If you have read the history of the late Qing Dynasty, you must be familiar with Zeng Guofan and Zuo Tang Zong.

Both of them are four famous ministers of Yat Sen Zhongxing, and they often discuss with Zeng Zuo.

These two people really have a lot in common.

First, they are fellow villagers in Hunan, with similar ages.

He is one year older than Zuo, so they met when they were young.

Second, they are all Han generals who fought against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Both of them started from Yingyong, a local town, and owned their own army. Zeng Guofan is Xiang and Zeng Guofan is Chu. They are fighting the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Third, they are all leaders of the Westernization Movement.

Zeng Guofan set up an ordnance station in Anqing, while Zuo set up a shipping bureau in Fuzhou. They all hope to enrich the country and strengthen the people through the Westernization Movement.

Fourth, they used to be colleagues.

In the early days of Zeng Guofan's formation of the Xiang Army, Zuo worked as the chief of staff of Zeng Fu for a period of time, helped Zuo, Right and Zuo also had plans.

Fifth, both of them have good personal character. They have been honest officials all their lives and have a good reputation.

It stands to reason that Zeng Guofan and Zuo, two fellow villagers and colleagues, are both famous officials and gentlemen, and their relationship should be good, but it is very strange that their relationship is poor. To what extent?

Zuo is a big mouth. In the later stage of his career, he basically spoke ill of Zeng Guofan to everyone, saying that he was a dishonest hypocrite who loved to play big. Although Zeng Guofan is relatively low-key, he is also stubborn, so he will also report to the court and count the left arguments.

The two famous ministers spent a lot of energy fighting until Zeng Guofan died.

Zeng Guofan and Zuo are lifelong enemies.

Then we can't help asking, why did Zeng Zuo make bad friends?

We can analyze it step by step from three levels:

0 1? Character determines destiny

These two people have different personalities and tempers, different life paths and different ways of doing things.

We all say that character determines fate. Zeng Guofan and Zuo are completely opposite in character, just like two sides of the same coin.

Zeng Guofan's character is rigorous and rational.

Besides being an official, leading troops and writing articles, Zeng was also a famous Neo-Confucianism scholar at that time. One day, he liked to study Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism and pay attention to self-cultivation.

This kind of Neo-Confucianism was the "successful science" at that time, claiming that success could be achieved through self-cultivation. Therefore, in my spare time, I like to study the seven habits of highly effective people. I have to get up early every day, read books, exercise and keep a diary.

Everyone likes to say chicken soup. It stands to reason that this is a very positive person, right? However, Zeng Guofan was strict with himself, but he was also very strict with others. If you want to play with him, you should behave as self-disciplined as him, or he will criticize you.

For example, another of the four famous ministers, Li Hongzhang and Li Hongzhang, leaders of the Huai Army, was Zeng Guofan's student and staff during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but he was already in his forties.

Li Hongzhang was very talented and once admired, but the relationship between them was not good.

Li Hongzhang is quick-thinking, but lazy. He likes to sleep late every day. It stands to reason that he didn't punch in at work, and his men didn't need to go to work on time, but Zeng Guofan was very unhappy.

The most important quality in his life is "suffering", and one embodiment of suffering is getting up early, so once Li Hongzhang slept in, Zeng Guofan ran over to wake Li up, leaving a message: the only fairness here is honesty, and then he left.

Don't be with me if you don't get up early.

Li Hongzhang was in his 40 s at that time and was also a famous aide at that time. As the chief of the Xiang army, how can we get along with each other after you criticize him like this?

Of course, you can say that Li Hongzhang is a junior, and Zeng Guofan can educate him. Is fighting love? But it can also be seen that Zeng Guofan is not easy to get along with and there are many things.

Zuo's character is just the opposite.

He is careless, informal, fond of joking and tolerant of people around him. As long as you have the ability, he is important and not so bound.

Zuo's personality is very ostentatious. When I was young, I claimed to be "bright today" (now Zhuge Liang). The couplet hanging in his study is "I don't have half an acre, and my heart is worried about the world;" Read through thousands of volumes and make friends with the ancients. "The tone is not good.

He is also a player, with witty remarks and quick response.

At that time, people liked to pair up at parties, which was an entertainment activity of literati, similar to the "Three Kingdoms Killing" now played. Everyone takes turns to fight, and if they can't catch up, they will drink.

There was a gathering of Hunan officials, both Zeng and Zuo attended. Zeng Guofan has a big official position, so he should make the right decision first. He was an expert in pairing at that time, and it was easy for him to make the right decision: Ji Zi boasted that he was too far away from my heart.

