Volume 270 Biographies 158: Ma Shilong, He Huchen, Shen Yourong, Zhang Keda, Lu Qin, Qin Liangyu, Long Zaitian

馬世龍〈（楊肇基）〉賀虎臣〈（子贊誠）〉沈有容張可大〈（弟可仕）〉魯欽〈（子宗文）〉秦良玉龍在田馬世龍，字蒼元，寧夏人。由世職舉武會試，歷宣府遊擊。

Ma Shilong (Yang Zhaoji)〉 He Huchen (his son Zancheng)〉 Shen Yourong; Zhang Keda (his younger brother Keshi)〉 Lu Qin (his son Zongwen)〉 Qin Liangyu; Long Zaitian. Ma Shilong, styled Cangyuan, was a native of Ningxia. Through his hereditary post he passed the military metropolitan examination and rose to serve as mobile commander at Xuanfu.

天啟二年擢永平副總兵。署兵部孫承宗奇其才，薦授署都督僉事，充三屯營總兵官。承宗出鎮，薦為山海總兵，俾領中部，調總兵王世欽、尤世祿分領南北二部。明年正月賜尚方劍，實授府銜。承宗為築壇拜大將，代行授鉞禮，軍馬錢谷盡屬之。尋定分地，世龍居中，駐衛城，世欽南海，世祿北山，並受世龍節制，兵各萬五千人。世龍感承宗知已，頗盡力，與承宗定計出守關外諸城。四年，偕巡撫喻安性及袁崇煥東巡廣寧，又與崇煥、世欽航海抵蓋套，相度形勢而還。敘勞，加右都督。

In the second year of the Tianqi reign he was promoted to deputy regional commander at Yongping. Sun Chengzong of the Ministry of War, then serving in an acting capacity, took notice of his ability, recommended him for appointment as acting Commissioner-in-chief, and made him overall commander of the Santunying garrison. When Chengzong took command on the frontier, he recommended Shilong as overall commander at Shanhai, put him in charge of the central sector, and reassigned the overall commanders Wang Shiqin and You Shilu to lead the southern and northern sectors. In the first month of the following year he was granted the imperial sword of authority and received substantive appointment to commandery rank. Chengzong built an altar, invested him as grand general, and performed the ceremony of bestowing the ceremonial axe on his behalf; troops, horses, funds, and grain all passed into his hands. Before long their sectors were fixed: Shilong held the center and was stationed at Weicheng, Shiqin at the southern sea, and Shilu at the northern mountains; both were placed under Shilong's command, each with fifteen thousand men. Grateful for Chengzong's confidence in him, Shilong applied himself with real effort and, together with Chengzong, devised a plan to march out and hold the cities beyond the pass. In the fourth year he joined Grand Coordinator Yu Anxing and Yuan Chonghuan on an eastern inspection of Guangning, and later sailed with Chonghuan and Shiqin to Gaotao, surveyed the terrain, and returned. His service was recorded and he was promoted to Right Commissioner-in-chief.

當是時，承宗統士馬十余萬，用將校數百人，歲費軍儲數百萬。諸有求於承宗者，率因世龍，不得則大恚。而世龍貌偉，中實怯，忌承宗者多擊世龍以撼之。承宗抗辯於朝曰：「人謂其貪淫朘削，臣敢以百口保其必無。」帝以承宗故，不問。

At that time Chengzong commanded more than a hundred thousand troops, employed several hundred officers, and spent several million taels in military stores every year. Those who sought favors from Chengzong usually had to go through Shilong, and if they failed they were furious. Yet Shilong cut an imposing figure while being timid at heart, and many of Chengzong's enemies struck at Shilong in order to shake him. Chengzong argued before the court: "People call him greedy, lecherous, and given to skimming and squeezing—I will stake a hundred lives on the certainty that he is not." Because of Chengzong, the Emperor let the matter drop.

五年九月，世龍誤信降人劉伯漒言、遣前鋒副將魯之甲、參將李承先率師襲取耀州，敗沒。言官交章劾奏，嚴旨切責，令戴罪圖功。時魏忠賢方以清君側疑承宗，其黨攻世龍者並及承宗。承宗不安其位去，以兵部尚書高第來代。職方主事徐日久者，先佐第撓遼事，及從第贊畫，力攻世龍。世龍陰結忠賢，反削日久籍。其冬，世龍亦謝病去。

In the ninth month of the fifth year Shilong mistakenly believed the surrendering tribesman Liu Boluan and sent the vanguard deputy commander Lu Zhijia and the assistant commander Li Chengxian to lead a force in a surprise attack on Yaozhou; the army was destroyed in defeat. Censors submitted memorial after memorial to impeach him; a stern edict sharply rebuked him and ordered him to redeem himself through merit while bearing his guilt. At that time Wei Zhongxian was casting suspicion on Chengzong under the banner of "purging those beside the ruler," and his faction's attacks on Shilong reached Chengzong as well. Chengzong, uneasy in his post, left office, and Gao Di of the Ministry of War came to replace him. Xu Rijiu, a director in the Bureau of Operations, had earlier helped Gao Di obstruct affairs in Liaodong; when he followed Di as staff planner, he assailed Shilong with all his force. Shilong secretly aligned himself with Zhongxian and in turn had Rijiu struck from the rolls. That winter Shilong also resigned on grounds of illness.

三年三月進左都督。時遵化、永平，遷安、灤州四城失守已三月。承宗、大壽隔關門，與世龍諸軍聲息斷絕。帝急詔四方兵勤王，昌平尤世威、薊鎮楊肇基、保定曹鳴雷、山海宋偉、山西王國樑、固原楊麒、延綏吳自勉、臨洮王承恩、寧夏尤世祿、甘肅楊嘉謨，所將皆諸邊銳卒；內地則山東、河南、南都、湖廣、浙江、江西、福建、四川諸軍，亦先後至。並壁薊門，觀望不進。給事中張第元上言：「世龍在關數載，績效無聞，非若衛、霍之儔，功名足以服人也。諸帥宿將，非世龍偏裨，欲驅策節制，誰能甘之。師老財匱，銳氣日消，延及夏秋，將有不可言者。」帝以世龍方規進取，不納其言。時大壽於五月十日薄灤州。明日，世龍等以師會。又明日復其城。十三日，遊擊靳國臣復遷安。明日，副將何可綱復永平。又二日，別將復遵化。閱五月，四城始復。論功，大壽最，世祿次之。世龍加太子少保，蔭本衛世千戶。八月復謝病歸。

In the third month of the third year he was promoted to Left Commissioner-in-chief. By then Zunhua, Yongping, Qian'an, and Luanzhou had been in enemy hands for three months. Chengzong and Dazhou were cut off beyond Shanhaiguan, and all contact with Shilong's army was lost. The Emperor urgently summoned troops from every quarter to relieve the capital: You Shiwei from Changping, Yang Zhaoji from Jizhou, Cao Minglei from Baoding, Song Wei from Shanhai, Wang Guoliang from Shanxi, Yang Qi from Guyuan, Wu Zimian from Yan-sui, Wang Chengen from Lintao, You Shilu from Ningxia, and Yang Jiamou from Gansu—each leading crack border troops; from the interior, armies from Shandong, Henan, the Southern Capital, Huguang, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Sichuan also arrived one after another. They all massed at the Jizhou pass and held back without advancing. The supervising secretary Zhang Diyuan submitted a memorial: "Shilong has been at the pass for years without a single achievement to his name; he is no Wei Qing or Huo Qubing, and his fame and merit are not enough to command obedience. The senior commanders and veteran generals are not Shilong's subordinates—who would willingly accept being driven and placed under his command? The army is worn down, funds are exhausted, and fighting spirit ebbs day by day; if this drags into summer and autumn, the consequences will be beyond words." The Emperor, since Shilong was then planning an advance, did not heed him. At that time Dazhou on the tenth day of the fifth month pressed against Luanzhou. The next day Shilong and the others united their forces with his. The day after that they retook the city. On the thirteenth the mobile commander Jin Guochen recovered Qian'an. The next day the deputy commander He Kegang recovered Yongping. Two days later a separate detachment recovered Zunhua. After more than a month, all four cities were at last recovered. In the reckoning of merit, Dazhou ranked first and Shilu second. Shilong was given the additional title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and hereditary enfeoffment as battalion commander of his original guard. In the eighth month he again resigned on grounds of illness and returned home.

