1
=彭玉麟=彭玉麟，字雪琴，湖南衡陽人。 父鳴九，官安徽合肥梁園巡檢。 玉麟年十六，父卒，族人奪其田產，避居郡城，為協標書識以養母。 知府高人鑑見其文，奇之，招入署讀書，為附生。 新寧匪亂，從協標剿捕。 敘功，大吏誤以為武生，拔補臨武營外委，不就。 至耒陽，佐當商理事。 粵匪至，罄所有資助縣令募勇籌防。 賊知有備，不來攻，城獲全。 玉麟不原敘功，但乞償所假錢，以是知名。
Biography of Peng Yulin. Peng Yulin, courtesy name Xueqin, came from Hengyang in Hunan Province. His father Peng Mingjiu held the post of patrol inspector at Liangyuan in Hefei, Anhui. At sixteen, after his father's death, relatives seized the family lands; Yulin fled to the prefectural seat and took work as a clerk in the local militia headquarters to provide for his mother. The prefect Gao Renjian, impressed by his writing, brought him into the office to study and had him enrolled as a government-sponsored student. During the rebel uprising in Xinning, he served with the local garrison in suppression operations. When rewards were tallied, a provincial superior wrongly identified him as a military licentiate and offered him an outside appointment in the Linwu battalion, which he declined. He then went to Leiyang, where he helped administer local commerce. When rebel forces from Guangdong appeared, he gave everything he had to help the county magistrate raise militia and organize defenses. Learning that the city was prepared, the rebels did not attack, and the walled town was spared. Yulin refused official recognition for his service and asked only to be repaid what he had borrowed, and on this account his name became known.
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咸豐三年，曾國籓治水師，成十營，闢領一營。 其九營多武員，白事悉倚玉麟，隱主全軍，草創規制多所贊畫。 四年，初出師規岳州，不利，退長沙。 玉麟偕楊岳斌援湘潭，會塔齊布陸師夾攻，賊舟連檣十里，分三隊合擊，同時縱火焚其輜重皆盡。 賊棄城走，复湘潭，敘功以知縣選用。 六月，再進岳州，賊據南津以拒。 玉麟伏君山，岳斌伏雷公湖，遣小舟挑戰，賊舟爭出，兩翼鈔之，毀百餘艘，賊來，迭敗之。 進攻擂鼓台，賊舟多於官軍十倍。 玉麟偕岳斌各乘舢板冒砲煙衝入，燒其坐船，賊還救，陣亂，大破之，玉麟傷指，血染襟袖，軍中推二人勇略為冠。 既而總兵陳輝龍至，率新軍出戰，軍容甚盛，玉麟偕諸營從觀戰，拕罟膠淺，為賊所乘，急往救，水急風利，陷賊屯中，遂大敗。 輝龍等戰歿，玉麟單舸退，自是水師專任彭、楊。
In 1853, Zeng Guofan built the river fleet into ten battalions and personally commanded one of them. Most of the other nine battalions were commanded by career officers who reported chiefly to Yulin; though he held no formal title over the fleet, he quietly directed it and drew up many of its founding rules. In 1854 their first advance on Yuezhou failed, and the fleet fell back to Changsha. Yulin and Yang Yuebin went to relieve Xiangtan, coordinating with Ta Qibu's infantry in a pincer attack; rebel boats lined the river for ten li, and three squadrons struck together and burned the enemy stores completely. The rebels fled the city; Xiangtan was retaken, and Yulin's merits were recorded with nomination for a county magistracy. In June the fleet advanced on Yuezhou again, but the rebels held Nanjin and blocked the way. Yulin hid at Junshan while Yuebin concealed his boats at Leigong Lake; small craft drew the rebel fleet out, whereupon wing squadrons enveloped and destroyed more than a hundred vessels, beating back every counterattack. In the assault on Leigutai, rebel boats outnumbered the imperial navy tenfold. Yulin and Yuebin each took a sampan through the barrage, set fire to the enemy flagship, and threw the rebel line into confusion; Yulin's finger was wounded and blood soaked his sleeves, and the fleet hailed the pair as the bravest commanders in the service. When Major General Chen Huilong arrived with fresh troops and marched out in grand array, Yulin and the other battalions watched from the river; tow-nets snagged in the shallows, the rebels exploited the mishap, and a rescue attempt swept Yulin's boats into the enemy anchorage, ending in disaster. Chen Huilong and several officers were killed; Yulin escaped in a lone boat, and thereafter the river fleet depended entirely on Peng Yulin and Yang Yuebin.
