Chapter 525 Two important officials in the late Qing Dynasty
When Zeng Guofan heard Li Zhen's name, a smile appeared on his serious face.
Judging from Li Zhen's attitude, Li Zhen respects him.
Not only that, Li Zhen could directly call out his name, which showed that Li Zhen was also paying attention to him. This made Zeng Guofan feel very comfortable and felt that he was still a figure. After all, Li Zhen was an imperial envoy personally appointed by the emperor, governor and admiral of Guangdong. Zeng Guofan was proud that such a powerful person called him brother. Even if Li Zhen's words were modest, they also showed Li Zhen's goodwill.
Zeng Guofan did not pay attention to Li Zhen's gesture, and subconsciously clasped his fists in salute and said: "Your Majesty, Zeng Guofan, has met Mr. Li."
Two people, standing opposite each other.
One person extends his hand to shake hands, while the other person holds his fist and salutes.
When Li Zhen saw this, a trace of embarrassment quickly flashed across his face, and he quickly retracted his hand and said: "Brother Bohan, my nickname is 'Hongyi', you can just call me by my nickname, there is no need to be so formal."
Li Zhen didn't take Zeng Guofan's lack of cooperation seriously.
Because the two received different educations and had different concepts and ideas, Li Zhen was accustomed to shaking hands when meeting officials, while Zeng Guofan was accustomed to clasping fists and saluting when meeting officials. The two had different ways of doing things and behaved differently.
Zeng Guofan was slightly startled and hesitant.
He was just a person who organized regiment training. Even though the emperor once asked Zeng Guofan to act as governor of Hubei, he withdrew the order seven days later and changed it to the title of Minister of War. He was given a title without real power, so that Zeng Guofan had no real power, but Li Zhen But it's different. He is a high-ranking official.
At this time, all the people standing behind Zeng Guofan felt comfortable in their hearts and had smiles on their faces. The reason was simple, because Li Zhen treated each other with courtesy.
"Teacher, Mr. Li is very approachable, so please don't refuse."
A tall, middle-aged man in his early thirties with a short beard came out and said. This man had clear eyes, calm demeanor, neither arrogance nor arrogance, and exuded a sense of tact.
Zeng Guofan smiled heartily and said: "Hongyi, how old are you that I call you by your first name?"
Li Zhen said: "That's right. You and I are not outsiders, so we don't need to see outsiders."
After saying that, Li Zhen took Zeng Guofan's hand and led Zeng Guofan into the camp with great strides. Immediately afterwards, the people brought by Zeng Guofan also entered the camp. The group of people looked at everything in the camp curiously and looked excited, because Ever since they knew that there was a person like Li Zhen, they had only heard of Li Zhen's consecutive victories, but not of his defeat.
Such a legendary person made Zeng Guofan and his party very curious.
The large tent of the Chinese army was not used to receive visitors. There was only a rectangular conference table. Li Zhen pointed at the conference table and said: "Brother Bohan, I don't have tables and chairs here to receive visitors. I only have this one for the generals to discuss matters." The conference table is a bit crude. Please forgive me, Brother Bohan. Xiaoye, please remove the conference table and rearrange it."
"yes."
Ye Chengzhong agreed and immediately prepared to go out.
"Wait a minute."
Zeng Guofan stretched out his hand to stop him and said: "As the saying goes, when you come to Hongyi, do as the Romans do. Since I came to the Hongyi Army, I should abide by the rules. There is no need to remove the conference table. We will sit how we usually sit."
Ye Chengzhong turned his eyes and waited for Li Zhen's reply.
Li Zhen nodded and said: "Brother Bohan is not particular, so I won't bother to change. Brother Bohan, please sit down." After speaking, Li Zhen walked to the conference table, lifted up his robe and sat down. Li Zhen sat down. The lower position is not directly above the previous conference table, but sitting in the center of the left side of the conference table. In this way, when Zeng Guofan sits in the center of the right side of the conference table, it is more conducive for the two to sit face to face. Communication will not create a big gap.