六年五月，插漢虎墩兔合套寇犯寧夏，總兵賀虎臣戰歿，詔起世龍代之。世龍生長寧夏，習其形勢，大修戰備。明年正月，二部入犯，遣參將卜應第大破之，斬首二百有奇。逾月，套寇犯賀蘭山。世龍遣降丁潛入其營，馘其長撒兒甲，斬級如前。未幾，插部大舉入寇。世龍遣副將婁光先等分五道伏要害，而己中道待之，夾擊，斬首八百有奇。巡撫王振奇亦斬三百余級。寇復犯河西玉泉宮，世龍復邀斬五百余。其年七月犯棗園堡，世龍又大敗之，俘斬一千有奇。世龍半歲中屢奏大捷，威名震西塞。無何，卒於官，年四十余。後論功，贈太子太傅，世錦衣僉事，賜恤如制。

In the fifth month of the sixth year the Chahar leaders Gundan and Tuman of the Ordos confederation joined in raiding Ningxia; overall commander He Huchen fell in battle, and an edict recalled Shilong to replace him. Shilong had grown up in Ningxia and knew its terrain well; he threw himself into strengthening the defenses. In the first month of the following year, when the two tribes invaded, he sent the assistant commander Bu Yingdi, who routed them and took more than two hundred heads. A month later Ordos raiders struck Helan Mountain. Shilong sent surrendered tribesmen to infiltrate their camp and take the head of their leader Sa'erjia; the tally of heads was much the same as before. Before long the Chahar tribes launched a major invasion. Shilong sent the deputy commander Lou Guangxian and others to lie in ambush along five routes at critical points while he himself waited in the center; they struck from both sides and took more than eight hundred heads. Grand Coordinator Wang Zhenqi also took more than three hundred heads. The raiders again struck the Yuquan Palace west of the river; Shilong intercepted them and took more than five hundred heads. In the seventh month of that year they attacked Zaoyuan Fort; Shilong again routed them, capturing and killing more than a thousand. Within half a year Shilong reported victory after victory, and his fame shook the western frontier. Before long he died in office, aged just over forty. Later, when merits were assessed, he was posthumously given the title Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, hereditary enfeoffment as Vice Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and condolence grants according to regulation.

楊肇基，沂州衛人。起家世職，積官至大同總兵。天啟二年，妖賊徐鴻儒反山東，連陷鄆、鉅野、鄒、滕、嶧，眾至數萬。巡撫趙彥任都司楊國棟、廖棟檄所部練民兵，增諸要地守卒。時肇基方家居，彥因即家薦起之，為山東總兵官討賊。未至，棟及國棟等攻鄒，兵潰，遊擊張榜戰死。彥方視師兗州，遇賊。肇基至，急迎戰，而令國棟及棟夾擊，大敗之橫河。時賊精銳聚鄒、滕中道，肇基令遊兵綴賊鄒城，而以大軍擊賊黃陰、紀王城，大敗賊，蹙而殪之嶧山，遂圍鄒。國棟等亦先後收復鄆、鉅野、嶧、滕諸縣，又大破之於沙河。乃築長圍攻鄒。圍三月，賊食盡，其黨出降，遂擒鴻儒。獻俘，磔於市，賊平。肇基由署都督僉事進右都督，蔭本衛世千戶。尋代沈有容鎮登、萊。改延綏，以擊套寇功，進左都督，蔭錦衣千戶，屢加太子太保。崇禎元年移薊鎮西協。二年冬，大清兵克三屯營。肇基乘間收復，困守數月，卒全孤城。蔭錦衣世千戶。已，錄恢復四城功，加太子太師，改蔭錦衣僉事。明年卒官。子禦蕃，見《徐從治傳》。

Yang Zhaoji was a native of Yizhou Guard. He began from a hereditary post and by steady advancement reached overall commander at Datong. In the second year of Tianqi the sorcerer-rebel Xu Hongru rebelled in Shandong and in succession seized Yan, Juye, Zou, Teng, and Yi; his followers numbered tens of thousands. Grand Coordinator Zhao Yan put the regional commanders Yang Guodong and Liao Dong in charge of drilling militia from their commands and increased garrison troops at key points. Zhaoji was then living in retirement at home; Yan summoned him from his house and had him appointed overall commander of Shandong to suppress the rebels. Before he arrived, Dong and Guodong and the others attacked Zou; the army was routed and the mobile commander Zhang Bang fell in battle. Yan was then reviewing the troops at Yanzhou when he ran into the rebels. When Zhaoji arrived he hastened to give battle and ordered Guodong and Dong to strike from both flanks; they inflicted a great defeat on the rebels at Heng River. The rebels' best troops were then massed on the central route at Zou and Teng; Zhaoji ordered skirmishers to harry them at Zou while he led the main army against them at Huangyin and Jiwangcheng, routed them, drove them in and destroyed them at Yishan, and then laid siege to Zou. Guodong and the others also recovered Yan, Juye, Yi, and Teng in turn and inflicted another great defeat on them at Shahe. They then built a long encirclement to besiege Zou. After three months the rebels' provisions were exhausted; their followers came out to surrender, and Hongru was captured. The captive was presented at court and dismembered in the marketplace; the rebellion was suppressed. Zhaoji advanced from acting Commissioner-in-chief to Right Commissioner-in-chief and received hereditary enfeoffment as battalion commander of his original guard. Before long he replaced Shen Yourong as commander of Dengzhou and Laizhou. He was transferred to Yan-sui; for his merit against Ordos raiders he was promoted to Left Commissioner-in-chief, enfeoffed as commander of a thousand in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and repeatedly given the additional title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the first year of Chongzhen he was transferred to the western sector of Jizhou. In the winter of the second year Qing forces captured Santunying. Zhaoji seized an opening, retook it, and though besieged for months finally kept the isolated city intact. He received hereditary enfeoffment as battalion commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Shortly afterward, for recovering the four cities, he was given the additional title Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent and his enfeoffment was changed to Vice Commissioner of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The following year he died in office. His son Yufan is treated in the biography of Xu Congzhi.

賀虎臣，保定人。天啟初，歷天津海防遊擊，登萊參將，移兗州。六年遷延綏副總兵。河套寇大舉入犯，從帥楊肇基協擊，大破之。加署都督僉事。崇禎二年，捕誅階州叛卒周大旺等。擢總兵官，鎮守寧夏。關中賊大起，王嘉胤陷清水營，殺遊擊李顯宗，遂陷府谷。其黨李老柴應之，嘯聚三千余人，攻合水。總督楊鶴檄虎臣往討，擊之盤谷，俘馘六百有奇。已，擊斬慶陽賊渠劉六。四年，神一元陷保安。延安告急，延綏撫鎮皆東援陜西。巡撫練國事檄虎臣及副將李卑援剿。虎臣等遂進圍保安，賊引河套數千騎挫虎臣軍。會張應昌擊敗之，賊眾棄城去。虎臣等前後獲首功一千九百。明年，可天飛、郝臨庵、劉道江、李都司再圍合水。虎臣偕臨洮曹文詔、甘肅楊嘉謨、固原楊麒合擊，大破賊甘泉之虎兕凹，斬首七百有奇，賊大困。

