Volume 237 Biographies 24: Hong Chengchou, Meng Qiaofang, Zhang Cunren

洪承疇，字亨九，福建南安人。明萬曆四十四年進士。累遷陝西布政使參政。崇禎初，流賊大起，明莊烈帝以承疇能軍，遷延綏巡撫、陝西三邊總督，屢擊斬賊渠，加太子太保、兵部尚書，兼督河南、山、陝、川、湖軍務。時諸賊渠高迎祥最強，號闖王，李自成屬焉，承疇與戰，敗績。莊烈帝擢盧像升總理河北、河南、山、陝、川、湖軍務，令承疇專督關中，復與自成戰臨潼，大破之，迎祥就俘。自成號闖王，分道入四川，承疇與屢戰輒勝。自成還走潼關，承疇使總兵曹變蛟設伏邀擊，自成大敗，以十八騎走商洛。關中賊略盡。是歲為崇德三年。

Hong Chengchou, courtesy name Hengjiu, came from Nan'an in Fujian Province. He earned his jinshi degree in the forty-fourth year of the Wanli era (1616). He rose through successive appointments to serve as vice commissioner of the Shaanxi provincial administration commission. Early in the Chongzhen reign, as rebel armies swelled across the realm, the Chongzhen Emperor recognized Chengchou's military talent and appointed him grand coordinator of Yan'an and supreme commander of Shaanxi's three border districts. He repeatedly struck down rebel leaders, was made grand guardian of the heir apparent and minister of war, and given concurrent authority over forces in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Huguang. Among the rebel leaders, Gao Yingxiang was then the most powerful, bearing the title King Who Charges Through, with Li Zicheng under his command. Chengchou met them in battle and was defeated. The Chongzhen Emperor elevated Lu Xiangsheng to direct military affairs across Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Huguang, while assigning Chengchou sole responsibility for Guanzhong. Chengchou fought Li Zicheng again at Lintong, routed him decisively, and Gao Yingxiang was taken prisoner. Li Zicheng now took the title King Who Charges Through, sent columns into Sichuan, and in repeated clashes with Chengchou he always came out on top. When Li Zicheng fell back toward Tong Pass, Chengchou had regional commander Cao Bianjiao lay an ambush along his route. Zicheng was shattered and escaped to Shangluo with only eighteen riders. Rebel forces in Guanzhong were nearly wiped out. This took place in the third year of the Chongde era (1638).

太宗伐明，師薄明都，莊烈帝徵承疇入衛。明年春，移承疇總督薊、遼軍務，帥秦兵以東，授變蛟東協總兵、王廷臣遼東總兵、白廣恩援剿總兵，與山海馬科、寧遠吳三桂二鎮合軍；復命宣府楊國柱、大同王朴、密雲唐通各以其兵至：凡八總兵，兵十三萬，馬四萬，咸隸承疇。太宗師下大凌河，祖大壽入錦州為明守，松山、杏山、塔山三城相與為犄角。承疇至軍，莊烈帝遣職方郎中張若麒趣戰，乃進次松山，國柱戰死，以山西總兵李輔明代。

When Hong Taiji marched against the Ming and his forces neared the capital, the Chongzhen Emperor recalled Chengchou to reinforce the defense of Beijing. The next spring Chengchou was reassigned as governor-general of Ji and Liaodong affairs and marched east at the head of his Shaanxi troops. He named Cao Bianjiao eastern assistant commander-in-chief, Wang Tingchen commander of Liaodong, and Bai Guang'en commander for relief operations, then combined forces with the garrisons of Ma Ke at Shanhaiguan and Wu Sangui at Ningyuan; He also summoned Yang Guozhu from Xuanfu, Wang Pu from Datong, and Tang Tong from Miyun, each with his own force. Eight regional commanders in all mustered 130,000 foot soldiers and 40,000 cavalry, all under Chengchou's command. Hong Taiji's forces took Dalinghe, after which Zu Dashou withdrew into Jinzhou to hold it for the Ming. Songshan, Xingshan, and Tashan formed a mutually supporting triangle of defenses. After Chengchou joined the army, the Chongzhen Emperor sent Zhang Ruoqi from the Bureau of Military Appointments to press for action. Chengchou advanced and made camp at Songshan. Yang Guozhu fell in battle, and Li Fuming, commander of Shanxi, took his place.

六年八月，太宗自將御之。上度松山、杏山間，自烏忻河南山至海，當大道立營。承疇及遼東巡撫邱民仰率諸將駐松山城北乳峰山，步兵分屯乳峰山至松山道中為七營，馬兵分屯松山東、西、北三方，戰敗，移步兵近松山城為營，复戰又敗。上誡諸將曰：「今夕明師其遁！」命諸軍當分地為汛以守，敵遁，視其眾寡，遣兵追擊，至塔山而止；分遣諸將截塔山、杏山道及桑噶爾寨堡，又自小凌河西直抵海濱，絕歸路。是夜三桂、樸、通、科、廣恩、輔明皆率所部循海引退，為我師掩殺，死者不可勝計。承疇、民仰率將吏入松山城守，上移軍松山，議合圍。變蛟夜棄乳峰山寨，悉引所部馬步兵犯鑲黃旗汛地者一，犯正黃旗汛地者四，直攻上營，殊死戰，變蛟中創，奔還松山。三桂、樸引餘兵入杏山。上遣諸將為伏於高橋及桑噶爾寨堡，明兵自杏山出奔寧遠，遇伏，殪強半。三桂、樸僅以身免。承疇師十三萬，死五萬有奇，諸將潰遁，惟變蛟、廷臣以殘兵萬餘從。

In the eighth month of the sixth Chongde year (1640), Hong Taiji took the field in person to meet him. The emperor reconnoitered the ground between Songshan and Xingshan and pitched camps along the main road from the hills south of the Wuxin River all the way to the sea. Chengchou and Liaodong grand coordinator Qiu Minyang stationed their generals on Rufeng Hill north of Songshan. Infantry were spread in seven camps along the road from the hill to the city, cavalry on the eastern, western, and northern sides. After a defeat they drew the foot camps nearer the walls, fought again, and lost once more. The emperor warned his commanders: "The Ming army will try to break out tonight!" He ordered each unit to hold its assigned sector. If the enemy fled, they were to gauge his strength, send pursuers, and drive him only as far as Tashan; He sent detachments to seal the roads toward Tashan and Xingshan and the fortress of Sanggar, and posted troops from west of the Xiaoling River to the coast, cutting off every avenue of escape. That night Wu Sangui, Wang Pu, Tang Tong, Ma Ke, Bai Guang'en, and Li Fuming all withdrew along the coast with their commands. Qing forces fell on them from ambush, and the dead were beyond number. Chengchou and Minyang withdrew with their officers into Songshan to hold the walls, while the emperor shifted his headquarters to Songshan and planned the final encirclement. That night Cao Bianjiao abandoned the Rufeng stockade and hurled his entire force—once against the Bordered Yellow Banner line and four times against the Plain Yellow Banner—straight at the imperial camp in a desperate assault. Wounded, Bianjiao fell back to Songshan. Wu Sangui and Wang Pu led the survivors into Xingshan. The emperor posted ambushes at Gaoqiao and Sanggar. Ming troops breaking out of Xingshan toward Ningyuan ran into them, and more than half were cut down. Wu Sangui and Wang Pu escaped only with their own lives. Of Chengchou's force of 130,000, over 50,000 were killed. The other commanders scattered in flight; only Bianjiao and Tingchen remained with a little more than 10,000 battered troops.

城圍既合，上以敕諭承疇降。九月，上還盛京，命貝勒多鐸等留護諸軍。承疇悉眾突圍，攻鑲黃旗擺牙喇阿禮哈超哈，戰敗，不能出。十月，命肅郡王豪格、公滿達海駐松山。十二月，承疇聞關內援師且至，復遣將以兵六千夜出攻正紅旗擺牙喇阿禮哈超哈及正黃旗蒙古營，戰敗，城閉不得入，強半降我師。餘眾潰走杏山，道遇伏，死。莊烈帝初以楊繩武督師援承疇，繩武卒，以范志完代，皆畏我師強，宿留不進。承疇被圍閱六月，食且盡。明年二月，松山城守副將夏成德使其弟景海通款，以子舒為質。我師夜就所守堞樹雲梯，阿山部卒班布里、何洛會部卒羅洛科先登，遂克其城，獲承疇、民仰、變蛟、廷臣及諸將吏，降殘卒三千有奇。時為崇德七年二月壬戍。上命殺民仰、變蛟、廷臣，而送承疇盛京。

When the siege ring was complete, the emperor sent an edict calling on Chengchou to surrender. In the ninth month the emperor returned to Mukden, leaving Princes Dorgon and others to oversee the siege forces. Chengchou threw his whole garrison into a breakout against the Bordered Yellow Banner guard Alyahaqoha, was beaten back, and could not break the ring. In the tenth month he assigned Prince Su Hooge and Duke Mandahai to hold Songshan. In the twelfth month, hearing that relief from inside the passes was near, Chengchou sent 6,000 men by night against the Plain Red Banner guard and the Plain Yellow Mongol camp. They were repulsed, the gates were barred against them, and more than half went over to the Qing. The survivors fled toward Xingshan, were caught in an ambush on the road, and were wiped out. The Chongzhen Emperor had first named Yang Shengwu to lead the relief force for Chengchou. After Shengwu died, Fan Zhiguan took his place. Both men feared Qing strength and stalled without coming forward. Chengchou had been under siege for six months, and food was running out. The following second month, Songshan deputy defender Xia Chengde had his brother Jinghai negotiate surrender, pledging his son Shu as hostage. Qing troops raised scaling ladders against the walls by night. Banbuli of Ašan's detachment and Luoluo Ke of Hošoi's climbed first, and the city fell. Chengchou, Minyang, Bianjiao, Tingchen, and the other officers were taken, and a little over 3,000 survivors surrendered. This occurred on the renxu day of the second month of the seventh Chongde year (1642). The emperor ordered Minyang, Bianjiao, and Tingchen executed and had Chengchou sent to Mukden.

上欲收承疇為用，命範文程諭降。承疇方科跣謾罵，文程徐與語，泛及今古事，梁間塵偶落，著承疇衣，承疇拂去之。文程遽歸，告上曰：「承疇必不死，惜其衣，況其身乎？」上自臨視，解所禦貂裘衣之，曰：「先生得無寒乎？」承疇瞠視久，歎曰：「真命世之主也！」乃叩頭請降。上大悅，即日賞賚無算，置酒陳百戲，諸將或不悅，曰：「上何待承疇之重也！」上進諸將曰：「吾曹櫛風沐雨數十年，將欲何為？」諸將曰：「欲得中原耳。」上笑曰：「譬諸行道，吾等皆瞽。今獲一導者，吾安得不樂？」

The emperor meant to employ Chengchou and sent Fan Wencheng to persuade him to submit. Chengchou sat barefoot with his hair loose, hurling abuse. Wencheng talked with him gently, ranging from antiquity to the present. Dust from the rafters drifted onto his robe, and he brushed it off. Wencheng hurried back and told the emperor: "Chengchou will not die for his cause—he brushed dust from his robe; will he not value his own life even more?" The emperor came in person, took off his own sable coat and draped it over Chengchou, saying: "Sir, are you not cold?" Chengchou stared a long while and sighed: "This is truly a ruler heaven has sent for the age!" He then kowtowed and asked to submit. The emperor was delighted and that same day heaped rewards upon him, set out a banquet, and staged a hundred performances. Some generals grumbled: "Why does Your Majesty honor Chengchou so highly?" He turned to the generals and said: "We have fought through wind and rain for decades—what were we fighting for?" They answered: "To win the Central Plain." The emperor smiled: "It is like walking a road—we have all been blind. Now we have found a guide—how could I not rejoice?"

