Volume 269 Biographies 157: Ai Wannian, Li Bei, Tang Jiuzhou, Chen Yuwang, Hou Liangzhu, Zhang Ling, Meng Ruhu, Hu Dawei, Sun Yingyuan, Jiang Mingwu, You Shiwei, Hou Shilu, Liu Guoneng

艾萬年李卑湯九州〈（楊正芳楊世恩）〉陳於王〈（程龍等）〉侯良柱〈（子天錫）〉張令〈（汪之鳳）〉猛如虎〈（劉光祚等）〉虎大威孫應元姜名武〈（王來聘等鄧祖禹）〉尤世威〈（王世欽等）〉侯世祿〈（子拱極）〉劉國能〈（李萬慶）〉

Ai Wannian, Li Bei, and Tang Jiuzhou (Yang Zhengfang and Yang Shi'en)〉 Chen Yuwang (Cheng Long and others)〉 Hou Liangzhu (his son Tianxi)〉 Zhang Ling (Wang Zhifeng)〉 Meng Ruhu (Liu Guangzuo and others)〉 Hu Dawei, Sun Yingyuan, and Jiang Mingwu (Wang Laipin and others; Deng Zuyu)〉 You Shiwei (Wang Shiqin and others)〉 Hou Shilu (his son Gongji)〉 Liu Guoneng (Li Wanqing)〉

艾萬年，米脂人。由武學生從軍，積功至神木參將。崇禎四年從曹文詔復河曲。點燈子入山西，萬年從文詔連敗之桑落鎮、花地窊、霧露山。都司王世虎、守備姚進忠戰死。賊退屯石樓之康家山，西距河三十里。綏德知州周士奇、守備孫守法伏兵含峪，渡河襲殺之。五年從參政樊一蘅討平不沾泥。山西告警，隸文詔東討，與李卑一月奏五捷。又與賀人龍敗八大王、掃地王兵。明年，賊將東遁，連破之延家山、亢義村、賈寨村，擢副總兵。

Ai Wannian was from Mizhi. He entered service from the military academy and rose through merit to become garrison commander at Shenmu. In the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign he followed Cao Wenzhao in recovering Hequ. When the bandit Diandengzi entered Shanxi, Wannian, serving under Wenzhao, defeated him repeatedly at Sangluo Town, Huadiwo, and Wulu Mountain. Commander Wang Shihu and Garrison Defender Yao Jinzhong were killed in action. The rebels fell back to Kangjia Mountain in Shilou, thirty li west of the Yellow River. Suide prefect Zhou Shiqi and Garrison Defender Sun Shoufa set an ambush at Hanyu, crossed the river, and struck the rebels down. In the fifth year he followed Administrative Commissioner Fan Yiheng in suppressing the bandit Buzhanni. When Shanxi came under threat, he was assigned to Wenzhao's eastern campaign and, together with Li Bei, reported five victories within a single month. He also fought alongside He Renlong and defeated the armies of Badawang and Saodiwang. The following year, as the rebels prepared to flee eastward, he routed them in turn at Yanjia Mountain, Kangyi Village, and Jiazhai Village and was promoted to vice commander-in-chief.

初，山西既中賊，其土寇亦乘間起，三關王剛、孝義通天柱、臨縣王之臣皆殘破城邑。後見賊衰，相繼歸順，然陰結黨不散。巡撫戴君恩新視事，謀誅之。七年正月迎春，召王剛宴，殺之，並殺通天柱於他所，而萬年亦捕殺王豹五與其黨領兵王，生擒翻山動，姬關鎖、掌世王，獻俘京師，晉中巨盜略靖。豹五即之臣也。有議君恩殺降者，給事中張第元力言諸賊蹂躪之慘，請錄萬年功。萬年適遘疾告歸，尋加署都督僉事。

After Shanxi had already been ravaged by the main rebel armies, local brigands seized their chance as well: Wang Gang of Sangguan, Tongtianzhu of Xiaoyi, and Wang Zhichen of Linxian all sacked towns and cities. When the great rebel forces weakened, they surrendered one after another, but still maintained secret factions and refused to disband. Grand Coordinator Dai Jun'en had just assumed office and planned to eliminate them. In the first month of the seventh year, at the spring festival Dai summoned Wang Gang to a banquet and killed him, executed Tongtianzhu elsewhere, and Wannian captured and killed Wang Baowu and his lieutenant Lingbing Wang, took Fanshandong, Ji Guansuo, and Zhang Shiwang alive, and sent the prisoners to the capital; the great brigands of central Shanxi were largely brought to order. Baowu was none other than Wang Zhichen. Some criticized Dai for killing men who had surrendered, but Supervising Secretary Zhang Diyuan forcefully described the devastation the bandits had wrought and asked that Wannian's achievements be entered in the record. Wannian fell ill about this time and asked to return home on leave; he was soon given the additional post of acting commissioner-in-chief.

八年二月，上疏言：

In the second month of the eighth year he submitted a memorial that read:

臣仗劍從戎七載，復府谷，解孤山圍，救清水、黃甫、木瓜十一營堡。轉戰高山，設伏河曲，有馬鎮、虎頭巖、石臺山、西川之捷。戰平陽、汾州、太原，復臨縣及虒亭驛。大小數十戰，精力盡耗。與臣共事者李卑，溘先朝露。臣病勢奄奄，猶力戰冀北。又撫剿王剛、豹五、領兵王、通天柱，解散賊一萬三千有奇。蒙恩許臣養病，而督臣洪承疇檄又至，臣不敢不力疾上道。但念滅賊之法，不外剿撫，今剿撫俱未合機宜，臣不得不極言。

Your servant has carried arms in the field for seven years, recovered Fugu, raised the siege of Gushan, and relieved eleven fortified camps at Qingshui, Huangfu, and Mugua. I fought at Gaoshan, set ambushes at Hequ, and won victories at Mazhen, Hutouyan, Shitaishan, and Xichuan. I campaigned at Pingyang, Fenzhou, and Taiyuan, and recovered Linxian and the Yisiting courier station. In dozens of engagements large and small, my strength has been utterly spent. Li Bei, who served at my side, has already passed away like the morning dew. Though my illness leaves me barely alive, I still forced myself to fight in northern Ji. I also pacified Wang Gang, Baowu, Lingbing Wang, and Tongtianzhu and disbanded more than thirteen thousand rebels. Your Majesty graciously allowed me to convalesce, yet orders from Governor Hong Chengchou arrived as well, and I dared not fail to take the road despite my illness. Yet when I consider how bandits are to be destroyed, the methods are none other than suppression and pacification, and today both are ill-suited to circumstances; I must speak plainly.

夫剿賊不患賊多，患賊走。蓋疊嶂重巒，皆其淵藪，兵未至而賊先逃，所以難滅，其故則兵寡也。當事非不知兵寡，因糗糧不足，為茍且計，日引月長，以至於今，雖多措餉，多設兵，而已不可救矣。宜合計賊眾多寡，用兵若干，餉若干，度其足用，然後審察地利，用正用奇，用伏用間，或擊首尾，或沖左右，有不即時殄滅者，臣不信也。

In suppressing bandits, the problem is not their numbers but their flight. Layered peaks and folded ranges are their refuges; the troops arrive only after the rebels have fled, which is why they are so hard to destroy—and the reason is that our forces are too few. The authorities know perfectly well that our forces are too few, but with insufficient supplies they settle for makeshift measures; day by day the crisis has grown until now, and even if we raise more funds and deploy more troops, it may already be beyond remedy. We should reckon the enemy's numbers, decide how many troops and how much pay are needed, and make sure they are adequate; then study the terrain, use regular and irregular tactics, ambushes and spies, strike head or tail or hit the flanks—and if the rebels are not wiped out promptly, I do not believe it.

次則行堅壁清野之法，困賊於死地，然後可言撫。蓋群賊攜妻挈子，無城柵，無輜重，暮楚朝秦，傳食中土，以剽掠為生。誠令附近村屯移入城郭，儲精兵火器以待之，賊衣食易盡，生理一絕，鳥驚鼠竄。然後選精銳，據要害以擊之；或體陛下好生之心，誅厥渠魁，宥其協從，不傷仁，不損威，乃撫剿良策。

Next we should enforce fortified villages and cleared countryside, trap the rebels where they cannot survive, and only then talk of pacification. The rebel hosts travel with wives and children, without walled bases or supply trains, shifting from place to place across the heartland and living by plunder alone. If nearby villages are moved into walled towns and elite troops with firearms are held ready, the rebels' food and clothing will soon run out, their means of survival cut off, and they will scatter like frightened birds and fleeing rats. Then choose crack troops, hold the strategic passes, and strike them down; or, honoring Your Majesty's regard for life, execute the ringleaders and pardon the followers, harming neither benevolence nor authority—this is the sound policy of pacification combined with suppression.

帝深嘉之，下所司議行，然卒不能用其策也。

The emperor praised the memorial highly and referred it to the relevant offices for action, yet in the end his strategy was never adopted.

尋授孤山副總兵，戍平涼。當是時，總督洪承疇迫六月滅賊之期，急進戰。諸將見賊眾兵寡，鹹自揣不敵，而勢不可止。萬年及副將劉成功、柳國鎮，遊擊王錫命合兵三千，以六月十四日至寧州之襄樂，遇賊大戰，斬首數百。伏兵驟起，圍之數重。萬年、國鎮力戰不支，皆戰歿。成功、錫命負重傷歸。士卒死者千余人。事聞，贈恤如制。

He was soon appointed vice commander-in-chief at Gushan and stationed at Pingliang. At that time Governor-General Hong Chengchou, pressed by the six-month deadline for destroying the rebels, drove his forces into battle. The generals saw that the rebels outnumbered them and all knew they were overmatched, yet the momentum of the campaign could not be halted. Wannian, Vice Generals Liu Chenggong and Liu Guozhen, and Mobile Corps Commander Wang Ximing united three thousand men; on the fourteenth day of the sixth month they reached Xiangyue in Ningzhou, met Li Zicheng's forces in a great battle, and took several hundred heads. Ambush troops suddenly sprang up and surrounded them in layer after layer. Wannian and Guozhen fought to the limit but could not hold; both were killed in action. Chenggong and Ximing withdrew with grave wounds. More than a thousand soldiers were killed. When word reached the court, posthumous honors and condolence payments were granted according to regulation.

李卑，字侍平，榆林人。由千總擢守備。天啟初，總督王象乾設薊鎮車營五，以卑為都司僉書，統西協後車營。遷山海關遊擊，坐事罷歸。

Li Bei, styled Shiping, was from Yulin. He rose from battalion commander to garrison defender. Early in the Tianqi reign, Governor-General Wang Xiangqian established five chariot battalions for the Jizhen garrison; Bei was appointed assistant commander and secretary and took command of the rear chariot battalion on the western wing. He was transferred to mobile corps commander at Shanhaiguan, but was dismissed for an offense and sent home.

崇禎二年，陜西巡撫劉廣生議討延慶回賊，三道進兵，命卑與遊擊伍維藩等由西路入。卑簡精騎二百，追擊兩晝夜，行四百里抵保安寧塞，連破之，共獲首功一千有奇。旋起延安參將。時群盜蜂起，延發尤甚，卑連敗之富家灣、松樹屯。四年，神一元陷保安，卑與寧夏總兵賀虎臣守延安，賊不敢犯。尋擢孤山副總兵。譚雄陷安塞，據其城，卑與王承恩擊降雄，戮之，斬首五百三十余級。五年春，混天猴陷宜君、鄜州，其夏攻合水。卑及參將馬科追至甘泉山。七月破之延水關，斬首六百二余級。其地東限黃河，賊溺死者無算，科部卒斬混天猴以獻。初，卑及遊擊吳國俊等斬賊魁三人於甘泉橋子溝，尋剿賊固原，斬其魁薛仁貴等三人。

In the second year of the Chongzhen reign, Shaanxi Grand Coordinator Liu Guangsheng planned a campaign against the Hui rebels of Yanqing; three columns were to advance, and Bei was ordered to enter by the western route with Mobile Corps Commander Wu Weifan and others. Bei chose two hundred elite horsemen, pursued for two days and nights, marched four hundred li to Bao'an Ningsai, defeated the enemy repeatedly, and claimed more than a thousand heads in all. He was soon reappointed garrison commander at Yan'an. Bandits were rising everywhere, and Yan'an suffered especially; Bei defeated them repeatedly at Fujiawan and Songsongtun. In the fourth year Shen Yiyuan took Bao'an; Bei and Ningxia Commander-in-Chief He Huchen held Yan'an, and the rebels did not dare attack. He was soon promoted to vice commander-in-chief at Gushan. Tan Xiong seized Ansa and held the city; Bei and Wang Chengen attacked, forced him to surrender, executed him, and took more than five hundred thirty heads. In the spring of the fifth year the bandit Huntianhou took Yijun and Fuzhou; that summer he attacked Heshui. Bei and Garrison Commander Ma Ke pursued them to Ganquan Mountain. In the seventh month he defeated them at Yanshuiguan and took more than six hundred twenty heads. The ground was bounded on the east by the Yellow River, and countless rebels drowned; Ma Ke's men beheaded Huntianhou and presented the head. Earlier Bei and Mobile Corps Commander Wu Guojun and others had beheaded three bandit chiefs at Ganquan Qiaozigou; soon after they suppressed rebels at Guyuan and beheaded three chiefs including Xue Rengui.