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時陸軍累捷，賊退走，水師並進。 八月，屯沌口，規武昌。 玉麟與諸軍議，請渡江先破城外賊屯。 賊自塘角至青山，緣岸列砲，丸發如雨。 將士皆露立舢板，棹船徐進，無一俯側避砲者。 賊望見奪氣，沿江賊屯盡潰，悉燒屯壘及其舟。 武昌、漢陽同日皆复，論功擢同知。 群賊麕聚田家鎮，夾江為五屯，依半壁山，連舟斷江，纜以鐵索，布竹木為大筏，施大砲。 筏外護以舟，後列輜重，望之如大城。 武昌既克，水師欲下攻，而為蘄州江岸賊所撓。 玉麟掠江直下，十月，進逼田家鎮。 與楊岳斌議分四隊，約陸師同時合擊。 頭隊皆小船，具爐備椎斧，融炭以待。 順流急趨，至筏下，斷鎖纜得隙，擠而過，後者從之。 大呼曰：「鐵鎖開矣！」 賊驚噪，爭走相踐墮水。 玉麟率二隊順流而下，岳斌率三隊乘風而上，風起火烈，燒毀賊舟四千餘艘，奪獲五百餘艘。 玉麟慮軍士互爭，盡焚之。 捷入，以知府記名。 詔採其戰法頒下江南北諸水軍。 遂會諸軍進攻九江，連破賊於小池口、湖口。 賊於九江夜襲水師大營，帥舟被燔，曾國籓移駐陸軍。 玉麟部將蕭捷三追賊入鄱陽湖，賊斷湖口。 玉麟往救不利，乃還新堤籌濟師。
Meanwhile the land forces kept winning, the rebels fell back, and the fleet pushed forward in concert. In August the fleet anchored at Dunkou and prepared to move on Wuchang. Yulin urged the allied commanders to cross the Yangtze first and smash the rebel camps outside Wuchang. Rebel batteries stretched from Tangjiao to Qingshan, and round shot poured down like rain. Sailors stood upright on open sampans and rowed steadily forward without a man ducking or flinching from the guns. The sight broke rebel morale; riverside camps collapsed one after another, and every stockade and boat was put to the torch. Wuchang and Hanyang fell on the same day, and Yulin was promoted to subprefect for his part in the victory. Rebel forces massed at Tianjiazhen in five riverside camps backed by Banbishan, chaining boats across the Yangtze with iron cables, building huge rafts of bamboo and timber, and mounting heavy guns. Smaller craft shielded the rafts, supply trains lined up behind them, and from a distance the whole formation looked like a walled city. After Wuchang fell the fleet meant to drive downstream, but rebels along the Qizhou shore repeatedly interfered. Yulin raced downriver and by October had closed on Tianjiazhen. He and Yang Yuebin divided the fleet into four squadrons and timed a joint assault with the land forces. The lead squadron used small boats fitted with forges, mauls, and axes, with charcoal ready to melt the iron chains. Racing downstream they reached the barrier, cut the chains, forced a gap, and slipped through while the rest of the squadron followed. He shouted at the top of his voice: "The chains are broken!" Panic swept the rebel ranks; men stampeded, trampling one another into the river. Yulin's second squadron drove downstream while Yuebin's third pushed upstream; wind fanned the flames, destroying more than four thousand rebel boats and capturing over five hundred. Fearing quarrels over booty, Yulin ordered every captured vessel burned. News of the victory reached the throne, and he was marked for appointment as prefect. The court ordered his tactics copied and distributed to every Yangtze fleet north and south. The combined forces then attacked Jiujiang, winning repeated victories at Xiao-chikou and Hukou. Rebels night-assaulted the fleet's Jiujiang camp and burned the commander's vessel, forcing Zeng Guofan to shift his headquarters ashore. Subordinate Xiao Jiesan chased rebels into Poyang Lake, where they sealed off Hukou. Yulin's relief attempt failed, and he withdrew to Xindi to rebuild supplies for the fleet.
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五年，武、漢复陷，玉麟更募士造船，立新軍，合三千人，與楊岳斌分統之。 胡林翼約同攻漢口，玉麟自金口進，敗賊鮎魚套； 北岸陸軍為賊所挫，玉麟率眾登岸截擊，破之，攻塘角，焚賊船二百餘：授浙江金華知府。 七月，自沌口進拔蔡店，及南北兩岸石城。 五顯廟者，賊堅巢也。 阻湖而屯，玉麟攻之不下，曰：「已入虎穴，非血戰不能成功。」 張兩翼急槳而進，衝賊船尾，摧其卡，奪其船。 复督隊徑越賊船，循兩岸包鈔。 出襄河口，斷鐵鎖浮橋，毀北岸火藥庫，仍入襄河。 乘夜撲漢陽，擒賊酋蕭朝富、吳會元。 麾軍攻拔五顯廟，毀晴川閣木城，又破之葉家洲，燒賊船二百餘。 初由沙口移軍沌口，過經賊壘，砲如雨下，所乘船桅折覆水。 玉麟援橫枚漂江中流，楊岳斌舟掠過，掉舢板拯之還。 胡林翼疏陳稱其忠勇冠軍，膽識沈毅，詔以道員記名。
In 1855 Wuchang and Hankou were lost again; Yulin raised a new three-thousand-man fleet and shared command with Yang Yuebin. Hu Linyi planned a joint assault on Hankou; Yulin moved up from Jinkou and routed the rebels at Nianyutao; When rebel fire stalled the northern shore infantry, Yulin landed, cut them off, stormed Tangjiao, and burned more than two hundred boats; he was appointed prefect of Jinhua in Zhejiang. In July he advanced from Dunkou, capturing Caidian and the stone forts on both banks. Wuxianmiao was a rebel bastion. The rebels held a lake-side camp Yulin could not crack; he declared, "We are already in the tiger's den—only a bloody fight will finish this." He sent wings wide, rowed hard into the rebel line, smashed their barriers from the stern, and seized their boats. He then drove squadrons straight through the enemy line and enveloped them from both shores. Breaking out at Xianghekou, they cut the chained pontoon bridge, blew up the north-bank powder magazine, and fought back into the Xiang River. In a night assault on Hanyang they captured rebel leaders Xiao Chaofu and Wu Huiyuan. His troops stormed Wuxianmiao, demolished the wooden fort at Qingchuan Pavilion, routed the rebels again at Yejiachou, and burned more than two hundred boats. Moving from Shakou to Dunkou he passed rebel batteries under a rain of shot; his own vessel lost its mast and capsized. Yulin grabbed a spar and drifted midstream until Yang Yuebin's boat swept past, sent a sampan, and pulled him out. Hu Linyi memorialized that Yulin's loyalty and courage topped the army and his judgment under fire was unmatched; the throne registered him for appointment as circuit intendant.
