1
=何桂珍=何桂珍，字丹畦，雲南師宗人。 道光十八年進士，選庶吉士，年甫冠，乞假歸娶。 散館授編修，督貴州學政。 入直上書房，授孚郡王讀。 文宗在潛邸，即受知。 桂珍鄉試出倭仁門，與唐鑑、曾國籓為師友，學以宋儒為宗。 及文宗即位，以所撰大學衍義芻言奏進，優詔嘉納。 數上疏論時政得失，言琦善、牛鑑僨軍之將，不宜任兵事。 咸豐三年，出為福建興泉永道。 巡防大臣賈楨等奏請開缺，留京隨辦城守事宜。
He Guizhen, styled Danqi, was from Shizong in Yunnan. He became a metropolitan graduate in the eighteenth year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and, still scarcely twenty, took leave to go home and marry. After completing his academy term he was made a compiler and served as educational commissioner of Guizhou. He joined the imperial study and tutored the Prince of Fu. He had already won the future Emperor Wenzong's trust while the emperor was still heir apparent. Guizhen had been a provincial examination pupil of Woren; he counted Tang Jian and Zeng Guofan among his teachers and friends, and took Song Neo-Confucianism as his guiding tradition. After Wenzong took the throne, Guizhen submitted his Expository Remarks on the Great Learning and received a warmly approving imperial edict. He memorialized repeatedly on current affairs, arguing that Qishan and Niu Jian were commanders who had ruined their armies and should not be put in charge of military operations. In the third year of Xianfeng he was posted as intendant of the Xing-Quan-Yong circuit in Fujian. Capital defense commissioners including Jia Zhen asked that his post be left vacant so he could remain in Beijing to help with the city's defense.
2
四年，畿輔解嚴，授安徽徽寧池太廣道。 安慶久陷，巡撫福濟駐廬州之店埠。 桂珍所治在江南，阻於賊，遂留江北。 檄募勇從征，餉無所出，久之，得二百人，至霍山，號召鄉團，增為三千人，激以忠義，破捻匪李兆受於霍城，追擊至麻埠，進逼流波甿； 檄商城、固始鄉團截其北，金寨練勇拒其東，自率所部遏其西，兆受大懼，與其黨馬超江等同降，解散脅從萬計，民歡呼載道，饋糗糧不絕。 福濟令桂珍援廬江，檄至，城已陷，馳救不及，劾罷職。 是年，曾國籓破賊田家鎮，進圍九江，桂珍通牒言戰狀，國籓以聞。 袁甲三軍臨淮，欲資桂珍兵西與楚師會，至蘄水而九江軍失利，武昌再陷。 國籓入江西，文報不相聞。 桂珍乃提孤軍轉戰潛、霍間。 五年春，克蘄水、英山，殲賊首田金爵。 和春上其功，予六品頂戴，留駐英山。 自桂珍受事，至是八閱月，僅支餉銀三百兩。 民團相從者踵至，益以李兆受降眾，餓不得食，五月，師遂潰。
In the fourth year, after martial law in the capital region was lifted, he was appointed intendant of the Huining-Chitai-Guang circuit in Anhui. Anqing had been in rebel hands for a long time, and Governor Fuiji was encamped at Dianbu in Luzhou. Guizhen's jurisdiction lay south of the Yangzi, but rebel lines kept him on the north bank. He called up volunteers for the campaign but had no money for their pay; only after a long delay did he raise two hundred men. At Huoshan he rallied local militia until his force reached three thousand. Stirring them with appeals to loyalty, he routed the Nian leader Li Zhaoshou at Huocheng, chased him to Mapu, and advanced on Liubomeng; He ordered militia from Shangcheng and Gushi to block the north, trained volunteers from Jinzhai to hold the east, and led his own men to seal the west. Terrified, Zhaoshou surrendered with his lieutenant Ma Chaojiang and others, releasing tens of thousands of coerced followers. The people cheered in the streets and kept bringing food without end. Fuiji ordered Guizhen to relieve Lujiang, but by the time the order arrived the city had fallen and he could not save it; he was impeached and removed from office. That year Zeng Guofan routed the rebels at Tianjiazhen and moved to besiege Jiujiang. Guizhen sent battle reports, which Zeng forwarded to court. Yuan Jiasan's army was at Linhuai and hoped to use Guizhen's troops to march west and join the Hunan army, but at Qishui the force at Jiujiang was beaten and Wuchang fell again. Zeng Guofan marched into Jiangxi, and communications between them broke off. Guizhen then led a lone force fighting between Qian and Huo. In the spring of the fifth year he took Qishui and Yingshan and killed the rebel chief Tian Jinjue. He Chun commended his achievements; he was given a sixth-rank cap button and stayed on at Yingshan. In the eight months since Guizhen had taken command, he had received only three hundred taels of pay. Militia volunteers kept joining him, and Li Zhaoshou's surrendered men swelled the ranks, but they went hungry for lack of food; in the fifth month the force disintegrated.
3
兆受之降也，桂珍請福濟羈以官，不聽，不能無觖望。 未幾，馬超江被殺，兆受乞拘仇，弗獲，則大恚，議為超江復仇，設位受吊，捻黨大集。 於是安徽、河南皆以兆受复叛入告，兆受詣桂珍自陳，撫慰之，稍定。 會福濟密書囑先發絕其患，書由驛遞，為兆受所得，謂桂珍賣己。 十月，陽置酒，伏兵英山小南門外，桂珍遂遇害，左右四十餘人皆從死。 事聞，依道員陣亡例賜卹，贈光祿寺卿，予雲騎尉世職。 同治初，江南平，曾國籓疏言桂珍率鄉團勦賊，飢餓艱難，歷人間未有之苦，機事不密，為叛人所戕，天下冤之。 詔晉世職為騎都尉，予諡文貞，建祠英山縣。
When Zhaoshou surrendered, Guizhen asked Fuiji to keep him under control by giving him an official post, but Fuiji refused, and Zhaoshou could not help feeling slighted. Soon Ma Chaojiang was killed. Zhaoshou demanded that the killer be arrested but was refused, and in a fury he vowed revenge for Chaojiang, set up a mourning altar, and Nian bands rallied in force. Anhui and Henan then both reported that Zhaoshou had rebelled again. Zhaoshou came to Guizhen to plead his case; Guizhen reassured him and the situation calmed somewhat. Fuiji then sent a secret letter ordering a preemptive strike to remove the threat. The message went by courier, fell into Zhaoshou's hands, and he concluded that Guizhen had sold him out. In the tenth month he staged a feast and hid troops outside Yingshan's lesser south gate. Guizhen was murdered, and more than forty of his followers died with him. When word reached court, he was mourned under the rules for an intendant killed in action, posthumously made Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and granted the hereditary rank of Cloud Cavalry Captain. Early in Tongzhi, after Jiangnan was pacified, Zeng Guofan wrote that Guizhen had led militia against bandits through hunger and hardship beyond anything men had known, and that a leaked plan had let rebels kill him—a death the whole country regarded as unjust. An edict raised his hereditary rank to Commandant of Cavalry, gave him the posthumous title Wenzhen, and ordered a memorial shrine built in Yingshan County.