居月餘，都察院參政張存仁上言：「承疇歡然幸生，宜令薙發備任使。」五月，上御崇政殿，召承疇及諸降將祖大壽等入見。承疇跪大清門外，奏言：「臣為明將兵十三萬援錦州，上至而兵敗。臣入守松山，城破被獲，自分當死，上不殺而恩育焉。今令朝見，臣知罪，不敢遽入。」上使諭曰：「承疇言誠是。爾時與我交戰，各為其主，朕豈介意？且朕所以戰勝明兵，遂克松山、錦州諸城，皆天也。天道好生，故朕亦恩爾。爾知朕恩，當盡力以事朕。朕昔獲張春，亦嘗遇以恩，彼不能死明，又不能事朕，卒無所成而死，爾毋彼若也！」承疇等乃入朝見，命上殿坐，賜茶。上語承疇曰：「朕觀爾明主，宗室被俘，置若罔聞。將帥力戰見獲，或力屈而降，必誅其妻子，否亦沒為奴。此舊制乎，抑新制乎？」承疇對曰：「舊無此制。邇日諸朝臣各陳所見以聞於上，始若此爾。」上因嘆謂：「君闇臣蔽，遂多枉殺。將帥以力戰沒敵，斥府庫財贖而還之可也，奈何罪其孥？其虐無辜亦甚矣！」承疇垂涕叩首曰：「上此諭真至仁之言也！」上還宮，命宴承疇等於殿上。宴畢，使大學士希福等諭曰：「朕方有元妃之喪，未躬賜宴。爾等勿以為意！」承疇等復叩首謝。莊烈帝初聞承疇死，予祭十六壇，建祠都城外，與邱民仰並列。莊烈帝將親臨奠，俄聞承疇降，乃止。承疇既降，隸鑲黃旗漢軍，太宗遇之厚。然終太宗世，未嘗命以官。

After a month had passed, Censorate commissioner Zhang Cunren memorialized: "Chengchou is glad to be alive; he should shave his head and be readied for office." In the fifth month the emperor held audience in the Hall of Reverent Governance and summoned Chengchou and the surrendered generals, including Zu Dashou. Chengchou knelt outside the Great Qing Gate and said: "I was a Ming general leading 130,000 men to relieve Jinzhou. When Your Majesty came, my army was broken. I withdrew into Songshan to hold it. When the city fell I was taken and expected death, yet Your Majesty spared me and showed me kindness. Now I am summoned to audience. I know my offense and dare not enter at once." The emperor sent word: "Chengchou speaks truly. When you fought me then, each of us served his own lord. Why should I bear a grudge? Besides, my victories over Ming forces and the capture of Songshan, Jinzhou, and the other cities were heaven's work, not mine alone. Heaven loves life, and so I show you mercy as well. Knowing my kindness, you should serve me with all your strength. I once captured Zhang Chun and treated him kindly too. He would neither die for the Ming nor serve me faithfully, and died having achieved nothing. Do not be like him!" Chengchou and the others then entered. They were seated on the dais and offered tea. The emperor said to Chengchou: "I see that your Ming sovereign, when princes of the blood were taken prisoner, acted as if he had heard nothing. When generals fought hard and were captured, or surrendered after their strength gave out, their wives and children were always executed—or enslaved if spared. Is that an old practice, or a new one?" Chengchou answered: "There was no such rule in earlier times. Only lately have ministers at court each offered his view to the throne, and matters have come to this." The emperor sighed and said: "When the ruler is blind and his ministers hide the truth, innocent people die in great numbers. When generals die fighting to the last, the state could spend treasury funds to ransom them—that would be fitting. Why punish their families? Their cruelty toward the innocent is extreme indeed!" Chengchou wept and kowtowed: "Your Majesty's words are the voice of true benevolence!" The emperor withdrew and ordered a banquet for Chengchou and the others in the hall. When the feast ended he had Grand Secretary Hifu and others explain: "I am in mourning for the primary consort and could not host you in person. Please do not take offense!" Chengchou and the others kowtowed again in gratitude. When the Chongzhen Emperor first heard that Chengchou had died, he ordered sacrifices at sixteen altars and built a shrine outside the capital with plaques for Chengchou and Qiu Minyang side by side. The Chongzhen Emperor was about to attend the rites in person when word came that Chengchou had surrendered, and he called it off. Once he had submitted, Chengchou was enrolled in the Han Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner, and Hong Taiji treated him with great favor. Yet throughout Hong Taiji's lifetime he was never given an official post.

順治元年四月，睿親王多爾袞帥師伐明，承疇從。既定京師，命承疇仍以太子太保、兵部尚書兼右副都御史，同內院官佐理機務。旋與同官馮銓啟睿親王，復明內閣故事，題奏皆下內閣擬旨，分下六科，鈔發各部院。九月，上至京師，與銓及謝升奏定郊廟樂章。

In the fourth month of the first Shunzhi year (1644), Prince Rui Dorgon marched against the Ming, and Chengchou went with him. After Beijing was taken, Chengchou was kept on as grand guardian of the heir apparent, minister of war, and vice censor-in-chief, and assigned with Inner Court officials to help run the government. Soon he and his colleague Feng Quan petitioned Prince Rui to restore the Ming Grand Secretariat practice: memorials went to the secretariat for draft rescripts, then to the six scrutiny offices and on to the ministries and boards. In the ninth month the emperor reached Beijing. With Feng Quan and Xie Sheng he submitted plans fixing the ritual music for suburban and temple sacrifices.

二年，豫親王多鐸師下江南。閏六月，命承疇以原官總督軍務，招撫江南各省，鑄「招撫南方總督軍務大學士」印，賜敕便宜行事。是時明唐王聿鍵稱號福建，其大學士黃道周率師道廣信、衢州向徽州，左僉都御史金聲家休寧，募鄉兵十餘萬屯績溪；諸宗姓高安王常淇保徽州，蘄水王術肸子常闒自號樊山王屯潛山、太湖間，由揾號金華王據饒州，誼石號樂安王、誼泐號瑞安王分屯溧陽、金壇、興化諸縣；荊本徹以舟師駐太湖，敗，復入崇明：皆為明守。承疇至官，招撫江南寧國、徽州，江西南昌、南康、九江、瑞州、撫州、饒州、臨江、吉安、廣信、建昌、袁州諸府。十月，遣提督張天祿，總兵卜從善、李仲興、劉澤泳等攻破績溪。十二月，進破道周於婺源，聲、道周見獲，皆不屈，送江寧殺之；總兵李成棟破崇明，本徹走入海，殺其將李守庫、徐君美。三年二月，遣總兵馬得功、卜從善等擊破司空寨，斬守寨石應璉、應璧等五人，獲常闒。

In the second year Prince Yu Dodo marched into the lower Yangtze region. In the intercalary sixth month Chengchou was ordered, with his existing titles, to direct military affairs and win over the Jiangnan provinces. A seal was cast reading "Grand Secretary, Governor-General for Pacifying the South," and he was given an edict to act at his discretion. The Ming Prince of Tang, Zhu Yujian, had meanwhile proclaimed himself in Fujian. His grand secretary Huang Daozhou marched from the Guangxin route toward Quzhou and Huizhou. Left vice censor Jin Sheng of Xiuning raised more than 100,000 local militia and camped at Jixi; Among Ming princes, the Prince of Gao'an held Huizhou; Zhu Chang'an, son of the Prince of Qishui, styled himself Prince of Fanshan and camped between Qianshan and Taihu; Zhu Youwen styled himself Prince of Jinhua and held Raozhou; Zhu Yishi as Prince of Le'an and Zhu Yile as Prince of Ruian posted troops across Liyang, Jintan, Xinghua, and neighboring counties; Jing Benche kept a fleet on Lake Tai, was beaten, and withdrew to Chongming—all still fighting for the Ming cause. On taking office Chengchou brought over Ningguo and Huizhou in Jiangnan and, in Jiangxi, Nanchang, Nankang, Jiujiang, Ruizhou, Fuzhou, Raozhou, Linjiang, Ji'an, Guangxin, Jianchang, and Yuanzhou. In the tenth month he sent Commissioner Zhang Tianlu with commanders Bu Congshan, Li Zhongxing, Liu Zeyong, and others, who stormed and took Jixi. In the twelfth month his forces defeated Huang Daozhou at Wuyuan. Jin Sheng and Daozhou were taken, refused to submit, and were sent to Nanjing and executed; Commander Li Chengdong took Chongming. Benche fled to sea, and his generals Li Shouku and Xu Junmei were killed. In the second month of the third year he sent commanders Ma Degong and Bu Congshan, who stormed Sikong Stockade, beheaded defenders Shi Yinglian, Yingbi, and three others, and captured Zhu Chang'an.

既，誼石、誼泐合兵二萬犯江寧。承疇先事誅內應西溝池萬德華、郭世彥、尤琚等八十餘人。誼石等攻神策門，我分兵出朝陽、太平二門，截誼石等後，乃啟神策門出城兵奮擊，破之，追及攝山，斬馘無算。承疇疏請還京，以江南未大定，不允，賜其妻白金百、貂皮二百。八月，征南大將軍貝勒博洛克金華，獲誼石。九月，誼泐复犯江寧，承疇出禦，追獲誼泐及所置經略韋爾韜、總兵楊三貫、夏含章。十二月，天祿搜婺源嚴杭山，獲常淇及所置監軍道江於東、職方司許文玠等。四年二月，從善及總兵黃鼎攻宿松，獲誼泐弟瑞昌王誼貴及所置軍師趙正；下饒州，獲由揾及其族人常洊、常沘、常涫：並請命斬之。江南眾郡縣以次定。

Soon afterward Yishi and Yile combined 20,000 men and marched on Nanjing. Chengchou had already executed more than eighty collaborators inside the city, including Wan Dehua, Guo Shiyan, and You Ju of Xigouchi. Yishi's force attacked the Shence Gate. Qing troops sallied from the Chaoyang and Taiping gates to cut off their retreat, then opened the Shence Gate and struck hard, routing them and pursuing to She Mountain with countless kills. Chengchou asked to return to the capital, but because Jiangnan was not yet fully pacified his request was denied; his wife was given one hundred taels of silver and two hundred sable pelts. In the eighth month the southern expedition commander, Prince Bolo Ke, took Jinhua and captured Zhu Yishi. In the ninth month Yibo once more threatened Nanjing. Hong Chengchou marched out to repel him, ran him down, and took Yibo along with his appointed grand coordinator Wei Ertao and regional commanders Yang Sangun and Xia Hanzhang. In the twelfth month Tian Lu swept Yanhang Mountain in Wuyuan and seized Chang Qi, along with Jiang Yudong, whom he had made military inspector, and Xu Wenji of the Bureau of Appointments, together with others in their party. In the second month of the fourth year Cong Shan and Regional Commander Huang Ding struck Susong, taking Yibo's brother, Prince Yigui of Ruichang, and his appointed strategist Zhao Zheng. Raozhou fell next, and with it You Wen and his kinsmen Chang Jian, Chang Bi, and Chang Guan; Hong Chengchou asked that all of them be put to death. One after another, the prefectures and counties of Jiangnan submitted to Qing rule.

明魯王以海轉徙浙、閩海中，號監國，明諸遺臣猶密與相聞。是年四月，明給事中陳子龍家華亭，陰受魯王官，謀集太湖潰兵舉事。承疇遣章京索布圖往捕，子龍投水死。是月，柘林游擊陳可獲諜者謝堯文，得魯王敕封承疇國公，江寧巡撫土國寶為侯；又得魯王將黃斌卿與承疇、國寶書；鎮守江寧昂邦章京巴山、張大猷以聞。上獎巴山等嚴察亂萌，命與承疇會鞫諜者，別敕慰諭承疇。

The Ming Prince of Lu, Zhu Yihai, wandered the coastal waters of Zhejiang and Fujian under the title of regent, while loyalist ministers of the fallen dynasty kept up clandestine ties with him. In the fourth month of that year Chen Zilong, a former Ming supervising secretary from Huating, secretly took rank under the Prince of Lu and planned to rally the broken bands around Lake Tai for an uprising. Hong Chengchou dispatched the clerk Suobutu to seize him, but Chen Zilong threw himself into the water and died. In the same month Zhailin vice commander Chen Ke took the spy Xie Yaowen and found among his papers a Prince of Lu patent making Hong Chengchou a duke and Nanjing governor Tu Guobao a marquis. He also recovered correspondence from the Prince of Lu's general Huang Binqing addressed to Hong Chengchou and Tu Guobao. Bashan, Angbang clerk charged with guarding Nanjing, and Zhang Dayou sent word of the discovery to the court. The emperor commended Bashan and his colleagues for sniffing out sedition in its infancy, told them to examine the spy together with Hong Chengchou, and sent Hong Chengchou a separate message of reassurance.

粵僧函可者，為故明尚書韓日纘子，日纘於承疇為師生。函可將還裡，乞承疇畀以印牌護行出城，守者譏察笥中，得文字觸忌諱。巴山、張大猷以聞，承疇疏引咎，部議當奪職，上命貰之。

Huan Ke, a monk from Guangdong, was the son of the former Ming minister Han Rizuan, who had once been Hong Chengchou's teacher. When Huan Ke prepared to go home he asked Hong Chengchou for an official pass to see him safely through the gates; the guards searched his luggage and turned up texts that breached forbidden language. Bashan and Zhang Dayou reported the matter. Hong Chengchou memorialized to take responsibility; the ministries recommended stripping him of office, but the emperor spared him.

承疇聞父喪，請解任守制，上許承疇請急歸，命治喪畢入內院治事。五年四月，還京師。六年，加少傅兼太子太傅，疏請定會推督、撫、提、鎮行保舉連坐法。得旨：「自後用督、撫、提、鎮，內院九卿咸舉所知。得人者賞，誤舉者連坐。」

On news of his father's death Hong Chengchou asked to resign and mourn. The emperor allowed him to hurry home, directing that once the funeral was finished he should resume service in the Inner Court. He came back to the capital in the fourth month of the fifth year. In the sixth year he was made Junior Tutor and concurrent Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, and memorialized for a joint nomination system under which sponsors of governors-general, governors, provincial commanders, and regional commanders would share punishment for bad picks. An edict came down: "From now on, whenever governors-general, governors, provincial commanders, or regional commanders are to be appointed, every minister of the Inner Court must put forward men he knows. Reward the man who names a good appointment; punish the man who names a bad one together with his nominee."