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時曾國籓在江西，水軍頻挫，迭召往助。 玉麟乞假回長沙，急赴之。 袁、瑞兩郡並陷賊，水陸道絕，易衣裝為賈客，徒步數百里達南昌。 重整內湖水師為十營，船六百艘。 六年，擢廣東惠潮嘉道。 敗賊樟樹鎮，又連破之於臨江吳城、塗家埠，克南康。 七年，國籓還籍治父喪，玉麟與楊岳斌同領其軍。 其秋，武、漢再克，水陸並下，圍九江。 玉麟約岳斌夾攻湖口，賊扼石鐘山、梅家洲，力遏內湖軍不得出。 玉麟分軍為三以進，賊穴山腹置巨砲，直船衝，舢板先出，前鋒中砲，後船繼進，傷十餘艘。 玉麟憤曰：「此險不破，萬不令將士獨死，亦不使怯者獨生！」 鼓棹急赴，賊砲忽裂，船銜尾下，與外江水師合，歡聲雷動。 陸軍由城背山下應之，賊大奔，乘勝奪小孤山，加按察使銜。 八年，連破樅陽、大通、銅陵、峽口賊屯，合圍九江，克之，晉布政使銜。 楊岳斌進軍黃石磯，自九江至武昌，置十二屯。
Zeng Guofan was then in Jiangxi, where the fleet kept taking losses and repeatedly called Yulin to help. Yulin secured leave to return to Changsha and raced to join him. With Yuan and Rui prefectures in rebel hands and every route cut, he disguised himself as a merchant and walked hundreds of li to reach Nanchang. He rebuilt the inner-lake fleet as ten battalions with six hundred boats. In 1856 he was promoted to intendant of the Huizhou-Chaozhou-Jiaying circuit in Guangdong. He beat the rebels at Zhangshu Town, won again at Wucheng and Tujiabu near Linjiang, and captured Nankang. In 1857 Zeng Guofan went home for his father's mourning, leaving Yulin and Yang Yuebin in joint command. That autumn Wuchang and Hankou were retaken again; land and river forces drove down together and besieged Jiujiang. Yulin and Yuebin planned a pincer on Hukou, but rebels holding Shizhongshan and Meijiazhou blocked the inner-lake fleet. Yulin split his force into three columns; rebels had burrowed guns into the hillside and blasted the lead sampans, damaging more than ten boats as the rest pressed forward. Yulin cried in anger, "Unless this strongpoint falls, I will not let brave men die alone while cowards live!" He drove his boat forward; a rebel gun exploded; the squadron surged downstream, joined the outer fleet, and cheers shook the river. Infantry answered from the slopes behind the city; the rebels broke and fled; the allies took Xiaogushan, and Yulin received the rank of surveillance commissioner. In 1858 the fleet smashed rebel camps at Zongyang, Datong, Tongling, and Xiakou, joined the siege of Jiujiang, and took the city; Yulin was promoted to vice governor. Yang Yuebin pushed to Huangshiji and planted twelve camps from Jiujiang to Wuchang.
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十年，玉麟移營與合屯。 賊复上犯彭澤、湖口，分兵赴援，克都昌。 十一年，授廣東按察使。 賊犯蘄、黃、德安，玉麟會陸軍克孝感、天門、應城、黃州、德安，擢安徽巡撫。 命幫辦袁甲三軍務，潁、壽各軍悉歸調遣，累疏固辭，謂：「久居戰艦，草衣短笠，日與水勇、舵工馳逐於巨風惡浪之中。 一旦身膺疆寄，進退百僚，問錢穀不知，問刑名不知，勉強負荷，貽誤國家。」 又謂：「從軍八年，專帶水師，棄舟而陸，無一旅一將供其指揮，倉猝召募，必致僨事。」 詔嘉其不欺，以李續宜代之，改職水師提督。
In 1860 Yulin shifted camp to join the combined anchorage. Rebels again drove upstream toward Pengze and Hukou; he sent detachments, relieved the pressure, and captured Duchang. In 1861 he was appointed surveillance commissioner of Guangdong. When rebels struck Qizhou, Huangzhou, and De'an, Yulin coordinated with land forces to recover Xiaogan, Tianmen, Yingcheng, Huangzhou, and De'an, and was promoted governor of Anhui. Ordered to assist Yuan Jiasan's campaigns with every army in Yingzhou and Shouzhou under his command, he repeatedly refused, writing, "For years I have lived aboard warships in straw cloak and bamboo hat, racing with sailors and helmsmen through storms. If I suddenly become a frontier governor, directing a hundred officials yet knowing nothing of revenue or criminal law, I would only harm the state by accepting." After eight years commanding only river forces, I have no infantry brigade or general to command on land; hurried recruitment would invite disaster." The throne praised his honesty, replaced him with Li Xuyi, and made him commander of the navy.
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同治元年，授兵部右侍郎，節制鎮將。 軍中重文輕武，玉麟與楊岳斌威望久埒，一旦名位超越，而相處終始無間，論者謂其苦心協和不可及。 別立太湖水師十營，並歸統轄。 曾國荃由安慶進規江寧，水師助之。 克銅城閘，复巢縣、含山、和州，襲破雍家鎮、裕溪口，奪東西梁山，進攻採石，又克金柱關。 諸將衝鋒，玉麟每乘小船督戰，以紅旗為識，或前或後，將士皆惴惴盡力。 間入陸軍察戰狀，往來飄忽無定踪，所經行軍民莫敢為奸宄。
In 1862 he was appointed vice minister of war with authority over garrison generals. The army still favored scholars over soldiers, yet though Yulin now outranked Yang Yuebin, whom he had long matched in prestige, the two never quarreled—a harmony commentators called impossible to imitate. He also formed ten Taihu Lake battalions placed under his overall command. Zeng Guoquan advanced from Anqing toward Nanjing with naval support. The fleet captured Tongcheng Pass, retook Chaoxian, Hanshan, and Hezhou, stormed Yongjia Town and Yuxikou, seized East and West Liangshan, advanced on Caishi, and took Jinzhuguan. While other generals led charges, Yulin directed battle from a small boat marked by a red flag, appearing now ahead and now astern until every sailor fought with desperate energy. He sometimes slipped ashore to inspect the land battle, appearing and vanishing unpredictably; wherever he passed, soldiers and civilians dared not misconduct themselves.