4
=徐豐玉=徐豐玉，字石民，安徽桐城人。 父鏞，嘉慶十四年進士，官至太僕寺卿。 豐玉少應科舉不遇，捐納銓授貴州平遠知州。 署威寧，捕斬大盜，總督林則徐嘉異之，調黃平。 苗寨盜魁保禾日聚眾剽掠。 豐玉清保甲，理屯軍，請兵會剿。 巡撫喬用遷慮激變，不許。 既而苗益恣，從知府胡林翼往剿，保禾遁。 時廣西匪起，蔓及貴州境。 豐玉練民兵，入山搜捕，多得盜魁，誅之。 雲南巡撫張亮基過黃平，悉其狀，密疏薦。 遷郎岱同知，署思州府。
Xu Fengyu, styled Shimin, was from Tongcheng in Anhui. His father Yong became a metropolitan graduate in the fourteenth year of Jiaqing and rose to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud. Fengyu failed the civil examinations in his youth, bought an office, and was appointed magistrate of Pingyuan in Guizhou. While acting magistrate at Weining he captured and executed a major outlaw. Governor-General Lin Zexu was impressed and moved him to Huangping. In the Miao stockades the outlaw chief Bao Heri gathered men for raids. Fengyu reorganized the baojia militia system, put the garrison troops in order, and asked for regular troops for a joint suppression. Governor Qiao Yongqian feared provoking a wider revolt and refused. The Miao soon grew bolder. Fengyu joined Prefect Hu Linyi on a punitive expedition, and Bao Heri escaped. Banditry had broken out in Guangxi and was spreading into Guizhou. Fengyu trained militia, hunted the mountains, captured many bandit leaders, and put them to death. When Yunnan Governor Zhang Liangji passed through Huangping he learned the full story and secretly recommended Fengyu to court. He was promoted to subprefect of Langdai and acted as prefect of Sizhou.
5
咸豐二年，擢湖北黃州知府。 甫蒞任，而張亮基調湖南，奏調豐玉往襄軍事，助守長沙。 尋從總督徐廣縉赴岳州，武昌已陷，豐玉請廣縉速移鎮黃州，截賊下竄。 廣縉不能用，得罪去，張亮基代之。 三年，擢湖北督糧道，署漢黃德道。 廣濟民變，戕縣令。 黃州知府邵綸及新令鮑開運往撫，均遇害。 豐玉偕按察使江忠源往剿，捕斬數百人，乃定。
In the second year of Xianfeng he was made prefect of Huangzhou in Hubei. He had barely taken office when Zhang Liangji was sent to Hunan and had Fengyu called up to help with the war effort and the defense of Changsha. He soon followed Governor-General Xu Guangjin to Yuezhou. Wuchang had already fallen, and Fengyu urged Guangjin to shift his headquarters quickly to Huangzhou to block the rebels moving downriver. Guangjin would not follow the advice, left office under disgrace, and Zhang Liangji replaced him. In the third year he was made Hubei's grain transport commissioner and acted as intendant of the Han-Huang-De circuit. The people of Guangji rose in revolt and killed the county magistrate. Huangzhou Prefect Shao Lun and the newly appointed magistrate Bao Kaiyun went to pacify the crowd and were both killed. Fengyu went with Provincial Judicial Commissioner Jiang Zhongyuan to suppress the revolt, captured and executed several hundred men, and restored order.
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會粵匪由江寧分竄上游，忠源率師援江西，亮基令豐玉統湖北防軍駐田家鎮。 鎮當江北岸，後有大山曰黃金塔，小山曰磨盤，下有河直入江中，與南岸半壁山接。 山塹水湍，舟行必循湍繞河乃得過，最據形勢。 豐玉列營諸山，於河上聯筏作城，列砲以守。 半壁山背倚湖，湖通興國，入湖處曰富池口。 豐玉欲分營半壁山上而兵單，僅遣兵弁瞭望而已。 九月，賊由南昌退九江，遂上犯田家鎮。 豐玉偕總兵楊昌泗憑牆砲擊沉賊船，又斃陸路撲營賊，乘勝追壓乃退。 次日，賊船擁至，分三路迎擊，斃賊甚眾，毀其大船。 賊由富池口分船數百犯興國，會江忠源由江西回援，賊復由興國會於富池口。 荊門知州李榞輕軍襲之，豐玉遣兵夾擊，敗挫，榞陣歿。 忠源聞田家鎮危急，調九江兵馳援，未達，忠源獨挈親兵數十人至。 見賊眾兵單，驚曰：「不可守矣！」 次晨，大風作，賊連檣驟至，環撲我營。 豐玉偕漢黃德道張汝瀛督戰，筏城被焚，營壘皆不守。 豐玉手佩刀殺賊，遂自剄，汝瀛同殉焉。 忠源親隨僅存數人，收集餘眾，退駐廣濟。 事聞，予騎都尉世職。 光緒中，大學士李鴻章疏陳豐玉政績、死事狀，予諡勇烈，建專祠。
The Guangdong rebels then split from Nanjing and raided upriver. Zhongyuan marched to aid Jiangxi, and Liangji put Fengyu in command of Hubei's defensive forces at Tianjiazhen. The town lay on the north bank of the Yangzi. Behind it stood Golden Pagoda Mountain and the smaller Millstone Hill; a river ran straight into the Yangzi opposite Banbishan on the south bank. Steep mountains and swift water forced boats to thread the rapids around the river mouth, making it the strongest choke point on the route. Fengyu camped his men on the hills, chained rafts into a floating wall across the river, and lined up artillery. Banbishan backed onto a lake linked to Xingguo; the lake entrance was Fuchi Mouth. Fengyu wanted to post troops on Banbishan but had too few men and sent only officers to keep watch. In the ninth month the rebels fell back from Nanchang to Jiujiang and then struck upstream at Tianjiazhen. Fengyu and Regional Commander Yang Changsi used the river batteries to sink rebel boats, killed rebels who stormed the camps overland, and drove them back in pursuit. The next day a mass of rebel boats arrived. He met them on three fronts, killed large numbers, and destroyed their largest ships. The rebels sent hundreds of boats from Fuchi Mouth against Xingguo. Jiang Zhongyuan returned from Jiangxi to reinforce, and the rebels regrouped at Fuchi Mouth from Xingguo. Jingmen Prefect Li Yuan led a light force in a raid. Fengyu sent troops to hit them from both sides, but the attack failed and Yuan was killed in battle. Hearing that Tianjiazhen was in peril, Zhongyuan ordered troops from Jiujiang to rush to the rescue, but they did not arrive in time; he came alone with a few dozen personal guards. Seeing how many rebels there were and how few defenders he had, he cried in alarm, "This place cannot be held!" The next morning a strong wind blew up. Rebel boats with linked masts surged in and surrounded the camps on every side. Fengyu and Han-Huang-De Intendant Zhang Ruying directed the defense, but the raft wall was burned and every camp gave way. Fengyu drew his sword and killed rebels with his own hand, then cut his throat; Ruying died at his side. Only a handful of Zhongyuan's personal guards survived. He rallied the remnants and fell back to Guangji. When word reached court, his family was granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry. During the Guangxu reign, Grand Secretary Li Hongzhang described Fengyu's record in office and his death in battle; he was given the posthumous title Yonglie and a dedicated shrine was built.
7
張汝瀛，山東樂陵人。 道光元年舉人。 官廣西知縣，歷貴縣、蒼梧，以剿匪功洊升知府，亦為張亮基所薦拔。 咸豐三年，擢漢黃德道。 甫抵任，偕豐玉同守田家鎮，歿於陣，予騎都尉世職，追諡勇節。
Zhang Ruying was from Leling in Shandong. He received his provincial degree in the first year of Daoguang. He served as a magistrate in Guangxi at Guixian and Cangwu, was promoted step by step to prefect for suppressing bandits, and was likewise advanced by Zhang Liangji. In the third year of Xianfeng he was made intendant of the Han-Huang-De circuit. He had barely taken office when he joined Fengyu in defending Tianjiazhen, fell in battle, and was granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry with the posthumous title Yongjie.
