to setting up camp and keeping camp.
The Hunan Army often takes a whole year to siege a city, instead of two or three months. It digs trenches to siege a city, cuts off the enemy's food routes and supplies, and then encircles the enemy and calls for reinforcements when necessary. This method is very clumsy. , but very effective, this is "fighting stupidly".
Zeng Guofan's tactics were simple, easy to execute, and very effective, leaving old rivals Shi Dakai, Chen Yucheng, and Li Xiucheng helpless. Its strategy is also simple and clear, which is to control the front line of the Yangtze River, mainly the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Because the national economic center is in the south of the Yangtze River, controlling the Yangtze River line will prevent the division of the north and the south and keep government orders flowing smoothly. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom could occupy Nanjing, Jiujiang, and Anqing in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but it could never occupy Wuchang and Jingzhou in the upper reaches. At the end of the Three Kingdoms, the Jin State relied on Yizhou and Jingzhou to move down the river to destroy Wu; at the end of the Song Dynasty, the Yuan army captured Xiangyang and went down the river to finally destroy the Southern Song Dynasty. This is the best proof. Therefore, developing eastward along the Yangtze River became its basic strategy-to firmly occupy the towns on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, stabilize the rear, and then advance slowly to capture Nanjing and destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It is this simple tactical application and strategic thinking that reflects the extremely powerful Zeng Guofan and his Hunan Army.
Zeng Guofan is a very stoic person. He does things based on being "stupid" rather than smart. This is a kind of real wisdom.
People’s great wisdom should actually be based on the most basic points, without taking tricks or taking tricks. We learned from Zeng Guofan, a man who was well-read, solid in work, and a little dull. In the process of doing this, by working hard on "stupidity", the result is that he becomes a person who attracts much attention, and as a result, he achieves unparalleled achievements.
Zeng Guofan once said, "With the hands of a butcher, the heart of a Bodhisattva", he created a generation of handsome men!