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二年，與楊岳斌合兵攻九洑洲。 賊於洲築壘數十，外作大城，眾舟環之，與江寧相犄角； 而攔江磯、草鞋峽、七里洲、燕子磯、中關、下關皆賊屯。 玉麟列舟上流，南隊向下關，北隊向草鞋峽，岳斌攻燕子磯，破之。 陸軍亦分三隊，掘洲埂攻中關，舢板環洲而陣。 賊以槍砲相持，不能進。 玉麟督諸軍更番夜攻，下令曰：「洲不破，不收隊。」 選死士從火叢登岸，噪曰：「洲破矣！」 諸軍歡呼，騰踔而上，立破洲邊屯舟，賊爭潰走。 自田家鎮以來，是戰為最烈。 於是賊黨由江西犯池州，謀撓官軍。 玉麟還救青陽，解其圍，復高淳，克東壩，並論九洑洲功，賜黃馬褂。 會楊岳斌赴江西督師，自是玉麟專統水師。 三年，江寧复，論功，以創立水師為首，加太子少保，予一等輕車都尉世職。 四年，命署漕運總督，再疏辭，允之，命籌商水師善後事宜。
In 1863 he and Yang Yuebin jointly assaulted Jiufuzhou. Rebels fortified the islet with dozens of camps inside a great outer wall, ringed by boats that linked defenses with Nanjing; Lanjiangji, Caoxiexia, Qilizhou, Yanziji, Zhongguan, and Xiaguan were all held by rebel camps. Yulin lined boats upstream: the southern squadron struck Xiaguan, the northern Caoxiexia, while Yuebin stormed Yanziji and broke through. Land forces split three ways, digging through the islet dike toward Zhongguan while sampans ringed the shore in battle line. Rebel musketry and cannon held the allies at bay. Yulin ordered rotating night assaults with the command, "Do not recall the squadrons until the islet falls." He sent volunteers through the fire to the shore, shouting, "The islet is taken!" Cheers erupted; men leaped ashore, smashed the riverside camps and boats, and the rebels broke and ran. Since Tianjiazhen, no battle had been fiercer. Rebel bands from Jiangxi then struck Chizhou, hoping to disrupt the government offensive. Yulin raced back to relieve Qingyang, lifted the siege, retook Gaochun and captured Dongba; for Jiufuzhou he received the yellow riding jacket. When Yang Yuebin left to command in Jiangxi, Yulin alone commanded the river fleet. When Nanjing fell in 1864, founding the navy was ranked his foremost merit; he became Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent with the hereditary rank of First Class Commandant of Light Chariots. In 1865 he was ordered to serve as acting grain-transport director, declined again, was excused, and was told to plan the navy's postwar settlement.
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七年，會同曾國籓奏定長江水師營製，自荊州至崇明五千餘裡，設提督一員、總兵五員，以六標分汛； 營、哨官七百九十八員，兵丁一萬二千人，歲餉六十餘萬兩，以長江釐稅供支，不煩戶部。 初，軍事未定，軍餉奇絀，而淮鹽積滯。 玉麟議定捆鹽自賣，供水師月餉。 及江路大通，曾國籓設三省督銷局，招商領票，水師鹽票大小數百，至是軍餉有額支的款。 餘銀及票本巨萬，玉麟一不私取，以五之一取息，助水師公費，且備外患倉猝之需。 餘分解雲、貴助餉二十萬，甘肅助餉二十萬，以十萬廣本縣學額，而以鹽票犒諸將有大功者。
In 1868 he and Zeng Guofan fixed the Yangtze navy's organization from Jingzhou to Chongming—more than five thousand li—with one commander, five major generals, and six patrol flotillas; 798 battalion and outpost officers, twelve thousand men, and annual pay above six hundred thousand taels, all funded from Yangtze transit levies without calling on the Board of Revenue. While the war still raged, army pay ran desperately short and Huai salt piled up unsold. Yulin proposed selling bundled salt on the fleet's own account to meet monthly navy pay. Once the river reopened, Zeng Guofan opened a three-province salt bureau where merchants bought tickets; the navy held hundreds of salt tickets, and pay finally had a fixed source. Surplus silver and ticket capital ran to tens of thousands of taels; Yulin kept none for himself, using one-fifth of the interest for fleet expenses and a reserve against sudden emergencies. He sent two hundred thousand taels each to Yunnan-Guizhou and Gansu pay chests, ten thousand to expand his home county's school quota, and rewarded distinguished generals with salt tickets.
10
事既竣，疏請回籍補行終制，略曰：「臣墨絰從戎，創立水師，治軍十餘年，未嘗營一瓦之覆，一畝之殖； 受傷積勞，未嘗請一日之假； 終年風濤矢石之中，未嘗移居岸上求一日之安。 誠以親服未終，而出從戎旅，既難免不孝之罪，豈敢復為身家之圖乎？ 臣嘗聞士大夫出處進退，關係風俗之盛衰。 臣之從戎，志在滅賊，賊己滅而不歸，近於貪位； 長江既設提鎮，臣猶在軍，近於戀權； 改易初心，貪戀權位，則前此辭官，疑是作偽； 三年之制，賢愚所同，軍事已終，仍不補行終制，久留於外，涉於忘親。 四者有一，皆足以傷風敗俗。 夫天下之亂，不徒在盜賊之未平，而在士大夫之進無禮，退無義。 伏惟皇上中興大業，正宜扶樹名教，整肅紀綱，以振起人心。 況人之才力聰明，用久則竭，若不善藏其短，必致轉失所長。 古來臣子，往往初年頗有建樹，而晚節末路隕越錯謬，固由才庸，亦其精氣竭也。 臣每讀史至此，竊歎其人不能善藏其短，又惜當日朝廷不知善全其長。 知進而不知退，聖人於易深戒之，固有由矣。 臣本無經濟之學，而性情褊躁，思慮憂傷。 月積年累，怔忡眴暈，精力日衰，心氣日耗。 若再不調理，必致貽誤國事。 懇請天恩開臣兵部侍郎本缺，回籍補行終制。 報國之日正長，斷不敢永圖安逸也。」 優詔從之。
When the work was done he asked to go home and complete mourning, writing in part, "I joined the army still in mourning dress, founded the navy, and commanded troops for more than ten years without building a roof or planting a field; wounded and worn by years of labor, I never asked a single day's leave; year-round I lived among wind, waves, arrows, and shot without moving ashore for a day's peace. Having left home before mourning ended, I can hardly escape the charge of unfiliality—how then could I scheme for my own household? I have heard that when scholar-officials advance or withdraw without propriety, custom itself declines. I joined the army to destroy the rebels; with the rebels gone yet I stay on, I seem greedy for office; with Yangtze commanders already appointed yet I remain with the fleet, I seem to cling to power; if I now change my mind and cling to rank, my earlier resignations will look like pretense; the three-year mourning rule binds wise and foolish alike; with the war ended yet I still refuse to mourn at home, I neglect my parents. Any one of these four faults would harm public morals. The empire's disorder lies not only in unpacified rebels but in officials who advance without ritual and withdraw without righteousness. In Your Majesty's restoration, this is the moment to uphold moral teaching, tighten discipline, and revive men's hearts. Talent and vigor exhaust themselves with long use; those who cannot hide their weaknesses eventually lose their strengths. History shows many men who achieved much in youth yet stumbled in old age—not only from mediocrity but from spent vigor. Reading such histories I sigh that they could not hide their flaws, and regret that their courts failed to preserve their gifts. The Changes warn that knowing when to advance yet not when to withdraw brings ruin—and with good reason. I have no gift for statecraft, my temper is narrow and impatient, and worry weighs on me. Month after month palpitations and dizziness accumulate; my strength and spirit waste away. Without rest I will surely harm state affairs. I beg Your Majesty to release me from the substantive post of vice minister of war and allow me to return home and complete mourning. My days of service are still long; I do not seek permanent ease." An edict of grace granted his request.