八年閏二月，命管都察院左都御史。尋甄別諸御史為六等，魏琯等二十二人差用，陳昌言等二人內升，張煊等十一人外轉，王世功等十七人外調，降黜有差。煊疏劾吏部尚書陳名夏，因及承疇嘗與名夏及尚書陳之遴集火神廟，屏左右密議逃叛；承疇又嘗私送其母歸里。疏入，上方狩塞外，巽親王滿達海居守，集諸王大臣會鞫。承疇言：「火神廟集議，即議甄別諸御史定等差，非有他也。」並以送母未請旨引罪。名夏亦列辨，因坐煊誣奏，論死。未幾，上雪煊冤，黜名夏。因諭：「承疇火神廟集議，事雖可疑，難以懸擬；送母歸原籍未奏聞，為親甘罪，情尚可原。留任責後效。」九年五月，承疇聞母喪，命入直如故，私居持服，賜其母祭葬。九月，達賴喇嘛來朝，上將幸代噶，待喇嘛至入覲。承疇及大學士陳之遴疏諫，上為罷行，並遣內大臣索尼傳諭曰：「卿等以賢能贊密勿，有所見聞，當以時入告。朕生長深宮，無自洞悉民隱。凡有所奏，可行即行；縱不可行，朕亦不爾責也。」

In the leap second month of the eighth year he was appointed to head the Censorate as Left Censor-in-Chief. He then sorted the censors into six grades. Twenty-two men led by Wei Guan were reassigned to new posts; Chen Changyan and one other were promoted within the capital; Zhang Xuan and ten others were rotated out; Wang Shigong and sixteen others were transferred to provincial posts; demotions and dismissals followed in varying degrees. Zhang Xuan impeached Minister of Personnel Chen Mingxia and claimed that Hong Chengchou had once met Mingxia and Minister Chen Zhilin at the Fire God Temple, sent away their attendants, and secretly plotted defection. He further charged that Hong Chengchou had earlier sent his mother home without authorization. The memorial reached court while the emperor was on a hunting expedition beyond the passes. Prince Xun Mandahai, left in charge, assembled the princes and senior officials to investigate. Hong Chengchou answered, "Our meeting at the Fire God Temple was only to rank the censors and set their grades. There was no other purpose." He admitted as well that he had sent his mother home without first seeking leave. Chen Mingxia answered point by point. Zhang Xuan was convicted of false accusation and condemned to death. Not long afterward the emperor reversed Zhang Xuan's conviction and removed Chen Mingxia from office. The emperor then ruled: "Hong Chengchou's meeting at the Fire God Temple may look doubtful, but it cannot be treated as proof of treason; as for sending his mother home without informing the throne, he accepted guilt out of filial duty, and that may be excused. He is to keep his post and prove himself by what he does hereafter." In the fifth month of the ninth year, after Hong Chengchou's mother died, he was told to keep his regular attendance at court while mourning privately at home, and imperial funeral honors were granted for his mother. In the ninth month the Dalai Lama arrived at court. The emperor intended to travel to Daiga and receive him there. Hong Chengchou and Grand Secretary Chen Zhilin remonstrated against the journey, and the emperor gave it up. He sent Inner Minister Suoni with this message: "You serve me in close counsel because you are able men. Whatever you see or hear, tell me promptly. I was raised within the palace walls and cannot, on my own, know the people's hidden troubles. When you advise me, if your proposal can be carried out, I shall carry it out at once; and even when it cannot, I will not blame you for it."

十月正月，調內翰林弘文院大學士。明桂王由榔稱號肇慶，頻年轉戰，兵朁地蹙，至是居安隆所，雲南、貴州二省尚為明守。諸將李定國、孫可望等四出侵略，南攻湖南南境諸州縣，東陷桂林，西據成都，兵連不得息。五月，上授承疇太保兼太子太師、內翰林國史院大學士、兵部尚書兼都察院右副都御史，經略湖廣、廣東、廣西、雲南、貴州等處地方，總督軍務兼理糧餉。敕諭撫鎮以下咸聽節制，攻守便宜行事。滿兵當留當撤，即行具奏。命內院以特假便宜條款詳列敕書，宣示中外；並允承疇疏薦，起原任大學士李率泰督兩廣。以江西寇未盡，命承疇兼領，鑄「經略大學士」印授之。臨發，賜蟒朝衣、冠帶、鞾襪、松石嵌撒袋、弓矢、馬五、鞍轡二，諸將李本深等八十七人朝衣、冠帶、撒袋、弓矢、刀馬、鞍轡有差。

In the first month of the tenth year he was moved to the post of Grand Secretary of the Inner Hanlin Hongwen Academy. The Ming Prince of Gui, Zhu Youlang, had raised his banner at Zhaoqing. Years of war had worn his armies down and squeezed his territory until he held only Anlong, while Yunnan and Guizhou still flew the Ming flag. Li Dingguo, Sun Kewang, and the other Ming generals struck on every front: south into the Hunan borderlands, east into Guilin, west as far as Chengdu. The fighting never let up. In the fifth month the emperor made Hong Chengchou Grand Preceptor and Grand Master of the Heir Apparent, Grand Secretary of the Inner Hanlin Guoshi Academy, Minister of War and Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Right, and sent him to coordinate Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou, with full authority over campaigns and provisions. An edict declared that every governor and commander beneath him must take his orders and act as local conditions required in attack or defense. Decisions on keeping or withdrawing Manchu troops were to be reported at once. The Inner Court was told to spell out his special powers of discretion in the commission itself and publish them throughout the empire. The emperor also accepted Hong Chengchou's recommendation and recalled former Grand Secretary Li Shuaitai to oversee the Two Guangs. Since rebels in Jiangxi had not yet been cleared, Hong Chengchou was given concurrent authority there as well, and a seal inscribed "Grand Coordinator Grand Secretary" was cast for him. Before he set out the emperor gave him python court robes, hat and belt, boots and socks, an inlaid sash-pouch, bow and arrows, five horses, and two saddled mounts. Eighty-seven officers led by Li Benshen received court dress, arms, horses, and harness in graded amounts.

承疇至軍，疏言：「湖南駐重兵足備防剿，而各郡窵遠，兵力所不及。郝搖旗、一隻虎等竊伏湖北荊、襄諸郡，倘南窺澧、岳，則我軍腹背受敵。臣與督臣、議臣宜往來長沙四應調度。督臣率提標兵駐荊州，別遣兵增武昌城守，以壯聲援。」又疏言：「桂林雖復，李定國軍距桂林僅二百里，滿洲援剿官兵豈能定留？克復州縣，何以分守？又使孫可望诇我兵出援，潛自靖、沅截粵西險道，則我首尾難顧。置孤軍於徼外，其危易見。臣已分兵馳赴，俾佐戰守，且當親歷衡、永，察機宜以聞。」十二月，上授固山額真陳泰為寧南靖寇大將軍，及固山額真藍拜、濟席哈，擺牙喇纛章京蘇克薩哈等率師鎮湖南；十一年二月，命靖南王耿繼茂率所部自廣州移鎮桂林：皆承疇疏發之也。

On reaching headquarters Hong Chengchou wrote: "Hunan already has enough troops for defense and pursuit, but its prefectures lie far apart, and our strength cannot cover them all. Hao Yaoqi, One-Tiger, and their bands are lurking in the Jing and Xiang region of Hubei. If they strike south toward Li and Yuezhou, our forces will be caught between two enemies. I should therefore shuttle between Changsha and the front with the governor and staff, coordinating on every side. The governor should hold Jingzhou with the provincial banner force and send extra men to stiffen Wuchang's garrison, so our presence there remains credible." In another memorial he warned: "Guilin is back in our hands, but Li Dingguo sits only two hundred li away. We cannot keep the Manchu relief force there indefinitely. Even if we retake surrounding districts, who will hold them? Sun Kewang may watch for our columns to march out, then slip through Jing and Yuan to seize the mountain passes of western Guangxi, leaving us unable to protect both ends of the line. Stationing a lone force on the outer edge of our territory is plainly perilous. I have already detached troops to reinforce the garrison, and I mean to inspect Heng and Yong myself and report what course seems best." In the twelfth month the emperor named Banner General Chen Tai Pacifier of the South and Queller of Bandits, with Banner Generals Lanbai and Jixike and Baita Banner Commander Sukesaha among others, to take an army into Hunan. In the second month of the eleventh year he ordered Prince of Pacifying the South Geng Jingmao to move his troops from Guangzhou to Guilin. Each of these measures followed from Hong Chengchou's memorials.

是歲孫可望劫桂王，殺大學士吳貞毓等，方內訌。十二年六月，可望遣劉文秀攻常德，分兵使盧明臣、馮雙禮攻武昌、岳州。承疇、陳泰遣蘇克薩哈迎擊，破之。明臣墮水死。文秀、雙禮皆走貴州。陳泰旋卒於軍，以固山額真阿爾津為寧南靖寇大將軍，率固山額真卓羅、祖澤潤等分駐荊州、長沙。十三年，考滿，加太傅，仍兼太子太師。李定國奉明桂王入雲南，湖廣無兵事。阿爾津議以重兵駐辰州，謀自沅、靖入滇、黔，承疇與異議。上召阿爾津還京師，以宗室羅託代。十四年，可望叛其主，舉兵攻雲南，與定國戰而敗；十一月，詣長沙降。時上已允承疇解任還京師養疴，至是命承疇留任，督所部與羅託等規取貴州，並命平西大將軍吳三桂自四川、征南將軍卓布泰自廣西分道入。

That same year Sun Kewang kidnapped the Prince of Gui, murdered Grand Secretary Wu Zhenyu and others, and plunged the Ming camp into civil discord. In the sixth month of the twelfth year Sun Kewang dispatched Liu Wenxiu against Changde while Lu Mingchen and Feng Shuangli struck Wuchang and Yuezhou with separate columns. Hong Chengchou and Chen Tai sent Sukesaha to intercept the invaders and broke their force. Lu Mingchen drowned. Liu Wenxiu and Feng Shuangli both retreated into Guizhou. Chen Tai died soon afterward in camp. Banner General A'erjin replaced him as Pacifier of the South and Queller of Bandits, with Banner Generals Zhuoluo, Zu Zerun, and others dividing command between Jingzhou and Changsha. In the thirteenth year, when his term review came due, he was raised to Grand Tutor while keeping the title of Grand Master of the Heir Apparent. Li Dingguo withdrew with the Ming Prince of Gui into Yunnan, and fighting in Huguang subsided. A'erjin wanted a strong force at Chenzhou and planned to advance into Yunnan and Guizhou through Yuan and Jing, but Hong Chengchou opposed the scheme. The emperor recalled A'erjin to the capital and sent the imperial clansman Luo Tuo in his place. In the fourteenth year Sun Kewang turned against his master, marched on Yunnan, and was beaten by Li Dingguo. In the eleventh month he went to Changsha and submitted. The emperor had already approved Hong Chengchou's request to leave office and recover his health in the capital, but now he told Hong Chengchou to stay on, direct his troops with Luo Tuo and the others to take Guizhou, and ordered Pacifier of the West Wu Sangui to advance from Sichuan while Southern Expedition General Zhuobutai came in from Guangxi.

十五年正月，復命信郡王多尼為安遠靖寇大將軍，帥師南征，於是承疇與羅託會師常德，道沅州、靖州入貴州境，克鎮遠。卓布泰招南丹、那地、撫寧諸土司，下獨山州，會克貴陽。三桂亦自重慶取遵義進攻開州、桐梓，以其師來會。承疇上疏籌軍食，言：「貴州諸府、州、縣、衛、所僅留空城，即有餘糧，兵過輒罄。惟省倉存米七千餘石、穀四千餘石，足支一月糧。臣所部兵，令分駐鎮遠、偏橋、興隆、清平、平越諸處。降兵暫駐三五日，改屯天柱、會同、黔陽諸縣及湖南沅州。四川兵駐遵義，廣西兵駐獨山，使分地就糧。聞信郡王大兵自六月初發荊州，需糧多且倍蓰。貴州山深地寒，收穫皆在九月。臣方遣吏勸諭軍民須納今歲秋糧之半，並檄下沅州運糧儲鎮遠，又令常德道府具布囊、椶套、木架、繩索，思南、石阡諸府、州、縣、衛、所及諸土司募夫役，具工糈，以赴軍興。」九月，授武英殿大學士。

In the first month of the fifteenth year the emperor again named Prince of Faith Duo Ni Pacifier of the Distant and Queller of Bandits to lead the southern campaign. Hong Chengchou joined Luo Tuo at Changde, crossed Yuan and Jing into Guizhou, and took Zhenyuan. Zhuobutai won over the chieftains of Nandan, Nadi, and Funing, seized Dushan, and joined the main force in taking Guiyang. Wu Sangui pushed out from Chongqing through Zunyi against Kaizhou and Tongzi, then marched his army in to link up with the others. Hong Chengchou memorialized on supplies, reporting: "Guizhou's prefectures, districts, counties, guards, and posts are little more than empty shells. Whatever grain they still hold disappears the moment an army marches through. The provincial storehouses contain only about seven thousand shi of rice and four thousand shi of grain—enough for a single month. I have spread my own troops among garrisons at Zhenyuan, Pianqiao, Xinglong, Qingping, Pingyue, and the like. Surrendered soldiers are being held only a few days before they are settled as garrison troops in Tianzhu, Huitong, Qianyang, and Yuan Prefecture in Hunan. Sichuan forces are posted at Zunyi and Guangxi forces at Dushan so each body of men can live off the land where it stands. I am told the Prince of Faith's main army will march from Jingzhou at the start of the sixth month and will need rations in amounts several times larger than ours. Guizhou is rugged and cold, and the harvest does not come until the ninth month. I am already sending officers to collect half of this year's autumn tax in grain, ordering Yuan Prefecture to haul stores to Zhenyuan, and telling Changde to furnish sacks, palm covers, frames, and rope. Sinan, Shiqian, and the other prefectures, districts, guards, posts, and native offices are being called on for porters, tools, and rations to meet the army's needs." In the ninth month he was made Grand Secretary of the Hall of Military Glory.