He Huchen was a native of Baoding. At the beginning of the Tianqi reign he served in succession as mobile commander for Tianjin coastal defense and as assistant commander at Deng-Lai, then was transferred to Yanzhou. In the sixth year he was transferred to deputy regional commander at Yan-sui. When Ordos raiders invaded on a large scale he joined Commander Yang Zhaoji in a coordinated strike and inflicted a great defeat. He was given the additional post of acting Commissioner-in-chief. In the second year of Chongzhen he hunted down and executed the Jiezhou mutineers Zhou Dawang and others. He was promoted to overall commander and posted to defend Ningxia. Bandits in Guanzhong rose on a grand scale; Wang Jiayin seized Qingshui Camp, killed the mobile commander Li Xianzong, and then took Fugu. His follower Li Laocai answered the call, mustering more than three thousand men to attack Heshui. Governor-General Yang He ordered Huchen to march against the rebels; at Pangu Valley he routed them, taking more than six hundred heads and captives. Soon afterward he attacked and killed Liu Liu, the Qingyang bandit leader. In the fourth year Shen Yiyuan seized Bao'an. Yan'an sent urgent pleas for help; the Yan-sui circuit intendant and garrison commanders all marched east to relieve Shaanxi. Circuit intendant Lian Guoshi ordered Huchen and Vice Commander Li Bei to march in relief and join the suppression campaign. Huchen and his men then advanced to besiege Bao'an, but the rebels brought down several thousand Ordos horsemen and checked Huchen's army. At that moment Zhang Yingchang attacked and routed them, and the rebel force abandoned the city and fled. In all, Huchen and his men claimed credit for nineteen hundred enemy heads. The following year Ketianfei, Hao Lin'an, Liu Daojiang, and Commander Li again besieged Heshui. Huchen joined forces with Cao Wenzhao of Lintao, Yang Jiamo of Gansu, and Yang Qi of Guyuan and together shattered the rebels at Huxiao'ao in Ganquan, taking more than seven hundred heads; the rebels were left in dire straits.

六年五月，插漢虎墩兔合套寇五萬騎自清水、橫城分道入。守備姚之夔等不能禦，沙井驛副將史開先、臨河堡參將張問政、嶽家樓守備趙訪皆潰逃。寇遂進薄靈州，虎臣急領千騎入守。旋盡勒城中兵出擊，次大沙井。寇從漢伯堡突至，虎臣軍未及布陳，且眾寡不敵，遂戰死。子贊挾五十騎突重圍出。事聞，贈虎臣都督僉事，賜祭葬，世蔭指揮僉事。尋錄先後剿寇功，再贈都督同知，世蔭錦衣副千戶。

In the fifth month of the sixth year Chaha Erdengji of Chakhar joined with Ordos raiders in a force of fifty thousand horsemen that entered by separate routes from Qingshui and Hengcheng. Defending commander Yao Zhikui and others could not hold them off; Vice Commander Shi Kaixian at Shajing Station, Assistant Commander Zhang Wenzheng at Linhe Fort, and Defending Commander Zhao Fang at Yuejialou all broke and fled. The raiders then pressed close to Lingzhou, and Huchen hurriedly led a thousand horsemen into the city to hold it. He soon mustered every soldier in the city for a sortie, taking position at Dashajing. Raiders burst forth from Hanbo Fort before Huchen's men could form battle lines; heavily outnumbered, he was killed in action. His son Zan broke through the heavy encirclement with fifty horsemen and escaped. When word of his death reached the throne, Huchen was posthumously invested as Commissioner-in-chief, granted state funeral rites, and his heirs received hereditary rank as battalion commander. Soon afterward his past merits in bandit suppression were officially recorded; he was posthumously promoted again to Vice Commissioner-in-chief, and his heirs were given hereditary rank as vice centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

贊，勇敢有父風。既承蔭，尋舉武進士。積官至京營副將。崇禎十七年三月，李自成薄京師，京軍六大營分列城外，皆不敢戰，或棄甲降。贊獨率部卒迎擊，中矢死。

Zan was courageous and carried his father's martial spirit. After inheriting the hereditary office he soon passed the military jinshi examination. He rose through the ranks to vice commander of the capital garrisons. In the third month of Chongzhen seventeen Li Zicheng closed on the capital; the six great camps of the capital garrison were posted outside the walls, yet none dared give battle—some even cast off their armor and surrendered. Zan alone led his troops forward to meet the attack and was killed by an arrow.

弟誠，身長七尺，美須髯，為諸生，以忠義自許。兄誡襲副千戶，早卒，無子，誠當襲，以讓其弟詮。及賊陷保定，家人勸易衣遁。叱曰：「吾忠臣子，偷生而逃，何以見先將軍地下！」遂偕妻女投井死。

His younger brother Cheng stood seven chi tall, with a fine beard and whiskers; a student of the classics, he held himself to a standard of loyalty and righteousness. His elder brother Jie had inherited the vice centurion post but died young without an heir; the succession should have passed to Cheng, yet he yielded it to his younger brother Quan. When the rebels seized Baoding, his family urged him to change clothes and flee. He rebuked them: "I am the son of a loyal minister. If I clung to life and fled, how could I face my father, the late general, in the grave!" With that he took his wife and daughters and drowned themselves in a well.

沈有容，字士弘，宣城人。僉事寵之孫也。幼走馬擊劍，好兵略。舉萬歷七年武鄉試。薊遼總督梁夢龍見而異之，用為昌平千總。復受知總督張佳胤，調薊鎮東路，轄南兵後營。十二年秋，朵顏長昂以三千騎犯劉家口。有容夜半率健卒二十九人迎擊，身中二矢，斬首六級，寇退乃還，由是知名。遼東巡撫顧養謙召隸麾下，俾練火器。十四年從李成梁出塞，抵可可毋林，斬馘多。明年再出，亦有功。成梁攻北關，有容陷陣，馬再易再斃，卒拔其城。錄功，世蔭千戶。遷都司僉書，守浮屠谷。

Shen Yourong, courtesy name Shihong, was a native of Xuancheng. He was the grandson of Assistant Commissioner Shen Chong. From boyhood he rode horses and practiced swordplay, and loved the art of war. He passed the military provincial examination in the seventh year of the Wanli reign. Ji-Liao Governor-General Liang Menglong saw him and was struck by his talent, appointing him chiliarch at Changping. He again won favor with Governor-General Zhang Jiayin, was transferred to the eastern route of the Ji garrison, and took command of the Rear Camp of southern troops. In the autumn of the twelfth year the Duoyan chieftain Chang Ang crossed into Liujiakou at the head of three thousand horsemen. At midnight Yourong led twenty-nine picked soldiers to meet the attack; though twice wounded by arrows he took six heads before the raiders withdrew and he returned, and from that day his name was known. Liaodong circuit intendant Gu Yangqian brought him into his staff and set him to drilling troops in the use of firearms. In the fourteenth year he followed Li Chengliang on a campaign beyond the frontier to Kekeumulin, where he took many heads and captives. The next year he campaigned beyond the frontier again and won further distinction. At Chengliang's assault on Beiguan, Yourong fought at the front of the battle; he changed horses twice after both were killed, yet in the end stormed the place. His merits were officially recorded and his heirs received hereditary rank as centurion. He was promoted to assistant director in the regional command and posted to defend Futugu Valley.

從宋應昌援朝鮮，乞歸。日本封事壞，福建巡撫金學曾欲用奇搗其穴，起有容守浯嶼、銅山。二十九年，倭掠諸寨，有容擊敗之。逾月，與銅山把總張萬紀敗倭彭山洋。倭據東番。有容守石湖，謀盡殲之，以二十一舟出海，遇風，存十四舟。過彭湖，與倭遇，格殺數人，縱火沈其六舟，斬首十五級，奪還男婦三百七十余人。倭遂去東番，海上息肩者十年。捷聞，文武將吏悉敘功，有容賚白金而已。

He followed Song Yingchang to Korea in the relief campaign, then asked to be released from service and return home. When the Japanese investiture mission ended in failure, Fujian circuit intendant Jin Xueceng planned a bold raid on the enemy's base and had Yourong recalled to garrison Wuyu and Tongshan. In the twenty-ninth year Japanese pirates raided the coastal stockades, and Yourong routed them. A little over a month later he and Tongshan company commander Zhang Wanji defeated the Japanese at Pengshan Ocean. The Japanese pirates seized hold of Dongfan. Yourong was garrisoned at Shihu and planned their complete destruction; he put to sea with twenty-one vessels, but a storm left only fourteen. Off Penghu they met the Japanese fleet, killed several in boarding action, burned and sank six of their ships, took fifteen heads, and freed more than three hundred seventy captives. The Japanese then quit Dongfan, and the coast enjoyed a decade of peace. When news of the victory reached court, civil and military officers up and down the ranks were all rewarded for their merits—but Yourong received only a grant of silver.

