In the seventh year of Xianfeng's reign, Zeng Guofan's life's work was destroyed in an instant. An imperial edict stripped him of his military command, leaving him cast aside by the Qing Empire.
> On his way home, he set fire to the manuscripts he'd spent half his life writing, burning away the old, uncompromising version of himself as well.
> Everyone laughed that “Zeng the Butcher” was finished, unaware that back in his hometown of Heyetang, he had studied half of the Dao De Jing in depth.
> Two years later, he returned to the fray. His methods remained thunderous, but from then on, he handled affairs with greater finesse.
> He broke through Jiangxi, laid siege to Anqing, and pacified the southeast... The “nine-word maxim” he came to understand became an unstoppable key to breaking deadlocks.
> This is the story of a middle-aged man fighting his way out of desperation. Watch Zeng Guofan rise from “servant of the emperor” to “man of greatness,” carving a path through a decaying dynasty for himself and the people.
