The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 101 Zeng Guofan (Subscription Request)
It was early autumn of 1852 AD.

The autumn heat has not yet gone in Hunan, and the weather is the kind of hot and humid weather unique to the southern inland area. The sun is shining, the heat is steaming, and people just want to stay in the shade and relax.

In a large house with blue bricks and black tiles in Baiyangping Village, Heyetang Township, Xiangxiang County, Gaoguanshafu, Hunan, a middle-aged man in his forties with a fierce and cold appearance, with a bald head and no hat, was leaning on a bamboo recliner, chanting the "Anti Sutra" leisurely! There was also a tea table next to him, on which was a pot of freshly brewed tea, with a rich tea fragrance, which made people feel very comfortable.

This middle-aged man has a pair of very ugly drooping triangular eyes, is short and thin, has prominent cheekbones, and has very thick eyebrows and beard. This appearance shows that he is a "congenital rebellious saint". In addition, he is holding a copy of the "Anti-Scripture" and looking at it carefully. I don't know if he is ready to make a call?

With a creaking sound, the middle-aged man quickly put down the book, turned to look at the courtyard door outside the house, and saw two middle-aged men in their thirties wearing green cloth robes walking in.

One of them looked very similar to the middle-aged man lying on the bamboo chair and "reciting scriptures". He had a white cloth tied around his waist, obviously in mourning for his relatives. He said, "Brother, Guo Yunxian from Xiangyin is here."

The middle-aged man called "Guo Yunxian" was white and plump, with a goatee. He clasped his fists towards the man on the bamboo chair from a distance and said, "Master Di, Song Tao is here to nag again."

"Songtao" is the full name of "Guo Yunxian". His name is Guo Songtao, and "Yunxian" is his pen name. He was a Jinshi in the 27th year of Daoguang's reign. Unfortunately, not long after he passed the Jinshi exam, before he had time to buy a position, his parents died one after another.

According to the rules of the Qing Dynasty officialdom, if an official's parents died, he had to go home to observe mourning and be a filial son. Three years for the father and three years for the mother, usually six years is the maximum, and there are also cases where the official has to observe mourning for nine years if there are more parents!
Guo Songtao's parents died one after another, so he had to take care of them one by one, and finally make up the six years of mourning. So he was a Jinshi in the 27th year of Daoguang, and this year is the second year of Xianfeng, five years have passed, and he has not yet finished mourning. How filial he is!
The middle-aged man in his forties whom he called "Di Zhang" was named Zeng, and "Di Zhang" was his honorific title. His name was Di Sheng, his given name was Guo Fan, and his courtesy name was Bo Han. Zeng Guofan was also a filial son now. His mother had just passed away, and according to the rules, he also had to observe a three-year mourning period, which would last until the fifth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign. If he really observed the mourning period for that long, then after he finished mourning his mother, he could continue to observe mourning his father after a year.
Unfortunately, Emperor Xianfeng did not allow him to be so filial. Just as Zeng Guofan returned home to observe mourning, the imperial edict arrived, allowing him to resume his duties and organize militia. However, Zeng Guofan was unwilling to leave the palace and would rather stay at home chanting sutras (or reverse sutras) to observe mourning.

Guo Songtao was tired of being a filial son, so without waiting for Emperor Xianfeng to ask him to take back his love, he strolled out from his hometown in Xiangyin and moved around in the provincial capital Changsha, hoping to find an opportunity to organize militia to suppress the Taiping Army.

This time, entrusted by the Changsha scholars, I went to Xiangxiang for the second time to persuade Zeng Guofan to stop being "filial" and to come out and fight the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as soon as possible!
"Yunxian, please stop trying to persuade me to reinstate my father." Zeng Guofan seemed very determined to be a filial son. Before Guo Songtao even mentioned the matter of reinstating his father, he made his position clear. "I just lost my mother. I am already confused. How can I have the energy to manage the militia? It would be bad if I missed the national event."

Guo Songtao shook his head and said, "Master Di, you don't know that this group of rebellious Guangdong bandits are not like the White Lotus Sect. They can really accomplish something earth-shattering."

As he spoke, he took out Volume 3 of "Anti-Scripture" and handed it over with both hands.

The middle-aged man who had just accompanied Guo Songtao looked very similar to Zeng Guofan, and they were obviously brothers from the same mother. He took the "Anti-Classic" handed to him by Guo Songtao with both hands, and then passed it to his elder brother.

