From the perspective of Zeng Guofan's official career, interpret the 19th series of "Zeng Guofan's Family Letters": Zeng Guofan received help from countless noble people throughout his life. Judging from the way Zeng Guofan interacted after entering the officialdom, he was not Mu

From Zeng Guofan 's process of becoming an official, interpret the 19th series of "Zeng Guofan's Family Letters":

Zeng Guofan's life has received help from countless noble people. Who is the first noble person in his life? Judging from the way Zeng Guofan interacted after entering the officialdom, he was not Mu Zhang'a, the chief military minister, nor Emperor Daoguang, but a third-rank official.

This person is the famous Neo-Confucian master Tang Jian of the Qing Dynasty.

Tang Jian, also known as Jinghai, was born in Shanhua, Hunan. Tang Jian was born into a family of officials. His grandfather served as magistrate of many counties in Shandong, and his father served as chief envoy.

Some people think that Zeng Guofan was appreciated by Tang Jian because they were fellow townsmen in Hunan. In fact, there were quite a few Hunanese people in the capital with Zeng Guofan at that time, including the later famous Hu Linyi .

Hu Linyi came from a wealthy family and was an official. Why was he not appreciated by Tang Jian?

From the perspective of interpersonal communication, Zeng Guofan is better at controlling people, which is why he was appreciated by Tang Jian. We can see this from the letter Zeng Guofan wrote to his parents on August 12, the 22nd year of Daoguang (AD 1842). Zeng Guofan specifically mentioned Tang Jian in his family letter:

His fellow countrymen, such as Tang Jinghai, Yu Daiqing, and Xie Guotang, are all mature and typical, and they treat men with favor.

At this time, Tang Jian was the third-rank minister of Taichang Temple. As an important minister in the court, Zeng Guofan was treated differently by him, which shows that his social circle was undergoing obvious changes.

When Zeng Guofan entered officialdom, his social circle had two obvious patterns:

First, he only focused on the number of people he knew.

When Zeng Guofan first entered the officialdom, the rules in the officialdom were unfamiliar to him, and he even had some fear. Therefore, his social interactions were limited to officials whose status was not much different from his own. Although he knew many people , but it didn't help him much. For example, Chen Yuangun, who appeared many times in Zeng Guofan's family books, was not only a Jinshi scholar in the same year as Zeng Guofan, but also a fellow townsman. The two had very close contacts.

Although Zeng Guofan wanted to achieve something, he had no background. If he wanted to get a promotion path from the corrupt Qing Dynasty officialdom, he had to break through his social circle. Thus, the relationship with Tang Jian came about.

The second is to pay attention to the quality of human resources.

Knowing Tang Jian brought about earth-shaking changes in Zeng Guofan's personal network.

As a son of an official, Tang Jian had a lot of resources in the officialdom. What was even more powerful was that Tang Jian was a famous Neo-Confucian at that time. His disciples and former officials were all over the world, and he was a relatively influential figure in the court. .

Why was Zeng Guofan recognized by Tang Jian? Not only because the two are from the same hometown, but also because Zeng Guofan is good at controlling people's hearts.

Although Tang Jian was a minister of the DPRK, he really liked being a teacher and wanted to pass on what he had learned throughout his life to more people. During the Qing Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism was a thought for governing the country, and Emperor Daoguang was very accomplished in Neo-Confucianism. Therefore, when selecting talents, he valued a person's Neo-Confucianism cultivation. Because of this, many people worship Tang Jian as their teacher.

After Zeng Guofan entered the officialdom, since he had no money to pave the way for himself, he had to find a way to accumulate connections, and apprenticeship was the best way.

When Zeng Guofan was in the capital, he had many people as his disciples, including Tang Jian. Zeng Guofan's diary keeping method was gradually improved under the guidance of Tang Jian.

Zeng Guofan was very diligent throughout his life. He studied Neo-Confucianism from Tang Jian and made rapid progress, gradually becoming a Neo-Confucian master in the Hanlin Academy.

In addition to diligence, Zeng Guofan also has a very important characteristic, that is, he is extremely sincere. Many people worship Tang Jian as their teacher because they actually value his status as a third-rank minister. Zeng Guofan was different. When he studied with Tang Jian, he only wanted to improve his knowledge and never asked for any requirements other than knowledge.

Tang Jian admired this quality of Zeng Guofan very much, and later spared no effort to speak good words for him in the court. From Zeng Guofan's promotion process, although we can't see any trace that he was directly supported by Tang Jian, being appreciated by Tang Jian is itself a support. After all, Tang Jian, as a master of Neo-Confucianism, had great influence in the court. .

can be appreciated by masters, this is strength. This also laid the foundation for Zeng Guofan to later be appreciated by Emperors Mu Zhang'a and Daoguang.

Reference materials: "The Complete Works of Zeng Guofan", "The Biography of Zeng Guofan"