Chapter 62 Three visits to the thatched cottage to seek talents

Li Hongzhang recruited talents for his shogunate all the time. After he arrived in Shanghai, he began to recruit more talents for the Huai army shogunate.When he was in Anqing, he had heard that Feng Guifen was in Shanghai, because Feng had written the begging teacher letter.He and Feng Guifen had known each other more than ten years ago. Feng Guifen was the second in the list in the 20th year of Daoguang (1840). He had previously served in Jiangsu as the governor of Lin Zexu's shogunate, and later studied economics with Yao Ying and others in the Imperial Academy .Li Hongzhang also entered the Imperial Academy after passing the Jinshi examination. At that time, he admired Feng Guifen's knowledge very much.

In order to show his sincerity, Li Hongzhang came to Feng Guifen's home in person on this day.Feng Guifen saw that Li was coming, and quickly grabbed his hand: Oh, Mr. Li is busy with military affairs, why do you have time to come to my idler's house today? Li Hongzhang laughed: Brother Jing Ting doesn't welcome you?Wasn't it your idea to lure me from Anqing to Shanghai?Today I'll take a look at Brother Taiwan, which I haven't seen in more than ten years, isn't it okay? Feng Guifen was very embarrassed by what he said, so she hurriedly said: How dare, how dare, Li Fujun came to the humble house in his busy schedule, so he must go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, right?

Li Hongzhang turned to the topic: I'm just kidding, brother, today I came to visit you specially.If it weren't for your letter to Zeng Shuai, "Public Invitation to Zeng Xieying", how could I have come to Shanghai to meet the world?I have read that letter many times, with thousands of words in it, Zeng Shuai was also moved by it.Especially when I heard that you planned a way of crying, sending Qian Dingming and Hua Yilun to Anqing to cry, otherwise how could Zeng Shuai send me to Shanghai so quickly?You are still tall. Being fooled by Li Hongzhang like this, Feng Guifen really felt a little flustered.Since the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion, he was ordered to go back to his hometown to hold regiment training. The Taiping army broke through the Jiangnan camp. Feng Guifen and his family fled to Shanghai. display.I often feel that I am over half a hundred years old and still have nothing to achieve, and I feel quite uncomfortable.

Seeing that Feng Guifen was a little moved, Li Hongzhang stepped up his offensive: Brother should be fourteen years older than me, brother, I have just graduated from Zeng Shuai's shogunate, and I am new to Shanghai, so I have to rely on my brother for guidance.I know that Brother Feng has been obsessed with practical studies all his life, brother, I am also a studious person, and I hope that you will not hesitate to teach me in the future. Although Li Hongzhang is younger than himself and has less seniority, after all, he is the leader at this time, but he can be so courteous to the corporal. Feng Guifen is really touched by his thirst for talents, but he doesn't know Li Hongzhang very well, so he replied: Mr. Fujun Too much praise, I, Feng Moujie, am an old man, how dare I accept the love of your lord, although I have some shallow opinions, I'm afraid it may not be in line with your wishes.

Li Hongzhang saw that Feng Guifen was still a little hesitant, and hurriedly threw out a reassurance: Brother, you are too worried, do you really want me to pay attention to the thatched cottage?I, Li, don't talk about conventions. In my Huai army shogunate, there are both literati and scholars, as well as those who used to be thieves. As long as they have real talents and learning, I will treat them like guests.Brother Feng, if you don't dislike it, you might as well condescend for a few days and see what I said is the truth. At this time, Cheng Xueqi, who went with Li Hongzhang, took advantage of the situation and said: Master Li said what he said from his heart. For example, I, Cheng, was a reckless person, and Master Li did not give up, so I came to Shanghai to serve with the army.Master Feng is a talented man in the world, why don't you take advantage of this troubled time to show your skills, please think twice.

Feng Guifen saw that what they said was true, so it was hard to refuse: Since Mr. Li is so kind, then I, Mr. Feng, will not be disrespectful. If there is something useful in the future, Mr. Fujun can just order it. Feng Guifen was born in a famous family in Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province. He was appreciated by Lin Zexu when he was young. He is fourteen years older than Li Hongzhang, and he is a well-known, arrogant and talented person, but he is willing to enter his shogunate. It has something to do with Li Hongzhang's talent strategy of being courteous and thirsty for talents. Feng Guifen is erudite and talented. In addition to being proficient in classics and history, he also has a lot of research on issues such as astronomy, geography, mathematics, water conservancy, farmland, rivers, military affairs, salt and iron.Moreover, he accepted the influence of the advanced concept of Western capitalism in his early years, and advocated the adoption of Western learning and the manufacture of foreign utensils, with traditional Chinese culture as the foundation and foreign prosperity and power as the auxiliary.

In 1863, Li Hongzhang accepted Feng Guifen's suggestion and planned to build a school of foreign languages ​​and characters in Shanghai. The memorial was drafted by Feng Guifen and was quickly approved. This was later the Tongwen Museum and the Cantonese Dialect Museum, a new modern school. .Feng Guifen wrote the book "Xiaobinglu Protest", which contained his political views and views on Westernization. These views had a great influence on the Westernization School, and were later regarded as the forerunner by the Reformers. Many of Li Hongzhang's later political, westernization, and diplomatic thoughts and actions were largely influenced by Feng Guifen. , This is exactly the point of view in "Xiaobinlu Protest".

Since Li Hongzhang went north to suppress the Nian Army, Feng Guifen stopped helping him because of his old age and sickness.Later, someone recommended him to come out of the mountain again, and the imperial court consulted Li Hongzhang about it. Li Hongzhang gave a report based on the facts and praised Feng Guifen. Qing title. In 1870, Li Hongzhang gave a memorial to the imperial court when he was the governor of Huguang, saying that Feng Guifen gave lectures and wrote books at home, which had a great influence on the southeastern provinces.This year, Li Hongzhang succeeded Zeng Guofan as the governor of Zhili and became the premier governor. He once again invited Feng Guifen to reward him, and this time he finally got approval.

After retiring, Feng Guifen presided over the compilation of "Suzhou Fuzhi" wholeheartedly in Shanghai, but kept in touch with Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang was troubled by the management of the river. Things help a lot. In 1874, Feng Guifen passed away, and Li Hongzhang deeply regretted it. For this reason, he specially went to Shu, requesting to build a special shrine to commemorate Feng Guifen in his hometown in Wu County, Jiangsu Province, which was approved by the Qing government.