11
八年春，還衡陽，作草樓三重，布衣青鞋，時往母墓，廬居三年不出。 自設長江水師，東南無事，將士漸耽安逸，事多廢弛。 十一年，詔起玉麟簡閱，疏陳整頓事宜，諷提督黃翼升自退，薦李成謀、彭楚漢二人，即以成謀代之，劾罷營哨官百數十人。 入覲，命署兵部侍郎，复陳請開缺，仍命巡閱長江，專摺奏事。 別飭兩江、湖廣為籌經費，玉效力辭不受。 自築別業於杭州西湖，曰退省庵。 每巡閱下游，事畢，居之。 自是水師皆整肅，沿江盜踪斂戢，安堵者數十年。 朝廷有大政，及疆吏重案，輒諮詢，命按治。
In the spring of 1869 he returned to Hengyang, built a three-story thatched retreat, dressed in plain cloth and blue shoes, visited his mother's tomb, and lived in mourning seclusion for three years. After the Yangtze navy was established the southeast knew peace, and officers and men slowly grew lax as discipline slackened. In 1872 an edict recalled Yulin to inspect the fleet; he memorialized on reform, nudging Commander Huang Yisheng to retire, recommending Li Chengmo and Peng Chuhan to replace him, and cashiered more than a hundred battalion and outpost officers. Summoned to court, he was again ordered to act as vice minister of war, declined once more, and was told to keep inspecting the Yangtze and reporting by memorial. The Two Jiangs and Huguang were ordered to raise funds for him, but he firmly refused. He built a retreat on Hangzhou's West Lake called the Hermitage of Retreat and Reflection. After each downstream inspection he returned to live there. Thereafter the fleet remained disciplined, river piracy subsided, and decades passed in peace. On major court policies and weighty frontier cases the throne repeatedly sought his judgment and sent him to investigate.
12
光緒七年，命署兩江總督，再疏力辭，乃以左宗棠代之。 留督江、海防如故。 言者議長江提督宜駐吳淞口外，玉麟疏言：「江南提督責在海防，請多畀兵輪，使立一軍於海上。 長江提督責在江防，請仍由臣督同巡閱，改駐吳淞，會操兵輪，以通江、海。」 九年，擢兵部尚書，以衰病辭。
In 1881 he was ordered to act as governor-general of the Two Jiangs, declined with all his force, and Zuo Zongtang was appointed instead. He was kept on to oversee river and coastal defenses, just as before. When critics argued the Yangtze commander should move outside Wusong, Yulin wrote, "The Jiangnan commander answers for coastal defense—give him gunboats and establish a sea force. The Yangtze commander answers for river defense—let me continue joint inspection from Wusong, drilling gunboats to link river and sea." In 1883 he was promoted to minister of war but declined on grounds of age and illness.
13
會法、越構兵，命赴廣東會籌防務。 玉麟募四千人從行，駐大黃。 遣部將王之春、黃得勝等防瓊州、欽州、靈山，婁雲慶、王永章等駐沙角、大角，與粵軍聯合。 增兵設壘，編沙戶漁舟，分守內沙港汊。 法兵竟不至。 十一年春，粵軍大捷於鎮南關，進攻諒山。 和議旋成，停戰撤兵。 玉麟疏請嚴備戰守，以毖後患，陳海防善後六事。 是秋，以病乞休，溫詔慰留。 十四年，扶病巡閱。 至安慶，巡撫陳彝見其病篤，以聞，詔允開缺回籍，仍留巡閱差使。 十六年，卒，年七十五，贈太子太保，依尚書例賜卹，建專祠立功地，諡剛直。
When the Franco-Vietnamese war broke out, he was ordered to Guangdong to help plan coastal defense. Yulin raised four thousand men, marched with them, and encamped at Dahuang. Subordinates Wang Zhichun and Huang Desheng guarded Qiongzhou, Qinzhou, and Lingshan; Lou Yunqing and Wang Yongzhang held Shajiao and Dajiao alongside Guangdong troops. He added troops and forts, registered sand-dwellers and fishing boats, and divided patrol of inner sand channels. French troops never came. In the spring of 1885 the Guangdong army won a great victory at Zhennanguan and advanced on Langshan. Peace was quickly negotiated, fighting stopped, and troops withdrew. Yulin memorialized for strict readiness against future trouble and laid out six points on postwar coastal defense. That autumn he asked to retire for illness; a warm edict comforted him and kept him in service. In 1888 he conducted an inspection despite illness. At Anqing, Governor Chen Yi, seeing him gravely ill, reported it; the throne released him from substantive office but kept him on inspection duty. In 1890 he died at seventy-five; the court posthumously made him Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, granted ministerial mourning payments, built a shrine where he had served, and gave the posthumous name Gangzhi, "Unyielding and Upright."
14
玉麟剛介絕俗，素厭文法，治事輒得法外意。 不通權貴，而坦易直亮，無傾軋倨傲之心。 歷奉命按重臣疆吏被劾者，於左宗棠、劉坤一、塗宗瀛、張樹聲等，皆主持公道，務存大體，亦不為谿刻。 每出巡，偵官吏不法輒劾懲，甚者以軍法斬之然後聞，故所至官吏皆危栗。 民有枉，往往盼彭公來。 朝廷傾心聽之，不居位而京察屢加褒獎，倚畀蓋過於疆吏。 生平奏牘皆手裁，每出，為世傳誦。 好畫梅，詩書皆超俗，文采風流亦不沫雲。
Rigid and indifferent to convention, Yulin disliked legal formalism yet usually grasped the spirit of the law in judgment. He shunned the powerful yet was frank, approachable, and upright, without jealousy or arrogance. Investigating impeached great ministers such as Zuo Zongtang, Liu Kunyi, Tu Zongying, and Zhang Shusheng, he upheld justice, preserved the larger interest, and avoided pettiness. On inspection he impeached corrupt officials and, in grave cases, executed them by military law before reporting—so officials trembled wherever he appeared. When common people suffered injustice they often prayed for Lord Peng to come. The court trusted him completely; though out of office, repeated capital evaluations praised him, and the throne relied on him more than on sitting governors. He drafted every memorial himself, and each one circulated widely once issued. He loved painting plum blossoms; his poetry and calligraphy were exceptional, and his literary grace was no less admired.
