Luo Bingzhang

Luo Bingzhang

Luo Bingzhang (1793-1867), formerly known as Jun, changed his name to Bingzhang when he was 37 years old. He was a native of Hualing Village (now Hualing village, Tanbu Town, Huadu District, Guangzhou City), Guangdong Province. He was a famous official in the late Qing Dynasty, an outstanding statesman, militarist, strategist and calligrapher, and one of the commanders of the Xiang army. Daoguang twelve years (1832) Jinshi, full of Imperial Academy Shuji Shi, granted editor, Zhang Zhuanji. After that, he successively served as a lecturer, a censor, an inspector of Hubei Province, a governor of Hunan Province, a governor of Sichuan Province, and an assistant bachelor. Together with Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong, he was known as "the eight famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty".

Luo Bingzhang has been in Hunan for ten years. He has made outstanding achievements in ruling the army and pacifying the chaos. After seven years in Sichuan, he exterminated the Taiping army, and the Qing government granted him the title of crown prince. In the Qing Dynasty, he was regarded as the Minister of great achievements. At that time, people called him and Zeng Guofan "the East and the West are facing each other, and the world depends on them", which shows his political influence. Luo Bingzhang was incorruptible all his life and was known as "the most honest official in the late Qing Dynasty". He rectified the administration of officials, benefited the people, and was supported by the people.

In 1867, Luo Bingzhang died of illness in the Chengdu government office. The Qing government presented him as a gift to the crown prince and a master of Taifu. He was worshipped in the Xianliang temple, and his posthumous title was Wenzhong. After Luo Bingzhang's death, people mourned him and commemorated him in various forms. Both Hunan and Sichuan people spontaneously built ancestral temples for the people to look forward to and commemorate. The people of Sichuan felt that it was because of fire and water that it was killed. It was hard to strike in the alleys. It was deeply loved by the people of Sichuan. It was also known as Zhuge Liang of Han Dynasty and Weigao of Tang Dynasty.

Life of the characters

Early official career

Luo Bingzhang, formerly known as Jun, changed his name to Bingzhang at the age of 37. In 1793, Luo Bingzhang was born in Hualing village, Tanbu Town, Fuhua County, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Later, his family moved to Foshan. In 1812, Luo Bingzhang was 19 years old. He was the third scholar in the examination. Between the ages of 21 and 26, he studied back and forth between Guangzhou and Foshan. At the age of 27, Luo Bingzhang was the 58th person in the Jimao section. In the second year of Daoguang (1822), Luo Bingzhang went to Beijing for the first time to have a joint examination. Although Luo Bingzhang failed in this joint examination, the prosperous scene of the capital opened his eyes. In the ninth year of Daoguang (1829), Luo Bingzhang went to Beijing for another examination. Unfortunately, he still lost his reputation. This time, Luo Bingzhang was a little superstitious about fate, so he went to the Ministry of rites to change his name to Luo Bingzhang, which was called xumen. In 1831, he went to the capital for the third examination. Luo Bingzhang, who had been studying for more than 30 years, was the 60th Jinshi in Renchen section and the 27th in the palace examination. He was selected in the imperial examination and was awarded the title of Imperial Academy scholar. At this time, he was already in his prime, and he was a late bloomer. In the 20th year of Daoguang (1840), Luo Bingzhang was appointed to inspect the Treasury of the Ministry of Li. After he took office, he checked the bad rules and strictly reviewed them. Officials can't bend the law for personal gain, so they want to find a chance to get rid of him, and they just find out his negligence. However, after mu zhanga's investigation, he found that Luo Bingzhang was meticulous and didn't touch him at all, so he had great feelings and paid more attention to him. In the 23rd year of Daoguang (1843), it was revealed that there was a deficit of more than 9 million taels in the Treasury. Luo Bingzhang was dismissed for the crime of dereliction of duty, and he was still fined 18200 taels of money. After the investigation, Emperor Daoguang knew that Luo Bingzhang was upright and selfless. When he was summoned, he said to him, "you have been doing a good job in checking the Treasury year by year, not only for me, but for everyone. Now with this case, your name will be more famous. Without this case, I don't know your name. You are good at reading, being an official seriously, and doing well for the country in the future. " Therefore, it is specially intended to be retained as a concubine. Since then, Emperor Daoguang had great trust in him, and he was promoted to be an official of Hubei Province. Soon Luo Bingzhang returned home and Ding Mu was worried. After that, he made up for the right son and successively went to Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu. Luo Bingzhang has been a court official in the capital for 16 years. His most prominent and glorious position is to be a lecturer of Emperor Daoguang. He has the respect of imperial teachers in the court and the field, so he is famous among scholars and enjoys a high reputation. Therefore, Emperor Xianfeng and later emperor Tongzhi also respect this former Emperor's teacher. Luo Jing was not only famous for his integrity, but also for his knowledge. Also because of his honesty, he has offended many corrupt officials. In 1850, Emperor Xianfeng appointed Luo Bingzhang as governor of Hunan.