8
金雲門，安徽休寧人。 道光十三年進士，官浙江雲和知縣。 改湖北，歷天門、崇陽、隨州。 以擒崇陽匪首鍾人傑功，晉知州。 洊擢安陸知府，署糧儲道，護按察使，調署黃州。 自田家鎮失利，賊遂進陷黃州，雲門死之，贈太僕寺卿，予騎都尉世職。 後京山士民以政績卓越請建祠，諡果毅。
Jin Yunmen was from Xiuning in Anhui. He became a metropolitan graduate in the thirteenth year of Daoguang and served as magistrate of Yunhe in Zhejiang. Transferred to Hubei, he served at Tianmen, Chongyang, and Suizhou in turn. For capturing the Chongyang bandit chief Zhong Renjie he was promoted to prefect. He rose step by step to prefect of Anlu, acted as grain storage commissioner and provincial judicial commissioner, and was transferred to act at Huangzhou. After the defeat at Tianjiazhen the rebels pressed on and took Huangzhou; Yunmen died in the fighting, was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, and his family received the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry. Later the gentry and people of Jingshan asked for a shrine in recognition of his outstanding administration, and he received the posthumous title Guoyi.
9
唐樹義，貴州遵義人。 嘉慶二十一年舉人，官湖北咸豐、監利、江夏知縣，洊擢湖北布政使。 以病歸，在籍辦團練。 張亮基奏調湖北，署按察使。 及田家鎮軍事亟，率兵防江北陵路，駐廣濟。 既而黃州、漢陽相繼陷，樹義勦賊德安，進軍灄口。 咸豐四年，戰失利，褫職留任，率舟師禦賊金口，船破，死之。 予騎都尉世職，諡威恪。
Tang Shuyi was from Zunyi in Guizhou. A provincial graduate of the twenty-first year of Jiaqing, he served as magistrate at Xianfeng, Jianli, and Jiangxia in Hubei and rose to provincial administration commissioner. Illness sent him home, where he organized local militia in his native district. Zhang Liangji had him called to Hubei, where he acted as provincial judicial commissioner. When the fighting at Tianjiazhen grew desperate, he led troops to guard the Jiangbei Ling route and camped at Guangji. Huangzhou and Hanyang soon fell in turn. Shuyi fought bandits at De'an and advanced to Shankou. In the fourth year of Xianfeng he was beaten in battle, stripped of rank but kept on duty, led a flotilla against the rebels at Jinkou, lost his ships, and was killed. His family received the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, and he was given the posthumous title Weike.
10
岳興阿，博爾濟吉特氏，滿洲正藍旗人。 考授內閣中書，出為河南南陽知府，洊擢湖北布政使。 四年，武昌陷，死之。 予騎都尉世職，諡剛節。
Yue Xing'a, of the Borjigit clan, was a Manchu of the Plain Blue Banner. By examination he entered the Grand Secretariat as a secretary, became prefect of Nanyang in Henan, and rose to provincial administration commissioner of Hubei. In the fourth year Wuchang fell and he was killed. His family received the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, and he was given the posthumous title Gangjie.
11
易容之，廣東鶴山人。 捐納銓授湖北德安知府。 四年，德安陷，罵賊死之，予騎都尉世職。 李榞自有傳。
Yi Rongzhi was from Heshan in Guangdong. He bought an office and was appointed prefect of De'an in Hubei. In the fourth year De'an fell; he cursed the rebels and was killed, and his family received the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry. Li Yuan has a separate biography.
12
=溫紹原=溫紹原，字北屏，湖北江夏人。 少負奇略。 入貲為兩淮鹽運司經歷，改知縣。 咸豐二年，署六合，減賦役，蠲苛法，民戴之。
Wen Shaoyuan, styled Beiping, was from Jiangxia in Hubei. From his youth he showed uncommon strategic ability. He purchased an office as secretary of the Liang-Huai Salt Transport Commission and later became a magistrate. In the second year of Xianfeng he served as acting magistrate of Liuhe, cut taxes and labor levies, repealed harsh rules, and won the people's devotion.
13
粵匪陷武昌東下，紹原以六合為南北要衝，勸民積穀儲群堡，修城垣，治守具。 團練四鄉，合為一氣，別募壯勇訓練。 三年春，江寧陷，賊遊騎至境，輒殲之。 既而大至，禦於龍池，以兵單失利，練總徐琳、達成榮戰死，紹原退保南關。 會日暮，賊營火，乘亂攻之，斬偽丞相一、偽統制四，餘眾殲焉。 紹原益增守要隘，浚品字坑伏地雷。 守備秦淮陽，千總夏定邦、王家幹，皆能戰，賊屢至，隨機御之，每擒斬過當，賊懼之，不敢逼。 欽差大臣向榮、總督怡良先後上其功，以知府升用，賜花翎，特詔嘉獎； 並以紳民深明大義，蠲免六合一年丁漕，增廣學額，以示旌異。
After the rebels took Wuchang and marched east, Shaoyuan saw Liuhe as the key link between north and south. He urged the people to store grain, stock the local forts, repair the walls, and ready the defenses. He organized militia in the four townships into a single force and separately recruited and trained stalwart volunteers. In the spring of the third year Nanjing fell; whenever rebel scouting parties reached his border he wiped them out. Soon a larger force arrived. He met them at Longchi but was beaten for lack of numbers; militia leaders Xu Lin and Da Chengrong were killed, and Shaoyuan fell back to defend the south gate. At dusk the rebel camp caught fire. He attacked in the confusion, killed one false chancellor and four false commanders, and wiped out the rest. Shaoyuan strengthened the defenses at key passes and dug pin-shaped pits for concealed land mines. Garrison Commander Qin Huaiyang and company commanders Xia Dingbang and Wang Jiangan were all capable fighters. Rebels came repeatedly, and he met each attack as circumstances required, killing more than his share each time until they feared him and would not press the attack. Imperial Commissioner Xiang Rong and Governor Yiliang reported his achievements in turn. He was promoted to prefect, given the peacock feather, and honored by special edict; and because the local gentry and people had shown such public spirit, Liuhe's land tax and grain transport levies were remitted for one year and its examination quota was increased as a mark of special honor.
14
四年，賊屯九洑洲，結簰置砲，翼以戰艦，順流下，至八卦洲，紹原夜以小舟襲之，縱火焚簰幾盡，偕總兵武慶、江浦知縣曾勉禮，分路進攻九洑洲。 天大霧，架浮橋襲賊營，大破之，平其壘，被議敘。
In the fourth year the rebels camped at Jiufuzhou, chained rafts together with artillery, and moved downstream under cover of warships to Baguazhou. Shaoyuan raided them at night in small boats and burned nearly all the rafts, then joined Regional Commander Wu Qing and Jiangpu Magistrate Zeng Mianli in a multi-pronged assault on Jiufuzhou. In heavy fog they threw a pontoon bridge across and stormed the rebel camp, routing the enemy and leveling their fortifications, and he was recommended for promotion.
