1
Lu Jianying (style name Lifu) was from Mianyang, Hubei. He earned his jinshi degree in Daoguang 2 (1822), entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, was appointed a compiler, served in the Upper Study, and rose step by step to vice chamberlain. After the triennial palace examination he was promoted to attendant lecturer and then transferred to attendant reader. In Daoguang 20 (1840) he left the capital to serve as Tianjin circuit intendant in Zhili, and was eventually promoted to provincial treasurer. When Britain was raiding Zhejiang and the coast was on high alert, northwestern troops were called in to concentrate around the capital. Jianying provisioned the defense forces and handled relief and recovery, each measure suited to circumstances. Wherever he served he left a distinguished record.
2
In Daoguang 26 (1846) he was made governor of Yunnan, then shortly transferred to Jiangsu. Earlier, shortfalls in southern tribute grain had led the ministry to propose a Jiangsu office through which officials and commoners would donate rice for shipment to Beijing to fill the state granaries. When Tao Shu was governor of Jiangsu he had argued that the enormous cost of the Grand Canal was crippling the treasury and pushed for shipping grain by sea, but officials repeatedly blocked the plan and every trial was quickly abandoned. Now Jianying and Liangjiang governor-general Bi Chang pressed hard for coastal shipping, jointly argued its advantages, and proposed that white-grain tribute from Suzhou, Songjiang, and Taicang go by sea; the court agreed. The arrangement was later extended to Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and neighboring prefectures. In Daoguang 29 (1849) when ministers debated converting southern grain tribute into a cash levy, Jianying and Governor-General Li Xingyuan argued forcefully that the scheme would be unworkable, and the plan was dropped.
3
擢兩江總督。 值大水，民飢，招徠米商，籌議撫卹，並疏消積水，請籌撥帑一百五十萬備賑。 吳城六堡河決阻運，命偕侍郎福濟往勘，疏陳通籌湖、河大勢，添塘避徬，對壩逼溜，攻刷海口各事宜，並如議行。 淮鹽積敝，自陶澍創改淮北為票鹽，稍稍蘇息； 而淮南擅鹽利久，官吏衣食於鹽商，無肯議改者，建瀛悉其弊。 會淮南鹽大火於武昌，官商折閱數百萬，課大虧，引滯庫絀。 三十年，乃疏請立限清查運庫，並統籌淮南大局，改訂新章十條，務在以輕本敵私，力裁繁文浮費。 鴻臚寺少卿劉良駒亦請變通淮南舊章，仿淮北行票法，與建瀛所議同。 方施行矣，而給事中曹履泰奏請復根窩舊制，御史周炳鑑言淮南改票不便，並下建瀛議。 覆疏辨駁詳至，文宗韙之，詔綜斡全局，除弊興利，以裨國計。 建瀛議於揚州設局收納，以清運署需索之源； 於九江等處驗發，以清楚西岸費之源。 正雜錢糧並納，則課額不虧； 新舊商販一體，則引額無缺。 灶私場私，專責江南； 江私鄰私，兼責各省； 而以徠商販，積帑賦，自總其成。 由是奪官吏中飽歲百餘萬，惎謗叢作，建瀛銳自發舒，不之卹。 朝廷信任益專，命有掣肘撓法者罪之。 湖北鹽道鄒之玉沿用整輪，江西鹽道慶雲強索月給，湖北同知勞光泰作移岸三論，刊板傳播，並劾罷之。
He was promoted to governor-general of Liangjiang. Heavy flooding left the populace starving; he drew in rice merchants, organized relief, petitioned to drain standing water, and asked for 1.5 million taels from the treasury for famine relief. When the Liubao River at Wucheng broke its banks and blocked the canal, he was sent with Vice Minister Fu Ji to inspect the site. His memorial outlined a comprehensive plan for lakes and rivers—adding dikes to divert sideways currents, aligning embankments against the main flow, scouring the estuary—and the court implemented his recommendations. Corruption had long plagued the Huai salt monopoly; after Tao Shu introduced ticket-based salt in northern Huai the trade slowly recovered; yet southern Huai salt interests had been entrenched for generations, officials and clerks depended on salt merchants for their livelihood, and no one would broach reform—though Jianying knew every abuse. When a major fire destroyed Huai salt warehouses at Wuchang, merchants and the state lost millions, revenue collapsed, transport