信郡王多尼師至，駐平越楊老堡，承疇、三桂、卓布泰皆會，議多尼軍出中路，經關嶺鐵索橋至雲南省城，行一千餘裡；三桂軍自遵義經七星關，凡一千五百餘裡，先中路十日行；卓布泰以南寧方有寇，自貴州、廣西邊境平浪、永順壩、威透山，出安隆所、黃草壩、羅平州，凡一千八百餘裡，先四川兵十五日行。既定議，承疇還貴陽，與羅託駐守，遣提督張勇等從多尼軍。明將李定國等拒戰皆敗，明桂王奔永昌。十六年正月乙未，三路師會，克雲南省城，明桂王奔緬甸。承疇如雲南，疏言：「雲南險遠，請如元、明故事，以王公坐鎮。」上以命三桂。

Prince of Faith Duo Ni's force reached Pingyue and encamped at Yanglaobao. Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, and Zhuobutai conferred and decided that Duo Ni should take the middle road over the iron-chain bridge at Guanling to the Yunnan provincial capital, a distance of more than a thousand li. Wu Sangui would come from Zunyi by way of Qixing Pass, about fifteen hundred li in all, starting ten days before the center column. Since Nanning was still troubled by rebels, Zhuobutai would enter from the Guizhou-Guangxi frontier through Pinglang, Yongshunba, and Weitoushan, then by Anlong, Huangcaoba, and Luoping—a march of more than eighteen hundred li, fifteen days ahead of the Sichuan column. When the plan was fixed Hong Chengchou went back to Guiyang to hold the city with Luo Tuo and sent Provincial Commander Zhang Yong and others to march with Duo Ni. Li Dingguo and the other Ming commanders fought and lost at every turn, and the Ming Prince of Gui fled to Yongchang. On the yimwei day in the first month of the sixteenth year the three columns united, took the Yunnan provincial capital, and the Ming Prince of Gui escaped into Burma. Hong Chengchou entered Yunnan and advised that, as under the Yuan and Ming, a prince should be stationed there to keep so distant and difficult a province." The emperor gave the post to Wu Sangui.

三月，承疇至雲南，疏言：「信郡王令貝子尚善及三桂等追剿至永昌、騰越。明將賀九義、李成爵、李如碧、廖魚、鄒自貴、馬得鳴輩收集潰兵，分遁元江、順寧、雲龍、瀾滄、麗江，處處窺伺。民間遭兵火，重以饑饉，近永昌諸處被禍更烈，週數百里杳無人煙，省城米價石至十三兩有奇。諸軍就糧宜良、富民、羅次、姚安、賓川、臨安、新興、澂江、陸涼諸處。上明察萬里，自有宸斷，俾邊臣得以遵奉。」疏入，上命戶部發帑三十萬，以十五萬賑兩省貧民，十五萬命承疇收貯，備軍餉不給。

In the third month Hong Chengchou arrived in Yunnan and reported: "The Prince of Faith has sent Prince Suoshan, Wu Sangui, and the others in pursuit as far as Yongchang and Tengyue. Ming commanders He Jiuyi, Li Chengjue, Li Rubi, Liao Yu, Zou Zigui, Ma Deming, and others have rallied broken units and slipped away toward Yuanjiang, Shunning, Yunlong, Lancang, and Lijiang, waiting for a chance to strike. The countryside has suffered war on top of famine. Around Yongchang the ruin is worst: for hundreds of li there is hardly a living soul, and in the provincial capital rice now sells for more than thirteen taels a shi. The troops should be fed from Yiliang, Fumin, Luoci, Yao'an, Binchuan, Lin'an, Xingxing, Chengjiang, and Luliang. Your Majesty sees farther than any border officer can, and I trust you will decide as you think best so that we on the frontier may follow your will." When the memorial reached court the emperor told the Ministry of Revenue to release three hundred thousand taels from the treasury: half to feed the poor of the two provinces, and half for Hong Chengchou to hold in reserve against any break in the army's supplies.

八月，承疇疏言：「兵部密諮令速攻緬甸。臣受任經略，目擊民生彫敝，及土司降卒尚懷觀望，以為須先安內，乃可剿外。李定國等竄伏孟艮諸處，山川險阻，兼瘴毒為害，必待霜降始消，明年二月青草將生，瘴即復起，其間可以用師不過四月，慮未能窮追。定國等覬自景東、元江復入廣西，要結諸土司，私授劄印，歃血為盟。若聞我師西進，必且避實就虛，合力內犯。我軍相隔已遠，不能回顧；省城留兵，亦未遑堵禦：致定國等縱逸，所關非細。臣審度時勢，權其輕重，謂今歲秋冬宜暫停進兵，俾雲南迤西殘黎，稍藉秋收以延餘喘；明年盡力春耕，漸圖生聚。我軍亦得養銳蓄威，居中制外，俾定國等不能窺動靜以潛逃，諸土司不能伺間隙以思逞。絕殘兵之勾結，斷降卒之反側，則飢飽勞逸皆在於我。定國等潛藏邊界，無居無食，瘴癘相侵，內變易生，機有可俟。是時芻糧輳備，苗、蠻輯服，調發將卒，次第齊集，然後進兵，庶為一勞永逸、安內剿外長計。」疏下議政王、貝勒、大臣會議，如所請暫停進兵。

In the eighth month Hong Chengchou memorialized the throne: "The Ministry of War had privately urged that Burma be attacked at once. Since taking up my post as grand coordinator I have seen the people worn to the bone and the native chiefs and surrendered soldiers still holding back; we must settle affairs at home before we can strike beyond the borders. Li Dingguo and his followers are hiding in Menggen and the like, where steep country and fever country alike block the way. The miasma does not lift until the frosts come; by the second month of next year, when fresh grass appears, it returns. We would have at most four months to campaign, and I doubt we could finish the pursuit. Dingguo and his men aim to slip back into Guangxi through Jingdong and Yuanjiang, rally the native chiefs, hand out seals in secret, and bind them with blood oaths. Once they learn that our main force is marching west, they will dodge our strength and strike where we are weak, then turn and raid inward together. Our columns would already be too far apart to wheel about; and the garrison left in the provincial capital would have no time to plug every gap—Dingguo and his party could break loose, with grave consequences. I have weighed the moment and believe we should suspend operations this autumn and winter, so the battered people of far western Yunnan can eke out a little life from the harvest; next year plow hard in spring and slowly rebuild households and fields. Our troops meanwhile can rest, gather strength, and hold the center while controlling the periphery, so Dingguo cannot watch our movements and steal away and the native chiefs cannot seize a gap to make trouble. Break the remnant soldiers' ties, cut off the surrendered troops' chance to turn—then whether they hunger or eat, tire or rest, all will depend on us. Dingguo and his men, crouching on the frontier without shelter or supplies, will be worn down by fever and privation until rebellion within their ranks becomes likely—time itself may serve us. By then fodder and grain can be stockpiled, the Miao and Man brought to heel, and officers and men called up and mustered in turn before we advance—a lasting policy of pacifying within while striking without, settled once for all." The memorial went to the Prince Regent, the princes, and the ministers for consultation, and as Hong Chengchou had asked they suspended the advance.

十月，以目疾乞解任，命回京調理。明年，三桂進兵攻緬甸，獲明桂王以歸。語見三桂傳。聖祖即位，承疇乞致仕，予三等阿達哈哈番世職。康熙四年二月，卒，諡文襄。子士欽，順治十二年進士，官至太常寺少卿。

In the tenth month he asked to be relieved on account of eye trouble and was told to return to Beijing to recover. The following year Wu Sangui marched into Burma, took the Ming Prince of Gui prisoner, and brought him back. That story is told in the biography of Wu Sangui. After the Kangxi Emperor came to the throne, Hong Chengchou asked to retire and was given a hereditary third-class adaha hafan. He died in the second month of Kangxi 4 and was posthumously titled Wenxiang. His son Shi Qin passed the jinshi examination in the twelfth year of the Shunzhi reign and served as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

夏成德，廣寧人。既，以鬆山降，隸正白旗漢軍。順治初，授三等昂邦章京。其弟景海，授一等甲喇章京。出為山東沂水總兵，嘗疏請收沂州明大學士張四知等財產，又越職乞頒方印，皆不得請。旋以縱所部越境暴掠，與青州道韓方昭互揭，還京師，卒。乾隆初，定封三等子。

Xia Chengde came from Guangning. Later, after surrendering at Songshan, he was placed in the Han Army of the Plain White Banner. Early in the Shunzhi reign he was made a third-class angbang janggin. His younger brother Jinghai received the rank of first-class jalan janggin. Posted as regional commander at Yishui in Shandong, he once asked to seize the estates of the Ming grand secretary Zhang Sizhi and others at Yizhou and also overreached his office by begging for an official square seal; both requests were refused. He was soon recalled to the capital after letting his men raid across the border and trading accusations with the Qingzhou intendant Han Fangzhao, and died there. In early Qianlong his line was fixed with the hereditary rank of third-class viscount.

孟喬芳，字心亭，直隸永平人。父國用，明寧夏總兵官。喬芳仕明為副將，坐事罷，家居。

Meng Qiaofang, courtesy name Xinting, came from Yongping in Zhili. His father Guoyong had been the Ming regional commander at Ningxia. Meng Qiaofang had served the Ming as a vice general, but after being dismissed for an offense he lived in retirement.

天聰四年，太宗克永平，喬芳及知縣張養初、家居兵備道白養粹、罷職副將楊文魁、游擊楊聲遠等十五人出降，命以養粹為巡撫，養初為知府，喬芳、文魁仍為副將，率降兵從諸貝勒城守。上移軍向山海關，諸貝勒率喬芳、文魁、聲遠入謁行營，上召三人者酌以金卮，且諭之曰：「朕不似爾明主，凡我臣僚，皆令侍坐，吐衷曲，同飲食也。」喬芳使诇陽和，而明總兵祖大壽亦使詣喬芳诇我師，喬芳縛以獻。五月，明兵取灤州，貝勒阿敏棄永平出塞。瀕發，屠城民，諸降官養粹、養初等死者十一人，喬芳、文魁、聲遠及郎中陳此心得免。喬芳從師還，隸烏真超哈為牛錄額真。五年七月，置六部，以喬芳為刑部漢承政，授世職二等參將。

In Tiancong 4, when Hong Taiji took Yongping, Meng Qiaofang joined the district magistrate Zhang Yangchu, the retired defense intendant Bai Yangcui, the dismissed vice general Yang Wenkui, the battalion commander Yang Shengyuan, and ten others—fifteen men in all—in surrendering. Hong Taiji made Yangcui grand coordinator and Yangchu prefect, kept Meng Qiaofang and Wenkui as vice generals, and had them lead the surrendered troops in garrison duty under the princes. When the emperor marched toward Shanhaiguan, the princes brought Meng Qiaofang, Yang Wenkui, and Yang Shengyuan to audience at the field camp. He called the three forward, poured wine for them from a golden cup, and said: "I am not like your Ming sovereign. With me every officer sits at ease, speaks plainly, and shares food and drink." Meng Qiaofang sent scouts to Yanghe, but the Ming commander Zu Dashou had also sent men to Meng Qiaofang to spy on our forces; Meng Qiaofang seized them and handed them over. In the fifth month the Ming recovered Luanzhou, and Prince Amin abandoned Yongping and withdrew beyond the frontier. Before leaving he massacred the townspeople. Eleven of the surrendered officials, including Yangcui and Yangchu, were killed; Meng Qiaofang, Wenkui, Shengyuan, and the bureau director Chen Cixin survived. Meng Qiaofang marched back with the army and was registered in the ujen chaha as a niru ejen. In the seventh month of the fifth year, when the Six Ministries were set up, he was appointed Han supervisor of the Ministry of Punishments with a hereditary second-class colonel's rank.

崇德三年，更定官制，改左參政。四年，烏真超哈析置八旗四固山，以喬芳兼領正紅、鑲紅兩旗梅勒額真。七年，從伐明，克塔山城。烏真超哈八旗复析置八固山，改鑲紅旗梅勒額真，遂為漢軍鑲紅旗人。八年，或訴貝勒羅洛渾家人奪金，喬芳置不問，坐瞻徇，降世職三等甲喇章京。旋以從克前屯衛、中後所二城，加半個前程。

In Chongde 3, after the offices were reorganized, he became left vice commissioner. In the fourth year the ujen chaha was divided into four gūsa for the Eight Banners, and Meng Qiaofang was made meile ejen of both the Plain Red and Bordered Red Banners. In the seventh year he joined the campaign against the Ming and took Tashan. When the ujen chaha Eight Banners were further divided into eight gūsa, he became meile ejen of the Bordered Red Banner and henceforth counted as Han Army Bordered Red. In the eighth year, when men accused Prince Ruluohun's household of seizing gold, Meng Qiaofang took no action and was punished for shielding them; his hereditary rank was cut to third-class jalan janggin. He was soon rewarded with half a step of rank for helping take Qiandun Guard and the two posts at Zhonghou.

