Zeng Guofan opposed his younger brother Gai Lou and made a "purchase restriction order" by death.

However, if you are afraid of buying fields and building houses in Jindian, you will be greatly disturbed. Not uneasy before death, nor after death. Dear brothers, don't buy a house in Yucheng Golden Hall. I would appreciate it if my brother listened to me. If my brother doesn't listen, I will hate you. But the world is a little safer, and the overall situation is a little less. My family is not afraid of not having food. The overall situation is difficult to pull, and fate is inevitable. The more land, the more strange people, the more money and the more robberies. What are the benefits?

"Zeng Guofan's letter to Cheng Di, October 4th, Xianfeng decade"

1860, Zeng Guofan was in Anqing, Anhui Province, and his identity was "Governor of Two Rivers", that is, acting governor. What's the situation this year? As he wrote in the throne of the imperial court on the fourth day of the tenth lunar month, "there is a tendency to be overwhelmed, and the foothold in southern Anhui is not stable." It shows that he is very passive militarily and has no confidence in the situation. On the same day, he wrote a letter to his brother in his hometown, and his anxiety was vividly on the paper.

I heard that my brothers want to buy land and build houses in the golden hall where they live. The so-called building is to build a house. He is very anxious and angry about this matter. He said: My brothers are afraid that you will buy more fields and build more houses in your hometown, which simply aggravates my sin and makes my heart greatly uneasy. So much so that he said, "It is uncomfortable to be a man before death and a ghost after death." When you are alive, you are uneasy when you die. I almost turned a corner and threatened to die.

Besides threatening death, he also threatened brotherhood. He further said: if you listen to your brother and stop buying land and building houses, your brother will appreciate you; If you don't listen, brother, I will hate you. The implication is to break off diplomatic relations.

At this time, Zeng Guofan was actually a little pessimistic about the Qing Dynasty, and he didn't have much confidence in the situation in the late Qing Dynasty. This view is based on the invasion of Beijing by the British and French allied forces and the aggressive Taiping Army. In view of this form, Lao Zeng was in a hurry to write home to prevent his younger brothers from buying real estate and fields, almost threatening death and ordering them to "limit purchases." Because one more manor is one more danger, one more accusation, and it is no good to buy more property. If the world is at peace, you are not afraid of not having food.

Therefore, Zeng Guofan's incorruptibility, on the one hand, is because he abides by the teachings of ancient sages in China, restrains selfish desires and is willing to be poor, on the other hand, is also because he has a sense of crisis, and this sense of crisis is due to his personal experience.

Buying more industries is an important means for many people to cope with the devaluation crisis and provide material security for future generations and their own pension. Why did Zeng Guofan do the opposite?

I think it is mainly because Lao Zeng's sense of crisis has not only stayed at the level of material wealth preservation, but has further risen to the level of spiritual wealth preservation.

Relying on industry to protect future generations and families is actually to cultivate their excessive dependence on material wealth, thus losing the vitality of creating material wealth. The more dependent they are, the lazier they are. This is still true in the agricultural society where the economic situation has not changed much, especially in the market society where the economic situation is changing with each passing day. Solidified property and industry are likely to become obstacles for future generations to adapt to the new economic model and weaken their survival skills. This is the biggest crisis.