permits piled up idle, and the treasury was strained. In Daoguang 30 (1850) he petitioned for a deadline to audit transport granaries, presented a comprehensive southern Huai reform, and issued ten new regulations aimed at lowering costs to undercut private salt and slash bureaucratic waste. Liu Liangju, junior minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, likewise urged revising southern Huai rules along northern Huai ticket-salt lines, aligning with Jianying's plan. Implementation had just begun when Supervising Secretary Cao Lütai petitioned to restore the old registered-nest system and Censor Zhou Bingjian argued that ticket salt would not work in southern Huai; both memorials were sent to Jianying for reply. Jianying's detailed reply won Emperor Wenzong's approval; he was ordered to take charge of the whole reform, cut abuses, and strengthen state revenue. Jianying proposed a collection office at Yangzhou to eliminate extortion by the transport bureau; and inspection and issuance at Jiujiang and elsewhere to cut off illicit western-bank charges. if regular and miscellaneous levies were paid together, revenue quotas would be met; if new and established merchants were treated equally, transport permits would not go unfilled. smuggling at salt furnaces and depots would be Jiangnan's responsibility alone; smuggling on the river and in neighboring provinces would be shared among the provinces; and he would personally oversee attracting merchants and building up treasury revenue. This stripped officials of more than a million taels in annual graft; slander poured in, but Jianying pushed ahead without concern. The court placed ever greater trust in him and ordered that anyone who obstructed the reforms be punished. He impeached and dismissed Hubei salt intendant Zou Zhiyu for clinging to the whole-round system, Jiangxi salt intendant Qing Yun for demanding monthly bribes, and Hubei subprefect Lao Guangtai for publishing his Three Discourses on Shore Transfer.
4
In Xianfeng 1 (1851) when the Yellow River broke at Fengbei, Jianying was sent to inspect the breach, proposed work-for-relief, and supervised repairs with Southern Rivers governor-general Yang Yizeng. In Xianfeng 2 (1852) work was suspended during high water and his hat button was reduced to fourth rank.
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是年秋，粵匪洪秀全犯湖南，越洞庭而北，勢張甚。 建瀛猶在豐工，疏上戰守事宜，文宗嘉之，諭以審度軍情，如須親往，可速籌方略，不遙制。 既而漢陽、武昌相繼陷。 十二月，復建瀛頭品頂戴，授欽差大臣，督師赴九江上游扼守。 建瀛由工次還江寧，徵調倉猝。 三年正月，賊棄武昌，蔽江東下，建瀛欲行，或謂賊鋒銳難驟當，建瀛尚輕之，檄壽春鎮總兵恩長為翼長，領標兵二千當前鋒，自率兵千餘進次九江。 恩長猝與賊，戰死江中，師大潰。 建瀛途逢潰卒白敗狀，從兵盡駭。 江西巡撫張芾壁九江，亦引軍退走，賊遂陷九江。 建瀛駕小舟經小孤山不敢留，過安慶，巡撫蔣文慶邀之，不入； 徑回江寧，收蕪湖、太平兵屯東西梁山，閉城為守禦計。 布政使祁宿藻故不滿建瀛，面責之。 將軍祥厚兵防內城，無任戰守者。 建瀛大窘，稱疾謝客者三日。 於是祥厚、宿藻等疏劾建瀛棄險失機，進退無據，並及江蘇巡撫楊文定違旨去江寧，上大怒，諭曰：「陸建瀛一戰兵潰，不知收合餘燼，與向榮大軍協力攻擊； 並不力守小孤山，扼賊入皖之路； 又不親督兵據守東西梁山，以障金陵。 倉皇遁歸，一籌莫展，以致會垣驚擾，士民播遷。 楊文定藉詞出省，張皇自全，罪均難逭。 建瀛已革職，交祥厚拿問，解刑部治罪。」 尋籍其家，革其子刑部員外郎鍾漢職。 時建瀛收兵乘城，閱十三日，城破遇害。 事聞，詔建瀛尚不失城亡與亡之義，复總督銜，如例議卹，並還其家產。 御史方俊論之，乃撤卹典。
That autumn the Taiping leader Hong Xiuquan invaded Hunan, crossed Lake Dongting northward, and his forces were surging. Jianying was still at Fengbei when he submitted a memorial on strategy; Wenzong praised it and told him to judge the military situation himself—if he needed to take the field, to plan quickly without waiting for orders from Beijing. Soon afterward Hanyang and Wuchang fell in turn. In the twelfth month his first-rank hat button was restored, he was made imperial commissioner, and sent to command troops at the upper Yangtze