三十二年七月，西洋紅毛番長韋麻郎駕三大艘至彭湖，求互市，稅使高寀召之也。有容白當事，自請往諭。見麻郎，指陳利害。麻郎悟，呼寀使者，索還所賂寀金，揚帆去。改僉書浙江都司。由浙江遊擊調天津，遷溫處參將，罷歸。四十四年，倭犯福建。巡撫黃承元請特設水師，起有容統之，擒倭東沙。尋招降巨寇袁進、李忠，散遣其眾。

In the seventh month of the thirty-second year the Western "Red-Haired" chieftain Weymel sailed three large ships to Penghu to petition for trade—it was Tax Commissioner Gao Cai who had summoned him. Yourong reported the matter to his superiors and volunteered to go and remonstrate with them. When he met Weymel he laid out the risks and consequences in plain terms. Weymel took his meaning, summoned Gao Cai's envoy, demanded return of the gold he had paid Gao Cai as a bribe, and sailed away. He was reassigned as assistant director of the Zhejiang regional command. He went from mobile commander in Zhejiang to a posting at Tianjin, was promoted to assistant commander at Wenzhou-Chuzhou, and was then dismissed and sent home. In the forty-fourth year Japanese pirates attacked Fujian. Circuit intendant Huang Chengyuan petitioned for a dedicated naval force; Yourong was recalled to command it and captured Japanese raiders at Dongsha. He soon persuaded the great bandit leaders Yuan Jin and Li Zhong to surrender and dispersed their followers.

張可大，字觀甫，應天人。世襲南京羽林左衛千戶，舉萬歷二十九年武會試，授建昌守備。遷浙江都司僉書，分守瓜洲、儀真，江洋大盜斂跡。稅監魯保死，淮撫李三才令可大錄其貲。保家饋重賄，卻不受。葉向高赴召過儀，見而異之，曰：「此不特良將，且良吏也。」遷劉河遊擊，改廣東高肇參將。調浙江舟山。奉命征黎，與總兵王鳴鶴用黑番為導，搗其巢，黎乃滅。

Zhang Keda, courtesy name Guanfu, was a native of Yingtian. A hereditary centurion in the Nanjing Left Imperial Guard, he passed the metropolitan military examination in Wanli twenty-nine and was appointed defending commander at Jianchang. He was transferred to assistant director of the Zhejiang regional command with responsibility for Guazhou and Yizhen, where the great river pirates ceased their depredations. When the tax commissioner Lu Bao died, Huai circuit intendant Li Sancai ordered Keda to inventory his estate. Bao's family offered him large bribes, which he refused. Ye Xiang'ao, traveling to court on imperial summons, passed through Yizhen, met him and was struck by his character, saying: "This man is not only a fine general but a fine official as well." He was transferred to mobile commander at Liuhe, then reassigned as assistant commander at Gaozhao in Guangdong. He was transferred to Zhoushan in Zhejiang. Ordered to campaign against the Li, he and overall commander Wang Minghe used Black Fan tribesmen as guides, struck their stronghold, and brought the Li rebellion to an end.

劉興治反東江，遂奉詔還鎮。已而四城並復，朝議復設登萊巡撫，以孫元化為之。元化率關外八千人至，強半皆遼人。可大慮有變，屢言於元化，不聽。

When Liu Xingzhi rebelled in the eastern frontier he received an imperial order to return to his garrison command. Before long all four cities were retaken; the court decided to restore the Deng-Lai circuit intendant post and appointed Sun Yuanhua to it. Sun Yuanhua arrived at the head of eight thousand troops from beyond the pass, more than half of them natives of Liaodong. Keda feared trouble and warned Yuanhua repeatedly, but Yuanhua would not listen.

四年七月，錄前守城功，進右都督。十月，僉書南京左府，兼督池河、浦口二軍，登人泣留之。未行而孔有德反吳橋，東陷六城。可大急往剿，元化檄止之，不聽。次萊州，遇元化，復為所阻，乃還鎮。歲將晏，有德暮薄城。可大請擊之，元化持撫議，不許。可大陳利害甚切，元化期明歲元日發兵合擊。至期，元化兵不發。明日，合兵戰城東，可大兵屢勝。元化部卒皆遼人，親黨多，無鬥誌。其將張燾先走，可大兵亦敗。中軍管維城，遊擊陳良謨，守備盛洛、姚士良皆戰死。燾兵半降有德，遣歸為內應。元化開門納之，可大諫，不聽。夜半賊至，城遂陷。可大時守水城，撫膺大慟。解所佩印付旗鼓，間道走濟南上之。還家辭母，令弟可度、子鹿征奉母航海趨天津。而以佩劍付部將，盡斬諸婢妾，遂投繯死。事聞，贈特進榮祿大夫、太子少傅，謚莊節，賜祭葬，予世蔭，建祠曰：「旌忠」。

In the seventh month of the fourth year his prior merit in holding the city was officially recorded and he was promoted to Right Commissioner-in-chief. In the tenth month he was appointed recorder of the Nanjing Left Regional Military Commission with concurrent command over the Chihe and Pukou armies; the people of Deng wept and begged him to remain. Before he could depart, Kong Youde rebelled at Wuqiao and seized six cities to the east. Keda rushed to suppress the rebels, but Yuanhua ordered him to stand down—and he refused. When he reached Laizhou and met Yuanhua he was blocked again, and so returned to his command. As the year drew to a close, Youde approached the city walls at dusk. Keda urged an attack, but Yuanhua clung to a policy of conciliation and refused. Keda pressed the urgency of the situation in the strongest terms; Yuanhua promised a joint attack on New Year's Day of the coming year. When the day came, Yuanhua failed to dispatch his troops. The next day the allied forces fought east of the city, and Keda's troops won victory after victory. Yuanhua's troops were nearly all Liaodong men with many ties among the rebels, and they showed little will to fight. His general Zhang Tao broke and ran first, and Keda's force was defeated as well. Chief of staff Guan Weicheng, mobile commander Chen Liangmo, and defending commanders Sheng Luo and Yao Shiliang all fell in battle. Half of Zhang Tao's men surrendered to Youde, who sent them back as saboteurs within the walls. Yuanhua opened the gates and let them in; Keda protested but was overruled. At midnight the rebels struck and the city fell. Keda was holding the water fortress; he clutched his chest and wept in anguish. He removed the seal at his belt and entrusted it to his standard-bearer, then slipped away by a back route to Jinan and surrendered it to the authorities. He went home to take leave of his mother, directing his younger brother Kedou and his son Luzheng to escort her by sea to Tianjin. He gave his sword to a subordinate officer, had every maidservant and concubine put to death, and hanged himself. When word reached the throne he was posthumously invested as Special Advancement Grand Master of the Glorious Blessings and Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, honored with the posthumous title Zhuangjie ("Steadfast Integrity"), granted state funeral rites and hereditary rank, and a memorial shrine was erected under the name "Commemorating Loyalty."

可大好學能詩，敦節行，有儒將風。為南京錦衣時，歐陽暉由刑部主事謫本衛知事，嘗賦詩有「陰霾國事非」句，揚州知府劉鐸書之扇，贈一僧。惡鐸者譖之魏忠賢，暉、鐸俱被逮。可大約束旗尉，捐奉助之，卜室處其妻子。其尚義類如此。

Keda was devoted to learning and wrote poetry, lived by strict principles, and bore the dignified manner of a scholar-general. While he held office in the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard, Ouyang Hui was demoted from a main directorship in the Ministry of Justice to a clerk in that guard; he once wrote a poem containing the line "the nation's affairs are shrouded in gloom," which Yangzhou prefect Liu Duo copied onto a fan and gave to a monk. An enemy of Liu Duo denounced them to Wei Zhongxian, and both Hui and Duo were arrested. Keda kept his banner guards and centurions in check, contributed from his own salary to help them, and found housing for their wives and children. In matters of righteousness he acted in just this way.

弟可仕，字文峙，以字行。隱居博學，嘗輯明布衣詩一百卷。

His younger brother Keshi, courtesy name Wenzhi, went by his courtesy name. He lived in retirement as a scholar, and once compiled one hundred volumes of poetry by commoners of the Ming dynasty.