15
五年，署江寧知府，在縣設治，督辦府屬團練事宜。 賊屢糾悍黨自浦口來撲，皆不得逞。 六年，大軍攻鎮江、瓜洲急，賊數路來援。 其自蕪湖來者，紹原要之於江，七戰皆捷，進劃南岸七里洲賊壘，毀其舟。 賊乃出陸路，竄踞高資港、下蜀街，巡撫吉爾杭阿檄紹原赴援。 紹原令其弟溫綸率千人往戰，數有功。 江北托明阿軍潰，揚州陷。 紹原由儀徵往援，而賊陷江浦，犯浦口，踞六合葛塘集，偕張國樑馳擊於龍池，大破之； 又破之於盤城集，連复江浦、浦口。 捷聞，擢道員。 未幾，賊再陷江浦，進犯六合，紹原合水陸擊走之。
In the fifth year he acted as prefect of Jiangning, set up his office in the county, and oversaw militia training throughout the prefecture. Rebels repeatedly rallied fierce bands from Pukou to attack him, but none succeeded. In the sixth year the main army pressed hard against Zhenjiang and Guazhou, and the rebels sent relief forces by several routes. Those coming from Wuhu he intercepted on the river and won seven battles in a row. He then advanced against the rebel fort at Qilizhou on the south bank and destroyed their boats. The rebels then moved overland and seized Gaozigang and Xiashu Street. Governor Jirhang'a ordered Shaoyuan to reinforce the position. Shaoyuan sent his younger brother Wen Lun with a thousand men and won several victories. To Ming'a's army north of the Yangzi collapsed and Yangzhou fell. Shaoyuan marched from Yizheng to reinforce, but the rebels took Jiangpu, struck Pukou, and seized Getangji in Liuhe. He and Zhang Guoliang rushed to attack them at Longchi and routed them; defeated them again at Panchengji, and recovered Jiangpu and Pukou in succession. When victory was reported, he was promoted to intendant. Soon the rebels took Jiangpu again and advanced on Liuhe. Shaoyuan combined land and river forces and drove them back.
16
時軍事分隸江南、江北兩大營。 六合地居江北，紹原以孤城為保障，且數出境渡江助大軍攻剿立功，向榮深推重，令充南軍翼長。 德興阿督北軍，意嗛之。 七年，天長、來安土匪起，遣兵破之。 列上所部戰績，德興阿謂越境邀功，置勿錄，紹原力爭，遂以乾頂保舉疏劾褫職，仍留六合帶勇防堵。 尋有旨命兼管江寧、江浦團練。 總督何桂清疏言：「紹原以一縣倡募水陸各勇，激勵紳團，屢殲賊眾，出奇制勝。 且餘力上搤江浦，下救儀徵，北援來安，江北大營得免西顧之憂。 自來安至廬州，尚有一線運道可通者，亦惟紹原是賴。 才足匡時如紹原者，實不多見。 請復原官，以維繫眾心。」 詔允開復知府。 八年，從大軍克來安，加鹽運使銜。
Military affairs were then divided between the Jiangnan and Jiangbei command camps. Liuhe lay north of the Yangzi. Shaoyuan held his isolated city as a bastion and repeatedly crossed the river to help the main army win victories. Xiang Rong held him in high regard and made him wing commander of the southern army. De Xing'a commanded the northern army and resented him. In the seventh year bandits rose at Tianchang and Lai'an; he sent troops and crushed them. He submitted a list of his unit's victories. De Xing'a dismissed it as border-crossing self-promotion and refused to record it. Shaoyuan protested fiercely, and De Xing'a impeached him and stripped him of rank, though he was left at Liuhe to lead defensive forces. Soon an edict put him in joint charge of militia in Jiangning and Jiangpu. Governor-General He Guiqing wrote: "From a single county Shaoyuan raised land and river forces, rallied the gentry militia, repeatedly destroyed rebel bands, and won by bold stratagems. With his spare strength he held Jiangpu upstream, relieved Yizheng downstream, aided Lai'an to the north, and spared the Jiangbei camp worry about its western flank. The slender supply line that still connected Lai'an with Luzhou depended on him alone. Men of his talent, able to steady the times, are truly rare. I ask that his former rank be restored to keep the people's loyalty." The throne approved his restoration to prefect. In the eighth year he joined the main army in taking Lai'an and received the brevet rank of salt transport commissioner.
17
悍酋李秀成、陳玉成大舉援江寧，先陷江浦。 德興阿退六合，三戰皆敗，又退揚州。 賊久憾紹原，合力圍攻。 文宗恐其有失，詔促德興阿、勝保速援，皆不至。 紹原堅守幾及一月，力竭城陷，死之。 張國樑既克揚州，即日馳赴，於城陷次日始至，聞者莫不嗟悼。 詔嘉紹原「六載守城，久為江北重鎮。 援師未集，力竭捐軀，深為憫惜」，贈布政使銜，予騎都尉世職，於六合建專祠，諡壯勇。
The rebel chiefs Li Xiucheng and Chen Yucheng marched in force to relieve Nanjing and first took Jiangpu. De Xing'a fell back from Liuhe, lost three battles in a row, and retreated to Yangzhou. The rebels had long hated Shaoyuan and joined forces to besiege him. Emperor Wenzong feared for his safety and ordered De Xing'a and Sheng Bao to rush to his relief, but neither came. Shaoyuan held out for nearly a month, but his strength gave out, the city fell, and he was killed. Zhang Guoliang, having taken Yangzhou, rushed to the rescue the same day but arrived only the day after the city fell. All who heard of it mourned. An edict praised Shaoyuan: "For six years he held the city, long the great bastion of the north bank. Relief never arrived; exhausted, he gave his life—a loss deeply lamented." He was given the brevet rank of provincial administration commissioner, the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, a memorial shrine at Liuhe, and the posthumous title Zhuangyong.
18
夏定邦，六合人； 王家幹，睢寧人。 從紹原守禦，及八卦洲、九洑洲、江浦諸戰，皆有殊績，並擢官都司。 城陷，同死難。
Xia Dingbang was from Liuhe; Wang Jiangan was from Suining. They fought under Shaoyuan in the defenses and at Baguazhou, Jiufuzhou, Jiangpu, and other battles, winning distinction each time, and both were promoted to brigade commander. When the city fell they died with him.
19
=金光箸=金光箸，字濂石，直隸天津人。 捐納通判，分甘肅，署巴燕戎格廳，改安徽知縣。 青陽民因歲荒抗徵，幾釀變，光箸奉檄單騎諭解之。 補建平，調定遠。 定遠多盜，巡緝無間，捕土匪陳小喚子置之法。 又調壽州。
Jin Guangzhu, styled Lianshi, was from Tianjin in Zhili. He bought the office of subprefect, served in Gansu as acting head of Bayan Rongge, and was transferred to a magistracy in Anhui. The people of Qingyang resisted tax collection during a famine and nearly rose in revolt. Guangzhu went alone on horseback under orders and talked them down. He was appointed to Jianping and transferred to Dingyuan. Dingyuan was full of bandits. He patrolled relentlessly, captured the outlaw Chen Xiaohuanzi, and executed him. He was then transferred to Shouzhou.
20
咸豐三年春，粵匪連陷安慶、江寧，皖北盜蜂起，光箸集民團備戰守。 陸遐齡者，定遠巨猾，係安慶獄。 城陷，賊令歸結黨為北路應，擾定遠、壽州、合肥，勢甚張。 巡撫週天爵兵少不能制，令光箸圖之。 先布間諜，散其黨羽，然後進攻莊木橋。 光箸設奇計，親率勇士擒遐齡父子及其黨四十餘人，戮之。 天爵特疏薦，晉秩知府，賜花翎。
In the spring of the third year of Xianfeng the rebels took Anqing and Nanjing in succession, banditry erupted across northern Anhui, and Guangzhu rallied militia for defense. Lu Xialing was a notorious outlaw of Dingyuan who had been held in the Anqing jail. When the city fell the rebels sent him home to rally men as their northern wing. He raided Dingyuan, Shouzhou, and Hefei, and his power grew rapidly. Governor Zhou Tianjue had too few troops to control him and ordered Guangzhu to eliminate him. He first sent spies to break up Xialing's band, then attacked Zhuangmuqiao. Guangzhu laid a stratagem, led picked warriors in person, captured Xialing and his son along with more than forty followers, and executed them. Tianjue specially recommended him to court. He was promoted to prefect and given the peacock feather.