時陜西賊多流入山西。詔卑及賀人龍各率部卒千，隸總督張宗衡麾下。會王自用陷遼州，聞官兵至，棄城走。六年春，諸軍入城，多殺良民冒功，卑獨嚴戢其下無所擾。已，敗賊陽城之郎家山，又與艾萬年連敗之南獨泉土河村，復敗之芃塸村。賊入濟源山中，巡撫許鼎臣檄卑、萬年合剿，卑破之天井關。七月，臨洮總兵曹文詔改大同，命卑代署其事，協討河北賊，加都督僉事，數有功。其冬，賊盡走河南，命卑援剿。七年春，敗賊內鄉，馳至光化，與楚兵敗賊蓮花坪、白溝坪，實授臨洮總兵官，討賊湖廣，賊多聚鄖、襄，總理盧象升方倚卑辦賊，六月卒於官。

By then many of Shaanxi's rebels had poured into Shanxi. An edict ordered Bei and He Renlong each to lead a thousand men under Governor-General Zhang Zongheng. When Wang Ziyong took Liaozhou, he abandoned the city and fled at news of the government troops' approach. In the spring of the sixth year the armies entered the city; many killed civilians to claim credit, but Bei alone kept his men under strict discipline and they disturbed no one. He then defeated the rebels at Langjiashan in Yangcheng, and together with Ai Wannian won repeated victories at Nanduquan Tuhe Village and again at Pengcun Village. When the rebels entered the mountains of Jiyuan, Grand Coordinator Xu Dingchen ordered Bei and Wannian to join forces against them, and Bei routed them at Tianjing Pass. In the seventh month Lin Tao Commander-in-Chief Cao Wenzhao was transferred to Datong and Bei was ordered to act in his stead; he helped suppress the rebels of Hebei, was given the additional rank of commissioner-in-chief, and won repeated victories. That winter the rebels all fled into Henan, and Bei was ordered to reinforce the campaign there. In the spring of the seventh year he defeated the rebels at Neixiang, rode hard to Guanghua, and with the Chu forces won victories at Lianhuaping and Baigouping; he was formally appointed commander-in-chief at Lintao and sent to suppress rebels in Huguang, where they were gathering chiefly around Yunzhou and Xiangyang; Grand Secretary Lu Xiangsheng was counting on him to handle the campaign when he died in office in the sixth month.

卑善持紀律，所至軍民安堵。為人有器度，當倉猝，鎮靜如常。贈右都督，賜祭葬。

Bei was noted for strict discipline; wherever he was posted, soldiers and civilians alike lived in peace. He had breadth of spirit and remained as calm as usual in sudden crises. He was posthumously made right commissioner-in-chief and granted state funeral honors.

湯九州，石埭人。崇禎時，為昌平副總兵。六年夏，流賊大擾河北、畿南。命九州協剿，與左良玉等屢破賊兵，賊悉渡河而南。其冬，大敗過天星於吳城鎮，斬首四百二十級。追賊闖天王等五華集，又敗之，斬首六百四十余級。七年擊賊嵩縣之潭頭，斬首三百二十級。賊駐商、雒，謀再入山西。左良玉迎擊於商南，九州遣部將趙柱、周爾敬逆之雒南。賊至商州返。已，復侵閿鄉。九州病，遣部將淩元機、胡良翰等搜山，悉敗歿。九州尋赴援山西。未幾，以河南剿賊功，加署都督僉事。八年春，被劾褫官，從軍自效。洪承疇入關，以吳村、瓦屋為商南賊走內鄉、淅川要地，令九州偕良玉扼之。尋移駐洛陽。九年二月，賊走登封石陽關，與伊、嵩賊合。九州期良玉夾擊，良玉半道歸。九州以孤軍千二百人由嵩縣深入。賊屢敗，窮追四十餘里，誤入深崖。遇賊數萬，據險攻圍。九州勢不敵，夜移營，為賊所乘，遂戰歿。從孫文瓊伏闕三上書請恤，不報。文瓊後亦殉難。

Tang Jiuzhou was from Shidi. During the Chongzhen reign he served as vice commander-in-chief at Changping. In the summer of the sixth year roaming rebels ravaged Hebei and the region south of the capital. Jiuzhou was ordered to join the campaign; with Zuo Liangyu and others he repeatedly defeated rebel forces until they all crossed the Yellow River southward. That winter he routed Guo Tianxing at Wucheng Town and took four hundred twenty heads. Pursuing Chuang Tianwang and others at Wuhua Ji, he defeated them again and took more than six hundred forty heads. In the seventh year he struck the rebels at Tantou in Song County and took three hundred twenty heads. The rebels held Shangzhou and Luonan, plotting to re-enter Shanxi. Zuo Liangyu met them at Shangnan while Jiuzhou sent subordinate generals Zhao Zhu and Zhou Erjing to block them south of Luo. The rebels reached Shangzhou and withdrew. Before long they again invaded Wenxiang. Jiuzhou fell ill and sent subordinate generals Ling Yuanji, Hu Lianghan, and others to sweep the mountains; all were defeated and killed. Jiuzhou soon marched to reinforce Shanxi. Before long, for his merit suppressing rebels in Henan, he was given the additional post of acting commissioner-in-chief. In the spring of the eighth year he was impeached, stripped of office, and returned to serve in the ranks to redeem himself. When Hong Chengchou entered the passes, he identified Wucun and Wawu as the key routes by which Shangnan rebels could flee toward Neixiang and Xichuan and ordered Jiuzhou to join Liangyu in holding them. He soon shifted his headquarters to Luoyang. In the second month of the ninth year the rebels fled through Shiyang Pass at Dengfeng and joined forces with the Yi and Song rebels. Jiuzhou arranged a pincer with Liangyu, but Liangyu turned back halfway. Jiuzhou pushed deep into Song County with only twelve hundred men. The rebels were repeatedly beaten; after pursuing them more than forty li he blundered into a deep ravine. He encountered tens of thousands of rebels holding the heights, who attacked and surrounded him. Outmatched, Jiuzhou moved camp by night; the rebels seized the moment and he was killed in battle. His grandnephew Wen Qiong thrice submitted memorials at the palace gate begging posthumous honors; no reply came. Wen Qiong later also died for the state.

時有楊正芳者，天啟間以小校從軍，屢剿貴州賊，積功至副總兵。敘桃紅壩功，加署都督同知。崇禎三年擊破定番叛苗。七年，賊陷當陽，正芳以鎮筸兵敗賊班鳩灘，復其城。湖廣巡撫唐暉以獻陵、惠藩為重，令正芳及總兵許成名專護荊州、承天。正芳連奏金沙鋪、蓮花坪、白溝坪、官田、石門山之捷。陳奇瑜出師鄖陽，正芳偕成名、鄧玘從竹山、竹溪、白河分道進，皆大獲。至十月，正芳督筸兵千余援雒南，戰敗，及部將張上選皆死焉，一軍盡歿。贈太子少師、左都督，世蔭指揮同知，再蔭一子守備，賜祭葬，有司建祠。

At that time there was Yang Zhengfang, who entered the army as a junior officer in the Tianqi reign, repeatedly suppressed Guizhou rebels, and rose through merit to vice commander-in-chief. For merit at Taohongba he was given the additional post of acting junior guardian commissioner-in-chief. In the third year of the Chongzhen reign he defeated the rebellious Miao of Dingfan. In the seventh year, when rebels took Dangyang, Zhengfang with Zhenbian troops defeated them at Banjiutan and recovered the city. Grand Coordinator Tang Hui of Huguang, holding the Xianling and Huifan princely tombs paramount, ordered Zhengfang and Commander-in-Chief Xu Chengming to guard Jingzhou and Chengtian exclusively. Zhengfang repeatedly reported victories at Jinshapu, Lianhuaping, Baigouping, Guantian, and Shimen Mountain. When Chen Qiyu marched from Xiangyang, Zhengfang advanced with Chengming and Deng Qi by separate routes through Zhushan, Zhuxi, and Baihe, all with great success. By the tenth month Zhengfang led more than a thousand Zhenbian troops to reinforce Luonan, was defeated, and he and subordinate general Zhang Shangxuan both died; the entire force perished. He was posthumously made junior tutor of the heir apparent and left commissioner-in-chief; his heir was granted commandant of the fourth rank; one more son was enfeoffed as garrison defender; state funeral honors were granted and local authorities built a shrine.

又有楊世恩者，崇禎時，歷官湖廣副總兵。七年春，敗賊竹溪。大雨，山水驟發，賊多漂溺死，余潰走。世恩疾擊，斬鎮山虎等四十余人。已，追賊石河口，連戰康家坪、蚋溪，功最。八年冬，敗賊孝感。九年春，祖寬大破賊滁州。世恩從盧象升馳至，復大破之。十年春，與秦翼明破劉國能於細石嶺，獲其魁新來虎。賊陷隨州，責戴罪自贖。十二年冬，督師楊嗣昌令守宜城。會賊羅汝才、惠登相分屯興山、遠安，夷陵告急。嗣昌檄世恩及荊門守將羅安邦赴救。至洋坪猴兒洞，道險甚，嗣昌再檄召還，而安邦由祚峪，世恩由重陽坪已兩道深入，期至馬良坪合兵。汝才、登相圍之香油坪，嗣昌連發數道兵往援，皆以道遠不能進。世恩等被困久，突圍走黃連坪，絕地無水，士饑渴甚。賊至，兩軍盡覆，世恩、安邦並死。

There was also Yang Shi'en, who during the Chongzhen reign served as vice commander-in-chief of Huguang. In the spring of the seventh year he defeated rebels at Zhuxi. Heavy rain fell; mountain torrents suddenly rose, and many rebels drowned; the rest fled in rout. Shi'en pressed the attack and beheaded more than forty including Zhenshanhu. Thereafter he pursued the rebels to Shihekou and fought repeatedly at Kangjiaping and Ruixi, his merit foremost. In the winter of the eighth year he defeated rebels at Xiaogan. In the spring of the ninth year Zu Kuan inflicted a great defeat on rebels at Chuzhou. Shi'en rushed there with Lu Xiangsheng and again inflicted a great defeat. In the spring of the tenth year he and Qin Yiming defeated Liu Guoneng at Xishiling and captured his chief Xinlaihu. When rebels took Suizhou he was ordered to redeem himself while under sentence. In the winter of the twelfth year Grand Secretary Yang Sichang ordered him to defend Yicheng. It happened that rebels Luo Rucai and Hui Dengxiang were encamped at Xingshan and Yuan'an, and Yiling reported urgent danger. Sichang ordered Shi'en and Jingmen garrison commander Luo Anbang to go to the rescue. When they reached Hou'erdong at Yangping the road was extremely perilous; Sichang again ordered them back, but Anbang had already gone by Zuoyu and Shi'en by Chongyangping; both columns had advanced deep, planning to unite at Maliangping. Rucai and Dengxiang surrounded them at Xiangyouping; Sichang repeatedly sent reinforcements from several routes, but all were too far away to arrive. Trapped for a long time, Shi'en and the others broke out toward Huanglianping, a dead place without water, and the troops were desperately hungry and thirsty. The rebels arrived; both armies were utterly destroyed, and Shi'en and Anbang both died.

陳於王，字丹衷，吳縣人。世為蘇州衛千戶。既襲職，兩舉武鄉試，授奇兵營守備。以捕獲海盜功，遷都司僉書，守崇明蛇山。盜王一爵等亂海濱，於王率戰船數十擊之羊山，持刀跌入其舟，生擒一爵，殲其黨殆盡。上官交薦，遂知名。天啟初，經略熊廷弼用為標下參將。代者至，余於王酒暴卒。其子訴於王毒殺之，逮系久不釋。

Chen Yuwang, styled Danzhong, was from Wu County. His family had for generations held the post of battalion commander of Suzhou Guard. After inheriting the post he twice passed the military provincial examination and was appointed garrison defender of the Elite Troops Battalion. For merit in capturing pirates he was transferred to assistant commander and secretary and garrisoned She Mountain at Chongming. The pirate Wang Yijue and others troubled the coast; Yuwang led several dozen war junks to attack them at Yangshan, leaped saber in hand into their boat, captured Yijue alive, and nearly exterminated his band. Superiors repeatedly recommended him, and he became well known. At the beginning of Tianqi, Frontier Commissioner Xiong Tingbi employed him as a subordinate garrison commander. When his replacement arrived, Yu and Yuwang were drinking together and Yu died suddenly. Yu's son accused Yuwang of poisoning him; Yuwang was arrested and held for a long time without release.

十年正月，賊分犯江浦、六合及安慶。國維遣部將張載賡等援安慶，而以新募兵二千令副將程龍及於王、若來分戍二邑。已而賊不至，國維議赴安慶，城太湖，乃提龍等三將兵西上。三月，賊犯太湖，副將潘可大將安慶兵九百，龍等三將將吳中兵三千六百，禦之酆家店。賊先犯可大營，龍等至，夾擊之，賊多死。夜復至，中伏，亦敗去。監軍史可法欲退扼要害，諸將不從，掘塹守二十四日。羅汝才、劉國能等七營數萬眾齊至，圍數重。諸將突擊，頗有殺傷。可法偕副將許自強馳救，扼於賊，鳴大炮遙為聲援，諸將亦呼噪突圍。會天雨，甲重不得出。明日日中，賊四面入，將士短兵接戰。可大戰死，龍引火自焚死。於王手執大刀，左右殺賊，傷重力竭，北面叩頭自刎死，閱十日面色如生。若來服圉人衣以免。同死者，武舉詹兆鵬首觸石死。陸王猷殺賊過當，賊臠分其肉死。莫是驊、唐世龍及千戶王定遠皆力戰死。百戶王弘猷為賊所執，鋸齒斷足，罵不絕聲死。士卒脫者僅千余人。事聞，贈於王昭勇將軍、指揮使，世蔭副千戶。余贈蔭有差。

In the first month of the tenth year rebels attacked separately at Jiangpu, Luhe, and Anqing. Zhang Guowei sent subordinate generals Zhang Zaigeng and others to reinforce Anqing, and with two thousand newly recruited troops ordered Vice General Cheng Long, Yuwang, and Ruolai to garrison the two districts separately. Before long the rebels did not appear; Guowei planned to go to Anqing and fortify Taihu, and led the three generals Long and the others westward. In the third month rebels attacked Taihu; Vice General Pan Keda led nine hundred Anqing troops, and Long and the other three generals led thirty-six hundred Wu troops to meet them at Fengjiadian. The rebels first attacked Keda's camp; when Long and the others arrived they struck from both sides and many rebels fell. At night they came again, fell into an ambush, and were again beaten off. Supervising Secretary Shi Kefa wished to withdraw and hold strategic points; the generals refused and dug trenches, holding for twenty-four days. Luo Rucai, Liu Guoneng, and seven other camps with tens of thousands arrived and surrounded them in layer after layer. The generals made sallies and inflicted considerable casualties. Kefa with Vice General Xu Ziqiang rushed to rescue them but was blocked; they fired great guns from afar as support, and the generals also shouted and broke out. Rain fell; their armor was heavy and they could not break out. At noon the next day the rebels entered from all four sides and officers and men fought hand to hand. Keda died in battle; Long set himself on fire and burned to death. Yuwang grasped a great saber and killed rebels to left and right; when wounded and exhausted he faced north, kowtowed, and cut his own throat; ten days later his complexion was as in life. Ruolai wore a groom's clothes to escape. Those who died with them included Military Licentiate Zhan Zhaopeng, who dashed his head against a stone and died. Lu Wangyou killed rebels excessively; the rebels carved up his flesh and he died. Mo Shihua, Tang Shilong, and Battalion Commander Wang Dingyuan all fought fiercely and died. Company Commander Wang Hongyou was seized; they sawed through his feet with a saw-toothed blade, yet he cursed without cease until he died. Of the soldiers only a little more than a thousand escaped. When word reached the court, Yuwang was posthumously made General of Manifest Valor and commandant, with his heir granted vice company commander. The others were granted enfeoffments in varying degrees.

