1
呂賢基，字鶴田，安徽旌德人。 道光十五年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 遷御史、給事中，持正敢言，數論時政得失，多所採用。 文宗即位，應詔上封事，請懋聖學，正人心，育人才，恤民隱，尤被嘉納。 遷鴻臚寺卿。 咸豐元年，超擢工部侍郎。 二年，以時事可危，疏請下詔求言，略曰：「粵西會匪滋事，二年以來，命將出師，尚無成效，甚至圍攻省城，大肆猖獗。 南河豐工未能合龍，重運阻滯，災民屯聚，在在堪虞。 河工費五百萬，軍需費一千馀萬，部臣束手無措，必致掊克朘削，邦本愈搖。 今日事勢，譬之於病，元氣血脈，枯竭已甚，外邪又熾，若再諱疾忌醫，愈難為救。 惟有開通喉舌，廣覓良方，庶可補救萬一。 請特旨令大小臣工悉去忌諱，一改洩沓之故習，各抒所見，以期集思廣益。」 疏入，諭部院大臣、九卿、科道有言責者，各據見聞，直言無隱。
Lü Xianji, styled Hetian, was from Jingde in Anhui. He became a metropolitan graduate in the fifteenth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He rose to censor and supervising secretary, where he stood on principle and spoke out freely, repeatedly memorializing on the strengths and failings of government policy; many of his recommendations were taken up. When Emperor Wenzong took the throne, he responded to the imperial call for memorials with a sealed submission urging stronger royal study, moral renewal, the nurturing of talent, and attention to the people's hidden hardships; it was especially well received. He was promoted to director of the Court of State Ceremonial. In the first year of Xianfeng he was promoted ahead of schedule to vice minister of Works. In the second year, seeing the times turning dangerous, he memorialized asking the throne to issue an edict inviting open counsel. He wrote in part: 'Secret-society rebels in western Guangdong have been in turmoil for two years. Generals have been sent against them, yet there has been little success; the rebels have even besieged the provincial capital and grown wildly bold. The Feng River works on the South River have still not been closed, heavy grain transport is stalled, disaster victims are gathering everywhere, and danger threatens on every side. River works will cost five million taels and military supplies more than ten million. The board ministers are at their wits' end, and the result will surely be extortion and ruinous levies that further undermine the state's foundations. The present situation is like a grave illness: the body's vital strength is already badly depleted, and external afflictions are raging again. If the court once more hides the sickness and refuses the doctor, recovery will become nearly impossible. Only by giving voice to candid counsel and searching broadly for sound remedies can we hope to salvage even a fraction of what remains. I ask that a special edict command officials at every level to drop their inhibitions, break with the old habit of evasive delay, and speak their minds freely so that many minds may strengthen policy.' When the memorial arrived, the throne ordered ministers of boards and provinces, the Nine Chief Ministers, and remonstrating censorial officials to report frankly on what they had witnessed, withholding nothing.
2
三年正月，命賢基馳赴安徽會同巡撫蔣文慶及週天爵辦理防剿事宜，賢基疏言：「江寧以東西梁山為要隘，必先扼守。 廬州為江淮門戶，宜令重臣駐★。 巢湖出江當梁山上游，地方匪徒宜招撫，免為賊用，且可與梁山為犄角。」 上嘉納，不及施行，而安慶、江寧先後陷。 奏調給事中袁甲三、知府趙畇幫辦團練防剿，又調編修李鴻章等襄軍事。 偕週天爵疏言：「事當分任。 團練專令殲除土匪； 牧令守本境，統帥勦賊，不得遠駐百里之外，以免推諉。」 上韙之。
In the first month of the third year Xianji was ordered to rush to Anhui to work with Governor Jiang Wenqing and Zhou Tianjue on defense and suppression. He memorialized: 'The eastern and western Liang Mountains are the key passes of Jiangning and must be seized and held first. Luzhou is the gateway of the Jianghuai region, and a senior official ought to be posted there to hold the line. Chaohu Lake flows into the Yangzi above the Liang Mountains. Local bandits there should be won over so they are not turned to rebel use, and they can then support the Liang positions in a pincer.' The emperor approved the plan, but before it could be put into effect Anqing and Jiangning had already fallen in turn. He requested the transfer of supervising secretary Yuan Jiasan and prefect Zhao Yun to help organize militia for defense and suppression, and also brought in compiler Li Hongzhang and others to assist with military affairs. Together with Zhou Tianjue he submitted a memorial saying: 'These tasks should be divided by responsibility. Militia forces should be assigned exclusively to wiping out local bandits; local magistrates should hold their own districts, and field commanders should pursue rebels without posting themselves a hundred li away, so that no one can pass the blame.' The emperor endorsed the proposal.
3
安徽境內無大枝勁旅，團練亦散漫無可恃。 七月，湖北敗賊竄陷英山，擾太湖，分犯洪家埠，賢基檄游擊賡音太、伍登庸擊走之。 八月，賊復自江西竄踞安慶，賢基赴舒城、桐城勸募團練，為官軍聲援。 賡音太、伍登庸戰歿於集賢關。 賊犯桐城，紳士馬三俊率練勇迎戰失利，遂失守。 已革按察使張熙宇退駐大關，賢基抗疏劾之。 時方駐舒城，或告以無守土責，未轄一兵，賊鋒甚銳，可退守以圖再舉。 賢基曰：「奉命治鄉兵殺賊，當以死報國。 敢避寇倖免乎？」 十月賊至，登陴守禦，城陷，死之。
Anhui had no large regular forces of any strength, and the militia were scattered and could not be relied upon. In the seventh month defeated rebels from Hubei broke into Yingshan, raided Taihu, and sent detachments against Hongjiabu. Xianji ordered battalion commanders Geng Yintai and Wu Dengyong to beat them back. In the eighth month the rebels again swept in from Jiangxi and occupied Anqing. Xianji went to Shucheng and Tongcheng to raise militia and give the regular forces a supporting presence. Geng Yintai and Wu Dengyong were killed in battle at Jixian Pass. When the rebels struck Tongcheng, gentry leader Ma Sanjun led militia out to fight but was beaten, and the city fell. The dismissed provincial judge Zhang Xiyu had pulled back and encamped at Daguan, and Xianji submitted a strong memorial impeaching him. He was then at Shucheng, and some urged that he had no duty to hold territory, commanded no troops of his own, and faced a very sharp rebel advance; he could withdraw and regroup for another attempt. Xianji said: 'I was ordered to raise local militia and fight the rebels. I ought to repay the state with my life. How could I flee the enemy and hope to survive?' In the tenth month the rebels arrived. He took the walls to defend the city; when it fell, he died.