順治元年，入關，改左侍郎。從諸軍西討。二年四月，以兵部右侍郎兼右副都御史，總督陝西三邊。時張獻忠尚據四川，關中群盜並起，叛將賀珍躪漢中、興安諸府。是年冬，武大定叛固原，徒黨甚眾。初，上命內大臣何洛會帥師鎮西安，至是就拜定西大將軍，遣固山額真巴顏、李國翰將禁旅濟師。三年，复敕靖遠大將軍肅親王豪格帥師督諸將自漢中、興安入四川取獻忠，喬芳於其間亦分遣所部四出捕治。初上官，長安民胡守龍者挾左道惑民，妄改元清光，將為亂，喬芳遣副將陳德捕誅守龍，散其脅從。是年春，賀珍與其徒孫守法、胡向化等以七萬人攻西安。何洛會主城守，喬芳遣德軍西門，副將任珍軍北門，往來衝突，會李國翰師至，賀珍敗走。三年十月，肅親王豪格師既入川，喬芳亦遣總兵官範蘇等攻獻忠部眾，為伏柷溪第溝子，戰白水、青川，屢破之；復以反間殺其渠況益勤等，遂收龍安。

In the first year of the Shunzhi reign, after the entry into China proper, he was made left vice minister. He marched west with the main armies on the punitive expedition. In the fourth month of Shunzhi 2 he was appointed right vice minister of war and concurrent right vice censor-in-chief, with the title governor-general of Shaanxi's three border districts. Zhang Xianzhong still held Sichuan, rebels were rising all over Guanzhong, and the turncoat He Zhen was ravaging Hanzhong, Xing'an, and neighboring prefectures. That winter Wu Dading rose at Guyuan with a very large following. Earlier the Shunzhi Emperor had put Inner Minister He Luohui in command at Xi'an; now he was formally made General Who Pacifies the West, and the gūsa ejen Bayan and Li Guohan were sent with the imperial guard to reinforce him. In the third year the court again ordered Prince Su Hooge, as General Who Pacifies the Distant, to lead the generals from Hanzhong and Xing'an into Sichuan against Zhang Xianzhong, while Meng Qiaofang sent his own detachments out in every direction to hunt down and pacify rebels. Shortly after assuming his post, Qiaofang learned that a Chang'an man named Hu Shoulong was using occult teachings to mislead the people, had presumptuously declared a new reign title, Qingguang, and was preparing to rise in revolt. Qiaofang dispatched Deputy General Chen De to seize and put Shoulong to death, then break up his intimidated followers. In the spring of that year, He Zhen marched on Xi'an at the head of seventy thousand men, accompanied by his lieutenants Sun Shoufa, Hu Xianghua, and others. Heluoai held the inner city while Qiaofang posted Chen De at the west gate and Deputy General Ren Zhen at the north gate; the two columns skirmished repeatedly until Li Guohan's relief force came up and He Zhen was routed. In the tenth month of the third year, once Prince Su Hooge's forces were in Sichuan, Qiaofang too sent Regional Commander Fan Su and others against Zhang Xianzhong's remnants. They laid an ambush at Zhudi Gouzi in Zhuxi, fought at Baishui and Qingchuan, and won a series of victories; He then turned disinformation against the rebel leaders, killing Kuang Yiqin and others, and recovered Long'an.

四年五月，喬芳帥師出駐固原，討大定之黨，分遣諸將任珍擊斬白天爵等；劉芳名攻寧夏，俘王元、焦浴；陳德攻鎮原，降姬蛟、王總管：於是固原西北悉定。復遣珍、德及副將馬寧、王平徇興安，討賀珍之黨，戰蕎麥山，再戰板橋，斬胡向宸；困椒溝，破藥箭寨，斬孫守法；破漫營山寨，擒米國軫、李世英：於是興安定。是年秋，馬德亂寧夏，復遣馬寧會寧夏兵共討之。戰亂麻川，逐至河兒坪，斬德。又遣張勇、劉友元攻鐵角城，复戰安家川，擒賀宏器；攻李明義寨，擒明義：於是環慶亦定。乃益遣陳德、王平等招降青嘴寨渠折自明，三十六寨渠王希榮，轆轤寨渠高一祥，擊斬天峰寨渠張貴人，於是關中群盜垂盡。五年四月，流賊一朵雲、馬上飛等攻西鄉，喬芳遣任珍等討之，斬所署監軍許不惑，凡千餘級，生致其渠。

In the fifth month of the fourth year Qiaofang marched out and made camp at Guyuan to crush Wu Dading's party. He sent his commanders in separate columns: Ren Zhen struck down and beheaded Bai Tianjue and others; Liu Fangming attacked Ningxia and took Wang Yuan and Jiao Yu prisoner; Chen De attacked Zhenyuan and accepted the surrender of Ji Jiao and Wang Zongguan, and with that the northwest around Guyuan was fully secured. Qiaofang next sent Ren Zhen, Chen De, and Deputy Generals Ma Ning and Wang Ping to sweep Xing'an and hunt down He Zhen's allies. They fought at Qiaomai Mountain, fought again at Banqiao, and beheaded Hu Xiangchen; They cornered the rebels at Jiaogou, stormed Yaojian Stockade, and beheaded Sun Shoufa; They overran Manying Mountain Stockade and captured Mi Guozhen and Li Shiying, and Xing'an was brought under control. That autumn Ma De rebelled in Ningxia, and Qiaofang once more dispatched Ma Ning to combine with local Ningxia forces and suppress him. At Luanma River they gave battle, chased him to He'er Ping, and killed Ma De. He also sent Zhang Yong and Liu Youyuan against Tie'ercheng, fought again at Anjia River, and took He Hongqi captive; They assaulted Li Mingyi's stockade and captured Mingyi himself, and Huanqing was secured as well. Qiaofang then sent Chen De, Wang Ping, and others to accept the submission of Zhe Ziming of Qingzui Stockade, Wang Xirong of the Thirty-Six Stockades, and Gao Yixiang of Lulu Stockade, while striking down Zhang Guiren, chieftain of Tianfeng Stockade. With that, the outlaw bands of Guanzhong were all but wiped out. In the fourth month of the fifth year the bandit leaders Yiduo Yun and Mashangfei attacked Xixiang. Qiaofang sent Ren Zhen and others against them, killed their appointed military supervisor Xu Buhuo along with more than a thousand men, and took the ringleader alive.

河西回米喇印、丁國棟挾明延長王識駉為亂，既陷甘、涼，渡河東，殘岷、蘭、洮、河諸州，薄鞏昌。喬芳帥師出駐秦州，遣趙光瑞、馬寧等赴援，城兵出，夾擊，斬百餘級。寧等復戰廣武坡，逐北七十餘裡，斬三千餘級，鞏昌圍解。喇印、國棟之黨數百人，分擾臨洮、岷州內官營。喬芳部勒諸將，令張勇、陳萬略向臨洮，馬寧、劉友元取內官營，趙光瑞、佟透徇岷、洮、河三州。勇等敗賊馬韓山，斬級七百，進复臨洮。光瑞等敗賊梅嶺，得其渠丁光射，斬級三千。岷、洮、河三州皆下。寧等直擊內官營，斬級八百。喇印、國棟之徒退據蘭州。閏四月，喬芳與侍郎額塞率師自鞏昌薄蘭州。勇敗賊馬家坪，獲識駉，與寧、光瑞會師蘭州城下，攻拔之。別遣光瑞克舊洮州，其渠丁嘉升走死，師渡河。七月，定涼州。八月，攻甘州，喬芳遣張勇夜攻城，而與昂邦章京傅喀禪及寧、光瑞等為繼。喇印等食盡，皆出降。

Mi Layin and Ding Guodong, Hui leaders west of the Yellow River, rebelled under the banner of the Ming Prince of Yanchang, Shi Ting. After seizing Ganzhou and Liangzhou they crossed to the east bank, laid waste to Minzhou, Lanzhou, Taozhou, and Hezhou, and advanced on Gongchang. Qiaofang marched out and encamped at Qinzhou, dispatching Zhao Guangrui, Ma Ning, and others to the rescue. The city garrison came out to meet them, and in a converging attack they cut down more than a hundred rebels. Ma Ning's force fought again at Guangwu Slope, drove the rebels north for over seventy li, killed more than three thousand, and lifted the siege of Gongchang. Several hundred men from Layin and Guodong's party broke off to raid Lin Tao and Neiguan Camp in Minzhou. Qiaofang deployed his commanders: Zhang Yong and Chen Wanlue were sent toward Lin Tao, Ma Ning and Liu Youyuan to seize Neiguan Camp, and Zhao Guangrui and Tong Tou to sweep Minzhou, Taozhou, and Hezhou. Zhang Yong's column routed the rebels at Mahan Mountain, killed seven hundred, and pushed on to retake Lin Tao. Zhao Guangrui's force defeated the rebels at Meiling, captured their leader Ding Guangshe, and killed three thousand. Minzhou, Taozhou, and Hezhou all submitted. Ma Ning's troops hit Neiguan Camp head-on and killed eight hundred rebels. Layin and Guodong's men fell back and fortified themselves in Lanzhou. In the intercalary fourth month Qiaofang and Vice Minister Esai marched from Gongchang and closed on Lanzhou. Zhang Yong routed the rebels at Majia Ping and captured Shi Ting, then united with Ma Ning and Zhao Guangrui beneath the walls of Lanzhou and took the city by assault. He sent Zhao Guangrui in another column to seize Old Taozhou, where the rebel leader Ding Jiasheng fled to his death; the main force then crossed the river. In the seventh month Liangzhou was secured. In the eighth month they moved against Ganzhou. Qiaofang had Zhang Yong storm the walls by night, while he followed with Angbang Zhangjing Fukeshan, Ma Ning, Zhao Guangrui, and the rest as reserve. When Layin and his men ran out of food, they all surrendered.

六年，徵諸道兵下四川。喇印降後授副將，在蘭州軍中，覘鎮兵憚遠征，因惎中軍參將蔣國泰，戕甘肅巡撫張文衡等，據甘州以叛。國棟亦攻陷涼、肅二州。喬芳帥師自蘭州渡河而西，與傅喀禪等會師合圍，攻不下，深溝堅壘以困之。喇印等食盡夜遁，喬芳遣兵追及之水泉，擊殺喇印。國棟復與纏頭回土倫泰等據肅州，號倫泰王，而國棟自署總兵官，城守，出掠武威、張掖、酒泉。會平陽盜渠虞允、韓昭宣等應大同叛將薑瓖為亂，以三十萬人陷蒲州，上命喬芳與額塞還軍御之。喬芳留勇、寧等圍肅州，率師遂東。八月，師自潼關濟，督協領根特、副將趙光瑞等克蒲州，斬級七千。進次寧晉，瓖將白璋等六千人往攻榮河，光瑞等擊破之，斬級二千有奇。璋北走，師從之，迫河，賊多入水死，遂擊斬璋。餘賊入孫吉鎮，殲焉。復進向猗氏，行十餘裡，瓖所置監軍道衛登方以數千人依山拒我師，其將張萬全又以四千人助戰。光瑞等擊斬萬全，乃還攻，獲登方，斬其將王國賢等三十餘人、級三千有奇。又令章京杜敏等攻解州，破其渠邊王張五、黨自成等。榮河、猗氏、解州皆下。杜敏等殲餘寇。根特等又破所置都督郭中傑於侯馬驛。九月，光瑞等進克運城，斬允、昭宣。瓖之徒內犯者皆盡誅。十一月，勇、寧克肅州，誅國棟、倫泰及其黨黑承印等，斬五千餘級。河西平。

In the sixth year forces from every district were mobilized for the campaign into Sichuan. After his surrender Layin was made deputy general and kept with the Lanzhou garrison. Seeing that the local troops dreaded a long march, he turned Middle Army Assistant Commander Jiang Guotai against the Qing, murdered Gansu Governor Zhang Wenheng and others, and rebelled from Ganzhou. Ding Guodong likewise captured Liangzhou and Suzhou. Qiaofang marched from Lanzhou, crossed west of the river, and combined with Fukeshan to ring the rebels. Unable to storm the city, he entangled them with deep trenches and fortified camps. When Layin and his men ran out of food they broke out by night. Qiaofang's pursuers overtook them at Shuiquan and killed Layin. Ding Guodong then joined the Chantou Hui leader Tuluntai in holding Suzhou, where Tuluntai proclaimed himself king while Guodong styled himself regional commander, held the walls, and raided Wuwei, Zhangye, and Jiuquan. At the same time the Pingyang outlaw leaders Yu Yun and Han Zhaoxuan rallied to the Datong mutineer Jiang Xiang, and with three hundred thousand men seized Puzhou. The throne ordered Qiaofang and Esai to turn back and confront them. Qiaofang left Zhang Yong, Ma Ning, and others to continue the siege of Suzhou and marched east himself. In the eighth month his force crossed at Tong Pass. Under his direction Assistant Commander Gent, Deputy General Zhao Guangrui, and others captured Puzhou and killed seven thousand rebels. The army pushed on to Ningjin. Jiang Xiang's general Bai Zhang marched six thousand men against Ronghe, but Zhao Guangrui's force broke them and killed more than two thousand. Bai Zhang fled north; Qiaofang's troops pursued him to the river, where many rebels drowned, and then cut Zhang down. The survivors withdrew into Sunji Town and were wiped out there. The army advanced again on Yishi. After a march of more than ten li they met Dao Wei Dengfang, the military supervisor Jiang Xiang had installed, holding the hills with several thousand men, while his general Zhang Wanquan brought four thousand more to the fight. Zhao Guangrui's men killed Zhang Wanquan, wheeled about for the assault, took Dao Wei Dengfang prisoner, and beheaded more than thirty of his officers including Wang Guoxian, killing more than three thousand in all. He also sent Zhangjing Du Min and others against Jiezhou, where they broke the rebel leaders Bianwang Zhang Wu, Dang Zicheng, and their followers. Ronghe, Yishi, and Jiezhou all came under Qing control. Du Min's force mopped up the last of the rebels. Gent's column routed the rebel-appointed commander Guo Zhongjie at Houma Post. In the ninth month Zhao Guangrui's force pushed into Yuncheng and executed Yu Yun and Han Zhaoxuan. Every one of Jiang Xiang's men who had struck inland was hunted down and killed. In the eleventh month Zhang Yong and Ma Ning captured Suzhou, put Ding Guodong, Tuluntai, and their lieutenant Hei Chengyin to death, and killed more than five thousand rebels. The west of the river was at last quiet.