21
四月，賊由江寧、揚州分股北竄臨淮，擾及鳳陽、懷遠。 光箸於兩河口立水營，八公山雜張旗幟為疑兵，列砲要隘。 獲賊諜逃兵，並斬之以徇，壽州獲安。 五月，賊復由六合撲正陽關，光箸調練勇千，屯三十里鋪及兩河口迎擊，殲賊二百餘人，乃引去。 招降附近土匪談家寶、張茂等黨眾數千，皆效用。 是年冬，粵匪陷廬州。 四年，六安繼陷，北路捻匪日猖獗。 和春督大軍規廬州，不暇北顧。 袁甲三剿捻，徬徨於皖、豫之交。 正陽為要衝，距州城六十里。 光箸扼關以御，捻黨數來犯，五戰皆捷。 季學盛踞於家圍，而馬四、馬五、王亮彩、鄧三虎等諸捻黨出沒州境，先後平之。 廬州大軍無後顧憂者，光箸之力也。
In the fourth month rebels from Nanjing and Yangzhou split into columns, fled north to Linhuai, and raided Fengyang and Huaiyuan. Guangzhu set up a naval camp at Lianghekou, planted decoy banners on Bagong Mountain, and posted artillery at the key passes. He captured rebel spies and deserters, executed them publicly, and secured Shouzhou. In the fifth month rebels from Liuhe struck Zhengyang Pass again. Guangzhu mobilized a thousand trained volunteers, posted them at the Thirty-Li Station and Lianghekou, killed more than two hundred rebels, and drove them off. He induced nearby bandits Tan Jiabao, Zhang Mao, and others with several thousand followers to surrender, and all entered his service. That winter the rebels took Luzhou. In the fourth year Lu'an fell in turn, and Nian bandits on the northern route grew bolder by the day. He Chun led the main army against Luzhou and could not spare attention for the north. Yuan Jiasan fought the Nian but wavered along the Anhui-Henan border. Zhengyang was the critical pass, sixty li from the prefectural seat. Guangzhu held the pass against them. Nian bands attacked repeatedly, and he won five battles in a row. Ji Xuesheng held Jiawei, while Ma Si, Ma Wu, Wang Liangcai, Deng Sanhu, and other Nian leaders raided the prefecture. Guangzhu suppressed them one after another. The Luzhou army's freedom from worry about its rear was Guangzhu's doing.
22
五年，大軍克廬州，光箸署知府，撫流亡，嚴斥候，數殲伏匪。 六年，遂實授。 尋巡撫福濟疏列其治行上聞，以道員記名，署廬鳳道。 時和春移督江南大軍，袁甲三再起軍臨淮，捻勢南趨。 光箸甫出兵，捻首張洛行已破周鎮、王莊，犯三十里鋪。 光箸背水為陣，令曰：「有進無退！」 分三路擊之，以八百人破賊數万。 七年春，捻匪龔德等掠正陽關，光箸偕副都統德勒格爾渡河襲擊，斃賊八百餘，追七十里。 將搗其巢，聞六安復為粵匪所陷，回保壽州。 粵匪驟至，圍城。 破其地雷，夜乘霧出城，分三路襲賊營，鄉團應之。 賊驚潰，追擊，斃賊千餘，圍立解。 捷入，加按察使銜。 乘勝合水陸進剿，毀賊營四十餘處，克正陽關，賜號鏗色巴圖魯。 閏五月，捻匪复踞正陽關，欽差大臣勝保率兵至八里垛，光箸請夾擊於沫河口，建浮橋先渡馬隊。 賊忽由後路鈔來，光箸立船頭督戰，左腿中槍，猶指揮進擊，纜斷溜急，舟覆，沒於河。 詔贈布政使銜，依贈官賜卹，予騎都尉世職，諡剛愍，於壽州建專祠。
In the fifth year the main army took Luzhou. Guangzhu acted as prefect, resettled refugees, tightened scouting, and repeatedly destroyed hidden bandits. In the sixth year he received a regular appointment. Soon Governor Fuiji reported his record in office to court. He was marked for promotion to intendant and acted as intendant of the Lu-Feng circuit. He Chun was then transferred to command the Jiangnan army, Yuan Jiasan raised troops again at Linhuai, and Nian forces pressed south. Guangzhu had barely marched out when Nian chief Zhang Luoxing had already taken Zhouzhen and Wangzhuang and was striking the Thirty-Li Station. Guangzhu drew up his line with water at his back and ordered, "Forward only—no retreat!" He attacked on three fronts and with eight hundred men routed tens of thousands of rebels. In the spring of the seventh year Nian bandits led by Gong De raided Zhengyang Pass. Guangzhu crossed the river with Vice Commander-in-Chief Deleger, killed more than eight hundred rebels, and pursued them seventy li. He was about to strike their base when word came that Lu'an had fallen again to the rebels, and he turned back to defend Shouzhou. Rebels arrived suddenly and besieged the city. He destroyed their mines, slipped out under cover of night fog, struck the rebel camps on three fronts, and local militia joined in. The rebels broke in panic. He pursued, killed more than a thousand, and the siege was lifted at once. When victory was reported, he received the brevet rank of provincial judicial commissioner. Following up, he combined land and river forces, destroyed more than forty rebel camps, retook Zhengyang Pass, and was granted the title Kengse Batulu. In the intercalary fifth month the Nian reoccupied Zhengyang Pass. Imperial Commissioner Sheng Bao brought troops to Baliduo. Guangzhu proposed a pincer at Mohe Mouth and threw a pontoon bridge to get the cavalry across first. Rebels suddenly struck from the rear. Guangzhu stood on the bow directing the fight, was shot in the left leg, and still ordered the advance. The mooring rope snapped in the swift current, the boat capsized, and he drowned. An edict gave him the brevet rank of provincial administration commissioner, mourning grants according to that rank, the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, the posthumous title Gangmin, and a memorial shrine at Shouzhou.
23
光箸吏治戰績為安徽第一。 嘗言：「大兵宜攻不宜守。 郡縣吏宜守四境，不宜守孤城。」 皖北倚為保障。 及其歿後，捻氛乃益熾，人尤思之雲。
Guangzhu's civil administration and military record ranked first in Anhui. He once said, "Main armies should attack, not merely hold defensive positions. Prefects and magistrates should hold the whole territory, not merely cling to an isolated walled city." Northern Anhui had relied on him as its shield. After his death Nian power grew fiercer still, and people missed him all the more.
24
=李孟群=李孟群，字鶴人，河南光州人。 父卿穀，道光二年舉人，四川長寧知縣，累擢湖北督糧道，署按察使。 咸豐四年，粵匪陷武昌，巡撫青麟走湖南，卿穀守城殉難，贈布政使，予騎都尉世職，諡愍肅。
Li Mengqun, styled Heren, was from Guangzhou in Henan. His father Qinggu became a provincial graduate in the second year of Daoguang, served as magistrate of Changning in Sichuan, and rose to Hubei's grain transport commissioner and acting provincial judicial commissioner. In the fourth year of Xianfeng the rebels took Wuchang. Governor Qinglin fled to Hunan while Qinggu held the city and died in its defense. He was posthumously made provincial administration commissioner, granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, and given the posthumous title Minsu.
