Zeng Guofan was born in the 16th year of Jiaqing (1811) in a wealthy landlord family in Heyetang, Jingzi Town, Shuangfeng County, Hunan Province. There are nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan is the eldest son. The ancestors were mainly farmers, and their lives were relatively comfortable. Grandfather Zeng Yuping has little education, but rich experience; Zeng Linshu, his father, was a scholar, and Zeng Guofan, his eldest son and grandson, naturally received ethical education from two ancestors.
Zeng Guofan entered a school at the age of 6, read eight-part essays and recited the Five Classics at the age of 8, read Zhou Li and selected works of historical records at the age of 14, and took a boy's exam in Changsha. His excellent grades were listed as excellent, which shows that he was intelligent and diligent since childhood. In the 12th year of Daoguang (1832), he was admitted as a scholar and married Ouyang Cangming's daughter.
Zeng Guofan was admitted to the Jinshi at the age of 28. Since then, he has stepped onto the road of official career step by step, and has become the right-hand pupil of Military Minister Mu Zhang 'a. In Beijing for more than ten years, he successively served as Jishi Shu of the Imperial Academy, moved to study, lectured with a bachelor's degree, served in Wenyuan Pavilion, served as a bachelor's degree in cabinet, inspected Chinese book affairs, served as assistant minister of Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Punishment, and official department. Zeng Guofan was promoted to the second-class position step by step along this official career path. After ten years and seven moves, he jumped ten levels in a row, jumping from seven products to two products. < P > Zeng Guofan's life is inseparable from suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising. In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zeng Guofan was lost at home because of his mother. At this time, the uprising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had swept half of China. Although the Qing government mobilized a large number of officers and men of the Eight Banners and green camp from all over the country to deal with the Taiping Army, this decadent armed force was vulnerable. Therefore, the Qing government repeatedly issued orders to reward Yong Tuan, trying to use the landlord armed forces in various places to curb the development of revolutionary forces, which provided an opportunity for the emergence of Zeng Guofan's Xiang army. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), when the Qing government gave him the opportunity to seek strength to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he established a local regiment called Xiang Army in his hometown of Hunan, relying on complicated interpersonal relationships such as mentoring, relatives and friends. Zeng Guofan cruelly suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising and used harsh punishments. It is said in history that "one person was sent to Zhizhou, and one person was taken care of to judge the bandits. If the solution was serious, it would be decided, and if it was light, it would be killed, and if it was light, it would be thousands of whips. ..... the case will be immediately heard and the law will be immediately executed, and there is no expectation of delay. " Not only did he kill people directly, but his father and four brothers also killed people, that is, some people accused him of killing too many people, calling him "Zeng shaved his head" and "Zeng butcher." It is said that children in Nanjing cried at night, and their mother said, "I shaved my head," so the children stopped crying. In the battle with Taiping Army, Zeng Guofan used the methods of looting property and conferring titles on officials to boost morale, and formed the nature of Xiang Army's fierce and disabled. Xiang Army became one of the main forces fighting against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in southern China among the Qing armed forces with backward military quality. Zeng Guofan was named as the first-class brave marquis, and became the first person to seal the marquis of Wu as a scholar in the Qing Dynasty. Later, he served as the governor of Liangjiang and Zhili, and the official residence was one product.
Zeng Guofan wrote a lot in his life, but the letter from home was the most widely circulated and influential. In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), that is, seven years after Zeng Guofan's death, Chuanzhong Bookstore engraved Zeng Wenzheng's Letter from the Public edited by Li Hanzhang and Li Hongzhang.
Zeng Guofan himself was good at using talents, and other famous ministers in the Qing Dynasty, such as Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang, were closely related to him. Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang called Zeng Guofan a teacher. Zeng Guofan once said, "Li Shaoquan tried his best to be an official, and Yu Yinfu (Yu Yue) tried his best to write a book".
After the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Taiping Army joined the Nian Army in the rest of Jiangbei, and the Qing court ordered Zeng Guofan to supervise the military affairs in Zhili, Shandong and Henan provinces. Zeng Guofan led 2, Xiang troops and 6, Huai troops, equipped with foreign guns and guns, to "suppress twisting" in the north. His policy was to "emphasize suppression rather than stern chase" and put forward plans such as "key fortification" in an attempt to stop the twisting army in the canal and Shahe areas, so that it had nowhere to escape and then be destroyed. However, the Nian army broke through Zeng Guofan's defense line and entered Shandong, which made Zeng Guofan's strategic plan bankrupt. Zeng Guofan was removed from office and replaced by Li Hongzhang.
In the ninth year of Tongzhi (187), Zeng Guofan, who was in office as governor of Zhili, was ordered to go to Tianjin to handle the Tianjin religious case. On June 21, 187, thousands of people in Tianjin gathered in front of the French Catholic church on suspicion that the Catholic church used the nursery as a crutch to kidnap people and kill babies. French consul Feng Daye thought that the official didn't press hard. He ran into Liu Jie, a magistrate of Tianjin, with a gun in the street. Because of a dispute, he shot and killed Liu Jie's servant on the spot. In public anger, he first killed French consul Feng Daye and his secretary Simon, then killed 1 nuns, 2 priests, 2 other French consulate staff, 2 French nationals, 3 Russian nationals and more than 3 China believers, and burned the French consulate, the Catholic Church of Wanghailou and local British and American missionaries. After the incident, Britain, the United States, France and other countries jointly protested and dispatched warships to show off their power. After Zeng Guofan arrived in Tianjin, considering the situation at that time, he didn't want to go to war with France. "However, the quick success of the Hebei draw was not one of the crimes of asking for love." At the request of France, he decided to finally kill 18 people who were the first to kill, banished 25 people, and sent Zhang Guangzao, the magistrate of Tianjin, and Liu Jie, the magistrate of a county, to Heilongjiang to compensate foreigners for their losses of 462, silver, and sent a mission from Chonghou to France to apologize. As a result of this negotiation, people in the imperial court and public opinion were very dissatisfied, which greatly affected Zeng Guofan's reputation and caused the national ruling and opposition parties to scold him. Even his fellow Hunan people smashed and burned the plaque that he boasted about his fame in Huguang Hall.
in the 11th year of Tongzhi, he died in Nanjing on the 4th day of February (Gregorian calendar: March 2th, 1872). The imperial court gave a teacher a gift, and after his death, he was "Wen Zheng". There are many officials in the descendants of his family, such as Ceng Jize.