above Jiujiang to block the rebels. Jianying returned from the river works to Nanjing and mobilized troops in great haste. In the first month of Xianfeng 3 (1853) the rebels left Wuchang and swept downriver. Jianying meant to engage them; others warned that the rebel spearhead was too sharp to meet head-on, but he still underestimated them. He appointed Shouchun garrison commander En Chang wing commander with two thousand banner troops as vanguard and advanced to Jiujiang with a little over a thousand men of his own. En Chang suddenly clashed with the rebels, was killed on the river, and the army routed completely. On the road Jianying met fleeing soldiers who told him of the defeat, and his escort was thrown into panic. Jiangxi governor Zhang Fu had fortified Jiujiang but also retreated, and the rebels captured the city. Jianying took a small boat past Xiaogu Mountain without daring to stop; at Anqing, Governor Jiang Wenqing invited him ashore, but he refused; he went straight back to Nanjing, gathered troops from Wuhu and Taiping to camp at the Eastern and Western Liang Mountains, and shut the city gates to prepare a defense. Provincial administration commissioner Qi Suzao, who had long disliked Jianying, rebuked him to his face. General Xianghou kept his troops to defend the inner city, and no one took charge of the outer defenses. Utterly humiliated, Jianying claimed illness and refused visitors for three days. Xianghou, Suzao, and others then impeached Jianying for abandoning key positions, missing his chance, and acting without plan, and also accused Jiangsu governor Yang Wending of leaving Nanjing against orders. The emperor was furious and declared: "After one battle Lu Jianying's troops routed, yet he did not rally the survivors to join Xiang Rong's main force in a coordinated attack; nor did he hold Xiaogu Mountain to block the rebels' path into Anhui; nor did he personally command troops at the Eastern and Western Liang Mountains to shield Nanjing. He fled back in panic without a single plan, throwing the provincial capital into turmoil and driving officials and commoners to scatter. Yang Wending used excuses to leave the province and saved himself in panic; both men's crimes were beyond excuse. Jianying was dismissed, handed to Xianghou for arrest, and sent to the Ministry of Justice for trial." His property was soon confiscated and his son Zhong Han, a secretary in the Ministry of Justice, was stripped of rank. By then Jianying had rallied troops onto the walls; after thirteen days the city fell and he was killed. When news arrived, the court ruled that Jianying had not failed the duty of dying with his city, restored his governor-general rank, granted standard posthumous honors, and returned his property. Censor Fang Jun protested, and the posthumous honors were withdrawn.
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Jianying was clever and energetic, entertained eminent scholars, cultivated men of influence, and won widespread praise—his reputation soared and the court's confidence in him deepened. Yet he knew nothing of war, made no real preparations, and after one defeat lost his nerve; a great city became a rebel stronghold, the southeast was laid waste, and he alone bore the nation's heaviest blame. His son Zhong Han later became prefect of Jiangsu; in Xianfeng 10 (1860), while managing army provisions, he was killed by rebels at Jiangyin and was posthumously made vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud.