This pair is very clever, and they are quick-witted when they listen to it. Zuo zi, in order to show respect, the ancients generally don't call you by your first name, they will call you by your first name or number. For example, everyone is called Left, so it is called Left, and Zeng Guofan is called Zeng.

So this pair is translated into vernacular Chinese, which means: Zuo likes to brag all day, and he likes to oppose me if he has nothing to do. This is a mockery of Left.

Who's Zuo? Immediately, he responded in a tit-for-tat manner, directly returning to the bottom line: I am a vassal of Guo Xu, and I asked you how the economy has been.

This bottom line is also very clever, and adding Zeng Guofan's name is also a mockery of Zeng.

Zeng Guofan is awesome. You talk nonsense to me all day. What are your real skills?

It can be seen that Zeng and Zuo did not like each other.

Zuo thinks that Zeng Guofan is very hypocritical and insincere, with superficial moral articles and inner hypocrisy; Zeng Guofan felt that Zuo was outspoken and boastful.

Of course, just different personalities are not enough to lead to the breakdown of the relationship between the two sides. In fact, there is an inextricable knot in their hearts, especially left.

This knot is the different career fate of the two.

Zeng Guofan was a young scholar at the age of 28. Later, he was appointed as a lecturer in imperial academy. He is equivalent to a researcher in the Policy Research Office of the Central Office. He is a seven-product official, with a high starting point at the main hall level.

And Zeng Guofan's official career is booming. In ten years, he jumped ten levels in a row, rising from a lecturer in imperial academy to an assistant minister of does, equivalent to a vice minister of foreign affairs, belonging to a second-class official and being treated at the deputy ministerial level.

Therefore, Zeng Guofan was very proud of his official career and proudly wrote to his younger brother: "In this dynasty, there was no one between the ages of 37 and 2."

Zuo's career is quite bumpy.

His highest degree is Juren, so he didn't pass any exams and had to go home to farm. After the Taiping Rebellion, there was chaos and disputes in the world. When Zuo became famous, he went to the governor of Hunan and became a tout, equivalent to the secretary of the governor.

Zuo has a big temper, but his ability is really strong. With him around, basically don't worry. Left pays attention to Hunan's affairs, military affairs and people's livelihood.

At that time, there was a saying circulating in the ruling and opposition parties: "The country can't live without Hunan for one day, that is, Hunan can't live without it for one day, which shows the left position.

However, in the final analysis, Zuo is also a tout, working for the people.

It is a bit unpleasant to watch Zeng Guofan, his contemporaries, rise step by step.

Of course, Zuo gradually gained his own power by virtue of the military, but he was always suppressed by Zeng Guofan, which made the old man very unhappy.

For a time, Zeng Guofan and Zuo played the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom together. Zeng Guofan is the commander in chief and the left is the general.

Arguably, he was the superior of Zuo, but Zuo looked down on Zeng Guofan from his heart and thought that he could not fight.

Zeng Guofan is rigorous in doing things and more stable in fighting. His strategy is called "staying in the village for a long time."

Meet the Taiping heavenly kingdom army, his approach is:

First, I won't fight with you in the field, and I can't beat mobile warfare;

Second, I will do fortifications, so that you can't attack;

Third, I surround your city layer by layer, making you lack food and water. Let me surround you and help you.

Playing like this has the advantages of less risk and less loss. Disadvantages are long time-consuming and high consumption. In Anqing, Zeng Guofan spent eight months and Tianjing spent a year.

Zeng Guofan's style of play must be superior, with more wins and less losses.

However, "soldiers are also cunning", and fighting should not only have the ability of steady and steady strategic stalemate, but also have unexpected tactical methods, which Zeng Guofan could not do.

When the Xiang army was just formed, it lacked Serenade's training. Zeng Guofan lost the war and his psychological quality was not good. He is going to kill himself.

Once, he failed miserably and wanted to jump into the river. It was Zuo who pulled him to his buddy's side to survive.

Therefore, Zeng Guofan can play the downwind bureau and rely on superior forces to move step by step, but he can't play the headwind bureau.

Left is good at defeating the strong with the weak and scheming. Every move he made, playing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and recovering Xinjiang, was inferior.

The difference in personality and style of doing things determines their natural disharmony.

But as a Confucian disciple and an important official in the DPRK, his cultivation is also very good. It is rather pale to explain their differences only from their personalities, and we need to think further.

02? Personal destiny under the background of the times

If we want to explore the deep-seated reasons for their disagreement, we should start with the political structure at that time in the Qing Dynasty.

In the era of Zeng Zuo, there were three political forces: one was the imperial ruling class, represented by Empress Dowager Cixi and Wang Yixin; Second, the central ministries are all Mongolian nobles, that is, Manchu senior officials, such as Su Shun; Third, local governors and Han officials, such as Zeng Guofan and Zuo.