4
文宗初聞舒城失守，即曰：「賢基素懷忠義，必能大節無虧。」 及奏上，深悼惜之，贈尚書銜，加恩於舒城建專祠，擢其子編修錦文以侍讀用，賜銀三千兩，命錦文即日回籍治喪。 予騎都尉世職，祀京師及本籍府城昭忠祠。 後安徽請祀鄉賢，特諭：「賢基品行端正，居官忠直，名副其實。」 即報可。
When Emperor Wenzong first heard that Shucheng had fallen, he said at once: 'Xianji has always been loyal and upright; he is sure to have kept his honor intact.' When the report arrived, the emperor deeply mourned him, posthumously granted him ministerial rank, ordered a special shrine built for him at Shucheng, promoted his son Jinwen, a compiler, for appointment as reader-in-waiting, granted three thousand taels of silver, and ordered Jinwen to return home at once to conduct the funeral. He was granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry and enshrined in the Hall of Loyalty and Devotion in the capital and in his home prefecture. Later Anhui asked that he be enshrined among local worthies, and a special edict declared: 'Xianji's character was upright and his official conduct loyal and direct; the honor is fully deserved.' The request was approved immediately.
5
鄒鳴鶴，字鍾泉，江蘇無錫人。 道光二年進士，雲南即用知縣。 親老告近，改發河南，署新鄭，補羅山，有惠政。 母喪，去官。 巡撫程祖洛疏陳鳴鶴政績，羅山紳民籥請保留河南，特旨允俟服闋以南、汝、陳、光四府州所屬酌補選缺，異數也。
Zou Minghe, styled Zhongquan, was from Wuxi in Jiangsu. He became a metropolitan graduate in the second year of Daoguang and was sent directly to Yunnan as a magistrate. When his parents grew old he asked to serve nearer home, was reassigned to Henan, acted as magistrate of Xinzheng, then took permanent appointment at Luoshan, where his rule won popular goodwill. After his mother's death he left office. Governor Cheng Zuluo memorialized Minghe's record in office, and Luoshan's gentry and people petitioned to keep him in Henan. A special edict allowed that after mourning he might be assigned at discretion to vacancies in the Nan, Ru, Chen, and Guang prefectures—an exceptional honor.
6
尋補光山，調祥符，擢蘭儀廳河工同知，護開歸陳許道。 以治河勞，晉秩知府。 歷衛輝、陳州、開封。 二十一年，河決祥符，水圍省城，鳴鶴露宿城上，盡力堵禦。 有議遷省城於洛陽者，鳴鶴上議有六不可。 欽差大臣王鼎等據以疏陳，乃決議堅守。 凡曆七十馀日，水退城安。 論功，晉秩道員。 二十三年，河決中牟，褫職留工，工竣，復原官，仍在工效力。 丁生母憂，服闋，署彰衛懷道，尋授江西督糧道。 文宗即位，詔舉賢才，戶部侍郎侯桐、兩江總督陸建瀛交章以鳴鶴薦，擢順天府尹。
He was soon appointed to Guangshan, transferred to Xiangfu, promoted to sub-prefect of river works at the Lanyi Office, and served as acting intendant of the Kai-Gui-Chen-Xu Circuit. For his work on river control he was promoted to prefect. He served in succession at Weihui, Chenzhou, and Kaifeng. In the twenty-first year the river broke at Xiangfu and water encircled the provincial capital. Minghe slept on the walls and did everything he could to hold the breach. When some proposed moving the provincial capital to Luoyang, Minghe submitted a memorial listing six reasons why that should not be done. Imperial commissioner Wang Ding and others memorialized accordingly, and the court resolved to hold the city. After more than seventy days the waters fell and the city was saved. For his service he was promoted to circuit intendant. In the twenty-third year the river broke at Zhongmou. He was dismissed from office but kept on the works; when the project was finished his rank was restored and he remained on the job. After mourning for his birth mother he acted as intendant of the Zhang-Wei-Huai Circuit, then was appointed grain transport commissioner of Jiangxi. When Emperor Wenzong took the throne, an edict called for men of talent. Vice Minister Hou Tong and Governor-General Lu Jianying jointly recommended Minghe, and he was promoted to metropolitan prefect of Shuntian.
7
咸豐元年，擢廣西巡撫。 匪亂方熾，大學士賽尚阿督軍事，鳴鶴課吏治，治團練，撫卹被兵災民。 二年，賊由永安突犯桂林，城中兵僅千人，倉猝防禦，提督向榮馳援，民心始定。 總兵秦定三等續至，鳴鶴以諸軍無所統屬，自請督戰。 分遣諸將擊賊，相持月馀，賊百計攻城，屢卻。 賊遂分竄，賽尚阿促向榮追擊，鳴鶴堅留防賊回竄，互疏爭。 賊尋陷興安、全州，入湖南，詔褫鳴鶴職，以守城功免治罪。
In the first year of Xianfeng he was promoted to governor of Guangxi. Rebel turmoil was at its height. Grand Secretary Saishanga directed military affairs while Minghe tightened administration, organized militia, and relieved people suffering from the fighting. In the second year the rebels burst out of Yong'an and struck Guilin. The city had barely a thousand troops and had to organize defense in haste. Regional commander Xiang Rong raced to the rescue, and the people's panic eased. Brigade commanders including Qin Dingsan arrived in turn. Seeing that the various forces had no unified command, Minghe volunteered to direct the fighting himself. He sent his generals out against the rebels. The two sides remained locked for more than a month, and though the rebels tried every stratagem to take the city, they were driven back again and again. The rebels then split and fled. Saishanga pressed Xiang Rong to pursue, while Minghe insisted on staying to guard against their return, and the two exchanged opposing memorials. The rebels soon took Xing'an and Quanzhou and entered Hunan. An edict removed Minghe from office but spared him punishment because of his service in defending Guilin.
