Zeng Guofan is a controversial figure, the "first minister of ZTE" in the late Qing Dynasty. He, together with Zhang Zhidong, Li Hongzhang and Zuo, is known as the "four famous ministers" and is a famous Neo-Confucianism, politician, calligrapher and writer. However, his road to the imperial examination was full of twists and turns. Five-year-old Zeng Zicheng was electrocuted in the construction of Beitun in Taiyuan! I began to learn to read. At that time, the family also invited the first teacher to teach him "thousands of words". At the age of seven, I studied with my father. When I was nine years old, I finished reading four books and five classics. At the age of ten, I was able to recite poems. Even at the age of 24, his fate is still very good. This year, he took the 36th place in the Sino-Japanese War pilot test. However, in the next few years, good luck did not patronize him.
The imperial examinations in Qing Dynasty inherited the examination system in Ming Dynasty. It was not until the thirty-first year of Guangxu that the imperial examination system was explicitly abolished. In these two hundred years, not much has changed. Therefore, Confucian scholars must pass the art examination to become students who can enter the county school, which is what people usually call a scholar. The person who wins the first place in the rural examination is called a juror. Juren passed the Imperial Examination and palace examination, and ascended the throne of Jinshi with the first place. Only those who have entered Grade A and Grade B can enter the Hanlin Academy.
After the pilot, Zeng Zicheng got up and rushed to Beijing in June of that year. However, in the following year, in March of the 15th year of Daoguang, he was named Sun Shan for the first time. Fortunately, I caught up with the Queen Mother's 60th birthday this year, and it's common to take the senior high school entrance examination, so I had another chance to win the first prize the next year. Due to the high cost of returning to his hometown of Xiangxiang from Beijing, Ceng Zi stayed in Beijing with his father's consent, waiting for the Cohen exam next year.
During his year in Beijing, Zeng Zicheng gradually broadened his horizons. In addition to continuing to study classics, he quickly absorbed Tang and Song poetry and ancient prose. He thinks that ancient prose can give full play to his point of view, which is more vivid and meaningful than collecting the eight-part essay that binds hands and feet with drooling. However, what people never expected was that Zeng Zicheng lost contact with Dundee again in the Cohen exam in the 16th year of Daoguang.
Although disappointed, I think that I am only 26 years old and there are still many opportunities in the future, so I feel very calm about this temporary setback. After posting, Zeng Zicheng packed his bags, boarded the grain ship of the canal and returned to his hometown. However, on the way home, a very interesting thing happened.
For various reasons, there is not much money left on him. Fortunately, when passing by Huaining, I borrowed one hundred and twenty pieces of silver from Yi Zuomei, a fellow villager who was then a magistrate of a county. This was originally a good thing, but when I passed by Jinling, I saw a beautifully carved twenty-three histories in the bookstore. Because he couldn't stand the temptation of books, he bought all the money he had just borrowed and squandered all the expenses on the way. Father didn't blame Ceng Zi for spending one hundred and twenty silver to buy only a few boxes of books. Instead, he happily encouraged him, "It is a good thing for you to borrow money to buy books. I will help you pay your debts, but I hope you study hard and don't waste it. "
In the next two years, Zeng Zicheng got up in the morning, rested in the middle of the night and studied hard. He hasn't left home for nearly a year. In the eighteenth year of Daoguang, in the third year of the congress, Zeng Zicheng came to Beijing again.
Fortunately, this time he took part in the test, and he ranked 38th in the pilot Gong Zhong. In April, he won the second interview in the Justice Department, and won the 42nd place in the top three in the court examination. I was endowed with the same Jinshi lineage. But by convention, the top three can't enter imperial academy. Zeng Zicheng was so ashamed that he planned to go back the next day and didn't want to take the entrance exam. Fortunat
Through his own earnest efforts, Zeng Zicheng finally completed his imperial examination. He was only twenty-eight years old that year. Later, Zeng Zicheng changed his name to Guo Fan. It is said that Mr. Liu of Lianbin College changed it, which means that Zeng Zicheng is the barrier and hedge of the country. Whether it is true or not, the original intention was that Zeng Zicheng, who lived in a remote mountain village and was born in a cold place, jumped into the imperial court, which not only changed his life, but also influenced the politics, military affairs and culture of the late Qing government.