都勻凱裏土司者，運道咽喉也，邦彥結諸蠻困其城，長官楊世蔚不能守。總督蔡復一遣欽及總兵官劉超救之，拔賊巖頭寨，遂移師克平茶。已而邦彥盡驅羅鬼，結四十營於斑鳩灣後寨，互二十餘里，分犯普定。復一令欽與總兵官黃鉞分道禦之。欽率部將張雲鵬、劉誌敏、鄧玘等大敗賊汪家沖。鉞及參政陸夢龍、副使楊世賞亦大敗賊蔣義寨。合追至河，斬首千五百余級。搜山，復斬六百余級。尹伸守普定，亦敗賊兵，與大軍會，共剪水外逆苗。邦彥勢窘，渡河西奔。欽、鉞督諸將窮追，夢龍等分駐三岔河岸為後勁。前鋒雲鵬、玘等深入織金，先後斬首千余級。

The native chieftain of Duyun-Kaili controlled a vital supply corridor; An Bangyan rallied the tribal forces to besiege the city, and District Commander Yang Shiwei could not hold out. Governor-General Cai Fuyi dispatched Qin and overall commander Liu Chao to the rescue; they stormed the rebel stronghold at Yantou Stockade, then marched on and captured Pingcha. Before long Bangyan mustered the Luogui tribesmen and established forty camps at the rear stockade of Banjiuwan, spread over more than twenty li, then launched separate attacks on Puding. Fuyi ordered Qin and overall commander Huang Yue to meet the threat along separate routes. Qin led subordinate generals Zhang Yunpeng, Liu Zhimin, Deng Qi, and others to a crushing victory over the rebels at Wangjiachong. Yue, together with administration commissioner Lu Menglong and vice commissioner Yang Shishang, also routed the rebels at Jiangyizhai. The combined forces pursued the enemy to the river and took more than fifteen hundred heads. In sweeps through the mountains they took more than six hundred additional heads. Yin Shen, holding Puding, also defeated the rebel force; when he joined the main army they together wiped out the rebellious Miao tribes west of the river. Bangyan's position collapsed, and he crossed the river and fled westward. Qin and Yue drove the generals in relentless pursuit while Menglong and others held positions along the San Cha River as a reserve force. The vanguard under Yunpeng and Qi pushed deep into Zhijin and in a series of engagements took more than a thousand heads.

復一上其功，言：「欽廉勇。雖名總理，權力不當一偏裨。舊撫臣三善及諸監軍，人人為大帥，內莊失律，欽不當獨任大帥罪。臣至黔，以諸道監軍兵盡屬欽，每戰身先士卒。欽敗可原，勝足錄。當免其戴罪，仍以功論。」從之。明年正月，欽等渡河還，中伏，敗死者數千人。充為事官，立功自贖。

Fuyi memorialized the court on their achievements, writing: "Qin is upright and courageous. Although he bore the title of overall manager, his authority amounted to less than that of a single subordinate commander. The former circuit intendant Wang San Shan and the various military overseers each acted as supreme commanders in his own right; discipline in the camps collapsed, and Qin should not bear a grand commander's guilt alone. Since I arrived in Guizhou I have placed all troops under the circuit overseers under Qin's command, and in every battle he has led from the front. Qin's defeats may be forgiven; his victories are more than enough to merit official recognition. He should be cleared of his punitive assignment and rewarded according to his merits." The court approved. In the first month of the following year Qin and his men crossed the river on the return march, walked into an ambush, and lost several thousand dead. He was demoted to punitive assignment and ordered to redeem himself through further service.

自平越至興隆、清平二衛，苗二百余寨盤踞其間，以長田之天保、阿秧為魁。邦彥初反，授二酋都督，使通下六衛聲息。是年春，寇石阡、余慶。監軍按察使來斯行啖阿秧，使圖天保，阿秧反以情告。斯行乃誘斬阿秧，議討天保，會以疾去。復一令貴陽同知周鴻圖代為監軍，阿秧弟阿買與天保請兵邦彥，復兄仇。復一以兵事屬鴻圖及欽，而遣參將胡從儀、楊明楷等佐之。欽等三道進，大戰米墩山，生擒天保及阿買，先後斬賊魁五十四人，獲首功二千三百五十，破焚百七十四寨。盛夏興師，將士冒暑雨，沖嵐瘴。劇寇盡除，土人謂二百年所未有。復一既奏功，未報而卒。監軍御史傅宗龍復以為言，乃命欽總理如故，鴻圖授平越知府。

From Pingyue to the garrisons of Xinglong and Qingping, more than two hundred Miao stockades held the region, led by Tianbao and Ayang of Changtian. When Bangyan first rose in rebellion he invested the two chieftains as regional commanders and used them to maintain contact with the six lower garrisons. That spring they raided Shiqian and Yuqing. Military overseer and surveillance commissioner Laisixing tried to win Ayang over and set him against Tianbao, but Ayang turned informer instead. Laisixing then lured Ayang to his death and proposed a campaign against Tianbao, but fell ill and had to withdraw before it could be launched. Fuyi appointed Guiyang subprefect Zhou Hongtu as the new military overseer; Ayang's younger brother Amai and Tianbao then asked Bangyan for troops to avenge Ayang's death. Fuyi entrusted military operations to Hongtu and Qin, and sent assistant commanders Hu Congyi, Yang Mingkai, and others to support them. Qin and his forces advanced along three routes and fought a major battle at Midun Mountain, capturing Tianbao and Amai alive; they cut down fifty-four rebel chiefs in all, claimed credit for twenty-three hundred fifty heads, and destroyed one hundred seventy-four stockades by fire. They had taken the field at the height of summer, and officers and men endured heat and rain while pushing through mist and malarial vapors. The worst rebels were wiped out entirely; local people called it an achievement unseen in two hundred years. Fuyi had already submitted his victory report to the throne, but died before any response arrived. Military overseer and censor Fu Zonglong raised the matter again; the court then restored Qin to his former post as overall manager and appointed Hongtu prefect of Pingyue.

六年三月，邦彥復大舉入寇。欽禦之河上，連戰數日，殺傷相當。夜半，賊直逼欽壘。將十逃竄，欽遂自刎。諸營盡潰，賊勢復張。

In the third month of the sixth year Bangyan launched another major invasion. Qin held him on the riverbank; after several days of fighting casualties were roughly even on both sides. At midnight the rebels closed directly on Qin's camp. Officers and men broke and ran, and Qin cut his own throat. Every camp collapsed, and the rebels' power surged anew.

欽勇敢善戰，為西南大將之冠。莊烈帝嗣位，贈少保、左都督，世蔭指揮僉事，賜祭葬，建祠曰：「旌忠」。

Qin was brave and formidable in battle, the greatest general in the southwest. When Emperor Sizong ascended the throne, Qin was posthumously invested as Junior Guardian and Left Commissioner-in-chief; his heirs received hereditary rank as battalion commander; he was granted state funeral rites; and a memorial shrine was erected under the name "Commemorating Loyalty."

子宗文承蔭。崇禎中，以薊鎮副總兵為總督吳阿衡中軍。十一年冬，墻子嶺失事，與阿衡並力戰死。

His son Zongwen inherited the hereditary office. During the Chongzhen reign he served as deputy regional commander of the Ji garrison and as chief of staff to Governor Wu Aheng. In the winter of the eleventh year, at the disaster at Qiangzi Ridge, he fought to the death alongside Aheng.