8
洎回籍，賊已陷武昌。 三年正月，陸建瀛赴九江督師，疏請起鳴鶴籌辦沿江防務。 已病，或沮其行。 曰：「此吾補過報國之日也！」 建瀛旋退江寧，獲罪，命鳴鶴與將軍祥厚等籌商守禦。 建瀛見其病甚，欲為奏請還家養疴，鳴鶴不可。 及江寧陷，書絕命詞曰：「臣力難圖報稱，臣心仰答九重。 三次守城盡節，庶幾全始全終。」 遣人持付其子，自率隊出，至三山街，賊見識之，曰：「此守桂林之鄒巡撫也！」 呼其名詬之。 鳴鶴亦罵不絕口，被支解而死。 事聞，贈道銜，賜卹。
By the time he returned home, the rebels had already captured Wuchang. In the first month of the third year Lu Jianying went to Jiujiang to direct the army and memorialized asking that Minghe be recalled to organize defenses along the Yangzi. He was already ill, and some tried to dissuade him from going. He said: 'This is my day to atone and serve the state!' Lu Jianying soon fell back to Jiangning and was punished. Minghe was ordered to join General Xianghou and others in planning the city's defense. Lu Jianying saw how gravely ill he was and wanted to memorialize asking that he be sent home to recover, but Minghe refused. When Jiangning fell he wrote a final testament: 'My strength cannot repay what I owe, but my heart still rises to answer the throne. Having defended three cities to the death, I may at least finish as I began.' He sent the note to his son by messenger, then led a detachment out himself. At Sanshan Street the rebels recognized him and cried: 'This is Governor Zou who held Guilin!' They shouted his name and cursed him. Minghe cursed them without pause and was hacked to pieces. When word reached the court, he was posthumously granted circuit rank and given mourning honors.
9
同治初，江南既平，曾國籓疏陳鳴鶴生平政績及殉節狀，請加恩優恤。 御史硃震言鳴鶴匿民居遇害，非臨陣捐軀者比，請罷之。 編修硃福基等復以鳴鶴被難聞見各殊，呈請下兩江總督馬新貽確查。 新貽覆奏紳耆咸稱鳴鶴協同防守，誓以身殉，罵賊被戕，無避匿民居之事。 詔依巡撫例議卹，予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職，諡壯節。 後祀河南名宦祠。
Early in the Tongzhi reign, after Jiangnan had been pacified, Zeng Guofan memorialized Minghe's career and the circumstances of his death, asking for additional honors. Censor Zhu Zhen argued that Minghe had been killed while hiding in a private house and was not comparable to a man who died fighting in the field, and asked that the honors be withdrawn. Compiler Zhu Fuji and others, noting that reports of Minghe's death conflicted, asked that Governor-General Ma Xinyi of the Two Jiangs investigate. Ma Xinyi reported back that local gentry all testified that Minghe had joined the defense, sworn to die for the city, cursed the rebels, and been killed in the fighting, with no question of hiding in a private house. An edict ordered mourning honors according to the precedent for governors, granted the combined hereditary ranks of Commandant of Cavalry and Commandant of Cloud Cavalry, and gave him the posthumous title Zhuangjie, 'Steadfast in Integrity.' He was later enshrined in Henan's Hall of Eminent Officials.
10
戴熙，字醇士，浙江錢塘人。 道光十二年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 大考二等，擢贊善，遷中允。 十八年，入直南書房。 督廣東學政，任滿，請終養。 二十五年，服闋，未補官，复督廣東學政，累遷內閣學士。 二十八年，授兵部侍郎，仍直南書房。
Dai Xi, styled Chunshi, was from Qiantang in Zhejiang. He became a metropolitan graduate in the twelfth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. In the triennial examination he placed second class, was promoted to reader, and then transferred to assistant director of the Academy. In the eighteenth year he entered service in the Southern Study. He served as educational commissioner of Guangdong, and when his term ended he asked leave to care for his parents at home. In the twenty-fifth year, when mourning ended, he was again appointed educational commissioner of Guangdong before taking another post, and rose step by step to grand secretary. In the twenty-eighth year he was appointed vice minister of War while continuing service in the Southern Study.
11
先是，廣東因士民阻英人入城，相持者數年。 至二十九年，英人懾於民怒，暫罷議。 宣宗嘉悅，以為奇功，錫封總督徐廣縉子爵，巡撫葉名琛男爵。 會熙召對，論及之。 熙言廣東民風素所諳悉，督撫所奏，恐涉鋪張，非可終恃，上不懌。 尋命書扇，有帖體字，傳旨申飭。 越日，命南書房書扁額，內監傳諭指派同直張錫庚，戒勿交寫誤字之戴熙。 未幾，罷其入直。 熙知眷衰，稱病請開缺，上益怒，降三品京堂休致。
Earlier, in Guangdong the gentry and people had resisted British entry into the city, and the standoff had lasted several years. By the twenty-ninth year the British, intimidated by public anger, temporarily dropped the issue. Emperor Xuanzong was delighted, treated it as a singular achievement, and ennobled Governor-General Xu Guangjin as marquis and Governor Ye Mingchen as baron. When Xi was summoned for audience, the matter came up. Xi said he knew Guangdong's local temperament well and feared the governor-general's and governor's reports were inflated and could not be relied on indefinitely. The emperor was displeased. Soon afterward he was ordered to inscribe a fan and used a character in the epigraphic style; an edict rebuking him followed. The next day, when the Southern Study was ordered to inscribe a plaque, a eunuch relayed instructions assigning Zhang Xigeng, who was on duty with him, and warning them not to give the work to Dai Xi, who had written mistaken characters. Before long he was removed from Southern Study duty. Xi saw that imperial favor had faded, pleaded illness and asked to leave office, the emperor grew still angrier, and he was reduced to third-rank metropolitan official and retired.