This is like a company, with Cixi as the chairman and grasping the direction; Yixin is CEO, managing the overall situation; Manchu nobles are company executives, responsible for various businesses; Zeng Guofan is the head of the branch, responsible for business development in various regions.

In fact, without Han Chen at the beginning, the Qing army could not fight. This is a way to deal with the Han nationality. The established national policy of the Qing dynasty is: be busy outside, settle in first, put the knife edge inward and keep the purity of the team.

However, in 185 1 year, Hong Xiuquan's jintian uprising and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom broke out, and the Qing Dynasty's own army was really useless. No one looked down upon it and no one could beat it. It was not until Nanjing was captured that his regime was threatened.

No way, we can only rely on the local armed forces formed by Zeng Guofan and others.

These troops belong to the private army, so they should raise their salaries and recruit people themselves.

This is equivalent to a sudden crisis in a company. When the head office has no money to pay wages, it says to the branch office: You are self-defeating, the company brand is for you, and you are optimistic about yourself.

There is no way.

According to the normal historical cycle, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom encountered such a big peasant uprising, and the general dynasties were in ruins. However, I didn't expect Zeng Guofan and Zuo and others to help the country fall, which not only calmed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also launched a Westernization Movement, which significantly enhanced the country's comprehensive strength and realized the revival in the late Qing Dynasty.

However, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the central power was seriously weakened and the local power was obviously enhanced, forming a political situation of "strong support and weak cadres".

So, if you travel to the Qing Dynasty and enter the body of Empress Dowager Cixi, the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty, the situation you face is probably like this:

After more than ten years of war, the imperial treasury was empty and the army was weak. It can be said that it wants money but has no money, and important people have no money.

In the local area, the troops of Zeng Guofan and others are completely private armed forces, only knowing the guards, not knowing the court.

Although there is no sign of rebellion for the time being, Zeng Guofan has stopped supporting the 65,438+10,000 troops in the south of the Yangtze River. Even Zuo asked him: Is Ding important?

Maybe there will be men in yellow robes, and the inheritance of the Qing dynasty for hundreds of years may be finished in minutes.

Imagine if you were Cixi and faced with such a situation, what would you do?

It's not easy, but Cixi has an idea, which is actually very simple. Two words: differentiation.

Han Chen is not monolithic, there are always contradictions between them. As long as they fight with each other, the court can use the power of fishermen.

For them, the biggest threat is Zeng Guofan, because he is the founder of Xiang Army and the founder of local armed forces. He has the most prestige, the greatest contribution and the largest army.

Therefore, we should cultivate an enemy for him within the Xiang army, and who should we cultivate?

Hu Linyi, who enjoys the same fame as Zeng Guofan, is the governor of Hubei Province in Central China and enjoys high prestige in the military. But Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan are so close that you can't tell them apart.

Li Hongzhang, who was still unknown at that time, was only Zeng Guofan's staff and Zeng Guofan's student. Even if he develops faster and has his own abacus, it is not good to openly oppose the teacher.

The rest of the people are either not famous enough or their positions are too low to pose a threat to Zeng Guofan.

Thinking about the past and the future, Zuo entered the vision of Cixi.

As an enemy of Zeng Guofan, Zuo has several advantages:

First of all, he is famous. At that time, people commented that "China cannot live without Hunan, and Hunan cannot live without the Left".

Second, he has a strong ability, and he has a gift for the future.

Third, he has no political power, his education is only a recommendation, and his position is only an aide. As long as he is promoted, he will cooperate wholeheartedly with the court.

Fourth, the most important thing is that he and Zeng Guofan have always been at odds and often quarrel, which can be said to be natural enemies.

Fortunately, Zuo can be blessed as soon as possible. Naturally, his career is booming and escalating. From a little-known tout with no share, he was promoted to the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang within a few years, even on an equal footing with Zeng Guofan. This is what no one expected.

This led to the struggle between the two later, such as the famous case of the young emperor.

The incident was caused by the whereabouts of Hong Tiangui, the youngest son of Hong Xiuquan. Zeng Guofan reported to the court that Hong was dead, but Zuo reported that Hong had escaped. The two played a pen-and-ink relationship in front of the emperor (empress dowager).

Zeng Guofan later explained that he was most angry when Zuo insinuated that he was lying. What he values most in his life is honesty. How could he lie?

Left adamant4, said his fault has two or three points, zeng guofan's fault has seven or eight points. He is too narrow-minded. In his later years, Zuo took pleasure in calling Zeng Guofan a hypocrite.

A generation of famous ministers, so divided, embarrassing.

