Zeng Guofan Xiang Yong rate undoubtedly played a decisive role in the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Li Hongzhang can also be said to be Zeng Guofan hand in hand to support up, it can be said that the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Xiang, Chu, Huai three main forces in two of the Zeng Guofan Department. The Xiang Yong and Huai army in the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement can be said to be the means of bloody and cruel, Zeng Guo-Tsuen Department of the attack on Tianjing (Nanjing) burned, killed, looted and robbed everything, Li Hongzhang Department of the Kesu Suzhou slaughtered all the surrender of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom personnel.
Zeng Guofan himself also for the "chaos with heavy", in dealing with the so-called showman Lin Mingguang banditry case, knowing that Lin Mingguang and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not deep (Lin Mingguang earlier saved the jianghu people, and later its people to participate in the Taiping Army, the jianghu people in order to pay back the kindness in the case of Lin Mingguang does not take property, to Lin Mingguang left a personal token. (personal token, the intention is only Lin Mingguang or Lin family members in trouble can hold the token to find him in order to provide help to repay the kindness), but still executed Lin Mingguang. Similar cases of banditry Zeng Guofan is basically from the strict and heavy disposal, for their own welcome to the "Zeng shaved head" nickname.
And his immediate subordinate Bao Chao Department of military discipline is extremely poor, in the suppression of the Taiping Army in the war disturbed the people seriously, where the people's poultry and livestock were robbed is also the norm. There was a squire wrote a poem "General has a different ambition not to kill long hair to kill flat hair", see the people's grievances. For this kind of thing Zeng Guofan in order to make his subordinates to serve, usually turn a blind eye.
The cause of Xiang Yong, Huai Jun such temporary conscription troops military discipline is bad, that is, there are such troops pay for local self-financing and basically difficult to supply the full reason, but also Zeng Guofan, such as the commander-in-chief of the connivance of the army.
Another thing that Zeng Guofan is widely criticized by the people of the country is also for Zeng Guofan's own guilt in the heart and feel y aggrieved is the "Tianjin case". The cause of the case, the broader aspects of the Chinese people on the colonization of the Church of the Great Powers of resentment; specific contradictions is the Church of the nursery children's death of very heavy and the French consul in Tianjin, Feng Daye in the governor Liu Jie in the process of the theory, shot the governor's nephew, Liu Qi. The people were outraged and killed Feng Daye and his secretary Simon, then killed 10 nuns, 2 priests, 2 French consular staff, 2 French expatriates, 3 Russian expatriates and more than 30 Chinese believers, and burned down the Wang Hailou Catholic Church, the Church of Mercy, the French Consulate located next to the church, as well as 4 other Christian churches run by local British and American missionaries. 1870, June 24th.
The foreign warships came to Tianjin and the ministers of seven countries protested to the Prime Minister's Office, with France leading the way.
The Qing side sent Zeng Guofan, the governor of Zhili, to investigate and negotiate with the French side. At that time, most of the officials in the court thought that they should not give in to them, and the situation was tense at any cost. Considering the situation, Zeng Guofan was reluctant to go to war with France, and first paid compensation to Britain, the United States, and Russia so that he could finally negotiate with France alone.
Tongzhi nine years (1870) June 10, a Zeng Guofan to Tianjin, immediately issued "Oracle Tianjin people", the people of Tianjin many accusations. Subsequently, after his investigation, confirmed that the nursery hall and no abduction and injury to children, so in France at the request of the negotiation decided to finally execute the head of the murder of 18 people (Ma Hongliang, Cui Fusheng, Feng crippled, etc., the date of execution is October 19), enlisted in the army and exiled 25 people, and will be the governor of Tianjin Zhang Guangzao, the governor of the county Liu Jie was dismissed from his post and enlisted to be dispatched to the Heilongjiang River to compensate for the foreigners of the loss of 460,000 taels of silver, and by Chonghou sent to France to apologize. And France, because of the ensuing Franco-Prussian War, had no time to pay attention to the affairs of the East, and therefore accepted this condition.
Zeng Guofan also got a reputation as a traitor for this case. Those who were sentenced and punished were then generally regarded as national heroes.
However, Zeng Guofan had a sense of the invasion of the great powers, China's armaments and weapons lagged behind the people every defeat in foreign wars, and actively promote and advocate the foreign affairs movement.