15
=楊岳斌=楊岳斌，原名載福，字厚庵，湖南善化人，原籍乾州。 祖勝德，乾隆末，從剿苗，戰歿永綏。 父秀貴，以廕官至直隸獨石口副將。 岳斌幼嫺騎射，補湘陰外委，從剿新寧匪。
Biography of Yang Yuebin. Yang Yuebin, originally named Zaifu and styled Hou'an, came from Shanhua in Hunan; his ancestral home was Qianzhou. His grandfather Shengde campaigned against the Miao in the late Qianlong reign and was killed at Yongshui. His father Xiugui rose by inherited privilege to vice commander at Dushikou in Zhili. As a youth Yuebin excelled at riding and archery; appointed an outside officer in Xiangyin, he joined the suppression of rebels in Xinning.
16
咸豐二年，守湘陰有功，擢宜章營千總。 三年，曾國籓創立水師，拔為營官。 戰岳州，水陸皆潰，獨岳斌一營力拒不敗。 四年，戰湘潭，焚賊舟數百，復其城，擢守備，賜花翎。 國籓重整水師，進規岳州。 岳斌與彭玉麟為前鋒，伏船雷公湖，誘賊舟至，夾擊，連戰皆捷； 賊再至，沿東岸斜擊之，手挺矛刺殺賊酋在汪得勝，奪其舟，賊無還者：擢都司，賜號彪勇巴圖魯。 進戰擂鼓台，乘舢板衝賊屯縱火，賊陣亂，大破之，克岳州，擢游擊。 總兵陳輝龍率後隊至，狃前勝，欲乘風攻城陵磯。 岳斌曰：「順風難收隊，不可行也。」 不從，遇賊伏，竟敗。 輝龍及知府褚汝航、同知夏鑾、游擊沙鎮邦皆戰死，岳斌軍獨完。 既而賊為陸師所敗，將遁，要擊之，平兩岸砲台，搜螺山、倒口賊舟。 尋夜襲嘉魚黃蓋湖，岳斌先入，被火傷，舟覆落水，躍上別船，大呼陷陣，焚賊舟數十。 遂會湖北軍進屯金口，破漢陽關賊營，攻塘角，至青山，焚其壘，賊遁，焚其輜重。 武昌、漢陽皆复，擢參將，授湖南常德營副將。 諸軍進規田家鎮，岳斌由中路先發，克黃州及武昌縣，破援賊於蘄州，逼田家鎮，偕彭玉麟分隊毀橫江鐵鎖，焚賊船四千餘皆盡，漂屍數万，遂拔田家鎮，蘄州賊亦遁去。 岳斌晝夜進戰，積勞嘔血，詔嘉其勞勚最著，加總兵銜。
In 1852 he defended Xiangyin with distinction and was promoted company commander of the Yizhang battalion. In 1853 Zeng Guofan founded the river fleet and made him a battalion commander. At Yuezhou the land and river forces collapsed; only Yuebin's battalion held and was not broken. In 1854 at Xiangtan he burned hundreds of rebel boats, retook the city, was promoted battalion commander, and received the peacock feather. Zeng Guofan reorganized the fleet and advanced on Yuezhou. Yuebin and Peng Yulin led the vanguard, hid boats at Leigong Lake, lured the rebel fleet out, and won repeated victories in pincer attacks; when rebels returned he struck along the east bank, personally speared the rebel chief Zai Wang Desheng, seized his boat, and cut off every retreat; he was promoted and granted the title Biaoyong Batu. At Leigutai he took a sampan into a rebel camp, set it afire, broke their line, and helped take Yuezhou; he was promoted colonel. When Major General Chen Huilong arrived with the rear column, emboldened by earlier victories he wanted to strike Chenglingji with the wind at his back. Yuebin warned, "With this wind you cannot recall the squadrons—it must not be done." His advice was ignored; they walked into an ambush and were routed. Huilong, Prefect Chu Ruhang, Subprefect Xia Luan, and Colonel Sha Zhenbang were killed; only Yuebin's command escaped intact. When land forces routed fleeing rebels he intercepted them, knocked out shore batteries, and hunted rebel boats at Luoshan and Daokou. In a night raid on Huangga Lake at Jiayu he went in first, was burned, capsized, leaped to another boat, and burned dozens of rebel vessels. He then joined Hubei troops at Jinkou, stormed Hanyang Pass, fought through Tangjiao to Qingshan, burned rebel forts, and torched their stores as they fled. Wuchang and Hanyang were retaken; he became brigadier general and vice commander of the Changde battalion in Hunan. In the advance on Tianjiazhen Yuebin led the center, took Huangzhou and Wuchang County, broke Qizhou relief forces, joined Peng Yulin in cutting the river chains, burned more than four thousand boats until corpses numbered in the tens of thousands, and took Tianjiazhen as Qizhou rebels fled. Fighting day and night until he vomited blood, he was praised by edict for outstanding service and given major general's rank.