12
咸豐初，詔舉人才，尚書孫瑞珍以熙薦，召來京候簡用，因病未至。 粵匪踞江寧，浙江戒嚴。 熙偕官紳勸諭捐輸，舉行團練。 八年，粵匪由江西擾浙東，熙助巡撫晏端書籌調兵食，乞援鄰境。 援師至，賊未得逞，漸退。 以治團練勞，加二品頂戴。 杭州初有民兵八百人，又選鋒數百，事緩，以資絀，減少半。 十年，粵匪由安徽廣德入浙，連陷數縣，犯湖州、武康。 熙以所部練勇付按察使段光清，會旗兵防獨松、千秋等關。 賊至，斂兵入城守。 熙謂用兵無獨守孤城之理，宜分營城外相犄角，又議乘賊初至迎擊，皆未行。 熙與弟燾助守西北隅，砲斃黃衣賊一人，賊遽退匿山後。 眾謂賊且遁，熙料其詐，偵之，果轉赴西南。 晝夜環攻，久雨，兵疲。 賊於宋鎮湖門故址穴地轟城，遂陷，熙赴水死之。 弟煦、媳金、及甥王朝榮，同殉。 事聞，贈尚書銜，建專祠，予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職，諡文節。 弟煦，精算學，自有傳。
Early in the Xianfeng reign an edict called for men of talent. Minister Sun Ruizhen recommended Xi, who was summoned to the capital to await appointment but did not come because of illness. Guangdong rebels held Jiangning, and Zhejiang was placed on alert. Xi worked with officials and gentry to encourage donations and organize militia. In the eighth year Guangdong rebels from Jiangxi raided eastern Zhejiang. Xi helped Governor Yan Duanshu arrange troops and supplies and asked neighboring provinces for aid. Relief troops arrived, the rebels failed to break through, and gradually withdrew. For his work organizing militia he was granted the second-rank official's cap button. Hangzhou initially had eight hundred militiamen, with several hundred more chosen as shock troops; when the crisis eased and funds ran short, the force was cut in half. In the tenth year Guangdong rebels entered Zhejiang from Guangde in Anhui, took several counties in succession, and threatened Huzhou and Wukang. Xi placed his militia under provincial judge Duan Guangqing and joined banner troops in defending the passes at Dusong, Qianqiu, and elsewhere. When the rebels arrived, the troops were pulled back into the city to hold it. Xi argued that warfare did not permit defending a lone city in isolation; camps should be posted outside the walls in mutual support, and he also proposed meeting the rebels as soon as they arrived, but none of these plans was adopted. Xi and his brother Tao helped hold the northwest corner. Cannon fire killed one rebel in yellow garb, and the rebels quickly fell back behind the hills. People thought the rebels were about to flee, but Xi suspected a feint; when he sent scouts, they found the rebels had turned toward the southwest. The rebels besieged the city day and night. Endless rain wore the defenders down. The rebels tunneled under the old site of Songzhen Humen and blasted the wall. The city fell, and Xi drowned himself. His brother Xu, his daughter-in-law Jin, and his nephew Wang Chaorong died with him. When word reached the court, he was posthumously granted ministerial rank, given a special shrine, awarded the combined hereditary ranks of Commandant of Cavalry and Commandant of Cloud Cavalry, and given the posthumous title Wenjie, 'Cultured Integrity.' His brother Xu was an expert in mathematics and has his own biography.
13
熙雅尚絕俗，尤善畫。 當視學廣東，陛辭，宣宗諭曰：「古人之作畫，須行萬里路。 此行遍歷山川，畫當益進。」 其見重如此。 後以直言黜。 及殉節，遂益為世重。 同時湯貽汾畫負盛名，與熙相匹。 亦殉江寧之難，同以忠義顯，世稱戴、湯雲。
Xi cultivated an austere, unconventional manner and was especially skilled at painting. When he was leaving court to supervise education in Guangdong, Emperor Xuanzong told him: 'In ancient times, to paint well one had to travel ten thousand li. On this journey you will travel through mountains and rivers; your painting should improve all the more.' Such was the esteem in which he was held. Later he was dismissed for speaking bluntly. When he died for his integrity, the world valued him all the more. At the same time Tang Yifen enjoyed great fame as a painter and was Xi's equal. He too died in the fall of Jiangning; both became renowned for loyalty and righteousness, and the age spoke of them together as Dai and Tang.
14
貽汾，字雨生，江蘇武進人。 祖大奎，官福建鳳山知縣，守城殉節，父荀業同死，見忠義傳。 貽汾少有俊才。 家貧，以難廕襲世職，授守備，累擢浙江樂清協副將。 歷官治軍捕盜有聲。 尚氣節，工詩畫，政績文章為時重。 晚辭官僑居江寧。 及粵匪熾，貽汾見時事日亟，語人曰：「吾年七十有七，家世忠孝。 脫有不幸，惟當致命遂志，以見先人。」 江寧籌防，大吏每有諮詢，盡言贊畫。 城陷，從容賦絕命詞，赴水死。 事聞，文宗以其三世死事，特詔優恤，加一云騎尉，諡貞愍。
Yifen, styled Yusheng, was from Wujin in Jiangsu. His grandfather Dakui had served as magistrate of Fengshan in Fujian and died defending the city; his father Xunye died with him. Their story appears in the Biographies of Loyalty and Righteousness. Yifen showed outstanding talent from youth. His family was poor. Because of his forebears' martyrdom he inherited a hereditary office, was appointed garrison commander, and rose step by step to deputy regional commander of the Leqing garrison in Zhejiang. In successive posts he won renown for governing troops and capturing bandits. He valued integrity, was skilled in poetry and painting, and his administrative record and literary work were highly regarded in his day. In his later years he resigned office and lived in Jiangning. When Guangdong rebels grew powerful, Yifen saw affairs growing daily more urgent and told others: 'I am seventy-seven years old, and my family has been loyal and filial for generations. If misfortune should come, I can only give my life to fulfill my resolve and show myself worthy before my ancestors.' When Jiangning was organizing its defenses, senior officials often consulted him, and he offered his counsel freely. When the city fell, he calmly composed a final testament and drowned himself. When word reached the court, Emperor Wenzong, noting that three generations of the family had died in service, issued a special edict of generous mourning honors, added one Commandant of Cloud Cavalry, and gave him the posthumous title Zhenmin, 'Steadfast and Compassionate.'
15
張芾，字小浦，陝西涇陽人。 道光十五年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 累遷庶子，直南書房。 大考一等，擢少詹事，超遷內閣學士，督江蘇學政。 二十五年，授工部侍郎，任滿回京，仍直南書房，調吏部。 二十九年，督江西學政。 文宗即位，應詔陳言，請明黜陟，寬出納，禁糜費，重海防，上嘉納。 命按巡撫陳阡被劾各款，得實，罷之。 阡亦訐芾收受陋規，詔免議。
Zhang Fei, styled Xiaopu, was from Jingyang in Shaanxi. He became a metropolitan graduate in the fifteenth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He rose step by step to tutor of the heir apparent and served in the Southern Study. In the triennial examination he placed first class, was promoted to junior tutor of the heir apparent, was promoted ahead of schedule to grand secretary, and served as educational commissioner of Jiangsu. In the twenty-fifth year he was appointed vice minister of Works. When his term ended he returned to the capital, continued service in the Southern Study, and was transferred to the Board of Civil Appointments. In the twenty-ninth year he served as educational commissioner of Jiangxi. When Emperor Wenzong took the throne, he responded to the imperial call for memorials by urging clear standards for promotion and dismissal, easier revenue collection and disbursement, an end to wasteful spending, and stronger coastal defense; the emperor approved. He was ordered to investigate the charges against Governor Chen Qian; they were found true, and Chen was dismissed. Chen Qian also accused Fei of accepting improper fees, but an edict exempted Fei from investigation.
