It is recorded that: Zeng Guofan garrison Anqing , a man named Qi came from the countryside to join the army. The man carried simple luggage and worn clothes, and was taciturn. When Zeng Guofan saw that he was from his hometown, he asked him about the recent situation of his hometown and relatives and friends. The man gave a restrained answer. Although he was not flexible in his mouth, he would occasionally choose important points and say a few words, which was very close to the point. Zeng Guofan had a good impression of him and planned to do something for him.
Every time Zeng Guofan had dinner, he would gather the guests to eat together, and the guests had to come to the meal on time. One day during a meal, Zeng Guofan found that Qi picked out the rice grains from the meal before eating. After dinner, Zeng Guofan asked someone to spend 20 taels to give to Qi as a grant for his return home. When Qi learned about it, he was very surprised, so he asked Zeng Guofan's cousin Peng Jienan to plead with him.
Zeng Guofan said to Peng Jienan: "When he was eating, he had to pick out a rice grain and refused to eat it. He was neither a wealthy family nor had he done anything big outside. He came from the farmland to the military camp for only more than a month. He had such a move. I am afraid that he would be unrestrained and forget his roots, and in the end he would cause trouble for himself." Peng Jienan insisted on pleading for him and said: "This matter is not a big mistake. You can try and try him again."
At that time, Zeng Guofan liked to grow vegetables and picked fresh ones every day to eat. So Zeng Guofan asked Qi to be in charge of the vegetable garden.
From then on, Qi, who was willing to regret, was diligent and motivated, working with the servants every day, eating and living together, from morning to night, and rarely had free time. Zeng Guofan often observed him secretly. A year later, he summoned him over, arranged for other things to do, and explained the whole story to him. Qi was ashamed and expressed his gratitude.
Since then, Qi has become more diligent and dedicated. Although this is a trivial matter, it shows how cautious and strict Zeng Guofan is in employed.
Zeng Guofan understands the advantages and weaknesses of human nature and is well aware of the reasons for the corruption of the Qing government, so he established his own set of talent selection standards.
First of all, the person you choose must have common values with him.
He took loyalty to the feudal regime as a prerequisite, that is, all generals must be "loyal and righteous" and required Hunan Army generals to be loyal to the Qing Dynasty to the death, consciously uphold the "Three Bonds and Five Constant Permanences", and have the will to fight the Taiping Army to the end.
Secondly, he set a set of selection criteria that is contrary to the so-called "only talent is to take":
Have talent and ability.
Zeng Guofan was deeply influenced by Confucian "repairing all the country and governing peace" since childhood, so he also hoped that the Hunan Army would have the political function of "transferring the world style". For this reason, he was not limited to his background and promoted a large number of scholars to generals. Among the Hunan Army generals, 58% were scholarly. Qing Dynasty originally valued culture over military personnel, and military officers were given low treatment, but after the rise of the Hunan Army, this situation changed - literati and civil servants also actively joined the Hunan Army, which not only increased the source of troops, but also improved the overall quality of the Hunan Army and strengthened the combat capabilities of the Hunan Army. This is also an extremely important reason why the Hunan Army suffered repeated defeats and eventually defeated the Taiping Army.
is not afraid of death, is motivated.
Although Zeng Guofan was a Confucian scholar, he had no experience in military governance at first, but he knew that the marching and fighting were extremely difficult. Only "setting a perseverance and perseverance can finally become a strong army... After years of ups and downs, we should be at the point of success or failure, and we should be determined to fight for our lives. When we are in danger, doubts and shocking, we should always fail without returning." Therefore, Zeng Guofan focused on choosing people who were "persistent". A perseverance can charge and lead the way when fighting. He advocates the courage to be determined in difficult environments.
does not care about fame and fortune, is transparent in doing things, and is simple in being.
Zeng Guofan focused on selecting those who were "silent and simple". He even stipulated that there was no need for green camp soldiers and officers above the garrison who had been in the camp for a long time (because this type of person is too strong and he thinks about himself everywhere). The general must pay attention to "simple people", that is, people who are down-to-earth, have no official spirit, and do not exaggerate and fake. This practice of entrusting simple people with important responsibilities is extremely important to improve the combat effectiveness of the Hunan Army.
Diligent and energetic.
If you do not have a diligent attitude, no matter how good the rules and regulations are, they will be empty. "If you are not diligent, you will be in a detailed and detailed manner, and you will be inadvertent." For those who can be diligent, the prerequisite is to be healthy and have sufficient energy. "If you are weak, you will be sick if you are overworked; if you are mentally deprived, you will be dispersed if you are used for a long time."
Zeng Guofan also understood that all four conditions are met, which seems to be "too much prepared", but these four are necessary conditions. If any one is missing, "you must never lead troops."
However, even if these four conditions are met, if the premise of "loyalty and righteousness" is not met, then Zeng Guofan will definitely not use it. He believes that people with "loyalty and righteousness" will meet the above four conditions after education and training; however, if they lack "loyalty and righteousness", then even if all four conditions are met, they will be unreliable.
