and the question of its support must be settled before it should leave the province.[1]
The memorial thus summarised affords us some insight into the character of Tsêng Kuo-fan and his level-headedness. He was wise not to hurry off without adequate preparation, for in that case the fate would almost certainly overtake him that had brought Kiang's promising career to its sudden and tragic end. His concentration on the essentials of the problem revealed a trait that was to appear again and again when higher officials and even the emperor's ministers lost their heads and tried to find palliatives that would serve for the immediate crisis. Tsêng appeared always to take a more far-sighted point of view than any other man associated with him. In this particular matter the eventual winning of the war was the chief question and this could not be accomplished without far more complete preparations than were yet made. Tsêng's ability to think the problem through was coupled with a singular degree of patience, which enabled him to persist until all the obstacles were overcome, and with a remarkable shrewdness in finding the ablest agents through whom to bring these things to pass. When we consider such frenzied appeals as these from the emperor, and his impatience at times, we can but wonder that this exalted personage was willing to repose continued confidence in a servant who, though eventually successful, was very long in bringing about the desired results.
It was during this winter of preparation that Tsêng had differences of opinion with some of the men asso-
- ↑ Dispatches, II, 23-27. In regard to this point Tsêng had already secured permission to sell honorary official ranks (from the sixth to the ninth grades) in return for substantial contributions. Offices had been opened for these sales in all the districts throughout the province and much money had thus been secured. Kiang's death five days before this was not yet known to Tsêng.