秦良玉，忠州人，嫁石砫宣撫使馬千乘。萬歷二十七年，千乘以三千人從征播州，良玉別統精卒五百裹糧自隨，與副將周國柱扼賊鄧坎。明年正月二日，賊乘官軍宴，夜襲。良玉夫婦首擊敗之，追入賊境，連破金築等七寨。已，偕酉陽諸軍直取桑木關，大敗賊眾，為南川路戰功第一。賊平，良玉不言功。其後，千乘為部民所訟，瘐死雲陽獄，良玉代領其職。良玉為人饒膽智，善騎射，兼通詞翰，儀度嫻雅。而馭下嚴峻，每行軍發令，戎伍肅然。所部號白桿兵，為遠近所憚。

Qin Liangyu was a native of Zhongzhou and married Ma Qianzheng, the Pacification Commissioner of Shizhu. In Wanli twenty-seven Qianzheng marched against Bozhou with three thousand men; Liangyu separately led five hundred picked troops carrying their own provisions and, with vice commander Zhou Guozhu, blocked the rebels at Dengkan. On the second day of the first month of the following year the rebels struck at night while the government troops were feasting. The Liangyus were first to repel the attack, pursued the enemy into rebel territory, and in succession overran seven stockades including Jinzhu. Soon afterward, joining forces with the Youyang armies, they drove straight for Sangmu Pass, routed the rebel force, and earned first place in merit on the Nanchuan route. When the rebellion was suppressed Liangyu made no claim to credit. Later Qianzheng was impeached by his tribesmen, died of illness in Yunyang prison, and Liangyu succeeded to his office. Liangyu was bold and resourceful, skilled in horsemanship and archery, and also accomplished in letters; her bearing was refined and dignified. Yet she ruled her troops with strict discipline; whenever she marched and gave orders, the ranks stood in silent order. Her command was known as the White Pole troops and was feared far and wide.

部議再征兵二千。良玉與民屏馳還，抵家甫一日，而奢崇明黨樊龍反重慶，賫金帛結援。良玉斬其使，即發兵率民屏及邦屏子翼明、拱明溯流西上，度渝城，奄至重慶南坪關，扼賊歸路。伏兵襲兩河，焚其舟。分兵守忠州，馳檄夔州，令急防翟塘上下。賊出戰，即敗歸。良玉上其狀，擢民屏參將，翼明、拱明守備。」

The ministry approved the levy of another two thousand troops. Liangyu and Minping raced home, but they had been back only a day when Fan Long, a follower of She Chongming, rebelled at Chongqing and sent gold and silks to win allies. Liangyu executed the envoy, then immediately took the field with Minping and Bangping's sons Yiming and Gongming, sailing upstream to the west; crossing Yucheng they suddenly appeared at Chongqing's Nanping Pass and cut off the rebels' retreat. Ambush parties struck at Lianghe and burned the rebel boats. She posted troops at Zhongzhou, sent urgent dispatches to Kuizhou, and ordered the garrisons above and below Qutang Gorge to stand on alert. The rebels came out to give battle and were immediately beaten back. Liangyu reported the situation to the court; Minping was promoted to assistant commander, and Yiming and Gongming to defending commanders."

已而奢崇明圍成都急，巡撫朱燮元檄良玉討。時諸土司皆貪賊賂，逗遛不進。獨良玉鼓行而西，收新都，長驅抵成都，賊遂解圍去。良玉乃還軍攻二郎關，民屏先登，已，克佛圖關，復重慶。良玉初舉兵，即以疏聞。命封夫人，錫誥命，至是復授都督僉事，充總兵官。命祥麟為宜慰使，民屏進副總兵，翼明、拱明進參將。良玉益感奮，先後攻克紅崖墩、觀音寺、青山墩諸大巢，蜀賊底定。復以援貴州功，數賚金幣。

Before long She Chongming tightened his siege of Chengdu; circuit intendant Zhu Suiyuan ordered Liangyu to march against him. At the time the native chieftains were all taking rebel bribes and hung back without advancing. Liangyu alone pressed forward to the west, retook Xindu, and marched straight on Chengdu; the rebels then lifted the siege and withdrew. Liangyu then turned her army against Erlang Pass; Minping was first over the wall; soon they took Fotu Pass and recovered Chongqing. When Liangyu first took the field she immediately reported to the throne. She was ennobled as Lady and granted a patent of appointment; at this point she was also invested as Commissioner-in-chief and appointed overall commander. Xianglin was appointed Pacification Commissioner; Minping was promoted to deputy regional commander; Yiming and Gongming were promoted to assistant commanders. Liangyu fought with renewed zeal; in succession she overran the great rebel bases at Hongyadun, Guanyin Temple, and Qingshandun, and the rebellion in Shu was brought to an end. For her further merit in aiding Guizhou she received repeated grants of gold and silks.

三年六月，良玉上言：「臣率翼明、拱明提兵裹糧，累奏紅崖墩諸捷。乃行間諸將，未睹賊面，攘臂誇張，及乎對壘，聞風先遁。敗於賊者，唯恐人之勝；怯於賊者，唯恐人之強。如總兵李維新，渡河一戰，敗衄歸營，反閉門拒臣，不容一見。以六尺軀須眉男子，忌一巾幗婦人，靜夜思之，亦當愧死。」帝優詔報之，命文武大吏皆以禮待，不得疑忌。

In the sixth month of the third year Liangyu memorialized the throne: "I led Yiming and Gongming in raising troops and carrying our own provisions, and repeatedly reported victories at Hongyadun and elsewhere. Yet the generals on the march, who had never even seen the enemy's face, beat their chests and bragged loudly—yet when battle came they fled at the first sign of danger. Those who had lost to the rebels feared nothing so much as someone else winning glory; those who were cowards before the enemy feared nothing so much as someone else proving strong. Take overall commander Li Xinyin: after one failed crossing of the river he slunk back to camp, then shut his gate against me and refused even to receive me. For a full-grown, bearded man to be jealous of a woman in armor—if he reflects on it in the quiet of night, he ought to die of shame." The emperor replied with a gracious edict and ordered civil and military officials at every level to treat her with courtesy and refrain from suspicion or jealousy.

是年，民屏從巡撫王三善抵陸廣，兵敗先遁。其冬，從戰大方，屢捷。明年正月，退師。賊來襲，戰死。二子佐明、祚明得脫，皆重傷。良玉請恤，贈都督同知，立祠賜祭，官二子。而是時翼明、拱明皆進官至副總兵。

That year Minping followed circuit intendant Wang San Shan to Luguang and was first to flee when the army was defeated. That winter he fought at Dafang and won repeated victories. In the first month of the following year the army withdrew. Rebels attacked on the march and he was killed in battle. His two sons Zuoming and Zuoming got away, but both were badly wounded. Liangyu petitioned for posthumous honors; Minping was invested as Vice Commissioner-in-chief, granted a memorial shrine and sacrificial rites, and both sons were given official posts. By this time Yiming and Gongming had both risen to deputy regional commander.

崇禎三年，永平四城失守。良玉與翼明奉詔勤王，出家財濟餉。莊烈帝優詔褒美，召見平臺，賜良玉彩幣羊酒，賦四詩旌其功。會四城復，乃命良玉歸，而翼明駐近畿。明年築大淩河城。翼明以萬人護築，城成，命撤兵還鎮。七年，流賊陷河南，加翼明總兵官，督軍赴討。明年，鄧玘死，以所部皆蜀人，命翼明將之，連破賊於青崖河、吳家堰、袁家坪，扼賊走鄖西路。翼明性恇怯，部將連敗，不以實聞，革都督銜，貶二秩辦賊。已，從盧象升逐賊谷城。賊走均州，翼明敗之青石鋪。賊入山自保，翼明攻破之。連破賊界山、三道河、花園溝，擒黑煞神、飛山虎。賊出沒鄖、襄間，撫治鄖陽苗胙土遣使招降，翼明贊其事，為賊所紿，卒不絳。翼明、胙土皆被劾。已而賊犯襄陽，翼明連戰得利，屯兵廟灘，以扼漢江之淺。而羅汝才、劉國能自深水以渡，遂大擾蘄、黃間。帝以鄖、襄屬邑盡殘，罷胙土，切責翼明，尋亦被劾解官。而良玉自京師還，不復援剿，專辦蜀賊。