七年三月，論功，加兵部尚書，進世職一等阿達哈哈番。十二月，喬芳遣任珍擊斬興安寇何可亮。是年，遣趙光瑞等討北山寇劉宏才，戰保安，擒其軍師苗惠民；戰合水，擒斬宏才。八年，遣游擊陳明順等擊敗雒南寇何柴山，游擊仰九明诇紫陽山寇孫守全；復令光瑞等會興安鎮兵擊斬守全及其徒翹興寧、趙定國、謝天奇等，犁其寨。

When rewards were tallied in the third month of the seventh year, he was made Minister of War and his hereditary adaha hafan was raised one grade. In the twelfth month Qiaofang dispatched Ren Zhen, who hunted down and killed the Xing'an outlaw He Keiliang. The same year he sent Zhao Guangrui against the Beishan rebel Liu Hongcai; at Bao'an they routed his force and took his strategist Miao Huimin prisoner; at Heshui they caught Liu Hongcai and executed him. In the eighth year he ordered the battalion commander Chen Mingshun to break the Luonan rebel He Chaishan, and sent Yang Jiuming to scout the Ziyang Mountain chieftain Sun Shouquan; He then had Guangrui join the Xing'an garrison, cut down Sun Shouquan and his lieutenants Qiao Xingning, Zhao Dingguo, and Xie Tianqi, and level their stronghold.

喬芳督陝西十年，破滅群盜，降其脅從，前後十七萬六千有奇。獎拔諸將，不限資格，如張勇、馬寧、趙光瑞、陳德、狄應魁、劉友元輩，皆自偏裨至專閫。諸寇既殄，疏言：「陝西寇劇，多荒田，請蠲其賦。分兵徠民，行屯田法。」乃遣諸將白士麟等分屯延慶、平固諸地，歲得粟四萬二千石有奇，以佐軍糈。恩詔累進三等阿思哈尼哈番，加太子太保。

In ten years as governor of Shaanxi, Qiaofang broke the rebel armies and brought in more than 176,000 men who had followed them under duress. He promoted on merit rather than pedigree: Zhang Yong, Ma Ning, Zhao Guangrui, Chen De, Di Yingkui, Liu Youyuan, and others all climbed from junior ranks to full regional command. When the rebels were gone he memorialized the throne: "Banditry has ravaged Shaanxi and left much land fallow. I ask that its taxes be remitted. Send out troops to recall the people and put the garrison-colony system in place. He then posted Bai Shilin and other commanders to farm colonies around Yanqing, Pinggu, and elsewhere, yielding more than 42,000 shi of grain a year to feed the army. Imperial favor raised him step by step to third-class ashan i hafan and Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

十年二月，命兼督四川兵馬錢糧，疏言：「陝西七鎮及督撫各標為兵九萬八千有奇，合滿洲四旗及平西王吳三桂、固山額真李國翰兩軍，歲餉三百六十萬而弱，而陝西賦入一百八十六萬，不足者殆半，後將難繼。甘肅處邊遠興安界，三省兵當循舊額。延綏、寧夏、固原、臨鞏四鎮鎮留三千人，慶陽協五百人，餘五千五百人可省也。漢羌既駐三桂、國翰兩軍，宜裁總兵官。興鎮置副，留千人，陽平關、黑水峪、漢陰縣各五百人，餘二千五百人可省也。提督駐省會，留二千人，餘二千人亦可省也。各道標兵悉令屯田，延鎮、定邊、神木三道無屯田，止用守兵，計所省又二千餘人。都省兵一萬二千人，省餉歲三十一萬。今四川未定，當令右路總兵官馬寧率精兵三千駐保寧，以步兵五千分駐保寧迤北廣元、昭化間，以屯田為持久。三桂駐漢中，相為犄角，規取四川。」既，复疏言：「師進取四川，宜隨在留兵駐防，以樹干城，謀生聚。師行，當人給馬三、伴丁一，攜甲仗，以利攸往。」上褒其謀當。

In the second month of the tenth year he was told to oversee Sichuan's troops, horses, funds, and grain as well, and wrote: "Shaanxi's seven garrisons and the banners under the governor-general and grand coordinators field more than 98,000 men. Add the four Manchu banners plus the armies of the Prince of the West Wu Sangui and the gushen ejen Li Guohan, and annual pay runs to more than 3.6 million taels—yet Shaanxi collects only 1.86 million. Nearly half must come from elsewhere, and that cannot last. Gansu sits on a distant frontier beside Xing'an; the armies of all three provinces should keep their old establishments. At Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan, and Linggong keep 3,000 men; at Qingyang 500; the other 5,500 can go. Hanzhong and the Qiang frontier already hold Sangui's and Guohan's two armies—the regional commander there should be removed. Leave a deputy at Xing'an with 1,000 men; 500 each at Yangping Pass, Heishui Valley, and Hanyin County; 2,500 more can be cut. The governor-general at the provincial seat needs 2,000; the other 2,000 can be cut as well. Every circuit banner should farm; Yansui, Dingbian, and Shenmu, which cannot farm, need only garrison guards—another 2,000 men saved. In all, 12,000 men can be struck from the provincial rolls, saving 310,000 taels a year. Sichuan is still unsettled. Ma Ning, regional commander of the Right Route, should take 3,000 elite troops to Baoning and station 5,000 foot soldiers north of it between Guangyuan and Zhaohua, using garrison colonies to sustain a long campaign. Wu Sangui holds Hanzhong; the two wings can pinch Sichuan and take it. He followed with another memorial: "As the army moves into Sichuan, leave troops at every point taken to hold the ground, build strongpoints, and restore people and grain. On the march, give each soldier three horses, one servant, and full arms so he can go wherever the campaign demands. The throne approved the plan.

十月，西寧回謀為亂，遣狄應魁捕治，得其渠祁敖、牙固子等以歸。喬芳屢乞退，至是以疾告，加少保，召還京師。十二月，命未至而喬芳卒，諡忠毅。太宗拔用諸降將，從入關，出領方面，喬芳績最顯，張存仁亞焉。聖祖嘗誡漢軍諸官吏，因曰：「祖宗定鼎初，委任漢軍諸官吏，與滿洲一體。其間頗有宣猷效力如喬芳、存仁輩，朝廷亦得其用」云。

In the tenth month Muslims at Xining plotted revolt; he sent Di Yingkui to suppress them and returned with the ringleaders Qi Ao, Yaguzi, and their fellows. Qiaofang had long asked to step down; now, pleading illness, he was made Junior Guardian and recalled to the capital. In the twelfth month, before the summons reached him, Qiaofang died; the court gave him the posthumous name Zhongyi, Loyal and Resolute. Hong Taiji had plucked surrendered generals from the ranks, brought them through the pass, and sent them to govern the provinces; among them Qiaofang shone brightest, with Zhang Cunren close behind. The Kangxi Emperor once warned Han Banner officials: "When our forefathers founded the dynasty, they entrusted Han Banner men and treated them as equals of the Manchus. Among them were men who offered sound counsel and served well—Qiaofang, Cunren, and others like them—and the court put them to good use," he said.

張文衡，遼東開平衛人。明諸生。天聰八年閏八月，太宗自將伐明，入宣府。文衡自大同詣軍前求見，言在明為代王參謀。明諸臣方尚貪酷，虐民罔上，必有聖主應天而興，故徒步上謁。旋疏言：「大同城小而堅，師攻當先關而后城，攻關宜穴地。宣府城大破碎，宜決洋河灌之。」九年正月，复疏策進取，言：「明文武將吏皆以賂得，無謀無勇；又以貪故，餉減器窳，兵不用命。所以能拒我者，不過畏殺、畏掠、畏父母妻子離散，乃倚火器以死禦我。今宣、大新被兵，山、陝、川、湖陷於流賊。賊半天下，兵亦半天下。惟東南無事，又困於新餉。上不及此時進兵，明不恆弱，我不恆強，節短勢險，人有鼎立之志。豈非自失其機，反貽異日憂乎？原上毋負天生上之心也。」疏入，上曰：「待朕思之。」二月，遣貝勒多爾袞帥師收察哈爾。文衡又言：「宜率蒙古入偏岢，略太原，假中國物力以富蒙古；且張軍威，並可近招流賊，並力並進。」上授文衡秘書院副理事官，賜田宅、銀幣，以大臣雅希禪女妻焉。隸鑲黃旗漢軍。

Zhang Wenheng came from Kaipingwei in Liaodong. He had passed the Ming licentiate examination. In the intercalary eighth month of Tiancong 8, Hong Taiji led the army against the Ming in person and marched into Xuanfu. Wenheng walked from Datong to the camp and asked to be received, explaining that he had served the Ming as strategist to the Prince of Dai. Ming ministers then worshipped greed and cruelty, grinding the people and lying to the throne; a sage king must rise to answer Heaven—and so he had come on foot to offer himself. He soon wrote: "Datong is small but stout. Take the passes before the city; to storm a pass, dig under the walls. Xuanfu is vast but crumbling—break the Yang River and flood it." In the first month of the ninth year he submitted another plan of conquest: "Ming civil and military officers buy their posts—they have no strategy and no nerve; greed has pared their pay and left their arms worthless, so the soldiers will not fight as ordered. They resist only because they dread slaughter, looting, and the scattering of their families—so they cling to gunpowder weapons and sell their lives dearly. Xuanfu and Datong have just been ravaged; Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Huguang are overrun by roving rebels. Rebels hold half the empire—and armies consume the other half. Only the southeast is still at peace, and even there the new levy is crushing the people. If Your Majesty does not strike now, Ming weakness and our strength will not last; means are short and the ground treacherous, and men will begin to dream of three kingdoms standing apart. Would that not mean squandering the moment and storing up trouble for years to come? I pray Your Majesty will not betray the purpose for which Heaven set you on the throne. The memorial reached the throne, and the Emperor replied, "Leave it to me—I will think it over." That second month, Prince Dorgon was sent at the head of an army to subdue Chahar. Wenheng pressed the point again: "Lead the Mongols through Pianguan Pass, strike at Taiyuan, and use the resources of China to enrich Mongolia; display your armies' power, and at the same time draw in the roving rebels close at hand—unite your strength and press forward as one." The Emperor made Wenheng deputy director of the Secretariat, rewarded him with land, a house, and silver, and gave him the daughter of the minister Yaxi Chan as his wife. He was registered with the Chinese Eight Banners of the Bordered Yellow Banner.

順治元年，出為山東青州知府。初上官，總兵官柯永盛以戍青州之兵徇高密，而侍郎王鰲永以招撫至，主餉。趙應元者，從李自成為旗鼓，覸青州兵寡，陽就鰲永降，請置孥於城。既入，遂執殺鰲永。文衡見應元，為好語，具疏請留鎮。應元喜，攫庫金，群酗。會梅勒額真和託、李率泰率禁旅略登、萊，道青州，營城西北。文衡惎應元出謁和託等，慰勞遣還，密令兵從入，夜起戮應元及其黨數十人。青州平。

In the first year of Shunzhi, he was appointed prefect of Qingzhou in Shandong. Not long after he assumed his post, Regional Commander Ke Yongsheng marched the Qingzhou garrison to pacify Gaomi, while Vice Minister Wang Aoyong arrived on a conciliation mission and took charge of provisions. Zhao Yingyuan had once served Li Zicheng as a standard-bearer; noting how thin Qingzhou's defenses were, he pretended to surrender to Aoyong and asked leave to settle his family inside the walls. Once he was within the city, he seized Aoyong and killed him. Wenheng went to see Yingyuan, treated him with courtesy, and memorialized the throne asking that he be allowed to remain and hold the city. Yingyuan was overjoyed. He plundered the treasury and his men caroused together. At that time the meile ejen Hetuo and Li Shuaitai, commanding the imperial guard on a sweep through Dengzhou and Laizhou, came by way of Qingzhou and made camp northwest of the city. Wenheng goaded Yingyuan into going out to pay his respects to Hetuo and his officers; after receiving him with courtesy and sending him back, he secretly ordered soldiers to slip in after him. That night they rose up and cut down Yingyuan and several dozen of his men. Qingzhou was restored to order.

二年，移淮安府知府。豫親王多鐸下揚州，道淮安。文衡請禁將吏毋擾市，糗糧芻秣應期立辦。三遷，巡撫甘肅。五年二月上官，踰月而遘米喇印之亂。變未作，喇印詭言要文衡造其家集議。文衡行未至，賊環射殺之。總兵劉良臣，副將毛鑌、潘雲騰，游擊黃得成、金印，都司王之俊，守備胡大年、李廷試、李承澤、陳九功皆死。參將翟大有與戰，沒於陣。賊挾西寧道副使林維造至北關，扌益殺之。越日，陷涼州，戕西寧道參議張鵬翼。賊四出侵掠，破鞏昌，戕臨鞏兵備道李絮飛；破岷州，戕知州杜懋哲、王札；破蘭州，戕同知趙衝學，知州趙翀，訓導白旗、國學錦；破臨洮，戕同知徐養奇；破渭源，戕知縣李淐；戰通渭，圍子山，知縣周盛時被創死。事平，皆贈卹如例。

In the second year he was moved to the prefecture of Huai'an. Prince Dodo of Yu, on his descent toward Yangzhou, passed through Huai'an. Wenheng petitioned that officers and staff be forbidden to harass the markets, and that grain and fodder be readied on time. Promoted three times in succession, he was made grand coordinator of Gansu. He took up the post in the second month of the fifth year, and within a month the rebellion of Mi Layin broke upon him. Before the revolt erupted, Layin sent a deceptive summons asking Wenheng to come to his house for a council. Wenheng had not yet reached the place when the rebels closed in around him and shot him dead. Regional Commander Liu Liangchen, Vice Commanders Mao Bin and Pan Yunteng, Battalion Commanders Huang Decheng and Jin Yin, Division Director Wang Zhijun, and Garrison Commanders Hu Danian, Li Tingshi, Li Chengze, and Chen Jiugong all perished. Assistant Commander Zhai Dayou fought and died on the field. The rebels dragged Lin Weizao, vice commissioner of the Xining circuit, to the North Gate and killed him by beating. The following day they seized Liangzhou and murdered Zhang Pengyi, assistant administration commissioner of the Xining circuit. The rebels fanned out in every direction, looting as they went. They overran Gongchang and killed Li Xufei, the Lin'gong military intendant; overran Minzhou and killed Prefects Du Maozhe and Wang Zha; overran Lanzhou and killed Vice Prefect Zhao Chongxue, Prefect Zhao Chong, and Instructors Bai Qi and Guo Xuejin; overran Lintao and killed Vice Prefect Xu Yangqi; overran Weiyuan and killed County Magistrate Li Cheng; At Tongwei, on Weizishan, County Magistrate Zhou Shengshi was wounded in battle and died. After order was restored, all received posthumous honors and pensions according to precedent.