17
五年，水陸會攻九江，岳斌以疾留武穴，尋假歸。 水師恃勝銳進，前隊舢板入鄱陽湖，賊樹柵湖口扼之，不得出，而留九江者，亦屢為賊所襲。 岳斌聞敗，馳救不及。 賊复上犯，武、漢再陷。 曾國籓分水師回援，令岳斌回岳州，增募為十營，會屯金口，屢敗賊。 秋，退屯新堤，修船，汰疲卒十之三，簡練以圖大舉。 自武、漢為賊踞，長江商旅皆絕。 及水師駐新堤，流亡歸之，市廛始興，漸為重鎮。 授鄖陽鎮總兵，兼署湖北提督。 六年，進屯沙口，距武昌三十里。 岳斌念賊舟往來長江，停則依壘，行皆乘風，恆避戰，難得大創，乃謀襲燒之。 募壯士駕千石大船，實硝黃蘆荻，施火線。 約曰：「近賊而發，急登舢板退。」 應募者三百人，懸重賞。 夜逼賊舟，於南岸嘴縱火，於是賊舟能戰者多燼。 前軍直至黃州，旬日間轉戰數百里，擊毀賊舟六百餘，奪其資糧火藥，哨船掠巴河、蘄州、耀兵九江城下而還。 武、漢水路援絕，乃益困。 十一月，與李續賓陸師合攻。 值大風揚沙，波濤洶湧，水師上下環擊，賊大潰敗走。 二城同日克復，捷聞，加提督銜。
In 1855 the combined forces attacked Jiujiang while illness kept Yuebin at Wuxue; he soon went home on leave. Overconfident after victory, the fleet's lead sampans entered Poyang Lake; rebels walled Hukou and trapped them while Jiujiang detachments were repeatedly raided. Hearing of the disaster, Yuebin raced to the rescue but arrived too late. Rebels drove upstream again and Wuchang and Hankou were lost once more. Zeng Guofan sent part of the fleet back, recalled Yuebin to Yuezhou, rebuilt ten battalions, encamped at Jinkou, and beat the rebels repeatedly. That autumn he withdrew to Xindi, repaired boats, cut a third of the exhausted ranks, and retrained for a major campaign. With Wuchang and Hankou in rebel hands, Yangtze commerce stopped entirely. When the fleet anchored at Xindi refugees returned, markets revived, and the town gradually became a major base. He was appointed major general of Zhenyang garrison and acting governor of Hubei. In 1856 he encamped at Shakou, thirty li from Wuchang. Yuebin saw rebel boats hugging shore forts when moored and running with the wind when moving, always avoiding decisive battle; he planned fire raids instead. He recruited volunteers for thousand-shi fire ships loaded with saltpeter, reeds, and rushes and fitted with fuses. The plan was: "Light the fuse near the enemy, then jump to sampans and withdraw." Three hundred men volunteered for heavy rewards. By night they closed on rebel boats and fired them at Nananzui, destroying most of the enemy's fighting fleet. Within ten days the vanguard fought several hundred li, destroyed more than six hundred boats, seized stores and powder, raided Bahe and Qizhou, showed force below Jiujiang, and returned. With river relief cut off, Wuchang and Hankou grew ever more desperate. In November he joined Li Xubin's land forces in a combined assault. A sand-laden gale whipped the river; the fleet struck from above and below; the rebels broke and fled. Both cities fell the same day; victory brought him the rank of commander.
18
進規九江，曾國籓以憂歸，薦岳斌接統其軍，彭玉麟副之。 分兵扼蘄州，破援賊。 秋，會陸軍克小池口，密與彭玉麟約期會攻湖口，克之。 於是內湖外江水師始復合。 乘勝奪小孤山，克彭澤，留軍屯之。 自率前鋒至望江，賊望風遁，遂復東流。 過安慶，攻樅陽、大通賊壘，克之。 复銅陵，至蕪湖魯港，與江南師船會。 詔嘉其轉戰千里，謀略過人，尋授福建陸路提督，許專摺奏事。 八年四月，與李續賓會攻九江。 岳斌當北門，臨江地雷發，奮呼齊登，擒賊首林啟榮，逸出之賊，盡為水師所殲，賜黃馬褂。
Advancing on Jiujiang, Zeng Guofan went home in mourning and recommended Yuebin to succeed him with Peng Yulin as deputy. He blocked Qizhou with detachments and routed relief columns. That autumn land forces took Xiao-chikou; he secretly timed a joint assault on Hukou with Peng Yulin and captured it. For the first time the inner-lake and outer-river fleets were reunited. Pressing the victory they took Xiaogushan and Pengze and left garrisons behind. Leading the vanguard to Wangjiang he recovered Dongliu as rebels fled at his approach. Passing Anqing he stormed rebel forts at Zongyang and Datong and took them. He retook Tongling, reached Lugang at Wuhu, and joined the Jiangnan fleet. An edict praised his thousand-li campaign and superior strategy; soon he became land commander of Fujian with independent memorial rights. In April 1858 he and Li Xubin assaulted Jiujiang. Facing the north gate when a riverside mine blew, Yuebin's men stormed the walls, captured Lin Qirong, and the navy destroyed every fugitive; he received the yellow riding jacket.
19
詔促東下，疏言楚境肅清後始能會師，遂移屯黃石磯。 連攻安慶、樅陽、大通，奪其壘，分兵復建德，調福建水師提督。 九月，會都興阿克集賢關，賊自池州來援，迎擊於樅陽，破之。 時李續賓三河師潰，賊复謀上犯湖北。 岳斌遣兵分扼龍坪、鄔穴、田家鎮。 九年，督剿南北兩岸援賊，時出隊薄安慶城，以牽賊勢。 十二月，賊酋韋志俊以池州降，令攻蕪湖。 其部下有叛者，還陷池州。 岳斌察志俊無異志，分別遣留，得精銳二千五百人，令率以助戰。 陳玉成、李侍賢率眾分竄楚、皖，水師移屯觀音洲以備之。 十年四月，大破賊於蟂磯，令韋志俊拔殷家匯，進攻池州，毀城外石壘，潛襲樅陽，拔其城。 秋，遣將攻池州，奪青溪關。 李秀成循江岸上竄，連敗之三山、光穴、子橋、白茅嘴、運漕鎮。 分兵入內湖，攻神廟山、鎮山，斷松林口浮橋。 冬，由魯港潛行百里，解南陵圍，拔出總兵陳大富一軍，及難民十餘萬，被珍賚。 十一年，合攻安慶，偕陸軍破赤岡嶺援賊。 戰無為州神塘河，平其壘，焚賊船，劃菱湖兩岸賊屯。 集攻安慶東門，乘勝拔城北諸壘，城賊窮蹙。 八月，克安慶，遣總兵王明山、黃翼升克池州、桐城，予雲騎尉世職。 岳斌屢乞假省親，至是始歸。
Ordered eastward he replied that armies could unite only after Hubei was cleared, and moved camp to Huangshiji. He repeatedly stormed Anqing, Zongyang, and Datong, retook Jian'de with detachments, and was transferred to commander of the Fujian navy. In September he joined Duxing'a at Jixian Pass, met Chizhou relief forces at Zongyang, and routed them. When Li Xubin's army was routed at Sanhe, rebels again plotted to drive upstream into Hubei. Yuebin dispatched detachments to hold Longping, Wuxue, and Tianjiazhen. In 1859 he hunted relief forces on both banks, sometimes skirmishing under Anqing's walls to pin enemy strength. In December rebel chief Wei Zhijun surrendered Chizhou and was ordered to attack Wuhu. Some of his subordinates defected and retook Chizhou. Seeing Zhijun still loyal, Yuebin sorted his men, kept two thousand five hundred picked troops under him, and sent them to battle. Chen Yucheng and Li Shixian scattered into Hubei and Anhui; the fleet shifted to Guanyinzhou to block them. In April 1860 they routed rebels at Xiao-ji; Yuebin had Wei Zhijun take Yinjiachui, advanced on Chizhou, smashed outer stone forts, secretly raided Zongyang, and captured it. That autumn he sent generals against Chizhou and seized Qingxiguan. Li Xiucheng fled upriver and was repeatedly beaten at Sanshan, Guangxue, Ziqiao, Baimaozui, and Yuncao Town. Detachments entered the inner lake, stormed Shenmiaoshan and Zhenshan, and cut the pontoon at Songlinkou. That winter he slipped a hundred li from Lugang, lifted the siege of Nanling, rescued Major General Chen Dafu's army and more than one hundred thousand refugees, and received imperial rewards. In 1861 he joined the siege of Anqing and with land forces broke relief columns at Chigang Ridge. At Shen-tang River in Wuwei he leveled forts, burned boats, and cleared rebel camps along both banks of Linghu. Massing on Anqing's east gate they swept the northern forts and drove the garrison to desperation. Anqing fell in August; he sent Wang Mingshan and Huang Yisheng to take Chizhou and Tongcheng and received the hereditary rank of Cloud Cavalry Captain. After repeated requests for leave to visit his parents, Yuebin finally went home.