16
咸豐二年，調刑部侍郎。 任滿，留署江西巡撫，尋實授。 時粵匪方圍長沙，詔芾偕在籍尚書陳孚恩籌防。 未幾，岳州陷，芾駐守九江。 三年正月，總督陸建瀛至九江，芾移守瑞昌，賊來犯，擊走之，而九江遂陷，革職留任，退守南昌。 賊既踞江寧，分股溯江而上。 芾奏調湖北按察使江忠源來援，甫至而賊船直抵城下，芾率官紳嬰城固守，賊穴道轟城，壞而復完。 總兵馬濟美戰歿城外，賴江忠源迭戰卻賊，被圍凡三閱月，賊乃東走，由九江趨安徽。 芾以守城勞，復原官。 奏將將吏猥多，部議覈減，芾疏爭，嚴旨切責。 會因截留滇、黔銅鉛銀，又陳孚恩被劾，芾為申辨，上怒，褫芾職。
In the second year of Xianfeng he was transferred to vice minister of Punishments. When his term ended he was retained as acting governor of Jiangxi, and soon afterward received formal appointment. At the time Guangdong rebels were besieging Changsha. An edict ordered Fei to join the retired minister Chen Fu'en in organizing defenses. Before long Yuezhou fell, and Fei took up position at Jiujiang. In the first month of the third year Governor-General Lu Jianying arrived at Jiujiang. Fei moved to defend Ruichang, beat back a rebel attack, but Jiujiang then fell. Fei was dismissed from office but kept on duty and fell back to Nanchang. After the rebels seized Jiangning, detachments moved upriver. Fei memorialized to bring Hubei provincial judge Jiang Zhongyuan to his aid. Jiang had just arrived when rebel boats reached the city walls. Fei led officials and gentry in a desperate defense; the rebels tunneled under the wall and blasted it, but the breach was repaired. Brigade commander Ma Jimei was killed fighting outside the walls. Thanks to Jiang Zhongyuan's repeated victories, the city held through a three-month siege before the rebels finally fled east through Jiujiang toward Anhui. For his service in defending the city, Fei was restored to his original rank. His memorial recommended an excessively large number of generals and officials for reward. The board proposed cuts after review, Fei protested in a memorial, and a stern edict sharply rebuked him. At the same time, because he had intercepted copper, lead, and silver shipments from Yunnan and Guizhou, and because Chen Fu'en had been impeached and Fei spoke in his defense, the emperor grew angry and stripped Fei of office.
17
芾既罷，道梗不得歸，僑居紹興。 賊窺徽、寧急，巡撫駐廬州不能兼顧。 侍郎王茂廕薦芾，乃命交和春、福濟差遣。 芾至，練團勸捐，以千人守徽州，提督鄧紹良、總兵江長貴分扼要隘。 五年，复休寧、石埭，予六品頂戴。 六年，賊擾婺源、祁門，連破之於七里橋、屯溪口，徽境得安，加五品頂戴。 是年冬，賊復由江西竄踞休寧，擊走之。 母喪，奪情留軍，命俟服闋後以三品京堂候補。 七年，鄧紹良戰歿灣沚，祁門、婺源皆告急。 遣參將王慶麟破賊於清華街，又擊走祁門賊。 九年，复婺源，賊西竄，授芾通政使，尋遷左副都御史。 太平、石埭連戰皆捷，詔皖南四府一州軍務歸芾督辦。 十年，賊复陷涇縣、旌德，由績溪進犯徽郡。 芾督江長貴及知府蘇式敬、道員蕭翰慶，連克太平、旌德、石埭、涇縣，而賊由江蘇、浙江回竄，复連陷建平、廣德、涇縣。 芾先以失機自劾，暫行革職留軍，至是復自請治罪，遂命以皖南軍事畀兩江總督曾國籓，召芾還京，請回籍補持服，允之。
After Fei was dismissed, the roads were blocked and he could not return home, so he lived in Shaoxing. The rebels watched for an opening in Huizhou and Ningguo, while the governor, posted at Luzhou, could not cover both regions. Vice Minister Wang Maoyin recommended Fei, and he was placed under the command of He Chun and Fu Ji. When Fei arrived, he organized militia and encouraged contributions, posted a thousand men to defend Huizhou, and had regional commander Deng Shaoliang and brigade commander Jiang Changgui hold key passes. In the fifth year he recovered Xiuning and Shidi and was granted the sixth-rank official's cap button. In the sixth year the rebels raided Wuyuan and Qimen; he defeated them in succession at Qili Bridge and Tunxi Pass, secured the Huizhou region, and was granted the fifth-rank cap button. That winter the rebels again broke in from Jiangxi and seized Xiuning; he drove them off. When his mother died, he was granted leave from mourning to remain with the army and was told that after mourning he would await appointment as third-rank metropolitan official. In the seventh year Deng Shaoliang was killed in battle at Wanzhi, and both Qimen and Wuyuan sent urgent appeals for help. He dispatched regimental commander Wang Qinglin, who defeated the rebels at Qinghua Street and also drove off the rebels at Qimen. In the ninth year he recovered Wuyuan and the rebels fled west. Fei was appointed transmission commissioner and soon promoted to vice censor-in-chief of the left. Victories followed in successive battles at Taiping and Shidi. An edict placed military affairs of the four prefectures and one department of southern Anhui under Fei's supervision. In the tenth year the rebels again took Jing County and Jingde and advanced through Jixi to attack Huizhou prefecture. Fei directed Jiang Changgui, Prefect Su Shijing, and Circuit Intendant Xiao Hanqing in recovering Taiping, Jingde, Shidi, and Jing County in succession, but the rebels returned from Jiangsu and Zhejiang and again took Jianping, Guangde, and Jing County. Fei had earlier impeached himself for missing his chance and was temporarily dismissed but kept with the army. Now he again asked to be punished, and the court entrusted southern Anhui military affairs to Governor-General Zeng Guofan, recalled Fei to the capital, and granted his request to return home to complete mourning.