張存仁，遼陽人。明寧遠副將，與總兵祖大壽同守大凌河。天聰五年，太宗自將攻大凌河，從大壽出降，仍授副將。六年正月，存仁與副將張洪謨、參將高光輝、游擊方獻可合疏請乘時進取，參將薑新別疏請令副將祖可法、劉天祿先取松、杏二城，則錦州自下。七年五月，新復請進兵，洪謨等及新皆大凌河降將也。

Zhang Cunren came from Liaoyang. Under the Ming he had been vice commander at Ningyuan and, together with Regional Commander Zu Dashou, defended Daling River. In the fifth year of Tiancong, when the Taizong led the assault on Daling River in person, he followed Dashou in surrender and was again given the rank of vice commander. In the first month of the sixth year, Cunren joined Vice Commanders Zhang Hongmo, Assistant Commander Gao Guanghui, and Battalion Commander Fang Xiank in a joint memorial urging an immediate advance. Assistant Commander Jiang Xin submitted a separate memorial proposing that Vice Commanders Zu Kefan and Liu Tianlu first seize the twin fortresses of Song and Xing—then Jinzhou would collapse on its own. In the fifth month of the seventh year Jiang Xin again pressed for an advance. Hongmo and the rest, like Jiang himself, were all former Daling River commanders who had surrendered.

崇德元年五月，始設都察院，班六部上。以存仁為承政，並授世職一等梅勒章京。越數日，存仁上言：「臣自歸國，默察諸臣賢否，政事得失，但不敢出位妄論列。今上創立此官，而以命臣。臣而正直，後之人正直必有過於臣者；臣而邪佞，後之人邪佞亦必有甚於臣者。所慮臣本心而行事，人不敢彈劾而臣彈劾之，人不敢更張而臣更張之，舉國必共攻臣，使臣上無以報主恩，下無以伸己志，獲戾滋甚。臣雖愚，豈不知隨眾然諾，其事甚易；發姦擿伏，其事甚難。誠見不如此，不足以盡職。敢於受任之始，瀝誠以請：如臣苟且塞責，畏首畏尾，請以負君之罪殺臣；如臣假公行私，瞻顧情面，請以欺君之罪殺臣；如臣貪財受賄，私家利己，請以貪婪之罪殺臣。苟臣無此三罪，而奸邪誣陷，亦原上申乾斷，以儆讒嫉。」上曰：「此或知有其人而為是言。朕素不聽讒，惟親見者始信之。且朕志定於上，而諸臣蒙澤於下，縱有奸邪，孰能售其術哉？」越數日，以阿什達爾漢為都察院滿承政，尼堪為蒙古承政，並增置祖可法為漢承政。上御清寧宮，阿什達爾漢等前奏事，上因諭曰：「朕有過，親王以下壞法亂紀，民左道惑眾，皆當不時以聞。若舉細而遺大，非忠直也。」可法對曰：「臣等惟上是懼，他復何忌？有聞必以奏。」存仁曰：「可法言非是。臣誠忠直為國，上前且犯顏直諫，況他人乎？」上曰：「然。人果正直，天地鬼神不能搖動，人主焉得而奪之？」是歲，都察院劾刑部承政郎球貪汙，論罪；劾工部奪民居授降人，复別造宅償民，勞民非制。上以諸臣多未更事，事事加罪，反令惶惑，但誡毋更違令。

In the fifth month of the first year of Chongde the Censorate was created for the first time, placed above the Six Ministries in rank. Cunren was appointed chengzheng and was also granted a hereditary first-rank meile janggin. A few days later Cunren memorialized: "Since I came over to this court I have watched in silence which ministers are worthy and where policy goes right or wrong—but I did not dare speak out of turn. Now Your Majesty has established this post and placed me in it. If I am upright, those who come after me will surely be more upright still; if I am crooked and servile, those who follow will surely be crookeder and more servile still. What I dread is this: if I follow my conscience—impeaching where others hold their tongues, pressing for change where others shrink from it—the whole court will turn on me together, so that above I cannot repay Your Majesty's trust and below I cannot act on my own convictions. My guilt will only grow. I may be slow-witted, but I know well enough that nodding along with the multitude is the easy path; that unmasking hidden crimes and dragging wrongdoing into the light is the hard one. I am convinced that anything less than that will not let me do my duty. At the very moment I take up this office, I lay my heart bare and ask: if I am perfunctory in duty, timid and hesitant, execute me for failing my sovereign; if I use public office for private ends and defer to personal ties, execute me for deceiving my sovereign; if I take bribes and seek private gain, execute me for greed. If I am guilty of none of these three offenses yet am slandered and framed by the wicked, I ask Your Majesty to judge from on high and make an example of calumny and envy. The emperor said, "Perhaps this is said because someone knows such a person exists. I have never heeded slander; I believe only what I see with my own eyes. My will is fixed above, and all my ministers receive grace below—even if the wicked remain, who could peddle their schemes? A few days later Ashdarhan was made Manchu chief secretary of the Censorate, Nikan Mongol chief secretary, and Zu KeFa was added as Han chief secretary. The emperor received audience at the Qingning Palace. Ashdarhan and the others came forward to report affairs, and the emperor instructed them: "If I err, if princes and all below break law and discipline, if the people follow heterodox ways and lead others astray—you must report it at once. To report trifles and omit great matters is not loyal and upright conduct. KeFa replied, "We fear only Your Majesty—what else is there to dread? Whatever we hear, we shall report. Cunren said, "KeFa is wrong. If I am truly loyal and upright in service to the state, I would remonstrate even before Your Majesty's face—how much more with others? The emperor said, "True. If a man is truly upright, neither Heaven and Earth nor ghosts and spirits can move him—how could any sovereign take that from him? That year the Censorate impeached Lang Qiu, chief secretary of the Board of Punishments, for corruption, and he was convicted; and impeached the Board of Works for seizing commoners' homes to give to surrendered men, then building other houses to compensate them—wasting labor in violation of regulation. The emperor said many officials were still inexperienced; to punish them for every fault would only breed fear and confusion. He merely warned them not to violate orders again.

三年正月，可法、存仁疏言：「禮部行考試，令奴僕不得與。上前歲試士，奴僕有中式者，別以人畀其主。今忽更此制，臣等竊謂奴僕宜令與試，但限以十人為額。苟十人皆才，何惜以十人易之？」上曰：「昔取遼東，良民多為奴僕。朕令諸王下至民家，皆察而出之，復為良民。又許應試，少通文藝，拔為儒生。今滿洲家奴僕，非先時濫占者比。或有一二諸生，非攻城破敵血戰而得，即以戰死被賚。昨歲克皮島，滿洲官兵爭效命，漢官兵坐視不救。此行所得之人，苟無故奪之，彼死戰之勞，捐軀之義，何忍棄也？若別以人相易，易者無罪，強令為奴，獨非人乎？爾等但愛漢人，不知惜滿洲有功將士及見易而為奴者也。」可法、存仁引罪謝。既，复論戶部承政韓大勳盜帑，大勳坐奪職。四月，疏請敕戶部立四柱年冊，再疏請誅大勳，又劾吏部、刑部復用贓吏違旨壞法，皆與可法合疏上，上皆嘉納之。七月，更定官制，可法、存仁皆改都察院右參政。漢軍旗制定，隸鑲藍旗。

In the first month of the third year KeFa and Cunren memorialised: "The Board of Rites is holding examinations and has barred bond-servants from taking part. Last year, when Your Majesty tested scholars, bond-servants who passed were replaced with other men given to their masters. Now this rule is suddenly changed. We venture to suggest that bond-servants be allowed to sit the examinations, but with a quota of ten. If all ten are talented, why hesitate to exchange ten men for ten? The emperor said, "When we took Liaodong, many good commoners were made bond-servants. I ordered princes and common households alike to examine the matter and release them, restoring them as free commoners. I also permitted them to sit the examinations, and those with some literary skill were selected as scholars. Today's Manchu household bond-servants are not like those seized indiscriminately in earlier days. One or two may hold degrees, but they were not won by storming cities and breaking enemy lines in bloody battle—they were granted as rewards for men who died in combat. Last year, when Pi Island was taken, Manchu officers and soldiers vied to give their lives, while Han officers and soldiers looked on and did not rescue them. The bond-servants taken in that campaign—if we seize them without cause, how can we cast aside the labor of those who fought to the death and the righteousness of those who gave their lives? If we exchange them for other men, the exchanged are innocent yet forced into bondage—are they not human beings too? You favor the Han alone and do not value Manchu's meritorious officers and soldiers, nor those exchanged and forced into bondage. KeFa and Cunren acknowledged their fault and apologized. Later they again impeached Han Daxun, chief secretary of the Board of Revenue, for embezzling treasury funds, and Daxun was stripped of office. In the fourth month they memorialised asking the emperor to order the Board of Revenue to establish a four-column annual register; memorialised again requesting Daxun's execution; and also impeached the Boards of Civil Appointments and Punishments for re-employing corrupt officials in defiance of the imperial will and law—all submitted jointly with KeFa, and the emperor approved them all. In the seventh month, when the official system was revised, KeFa and Cunren were both made Right Vice Commissioners of the Censorate. When the Han Eight Banners were established, he was assigned to the Bordered Blue Banner.

大壽既降，復入錦州為明守，攻數年不克。五年正月，存仁疏請屯兵廣寧，扼寧遠、錦州門戶。四月，又疏言：「臣睹今日情勢，錦州所必爭。但略地得利易，圍城見功難。原上振軍心，與之堅持。截彼诇察，禁我逃亡。遠不過一歲，近不過一月，當有機可乘。兵法全城為上，蓋貴得人得地，不貴得空城也。我師壓境，彼必棄錦州，保寧遠；再急，彼必棄寧遠，保山海關。大壽跋扈畏罪，豈肯輕去其窟？事緩則計持久，事急則慮身家。大壽背恩失信，人皆以為無顏再降。臣深知其心無定，惟便是圖，急則悉置不顧。況彼所恃者蒙古耳，今蒙古多慕化而來，彼必疑而防之。防之嚴則思離，離則思變。伏原以屯耕為本務，率精銳薄城，顯檄蒙古，縱俘宣諭，未有不相率出降者。此攻心之策，得人得地之術也。」十二月，復言：「兵事有時、有形、有勢，三者變化無定，而用之在人。松山、杏山、塔山三城，乃錦州之羽翼，寧遠之咽喉。塔山城倚西山之麓，自其巔發砲俯擊，城易破也。既得此城，羽翼折，咽喉塞矣。兵法困堅城者，必留其隙。錦州雖不甚堅，當留山海關以為之隙。錦州遼兵少，西兵多，一人負箭入，群驚而思遁。能善用巧，山海關可下。」疏末並言烏真超哈每遇番上，輒令奴僕代，上為申禁。

After Dashou had surrendered, he re-entered Jinzhou to hold it for the Ming, and attacks went on for years without success. In the first month of the fifth year Cunren memorialised requesting that troops be garrisoned at Guangning to hold the gateway to Ningyuan and Jinzhou. In the fourth month he memorialised again: "I see in the present situation that Jinzhou is sure to be contested. But raiding to seize land is easy; besieging a city and winning glory is hard. I ask Your Majesty to raise the army's morale and hold firm with them. Cut off their reconnaissance and forbid our desertions. At most a year, at least a month—an opening should appear. In the art of war, taking a city intact is best—for what matters is gaining people and land, not empty walls. When our army presses the border, they will surely abandon Jinzhou and hold Ningyuan; pressed harder, they will abandon Ningyuan and hold Shanhaiguan. Dashou is overbearing and fearful of punishment—would he lightly leave his lair? When affairs move slowly he plans for the long haul; when they grow urgent he thinks of his life and property. Dashou broke faith after his surrender; all believe he has no face to submit again. I know well that his heart is unsteady and he seeks only advantage; in urgency he will cast everything aside. Moreover, what he relies on are the Mongols; now many Mongols come admiring our civilization, and he must suspect and guard against them. Strict guard breeds thoughts of departure, and departure breeds thoughts of rebellion. I humbly ask that garrison farming be made the main task, that elite troops press the walls, that proclamations be sent openly to the Mongols, and captives released to proclaim our intent—then none will fail to come out in surrender. This is the strategy of attacking the heart—the art of gaining people and land. In the twelfth month he memorialised again: "Military affairs have timing, form, and momentum—the three shift without fixed pattern, and mastery lies in men. Songshan, Xingshan, and Tashan are Jinzhou's wings and Ningyuan's throat. Tashan city stands against the western foothills; cannon fired from the heights can strike down, and the city is easily taken. Once this city is taken, the wings are broken and the throat blocked. In the art of war, when besieging a strong city one must leave it an exit. Jinzhou is not very strong; Shanhaiguan should be left as its exit. Jinzhou has few Liaodong troops but many western troops; let one man carry arrows inside, and the whole host will panic and think of flight. Used with skill, stratagem can take Shanhaiguan. At the end of the memorial he also reported that Wuzhen Chao Ha, whenever his turn came for palace duty, always sent bond-servants in his place; the emperor issued a prohibition.