25
孟群，道光二十七年進士，廣西即用知縣。 歷署靈川、桂平，以剿匪功擢南寧同知。 咸豐元年，匪首洪秀全犯盤龍河，孟群手執藤牌督戰殺賊，鏖戰連日，賊不得渡。 擢知府，調赴永安軍營。 二年，授泗城知府。 賊犯桂林，孟群赴援，連戰北門外及古牛山、五里墟、夾山口、睦鄰村，迭挫賊鋒。 圍解，加道銜。 進平潯州艇匪，擢道員，署潯州知府。 三年，調江西九江府，仍留廣西勦賊。
Mengqun became a metropolitan graduate in the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang and was posted as a magistrate on immediate assignment in Guangxi. He served at Lingchuan and Guiping in turn and was promoted to subprefect of Nanning for suppressing bandits. In the first year of Xianfeng the rebel chief Hong Xiuquan attacked Panlong River. Mengqun took up a rattan shield himself to lead the fight, battled for days on end, and kept the rebels from crossing. He was promoted to prefect and sent to the Yong'an army camp. In the second year he was appointed prefect of Sicheng. When rebels attacked Guilin, Mengqun marched to reinforce. He fought outside the north gate and at Guniu Mountain, Wulixu, Jiashankou, and Mulincun, beating back the rebels again and again. When the siege was lifted he received a brevet intendant's rank. He then pacified the boat bandits of Xunzhou, was promoted to intendant, and acted as prefect of Xunzhou. In the third year he was transferred to Jiujiang in Jiangxi but stayed on in Guangxi to fight the rebels.
26
四年，曾國籓在籍治水師，聞孟群名，奏調率千人往偕楊載福、彭玉麟東下，攻拔城陵磯，克岳州，調廣西平樂府。 賊陷武昌，孟群聞父殉難，誓滅賊復仇，仍請終制，詔留軍。 國籓屯金口，塔奇布進扼洪山，定三路攻武昌之策。 孟群偕載福、玉麟中流直下，艦分二隊，前隊沖鹽關出賊背，後隊自上擊下，毀賊船二百餘艘。 會諸軍剷沿江木柵，破漢關及金沙洲、白沙洲，抵鮎魚套，西渡攻漢陽朝宗門。 賊揚帆下竄，屍蔽江。 毀晴川閣下木柵、大別山下木壘，武昌、漢陽同日收復。 孟群奔赴父死所慟哭收殮，一軍感動。 捷聞，加按察使銜，賜號珠爾杭阿巴圖魯。
In the fourth year Zeng Guofan, at home organizing a naval force, heard of Mengqun and had him called up with a thousand men to join Yang Zaifu and Peng Yulin on the eastern campaign. They took Chenglingji and Yuezhou, and Mengqun was transferred to Pingle Prefecture in Guangxi. When Wuchang fell, Mengqun learned his father had died defending the city, swore to destroy the rebels in revenge, asked to complete mourning, and was ordered by edict to stay with the army. Zeng Guofan encamped at Jinkou while Taqiibu advanced to hold Hongshan, and they fixed a three-pronged plan to retake Wuchang. Mengqun with Zaifu and Yulin drove down the midstream. The fleet split in two: the vanguard charged through Yanguan to hit the rebels from behind, the rear squadron struck from above, and they destroyed more than two hundred rebel boats. Together with the land forces they cleared the river barriers, broke through Hankou Pass, Jinshazhou, and Baishazhou, reached Nianyutao, and crossed west to attack Hanyang's Chaozong Gate. The rebels fled downstream under sail, and corpses covered the river. They destroyed the wooden defenses below Qingchuan Pavilion and Dabie Mountain, and Wuchang and Hanyang were retaken the same day. Mengqun rushed to where his father had fallen, wept as he gathered the remains, and moved the whole army. When victory was reported, he received the brevet rank of provincial judicial commissioner and the title Zhu'erhang'a Batulu.
27
於是國籓進規江西，孟群率水師抵九江，戰兩岸及湖口皆捷。 五年春，師挫於湖口，賊溯江上犯，陷漢陽，武昌大震。 孟群回援，偕彭玉麟敗賊漢陽。 署湖北按察使，以在憂辭，詔不允。 武昌尋為賊陷，從胡林翼屯金口，改統陸師。 五月，合擊賊，四戰皆捷。 七月，賊糾黨撲金口，孟群拒戰失利，陸營潰。 詔以眾寡不敵原之，命攻漢陽。 六年，從總督官文迭進攻，十一月，孟群據龜山俯擊，總兵王國才攻西南各門，城中賊亂，遂克漢陽，加布政使銜，以布政使遇缺題奏。
Zeng Guofan then advanced into Jiangxi. Mengqun led the fleet to Jiujiang and won victories on both banks and at Hukou. In the spring of the fifth year the army was beaten at Hukou. The rebels moved upriver, took Hanyang, and panic spread through Wuchang. Mengqun returned to reinforce and, with Peng Yulin, defeated the rebels at Hanyang. He acted as Hubei's provincial judicial commissioner, pleaded mourning duties, and was refused by edict. Wuchang soon fell again. He joined Hu Linyi at Jinkou and was put in command of the land forces. In the fifth month they joined in an attack and won four battles in a row. In the seventh month the rebels rallied their forces against Jinkou. Mengqun fought them off but was beaten and the land camp broke. An edict excused the defeat on grounds of overwhelming odds and ordered him to attack Hanyang. In the sixth year he followed Governor Guan Wen in repeated assaults. In the eleventh month Mengqun held Guishan and struck downward while Regional Commander Wang Guocai attacked the southwest gates. The rebels in the city fell into disorder and Hanyang was taken. He received the brevet rank of provincial administration commissioner and was marked for substantive appointment when a vacancy opened.
28
七年，安徽北路捻匪方熾，粵匪自桐城進陷六安、英山、霍山，廬州危急。 巡撫福濟請援，孟群率陸師二千五百人赴之，途次授安徽布政使。 進兵克英山、霍山，攻獨山，駐軍麻埠。 霍山復為賊陷，尋復之。 八年，粵匪由潛山、太湖竄擾河南固始。 孟群自六安赴援，偕勝保力戰解圍，被獎敘。 剿商城匪黨，平之，回軍克六安。 七月，福濟卒於軍，暫攝巡撫，未十日，廬州為粵匪所陷，褫職，留軍效力。 收集潰軍，駐廬州西官亭、長城一帶。
In the seventh year Nian bandits were raging along northern Anhui while rebels from Tongcheng took Lu'an, Yingshan, and Huoshan. Luzhou was in grave peril. Governor Fuiji asked for reinforcements. Mengqun marched with twenty-five hundred land troops and was appointed Anhui's provincial administration commissioner on the way. He advanced, took Yingshan and Huoshan, attacked Dushan, and camped at Mapu. Huoshan fell again to the rebels, but he soon retook it. In the eighth year rebels from Qianshan and Taihu raided Gushi in Henan. Mengqun marched from Lu'an to reinforce, fought hard with Sheng Bao to lift the siege, and was commended for it. He suppressed the bandits at Shangcheng, pacified them, and on his return took Lu'an. In the seventh month Fuiji died in camp. Mengqun briefly acted as governor, but within ten days Luzhou fell to the rebels. He was stripped of rank but kept on with the army. He gathered the broken troops and camped around Guanting and Changcheng west of Luzhou.
