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On October 11, the 16th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan was born in Nanbaiyangping Village, Xiangxiang County, Gaoguansha Prefecture, Hunan.

Zeng Guofan's ancestral home is in Hengyang, Hunan. His family has been farmers for generations. They moved to Xiangxiang in the early Qing Dynasty. By the time the family was passed down to the fifth generation ancestor, it had already accumulated considerable property.

Zeng Guofan's original name was Zeng Zicheng. He was the eldest son in the family. His father Zeng Linshu was a scholar. Zeng Guofan began to study with his father Zeng Linshu at the age of five.

Under the supervision of Zeng Linshu, Zeng Guofan finished reading the Five Classics at the age of nine and began to learn to write eight-legged essays.

"In the sixth year of the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan took the Changsha Prefecture exam and ranked seventh."

"After that, Zeng Guofan studied at the Tang Family Private School in Hengyang and the Lianbin Academy in Xiangxiang."

"In the 13th year of Emperor Daoguang's reign, Zeng Guofan passed the examination for a scholar and entered the famous Yuelu Academy in Changsha to study."

"A year later, Zeng Guofan graduated from Yuelu Academy and passed the Hunan provincial examination."

"At the end of the year, Zeng Guofan set off for Beijing to take part in the imperial examination."

"After Zeng Guofan arrived in Beijing, he took part in two imperial examinations but failed, so he had to return to his hometown in the south."

"On his way through Nanjing, Zeng Guofan spent most of his travel expenses on buying books, and after returning to his hometown, he studied hard for another two years."

"Finally, in the 18th year of Daoguang's reign, he passed the imperial examination and ranked 38th. In the palace examination, he ranked 42nd among the top three and was granted the title of Jinshi."

"He ranked third in the first class during the imperial examination, but was promoted to second place and admitted to the Hanlin Academy as a scholar. He was renamed Zeng Guofan, which means the shield of the country."

"Zeng Guofan became the first Hanlin in the Zeng family. After Zeng Guofan returned home, his grandfather held a grand banquet for his guests."

"In the 20th year of Emperor Daoguang's reign, Zeng Guofan was appointed as a reviewer after the Shuchangguan was disbanded and entered the official career."

"After that, Zeng Guofan successively served as a tutor, assistant editor of the National History Museum, right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, and left vice minister of the Ministry of Works."

"Except for the 23rd year of Daoguang, when Zeng Guofan served as Sichuan's chief examiner for half a year, he mostly served as an official in the capital during the rest of the time."

"Zeng Guofan served as an official in Beijing for more than ten years. He was very conscientious in most of his duties. Over time, he became quite famous in the capital at that time."

"During his time in Beijing, Zeng Guofan held mostly idle positions with high official status but no real power. During this period, he met many talented people in Beijing, such as Mu Zhang'a of the Bordered Blue Banner of Manchuria, who was a member of the same Hanlin Academy and supported him, and Liu Rong, Guo Songtao, Jiang Zhongyuan, Luo Zenan, Ouyang Zhaoxiong and other people of the Economic School."

"In addition, during his stay in Beijing, Zeng Guofan also focused on learning and studied Neo-Confucianism under Tang Jian, a well-known Neo-Confucian master at the time."

"In the early years of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, after the Taiping Rebellion, Emperor Xianfeng summoned his ministers to discuss matters."

"As the Taiping Rebellion gained momentum, Zeng Guofan submitted a memorial to Emperor Xianfeng proposing to reduce military expenditures to improve national finances and to offer his views."

"In the second year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan was appointed to the Jiangxi Provincial Examination and was allowed to return home to visit his family. When he went south to Taihu County in Anhui, Zeng Guofan learned that his mother, Jiang, had passed away, so he hurried back to his hometown to attend the funeral."

"As the Taiping Rebellion became more intense, Zeng Guofan received an imperial edict during his stay in the country ordering him to help organize militia training in the country."

"At first, Zeng Guofan wanted to decline the offer, citing his mother's death, but Hunan Governor Zhang Liangji and Zeng Guofan's good friend Guo Songtao urged him to come out and defend the region."

"Finally, Zeng Guofan decided to set out from Xiangxiang to Changsha to organize militia training."

"After Zeng Guofan arrived in Changsha, he discussed with Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan Province. Zeng Guofan believed that the most important task was to investigate the bandits and spies in the city, and training was secondary."