侯良柱，字朝石，永寧衛人。天啟初，累官四川副總兵。討奢崇明父子，復遵義城。又與參議趙邦清招降奢寅黨安鑾。六年五月代李維新為四川總兵官，鎮永寧。時崇明敗奔水西，與安邦彥合，貴州兵數討不克。

Hou Liangzhu, styled Chaoshi, was from Yongning Guard. Early in the Tianqi reign he rose to Sichuan vice commander-in-chief. He campaigned against She Chongming and his son and recovered Zunyi. He also joined Administrative Commissioner Zhao Bangqing in inducing An Luan, a partisan of She Yin, to surrender. In the fifth month of the sixth year he replaced Li Weixin as Sichuan commander-in-chief and garrisoned Yongning. At that time Chongming had been defeated and fled to Shuixi and united with An Bangyan; Guizhou troops repeatedly campaigned without success.

崇禎二年，總督朱燮元遣貴州總兵許成名復赤水衛，崇明、邦彥以十余萬眾來爭。成名還永寧，賊追之銳甚。良柱偕監軍副使劉可訓出戰小卻，成名等來援，賊乃據五峰山桃紅壩。越數日，良柱乘賊不備，與副將鄧壒等侵早霧迫之，賊大潰。成名聞山上呼噪聲亦出。賊奔鵝項嶺，徑長而狹，人馬不能容。良柱、玘軍至，賊復大敗，死者數萬人。崇明、邦彥與邦彥黨偽都督莫德並授首，俘其黨楊作等數千人。積年巨寇平，時稱西南奇捷。

In the second year of the Chongzhen reign, Governor-General Zhu Xieyuan sent Guizhou Commander-in-Chief Xu Chengming to recover Chishui Guard; Chongming and Bangyan came with more than a hundred thousand men to contest it. Chengming returned to Yongning; the rebels pursued fiercely. Liangzhu with Supervising Vice Commissioner Liu Kexun went out to battle and fell back slightly; when Chengming and others came to reinforce, the rebels then held Wufeng Mountain and Taohongba. After several days Liangzhu, catching the rebels unawares, with Vice General Deng Ai and others pressed them through early-morning fog; the rebels were routed. Chengming, hearing shouting on the mountain, also came out. The rebels fled to E'eling; the path was long and narrow and men and horses could not pass. When Liangzhu's and Qi's armies arrived the rebels were again routed; tens of thousands died. Chongming, Bangyan, and Bangyan's partisan the false commissioner Mo De all surrendered their heads; partisan Yang Zuo and several thousand others were captured. The great rebels of many years were pacified; it was hailed as the marvelous victory of the southwest.

四川巡撫張論上其功不及黔將。成名等怒，言邦彥、德乃己部將趙國璽所斬，且崇明猶未死。燮元信之，奏於朝。兵部不能決，賞久不行。御史孫征蘭言：「訊俘囚阿癡、楊作等，咸云邦彥即時授首，灼然非黔兵力。」帝即命獻俘告廟，傳首九邊。川中撫按及御史毛羽健皆訟良柱、可訓功，詆燮元。燮元疏辯且求去，賞遂格不行。良柱怨燮元，不為用，至與相訐奏，解職候勘。久之，御史劉宗祥列上功狀。七年八月，始錄前功，進良柱左都督，世蔭錦衣指揮僉事；成名等亦優敘。未幾，復為四川總兵官。

Sichuan Grand Coordinator Zhang Lun reported their merit as inferior to that of the Guizhou generals. Chengming and others were angry, saying Bangyan and De had been killed by their own subordinate commander Zhao Guoxi, and that Chongming was still not dead. Xieyuan believed this and memorialized the court. The Ministry of War could not decide, and rewards were long delayed. Censor Sun Zhenglan said: "Interrogating the captives A Chi and Yang Zuo and others, all said Bangyan surrendered his head on the spot; clearly it was not Guizhou military strength. The emperor immediately ordered the presentation of captives at the ancestral temple and the dispatch of the head to the nine border regions. The grand coordinator and regional inspector of Sichuan and Censor Mao Yujian all litigated on behalf of Liangzhu's and Kexun's merit, denouncing Xieyuan. Xieyuan submitted a memorial defending himself and asking to leave; rewards were thus blocked and not granted. Liangzhu resented Xieyuan and would not serve; they even submitted mutual accusations, and both were dismissed pending investigation. After some time, Censor Liu Zongxiang submitted a roster of merit. In the eighth month of the seventh year, previous merit was finally recorded: Liangzhu was promoted to left commissioner-in-chief, with hereditary ennoblement as assistant commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard; Chengming and others also received preferential recognition. Not long after, he was again appointed commander-in-chief of Sichuan.

八年夏，總督洪承疇大舉討賊，令良柱扼賊入川路。戰鳳縣三江口，斬首三百七十有奇。明年冬，賊犯漢中，瑞王遣使乞師。良柱督兵援，與他將同卻賊。十年四月，川中地震者七，地鳴者一，占主兵。賊果入犯，陷南江、通江。帝切責良柱及巡撫王維章。時良柱駐廣元，盡召諸地兵九千有奇，分防扼險，止余二千人。賊知其勢弱，五月復寇川北。維章告急於朝。會賊轉掠他所，良柱乃撤還守隘兵，專守廣元。維章以為非計，上章言之。十月，李自成、過天星、混天星等陷寧羌，分三道入寇。良柱急拒戰於綿州，眾寡不敵，陣亡。賊直逼成都，維章方守保寧，反在外，連失三十余州縣。帝大怒，命逮二人下詔獄，猶未知良柱死。獄成，維章遣戍，追奪良柱官。

In the summer of the eighth year, Grand Coordinator Hong Chengchou launched a major campaign against the rebels and ordered Liangzhu to block their route into Sichuan. At Sanjiangkou in Feng County he fought and beheaded more than three hundred seventy. The following winter the rebels invaded Hanzhong; Prince Rui sent envoys begging for troops. Liangzhu led troops to reinforce and, together with other generals, repelled the rebels. In the fourth month of the tenth year, there were seven earthquakes in Sichuan and one instance of the ground rumbling; divination indicated warfare. The rebels indeed invaded, seizing Nanjiang and Tongjiang. The emperor sternly rebuked Liangzhu and Grand Coordinator Wang Weizhang. At that time Liangzhu was stationed at Guangyuan; he summoned all local troops, more than nine thousand, and dispatched them to garrison strategic points, leaving only two thousand. The rebels, knowing his force was weak, invaded northern Sichuan again in the fifth month. Weizhang reported the emergency to the court. As the rebels turned to plunder elsewhere, Liangzhu withdrew the troops guarding the passes and concentrated on defending Guangyuan. Weizhang considered this unwise and submitted a memorial saying so. In the tenth month, Li Zicheng, Guotianxing, Huntianxing, and others seized Ningqiang and invaded by three routes. Liangzhu urgently fought them off at Mianzhou; outnumbered, he died in battle. The rebels pressed straight toward Chengdu; Weizhang was defending Baoning and was outside the city; more than thirty prefectures and counties fell in succession. The emperor was furious and ordered both men seized and sent to the imperial prison; he did not yet know Liangzhu was dead. When the case was concluded, Weizhang was sent into exile and Liangzhu's post was posthumously stripped.

十三年，良柱子指揮天錫伏闕言：「臣與賊不共戴天。願捐貲繕甲，選募勁旅及臣父舊將，自當一隊，與賊血戰，下雪父恥，上報國恩。」帝深嘉之，命授遊擊，赴嗣昌軍立功。已，嗣昌言天錫所將親丁二百六十人及召募精卒五六百人皆剽悍敢戰。帝益嘉之，再增一秩。

In the thirteenth year, Liangzhu's son, Battalion Commander Tianxi, appeared before the palace gate and said: "Your subject and the rebels cannot coexist under the same heaven. I wish to donate funds to provision armor, select and recruit crack troops and my father's former generals, command a detachment myself, fight the rebels in bloody battle, avenge my father's shame, and repay the state's grace. The emperor greatly commended this and ordered him appointed garrison defender, to join Sichang's army and earn merit. Later, Sichang reported that the two hundred sixty personal retainers Tianxi led and the five or six hundred elite soldiers he had recruited were all fierce and daring in battle. The emperor commended him further and promoted him one more rank.

張令，永寧宣撫司人。天啟元年，奢崇明反，令為偽總兵，從攻成都。令雖為賊用，非其誌。崇明敗歸永寧，令結宋武等乘間擒其偽丞相何若海，率眾以降。崇明怒，殺令一家，夷其先墓。巡撫朱燮元言令等為國忘家，請優擢示勸，命與武並授參將。後屢從大軍征討，頻有功，加副總兵，仍視參將事，後實授建武遊擊。崇禎中，屢遷副總兵，鎮川北。七年，流賊入犯，總兵張爾奇以令為先鋒，副將陳一龍、武聲華為左右翼，拒之員山。令追至龍潭，一龍等不至，面中三矢，斬賊百余級而還。賊犯略陽，令又擊敗之，扼保寧、漢中諸要害，秦賊不敢犯。十年冬，李自成等陷四川三十余州縣，總兵侯良柱陣亡，令獲免。楊嗣昌之督師也，張獻忠等悉奔興安，為令所扼，不得入漢中，乃轉寇夔州。十三年二月大敗瑪瑙山，走岔溪千江河，令復與副將方國安大破之。令時年七十余，馬上用五石弩，中必洞胸，軍中號「神弩將」。

Zhang Ling was a native of the Yongning Pacification Commission. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, She Chongming rebelled; Ling served as his false commander-in-chief and joined the attack on Chengdu. Although Ling was used by the rebels, it was not his intention. When Chongming was defeated and returned to Yongning, Ling joined with Song Wu and others, seized an opportunity to capture the false chancellor He Ruohai, and led the force in surrender. Chongming was enraged, killed Ling's entire family, and destroyed his ancestral graves. Grand Coordinator Zhu Xieyuan said Ling and others had forgotten family for the state's sake and asked that they be preferentially promoted as encouragement; the order came to appoint Ling and Wu jointly as assistant commander-in-chief. Later he repeatedly followed the main army on campaigns, winning frequent merit; he was promoted to vice commander-in-chief while still serving in the capacity of assistant commander-in-chief, and later was formally appointed garrison defender of Jianwu. During the Chongzhen reign he was repeatedly promoted to vice commander-in-chief and garrisoned northern Sichuan. In the seventh year, when roving rebels invaded, Commander-in-Chief Zhang Erqi made Ling the vanguard, with Vice Generals Chen Yilong and Wu Shenghua as left and right wings, and blocked the enemy at Yuanshan. Ling pursued to Longtan; Yilong and the others did not arrive; he took three arrows in the face, beheaded more than a hundred rebels, and returned. When the rebels invaded Lueyang, Ling again defeated them, held the key points of Baoning and Hanzhong, and the Shaanxi rebels did not dare invade. In the winter of the tenth year, Li Zicheng and others seized more than thirty prefectures and counties in Sichuan; Commander-in-Chief Hou Liangzhu died in battle, and Ling escaped. When Yang Sichang took command as supreme commander, Zhang Xianzhong and others all fled to Xing'an; blocked by Ling, they could not enter Hanzhong and turned to raid Kuizhou. In the second month of the thirteenth year they suffered a great defeat at Manoushan and fled along Qianjiang River at Chaxi; Ling again, together with Vice General Fang Guo'an, routed them utterly. Ling was then in his seventies; on horseback he used a five-stone crossbow; whenever he hit a target the bolt pierced straight through the chest; the army called him the "Divine Crossbow General."

獻忠轉入柯家坪，其地亂峰錯峙，箐深道險。令率眾追及之，分其下為五，鼓勇爭利。賊眾官軍寡，國安為後拒，他道逸去。令獨深入，被圍，居絕阪中，屢射賊營，應弦斃者甚眾。水遠士渴，賴天雨以濟，圍終不解。襄陽監軍僉事張克儉言於總督鄭崇儉曰：「張令健將，奈何棄之！」急令參將張應元、汪之鳳從八臺山進，總兵賀人龍從滿月曹進。三月八日，應元等先至。令方與賊鬥，呼聲動山谷。應元等應之，內外夾擊，賊乃敗去。令與賊萬余相持十三日，所殺傷過當，其卒僅五千耳。時巡撫邵捷春駐重慶，遣守黃泥窪，倚令及秦良玉為左右手。後捷春移大昌，以令守竹箘坪，防賊逸。九月，獻忠兵大至。令力戰，中矢死，軍遂敗。

Xianzhong shifted to Kejiaping; the place had jumbled peaks standing in confusion, deep ravines, and perilous paths. Ling led his force in pursuit and caught up; he divided his subordinates into five groups and roused them to compete for advantage. The rebels were numerous and the imperial troops few; Guo'an held the rear; others escaped by another route. Ling alone pressed deep in; besieged, he held a steep dead-end slope and repeatedly shot at the rebel camp; many fell at the twang of the bowstring. Water was far away and the men thirsted; they were saved by heaven-sent rain, yet the siege was never lifted. Supervising Secretary of the Military Affairs Commission at Xiangyang, Zhang Kejian, said to Grand Coordinator Zheng Chongjian: "Zhang Ling is a stalwart general—how can you abandon him! He urgently ordered Assistant Commander-in-Chief Zhang Yingyuan and Wang Zhifeng to advance from Baitaishan, and Commander-in-Chief He Renlong to advance from Manyue Cao. On the eighth day of the third month, Yingyuan and the others arrived first. Ling was just then fighting the rebels; their cries shook the valleys. Yingyuan and the others answered; striking from inside and out, they routed the rebels. Ling and more than ten thousand rebels had grappled for thirteen days; those killed and wounded exceeded the count, yet his troops numbered only five thousand. At that time Grand Coordinator Shao Jiechun was stationed at Chongqing; he dispatched men to hold Huangniwa and relied on Ling and Qin Liangyu as his two hands. Later Jiechun moved to Dachang and assigned Ling to hold Zhukinping to prevent the rebels from escaping. In the ninth month, Xianzhong's troops arrived in force. Ling fought fiercely, was hit by an arrow, and died; the army was then defeated.