7
Yang Wending was from Dingyuan, Anhui. He earned his jinshi degree in Daoguang 13 (1833). He rose from clerk to director in the Ministry of Justice, served as intendant of the Huizhou-Chaozhou-Jiaying circuit in Guangdong, and was eventually promoted to governor of Jiangsu. In Xianfeng 3 (1853) Wending reported that Jiangnan troops were weak and depleted by repeated levies, that Nanjing was undermanned, and asked for reinforcements; two thousand Shandong troops were ordered to the rescue. Before they arrived he was ordered to hold Nanjing; when he heard of Jianying's defeat he fell back to Zhenjiang. After Nanjing fell the rebels sent a column against Zhenjiang. Vice commander Wen Yi gathered seven hundred men for the land defense while Wending led eight gunboats and twelve sampans on the river. They could not hold; Zhenjiang fell again and he retreated to Jiangyin. The court dismissed him, ordered his arrest, and sentenced him to death. In Xianfeng 6 (1856) his sentence was commuted to exile at the military colonies, where he soon died.
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Qing Lin (style name Moqing), of the Tumen clan, was a Manchu of the Plain White Banner. He earned his jinshi degree in Daoguang 21 (1841), entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, was appointed compiler, and rose to vice chamberlain. In the triennial palace examination he placed second class and was promoted to attendant lecturer. After five promotions he reached Grand Secretariat academician. As Jiangsu educational commissioner he won a strong reputation. In Xianfeng 2 (1852) he was promoted to vice minister of Revenue. When his term as educational commissioner ended, he was ordered to oversee the Fengbei breach repair. In Xianfeng 3 (1853) he returned to Beijing, then went out again as Hubei educational commissioner and was transferred to vice minister of Rites.
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When Taiping forces from Jiangxi swept back into Hubei, Qing Lin was holding examinations at De'an. He halted the tests at the first alarm, worked with prefect Yi Rongzhi to raise local militia, and kept the prefectural city intact. He memorialized on military affairs and urged a joint campaign by Hubei, Jiangxi, and Anhui to crush the rebels. In Xianfeng 4 (1854) he was appointed governor of Hubei. The city had barely a thousand troops; Jingzhou general Tai Yong was acting governor-general but had not yet arrived; while rebels advanced from Huangzhou to Hanyang and Hankou and crossed the river to strike Wuchang. Qing Lin directed brigadier Yang Changsi, colonel Hou Fengqi, and vice commander Kui Yu in a combined land-and-water assault and drove them back; then defeated them again at Baozihai and Lujiagang and destroyed five rebel camps. Soon the rebels struck Tangjiao and Nianyutao and pressed the provincial capital. Qing Lin commanded at Wusheng Gate, but fire suddenly broke out in the city, local bandits rose inside, the army routed completely, and Wuchang fell. Qing Lin was about to take his own life, but his followers hustled him toward Changsha; he then turned aside for Jingzhou.
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初，文宗聞其出家貲犒軍，甚嘉之，至是憤武昌屢失，棄城越境，罪尤重，詔曰：「青麟簡任封圻，正當賊匪充斥，武昌兵單餉匱。 朕以其任學政時保守德安，念其勤勞，畀以重任。 省垣佈置，屢次擊賊獲勝。 八十餘日之中，困苦艱難，所奏原無虛假，朕方嚴催援兵接應。 六月初間，魁玉、楊昌泗等連破賊營，但能激厲力戰，何致遽陷？ 嬰城固守，解圍有日，猶將宥過論功。 縱力盡捐軀，褒忠有典，豈不心跡光明？ 乃倉皇遠避，徑赴長沙，直是棄城而逃。 長沙非所轄之地，越境偷生，何詞以解？ 若再加寬典，是疆臣守土之責，幾成具文，何以對死事諸臣耶！ 朕賞罰一秉大公，豈能以前此微勞，稍從末減？ 俟到荊州時，交官文傳旨正法。」 遂棄市。
Earlier Wenzong had praised him for spending family wealth to reward the troops; now, furious that Wuchang had fallen repeatedly and that he had abandoned his post and fled across provincial borders, the emperor declared his crime especially grave: "Qing Lin was specially appointed to a frontier post just as rebels swarmed everywhere; Wuchang had few troops and scant supplies. Remembering how he had held De'an during his term as educational commissioner, I rewarded his diligence with a weighty appointment. His dispositions at the provincial capital repeatedly beat the rebels. For more than eighty days of hardship his reports were not false, and I was urgently pressing reinforcements to reach him. In early the sixth month Kui Yu and Yang Changsi had repeatedly smashed rebel camps—had he only roused them to fight hard, how could the city have fallen so suddenly? Had he held the city under siege, relief would have come in time and I would still have overlooked faults and counted his service. Even if he had exhausted his strength and given his life, precedents for honoring loyalty exist—would not his conduct have been beyond reproach? Instead he fled in panic straight to Changsha—nothing less than abandoning his city and running away. Changsha was outside his jurisdiction; by crossing borders to save himself, what excuse could he offer? If I showed further leniency, the duty of frontier officials to hold their ground would become a dead letter—how could I face the officials who died in service? My rewards and punishments rest on justice alone—how could his slight earlier service win him any reduction? When he reaches Jingzhou, Guanwen is to convey the edict and execute him." He was then executed in public.
