A Brief Summary Of The Relationship Between Luo Bingzhang And The Group Of Xiang

As an important official of the late Qing Dynasty,Luo Bingzhang served successively as Provincial Governor of Hunan and Viceroy of Sichuan,and played a key role in the rise of the Army of Xiang(Xiang is a short name for Hunan Province in China).While governing Hunan Province,he carried out reformations to stabilize the political situation in Hunan,and built up the headquarters for the Army of Xiang. Although he hid himself in the background at most times,his work paved its way for the growth of the Army into a leading one in the whole country.After he took up the position of Viceroy in Sichuan,he had more chance to show himself in public by commanding battles for the Qing Dynasty.The defeatings of "Lanli Uprising" and the troops of Shi Dakai finally made a name for Luo Bingzhang.He further controlled the situation by contacting the Southwest provinces and sending troops in all directions.The main relationship between Luo and Group of Xiang can be concluded to three aspects:human relations,finance of the Army of Xiang and military actions.In human relations,Luo supported Zeng Guofan to develop the Army,and practically recommended excellent persons to increase the influential power of the officers from Group of Xiang in the Court of Qing step by step.He had both cooperation and conflict with other officials of Group of Xiang,especially Zeng Guofan,but these only became secondary to the general premise of the development of the Xiang Army.Financing was one priority for The Army of Xiang.With the expansion of the Army,the expenditure also rose to an amazing degree,thus,the amount of money being funded was directly related to the development of the Army.Luo Bingzhang racked his brains to collect money for the Army,taking every possible measure such as donation,taxation reformation to meet the financial needs.In that sense he is a decisive figure in the process of the army development.In military,while in Hunan,besides cooperating Zeng Guofan to lead the Army of Xiang against the Taiping Rebellion,he ordered his directly controlled troops to put down the local farmer rebels cruelly.After being assigned the Viceroy of Sichuan,he continued to expand the Army of Xiang,whom he later rallied to level down all the uprisings in his territory and got the political situation in the Southwest under control.This thesis will mainly explore the relationship between Luo Bingzhang and The Group of Xiang as well as the personality of him from the above aspects.