Chapter 66 It's good to enjoy the shade under the big tree

In July 1858, the Taiping Army once again occupied Hefei City. Li Hongzhang fled north with his mother, wife and children in a hurry. Burned to the ground by the Taiping Army, Li Hongzhang felt that his future was bleak.His father died, and there was no place to live in the capital.At this time, he thought of his teacher Zeng Guofan. When he was in Hefei earlier, he had asked someone to bring a message to the teacher, expressing his hope to continue to rely on the teacher's command.Zeng Guofan certainly welcomed Li Hongzhang's request.At the end of this year, Li Hongzhang came to Jianchang, Jiangxi, and formally took refuge in Zeng Guofan's shogunate.For Li Hongzhang, Zeng Guofan can be regarded as a real big tree.After five years of hard work, Zeng Guofan established a new type of army, the Hunan Army, which was different from the Qing army. It recruited a large number of military generals and various staff members. This army actually became a lifesaver for the court in the late Qing Dynasty.

And Zeng Guofan's knowledge, talent, courage and will were incomparable to those officials Li Hongzhang met in Anhui.The staff in the shogunate include the best talents in politics, military, economics, foreign affairs, engineering and technology. Li Hongzhang can be exposed to such a good environment, which is naturally extremely beneficial to his own growth.Zeng Guofan also attached great importance to Li Hongzhang as a student. More than ten years ago, he had taught Li Hongzhang the study of world management and the study of imperial examinations. Later, Li Hongzhang lived up to expectations and successfully passed the Jinshi examination.

So this time when Li Hongzhang came, Zeng Guofan intended to further train him, because after all, the times are different, and now the important thing is not to write articles and learn, but he wants to cultivate Li Hongzhang's political, military and other aspects, and even wants to cultivate He is his future successor. On the issue of fame and wealth, Zeng Guofan taught Li Hongzhang not to rush for quick success, but to be patient and wait for the opportunity.Once, Zeng Guofan sent Li Hongzhang to assist Zeng Guoquan to Jingdezhen to reinforce the old camp of the Hunan Army. Li Hongzhang felt unhappy when he saw that he was still following others to join in the fun.Zeng Guofan said to him earnestly: Shaoquan, you are new here, and you still need to learn a lot. Even if you are alone, can you take on this task?It is gold that will always shine, but learn to be patient.Later, he also taught Li Hongzhang one of his secret heart methods, "Ting Jing".

Of course, Zeng Guofan also slowly let Li Hongzhang complete some small practical tasks independently.In addition, he also allowed Li Hongzhang to participate in the confidential activities of the shogunate, so that Li Hongzhang had the opportunity to contact some military aircraft and participate in some decision-making. This is of course extremely important for Li Hongzhang's rapid growth. The most important thing is to cultivate the ability to take the lead, because to be the successor of Zeng Guofan, one must carry out comprehensive quality training and have the ability to grasp the overall strategy.

In August of the tenth year of Xianfeng, the Anglo-French coalition forces captured Tianjin and headed straight for the capital. Emperor Xianfeng fled to Rehe in a hurry, and at the same time ordered Bao Chao, a fierce general of the Hunan Army, to lead his troops north to rescue.After receiving the order, Zeng Guofan convened a meeting of his staff to discuss whether he should go north to King Qin. Everyone was chattering and expressing their opinions. Some advocated going north, while others said that going north was not beneficial, and they refused to give in to each other.At this time Li Hongzhang spoke: Although the coalition forces are coming fiercely and threatening to attack the capital, I think that is a big talk to scare people. Is the capital so easy to capture?They just want to blackmail some gold and silver treasures.The army on our side is fighting the Taiping Army and the Nian Army. How can we spare the main force to go to the north? Once the Taiping Army takes advantage of the situation and makes a comeback, the consequences will be disastrous.I think it is better to write a request for instructions, explain the situation, and then ask the emperor to make a decision.

Zeng Guofan was very happy to hear Li Hongzhang's words were reasonable, and adopted Li Hongzhang's suggestion.Sure enough, he soon received a notice from the Qing government to negotiate a peace with the coalition forces, saying that there was no need to go north for rescue.This confirmed Li Hongzhang's judgment, indicating that Li Hongzhang already possessed the thinking ability to control the overall situation at this time. After several years of study and training, Li Hongzhang's abilities in all aspects have been comprehensively improved, and he is no longer the reckless youth he was before.At the same time, he also admired his teacher Zeng Guofan even more. From now on, whenever he talks about Zeng Guofan to others, he will always call me teacher, respecting him like a saint.