29
皖北赤地千里，協餉不至，所部號四千，飢疲已甚。 湘軍李續賓方克桐城、舒城，飛書乞援，而續賓戰歿於三河，勢益孤危。 九年二月，六安复陷，賊六七萬逼長城，營壘被圍，死守十餘日。 壘破，手刃數賊，受傷被執，擁至廬州，賊首陳玉成優禮之，絕糧不食，賦詩四章書於絹，付人使出報大營，遂死之。
Northern Anhui was a wasteland for a thousand li, pay never arrived, his force numbered four thousand on paper, and hunger and exhaustion were extreme. Li Xubin of the Hunan Army had just taken Tongcheng and Shucheng and sent an urgent plea for help, but Xubin was killed at Sanhe and Mengqun's position grew still more desperate. In the second month of the ninth year Lu'an fell again. Sixty or seventy thousand rebels pressed Changcheng, besieged the camps, and held them under siege for more than ten days. When the lines broke he killed several rebels with his own hand, was wounded and captured, and taken to Luzhou. Rebel chief Chen Yucheng treated him with respect, but he refused food and starved. He wrote four poems on silk, sent a messenger to report to headquarters, and died.
30
勝保等先已疏陳孟群殺賊陣亡，詔復原官，賜卹，諡武愍。 十年，巡撫翁同書以尋獲遺骸入奏，命送回籍。 袁甲三復奏孟群死事實跡，詔於廬州建專祠，依巡撫例優恤，予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職。 穆宗即位，以孟群父子殉節，忠烈萃於一門，與賜祭死事諸臣之列焉。
Sheng Bao and others had already reported that Mengqun had died fighting the rebels. An edict restored his rank, granted mourning honors, and gave him the posthumous title Wumin. In the tenth year Governor Weng Tonghe reported that his remains had been found and ordered them sent home. Yuan Jiasan again described the circumstances of Mengqun's death. An edict ordered a memorial shrine at Luzhou, mourning honors on the governor's scale, and the combined hereditary ranks of Commandant of Cavalry and Cloud Cavalry Captain. When Emperor Muzong took the throne, father and son were honored together for dying in loyal service, and Mengqun was placed among the officials granted state sacrifice.
31
=趙景賢=趙景賢，字竹生，浙江歸安人。 父炳言，嘉慶二十二年進士，授刑部主事，歷官湖南巡撫。
Zhao Jingxian, styled Zhusheng, was from Gui'an in Zhejiang. His father Bingyan became a metropolitan graduate in the twenty-second year of Jiaqing, entered the Ministry of Justice as a clerk, and rose to governor of Hunan.
32
景賢，道光二十四年舉人，誤註烏程籍，被黜。 捐复，授宣平教諭，改內閣中書。 豪邁有大略。 咸豐三年，在籍倡團練，以勸捐鉅款，晉秩知府，分發甘肅，未往。 十年，尚書許乃普薦之，命從團練大臣邵燦治事。 聞粵匪陷廣德，自蘇州馳歸，籌布守城。 總兵李定太、參將周天孚先後來援失利。 景賢收集潰兵，為戰守計。 偵知江南援軍至，出城夾擊，擒斬數千，立解城圍。 從張玉良复杭州，克長興、德清、武康。 既而賊擾嘉興，景賢分兵屯南潯，扼其衝。 四月，賊由太湖、夾浦犯湖州。 道員蕭翰慶來援，戰歿，招其潰兵入伍，出北門擊賊，血戰數晝夜，賊遁。 五月，率砲船進攻平望鎮，與楚軍合擊，克之。 會賊酋陳玉成由溧水竄浙境，景賢回救，合民團要擊走之，賜號額爾德木巴圖魯，以道員用。 六月，進复廣德，交軍機處記名簡放。 十月，賊犯杭州，景賢馳援。 湖州告警，速回師，賊已至南門外峴山。 副將劉仁福率廣勇來援，有通賊狀，誘擒仁福，斬之以徇。 賊奪氣，分擾四鄉，旋犯西門。 合水陸擊退，盡破附近諸山賊壘，圍复解，加按察使銜。
Jingxian received his provincial degree in the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang but was disqualified for registering under the wrong domicile. He bought reinstatement, was made instructor at Xuanping, and then secretary in the Grand Secretariat. He was bold and far-sighted. In the third year of Xianfeng he organized militia at home, raised large donations, was promoted to prefect, and was assigned to Gansu but never went. In the tenth year Minister Xu Naipu recommended him, and he was ordered to serve under Militia Commissioner Shao Can. Hearing that rebels had taken Guangde, he rushed back from Suzhou to organize the city's defense. Regional Commander Li Dingtai and Brigadier Zhou Tianfu came to reinforce in turn but were beaten. Jingxian gathered the broken troops and planned for defense. Learning that Jiangnan relief troops had arrived, he sallied out in a pincer attack, killed several thousand, and lifted the siege at once. He followed Zhang Yuliang in retaking Hangzhou and captured Changxing, Deqing, and Wukang. Rebels then raided Jiaxing. Jingxian posted troops at Nanxun to block their advance. In the fourth month rebels from Taihu and Jiapu attacked Huzhou. Intendant Xiao Hanqing came to reinforce and was killed. Jingxian took in his broken troops, sallied from the north gate, fought bloody battles for days, and drove the rebels off. In the fifth month he led gunboats against Pingwang Town, joined the Hunan army in a combined assault, and took it. Rebel chief Chen Yucheng then broke into Zhejiang from Lishui. Jingxian rushed back, joined local militia in an intercepting action, and drove him off. He was granted the title E'erdemu Batulu and employed as intendant. In the sixth month he retook Guangde and was marked for direct appointment by the Grand Council. In the tenth month rebels attacked Hangzhou and Jingxian rushed to reinforce. Huzhou sounded the alarm and he turned back quickly, but rebels had already reached Xianshan outside the south gate. Brigadier Liu Renfu came with Guang volunteers but was suspected of dealing with the rebels. Jingxian lured him in, seized him, and executed him as a warning. The rebels lost heart, split to raid the countryside, and soon struck the west gate. He combined land and river forces to beat them back, destroyed the nearby mountain forts, lifted the siege again, and received the brevet rank of provincial judicial commissioner.
33
十一年，复長興。 尋賊踞洞庭東、西兩山，長興不能守，郡北七十二漊時被擾。 景賢於大錢口增駐水師，聯絡民團，分顧各路，屢戰皆捷。 五月，賊踞菱湖鎮。 率水師進攻，毀賊舟，又破之於澉山溪。 九月，賊又逼郡城，鏖戰五晝夜，追奔出境。 時杭州久被困，景賢率兵滾營前進，連破賊卡二十餘處。 賊复乘虛襲大錢口，景賢且戰且退，掩擊之，賊遁。 聞杭州再陷，歎曰：「湖郡孤注，惟當效死弗去，以報國恩耳！」 是年冬，授福建督糧道。 同治元年春，詔念景賢殺賊守城，於團練中功稱最，特加布政使銜。 自賊氛逼城，僅大錢口可通太湖糧道。 會大雪湖凍，賊由洞庭東山履冰來犯，大錢遂為所踞。
In the eleventh year he retook Changxing. Rebels soon seized the eastern and western hills of Dongting. Changxing could not be held, and the seventy-two creeks north of the prefecture were raided repeatedly. Jingxian reinforced the naval post at Daqiankou, coordinated with local militia, covered every approach, and won battle after battle. In the fifth month rebels seized Linghu Town. He led the fleet in attack, destroyed rebel boats, and defeated them again at Ganshan Creek. In the ninth month rebels pressed the prefectural city again. He fought for five days and nights and drove them beyond the border. Hangzhou had long been besieged. Jingxian advanced in rolling camps and broke more than twenty rebel checkpoints in succession. Rebels again struck Daqiankou while he was away. Jingxian fought as he fell back, then hit them in ambush and drove them off. Hearing that Hangzhou had fallen again, he sighed and said, "Huzhou stands alone now. I can only die in place and repay the state's grace!" That winter he was appointed Fujian's grain transport commissioner. In the spring of the first year of Tongzhi an edict noted that among militia leaders his record of killing rebels and holding the city was unmatched, and specially gave him the brevet rank of provincial administration commissioner. Once rebels pressed the city, only Daqiankou still connected it to the Taihu grain route. Heavy snow then froze the lake. Rebels from Dongting's eastern hill crossed the ice to attack, and Daqiankou fell.