18
十一年，粵匪、捻匪合擾關中，起芾助治團練禦賊。 事甫平，而回匪亂作，連破數州縣，逼省城，詔芾督辦陝西團練，會同巡撫瑛棨防剿。 瑛棨巽懦，計無所出，謂芾大臣有鄉望，諭之宜可解。 芾慨然率數騎往，歷高陵、臨潼至渭南倉頭鎮，曉以利害，回眾頗感動。 其酋任老五懼搖眾心，嗾黨擁出折辱之，芾據地大罵不絕口，遂被支解。 時同治元年五月十三日也。 子師劬，往覓遺骸，僅得骨數節。 事聞，予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職，諡文毅。 命於省城、倉頭鎮並建專祠，隨行遇害之臨潼知縣繆樹本、山西知縣蔣若訥及家屬在涇陽被害者五十二人，從死僕人金榜等六人，並附祀。 賜師劬舉人。 江西、徽州並建專祠，後祀江西名宦。
In the eleventh year Guangdong rebels and Nian bandits together harassed Guanzhong, and Fei was recalled to help organize militia against them. Affairs had barely settled when a Hui rebellion broke out, several prefectures and counties fell in succession, and the provincial capital was threatened. An edict ordered Fei to supervise Shaanxi militia and join Governor Ying Qi in defense and suppression. Ying Qi was timid and irresolute and could think of no plan. He said Fei was a senior official with local prestige and urged that he ought to be able to resolve the matter. Fei resolutely led a few horsemen there, passing through Gaoling and Lintong to Cangtou Town in Weinan, where he explained the stakes; the Hui crowd was considerably moved. Their chieftain Ren Laowu, fearing the crowd would be swayed, incited his followers to rush out and humiliate him. Fei sat on the ground cursing without pause and was hacked to pieces. This was on the thirteenth day of the fifth month of the first year of Tongzhi. His son Shiju went to search for the remains and recovered only a few fragments of bone. When word reached the court, he was granted the combined hereditary ranks of Commandant of Cavalry and Commandant of Cloud Cavalry and given the posthumous title Wenyi, 'Cultured Resolve.' Orders were given to build special shrines in both the provincial capital and Cangtou Town. Lintong magistrate Miu Shuben and Shanxi magistrate Jiang Ruone, who were killed on the journey, fifty-two family members killed at Jingyang, and six servants who died with them, including Jin Bang, were all enshrined there as well. Shiju was granted the status of provincial graduate. Special shrines were also built in Jiangxi and Huizhou, and later he was enshrined in Jiangxi's Hall of Eminent Officials.
19
黃琮，雲南昆明人。 道光六年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 累擢兵部侍郎，以親老乞養回籍。 咸豐七年，雲南迴亂方熾，命琮偕在籍御史竇垿治團練。 時餉絀兵單，疆臣主且剿且撫，而漢、回仇隙素深，團練驕悍不聽約束，往往撫局將成，練勇擅殺降回，益紛擾。 總督吳振棫劾琮及竇垿辦理失當，皆褫職。 事稍定，振棫疏陳縱容練勇諸事，皆出竇垿主持。 琮當省城被圍時，登陴固守有勞，又勸捐出力，詔復原官。 同治二年，逆回馬榮詐降，入城戕總督潘鐸，肆殺掠，琮遇害，贈右都御史。 光緒中，巡撫潘鼎新為請，予諡文潔。
Huang Cong was from Kunming in Yunnan. He became a metropolitan graduate in the sixth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He rose step by step to vice minister of War and, when his parents grew old, requested leave to care for them and returned home. In the seventh year of Xianfeng the Hui rebellion in Yunnan was at its height. Cong was ordered to join the retired censor Dou Kai in organizing militia. Funds were short and troops few. Frontier officials favored both suppression and pacification, but Han-Hui enmity ran deep. The militia were arrogant and unruly, and often just as pacification was about to succeed militiamen would kill surrendering Hui on their own, making matters all the more chaotic. Governor-General Wu Zhenbang impeached Cong and Dou Kai for mishandling affairs, and both were stripped of office. When affairs had settled somewhat, Zhenbang memorialized that the indulgence of the militia had all been directed by Dou Kai. When the provincial capital was besieged, Cong had labored on the walls to hold the city and had also worked hard to encourage contributions. An edict restored his original rank. In the second year of Tongzhi the rebel Hui Ma Rong feigned surrender, entered the city and killed Governor Pan Duo, then slaughtered and plundered freely. Cong was killed and was posthumously granted the rank of censor-in-chief of the right. During the Guangxu reign Governor Pan Dingxin requested honors on his behalf, and he was given the posthumous title Wenjie, 'Cultured Purity.'
20
陶廷傑，貴州都勻人。 嘉慶十九年進士，由編修遷御史、給事中。 道光中，出為江蘇蘇松糧儲道。 歷甘肅按察使、陝西布政使，署巡撫。 二十五年，休致。 咸豐三年，貴州土匪起，命廷傑在籍會同地方官辦理團練。 六年，古州、黃平、都勻先後陷，廷傑率團練禦賊，死之，予騎都尉世職，諡文節。
Tao Tingjie was from Duyun in Guizhou. He became a metropolitan graduate in the nineteenth year of Jiaqing and rose from compiler to censor and supervising secretary. During the Daoguang reign he served as grain transport commissioner of Su-Song in Jiangsu. He served in succession as provincial judge of Gansu and provincial treasurer of Shaanxi and acted as governor. In the twenty-fifth year he retired. In the third year of Xianfeng bandits rose in Guizhou. Tingjie was ordered, while at home, to join local officials in organizing militia. In the sixth year Guzhou, Huangping, and Duyun fell in succession. Tingjie led militia against the rebels and died. He was granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry and the posthumous title Wenjie, 'Cultured Integrity.'
21
馮培元，字因伯，浙江仁和人。 道光二十四年一甲三名進士，授編修，入直南書房。 咸豐元年，改直上書房，授惇郡王奕脤讀。 二年，大考二等，擢侍講。 尋督湖北學政。 數月中，連擢侍講學士、光祿寺卿。
Feng Peiyuan, styled Yinbo, was from Renhe in Zhejiang. In the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang he placed third in the first class of metropolitan graduates, was appointed a compiler, and entered service in the Southern Study. In the first year of Xianfeng he was transferred to the Upper Study and tutored the Prince of Dun, Yicong. In the second year he placed second class in the triennial examination and was promoted to reader. Soon afterward he served as educational commissioner of Hubei. Within a few months he was promoted in succession to Hanlin reader and director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments.
