How Zeng Guofan commented on Liu Mingchuan's fate by looking at his face

One summer, Li Hongzhang recommended three young people to his teacher Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan left the three men in the courtyard to wait and observed secretly. One of them was seen looking around the furnishings in the house, as if thinking about something; one was standing in the courtyard with his head down and proper manner; and another, although of ordinary appearance, stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the clouds.

After observing for a while, Zeng Guofan already had a plan in mind. He summoned three young men and started talking to them. Zeng Guofan discovered that people who kept looking at the furnishings in the living room seemed to be very familiar with his preferences and habits, and they were the most likely to chat with him. The other two were mediocre in their eloquence. People who look up at the clouds have their own opinions on things and people, but they speak too directly.

After the chat, Zeng Guofan appointed the young man with the best eloquence to a nominal position with name but no power, and the honest and well-behaved young man to be the co-director in charge of money, food, and horse fodder, while the young man who looked up at the clouds and spoke directly was sent to serve in the army and was trained with emphasis.

He explained to the puzzled crowd: When the first person was waiting in the courtyard, he carefully looked at the furnishings in the room. Although he talked a lot, he was not very proficient in many things and was just trying to please me. It can be seen that this person is good at scheming and is not worthy of being entrusted with important matters. The second person is calm but lacks courage. The third person was not impetuous but calm and composed. When facing dignitaries, he was very opinionated and could express his views in a neither humble nor arrogant manner. This was a rare demeanor of a general. But he has a straightforward character, which may cause him to get into trouble.

The young man who looked up at the clouds later made outstanding military achievements and became famous both at home and abroad. He was Liu Mingchuan, the first governor of Taiwan. But just as Zeng Guofan's prediction came true, Liu Mingchuan was too upright in character, and was eventually slandered by villains and left Taiwan in disgrace.

The above is an introduction on how Zeng Guofan commented on Liu Mingchuan’s fate by looking at his face. For more content, please pay attention to the face reading special topic on the Dream Interpreter’s Fortune Telling website.