34
賊以屢戰傷亡多，恨景賢次骨，掘其父墓，戒不與戰，但斷絕糧道以困之。 景賢迭出戰不利，密寄帛書至上海與其叔炳麟訣，誓以死守。 朝廷惜其才，命曾國籓、左宗棠設法傳諭輕裝出赴任，景賢益感奮，選壯士三千人，分出斫賊營，奪其糧而還。 被圍既久，兵日給米二合五勺，官民皆食粥糜，道殣相望。 五月，城陷。
Having lost heavily in repeated battles, the rebels hated Jingxian to the bone, dug up his father's tomb, avoided fighting him directly, and only cut his grain route to starve him out. Jingxian sallied out repeatedly without success, secretly sent a farewell letter on silk to his uncle Binglin in Shanghai, and swore to hold the city to the death. The court valued his talent and had Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang urge him to leave lightly equipped for his new post. Stirred all the more, he picked three thousand stalwarts, sent raiding parties to cut rebel camps, seized their grain, and returned. The siege wore on. Soldiers received two and a half he of rice a day; officials and civilians lived on thin gruel; corpses lined the roads. In the fifth month the city fell.
35
景賢冠帶見賊，曰：「速殺我，勿傷百姓。」 賊首譚紹洸曰：「亦不殺汝。」 拔刀自刎，為所奪，執至蘇州，誘脅百端，皆不屈。 羈之逾半載，李秀成必欲降之，致書相勸。 景賢復書略曰：「某受國恩，萬勿他說。 張睢陽慷慨成仁，文信國從容取義，私心竊嚮往之。 若隳節一時，貽笑萬世，雖甚不才，斷不為此也。 來書引及洪承疇、錢謙益、馮銓輩，當日已為士林所不齒，清議所不容。 純皇帝御定貳臣傳，名在首列。 此等人何足比數哉？ 國家定制，失城者斬。 死於法，何若死於忠。 泰山鴻毛，審之久矣。 左右果然見愛，則歸我者為知己，不如殺我者尤為知己也。」 秀成赴江北，戒紹洸勿殺。 景賢計欲伺隙手刃秀成，秀成去，日惟危坐飲酒。 二年三月，紹洸聞太倉敗賊言景賢通官軍，將襲蘇州，召詰之，景賢謾罵，為槍擊而殞。
Jingxian went out in full dress to face the rebels and said, "Kill me quickly and do not harm the people." Rebel chief Tan Shaoguang said, "Nor will I kill you." He drew his sword to kill himself, but they seized it, took him to Suzhou, and tried every form of persuasion and coercion without breaking him. They held him for more than half a year. Li Xiucheng was determined to win him over and sent a letter of persuasion. Jingxian replied in brief, "I owe the state a debt of grace. Say nothing else. Zhang Suiyang died generously for principle, and Wen Tianxiang met death with calm resolve. In my heart I have long looked to them as models. To break my integrity for a moment would be to earn the laughter of ten thousand generations. However unworthy I am, I will never do that. Your letter cites Hong Chengchou, Qian Qianyi, Feng Quan, and men like them. Even in their own day the scholarly world despised them and upright opinion would not tolerate them. The Qianlong Emperor's imperial Biographies of Twice-Serving Ministers places their names at the very top. How can men like that be held up for comparison? By the law of the state, an official who loses a city is beheaded. Death under the law cannot compare with death for loyalty. Mount Tai and a goose feather—I settled that question long ago. If you truly care for me, then the friend who sends me home is a confidant—but the friend who kills me is an even truer one." Xiucheng went to Jiangbei and ordered Shaoguang not to kill him. Jingxian planned to seize a chance to kill Xiucheng with his own hand. After Xiucheng left, he sat upright each day and drank. In the third month of the second year Shaoguang heard from defeated rebels at Taicang that Jingxian was in contact with the imperial army and planned to strike Suzhou. He summoned and questioned him; Jingxian cursed him furiously and was shot dead.
36
自湖州陷，屢有旨問景賢下落。 至是死事上聞，詔稱其「勁節孤忠，可嘉可憫」，加恩依巡撫例優恤，於湖州建專祠，宣付史館為立特傳，予騎都尉世職，諡忠節。 長子深彥，年十二，在湖南，聞湖州陷，即自酖死。 先被旌，附祀景賢祠。 次子濱彥，賜官主事； 溱彥、淶彥皆以通判用。
After Huzhou fell, the court repeatedly sent edicts asking for news of Jingxian. When word of his death reached court, an edict praised his "unyielding integrity and steadfast loyalty, worthy of honor and pity," granted mourning honors on the governor's scale, ordered a memorial shrine at Huzhou, directed the Historiographical Office to write a special biography, granted the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, and gave him the posthumous title Zhongjie. His eldest son Shenyan, twelve years old and in Hunan, heard that Huzhou had fallen and took poison at once. He had already been honored and was given a place in sacrifice at Jingxian's shrine. The second son Binyan was granted the rank of principal clerk; Qinyan and Laiyan were both appointed subprefects.
37
=【論】=論曰：何桂珍儒臣出為監司，以忠義激勵飢軍，竟撫悍寇； 誤於庸帥，倉猝殞身。 徐豐玉才裕匡濟，兵單致敗。 溫紹原守六合，金光箸守壽州，並以彈丸一邑，出奇制勝，砥柱狂瀾，其有關於江淮全局者大矣。 李孟群戰功卓著，至皖北兵食俱絀，卒不復振，父子繼死國事，為世所哀。 趙景賢以鄉紳任戰守，殺敵致果，繼以忠貞。 當時團練遍行省，自湖湘之外，收效者斯為僅見。 諸人不幸以節烈終，未竟其勳略，惜哉！
Commentary: He Guizhen was a scholar-official sent out as a circuit intendant. He roused starving troops with appeals to loyalty and righteousness and even pacified fierce bandits; but a mediocre commander undid him, and he died before his time. Xu Fengyu had talent enough to steady the times, but too few troops brought defeat. Wen Shaoyuan held Liuhe and Jin Guangzhu held Shouzhou. Each defended a tiny county with bold stratagems and stood like pillars against the flood. Their importance to the whole Huai-Yangzi front was immense. Li Mengqun's military record was outstanding, but in northern Anhui troops and supplies gave out and he could not recover. Father and son died in turn for the state, and the world mourned them. Zhao Jingxian, a local gentleman, took charge of defense, killed the enemy with resolve, and ended in steadfast loyalty. Militia were raised throughout the provinces at the time, but outside Hunan and Hubei few achieved results like these. These men sadly died in loyal martyrdom before their achievements were complete. What a pity!