"At the same time, Changsha provincial capital has a weak military force, empty ranks and no defense capabilities."

"Zeng Guofan advocated recruiting villagers to come to the province. He used the Xiangyong troops founded by Luo Zenan and others and the Chuyong troops founded by Jiang Zhongyuan as a basis and drew troops from various counties to train them."

"In terms of the way to organize militia, Zeng Guofan advocated the distinction between militia and training. The militia refers to the method of baojia, while the training refers to making weapons, training young men, and building fortresses."

"During the period of establishing militia, Zeng Guofan appointed Huang Tingzan, Cao Guanghan and others to compile and investigate the baojia system. At the same time, Zeng Guofan believed that investigating and dealing with "bandits" was the top priority, so he set up a case review bureau in the Yutangkou headquarters in Changsha City and appointed special people to conduct trials."

Su Shi: In less than half a year, more than 200 people were beheaded or beaten to death. Because Zeng Guofan killed so many people, he was called "Zeng the Barber" by people of his time.

The militia supervised by Zeng Guofan in Changsha became the armed force to suppress the peasant uprising in Hunan, and the "big group" composed of "Xiang Yong" led by Luo Zenan and others became the original Hunan Army.

In the third year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established its capital in Tianjing. Zeng Guofan saw that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was very powerful, but the scale of the militia he organized was too small.
Zeng Guofan submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting the recruitment of Ding Yong from the militia as official soldiers, and also organizing a new army modeled after the Qi Family Army trained by Qi Jiguang. The militia gradually became a formal army, and the "Xiang Army" was thus formed.

At the same time, Jiang Zhongyuan was appointed as the Hubei Provincial Surveillance Commissioner and was ordered by the Qing government to go to the Jiangnan camp to assist in military affairs.
Zeng Guofan began to consider establishing a navy. At that time, the Hunan Braves went to Jiangxi to assist the Jiangxi soldiers.

Due to disagreements between Admiral Bao Qibao and Zeng Guofan, a fight broke out between the soldiers in the camp and the Hunan Braves, so Zeng Guofan moved to Hengzhou.

While in Hengzhou, Zeng Guofan commissioned Hengyang student Peng Yulin and Xiangyin foreign commissioner Yang Zai to recruit naval warriors, and the Hunan Army began to establish its navy.

After the navy was established, it lacked funds and had incomplete ships and guns. In November of the same year, the imperial court ordered Zeng Guofan to rescue Hubei, but Zeng Guofan refused on this ground. Zeng Guofan also requested the court to allocate 11 taels of silver as funds for purchasing guns and building ships.

By the fourth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the Hunan Army had built a total of 361 large and small ships, and equipped them with 470 large and small cannons, including 320 newly purchased foreign cannons.

In February of the fourth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Zeng Guofan trained ten battalions of 2 naval and land soldiers.

At that time, the Taiping Army captured Jiujiang and Anqing, Jiang Zhongyuan died in Luzhou, and the Taiping Army took advantage of the situation to attack Hunan.

Zeng Guofan then issued the "Exhortation to Suppress the Guangdong Bandits" and set out on an expedition to the east from Hengzhou on February 2, passing through Xiangtan and arriving in Changsha.

The Taiping Army abandoned Yuezhou because they were outnumbered. Zeng Guofan then entered Yuezhou and wiped out the remnants of the Taiping Army. In March, he led his troops northward, but was defeated by the Taiping Army in Dongting Lake and retreated back to Yuezhou.

The Taiping Army pursued the victory and attacked Yuezhou. Zeng Guofan retreated to Changsha. The Taiping Army took the opportunity to attack Xiangtan and occupied the upper reaches of Changsha. In April, Zeng Guofan personally led the army to attack Jinggang, but it happened to be a southwest wind, the water was turbulent, and the warships could not anchor. Some were burned or captured by the Taiping Army.

Zeng Guofan suffered successive defeats in Yuezhou and Jinggang, and was so angry that he jumped into the water to commit suicide. Fortunately, he was rescued by his attendants.

Zeng Guofan's reputation was greatly damaged by the two consecutive defeats. After returning to Changsha, Zeng Guofan reorganized the navy and army, and opened shipyards in Hengzhou and Xiangtan to continue to build;

Zeng Guofan recruited new soldiers and trained them for the defeated armies.