之鳳既解柯家坪圍，後與應元同守夔州之土地嶺，部卒多新募。獻忠盡銳來攻，之鳳、應元力戰。賊分兵從後山下，突入其營。應元突圍出。之鳳走他道免，山行道渴，飲鬥水臥，血凝臆而死。逾月，令亦戰死。軍中失二將，為奪氣。

After Zhifeng had lifted the siege at Kejiaping, he later joined Yingyuan in garrisoning Tudi Ridge in Kuizhou; most of the troops were newly recruited. Xianzhong came at them with his full strength; Zhifeng and Yingyuan fought fiercely. The rebels divided their force, came down from the rear mountain, and burst into the camp. Yingyuan broke out of the encirclement. Zhifeng escaped by another route; thirsty on the mountain path, he drank dipperfuls of water and lay down; blood coagulated in his chest and he died. More than a month later, Ling too died in battle. The army lost two generals and its spirit was broken.

猛如虎，本塞外降人，家榆林，積功至遊擊。崇禎五年，擊邢紅狼於高平，解其圍。明年敗賊壽陽黑山，覆姬關鎖軍。已，從曹文詔追賊西偃、碧霞村，斬混世王。與頗希牧逐賊壽陽東。又與陳國威、馬傑破來遠寨。從文詔大破賊範村。國威以步卒三百夜劫賊紅山嶺，如虎、傑及虎大威、和應詔擊殺九條龍。尋以巡撫許鼎臣命，由文水入山剿賊。又與大威、應詔、傑由臯落山剿東犯之賊，並有功。賊流入畿南，山西警漸息，如虎仍隸鼎臣。七年剿賊沁源，馘五條龍。

Meng Ruhu was originally a surrendered man from beyond the frontier; his family was at Yulin; through accumulated merit he rose to garrison defender. In the fifth year of the Chongzhen reign he attacked Xing Honglang at Gaoping and lifted the siege. The following year he defeated rebels at Heishan in Shouyang and destroyed the army of Ji Guansuo. Later, following Cao Wenchao in pursuit of rebels at Xiyan and Bixia Village, he beheaded Huntianwang. Together with Po Ximu he pursued rebels east of Shouyang. Again with Chen Guowei and Ma Jie he broke Laiyuan Stockade. Following Wenchao he routed rebels at Fancun. Guowei with three hundred foot soldiers raided the rebels at Hongshan Ridge by night; Ruhu, Jie, Hu Dawei, and He Yingzhao joined in killing Jiutiaolong. Soon, on orders from Grand Coordinator Xu Dingchen, he entered the mountains via Wenshui to suppress rebels. Again with Dawei, Yingzhao, and Jie he suppressed eastward-invading rebels via Gaolaoshan; all won merit. The rebels flowed into the capital region south; the alarm in Shanxi gradually eased, and Ruhu remained under Dingchen. In the seventh year he suppressed rebels at Qinyuan and took the head of Wutiaolong.

如虎驍勇善戰，與虎大威齊名。戴君恩、吳甡相繼為巡撫，並委任之。以功進參將。其年冬，賊在河南，欲乘冰北渡，如虎、大威扼之河濱。八年二月與大威、國威斬劇賊高加計。山西賊盡平，用甡薦加副總兵。其冬以防河功，加署都督僉事。連歲防河及援剿河南賊，勞績甚著。十一年冬，京師有警，如虎督兵勤王。明年四月擢薊鎮中協總兵官。

Ruhu was fierce and brave in battle and was as renowned as Hu Dawei. Dai Jun'en and Wu Shen served as grand coordinators in succession and both entrusted him with command. Through merit he was promoted to assistant commander-in-chief. That winter the rebels were in Henan and intended to cross north on the ice; Ruhu and Dawei blocked them on the riverbank. In the second month of the eighth year, together with Dawei and Guowei he beheaded the notorious rebel Gao Jiaji. When the rebels in Shanxi were all pacified, on Shen's recommendation he was promoted to vice commander-in-chief. That winter, for merit in river defense, he was additionally appointed acting assistant commissioner-in-chief. For successive years of river defense and reinforcements against the Henan rebels, his labor and achievements were outstanding. In the winter of the eleventh year, the capital was threatened; Ruhu led troops to the emperor's relief. The following fourth month he was promoted to middle deputy commander-in-chief of the Ji Garrison.

十三年坐事落職，發邊方立功。督師楊嗣昌請於朝，令從入蜀。十一月，監軍萬元吉大饗將士於保寧。以諸軍進止不一，擢如虎為正總統，張應元副之，率軍趨綿州。分遣諸將屯要害。而元吉自間道走射洪，扼蓬溪以待賊。賊方屯安嶽界，偵官軍且至，宵遁，抵內江。如虎簡驍騎追之。元吉、應元營安嶽城下，以扼其歸路。十二月，張獻忠陷瀘州，其地三面阻江，惟立石站可北走。元吉以賊居絕地，將遣大兵南搗其老巢，而伏兵旁塞玉蟾寺，蹙賊北竄永川，逆而擊之，可盡殄。永川知縣已先遁，城中止丞簿一二人。如虎覓向導不可得，夜宿西關空舍。及抵立石，賊已先渡南溪返走。關中將賀人龍軍隔水不擊，賊遂越成都，走漢川、德陽，渡綿河入巴州。

In the thirteenth year he was dismissed for an offense and sent to the frontier to redeem himself through merit. Supreme Commander Yang Sichang requested of the court that he be allowed to follow him into Shu. In the eleventh month, Supervising Secretary Wan Yuanji held a great feast for officers and men at Baoning. Because the various armies' advances and halts were uncoordinated, Ruhu was promoted to chief overall commander, with Zhang Yingyuan as his deputy; they led the army toward Mianzhou. Various generals were dispatched to garrison strategic points. Yuanji himself took a bypath to Shehong and blocked Pengxi to await the rebels. The rebels were just then encamped on the border of Anyue; learning that the imperial army was about to arrive, they fled overnight and reached Neijiang. Ruhu selected crack cavalry to pursue them. Yuanji and Yingyuan encamped below Anyue city to block their line of retreat. In the twelfth month, Zhang Xianzhong seized Luzhou; the place was blocked by rivers on three sides, and only Lizhan Station offered a route north. Yuanji thought that with the rebels in a dead place, he would send a large force south to strike their old lair while ambush troops blocked the side at Yuchan Temple, driving the rebels north to flee into Yongchuan and then striking them head-on to wipe them out completely. The magistrate of Yongchuan had already fled first; in the city there remained only an assistant magistrate and one or two clerks. Ruhu could find no guide; he spent the night in an empty house at the west gate. When he reached Lizhi, the rebels had already crossed the Nanxi River first and fled back. Guanzhong General He Renlong's army did not strike across the water; the rebels then passed Chengdu and fled through Han River, Deyang, crossed the Mian River, and entered Bazhou.

明年正月，嗣昌親統舟師下雲陽，檄諸將陸追賊，諸軍乃盡躡賊後。賊折而東返，歸路悉空，不可復遏。如虎所將止六百騎，余皆左良玉部兵，驕悍不可制，所過肆焚掠，惟參將劉士傑勇敢思立功。諸軍從良玉，多優閑不戰。改隸如虎，馳逐山谷風雪中，鹹怨望。謠曰：「想殺我左鎮，跑殺我猛鎮。」時賀人龍兵已大噪西歸，所恃止如虎，元吉深憂之。賊自巴州至開縣，官軍追之，遇諸黃陵城。日晡雨作，諸將疲乏，請詰朝戰。士傑奮曰：「四旬逐賊，今始及之。舍弗擊，我不能也。」執戈先，如虎激諸軍繼之。士傑所當，輒摧陷。獻忠登高望官軍，見無後繼，密抽壯騎潛行箐谷中，乘高大呼馳下。良玉兵先潰，士傑及遊擊郭開、如虎子先捷並戰死。如虎率親兵力戰，部將挾上馬，潰圍出，旗纛軍符盡失。乃收殘卒從嗣昌下荊州。及嗣昌死，率所部扼德安、黃州。會疽發背，不能戰，退屯承天，尋移駐南陽。

In the first month of the following year, Sichang personally led the fleet down to Yunyang and issued orders for the generals to pursue the rebels by land; the armies then all trailed behind the rebels. The rebels turned east and returned; the routes of retreat were all open and could no longer be blocked. Those Ruhu personally led numbered only six hundred cavalry; the rest were all troops of Zuo Liangyu's command—proud and fierce, uncontrollable, plundering and burning wherever they passed; only Assistant Commander-in-Chief Liu Shijie was brave and eager to earn merit. The armies following Liangyu were mostly idle and would not fight. Reassigned to Ruhu, they chased through mountain valleys in wind and snow; all resented it. A song said: "They want to kill us Commander Zuo; they want to run us to death, Commander Meng. At that time He Renlong's troops had already mutinied loudly and returned west; all that was relied on was Ruhu alone, and Yuanji was deeply worried. The rebels went from Bazhou to Kaixian; the imperial army pursued them and encountered them at Zhuhuangling. In the late afternoon rain began; the generals were exhausted and asked to fight at dawn. Shijie exclaimed fervently: "For forty days we have pursued the rebels, and only now have we caught up. If we do not strike now, I cannot bear it. He seized a spear and went first; Ruhu roused the armies to follow. Wherever Shijie faced the enemy, he broke and crushed them. Xianzhong climbed high to view the imperial army; seeing no reinforcements coming up, he secretly drew crack cavalry through a ravine valley and, from the heights, shouted and charged down. Liangyu's troops fled first; Shijie and Garrison Defender Guo Kai and Ruhu's son Xianjie all died fighting. Ruhu led his personal troops in fierce battle; subordinate officers pulled him onto a horse and broke out of the encirclement; banners, standards, and military seals were all lost. He then gathered the remnant troops and followed Sichang down to Jingzhou. When Sichang died, he led his command to block De'an and Huangzhou. An abscess broke out on his back and he could not fight; he withdrew to garrison Chengtian and soon moved to Nanyang.

十一月，李自成覆傅宗龍兵，乘勢來攻。如虎與劉光祚憑城固守，用計殺賊精卒數千。已而城破，如虎持短兵巷戰，大呼沖擊，血盈袍袖。過唐府門，北面叩頭謝上恩，自稱力竭，為賊揕死。光祚及分守參議艾毓初、南陽知縣姚運熙並死之，唐王亦遇害。

In the eleventh month, Li Zicheng destroyed Fu Zonglong's army and, seizing the momentum, came to attack. Ruhu and Liu Guangzuo held the city firm; by stratagem they killed several thousand of the rebels' crack troops. Before long the city fell; Ruhu grasped a short weapon and fought in the lanes, shouting and charging; blood filled his sleeves. Passing the gate of the Tang princely residence, he faced north, kowtowed to thank the emperor's grace, declared his strength exhausted, and was stabbed to death by the rebels. Guangzuo and the Assistant Administrative Commissioner for Defense Ai Yuchu and Nanyang Magistrate Yao Yunxi all died with him; Prince Tang was also killed.

光祚，字鴻基，榆林衛人。初為諸生，棄去。承祖蔭，歷官延綏遊擊。崇禎三年奉詔勤王，與何可綱等戰灤州有功，遷汾州參將。五年與遊擊王尚義敗賊張有義於臨縣。賊還兵犯之，軍盡覆，光祚僅以身免。被征，未行，偕諸將復臨縣，詔除其罪。六年，賊犯石樓，光祚分三道擊，大敗之，斬隔溝飛、撲天虎等六人，獲首功三百七十。又數敗賊於臨縣、永寧。撲天飛等詐降，光祚設伏斬之。已，擊敗賊魏家灣、黑茶山。七年剿敗王剛余黨，斬四百余級，加署都督僉事，為山西副總兵。敗賊崞縣，復其城。八年，賊渠賀宗漢號活地草者，見其黨劉浩然、高加計破滅，偽乞降。光祚伏兵斬之。晉中群盜皆盡，乃移光祚於宣府。久之，命率兵援剿河南。十一年連敗賊白果園、襄城。已，擢保定總兵官，仍協討河南賊。其冬，畿輔有警，馳還鎮。大清兵薄保定，以光祚堅守，不攻而去。光祚尋從總督孫傳庭南下。明年二月，大清兵還至渾河，值水漲，輜重難渡，諸將王樸、曹變蛟等相顧不敢擊，光祚恇怯尤甚。視師大學士劉宇亮劾之，詔即軍前正法。光祚適報武清捷，宇亮乃系之武清獄，而拜疏請寬。帝怒罷宇亮，論光祚死。十四年，大學士範復粹錄囚，力言光祚才武，命充為事官，戴罪辦賊。光祚舉廢將尤翟文等，帝亦從之。