In Chongzhen three the four cities of Yongping fell. Liangyu and Yiming answered the imperial summons to defend the capital and contributed family wealth to pay the troops. Emperor Sizong issued a gracious edict of praise, received Liangyu in audience at the review platform, granted her colored silks, sheep, and wine, and composed four poems to honor her achievements. When the four cities were recovered Liangyu was ordered home while Yiming was posted near the capital. The following year construction began on Dalinghe City. Yiming guarded the construction with ten thousand men; when the city was finished he was ordered to withdraw and return to his garrison. In the seventh year, when roving rebels overran Henan, Yiming was promoted to overall commander and ordered to lead troops against them. The following year Deng Qi died; since his troops were all Sichuan men, Yiming was ordered to take command of them; he routed the rebels at Qingya River, Wujia Weir, and Yuanjiaping and blocked their escape toward the Yunxi road. Yiming was timid by nature; his subordinates suffered repeated defeats, yet he concealed the truth from the court; his Commissioner-in-chief title was stripped and he was demoted two ranks to continue fighting the rebels. He then joined Lu Xiangsheng in driving the rebels from Gucheng. The rebels fled toward Junzhou, and Yiming defeated them at Qingshipu. The rebels took refuge in the mountains, and Yiming stormed their positions. In succession he defeated the rebels at Jieshan, Sandao River, and Huayuangou, capturing the bandit chiefs Heishashen and Feishanhu. The rebels raided back and forth between Yun and Xiang; Yunyang pacification commissioner Miao Zuotu sent envoys to negotiate surrender; Yiming backed the effort, but the rebels deceived them and in the end never submitted. Both Yiming and Zuotu were impeached. Before long the rebels threatened Xiangyang; Yiming won a series of engagements and encamped at Miaotan to block the shallow fords of the Han River. Meanwhile Luo Rucai and Liu Guoneng crossed at the deep fords and threw the region between Qizhou and Huangzhou into turmoil. Because the districts under Yun and Xiang had been laid waste, the emperor dismissed Zuotu, sharply rebuked Yiming, and soon impeached and removed him from office as well. Liangyu, having returned from the capital, ceased joining relief campaigns elsewhere and devoted herself exclusively to the bandits in Shu.

七年二月，賊陷夔州，圍太平，良玉至乃走。十三年扼羅汝才於巫山。汝才犯夔州，良玉師至乃去。已，邀之馬家寨，斬首六百，追敗之留馬埡，斬其魁東山虎。復合他將大敗之譚家坪北山，又破之仙寺嶺。良玉奪汝才大纛，擒其渠副塌天，賊勢漸衰。

In the second month of the seventh year the rebels seized Kuizhou and besieged Taiping; they withdrew only when Liangyu arrived. In the thirteenth year she blocked Luo Rucai at Wushan. When Rucai attacked Kuizhou, he withdrew only after Liangyu's army arrived. Soon afterward she intercepted him at Majia Stockade and took six hundred heads; pursuing him to Liuma Pass she routed his force and killed the chieftain Dongshanhu. Joining other generals she again shattered his force at Beishan in Tanjiaping and defeated him again at Xiansi Ridge. Liangyu captured Rucai's battle standard and seized his lieutenant Tiatian; the rebel power gradually waned.

當是時，督師楊嗣昌盡驅賊入川。川撫邵捷春提弱卒二萬守重慶，所倚惟良玉及張令二軍。綿州知州陸遜之罷官歸，捷春使按營壘。見良玉軍整，心異之。良玉為置酒。語遜之曰：「邵公不知兵。吾一婦人，受國恩，誼應死，獨恨與邵公同死耳。」遜之問故，良玉曰：「邵公移我自近，去所駐重慶僅三四十里，而遣張令守黃泥窪，殊失地利。賊據歸、巫萬山巔，俯瞰吾營。鐵騎建瓴下，張令必破。令破及我，我敗尚能救重慶急乎？且督師以蜀為壑，無愚智知之。邵公不以此時爭山奪險，令賊無敢即我，而坐以設防，此敗道也。」遜之深然之。已而捷春移營大昌，監軍萬元吉亦進屯巫山，與相應援。其年十月，張獻忠連破官軍於觀音巖、三黃嶺，遂從上馬渡過軍。良玉偕張令急扼之竹{}坪，挫其鋒。會令為賊所殪，良玉趨救不克，轉鬥復敗，所部三萬人略盡。乃單騎見捷春請曰：「事急矣，盡發吾溪峒卒，可得二萬。我自廩其半，半餼之官，猶足辦賊。」捷春見嗣昌與己左，而倉無見糧，謝其計不用。良玉乃嘆息歸。時搖、黃十三家賊橫蜀中。有秦纘勛者，良玉族人也，為賊耳目，被擒，殺獄卒遁去。良玉捕執以獻，無脫者。

At that time Grand Secretary Yang Sichang drove all the rebels into Sichuan. Sichuan circuit intendant Shao Jiechun held Chongqing with twenty thousand weak troops and relied on no one but the armies of Liangyu and Zhang Ling. Mianzhou prefect Lu Xunzhi, dismissed from office and on his way home, was sent by Jiechun to inspect the camps and fortifications. Seeing Liangyu's army in excellent order, he was deeply impressed. Liangyu had wine set out for him. She told Xunzhi: "Lord Shao knows nothing of warfare. I am only a woman who has received the state's grace; duty demands that I die, and my only regret is that I must die alongside Lord Shao." Xunzhi asked why; Liangyu said: "Lord Shao moved me close in, only thirty or forty li from my post at Chongqing, yet posted Zhang Ling at Huangniwa—a grave mistake in terrain. The rebels hold the peaks of the Wan Mountains in Gui and Wu and look down on our camps. With iron cavalry pouring down from above like water off a rooftop, Zhang Ling is sure to be overrun. Once Ling falls and disaster reaches me, if I am defeated as well, how can I still save Chongqing in its hour of need? Moreover, everyone knows the Grand Secretary is using Shu as a ditch to drain the rebellion away. Lord Shao fails to seize the heights and passes now, to keep the rebels from closing on us, and instead sits behind fixed defenses—this is the road to defeat." Xunzhi agreed with her completely. Before long Jiechun shifted his camp to Dachang; military overseer Wan Yuanji also advanced to Wushan, and the two forces supported each other. In the tenth month of that year Zhang Xianzhong routed government forces at Guanyin Cliff and Sanhuang Ridge, then crossed the river at Shangmadu. Liangyu and Zhang Ling hurried to block him at Zhujun Ping and blunted his advance. Just then Ling was killed by the rebels; Liangyu rushed to his rescue but failed, turned to fight and was beaten again, and her force of thirty thousand was nearly wiped out. She then rode alone to see Jiechun and pleaded: "The situation is desperate. Mobilize all my stream-and-gorge troops and I can raise twenty thousand men. I will feed half from my own stores and the government can supply the other half—enough still to finish the rebels." Jiechun, seeing that Sichang was hostile to him and that the granary held no ready grain, declined the plan. Liangyu sighed and withdrew. At the time the thirteen Yao and Huang bandit clans ran rampant across Shu. One Qin Zuanxun, a kinsman of Liangyu, served as a rebel spy; captured, he killed a jailer and escaped. Liangyu captured him and turned him over; none escaped her net.

張獻忠盡陷楚地，將復入蜀。良玉圖全蜀形勢上之巡撫陳士奇，請益兵守十三隘，士奇不能用。復上之巡按劉之勃，之勃許之，而無兵可發。十七年春，獻忠遂長驅犯夔州。良玉馳援，眾寡不敵，潰。及全蜀盡陷，良玉慷慨語其眾曰：「吾兄弟二人皆死王事，吾以一孱婦蒙國恩二十年，今不幸至此，其敢以余年事逆賊哉！」悉召所部約曰：「有從賊者，族無赦！」乃分兵守四境。賊遍招土司，獨無敢至石砫者。後獻忠死，良玉竟以壽終。

Zhang Xianzhong had overrun the Chu territories and was preparing to invade Shu again. Liangyu mapped the overall situation in Shu and submitted it to circuit intendant Chen Shiji, requesting reinforcements to hold the thirteen passes; Shiji would not act on it. She submitted it again to surveillance commissioner Liu Zhibo; Zhibo agreed, but no troops could be spared. In the spring of the seventeenth year Xianzhong marched straight in and attacked Kuizhou. Liangyu rushed to the rescue but was heavily outnumbered and her force broke. When all Shu had fallen, Liangyu spoke passionately to her troops: "Both my brothers died in the state's service. I, a frail woman, have enjoyed the state's grace for twenty years. Now that fortune has brought us to this pass, how could I spend my remaining years serving rebels!" She summoned her entire command and declared: "Anyone who joins the rebels—his whole clan will be put to death!" She then posted troops to guard every border. The rebels summoned native chieftains everywhere, yet none dared approach Shizhu. Later, after Xianzhong's death, Liangyu lived out her years and died at an advanced age.