The two failures taught Zeng Guofan many lessons and accumulated practical experience, which made him understand the truth that "quality is more important than quantity". After that, he began to plan to "reduce the number of soldiers and save food" and established the requirements of "getting up early and eating early, and strictly enforcing camp rules".

"After a period of rest in Changsha, Zeng Guofan led the Hunan Army to attack again in July of the fourth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign."

"The two sides fought at the Chenglingji Fortress. Because there were Hunanese and people from other provinces in the Hunan Navy, they excluded each other and refused to rescue each other, which led to the Taiping Army's victory in the Chenglingji naval battle."

"On August 8, Tazibu led the Hunan Army to Chenglingji and defeated Zeng Tianyang's army. Zeng Tianyang was killed in the battle. The Taiping Army suffered a blow and was in chaos. They then retreated to Wuchang."

"After the Battle of Chenglingji, Zeng Guofan's navy sailed down the river to Wuchang, while the army split into two groups, one attacking Hongshan and the other attacking Huayuan."

"On October 10, the Hunan Army attacked and destroyed the Taiping Army's Huayuan Camp."

"The Taiping Army defending Wuchang saw the aggressive Xiang Army and fled to Tianjia Town on October 10. The Taiping Army commander in Hanyang also abandoned the city and fled when he saw Wuchang fall."

"After hearing the news of Zeng Guofan's victory in occupying Wuchang, Emperor Xianfeng was very encouraged and appointed Zeng Guofan as the acting governor of Hubei. However, the Grand Council made a suggestion. After hearing this, Emperor Xianfeng rescinded the order."

"At the request of the censor Shen Baozhen, Emperor Xianfeng awarded Zeng Guofan the title of assistant minister of the Ministry of War to handle military affairs and ordered him to lead the land and sea forces to march eastward to seize the victory and quickly capture the Taiping Army in Jiangxi and Anhui."

"After the fall of Wuchang, Qin Rigang, the King of Yan of the Taiping Army, arranged battle defenses in Tianjia Town to intercept the Hunan Army. The two sides fought fiercely for ten days. The Taiping Army was defeated and the key pass of Banbi Mountain in Tianjia Town was captured by the Hunan Army."

"The Taiping Army lost all strategic positions and morale was greatly reduced, so they retreated on December 12. They were then continuously pursued by the Hunan Army and finally retreated to Jiujiang."

"The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom generals Shi Dakai and Luo Dagang arrived and led their troops to retreat to the Konglongyi area to set up defenses and block the Hunan Army."

"The two sides fought at Konglongyi on December 12, and the Taiping Army eventually resisted the attack of the Hunan Army."

"Zeng Guofan's attack on the city failed for several days, and finally decided to split the Hunan Army into two groups. One group was led by Tazibu to continue attacking the city, and the other was led by Luo Zenan to station at Kuishan outside Hukou City to contain the Taiping Army in Hukou and cut off the connection between Jiujiang and Hukou."

"The Taiping Army believed that the Hunan Army's victory depended on its navy, so they decided to attack the Hunan Navy first."

"On January 1 of the following year, the Taiping Army launched several attacks on the Hunan Navy, and on February 29, launched a large-scale attack, causing chaos in the Hunan Navy and the loss of countless ships. Zeng Guofan's ship was also captured by the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan committed suicide by jumping into the water again, but was rescued by his staff."

"After the defeat at Hukou, Zeng Guofan ordered Luo Zenan, Tazibu and others to continue besieging Jiujiang while continuing to recruit soldiers."

"After Zeng Guofan's navy ship was lost in Jiujiang, they abandoned the ship and landed, moved to Nankang, Jiangxi, and changed their focus to developing the land force."

"In early July, the Taiping Army returned to Jiangxi, which was greatly shaken. Zeng Guofan quickly summoned Luo Zenan and Tazibu to defend Jiangxi."

"But Ta Qibu died in the battle against the Taiping Army, so Luo Zenan should lead his troops back to Wuhan to block the Taiping Army's way back to Jiangxi from Hubei."

"After much hesitation, Zeng Guofan decided to give up and let Luo Zenan return to defend Jiangxi."