22
時粵匪已犯長沙，人情洶懼。 培元幼孤，家貧，母何賢明苦節，撫之成立。 及至湖北，將迎養。 聞岳州陷，馳書止母行。 母報曰：「如果有變，見危授命，大節不可奪。 其遵吾教！」 培元奉書，涕泣自矢。 賊至攻城，培元偕在城文武登陴同守。 城陷，投井死。 三年正月，賊去，向榮率兵入城，有以告者，始出而殮之，屍如生。 事聞，文宗以武昌之陷，闔城文武殉難，卹典特優，贈侍郎，建專祠，予騎都尉世職，諡文介。 後兩子學瀚、學澧皆賜舉人。
By then Guangdong rebels had already struck Changsha, and public panic was spreading. Peiyuan was orphaned young and grew up poor. His mother He was wise and steadfast through hardship and raised him to adulthood. When he reached Hubei he was about to bring her to live with him and support her in his home. When he heard that Yuezhou had fallen, he sent an urgent letter telling his mother not to come. His mother replied: 'If crisis comes, meet danger and give your life. Great integrity must never be compromised. Obey what I have taught you!' Peiyuan received the letter, wept, and pledged himself to her charge. When the rebels arrived and attacked the city, Peiyuan joined the civil and military officials inside in mounting the walls to defend it. When the city fell he threw himself into a well and died. In the first month of the third year the rebels withdrew. Xiang Rong led troops into the city, and when someone reported what had happened, the body was at last recovered and encoffined, looking as if he were still alive. When word reached the court, Emperor Wenzong, noting that with the fall of Wuchang the city's entire civil and military corps had died in service, granted especially generous mourning honors, posthumously made him vice minister, ordered a special shrine built, granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, and gave him the posthumous title Wenjie, 'Cultured Integrity.' Later both his sons Xuehan and Xueli were granted the status of provincial graduate.
23
孫銘恩，字蘭檢，江蘇通州人。 道光十五年進士，選庶吉士，授編修，累遷詹事。 咸豐二年，典試廣東，還京，道出九江。 粵匪已由岳州東下，陷漢陽。 銘恩疏上江防十二事，下江南督撫施行。 三年，連擢內閣學士、兵部侍郎，督安徽學政。
Sun Mingen, styled Lanjian, was from Tongzhou in Jiangsu. He became a metropolitan graduate in the fifteenth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, was appointed a compiler, and rose step by step to tutor of the heir apparent. In the second year of Xianfeng he served as chief examiner in Guangdong. On his return to the capital his route passed through Jiujiang. Guangdong rebels had already moved east from Yuezhou and taken Hanyang. Mingen memorialized twelve measures for river defense, which were sent down to the Jiangnan governors for implementation. In the third year he was promoted in succession to grand secretary and vice minister of War, and served as educational commissioner of Anhui.
24
時安慶已為賊踞，故事，學政駐太平府，銘恩激勵紳民，舉行團練，捐廉為倡。 潰兵時至，侮官劫市，銘恩諭以大義，稍定。 四年，以父病請開缺省視，會有旨命偕在籍前南河總督潘錫恩防守徽、寧，銘恩未之知也。 疏入，文宗疑其規避，嚴旨切責，允其回籍，俟假滿以三四品京堂降補。 未踰月，賊犯太平，從者請避之。 銘恩曰：「城亡與亡，以明吾心！」 城陷，賊至，衣冠坐堂上，抗罵，被執，囚於江寧，僕范源從。 銘恩不食，賊脅源勸降，源叱之，斷其舌，同遇害。 詔嘉其抗節不屈，遇害甚慘，贈內閣學士，入祀京師及安徽、江蘇昭忠祠，予騎都尉世職，諡文節。 范源同議卹。
Anqing was already in rebel hands. By precedent the educational commissioner resided at Taiping Prefecture. Mingen rallied gentry and commoners, organized militia, and led by donating from his own salary. Routed troops kept arriving, insulting officials and plundering the markets. Mingen admonished them with appeals to duty, and the disorder eased somewhat. In the fourth year, when his father fell ill, he asked leave from office to return home and care for him. At the same time an edict ordered him to join the retired former governor-general of the South River, Pan Xien, in defending Huizhou and Ningguo, but Mingen did not yet know of it. When the memorial arrived, Emperor Wenzong suspected he was evading duty and issued a stern rebuke. He was allowed to return home and, after leave ended, to await appointment as a third- or fourth-rank metropolitan official at reduced rank. Before a month had passed the rebels attacked Taiping, and his attendants urged him to flee. Mingen said: 'If the city falls, I fall with it—that is how I show where my heart stands!' When the city fell and the rebels arrived, he sat in official dress in the hall and cursed them defiantly. He was seized and imprisoned in Jiangning, and his servant Fan Yuan followed him. Mingen refused to eat. The rebels forced Yuan to urge him to surrender; Yuan rebuked them, had his tongue cut out, and both were killed. An edict praised his unyielding integrity and the terrible cruelty of his death, posthumously made him grand secretary, enshrined him in the Hall of Loyalty and Devotion in the capital and in Anhui and Jiangsu, granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, and gave him the posthumous title Wenjie, 'Cultured Integrity.' Fan Yuan was granted mourning honors as well.
25
沈炳垣，字紫卿，浙江海鹽人。 道光二十五年進士，選庶吉士，授編修，遷中允。 咸豐四年，督廣西學政。 廣西自洪秀全北犯後，群匪迭起。 炳垣至，與巡撫勞崇光議戰守策，崇光深器之。
Shen Bingyuan, styled Ziqing, was from Haiyan in Zhejiang. He became a metropolitan graduate in the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, was appointed a compiler, and was transferred to assistant director of the Academy. In the fourth year of Xianfeng he served as educational commissioner of Guangxi. After Hong Xiuquan marched north from Guangxi, bandit groups rose one after another. When Bingyuan arrived he discussed plans for war and defense with Governor Lao Chongguang, who greatly valued him.