Guangzuo, styled Hongji, was from Yulin Guard. At first he was a student; he abandoned that path. Through inherited ennoblement he served in office, rising to garrison defender of Yan'sui. In the third year of the Chongzhen reign he received orders to relieve the capital and, with He Kegang and others, fought at Luanzhou with merit; he was transferred to assistant commander-in-chief of Fenzhou. In the fifth year, together with Garrison Defender Wang Shangyi he defeated the rebel Zhang Youyi at Linxian. The rebels returned to attack him; the army was completely destroyed and Guangzuo barely escaped with his life. He was summoned for punishment but had not yet departed when, together with the generals, he recovered Linxian; an edict remitted his crime. In the sixth year, when rebels invaded Shilou, Guangzuo attacked by three routes and routed them, beheading six men including Gegoufei and Putianhu and taking three hundred seventy heads. Again he repeatedly defeated rebels at Linxian and Yongning. Putianfei and others feigned surrender; Guangzuo set an ambush and beheaded them. Later he defeated rebels at Weijiawan and Heicha Mountain. In the seventh year he suppressed and defeated the remnant followers of Wang Gang, beheading more than four hundred; he was additionally appointed acting assistant commissioner-in-chief and made vice commander-in-chief of Shanxi. He defeated rebels at Guoxian and recovered the city. In the eighth year, the rebel chieftain He Zonghan, styled Huodicao, seeing his partisans Liu Haoran and Gao Jiaji destroyed, feigned begging to surrender. Guangzuo set an ambush and beheaded him. When the rebel hordes of central Shanxi were all exhausted, Guangzuo was transferred to Xuanfu. After some time, he was ordered to lead troops to reinforce suppression in Henan. In the eleventh year he repeatedly defeated rebels at Baiguoyuan and Xiangcheng. Later he was promoted to commander-in-chief of Baoding while still coordinating suppression of the Henan rebels. That winter, when the capital region was threatened, he raced back to his garrison. The Qing army pressed close to Baoding; because Guangzuo held firm, they did not attack and withdrew. Guangzuo soon followed Grand Coordinator Sun Chuan south. In the second month of the following year, when the Qing army returned to the Hun River, the waters were high and baggage was hard to cross; Generals Wang Pu, Cao Bianjiao, and others looked at one another and dared not strike; Guangzuo was especially timid and cowardly. Grand Secretary Liu Yuliang, inspecting the army, impeached him; an edict ordered immediate execution before the army. Guangzuo happened to report victory at Wuqing; Yuliang then imprisoned him in the Wuqing jail and submitted a memorial asking leniency. The emperor angrily dismissed Yuliang and sentenced Guangzuo to death. In the fourteenth year, Grand Secretary Fan Fucui reviewed prisoners and forcefully stated Guangzuo's talent and martial skill; the order came to appoint him as an officer on probation, to suppress rebels while bearing guilt. Guangzuo recommended dismissed generals including You Zhaiwen; the emperor also assented.

當是時，賊已陷河南、襄陽，中原郡縣大抵殘破。光祚士馬無幾，督師丁啟睿尤怯，光祚雖少有克捷，而賊勢轉盛。及傅宗龍敗歿於項城，南陽震恐。光祚適經其地，唐王邀與共守，城陷遂死。

At that time the rebels had already seized Henan and Xiangyang; prefectures and counties in the central plains were largely in ruins. Guangzuo had few troops and horses; Supreme Commander Ding Qirui was especially timid; although Guangzuo occasionally won small victories, the rebel power grew stronger. When Fu Zonglong was defeated and killed at Xiangcheng, Nanyang was shaken with terror. Guangzuo happened to pass through the area; Prince Tang invited him to defend together; when the city fell he died.

虎大威，榆林人。本塞外降卒，勇敢嫻將略，從軍有功，累官山西參將。崇禎三年冬，從總兵尤世祿擊王嘉胤於河曲，力戰被傷。五年從總督張宗衡剿賊臨川、潞安、陽城、沁水，連勝之。明年從巡撫許鼎臣擊賊介休，殲其魁九條龍。時賊去山西，遁據輝林、武陟山中，約二萬余。鼎臣令曹文詔自黎城入，大威、猛如虎諸將自臯落山入，賊屢敗。尋移大威守平陽。七年，巡撫吳甡至，察諸將中惟大威、如虎沈毅可屬兵事，委任之。其冬與如虎扼賊渡河。高加計據岢嵐，四出剽掠。明年三月，二將追至忻、代山中。加計馬上舞三十斤長梃突陣，大威射殺之，追斬其眾五百人，余黨悉平。甡薦二人忠勇，進大威副總兵。其冬以扼賊功，加署都督僉事。

Hu Dawei was from Yulin. Originally a surrendered soldier from beyond the frontier, brave and skilled in generalship, he followed the army with merit and rose through repeated offices to assistant commander-in-chief of Shanxi. In the winter of the third year of the Chongzhen reign he served under Commander-in-Chief You Shilu in the attack on Wang Jiayin at Hequ and fought fiercely, being wounded. In the fifth year he followed Grand Coordinator Zhang Zongheng in suppressing rebels at Linchuan, Lu'an, Yangcheng, and Qinshui, winning in succession. The following year he served under Grand Coordinator Xu Dingchen in an attack on rebels at Jiexiu and destroyed their chieftain Jiutiaolong. At that time the rebels had left Shanxi and fled to hold Huilin and the mountains of Wuzhi, numbering more than twenty thousand. Dingchen ordered Cao Wenchao to enter from Licheng and Dawei, Meng Ruhu, and the other generals to enter from Gaolaoshan; the rebels were repeatedly defeated. Soon Dawei was transferred to garrison Pingyang. In the seventh year, when Grand Coordinator Wu Shen arrived, among the generals he found only Dawei and Ruhu steady and resolute and capable of being entrusted with military affairs; he delegated command to them. That winter, together with Ruhu, he blocked the rebels from crossing the river. Gao Jiaji held Kelan and raided in all directions. In the third month of the following year, the two generals pursued to the mountains of Xin and Dai. Jiaji on horseback wielded a thirty-jin long staff and charged the line; Dawei shot and killed him, pursued and beheaded five hundred of his followers, and the remaining partisans were all pacified. Shen recommended the two men for loyalty and courage; Dawei was promoted to vice commander-in-chief. That winter, for merit in blocking the rebels, he was additionally appointed acting assistant commissioner-in-chief.

九年八月，畿輔被兵，率師入援。明年春，命援剿陜西賊，遂代王忠為山西總兵官。上疏言諸將討賊，零級不可取，生口不可貪，封域不可限。帝采納之。十一年詔兵部甄別諸大將，大威以稱職增秩。其年冬，京師戒嚴。命總督盧象升統大威及宣府總兵楊國柱、大同總兵王樸入衛。尋從象升轉戰至鉅鹿賈莊，被圍數匝，象升死焉，大威等潰圍出。督師劉宇亮、總督孫傳庭皆言大威、國柱敢勇，身入重圍，視他將異，乞令立功自贖。大威亦上章請罪。帝不從，卒解其任。尋令從軍辦賊。

In the eighth month of the ninth year, when the capital region suffered military attack, he led his division to reinforce. The following spring he was ordered to reinforce suppression of the Shaanxi rebels and then replaced Wang Zhong as commander-in-chief of Shanxi. He submitted a memorial saying that in suppressing rebels, scattered heads should not be taken, living captives should not be coveted, and territorial limits should not be imposed. The emperor adopted this. In the eleventh year an edict ordered the Ministry of War to evaluate the great generals; Dawei received a rank increase for being fit for duty. That winter the capital was placed on alert. Grand Coordinator Lu Xiangsheng was ordered to command Dawei and Xuanfu Commander-in-Chief Yang Guozhu and Datong Commander-in-Chief Wang Pu to enter and guard the capital. Soon he followed Xiangsheng in fighting to Juzhou Jiazhuang, was surrounded many times over; Xiangsheng died there, and Dawei and the others broke out of the encirclement. Supreme Commander Liu Yuliang and Grand Coordinator Sun Chuan both said Dawei and Guozhu were daring and brave, entering the heavy encirclement themselves, unlike other generals, and begged that they be allowed to redeem themselves through merit. Dawei also submitted a memorial asking punishment. The emperor did not assent and ultimately dismissed him from his post. Soon he was ordered to follow the army and suppress rebels.

十四年正月，李自成圍開封。總督楊文嶽遣大威及副將張德昌先率五千人渡河。會賊已解圍去，乃會河南巡撫李仙風於偃師，以兵少未敢擊賊。待文嶽軍至，與賊戰鳴臯，大破之，又與監軍道任棟挫賊平峪。七月，自成及張獻忠、羅汝才攻鄧州，大威從文嶽擊破之，斬首千余級。陜西總督傅宗龍出關討賊，文嶽、大威會之。九月次新蔡，抵孟家莊。將戰，秦帥賀人龍軍先潰，大威軍亦潰，遂奔沈丘。賊連陷河南鄧、許，再圍開封。大威從文嶽援之，賊引去。明年二月，師次郾城。督師丁啟睿、總兵左良玉方與賊鏖戰，文嶽督大威及馮大棟、張鵬翼等合擊，賊大敗。相持十一晝夜，俘斬數千。賊遂東陷陳州、歸德，已，復圍開封。七月朔，啟睿、文嶽、大威及良玉、楊德政、方國安之師畢會。啟睿欲急擊，良玉不從，先走。大威諸軍亦走。帝大怒，立誅德政，黜譴啟睿諸人。大威時奔汝寧，出攻賊寨，中炮死，乃免其罪。

In the first month of the fourteenth year, Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng. Grand Coordinator Yang Wenyue dispatched Dawei and Vice General Zhang Dechang to lead five thousand men across the river first. As the rebels had already lifted the siege and departed, they joined Henan Grand Coordinator Li Xianfeng at Yanshi; with too few troops they did not dare attack the rebels. When Wenyue's army arrived, they fought the rebels at Minggao and routed them; again, with Supervising Commissioner Ren Dong, they defeated the rebels at Pingyu. In the seventh month, Zicheng together with Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai attacked Dengzhou; Dawei followed Wenyue and routed them, beheading more than a thousand. Shaanxi Grand Coordinator Fu Zonglong came out of the pass to suppress rebels; Wenyue and Dawei joined him. In the ninth month they reached Xincai and arrived at Mengjiazhuang. About to fight, Shaanxi commander He Renlong's army fled first; Dawei's army also fled, and they ran to Shenqiu. The rebels in succession seized Deng and Xu in Henan and again besieged Kaifeng. Dawei followed Wenyue to reinforce; the rebels withdrew. In the second month of the following year, the army halted at Yancheng. Supreme Commander Ding Qirui and Commander-in-Chief Zuo Liangyu were just locked in fierce battle with the rebels; Wenyue directed Dawei and Feng Dadong, Zhang Pengyi, and others in a combined attack, and the rebels were routed. They grappled for eleven days and nights; several thousand were captured and beheaded. The rebels then seized Chenzhou and Guide in the east and again besieged Kaifeng. On the first day of the seventh month, the armies of Qirui, Wenyue, Dawei, Liangyu, Yang Dezheng, and Fang Guo'an all assembled. Qirui wanted to attack urgently; Liangyu would not assent and fled first. Dawei's army and the others also fled. The emperor was furious; he immediately executed Dezheng and demoted and rebuked Qirui and the others. Dawei had fled to Runing; he went out to attack a rebel stockade and was killed by cannon fire; his crime was then remitted.

大威為偏裨，最有聲。及為大帥，值賊勢益張，所將止數千人，不能大有所挫。然身經數十戰，卒死王事，論者賢之。

As a subordinate officer, Dawei had the greatest reputation. When he became a supreme commander, the rebel power was growing stronger; those he led numbered only a few thousand, and he could not inflict major setbacks. Yet he personally passed through dozens of battles and ultimately died in the state's service; commentators praised him.

孫應元，不知何許人。歷官京營參將，督勇衛營。勇衛營即騰驤、武驤四衛也，其先隸禦馬監，專牧馬。莊烈帝銳意修武備，簡應元及黃得功、周遇吉等訓練，遂成勁旅。崇禎九年秋，從張鳳翼軍畿輔，有功，進副總兵。再以功增秩一等。明年，河南賊熾，應元、得功慷慨請行。帝壯之。發卒萬人，監以中官劉元斌、盧九德，戒毋擾民。諸將奉命，軍行肅然。十二月大破賊鄭州，再破之密縣，先後斬首千七百。明年正月大破之舞陽、光山、固始。四日三捷，斬首二千九百有奇，賊乃謀犯江北。元斌、九德南趨潁州，護鳳陵，密遣應元、得功督騎兵扼賊前。自南而北，破之方家集。賊遂由固始走商城。錄功，加都督僉事。已，復破之新野，又大破之遂平。熊文燦方主撫不戰。而賊憚應元等，多降，降者亦不遽叛。文燦以此擅撫賊功。已而京師有警，召應元等還，賊遂無所忌。帝初聞禁軍屢破賊，大喜，累加應元都督同知，賜銀幣蟒服，至是論功，遂進左都督，加銜總兵官，世蔭錦衣副千戶。

Sun Yingyuan—his native place is unknown. He served in office as assistant commander-in-chief of the Capital Garrison and supervised the Brave Guard Camp. The Brave Guard Camp was the four guards Tengxiang and Wuxiang; formerly they were under the Imperial Horse Directorate and specialized in raising horses. The Chongzhen Emperor was keen to strengthen military preparedness; he selected Yingyuan and Huang Degong, Zhou Yuji, and others for training, and they became a crack force. In the autumn of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign he followed Zhang Fengyi's army in the capital region with merit and was promoted to vice commander-in-chief. Again through merit he received one additional rank. The following year, when rebels in Henan were fierce, Yingyuan and Degong fervently asked to go. The emperor was impressed. Ten thousand troops were dispatched, supervised by eunuchs Liu Yuanbin and Lu Jiude, with orders not to disturb the people. The generals obeyed orders; the army marched in strict order. In the twelfth month they routed the rebels at Zhengzhou and again at Mixian; in all they beheaded one thousand seven hundred. In the first month of the following year they routed them at Wuyang, Guangshan, and Gushi. In four days they won three victories and beheaded more than two thousand nine hundred; the rebels then planned to invade north of the Yangzi. Yuanbin and Jiude hurried south toward Yingzhou to protect the imperial tombs and secretly dispatched Yingyuan and Degong to lead cavalry and block the rebels' advance. From south to north they defeated them at Fangjiaji. The rebels then fled from Gushi to Shangcheng. Merit was recorded; he was promoted to assistant commissioner-in-chief. Later they again defeated them at Xinye and again routed them at Suiping. Xiong Wencan was then advocating pacification and not fighting. But the rebels feared Yingyuan and the others; many surrendered, and those who surrendered did not immediately rebel again. Wencan thereby monopolized credit for pacifying the rebels. Later, when the capital was threatened, Yingyuan and the others were recalled; the rebels then had nothing to fear. When the emperor first heard that the forbidden army had repeatedly defeated rebels, he was greatly pleased; Yingyuan was repeatedly promoted to associate commissioner-in-chief, granted silver, coins, and python robes; at this time merit was evaluated and he was advanced to left commissioner-in-chief, given the additional title commander-in-chief, and hereditary ennoblement as vice company commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