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Months later Zeng Guofan retook Wuchang and was ordered to review the record of successive governors. He reported: "Wuchang's second fall was chiefly due to Chong Lun and Tai Yong, whom the people hated; they praised Wu Wenrong's loyal service, and spoke forgivingly even of Qing Lin. After Wenrong's death Qing Lin helped manage military affairs, while Chong Lun obstructed him at every turn—he asked for guards and was refused; he asked for funds to make arms and was refused; sometimes military affairs were kept from him, sometimes they would not meet for weeks; once the rebels held Hanyang and Hankou they ravaged the region until homes were utterly destroyed; the people still counted on Qing Lin to lead troops against them and issue benevolent proclamations; Chong Lun did none of this;" When the memorial arrived, Tai Yong was dismissed and Chong Lun was put on trial.
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Chong Lun (Xitala clan) was a Manchu of the Plain Yellow Banner. He rose from a Grand Secretariat copyist to Grand Council clerk and was promoted to attendant reader. He served as Feng-Bin circuit intendant in Shaanxi, was transferred to Yongding River commissioner in Zhili, and later became Yunnan surveillance commissioner and Guangdong provincial treasurer.
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咸豐二年，擢湖北巡撫，時武昌方為賊踞，次年春，賊棄武漢東下，分擾江南、江西，崇綸始抵任。 既而賊复上竄，陷興國州田家鎮，進黃州。 崇綸疏言：「武漢民遷市絕，餉乏兵單。 請移內就外，以剿為先。」 未幾，賊犯漢陽，窺武昌。 總督吳文鎔初至，與崇綸意相迕。 及賊退，崇綸遂以閉城株守劾之。 文宗慮兩人不能和衷，且僨事，命文鎔出剿，而責崇綸防守。 文鎔率師薄黃州，崇綸運輸餉械不以時，惟促速戰。 四年正月，文鎔兵敗，死之。 崇綸自請出剿，謀脫身走避，文宗燭其隱，不許。 會丁憂，青麟代之，仍命崇綸留湖北協防。 又以病乞罷，上怒，褫其職。 六月，武昌陷，崇綸先一日出走，徑往陝西。 及曾國籓論劾，命逮治。 服毒自盡，以病故聞。
In 1852 he was made Hubei governor while Wuchang was still in rebel hands; the next spring the rebels left Wuhan and marched east into Jiangnan and Jiangxi, and Chong Lun only then took up his post. Soon the rebels drove north again, took Tianjiazhen in Xingguo, and advanced on Huangzhou. Chong Lun wrote: "Wuhan's people have fled and trade has stopped; supplies are scarce and troops few. I ask to move from defense inward to pursuit outward and put suppression first." Before long the rebels struck Hanyang and threatened Wuchang. Governor-general Wu Wenrong had just arrived and clashed with Chong Lun at every turn. When the rebels withdrew, Chong Lun impeached him for shutting the gates and holding a passive defense. Emperor Wenzong feared they could not work together and would ruin the campaign; he sent Wenrong out to fight and charged Chong Lun with defense. Wenrong led his army toward Huangzhou, but Chong Lun failed to deliver pay and arms on schedule and only pressed him to fight quickly. In the first month of 1854 Wenrong's army was defeated and he was killed. Chong Lun volunteered to take the field but meant to escape; the emperor saw through him and refused. When he entered mourning, Qing Lin replaced him, but Chong Lun was still ordered to remain in Hubei to help defend. He again pleaded illness to resign; the emperor was furious and stripped him of office. In the sixth month Wuchang fell; Chong Lun had fled the day before and went straight to Shaanxi. When Zeng Guofan impeached him, he was ordered arrested and tried. He took poison and killed himself; his death was reported as due to illness.
