曾國藩幕府崛貣於晚清太帄天國動亂時代，規模及功能都有冸於以往，號稱「神州第一幕府」。曾氏身為儒者，在清廷有限之人力、物力、財力的支援下，為討伐太帄軍而集募勇、練軍、籌餉等重任於一身，以其獨具之「兵為將有」的招募方式，並善用分層授權的觀念，形成一支層層節制的龐大半私人性質軍隊。而面臨諸多軍、政、財勤、外交等繁雜的行政及籌劃管理等事宜，曾氏以其特有之選人、訓練及管理方式，延攬各式人才入幕，逐漸形成一個陣容龐大、功能完備、宛若一組織嚴密之小型政府的幕府。不但在兵事、餉事、即事、文事各方面游刃有餘，更在洋務方面迭創佳績，對晚清以至民初的政治、軍事、經濟乃至社會均深具影響。

The rise for Commanding Office of Tseng Kuo-Fan came in the wake of insurgence of Taiping Rebellion during the late Ching Dynasty in Chinese history. Separated from those in the past with its scale and function, Commanding Office was dubbed as “The first commanding office in China.” As a a devout Confucian scholar, Tseng shouldered the heavy responsibilities by raising and training the army and raising funds to fight effectively against the Taiping Rebellion under the circumstances of limited support of manpower, material resources and finance from the Imperial Palace. With the distinctive recruiting method of “Soldiers Followed the General” and the adoption of the concept of a delegation of the right authority to the right level of officials, Tseng formed one huge and semi-private army of hierarchical restrictions. In face of multifarious aspects of administration, preparation and management about military, political affairs, finance and diplomacy, Tseng practiced his distinctive selection, training and management methods to recruit different talents to form one small well-organized government-like commanding office with a huge battle array and comprehensive function gradually. Not only being more than equal to the tasks of military events, supply affairs, official works and literary matters, Tseng achieved excellent results in foreign affairs repeatedly that showed strong influence on politics, military, economy and society in the late Ching Dynasty and even in the early Republic of China.