Zeng Guofan took the Anti-Scripture from his brother Zeng Guohua, looked down at it, then smiled bitterly, closed the Anti-Scripture in his hand, and showed it to Guo Songtao: "The day before yesterday, Luo Luoshan came to visit me and brought me two handwritten copies of the Anti-Scripture. He said that his student Huang Ziying from Daozhou sent them. I thought they were very rare books, but I didn't expect that Brother Yunxian also had them."

Guo Songtao smiled bitterly and said, "Master Di, this Anti-Scripture is not only owned by me. It has been circulated everywhere among the scholars in Changsha. Luo Ruweng is only acting as the governor of Hunan now, and his words are no longer effective. Zhang Shiqing is also dragging his feet and not coming to Changsha. Master Ruweng has no choice but to ask Master Di to come out and make a call."

Luo Ruweng is Luo Bingzhang. His name is Jun, which is the same as Luo Jun, a famous official of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Luo Jun may be Luo Bingzhang's ancestor, so in order to avoid the taboo of his ancestors, he simply used his pen name. The two characters "Ruweng" come from Luo Bingzhang's pen name "Ru Zhai". Luo Bingzhang was a respected old official who served as a lecturer in the reign of Emperor Daoguang, so Guo Songtao respected him very much and regarded himself as a junior in his speech.

"Call out from a high place?" Zeng Guofan sighed. "It has been said in the Anti-Japanese Classic that we have retired to the countryside and are no different from ordinary people. If we call out from a high place, tens of thousands of people will follow us. Isn't this anti-Japanese?"

"You can't say that," Guo Songtao shook his head. "Master Di, the Anti-Scripture is a book written by a traitor and a scholar to confuse our minds! We are all loyal and patriotic people who read the books of sages. How can we oppose it just because the Anti-Scripture says so?"

Zeng Guofan shook his head and said, "Yunxian is wrong. You and I are Han Chinese after all! We are not as good as Li Chahan and Wang Baobao! Gathering tens of thousands of people, occupying the prefecture, and ruling one side is a rebellion! Even if the superiors are still loyal, what will the people below think? What if the dream at Chenqiao happens again?"

"This..." Guo Songtao was speechless for a moment.

He also didn't expect Zeng Guofan's thinking was so far-sighted. He had already thought of wearing the yellow robe before he even left the mountain. He really admires him!

Guo Songtao turned his head and glanced at Zeng Guohua, who looked evil, and thought to himself, "Aren't you Zhao Guangyi?"

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt that the future was bright, so he changed his direction and advised: "Master Di, you and I are officials of the Qing Dynasty after all, local gentry! The rebellious Guangdong bandits have divided the land in Daozhou, attacked the gentry, opposed the orthodox teachings, and incited the poor peasants and miners to worship God. It is like a spark that spreads all over the prairie. If they were to take over the world, how could we be buried?"

"To take over the whole country? Not at all, not at all." Zeng Guofan shook his head. "The rebels only have a few counties in one state now. Not to mention the whole country, even the whole province of Hunan and even the prefecture of Yongzhou cannot be taken just by them. I also heard that the rebels surrounded Lianzhou in Guangdong and are about to go south to take Guangdong. They can't achieve anything big. At most, they can occupy Guangdong and Guangxi. They are similar to Wu Sangui and Shang Zhixin."

After hearing what Zeng Guofan said, I knew that he was still planning to wait and see. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom went south to Guangdong and Guangxi, it would not be appropriate for Zeng Guofan to jump out and organize the Hunan militia, especially when the traitor used two volumes of "Anti-Scripture" to explain the reasons why officials and gentry rebelled!
If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not cause any major trouble, these Han militia leaders who jumped in too hastily would probably not be able to become powerful and would be abandoned after all the trouble had been done.

If the Taiping Army marches north and sweeps across Jingchu, then we have to consider coming out of the mountains to make a call.
Understanding Zeng Guofan's thoughts, Guo Songtao bowed and said, "Master Di, people in Hunan are now in turmoil, and rebels are stirring up trouble everywhere. It is really dangerous for you to live in the countryside as a minister. What if the rebels suddenly attack here? You might as well stay in Xiangxiang County for a while, and return home to observe mourning when the situation is calm."

Zeng Guohua, who was standing by, nodded and said, "Brother, that's what father meant. Ninth brother has gathered three hundred strong clansmen and villagers. With their protection, our family will always be safe in Xiangxiang County."

Zeng Guofan nodded: "Since father also means this, then let's pack up and go to the county town tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)