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He Guiqing (style name Genyun) was from Kunming, Yunnan. He earned his jinshi in 1835, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He was promoted to tutor and served in the Southern Study. After five promotions he reached Grand Secretariat academician. In 1848 he was made vice minister of War; he left on mourning, and after mourning resumed his post and transferred to the Board of Revenue. In 1852 he became Jiangsu education commissioner. When the Taiping rebels ravaged Jiangnan, Guiqing wrote on military affairs, impeaching frontier officials for timidity and failure—speaking bluntly without fear—and Emperor Wenzong took notice. In 1854 he was transferred to grain transport vice minister, then soon made Zhejiang governor.
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自賊踞江寧，東南震動。 安徽徽州、寧國二府為浙江屏蔽，桂清嚴防要隘，別遣一軍屯守黃池，扼蘇、浙之衝，賊來犯，會提督鄧紹良擊卻之。 五年，檄道員徐榮勦賊黟縣、石埭，戰頗利，賊眾大至，徽勇潰走，榮眾寡不敵，遂戰歿。 桂清因言徽、浙脣齒，宜主客一心，事乃濟。 疏入，諭戒地方官吏不分畛域。 時賊陷徽州各屬，桂清檄知府石景芬、副將魁齡等，攻复徽州府城及休寧，分佈所部於昌化、於潛、淳安，杜賊來路。 安徽巡撫時移駐廬州，徽、寧二郡懸絕江南，不能遙制，命桂清兼轄之。 江西賊侵入浙境，陷開化，犯遂安，桂清檄鄧紹良等合擊之，賊退徽境。 週天受、石景芬等連复黟縣、石埭。 桂清疏請添改鎮道員缺，俾專責成，以石景芬為徽寧池太道； 豫祺為總兵，不得力，復以江長貴易之。 又用桂清議，命前侍郎張芾駐皖南治團練，督辦徽、寧防務，尋命兼顧浙江衢、嚴兩郡，與桂清協力製賊。 六年，檄鄧紹良、秦如虎、都興阿等合攻寧國，別遣江長貴擊敗贛賊之襲太平者，連捷，克寧國府城。 朝廷益嘉桂清，思大用之。
Once the rebels held Nanjing, the southeast was in turmoil. Huizhou and Ningguo in Anhui shielded Zhejiang; Guiqing sealed the key passes, posted another force at Huangchi to block the Jiangsu-Zhejiang corridor, and when rebels attacked, regional commander Deng Shaoliang drove them back. In 1855 he ordered circuit intendant Xu Rong to fight rebels in Yi and Shitai with early success; rebel numbers surged, Huizhou militia broke, and outnumbered, Rong fell in battle. Guiqing argued that Huizhou and Zhejiang were interdependent—host and guest had to act as one before affairs could succeed. When the memorial arrived, the court warned local officials not to draw jurisdictional lines. When rebels overran Huizhou's counties, Guiqing ordered prefect Shi Jingfen, vice commander Kui Ling, and others to retake Huizhou city and Xiuning and post troops at Changhua, Yuqian, and Chun'an to cut rebel routes. The Anhui governor had moved to Luzhou; Huizhou and Ningguo lay cut off south of the Yangzi and could not be governed from afar, so Guiqing was ordered to take them under his charge. Jiangxi rebels invaded Zhejiang, took Kaihua, and attacked Su'an; Guiqing ordered Deng Shaoliang and others to strike together, and the rebels withdrew into Huizhou. Zhou Tianshou, Shi Jingfen, and others retook Yi and Shitai in succession. Guiqing asked to add and revise circuit and prefect posts so duties were clear, appointing Shi Jingfen intendant of Huizhou, Ningguo, Chizhou, and Taiping; Yu Qi as regional commander proved ineffective, and Jiang Changgui replaced him. Following Guiqing's plan, former vice minister Zhang Fu was posted to southern Anhui to organize militia and oversee Huizhou-Ningguo defense, soon also covering Zhejiang's Qu and Yan prefectures to work with Guiqing against the rebels. In 1856 he ordered Deng Shaoliang, Qin Ruhu, Du Xing'a, and others to attack Ningguo together; separately Jiang Changgui defeated Jiangxi rebels raiding Taiping, won repeatedly, and retook Ningguo city. The court praised Guiqing ever more highly and planned to give him greater responsibility.