十二年五月，張獻忠、羅汝才復叛，仍命元斌、九德監應元、得功軍南征。應元等馳至南陽。會馬光玉屯淅川之吳村，偽乞撫，規渡漢江應獻忠。淅川知縣郭守邦說降其黨許可變、胡可受。可變即賊改世王，可受則安世王也。可變夜至，處之東關。可受為光玉所持，約未定。應元、得功趨內鄉掩其背，令副將周遇吉等分道別擊之。文燦所遣陳洪範亦至。八月至小黃河口，參將馬文豸等力戰，可受敗，呼曰：「始與許王約降者我也，今歸命。」遇吉駐馬受之。應元、得功遂進兵王家寨。賊分屯南北兩山，用木石塞道。應元率文豸戰其南，得功率副將林報國戰其北，河南兵又扼華陽關，賊遂大敗，光玉遁免。元斌至軍，檄除可變、可受罪，授以官，報先後首功三千人。

In the fifth month of the twelfth year, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai rebelled again; Yuanbin and Jiude were again ordered to supervise Yingyuan and Degong's army on a southern campaign. Yingyuan and the others raced to Nanyang. As Ma Guangyu was encamped at Wucun in Xichuan, feigning begging to surrender, planning to cross the Han River to join Xianzhong. Xichuan Magistrate Guo Shoubang persuaded the partisans Xu Kebian and Hu Keshou to surrender. Kebian was the rebel Gaishiwang; Keshou was Anshiwang. Kebian came by night and was lodged at the east gate. Keshou was held by Guangyu; the agreement was not settled. Yingyuan and Degong hurried to Neixiang to strike their rear and ordered Vice Generals Zhou Yuji and others to attack separately by different routes. Chen Hongfan, dispatched by Wencan, also arrived. In the eighth month at Xiao Huanghekou, Assistant Commander-in-Chief Ma Wenqi and others fought fiercely; Keshou was defeated and cried: "It was I who agreed with King Xu to surrender; now I submit. Yuji reined in his horse and accepted this. Yingyuan and Degong then advanced the army to Wangjiazhai. The rebels were divided, encamped on the southern and northern mountains, and blocked the road with timber and stones. Yingyuan led Wenqi to fight the south; Degong led Vice General Lin Baoguo to fight the north; Henan troops also blocked Huayang Pass; the rebels were then routed and Guangyu escaped. When Yuanbin arrived at the army, he issued orders remitting Kebian's and Keshou's crimes and appointing them to office, reporting three thousand heads taken in all.

及楊嗣昌督師襄陽，令元斌、應元戍荊門，護獻陵。十三年七月與副將王允成、王之綸、監軍僉事孔貞會等大破羅汝才於豐邑坪，斬首二千三百，生擒五百有奇。混世王、小秦王皆降。時稱荊楚第一功。十五年春，擊賊羅山，力戰。孤軍無援，遂陣歿。贈恤如制。

When Yang Sichang took command at Xiangyang, he ordered Yuanbin and Yingyuan to garrison Jingmen and protect the Xian Mausoleum. In the seventh month of the thirteenth year, together with Vice Generals Wang Yuncheng, Wang Zhilun, Supervising Secretary Kong Zhenhui, and others, he routed Luo Rucai at Fengyiping, beheading two thousand three hundred and capturing more than five hundred alive. Huntianwang and Xia Qinwang both surrendered. It was called the foremost achievement in Jing and Chu. In the spring of the fifteenth year he attacked rebels at Luoshan and fought fiercely. Isolated without reinforcements, he died in battle. Posthumous honors and relief were granted according to regulation.

應元善戰，在行間多與黃得功偕。應元死，得功勛益顯，故其名尤震於世。

Yingyuan was skilled in battle and on campaign often paired with Huang Degong. After Yingyuan died, Degong's merit became even more prominent, and so his name resounded especially in the world.

姜名武，字我揚，保德州人。舉天啟二年武會試，授大同威遠守備。崇禎初，遷大水峪遊擊。築杏山城有功，遷宣府西城參將，擊斬大盜王科。移守宣府右衛，擢通州副總兵。護諸陵有功，以故官典保定總督楊文嶽中軍，兼忠勇營團練事。

Jiang Mingwu, styled Woyang, was from Baode Prefecture. He passed the Military Metropolitan Examination in the second year of the Tianqi reign and was appointed garrison defender of Weiyuan in Datong. In the early Chongzhen reign he was transferred to garrison defender of Dashuiyu. He built Xingshan city with merit and was transferred to assistant commander-in-chief of the Western City of Xuanfu; he attacked and beheaded the great bandit Wang Ke. He moved to garrison the Right Guard of Xuanfu and was promoted to vice commander-in-chief of Tongzhou. He protected the imperial tombs with merit and, retaining his former rank, served as middle army commander under Baoding Grand Coordinator Yang Wenyue while also overseeing the training affairs of the Loyal and Brave Camp.

十五年，李自成圍開封急，名武從文嶽往援。時諸軍壁朱仙鎮者十余萬，左良玉最強。一夕，其軍大噪，突諸營，諸營驚潰。其軍遂乘亂掠諸營馬騾以去，於是諸營悉奔，獨名武一軍堅壁不動。侵晨，賊大至，督麾下血戰。殺數百人，力竭被執，大罵，為賊磔死。贈特進榮祿大夫、右都督，蔭外衛世襲總旗。其子援王來聘、甄奇傑例，乃議贈特進光祿大夫、左都督，世襲錦衣百戶。疏上，逾月而都城陷，不果行。

In the fifteenth year, when Li Zicheng urgently besieged Kaifeng, Mingwu followed Wenyue to reinforce. At that time the armies encamped at Zhuxian Town numbered more than one hundred thousand; Zuo Liangyu was strongest. One night his army mutinied loudly, burst into the other camps, and the camps were startled and fled. His army then took advantage of the chaos to plunder horses and mules from the other camps and departed; the camps all fled, and only Mingwu's single army held firm behind its walls without moving. At daybreak the rebels arrived in force; he directed his subordinates in bloody battle. He killed several hundred men; exhausted, he was seized, cursed loudly, and was dismembered to death by the rebels. He was posthumously granted special advancement grand mentor of the imperial household and right commissioner-in-chief, with hereditary ennoblement as chief banner in an outer guard. His son cited the precedents of Wang Laipin and Zhen Qijie; the proposal was then to grant special advancement grand mentor of the imperial household and left commissioner-in-chief, with hereditary ennoblement as company commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The memorial went up; more than a month later the capital fell, and it was not carried out.

來聘，京師人。崇禎四年，中武會試。時帝銳意重武，舉子運百斤大刀者止來聘及徐彥琦二人，而彥琦不與選。帝下考官及監試御史獄，悉貶兵部郎二十二人。遣詞臣倪元璐等覆閱，取百人，視文榜例，分三甲傳臚錫宴，以前三十卷進呈，欽定一甲三人，來聘居首，即授副總兵。武榜有狀元，自來聘始也。來聘既拜命，泫然流涕曰：「上重武若此，欲吾儕效命疆場爾，不捐軀殺賊，何以報上恩！」明年，孔有德據登州叛，官軍攻之久不下。又明年二月以火藥轟城，城壞。將士踴入，輒為賊擊退。來聘復先登，中傷而死。天子惜之，贈蔭有加。奇傑亦官副總兵，隸楊文嶽麾下，從擊賊河南，戰死。

Laipin was from the capital. In the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign he passed the Military Metropolitan Examination. At that time the emperor was keen to emphasize the military; among candidates who could wield a hundred-jin great saber, only Laipin and Xu Yanqi qualified, yet Yanqi was not selected. The emperor sent the examiners and supervising censor to prison and demoted twenty-two Ministry of War officials in all. He dispatched literary officials including Ni Yuanlu to re-examine; one hundred men were selected; following the civil examination precedent, they were ranked in three grades with palace announcement and imperial feast; the top thirty papers were submitted; the first grade of three was imperially determined, with Laipin first; he was immediately appointed vice commander-in-chief. The military examination had a zhuangyuan; this began with Laipin. After Laipin received his appointment, he wept and said: "Your Majesty values the military so highly—he wants us to give our lives on the frontier; if we do not sacrifice ourselves and kill rebels, how can we repay the emperor's grace! The following year, Kong Youde seized Dengzhou in rebellion; the imperial army attacked for a long time without taking it. In the second month of the year after that, gunpowder was used to blast the wall and the wall was breached. Officers and men leaped in but were repeatedly driven back by the rebels. Laipin again climbed first, was wounded, and died. The Son of Heaven regretted this and granted additional posthumous honors and ennoblement. Qijie also held the rank of vice commander-in-chief, served under Yang Wenyue, followed him in attacking rebels in Henan, and died in battle.

先是，又有鄧祖禹者，蘄水人，舉萬歷四十七年武會試，授沈陽守備。嘗出戰，中矢死，夜半復蘇，創甚告歸。崇禎初，起宣府遊擊，入衛京師。副將申甫軍歿，祖禹力戰盧溝橋，擢涿州參將。疏請召對，不許。入朝上書，聲甚厲，為御史所糾下獄，然帝頗采其言。久之赦出，為辰沅參將，擒苗酋飛天王、張五保，斬首千五百級，夷其巢。擢副總兵，轄德安、黃州。攻賊土壁山，盡掩所獲為己有。當事將劾之，請剿寇自贖。乃令援應城，將七百人入城。賊大至，圍數重。祖禹突圍保西城外，賊復圍之，軍敗被執。賊說降，怒罵不屈。賊言之再三，復罵曰：「若此，須換卻心肝。」賊笑曰：「換不難。」遂剖心剜肝而死。

Earlier there had also been Deng Zuyu of Qishui, who passed the Military Metropolitan Examination in the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign and was appointed garrison defender of Shenyang. Once in battle he was hit by an arrow and died; at midnight he revived; his wounds were severe and he asked to return home. In the early Chongzhen reign he was recalled as garrison defender of Xuanfu and entered to guard the capital. When Vice General Shen Fu's army was destroyed, Zuyu fought fiercely at Lugou Bridge and was promoted to assistant commander-in-chief of Zhuozhou. He submitted a memorial requesting an imperial audience; this was not permitted. Entering court he submitted a memorial; his voice was very stern; a censor impeached him and he was sent to prison, yet the emperor largely adopted his words. After a long time he was pardoned and released; he became assistant commander-in-chief of Chen and Yuan, captured the Miao chieftains Feitianwang and Zhang Wubao, beheaded one thousand five hundred, and destroyed their lairs. He was promoted to vice commander-in-chief and commanded De'an and Huangzhou. Attacking rebels at Tubishan, he kept all the booty for himself. The authorities were about to impeach him; he asked to suppress rebels to redeem himself. He was then ordered to reinforce Yingcheng; he led seven hundred men into the city. The rebels arrived in force and surrounded them many times over. Zuyu broke out of the encirclement and held outside the west gate of the city; the rebels again surrounded them; the army was defeated and he was seized. The rebels urged him to surrender; he cursed angrily and would not yield. The rebels spoke again and again; he cursed again: "For that, you would have to change my heart and liver. The rebels laughed and said: "That is not hard. They then cut open his chest and gouged out his heart and liver, and he died.

尤世威，榆林衛人。與兄世功、弟世祿並勇敢知名。天啟中，世威積官建昌營參將，調守墻子路。七年遷山海中部副總兵。寧遠告警，從大帥滿桂赴援，力戰城東有功，增秩受賜。崇禎二年擢總兵官，鎮守居庸、昌平。其冬，京師戒嚴，命提兵五千防順義。俄命還鎮，防護諸陵。四年代宋偉為山海總兵官，積資至左都督。七年命偕寧遠總兵官吳襄馳援宣府。坐擁兵不進，褫職論戍。未行，會流賊躪河南，詔世威充為事官，與副將張外嘉統關門鐵騎五千往剿。

You Shiwei was from Yulin Guard. He and his elder brother Shigong and younger brother Shilu were all renowned for courage. During the Tianqi reign, Shiwei rose through offices to assistant commander-in-chief of Jianchang Camp and was transferred to garrison Qiangzi Road. In the seventh year he was transferred to vice commander-in-chief of the Central Division of Shanhai. When Ningyuan was threatened, he followed the supreme commander Man Gui to reinforce; he fought fiercely east of the city with merit and received a rank increase and rewards. In the second year of the Chongzhen reign he was promoted to commander-in-chief and garrisoned Juyong and Changping. That winter the capital was placed on alert; he was ordered to lead five thousand troops to defend Shunyi. Soon he was ordered to return to his garrison and protect the imperial tombs. In the fourth year he replaced Song Wei as commander-in-chief of Shanhai and through accumulated seniority rose to left commissioner-in-chief. In the seventh year he was ordered, together with Ningyuan Commander-in-Chief Wu Xiang, to race to reinforce Xuanfu. He was punished for holding troops without advancing; his post was stripped and he was sentenced to exile. Before he departed, as roving rebels ravaged Henan, an edict appointed Shiwei as an officer on probation and, together with Vice General Zhang Waijia, to command five thousand iron cavalry from the frontier passes to suppress them.