翼明既罷，崇禎十六年冬，起四川總兵官。道梗，命不達。而拱明值普名聲之亂，與賊鬥死，贈恤如制。

After Yiming was dismissed, he was recalled in the winter of Chongzhen sixteen as overall commander of Sichuan. The roads were blocked and the order never reached him. Gongming, caught up in Pu Mingsheng's rebellion, fought the rebels and was killed; he received posthumous honors and relief according to regulation.

龍在田，石屏州土官舍人也。天啟二年，雲南賊安效良、張世臣等為亂。在田與阿迷普名聲、武定吾必奎等征討，數有功，得為土守備。新平賊剽石屏，安效良攻沾益，在田俱破走之。巡撫閔洪學上其功，擢坐營都司。

Long Zaitian was a retainer of the native official of Shiping Prefecture. In Tianqi two the Yunnan rebels An Xiaoliang, Zhang Shichen, and others rose in rebellion. Zaitian campaigned with Pu Mingsheng of Ami, Wu Bikui of Wuding, and others, won repeated victories, and was appointed native defending commander. When bandits from Xinping raided Shiping and An Xiaoliang attacked Zhanyi, Zaitian defeated and drove off both forces. Circuit intendant Min Hongxue reported his merits, and he was promoted to camp director.

崇禎二年與必奎收復烏撒。八年，流賊犯鳳陽，詔征雲南土兵。在田率所部應詔，擊賊湖廣、河南，頻有功，擢副總兵。總理盧象升檄討襄陽賊，至則象升已奉詔勤王，命屬熊文燦。十年三月擊擒大盜郭三海。十一年九月大破賀一龍、李萬慶於雙溝，進都督同知。明年三月大破賊固始，斬首三千五百有奇。張獻忠之叛也，文燦命在田駐谷城，遏賊東突。諸將多忌在田，讒言日興。及文燦被逮，在田亦罷歸，還至貴州，擊平叛賊安隴壁。

In Chongzhen two he and Bikui recovered Wusa. In the eighth year, when roving rebels attacked Fengyang, an imperial order summoned Yunnan native troops. Zaitian answered the summons with his command, fought rebels in Huguang and Henan, won repeated victories, and was promoted to deputy regional commander. Grand coordinator Lu Xiangsheng ordered him to suppress the Xiangyang rebels; when he arrived Xiangsheng had already been summoned to defend the capital, and he was placed under Xiong Wencan. In the third month of the tenth year he captured the great bandit Guo Sanhai. In the ninth month of the eleventh year he routed He Yilong and Li Wanqing at Shuang Gou and was promoted to Vice Commissioner-in-chief. In the third month of the following year he routed the rebels at Gushi, taking more than thirty-five hundred heads. When Zhang Xianzhong rebelled, Wencan ordered Zaitian to garrison Gucheng and block any breakout to the east. Many generals envied Zaitian, and slander against him mounted daily. When Wencan was arrested, Zaitian was dismissed and sent home; back in Guizhou he suppressed the rebel An Longbi.

十五年夏，中原盜益熾。在田上疏曰：「臣以石屏世弁，因流氛震陵，奮激國難，捐貲募精卒九千五百，戰象四，戰馬二千，入楚、豫破賊。賊不敢窺江北陵寢，滇兵有力焉。五載捷二十有八，忌口中阻，逼臣病歸。自臣罷，親藩辱，名城屢陷。臣妄謂討寇必須南兵。蓋諸將所統多烏合，遇寇即逃，乏餉即噪。滇兵萬里長驅，家人父子同誌，非若他軍易潰也。且一歲中，秋冬氣涼，賊得馳騁。春夏即入山避暑，養銳而出，故其氣益盛。夫平原戰既不勝，山蹊又莫敢攖，師老財殫，蕩平何日。滇兵輕走遠跳，善搜山。臣願整萬眾，力掃秦、楚、豫、皖諸寇，不滅不止。望速給行糧，沿途接濟。臣誓捐軀報國，言而不效，甘伏斧钅質。」帝壯之，下兵部議，寢不行。

In the summer of the fifteenth year rebellion in the Central Plain burned hotter still. Zaitian memorialized the throne: "I am a hereditary retainer of Shiping. When the roving rebels shook the imperial tombs I roused myself in the nation's crisis, spent my own wealth to raise nine thousand five hundred picked soldiers, four war elephants, and two thousand war horses, and marched into Chu and Yu to defeat the rebels. The rebels did not dare threaten the imperial tombs north of the Yangtze—and the Yunnan troops had much to do with that. In five years I won twenty-eight victories, but jealous tongues blocked my path and forced me home on grounds of illness. Since my dismissal, imperial princes have been humiliated and famous cities have fallen again and again. I venture to say that suppressing the rebels requires southern troops. The generals mostly command motley rabbles—when they meet rebels they flee; when pay runs short they mutiny. Yunnan troops march ten thousand li from home; fathers and sons fight with one purpose—they do not break like other armies. Moreover, in autumn and winter when the air turns cool, the rebels can ride and raid at will. In spring and summer they retreat into the mountains to escape the heat, recover their strength, and emerge again—so their momentum only grows. If they cannot win on the plains and dare not fight in the mountains, with armies exhausted and treasuries drained—when will the realm ever be pacified? Yunnan troops are light on their feet, cover great distances, and excel at mountain sweeps. I ask to marshal ten thousand men and sweep the rebels from Qin, Chu, Yu, and Wan—I will not stop until they are destroyed. I ask that marching rations be supplied promptly and relief provided along the route. I swear to give my life for the state; if my words prove empty, I am willing to submit to the executioner's block." The emperor was moved by his words and referred the matter to the Ministry of War, but the proposal was shelved and never enacted.

逾二載，乙酉八月，吾必奎叛。黔國公沐天波檄在田及寧州土知州祿永命協討，擊擒之。未幾，沙定洲作亂，據雲南府，在田不敢擊。明年，定州攻在田不下，移攻寧州，尋陷習峨，在田走大理。又明年，孫可望等至貴州，在田說令攻定洲，定洲迄破滅。在田歸，卒於家。

More than two years later, in the eighth month of the yiyou year, Wu Bikui rebelled. Duke of Qian Mu Tianbo ordered Zaitian and Ningzhou native prefect Lu Yongming to join the suppression; they attacked and captured him. Before long Sha Dingzhou rebelled, seized Yunnan Prefecture, and Zaitian did not dare attack. The next year Dingzhou attacked Zaitian but failed to take him; he turned on Ningzhou, soon seized Xi'e, and Zaitian fled to Dali. The year after that Sun Kewang and others reached Guizhou; Zaitian persuaded them to attack Dingzhou, and Dingzhou was finally destroyed. Zaitian returned home and died there.

贊曰：馬世龍等值邊陲多事，奮其勇略，著績戎行，或捐軀力戰，身膏原野，可謂無忝爪牙之任矣。夫摧鋒陷敵，宿將猶難，而秦良玉一土舍婦人，提兵裹糧，崎嶇轉鬥，其急公赴義有足多者。彼仗鉞臨戎，縮朒觀望者，視此能無愧乎！

Appraisal: Ma Shilong and his fellows served when the frontiers were in turmoil; they exerted their courage and strategy and won distinction in the field. Some gave their lives in fierce combat and enriched the wilderness with their blood—they did not disgrace the trust placed in the state's sword-arm. To break the enemy vanguard and plunge into battle is hard even for veteran generals—yet Qin Liangyu, a woman from a native-official household, led troops carrying their own provisions and fought through rugged country in battle after battle. Her zeal for the public good and rush to righteous action deserve the highest praise. Those who held command yet shrank back to watch from the sidelines—can they look on her example without shame!

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