Supervise and defend Changsha

In the first year of Xianfeng (1851), the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom revolted in Jintian, Guangxi. All the way, the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were defeated again and again. In the first year of Xianfeng (1851), the Qing government ordered Cheng xunchai, governor of Huguang, to Hunan to supervise the defense and intercept the Taiping army. Luo Bingzhang served as deputy to Yu Wanqing, governor of Hunan. Prior to that, Sai Shanga, a bachelor, led his troops to Guangxi to suppress the Taiping army. He went through Hunan Province and took hundreds of civil and military personnel with him. When he arrived in Guangdong, Luo Bingzhang was dismissed because he joined the Fufan of Hunan Province and abandoned politics on the ground that the counties along the way could not meet the supply. soon, although there was a notice from the imperial court that Luo Bingzhang would return to Beijing and have another appointment, he would have to wait for Zhang Liangji, the new governor of Hunan, to arrive in Changsha before he could be handed over to Beijing. At that time, most of the walls of Changsha collapsed, the Gates could not be closed for a long time, and the battlements were all gone. Luo Bingzhang estimated that the situation was critical when the Taiping army invaded Hunan at any time. He took the lead in donating 300 Liang to repair the city, and then all the provincial officials donated money to repair the city. Luo Bingzhang immediately asked to borrow twenty thousand taels from the Treasury to build the city. In April, when the Taiping army came to Daozhou, Luo Bingzhang went to the city day and night to urge the governor. In the middle of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when the gate was repaired and the battlements were ready, Xiao Chaogui led an army to attack Changsha. At that time, all the reinforcements of the Qing army, including the commander-in-chief and the Deputy commander-in-chief, did not arrive. There were only 8000 brave soldiers in the city, and there were no experienced generals. When the Taiping army attacked the city, the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty who were guarding the city really understood how correct and timely Luo Bingzhang's decision-making and dispatching strategy of repairing the city was. The most important thing was that he saved the Qing army and Changsha City. In September of the lunar calendar, Xiang Rong, Hechun, Zhang Guoliang and other Qing troops from various provinces gathered, reaching more than 60000 people, and the city defense was strengthened. In the aspect of Taiping army, Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing failed in two sieges. On the one hand, they mainly attacked the city by digging tunnels; on the other hand, they sent Shi Dakai as commander-in-chief. They divided their troops across the river to the west of Xiangshui River, and opened up a new stage of attacking Wuchang. The Taiping army took the initiative to retreat, and Changsha was immediately liberated. Luo Bingzhang felt a lot. This is the first time that Luo Bingzhang took the stand of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as a mortal enemy and felt helpless. He felt that the green camp soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were decayed and incompetent and could not stop the Taiping Army's triumphant rush and advance in southern China.

Working in Lianghu

In the second lunar month of the third year of Xianfeng (1852), Luo Bingzhang was appointed governor of Hubei. On April 23 of the lunar calendar, he was re appointed governor of Hunan Province for ten years. At that time, Zeng Guofan, a local servant of Hunan, was ordered to organize League training and began to establish the Hunan army. Luo Bingzhang was very much in favor of this. In addition, Zuo Zongtang, a member of the Xiangyin army, helped him manage the shogunate. He also recruited Luo Yingjun and helped to train regiments to defend against the attack of the Taiping army. In 1854, Luo Bingzhang commanded the army and ordered Luo Zenan to attack Yuezhou, Chongyang and Tongcheng. In 1855, when the Taiping army conquered Wuchang again, Hu Linyi, governor of Hubei Province, appealed to Luo Bingzhang for help. Luo Bingzhang immediately ordered Bao Chao to lead the Navy first, and Peng Yulin to lead the regiment to carry forward. When the Taiping Army in Guangdong arrived in Hunan, Luo Bingzhang successively conquered Guiyang, Yongxing, Chaling, Chenzhou, Yizhang and other places. He killed he Lu, a young general of the Taiping Army in Chenzhou and Yizhang. In 1856, Liu Changyou and other officials attacked Yuanzhou. After Jiang Zhongji died in Tongcheng, Wang Zhen took over from him, including Tongcheng, Chongyang, Puqi and Tongshan counties. In the winter of the same year, Liu Changyou conquered Yuanzhou, Fenyi and Xinyu. The Qing army decided to march into Jiangxi in three ways: Ruizhou in the north, Yuanzhou in the middle and Ji'an in the south. Liu Changyou had more than 9000 troops in Yuanzhou, so it was difficult to raise any more military salaries. At this time, Zhou Fengshan and Zeng Guoquan were asked to recruit 2000 volunteers each to jointly attack Ji'an, Jiangxi Province. The Qing court issued an imperial edict to praise Luo Bingzhang for his efforts to destroy the bandits across the border regardless of the region, and the imperial court awarded him Hualing. In the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), Wuhan was recovered by the Qing army, and there was no Taiping Army in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Since the beginning of the war in Hunan, water transport has stagnated, rice prices have fallen, and people's livelihood has been in dire need. However, the land rent and the landlord's rent are the same as before, and the people have long been unable to pay taxes. Luo Bingzhang reduced the local tax rebate, reduced the money accompanying the landlords and increased the tax revenue. Wang Zhen fought fiercely in Jiangxi Province, defeated the enemy many times, and finally died in battle. Luo Bingzhang led Wang Zhen's old army with Zhang Yunlan and Wang Zhen's younger brother. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), Luo Bingzhang was praised for his meritorious service in the capital inspection. Shida retreated to Zhejiang and Jiangxi was generally stable. Because it is not easy to join forces, Luo Bingzhang proposed that we should take advantage of the victory and forge ahead. The letter requested that Zeng Guofan's division be used to rescue Zhejiang Province, and Xiao Qijiang and Zhang Yunlan's troops be sent with them. The rest of the troops were withdrawn. In 1860, Luo Bingzhang guarded and fought with the Taiping Army in Hunan. In addition, he also rescued Hubei, Guizhou, Jiangxi and other provinces.

The governor entered Sichuan

In the sixth lunar month of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), 67 year old Luo Bingzhang was transferred to Sichuan to supervise military affairs. Before that, Li Yonghe and LAN Chaoding brothers of Yunnan Taiping army had already entered Sichuan from Yunnan and raided Zigong salt farm, which was rich in materials for dozens of miles. The team had grown to more than 100000, and was large