明年正月，賊陷鳳陽。世威以二千五百騎赴之，抵亳州。會總督洪承疇出關討賊，次信陽，命世威趨汝州。甫二日，承疇亦至。時賊見河南兵盛，悉奔入關中。承疇將入關征討，乃大會諸將，令分防汝、雒諸要害。以世威部下皆勁旅，令與參將徐來朝分駐永寧、盧氏山中，以扼雒南蘭草川、朱陽關之險。戒之曰：「靈、陜，賊所出入，汝勿懈！」及承疇既入關，賊避之而南，復由藍田走盧氏。扼於世威，仍入商、雒山中。來朝所部三千人不肯入山，大噪。賊至，來朝逃，一軍盡歿。世威軍暴露久，大疫，與賊戰失利。世威及遊擊劉肇基、羅岱俱負重傷，軍大潰。賊遂越盧氏，走永寧。事聞，命解任侯勘。十年，宣大總督盧象升言：「世威善撫士卒，曉軍機，徒以數千客旅久戍荒山，疾作失利。今當用兵時，棄之可惜。」乃命赴象升軍自效。及象升戰歿，自免歸。

In the first month of the following year, the rebels seized Fengyang. Shiwei with two thousand five hundred cavalry hurried there and reached Bozhou. As Grand Coordinator Hong Chengchou came out of the pass to suppress rebels and halted at Xinyang, he ordered Shiwei to hurry to Ruzhou. After only two days, Chengchou also arrived. At that time the rebels, seeing Henan's armies were strong, all fled into the passes within. Chengchou was about to enter the passes to campaign; he then convened the generals and ordered them to garrison separately the strategic points of Ru and Luo. Because Shiwei's subordinates were all crack troops, he ordered him and Assistant Commander-in-Chief Xu Laichao to garrison separately in the mountains of Yongning and Lushi to hold the perilous points of Lancao River in Luonan and Zhuyang Pass. He warned them: "Ling and Shan—where the rebels enter and exit—you must not slacken! After Chengchou had entered the passes, the rebels avoided him and went south, again fleeing from Lantian toward Lushi. Blocked by Shiwei, they again entered the mountains of Shang and Luo. Laichao's command of three thousand men refused to enter the mountains and mutinied loudly. When the rebels arrived, Laichao fled and the entire army was destroyed. Shiwei's army had been exposed in the open for a long time; a great epidemic broke out; fighting the rebels they were defeated. Shiwei and Garrison Defenders Liu Zhaoji and Luo Dai all suffered severe wounds; the army fled in great disorder. The rebels then crossed Lushi and fled to Yongning. When the matter was reported, he was ordered dismissed pending investigation. In the tenth year, Xuan-Da Grand Coordinator Lu Xiangsheng said: "Shiwei is good at comforting troops and understands military affairs; he merely lost because several thousand guest troops garrisoned a desolate mountain for a long time, disease broke out, and he was defeated. Now, when troops are needed, to discard him would be a pity. He was then ordered to go to Xiangsheng's army and redeem himself. When Xiangsheng died in battle, he dismissed himself and returned home.

十五年以廷臣薦，命與弟世祿赴京候調。召對中左門，復告歸。明年十月，李自成陷西安，傳檄榆林招降。總兵官王定懼，率所部精兵棄城走。時巡撫張鳳翼未至，城中士馬單弱，人心洶洶。布政使都任亟集副將惠顯、參將劉廷傑等與裏居將帥世威及王世欽、王世國、侯世祿、侯拱極、王學書、故延綏總兵李昌齡議城守。眾推世威為主帥。無何，賊十萬眾陷延安，下綏德，復遣使說降。廷傑大呼曰：「長安雖破，三邊如故。賊皆中州子弟，殺其父兄而驅之戰，必非所願。榆林天下勁兵，一戰奪其氣，然後約寧夏、固原為三師叠進，賊可平也。」眾然其言，乃歃血誓師，簡卒乘，繕甲仗，各出私財佐軍。守具未備，賊已抵城下。

In the fifteenth year, on recommendation of court officials, he and his younger brother Shilu were ordered to go to the capital and await assignment. Summoned for audience at the Central Left Gate, he again asked to return home. In the tenth month of the following year, Li Zicheng seized Xi'an and issued a proclamation to Yulin urging surrender. Commander-in-Chief Wang Ding was afraid; he led his crack troops and abandoned the city and fled. At that time Grand Coordinator Zhang Fengyi had not yet arrived; troops and horses in the city were few and weak, and popular sentiment was turbulent. Administrative Commissioner Du Ren urgently gathered Vice General Hui Xian, Assistant Commander-in-Chief Liu Tingjie, and others together with generals living at home—Shiwei, Wang Shiqin, Wang Shiguo, Hou Shilu, Hou Gongji, Wang Xueshu, and the former Yan'sui Commander-in-Chief Li Changling—to discuss defending the city. The assembly pushed Shiwei as supreme commander. Before long, one hundred thousand rebels seized Yan'an, descended on Suide, and again sent envoys urging surrender. Tingjie shouted loudly: "Although Chang'an has fallen, the Three Frontiers remain as before. The rebels are all sons of the central plains; they kill their fathers and elder brothers and drive them to fight—they surely do not wish it. Yulin has the empire's crack troops; one battle will break their spirit; then we can arrange with Ningxia and Guyuan for three armies to advance in succession, and the rebels can be pacified. The assembly agreed with his words; they then swore an oath with blood, selected troops and chariots, repaired armor and weapons, and each contributed private funds to support the army. Before the defenses were ready, the rebels had already reached below the city.

延傑募死士，乞師套部。師將至，賊分兵卻之，攻城甚力。官軍力戰，殺賊無算。賊益眾來攻，起飛樓逼城中，矢石交至，世威等戰益厲。守七晝夜，賊乃穴城，置大炮轟之，城遂破。世威等猶督眾巷戰，婦人豎子亦發屋瓦擊賊，賊屍相枕藉。既而力不支，任死之，侯世祿父子及學書俱不屈死。賊怒廷傑勾套部，磔之，至死罵不絕口。世威、世欽、世國、昌齡並被執，縛至西安。自成坐秦王府欲降之，四人不屈膝。自成曰：「諸公皆名將，助我平天下，取封侯，可乎？」眾罵曰：「汝驛卒，敢大言侮我！」自成笑，前解其縛，世欽唾曰：「驛卒毋近前，汙將軍衣！」自成怒，皆殺之。時顯亦被執，大罵賊。賊惜其勇，系至神木，服毒死。

Tingjie recruited dare-to-die soldiers and begged troops from the Tào tribes. As the troops were about to arrive, the rebels divided their force to drive them back and attacked the city with great force. The imperial army fought fiercely and killed rebels beyond count. The rebels came in even greater numbers to attack; they raised flying towers to press against the city; arrows and stones flew back and forth; Shiwei and the others fought all the more fiercely. After seven days and nights of defense, the rebels then tunneled under the city, set up great cannon, and blasted it; the city was then breached. Shiwei and the others still directed the masses in lane fighting; women and children also hurled roof tiles to strike the rebels; rebel corpses lay piled one upon another. Before long their strength failed; Ren died; Hou Shilu, father and son, and Xueshu all died without yielding. The rebels were enraged that Tingjie had summoned the Tào tribes; they dismembered him; to the end he cursed without cease. Shiwei, Shiqin, Shiguo, and Changling were all seized and bound and taken to Xi'an. Zicheng sat in the Qin princely residence wishing to accept their surrender; the four men would not bend their knees. Zicheng said: "You gentlemen are all famous generals; help me pacify the empire, receive enfeoffment as marquises—would that do? The assembly cursed: "You post-station runner—how dare you speak so arrogantly and insult us! Zicheng laughed and came forward to untie their bonds; Shiqin spat and said: "Post-station runner, do not come near—you will foul a general's clothes! Zicheng was enraged and killed them all. At that time Xian was also seized and cursed the rebels loudly. The rebels valued his courage, bound him and took him to Shenmu; he took poison and died.

王世欽，大將威子，歷山海左部總兵官，謝病去。崇禎八年，洪承疇起之家，擊李自成有功，即謝歸。十六年召對中左門，未及用而歸，遂死於賊。世國，威弟，保定總兵官繼子，由柳溝總兵官罷歸。甫數日，竟拒賊以死。

Wang Shiqin, son of the great general Shiwei, served as left deputy commander-in-chief of Shanhai and retired on grounds of illness. In the eighth year of the Chongzhen reign, Hong Chengchou recalled him from retirement; he attacked Li Zicheng with merit and then retired again. In the sixteenth year he was summoned for audience at the Central Left Gate; before he could be employed he returned home and thus died at the hands of the rebels. Shiguo, Shiwei's younger brother, was the adopted son of Baoding Commander-in-Chief Ji; he had been dismissed from his post as commander-in-chief of Liugou and returned home. After only a few days he still resisted the rebels and died.

世威弟世祿，為寧夏總兵官，累著戰功，至是與世威同死。世威從弟翟文為靖邊營副將。嘗從洪承疇敗闖賊於鳳翔之官亭，斬首七百余級。至是，率敢死士出南門奮擊，殺傷甚眾，中矢死。

Shiwei's younger brother Shilu was commander-in-chief of Ningxia and had repeatedly won battle merit; at this time he died together with Shiwei. Shiwei's younger cousin Zhaiwen was vice general of Jingbian Camp. He once followed Hong Chengchou in defeating the rebel Li Zicheng at Guanting in Fengxiang and beheaded more than seven hundred. At this time he led dare-to-die soldiers out the south gate and fought fiercely; many were killed and wounded; he was hit by an arrow and died.

又有尤岱者，由步卒起家，至山海鐵騎營參將，數有功。忤上官，棄職歸，守水西門，城陷自殺。

There was also You Dai, who rose from foot soldier and rose to assistant commander-in-chief of the Shanhai Iron Cavalry Camp, winning merit repeatedly. He offended a superior, abandoned his post and returned home, defended the west water gate, and killed himself when the city fell.

廷傑既死，其父副使彜鼎聞之不哭，曰：「吾有子矣。」其弟廷夔收兄屍，亦自投閣死。

After Tingjie died, his father Vice Commissioner Yiding heard of it and did not weep; he said: "I have a son. His younger brother Tingkui collected his elder brother's corpse and also threw himself from a pavilion and died.

昌齡，字玉川，鎮番衛人。為延綏總兵官，數有功，以剛直罷，徙居榆林。賊至，或勸之去，昌齡曰：「賊至而遁，非勇也。見難而避，非義也。」起偕世威等同守城，卒同死。

Changling, styled Yuchuan, was from Zhenfan Guard. He was commander-in-chief of Yan'sui and won merit repeatedly; he was dismissed for blunt uprightness and moved to live at Yulin. When the rebels arrived, some urged him to leave; Changling said: "To flee when rebels arrive is not courage. To avoid difficulty when one sees it is not righteousness. He rose and together with Shiwei and the others defended the city and ultimately died with them.

侯世祿，榆林人。由世職累官涼州副總兵。遼事亟，詔擢總兵官，提兵赴援。世祿勇敢精悍，為經略熊廷弼所知。及袁應泰代廷弼，亦倚任之。天啟元年，應泰議復撫順、清河。以世祿及姜弼、梁仲善各將兵一萬駐清河。未行，遼陽破，仲善陣亡，世祿、弼俱負重傷，潰圍出。世祿以傷重，命立功自效。尋用為固原總兵官。六年以軍政拾遺罷。明年，寧、錦告警，命率家丁赴關聽調。旋命出守前屯，甫至，令以故官鎮山海。崇禎元年，移鎮宣府。明年冬，京師戒嚴，率師入衛。兵再潰，世祿被創。部卒剽民間，奔還鎮。事聞，當重坐，以勤王先至，減死戍邊。九年八月，京師被兵。率子弟從軍，敘功免戍，還籍。廷臣多推薦，卒不復用。十六年，李自成圍榆林，世祿與子拱極固守新添門。城陷，父子被執，俱不屈死。

Hou Shilu was from Yulin. Through hereditary office he rose through repeated posts to vice commander-in-chief of Liangzhou. When the Liaodong situation was urgent, an edict promoted him to commander-in-chief and ordered him to lead troops to reinforce. Shilu was brave and fierce; he was known to Military Commissioner Xiong Tingbi. When Yuan Yingtai replaced Tingbi, he also relied on and entrusted him. In the first year of the Tianqi reign, Yingtai proposed recovering Fushun and Qinghe. He ordered Shilu and Jiang Bi and Liang Zhongshan each to lead ten thousand troops garrisoned at Qinghe. Before they departed, Liaoyang fell; Zhongshan died in battle; Shilu and Bi both suffered severe wounds and broke out of the encirclement. Because Shilu's wounds were severe, he was ordered to redeem himself through merit. Soon he was appointed commander-in-chief of Guyuan. In the sixth year he was dismissed for omissions in military administration. The following year, when Ning and Jin were threatened, he was ordered to lead his household retainers to the pass to await orders. Soon he was ordered out to garrison Qiantun; as soon as he arrived, he was ordered with his former rank to garrison Shanhai. In the first year of the Chongzhen reign he was transferred to garrison Xuanfu. The following winter the capital was placed on alert; he led his division to enter and guard the capital. The army fled twice; Shilu was wounded. His subordinates plundered among the people and fled back to his garrison. When the matter was reported, he should have been heavily punished; because he had reached the capital first to relieve the emperor, his death sentence was reduced to exile on the frontier. In the eighth month of the ninth year, the capital suffered military attack. He led his sons and younger brothers to follow the army; merit was recorded and his exile remitted; he returned to his native register. Court officials recommended him repeatedly, yet in the end he was not employed again. In the sixteenth year, when Li Zicheng besieged Yulin, Shilu and his son Gongji held firm at the Xintian Gate. When the city fell, father and son were seized and both died without yielding.

拱極歷官參將，常從總兵尤世祿破賊河曲有功。九年冬，任山海總兵官，尋謝病歸。後以廷臣薦，應詔入都，與王洪、王世欽、尤世威召對中左門，未用遣歸。卒與父同死。

Gongji served as assistant commander-in-chief and often followed Commander-in-Chief You Shilu in defeating rebels at Hequ with merit. In the winter of the ninth year he was appointed commander-in-chief of Shanhai and soon retired on grounds of illness. Later, on recommendation of court officials, he answered the edict and entered the capital; together with Wang Hong, Wang Shiqin, and You Shiwei he was summoned for audience at the Central Left Gate; before employment he was sent home. He ultimately died together with his father.

