Chapter 13 Reluctantly, He returned to the Zeng Mansion

In a rage, Li Hongzhang left Zeng Guofan's shogunate angrily, and returned to his brother's house in Nanchang to stay idle for a year.This matter made Zeng Guofan very annoyed, thinking that Li Hongzhang was ignorant of the righteousness and unreasonable, and left with excuses when he was in trouble, and came to the conclusion that we are in trouble together.This matter also made Li Hongzhang very angry. He said to people that he thought Zeng Guofan was a hero who could accommodate different opinions and various people, but now he knows it is wrong. After Li Hongzhang returned to his hometown, because of the bad situation, he found that he had nowhere to go.He wanted to go to Fujian to fill the vacancy, but his friend Shen Baozhen in Fujian advised him not to go, saying that Fujian's political affairs were corrupt.After Li Hongzhang left, Zeng and Li did not break up their friendship, and they still exchanged letters.Hu Linyi did a lot of mediation work between the two.Moreover, Zeng Guofan really felt that the absence of Li Hongzhang by his side was like losing his right hand, and he couldn't help but think of Li Hongzhang's various benefits.Especially Qimen really encountered big trouble.After the Taiping Army occupied Huizhou, the loyal king Li Xiucheng approached Qimen.Zeng Guofan was like a turtle in a urn. He wrote his suicide note and prepared to die.Fortunately, Li Xiucheng did not attack Qimen, Zeng Guofan was spared, and his troops had to withdraw from Qimen.In addition, Guo Songtao, who is a good friend of Zeng and Li, heard that Li Hongzhang had left, and wrote to Li Hongzhang, saying: Nowadays, it is very difficult to rely on personal strength to rise, and only rely on trustworthy people.You should be broad-minded and focus on fame. It is better to return to Zeng Guofan's side again.

Li Hongzhang regretted his angry behavior very much. Seeing his friend's persuasion like this, he couldn't help but sigh Guo Songtao's foresight and sagacity.After Li Hongzhang became a prominent figure, only the friendship with Guo Songtao is the true friendship of a gentleman.Guo Songtao has no factional prejudices, walks alone, has a far-sighted vision, and can say what others cannot, dare not, and do not know.He possesses both the new learning and the old learning, but has been burdened with the burden of being alone for a long time, just like Qu Yuan, the doctor of Chu, who is difficult to be understood and recognized by the world, and is a lonely forerunner.

At this time, Zeng Guofan also wrote to Li Hongzhang, sincerely inviting him to come back.In July 1861, Li Hongzhang returned to Zeng Guofan's camp, and the two began to cooperate closely again. Since then, Li Hongzhang has been a loyal teacher of Zeng Guofan. Under the teacher's words and deeds, he has been cultivated and deeply influenced by Zeng Guofan in terms of personal cultivation and politics.