But this is exactly what Cixi wants to see. When two tigers fight, there is bound to be injury. When he became enemies with Hu, the imperial court had time to divide and rule and maintain a stable ruling situation.

Every time I read the history here, I feel very sorry. There are no bad people with absolute faces in history. Under the background of great times, there are three words behind everyone: necessity.

Whether it is Cixi, Zeng Guofan or Zuo, they are just rational choices to safeguard their own interests.

History has never been a high-spirited freedom, but a helpless choice. The so-called personal grievances are just footnotes in the context of the great era.

The best enemy in the niche

As mentioned earlier, there are two reasons for the disagreement with the Left. First, individual personality is different, which is the internal reason. Second, it is caused by the background of the times, which is an external reason. However, I think there are deeper reasons why the two became evil.

They deliberately regard each other as enemies, and they are cooperating to perform a play for the court.

There is a concept in biology called niche, which means that every living thing should occupy a special position in an ecosystem.

For example, on the African prairie, lions need to prey on antelopes, antelopes need to eat grass, grass needs fertile soil, and soil needs microorganisms. Lions, antelopes, grasses, and microorganisms all occupy an niche in the ecosystem, and the system cannot live without him, so it is necessary for him to exist.

If you want to survive in a system, you must find your own niche, and there is a niche called the enemy.

A wise man will find himself a suitable enemy.

When Pepsi was founded, it only played a slogan: kill Coca-Cola. Of course, it doesn't have this ability, but once it occupies this niche, its brand will leave an impression on consumers: Pepsi is Coca-Cola's biggest competitor, so it can quickly occupy the market.

For Coca-Cola, although one Pepsi is annoying, it is still acceptable to virtually eliminate other competitors and form a situation in which the two strong companies divide the market.

Similar examples abound, such as Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, Nike and Adi, Google and Microsoft, Dānlín and Li Zongwei.

They are enemies of each other, but they are interdependent and indispensable. If one party is eliminated, the other party will suffer losses due to system collapse, so the best strategy is to struggle in harmony, survive in struggle and develop in * * *.

Returning to Zeng Guofan and Zuo, it is true that they have different personalities and have a bad relationship, but they are definitely not divided. Both of them are familiar with history books and know nothing about the division of the ruling class. Why do we have to undermine each other and oppose each other?

The only explanation is that both of them clearly realize that the other side is the enemy of their own niche, and only by fighting with each other can they survive.

For Zeng Guofan, only by making Zuo an enemy can he escape the suspicion of Cixi and preserve his sanity.

For Zuo, only by scolding Zeng Guofan every day can we enhance our sense of existence and be reused.

It seems unreasonable that these two people tear each other every day. It was just a play for the imperial court, which made the political ecology of the late Qing Dynasty reach a balance and finally realized the situation of ZTE's rule.

This is the deep-seated reason for their bad relationship.

1March, 872 12, Zeng Guofan died when he was governor of the two rivers. According to tradition, after Zeng Guofan died of illness, people who had friendship with him would pay tribute to couplets. Zeng Guofan's family was worried that Zuo deliberately said a few words when offering elegiac couplets. However, their worries are unnecessary.

The elegiac couplet sent by Zuo is: "Seek the loyalty of the country, know the wisdom of others, and be ashamed; Unity is like gold, attacking the wrong stone is beyond redemption. "

The wave-snatching brothers are here, and when they meet, they laugh and forget the enmity.

They are not best friends, but each other's best enemies. "Never fail each other in life" is the truest portrayal of the life relationship between two famous ministers.

The western proverb says: get close to your enemy, and he will bring you more than just friends.

A confidant is hard to find, and an enemy is even harder to find. Friends make you warm, enemies make you great.

Together with the enemy, Caesar conquered the world and Napoleon crossed the Alps.

With the enemy, life has a coordinate system and a direction of struggle.

Without enemies, we are bound to indulge; Without enemies, you will be mediocre.

The enemy is not the opponent you hate, but the person you should thank most.

In the book "The Sword of the Third Young Master", Xie Xiaofeng, the third young master of Shenjian Mountain Villa, survived the war after more than 10 years, and was honored as the "Sword God" by the world.

Yan, a legendary swordsman, always thought of the goal and practiced kendo hard, and finally realized the "thirteen swords to kill ghosts" on the edge of life and death. Suddenly, the rivers and lakes are boiling.

However, just as Yan arrived at Excalibur Villa, he was greeted by the coffin of the third young master.

We use our whole life to cultivate our skills and pursue the invincible realm, but what really awaits you at the apex is endless loneliness and loneliness.

From this perspective, it is a blessing to find your best enemy, struggle with each other but agree with each other!

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