劉國能，延安人。始與李自成、張獻忠輩同為盜，自號闖塌天。崇禎三年大亂陜西。已，渡河而東，寇山西，轉掠畿南、河北。六年冬，入河南，遂由內鄉、淅川犯湖廣鄖、襄，破數縣。明年正月入四川，陷夔州。折而東，入鄖陽境，為總督陳奇瑜所蹙。走漢南，同困車箱峽。已得出，復大亂陜西，再入河南，躪江北。官軍逼之，與整齊王屯商、雒山間。九年復偕闖王、蠍子塊等由鄖、襄趨興安、漢中，總督洪承疇奔命不暇。尋南走荊、襄，與總兵秦翼明數戰。其冬，與蠍子塊等十七營窺潼關，巡撫孫傳庭扼之，引而南。明年聞馬光玉等將犯蘄、黃，率眾會之，直趨江北。官軍數道邀擊，乃不敢東。還走黃陂，入木蘭山，轉寇河南，敗參將李春貴兵，將迫開封。詔諸將發兵援，乃南走黃、麻。

Liu Guoneng was from Yan'an. At first he was a rebel together with Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the others; he styled himself Chuangtetian. In the third year of the Chongzhen reign he threw Shaanxi into great disorder. Later he crossed the river eastward, raided Shanxi, and turned to plunder the capital region south and Hebei. In the winter of the sixth year he entered Henan, then via Neixiang and Xichuan invaded Yun and Xiang in Huguang and seized several counties. In the first month of the following year he entered Sichuan and seized Kuizhou. Turning east, he entered the territory of Yunyang and was pressed by Grand Coordinator Chen Qiyu. He fled to Hannan and together was trapped at Chexiang Gorge. After getting out, he again threw Shaanxi into great disorder, again entered Henan, and ravaged north of the Yangzi. Pressed by the imperial army, he encamped with Zhengqiwang in the mountains between Shang and Luo. In the ninth year he again joined Chuangwang, Xiezikuai, and the others in hurrying from Yun and Xiang toward Xing'an and Hanzhong; Grand Coordinator Hong Chengchou had no leisure to respond. Soon he fled south to Jing and Xiang and fought repeatedly with Commander-in-Chief Qin Yiming. That winter, together with Xiezikuai and seventeen camps, he eyed Tong Pass; Grand Coordinator Sun Chuan blocked them and they turned south. The following year, hearing that Ma Guangyu and others were about to invade Qi and Huang, he led his force to join them and pressed straight toward north of the Yangzi. The imperial army intercepted them on several routes; they then did not dare go east. They fled back to Huangpi, entered Mulan Mountain, turned to raid Henan, defeated Assistant Commander-in-Chief Li Chungui's troops, and were about to press on Kaifeng. An edict ordered the generals to dispatch troops to reinforce; they then fled south to Huang and Ma.

當是時，總理熊文燦新至，賊憚之。見其下招降令，頗有欲歸正者。國能先與張獻忠有隙，慮為所並，後又與左良玉戰敗，乃以十一年正月四日率先就撫於隨州，頓首文燦前曰：「愚民陷不義且十載，賴公湔洗更生。願悉眾入軍籍，身隸麾下盡死力。」文燦大喜，慰撫之，署為守備，令隸良玉軍。國能受約束，無異志。已而張獻忠、羅汝才亦降，皆據邑自固。獨國能從軍征剿，數有功。明年二月從良玉勤王。有詔，還討賊，獎勵之。命兵部授官，錄其部下將士，曰：「獻忠能立功，視此。」遂授國能副總兵。四月，良玉會師南陽，擊李萬慶。國能分擊，賊潰奔，遂招萬慶降。其秋，獻忠、汝才並反。文燦遣國能率萬慶兵會討，遂並守鄖陽。既而李自成擾河南，復移守葉縣。

At that time Grand Secretary Xiong Wencan had just arrived; the rebels feared him. Seeing his proclamation urging surrender, many were inclined to return to loyalty. Guoneng had long been at odds with Zhang Xianzhong, fearing annexation; later he was again defeated fighting Zuo Liangyu; on the fourth day of the first month of the eleventh year he was the first to accept pacification at Suizhou, kowtowing before Wencan and saying: "Your foolish subject was trapped in wrongdoing for nearly ten years; relying on you to wash clean and be reborn. I wish to bring all my followers into the military register and serve under your command with all my strength until death. Wencan was greatly pleased, comforted and pacified him, appointed him garrison defender, and ordered him attached to Liangyu's army. Guoneng accepted discipline and had no divergent intent. Later Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai also surrendered; all held towns and fortified themselves. Only Guoneng followed the army on campaigns and won merit repeatedly. In the second month of the following year he followed Liangyu to relieve the capital. An edict came ordering him back to suppress rebels; he was rewarded and encouraged. The Ministry of War was ordered to grant office and record his subordinate officers and men, saying: "If Xianzhong can earn merit, take this as the model. Guoneng was then appointed vice commander-in-chief. In the fourth month, Liangyu assembled his army at Nanyang and attacked Li Wanqing. Guoneng attacked separately; the rebels fled in rout; he then induced Wanqing to surrender. That autumn, Xianzhong and Rucai both rebelled again. Wencan dispatched Guoneng to lead Wanqing's troops to join in suppression; they then jointly garrisoned Yunyang. Later, when Li Zicheng harassed Henan, they were again transferred to garrison Yexian.

初，國能為盜時，與自成、汝才輩結為兄弟。及國能歸正，自成輩深恨之。十四年九月圍其城，四面力攻，國能不能支，城遂陷，被執。賊猶好謂之曰：「若，我故人也，何不降？」國能瞋目罵曰：「我初與若同為賊，今則王臣也，何故降賊！」遂殺之。事聞，贈左都督，特進榮祿大夫，建祠。

At first, when Guoneng was a rebel, he and Zicheng, Rucai, and the others formed sworn brotherhood. When Guoneng returned to loyalty, Zicheng and the others deeply hated him. In the ninth month of the fourteenth year they besieged his city, attacking with full force on all four sides; Guoneng could not hold out; the city fell and he was seized. The rebels still spoke kindly to him: "You are an old acquaintance of ours—why not surrender? Guoneng glared and cursed: "At first I was a rebel together with you; now I am a minister of the throne—why should I surrender to rebels! They then killed him. When the matter was reported, he was posthumously granted left commissioner-in-chief and special advancement grand mentor of the imperial household, and a shrine was built.

李萬慶，延安人。崇禎初，與張獻忠、羅汝才等並反，賊中所稱射塌天者是也。起陜西，蔓山西、畿南、河北，渡河殘河南，出沒湖廣、四川，還趨鄖陽，入興安，困於車箱峽。出險，益大肆。八年春，賊七十二營會滎陽，議分兵隨所向，令萬慶及許可變助馬進忠、橫天王西當陜兵。已而諸路之賊盡萃於陜，總督洪承疇彌歲不能定，益恣，出沒於河南、湖廣，凡十五家。

Li Wanqing was from Yan'an. In the early Chongzhen reign he rebelled together with Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and others; among the rebels he was called Shetietian. Rising in Shaanxi, he spread through Shanxi, the capital region south, and Hebei, crossed the river and ravaged Henan, appeared and vanished in Huguang and Sichuan, turned toward Yunyang, entered Xing'an, and was trapped at Chexiang Gorge. After escaping the peril, he rampaged all the more. In the spring of the eighth year, seventy-two rebel camps met at Xingyang; they discussed dividing forces as each wished; Wanqing and Xu Kebian were ordered to assist Ma Jinzhong and Hengtianwang in blocking Shaanxi troops in the west. Later rebels on all routes gathered in Shaanxi; Grand Coordinator Hong Chengchou could not pacify them in a full year; they grew all the bolder, appearing and vanishing in Henan and Huguang—fifteen bands in all.

迨十一年春，國能、獻忠降，萬慶等大噪而去，改稱十三家，勢頗衰。而文燦擁兵德安，不敢擊，萬慶等復大振。李自成向關中，萬慶及馬光玉、馬進忠、羅汝才、惠登相、賀一龍、藺養成、順天王、順義王九家最著。八月，進忠、光玉大挫於潼關。九月，鄖、襄賊又大敗於雙溝，汝才率九營走均州，萬慶率三營走光、固。十一月，汝才亦降，自成又大敗關內，勢益衰，惟萬慶、光玉、一龍、順天王最勁。而萬慶得馬士秀、杜應金所劫左良玉賄，富且強，營麻城，徙信陽。

By the spring of the eleventh year, when Guoneng and Xianzhong surrendered, Wanqing and the others mutinied loudly and departed, restyling themselves the Thirteen Bands; their power declined somewhat. But Wencan held troops at De'an and dared not strike; Wanqing and the others revived powerfully. Li Zicheng turned toward the passes within; Wanqing together with Ma Guangyu, Ma Jinzhong, Luo Rucai, Hui Dengxiang, He Yilong, Lin Yangcheng, Shuntianwang, and Shunyiwang were most prominent. In the eighth month, Jinzhong and Guangyu suffered great defeats at Tong Pass. In the ninth month, the Yun and Xiang rebels again suffered great defeat at Shuanggou; Rucai led nine camps to flee to Junzhou; Wanqing led three camps to flee to Guang and Gu. In the eleventh month, Rucai also surrendered; Zicheng again suffered great defeat within the passes; their power declined further; only Wanqing, Guangyu, Yilong, and Shuntianwang remained strongest. Wanqing obtained bribes that Ma Shixiu and Du Yingjin had plundered from Zuo Liangyu; rich and strong, he encamped at Macheng and moved to Xinyang.

十二年正月戰敗，徙應山、德安。會光玉、進忠等皆大敗，進忠懼而降，而順天王已死。一龍、養成伏深山，登相遠掠秦、蜀，萬慶勢益孤。文燦檄良玉擊之唐縣姚梁，分三營肄賊，逐入三山，裨將王修政趨利戰死。文燦收二營卒，令良玉蹙之內鄉。萬慶等在赤眉城四平岡，依山結壘請降。良玉慮其詐，謀之文燦，益調諸將陳永福、羅岱、金聲桓之兵會於賈宋，大剿萬慶及光玉、可變。副將國能亦至，由張家林、七里河分擊，賊大奔。良玉遣國能以二十騎往偵，且諭萬慶降。萬慶馳見，輸情國能，遂執許州叛黨於汝虎以降，處內鄉城下者四千人。士秀、應金見進忠、萬慶降而懼，復來歸。有劉喜才者，夜取順義王首以獻，余黨推可變為主，與胡可受皆降。自是群盜大衰。至五月，獻忠復叛，汝才率其黨九營應之，復大熾。而萬慶、進忠以徒眾既散，無二心。萬慶願從征自效，比國能給餉。遂授為副總兵，與國能守鄖陽。獻忠等方大亂蜀中，鄖境得無事。

In the first month of the twelfth year he was defeated in battle and moved to Yingshan and De'an. As Guangyu, Jinzhong, and the others all suffered great defeats, Jinzhong in fear surrendered, and Shuntianwang had already died. Yilong and Yangcheng hid in deep mountains; Dengxiang raided far into Qin and Shu; Wanqing's power grew ever more isolated. Wencan ordered Liangyu to strike him at Yaoliang in Tang County, divided three camps to drill the rebels, drove them into Three Mountains, and Vice General Wang Xiuzheng rushed for advantage and died in battle. Wencan gathered the troops of two camps and ordered Liangyu to press them into Neixiang. Wanqing and the others were at Siping Ridge of Chimei City; relying on the mountain they built stockades and begged to surrender. Liangyu feared it was a ruse and consulted Wencan; he further mobilized the armies of Generals Chen Yongfu, Luo Dai, and Jin Shengheng to assemble at Jiabai and launch a major suppression of Wanqing, Guangyu, and Kebian. Vice General Guoneng also arrived; they attacked separately from Zhangjialin and Qili River; the rebels fled in great disorder. Liangyu dispatched Guoneng with twenty cavalry to reconnoiter and also instruct Wanqing to surrender. Wanqing raced to see him and confided in Guoneng; he then seized the Xu Prefecture rebel partisan Yu Ruhu to surrender; four thousand men were lodged below Neixiang city. Shixiu and Yingjin, seeing Jinzhong and Wanqing surrender, were afraid and came back to submit. There was Liu Xicai, who by night took Shunyiwang's head and presented it; the remaining partisans pushed Kebian as leader; he and Hu Keshou both surrendered. From this the rebel hordes greatly declined. By the fifth month, Xianzhong rebelled again; Rucai led his nine-camp partisans to respond; they revived powerfully. But Wanqing and Jinzhong, their followers having dispersed, had no second thoughts. Wanqing wished to follow campaigns and redeem himself; pay was granted comparable to Guoneng's. He was then appointed vice commander-in-chief and, together with Guoneng, garrisoned Yunyang. Xianzhong and the others were then throwing Shu into great disorder; the Yun frontier remained untroubled.

十四年，獻忠突陷襄陽，鄖守如故。明年正月，總督汪喬年討賊，以萬慶從。至襄城，軍潰，入城。賊攻圍之，固守五日。城陷，喬年死，萬慶亦不屈死。事聞，贈都督同知、榮祿大夫，立祠襄城。

In the fourteenth year, Xianzhong suddenly seized Xiangyang; the Yun garrison remained as before. In the first month of the following year, Grand Coordinator Wang Qiaonian suppressed rebels; Wanqing followed him. When they reached Xiangcheng, the army fled in rout and entered the city. The rebels besieged and attacked them; they held firm for five days. When the city fell, Qiaonian died; Wanqing also died without yielding. When the matter was reported, he was posthumously granted associate commissioner-in-chief and grand mentor of the imperial household; a shrine was erected at Xiangcheng.

贊曰：明至末季，流寇蔓延，國勢坐困，雖有奮威禦敵之臣，而兵孱餉絀，徒使賊乘其敝，潰陷相屬，無救亂亡。如艾萬年等之捐軀盡節，其可悲者矣。此非其勇不具，略不嫻也。兵力耗頓，加以統馭失宜，應援不及，求無敗衄，得乎！

The commentator says: When the Ming reached its final age, roving rebels spread everywhere; the state's power was trapped in exhaustion; although there were ministers who exerted martial valor to resist the enemy, troops were weak and pay scarce—they could only let rebels seize their weakness; rout and fall followed one upon another, with no saving the chaos and ruin. Men such as Ai Wannian who gave their lives and exhausted their loyalty—their case is lamentable indeed. This was not because their courage was lacking or their strategy unskilled. Military strength was worn down, command was ill suited, and reinforcements did not arrive in time—to expect no defeat, how could that be!

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