26
七年春，按試南寧畢，警報日至，居民洶洶驚避。 炳垣倡言城險可保，條列守禦法，捐俸濟餉，守三晝夜。 賊知有備，引去。 潯州陷，江路梗塞，間道至梧州。 艇匪陳開等眾數万突來犯，炳垣率知府陳瑞枝等嬰城固守，凡三閱月，糧盡援絕。 官吏以炳垣無守土責，遣兵衛之出，炳垣不可。 八月，城陷，仰藥未死，賊擁去，厚遇之。 炳垣罵賊，求死不得。 久之，乘間為書致巡撫劉長佑，請出兵襲城，密約城內民夾擊。 事泄，賊恨甚，磔而焚之。 有老卒睹炳垣慘死狀，走省城首於官。 贈內閣學士，諡文節，建專祠桂林。
In the spring of the seventh year, when examinations in Nanning were finished, alarms arrived daily and residents fled in panic. Bingyuan declared that the city's terrain made it defensible, laid out detailed plans for defense, donated his salary to support the troops, and held the city for three days and nights. Seeing the city prepared, the rebels withdrew. When Xunzhou fell the river route was blocked, and he reached Wuzhou by a side path. Boat bandits led by Chen Kai and others, numbering tens of thousands, suddenly attacked. Bingyuan led Prefect Chen Ruizhi and others in a desperate defense of the city for three full months until grain ran out and relief was cut off. Officials, saying Bingyuan had no duty to hold territory, sent troops to escort him out, but he refused. In the eighth month the city fell. He swallowed poison but did not die, was seized by the rebels, and was treated with surprising consideration. Bingyuan cursed the rebels but could not obtain death. After a long time he seized an opportunity to write to Governor Liu Changyou, asking that troops be sent to strike the city and secretly arranging with people inside for a pincer attack. When the plot leaked out the rebels hated him intensely, dismembered him, and burned his body. An old soldier who witnessed Bingyuan's horrific death ran to the provincial capital and reported it to the authorities. He was posthumously made grand secretary, given the posthumous title Wenjie, 'Cultured Integrity,' and a special shrine was built for him in Guilin.
27
張錫庚，字星白，江蘇丹徒人，大學士玉書裔孫。 道光十六年二甲一名進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 遷御史，擢順天府丞，丁父憂，服闋，補原官。 疏論綠營冒濫頂名及緝捕諸弊，詔下其疏於各直省，實力整頓。 又疏言殿試貢士不限字數，聽其發抒，刪去頌辭，下部議行。 歷太僕寺卿、左副都御史。
Zhang Xigeng, styled Xingbai, was from Dantu in Jiangsu and a descendant of Grand Secretary Yushu. He became a metropolitan graduate in the sixteenth year of Daoguang as first in the second class, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He rose to censor, was promoted to vice prefect of Shuntian, mourned his father, and when mourning ended resumed his original post. He memorialized on abuses in the Green Standard Army such as fraudulent names on the rolls and failures in pursuit and capture. An edict sent his memorial to all provinces for earnest rectification. He also memorialized that palace examination candidates should not be limited in length, should be allowed free expression, and that eulogistic formulae should be removed. The boards were ordered to deliberate and implement this. He served in succession as director of the Court of the Imperial Stud and vice censor-in-chief of the left.
28
咸豐八年，督浙江學政，擢刑部侍郎，仍留學政任。 十年，杭州陷而旋复，錫庚助城守，其子恩然率家屬自焚，錫庚以聞，予旌卹。 團練大臣王履謙劾巡撫王有齡籌餉按缺派捐，命錫庚訪按。 錫庚以有齡一月內更易州縣二十馀員，非政體，請予處分，從之。 十一年，任滿，代者未至，杭州復被圍，錫庚同守城。 城陷，或勸之去，錫庚曰：「吾大臣也，不可辱國！」 遂自縊，賊稱其忠，為具棺斂。 贈尚書銜，予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職，祀浙江昭忠祠，諡文貞。
In the eighth year of Xianfeng he served as educational commissioner of Zhejiang, was promoted to vice minister of Punishments, and remained in his educational post. In the tenth year Hangzhou fell and was soon recovered. Xigeng helped defend the city; his son Enran led the family in self-immolation. Xigeng reported this, and commendation and mourning honors were granted. Militia commissioner Wang Luqian impeached Governor Wang Youling for raising funds by assigning contributions according to vacancies. Xigeng was ordered to investigate. Xigeng reported that within one month Youling had replaced more than twenty prefects and magistrates, which was not proper administrative practice, and requested punishment. The request was approved. In the eleventh year his term ended but his replacement had not arrived. Hangzhou was besieged again, and Xigeng joined in defending the city. When the city fell some urged him to flee. Xigeng said: 'I am a senior minister. I cannot disgrace the state!' He then hanged himself. The rebels praised his loyalty and provided a coffin and burial. He was posthumously granted ministerial rank, given the combined hereditary ranks of Commandant of Cavalry and Commandant of Cloud Cavalry, enshrined in Zhejiang's Hall of Loyalty and Devotion, and given the posthumous title Wenzhen, 'Cultured Fidelity.'
29
論曰：呂賢基以忠鯁受主知，其治兵安徽也，志欲大有所為，當殘破之馀，驟無藉手，倉猝殞身，文宗惜之。 鄒鳴鶴久著循聲，戴熙亦負清望，張芾守江西、防皖南，雖無偉績，備歷艱難。 三人以在籍搢紳治團籌防，雖久暫不同，皆事權不屬，或以城亡與亡，或以犯難遇害。 黃琮初因措置失宜獲咎，繼亦原之，而終不免於難。 馮培元、孫銘恩、沈炳垣、張錫庚，文學之臣，職非守土，死皆慘烈，朝廷報忠之典悉從優渥，固不以成敗論已。
The commentator writes: Lü Xianji won the emperor's trust through loyal forthrightness. When he took command in Anhui he aspired to achieve great things, but amid the ruins of devastation he suddenly had nothing to work with and died in haste. Emperor Wenzong mourned him. Zou Minghe long enjoyed a reputation for good governance, Dai Xi also bore a reputation for integrity, and Zhang Fei defended Jiangxi and guarded southern Anhui. Though they achieved no great feats, all endured great hardship. Three of them, as local gentry at home organizing militia and planning defense, differed in how long they served and lacked proper command authority; some died when their cities fell, others were killed in the crisis. Huang Cong was first punished for mishandling affairs, later pardoned, but in the end could not escape disaster. Feng Peiyuan, Sun Mingen, Shen Bingyuan, and Zhang Xigeng were literary officials whose duties did not include holding territory; all died in terrible circumstances, yet the court's rewards for loyalty were altogether generous, for loyalty is not judged by success or failure alone.