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Hangzhou prefect Wang Youling was Guiqing's closest aide; he was promoted to act transport and judicial commissioner but was impeached by subprefect Xu Zheng. Guiqing's reply was bitter in tone and he was rebuked. He then pleaded illness to resign; an edict comforted him and kept him in office. When Liangjiang governor-general Yi Liang was dismissed, Emperor Wenzong found provisioning hard to replace; Grand Secretary Peng Yunzhang recommended Guiqing, who had kept Huizhou's army supplied without shortfall and could fill the post. In the spring of 1857 he was ordered to act as Liangjiang governor-general with second rank button, and soon received the full appointment. He strongly recommended Wang Youling, made him Jiangsu provincial treasurer, and relied on him entirely for supplies. Nanjing had long been a rebel stronghold; the governor-general stayed at Changzhou while General He Chun directed military affairs and regional commander Zhang Guoliang assisted—former governor-general Yi Liang had handled only transport and supplies. Guiqing's repeated strategy memorials pleased the throne; an edict urged He Chun to consult with him in good faith. That winter Zhenjiang was recovered; for his work on supplies he was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the spring of 1860, for retaking Jiufuzhou, he was promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Guiqing's confidence soared; the court leaned on him ever more, and he bore great public expectations.
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大軍屢捷，合圍江寧，賊勢窘蹙，四出求援。 偽忠王李秀成乃謀竄浙，分大軍之勢，由安徽廣德徑趣杭州。 倉猝城陷，惟將軍瑞昌守駐防內城未下，詔促桂清、和春遣軍速援。 於是檄提督張玉良率兵馳赴，至則內外夾擊，賊遽走。 臨安、孝豐、安吉諸城相繼复。 詔嘉桂清功，予優敘。 時賊已圍金壇，陷江陰，遣總兵馬得昭、熊天喜、曾秉忠，副將劉成元水陸分路禦賊，兵分益單。 賊乃合眾十餘萬出建平、東壩，一由東壩趨江寧，一由溧陽窺常州，桂清聞之，幾失所措。 會馬得昭、週天孚分援蘇、常，賊已趨金壇，陷句容。 句容為大營後路，自此隔絕。 張玉良回軍抵常州，和春飛檄調援大營，桂清留勿遣，復調馬得昭，亦莫之應。 王有齡已擢浙江巡撫，貽書桂清戒勿離常州一步，且曰：「事棘時危，身為大臣，萬目睽睽，視以動止。 一舉足則人心瓦解矣。」 蓋規之也。
The main army won repeatedly and besieged Nanjing; the rebels were hard pressed and sent out for help in every direction. The rebel Loyal King Li Xiucheng planned to slip into Zhejiang and divide the main force; from Guangde in Anhui he drove straight on Hangzhou. The city fell in sudden assault; only General Ruichang still held the inner garrison quarter; an edict urged Guiqing and He Chun to send troops at once. He then ordered regional commander Zhang Yuliang to rush troops; when he arrived the garrison and relief force struck together and the rebels fled at once. Lin'an, Xiaofeng, Anji, and other towns were recovered in turn. An edict praised Guiqing's achievement and granted him preferential promotion. Rebels had besieged Jintan and taken Jiangyin; he sent generals Ma Dezhao, Xiong Tianxi, Zeng Bingzhong, and vice commander Liu Chengyuan by land and water to hold them off, but his forces grew ever thinner as they were split. The rebels then massed over a hundred thousand from Jianping and Dongba—one column from Dongba toward Nanjing, one from Liyang toward Changzhou—and Guiqing, hearing this, nearly lost his composure. When Ma Dezhao and Zhou Tianfu split to aid Suzhou and Changzhou, the rebels had already moved on Jintan and taken Jurong. Jurong was the main camp's supply line; from then on it was cut off. Zhang Yuliang returned to Changzhou; He Chun urgently ordered him to the main camp, but Guiqing kept him back; he also summoned Ma Dezhao, who likewise would not come. Wang Youling had been made Zhejiang governor and wrote Guiqing warning him never to leave Changzhou, saying: "Affairs are desperate and peril extreme; as a senior minister every eye is on you—your movements set the measure. One step away and morale would collapse." This was meant to counsel him.