"After Luo Zenan left, Zeng Guofan's situation in Jiangxi became increasingly difficult. Shi Dakai's Taiping Army took advantage of Luo Zenan's return to defend Wuhan to launch a massive attack on Jiangxi, successively controlling eight prefectures and fifty-four counties in Jiangxi's thirteen prefectures. Zeng Guofan's troops were trapped in the small areas of Nanchang and Nankang, with no communication and no communication."

"Luo Zenan died in battle shortly after returning to defend Wuhan. After that, Zeng Guofan's troops were besieged in Jiangxi by the Taiping Army until the autumn of the sixth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, when internal strife broke out among the Taiping Army. The Hunan Army took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, and the situation was reversed."

Li Shishi: In March of the seventh year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Zeng Guofan received the obituary of his father's death. He thought this was a good opportunity to escape from the difficulties in Jiangxi, so he requested to return home to mourn his father.

During this period, Zeng Guofan petitioned the court twice to stay at home until the end of his life, and was finally granted permission by Emperor Xianfeng.

During the period of mourning for his father, Zeng Guofan made a comprehensive summary of the lessons learned in the previous years, realized the truth of leading troops without assuming local power, and also reviewed his own cultivation.

After Zeng Guofan left Jiangxi and conflicts arose within the Taiping Army, most of Jiangxi was captured by the Qing government. However, after the Hunan Army entered the recovered Jiangxi, there were many conflicts due to internal factional issues. The Qing government was hesitant about the resettlement of the Hunan Army after entering Jiangxi.

After losing Jiangxi, the Taiping Army turned to Zhejiang with an army of 200,000 from Raozhou and Guangxin in the eighth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, captured Changshan, Jiangshan and other places, and launched a siege on Quzhou.

Hu Linyi petitioned the court to re-employ Zeng Guofan to lead the army to aid Zhejiang. In July of the same year, Zeng Guofan received an imperial edict and left home to Changsha to prepare to aid Zhejiang.

When Zeng Guofan was fighting the Taiping Army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Taiping Army in Hubei, after capturing Jiujiang, launched a large-scale attack on Luzhou, Anhui. Hunan Army general Li Xubin and Zeng Guofan's sixth brother Zeng Guohua were killed in the battle with the Taiping Army, causing the situation on the battlefield to change. Zeng Guofan had no choice but to be ordered to rush to Anhui for assistance.

When Zeng Guofan was planning to set off, he heard that part of the Taiping Army had entered Jingdezhen. Zeng Guofan was entrusted by the Jiangxi local government to attack the Taiping Army in Jiangxi.

In July of the ninth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Shi Dakai, after failing to capture Baoqing for a long time, intended to enter Sichuan to fight. As most of the salaries of the Hunan Army in Hubei were raised in Sichuan at that time, in order to ensure the security of Sichuan, Hu Linyi petitioned the Qing government to appoint Zeng Guofan as the Governor-General of Sichuan and to send him to Sichuan to take charge.

In the end, Emperor Xianfeng only appointed Zeng Guofan as the military commander. Hu Linyi then petitioned the Qing government to allow Zeng Guofan to postpone his entry into Sichuan and station in Hubei in order to take over Anhui, and Emperor Xianfeng agreed.

In November of the same year, Zeng Guofan led an army of 11 to station at Taihu Lake and occupied the main road from Hubei to Anqing.

In the tenth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign, Chen Yucheng of the Taiping Army led his troops to rescue Taihu Lake, but ultimately failed in the battle and was forced to abandon Taihu Lake. Zeng Guofan then led his troops directly to Anqing and cooperated with General Duolong'a of Jingzhou to besiege the Taiping Army in Anqing.

In May of the same year, the Taiping Army captured the Qing army's Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps, and the Governor-General of Liangjiang He Guiqing was dismissed from his post.

In June, the Qing government appointed Zeng Guofan as the imperial commissioner, acting governor-general of Liangjiang, and led troops to attack southern Anhui.

Zeng Guofan proposed a strategic proposition of joint defense of Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces, consolidating the upper reaches in order to plan for the lower reaches. On July 7, Zeng Guofan drew troops from the border area between Anhui and Hubei and stationed them in Qimen, southern Anhui. He formulated a plan to attack southern Anhui in three directions: one from Chizhou to Wuhu, one from Qimen via Jingde and Taiping to Liyang, and one from Guangxin to Zhejiang. (End of this chapter)