Zeng Guofan was in his early forties and had been ups and downs for half his life. Seeing that Li Zhen was so polite to him, he was extremely grateful. Zeng Guofan sat down opposite Li Zhen. Sitting on Zeng Guofan's left side was the middle-aged man who had previously persuaded Zeng Guofan. The person on Zeng Guofan's right hand side is also a middle-aged man in his early thirties, and then there are three more people sitting down on the left and right sides, and the rest are standing behind.
On Li Zhen's side, only Li Zhen sat down. Long Ao, Ye Chengzhong and others stood behind Li Zhen.
Li Zhen did not go straight to the topic. He pointed at the people around Zeng Guofan and said with a smile: "Brother Bohan, please introduce the people around you first. I'm here, but you can't let me use the words 'who, hello, hello'." It’s not good to have so many names for classes.”
When Zeng Guofan heard this, he immediately laughed and behaved more calmly.
The people next to me are all smiling.
Li Zhen's joking words immediately livened up the atmosphere.
Zeng Guofan pointed to the middle-aged man on his left hand side and said: "This is my disciple Li Hongzhang..."
"Li Shaoquan."
Li Zhen raised his eyebrows, and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
When Li Hongzhang heard this, he was also very surprised. At this time, Li Hongzhang was not well-known, and not many people knew that "Shaoquan" was his own nickname. However, Li Zhen opened his mouth and said it, which surprised Li Hongzhang. However, Li Hongzhang recovered quickly, stood up and clasped his fists, saying: "Your Majesty, Li Hongzhang, has met the Imperial Envoy."
Li Zhen looked at this Eastern 'Bismarck' and sighed in his heart.
This time, it was really a big gathering of celebrities.
The two most important ministers of the late Qing Dynasty gathered in his camp, which was definitely rare in the world. When Li Zhen saw Li Hongzhang standing, he also stood up, stretched out his hand and said: "Brother Shaoquan, I don't do fist-holding salutes here, except for military salutes." Outside, it’s all about shaking hands.”
Li Hongzhang nodded and quickly reached out to shake hands with Li Zhen.
Immediately, Li Hongzhang sat down.
However, Li Zhen was still standing. Zeng Guofan couldn't continue to sit down and stood up immediately. Especially when he saw Li Zhen shaking hands with Li Hongzhang, he recalled that Li Zhen had also extended his hand when greeting him at the camp gate. But at that time, they were holding fists against each other, and the two of them did not shake hands. After what happened, Zeng Guofan didn't think about it anymore.
He continued to introduce the rest of the people. The person sitting on the right side of Zeng Guofan was Zeng Guohuang, Zeng Guofan's second brother Zeng Guohuang. Next, in order from left to right, were the third brother Zeng Guohua, the fourth brother Zeng Guoquan, the fifth brother Zeng Guobao, and all the five brothers of the Zeng family. All present.
Li Zhen shook hands with several people one by one before sitting down.
Ye Chengzhong asked someone to serve tea and then stood aside.
Li Zhen took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Brother Bohan came all the way to my camp, what's the matter?" Li Zhen was also thinking about this, wondering whether Zeng Guofan wanted to borrow troops or money. Or borrow a weapon.
Zeng Guofan said: "To be honest with Hongyi, I came here to learn from Hongyi."
"Oh, how do you say this?" Li Zhen asked.
Zeng Guofan sighed, with a lonely look on his face, and said: "Although I have won some victories in the suppression of bandits in the past few years, I always won less and lost more. Especially when I suffered two disastrous defeats, I lost all my old face." , On the other hand, Hongyi led his soldiers to defeat more with less, won consecutive battles, and defeated the bandits until they were unable to resist. He should be a role model for our generation."
Li Zhen said: "Brother Bohan is too modest."
Zeng Guofan said with certainty: "Facts speak louder than words. Hongyi won the battle and defeated the bandits. This is an indisputable fact. This time I came to Jiangbei Camp to ask Hongyi for advice on how to use troops and train troops. I hope Hongyi can Don't hesitate to teach me." As he spoke, he stood up and saluted Li Zhen respectfully.