六年，師屢破明兵松山、杏山間，存仁复疏請相機度勢，以時進兵。七年，既克錦州，存仁請招吳三桂降。上頒御劄撫諭，並命存仁遺以私書，略言：「明運將終，重臣大帥就俘歸命。將軍祖氏甥，雖欲逃罪，無以自明。大廈將傾，一木不能支。縱苟延歲月，智竭力窮，終蹈舅氏故轍。何若未困先降，勳名俱重？」六月，烏真超哈四旗始分置八固山，授存仁鑲藍旗梅勒額真。八年，從鄭親王濟爾哈朗取前屯衛、中後所，加半個前程。

In the sixth year the army repeatedly defeated Ming forces between Songshan and Xingshan, and Cunren again memorialised asking to read the situation and advance troops at the proper time. In the seventh year, once Jinzhou fell, Cunren asked leave to bring Wu Sangui over in surrender. The emperor issued an imperial letter of reassurance and ordered Cunren to follow it with a private note, which ran in brief: "The Ming dynasty's fate is spent. Great ministers and field marshals have been taken captive and have bowed to the new order. You are the Zus' nephew by marriage, General. Even if you wished to evade guilt, you could not clear your name. When a great house is about to fall, one beam cannot hold it up. Drag it out as you may—when wit is spent and strength gone, you will only tread your uncle's old road to ruin. Why not surrender before you are trapped, and keep both merit and renown intact? In the sixth month the four Ujen Cooha banners were first split into eight gushan, and Cunren was made meiren ejen of the Bordered Blue Banner. In the eighth year he followed Prince Zheng Jirhalang in taking Qiantunwei and Zhonghousuo and received an added half-rank stipend.

順治元年，從入關，與固山額真葉臣率師徇山西，下府六、州二十四、縣一百三十一，遂克太原。又從豫親王多鐸略河南，下江南，督所部以砲戰，屢有克捷。二年六月，從貝勒博洛定浙江，以存仁領浙江總督。兵後民流亡，存仁集士紳使撫諭，民復其所。七月，疏言：「近有薙發之令，民或假此號召為逆。若反形既著，重勞大兵，莫若速遣提學，開科取士，下令免積逋，減額賦，使讀書者希仕進，力田者逭追呼，則莫肯相從為逆矣。」得旨，謂「誠安民急務也」，令新定諸行省皆準恩詔施行。

In Shunzhi 1 he marched through the pass with the main army and, with gushan ejen Ye Chen, swept Shanxi—six prefectures, twenty-four subprefectures, and 131 counties fell before Taiyuan was taken. He then followed Prince Yu Duo through Henan and down into Jiangnan, leading his own troops in artillery engagements and winning again and again. In the sixth month of the second year he joined Beile Boluo in pacifying Zhejiang and was placed at the head of the province as governor-general. War had scattered the people. Cunren rallied the local gentry to go out and reassure them, and the populace returned to their homes. In the seventh month he memorialized: "The recent order requiring the shaving of the head may give some among the people a banner under which to raise rebellion. Wait until rebellion shows its face, and the cost in troops will be heavy. Better to send education commissioners at once, open the examinations and recruit scholars, remit accumulated tax arrears, and cut the quota levies—let men of letters look to office for advancement and farmers escape the bailiff's knock, and none will follow the rebels." The response came back: "This is truly urgent work for settling the people," and all the newly pacified provinces were ordered to carry it out under the terms of the amnesty edict.

十一月，授兵部右侍郎，兼都察院右副都御史，總督浙江、福建。時明魯王以海保紹興，號「監國」，其將方國安鎮嚴州。故明福王由崧倚大學士馬士英，用以亡國，士英走依國安。是歲九月，國安自富陽渡錢塘江窺杭州，存仁遣副將張傑、王定國率師御之，斬四千餘級。國安退保富陽。又令定國出屯餘杭，遇國安兵，與戰，自關頭至小嶺，逐北二十里，斬國安子士衍。十月，士英復以兵至，去杭州十里為壘五。平南大將軍貝勒勒克德渾帥師赴之，未至，士英引去，存仁與總兵官田雄追擊之，斬五百餘級。十一月，士英、國安復以兵至，存仁與梅勒額真季什哈及雄等帥師擊之，敵溺江死者無算。十二月，士英、國安屯赭山，掠硃橋、範村諸處。存仁與梅勒額真硃瑪喇及雄、傑等分兵與戰，國安所將水師數万人殲焉，餘眾俘馘殆盡。三年二月，有姚志卓者，為亂於昌化，與國安相應。存仁遣傑等擊走志卓，复昌化。五月，敘功，進三等昂邦章京。六月，遣副將張國勳等破敵太湖，獲士英等，戮之。十一月，存仁請設水師五千，備錢塘江禦海寇。四年五月，遣副將滿進忠等收福州鎮東衛，破海寇周鶴芝；遣副將李繡援浦城，逐鶴芝黨岑本高。十二月，遣副將馬成龍等破敵處州，克景寧、雲和、龍泉三縣。五年正月，明宜春王議衍率眾自江西入福建，保汀州山寨，總兵官於永紱擊破之。二月，分兵克連城、順昌、將樂三縣，獲明侍郎趙士冕、總兵黃鍾靈等。存仁自至浙江，屢以疾乞休，至是始得請，受代以去。

In the eleventh month he was made vice minister of war, concurrently vice censor-in-chief of the right, and governor-general over Zhejiang and Fujian. The Ming Prince of Lu, Zhu Yihai, still held Shaoxing under the title "Regent of the State," while his general Fang Guo'an kept Yanzhou. The former Ming Prince of Fu, Zhu Yousong, had leaned on Grand Secretary Ma Shiying—and that dependence had helped ruin the dynasty. Shiying had fled and now clung to Guo'an. That September Guo'an crossed the Qiantang from Fuyang to probe Hangzhou. Cunren sent Vice Commanders Zhang Jie and Wang Dingguo against him and took more than four thousand heads. Guo'an fell back to hold Fuyang. Cunren then sent Dingguo to encamp at Yuhang. There he met Guo'an's army and fought from Guantou to Xiaoling, driving the enemy north twenty li and killing Guo'an's son Shiyan. In the tenth month Shiying returned with an army and threw up five camps ten li from Hangzhou. Beile Lekdehun, the Pingnan Grand General, marched to meet them, but before he arrived Shiying withdrew. Cunren and Regional Commander Tian Xiong pursued and took more than five hundred heads. In the eleventh month Shiying and Guo'an came again. Cunren, with meiren ejen Jisheha, Xiong, and others, struck them, and the enemy drowned in the river beyond numbering. In the twelfth month Shiying and Guo'an encamped at Zhushan and raided Zhuhqiao, Fancun, and neighboring villages. Cunren, with meiren ejen Zhumarha, Xiong, Jie, and others, split their forces and gave battle. The naval army of tens of thousands under Guo'an's command was wiped out; the survivors were captured or killed almost to a man. In the second month of the third year a man named Yao Zhizhuo rebelled in Changhua in coordination with Guo'an. Cunren sent Jie and others to drive Zhizhuo off and recover Changhua. In the fifth month, when merits were tallied, he was advanced to third-rank angbang janggin. In the sixth month he sent Vice Commander Zhang Guoxun and others to break the enemy at Lake Tai, where Shiying and his companions were taken and executed. In the eleventh month Cunren asked that a fleet of five thousand be raised to guard the Qiantang against sea raiders. In the fifth month of the fourth year he sent Vice Commander Man Jinzhong and others to retake Zhendongwei in Fuzhou and break the sea raider Zhou Hezhi; he sent Vice Commander Li Xiu to relieve Pucheng and drive off Cen Bengao, a follower of Zhou Hezhi. In the twelfth month he sent Vice Commander Ma Chenglong and others to defeat the enemy at Chuzhou and recover Jingning, Yunhe, and Longquan. In the first month of the fifth year the Ming Prince of Yichun, Zhu Yiyan, marched from Jiangxi into Fujian and held a mountain stronghold in Tingzhou. Regional Commander Yu Yongfu attacked and shattered them. In the second month he split his forces and took Liancheng, Shunchang, and Jiangle, capturing the former Ming vice minister Zhao Shimian, Regional Commander Huang Zhongling, and others. Ever since Cunren had reached Zhejiang he had pleaded illness and asked to retire; only now was he released, and he handed over his post and left.

六年八月，起授兵部尚書，兼右副都御史，總督直隸、山東、河南三行省，巡撫保定諸府，提督紫金諸關，兼領海防。盜發榆園，為大名諸縣害。存仁聞歸德侯方域才，貽書諮治盜策，方域具以對。存仁用其計，盜悉平。七年，上令疆吏考校諸守令，以文藝最高下。存仁出按諸府縣，廉能吏有一二語通曉，即註上考；非然者，文雖工亦乙之。監司請其故，存仁曰：「我武臣也，上命我校文，我第考實，文有偽，實難欺也。況諸守令多從龍之士，未嘗教之，遽以文藝校短長，不寒廉能吏心乎？」屢遇恩詔，進一等精奇尼哈番兼拖沙喇哈番。九年，卒，贈太子太保，諡忠勤，祀直隸、山東、河南、浙江、福建五行省名宦。乾隆初，定封三等子。

In the eighth month of the sixth year he was recalled to serve as minister of war, concurrently vice censor-in-chief of the right, governor-general over Zhili, Shandong, and Henan, grand coordinator of the Baoding prefectures, superintendent of the Zijin passes, and overseer of coastal defense. Bandits broke out in Yuyuan and ravaged the counties of Daming. Cunren had heard of Hou Fangyu of Guide and wrote to ask his counsel against the bandits. Fangyu answered in full. Cunren followed his plan, and the bandits were wiped out. In the seventh year the emperor ordered frontier officials to grade every prefect and magistrate by literary skill. Cunren went out in person to inspect the prefectures and counties. If an honest, capable official showed real grasp in even a phrase or two, he marked him for top grade; otherwise, however polished the prose, he marked him down. A supervising official asked why. Cunren said: "I am a soldier. The emperor told me to judge their writing—I can only judge what is real. Prose can be faked; facts cannot. Besides, most of these prefects and magistrates are men who rode with the dragon at the founding—they were never schooled in letters. To rank them suddenly by literary polish—would that not freeze the hearts of the honest and able?" On successive amnesty edicts he was raised one rank to jingqi niha fan, concurrently towsahara fan. In the ninth year he died. He was posthumously made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, given the posthumous name Zhongqin, and entered the temples of distinguished officials in Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Early in the Qianlong reign his hereditary title was fixed as third-class viscount.

存仁弟子瑞午，康熙間為福建邵武府知府。耿精忠叛，徇諸郡邑，瑞午不為下，死之。子颺、瑛、珍、珖、玳、瑜，子婦王、李皆從死。事定，贈瑞午太僕寺卿。存仁孫璲，康熙間以佐領從軍，鄭成功將劉國軒攻海澄，戰死，贈拖沙喇哈番。

Cunren's younger brother Ru Wu served in the Kangxi era as prefect of Shaowu in Fujian. When Geng Jingzhong rebelled and overran the commanderies and counties, Ru Wu would not bow and died holding out. His sons Yang, Ying, Zhen, Guang, Dai, and Yu, and his daughters-in-law Wang and Li, all died with him. When order was restored, Ru Wu was posthumously made Director of the Imperial Stud. Cunren's grandson Sun, a company commander under Kangxi, fell fighting when Zheng Chenggong's general Liu Guoxuan attacked Haicheng; he was posthumously granted towsahara fan.

論曰：國初諸大政，皆定自太祖、太宗朝。世謂承疇實成之，誣矣。承疇再出經略，江南、湖廣以逮滇、黔，皆所勘定；桂王既入緬甸，不欲窮追，以是罷兵柄。孟喬芳撫綏隴右，在當日疆臣中樹績最烈。張存仁通達公方，洞達政本。二人皆明將。明世武臣，未有改文秩任節鉞者，而二人建樹顧如此。資格固不足以限人歟，抑所遭之時異也？

The historians comment: At the dynasty's founding, every major policy had already been settled under Taizu and Taizong. Later ages claim Chengchou truly finished the work—a slander. Chengchou twice took up frontier command: from Jiangnan and Huguang all the way to Yunnan and Guizhou, he surveyed and settled them; but once the Gui Prince had fled into Burma he would not pursue to the end, and for that lost his command. Meng Qiaofang pacified Longyou, and among frontier ministers of the day none achieved more. Zhang Cunren grasped public duty and understood governance at its root. Both had been Ming generals. Under the Ming no soldier had ever crossed into civil rank to hold supreme command—yet these two built careers such as this. Can formal qualification truly bind a man—or was it simply that the times they met were not the same?

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