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Heavy rain and snow came; the main camp's troops froze and starved, could not get pay, mutinied, and routed en masse. He Chun and Zhang Guoliang fell back to defend Danyang. Guiqing wrote: "Military affairs from Danyang northward are He Chun's and Zhang Guoliang's; Changzhou's military affairs are mine and Zhang Yuliang's." Once his dispositions were set he moved on Liyang, but the rebels had already struck Danyang—Guoliang was killed, He Chun fled to Changzhou, and Guiqing was badly shaken. Grain commissioner Cha Wenjing and others, reading his mind, urged him to fall back to Suzhou. Guiqing memorialized to hand military affairs to He Chun while he himself stayed at Suzhou to handle supplies. As he was leaving, Changzhou gentry blocked the road begging him to stay; his escort fired on the crowd, killing more than ten, before he could break through. Zhang Yuliang stayed to defend the city but soon fled as well. Soldiers and townspeople manned the walls; within days the city fell and was put to the sword. Guiqing reached Suzhou, but Governor Xu Youren refused him entry and memorialized impeaching him for abandoning the city and losing the army. He Chun retreated to Wuxi and died of his wounds. Guiqing claimed he would borrow foreign troops and went to Shanghai. Suzhou also fell; Youren died defending it and in a dying memorial again impeached Guiqing; an edict stripped his rank and ordered him brought to the capital for trial.
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When the allied armies attacked Beijing the court fled to Rehe, and proceedings dragged on for two years. Wang Youling and Jiangsu Governor Xue Huan, both former subordinates, memorialized repeatedly begging mercy—but were refused. Censors impeached him repeatedly; in 1862 he was at last arrested and imprisoned; the verdict proposed death with reprieve. Seventeen grand secretaries including Qi Junzao memorialized in his defense; Minister Li Tangjie argued forcefully, and the verdict was settled. Guiqing cited memorials from circuit and prefect officials in his defense; the case was referred to Zeng Guofan for investigation. Guofan wrote: "Frontier officials' paramount duty is to hold the city—a governor should not stay or flee on one subordinate's word alone. A senior minister is judged by intent and conduct—not by whether a public petition exists." That winter he was executed in public.
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Guiqing rose from court service to frontier posts with clear, sharp talent. In Liangjiang, when Britain provoked conflict, he submitted policy after policy on how to respond. With Grand Secretary Gui Liang and others he debated tax schedules; many of his points were sound, yet not all his advice was followed. His late career collapsed in disaster for the state and people; though many at court spoke in his defense, public opinion could not finally be swayed.
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Commentary: Lu Jianying and He Guiqing both won their age's hopes with quick talent and were given heavy charge on the lower Yangzi. Jianying, when war first broke out, could not plan ahead and acted in panic when crisis came. Guiqing lacked foresight about the enemy and failed the duty of dying with his post. Both men ruined their lives and reputations; their guilt was beyond dispute. Qing Lin took office in desperate times and struggled to hold on, yet was executed for fleeing across borders; even so, commentators still spoke of him with some forgiveness.