20
同治元年，以母病請展假，不允。 五月，至軍，移屯烏江。 進攻金柱關，戰龍山橋，殲賊萬餘。 ，賊尋復來犯陣，斬賊酋陳緒賓，破護駕墩、石垝賊壘。 自是江寧大營後路始固。 二年春，從曾國籓赴前敵大勝關、雨花台察視，與曾國荃定合圍之策。 三月，克黃池，悉收內河三里埂、伏龍橋、花津、護駕墩諸隘，以通寧國、蕪湖之路。 五月，克巢縣、含山、和州及江浦、浦口，破下關、草鞋峽、燕子磯，趨九洑洲，力戰拔之。 自是長江無賊舟。 十月，克高淳、寧國、建平、溧水，奪東壩要隘，江寧遂合圍。 岳斌因親病請歸養，詔賜其父母人葠四兩，慰留之。
In 1862, with his mother ill, he asked to extend leave but was refused. In May he rejoined the army and moved camp to Wujiang. Advancing on Jinzhuguan he fought at Longshan Bridge and destroyed more than ten thousand rebels. When rebels counterattacked he beheaded their chief Chen Xubin and stormed Hujiadun and Shigang. From then the great Nanjing camp's rear was secure. In the spring of 1863 he followed Zeng Guofan to inspect Dasheng Pass and Yuhuatai and with Zeng Guoquan settled the encirclement plan. In March he took Huangchi and secured Sanligeng, Fulong Bridge, Huajin, and Hujiadun, opening the route to Ningguo and Wuhu. In May he retook Chaoxian, Hanshan, Hezhou, Jiangpu, and Pukou, broke Xiaguan, Caoxiexia, and Yanziji, and stormed Jiufuzhou after fierce fighting. After that no rebel boat remained on the Yangtze. In October he took Gaochun, Ningguo, Jianping, and Lishui, seized Dongba, and Nanjing was fully encircled. When his parents fell ill Yuebin asked to go home; the throne sent each parent four taels of ginseng and urged him to stay.
21
三年，命督辦江西、皖南軍務，援軍悉歸節制。 尋授陝甘總督，命俟江、皖賊氛淨儘後赴任。 江寧平，加太子少保，予一等輕車都尉世職。 六月，岳斌抵南昌，遣諸將克崇仁、東鄉、金谿、宜黃、南豐，解寧都圍。 秋，赴贛州，克瀘溪、新城、雩都，先後收降賊十餘萬，防境肅清。 复疏陳傷病親老，請開缺，不允，乃回籍募兵。 四年，率彭楚漢等新軍十營從行，抵西安。 會僧格林沁戰歿曹州，詔岳斌移兵入衛京畿。 自請開缺，專任剿匪，不許，仍命速赴甘肅，六月，履任。
In 1864 he was ordered to supervise Jiangxi and southern Anhui; every relief army came under his command. Soon he was appointed governor-general of Shaanxi and Gansu, to take office only after Jiangsu and Anhui were fully pacified. When Nanjing fell he became Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent with the hereditary rank of First Class Commandant of Light Chariots. In June Yuebin reached Nanchang, sent generals to take Chongren, Dongxiang, Jinxi, Yihuang, and Nanfeng, and lifted the siege of Ningdu. That autumn he took Luxi, Xincheng, and Yudu from Ganzhou and received more than one hundred thousand surrenders until the region was cleared. He again asked to resign citing wounds, illness, and aged parents, was refused, and returned home to raise troops. In 1865 he marched to Xi'an with ten new battalions under Peng Chuhan and others. When Sengge Rinchen fell at Caozhou, an edict ordered Yuebin to march and guard the capital region. He asked to resign and fight bandits only; refused, he was ordered to hurry to Gansu and assumed office in June.
22
時甘回方熾，通省糜爛。 雷正綰、曹克忠新敗於金積堡，都興阿、穆圖善攻寧夏未下，且奉命將出關； 本省兵皆疲弱，疏調各省援兵，無一至者，僅自率新募之數千人； 又因兵荒耕作久廢，饋運道塞，庫空如洗。 岳斌迭疏乞協餉，僅川、陝鄰省稍稍接濟，無以遍給。 議進軍先搗靈州，繼規河、狄。 未幾，陶茂林、雷正綰兩軍相繼潰變。 五年春，岳斌親赴涇州、慶陽視師。 蘭州標兵遽變，圍署戕官，逼迫布政使林之望上疏，言糧餉獨厚楚軍，眾心不服。 岳斌聞警，先令曹克忠移師鎮撫，尋自回省城，按誅首犯百餘人，餘不問。 以在途拆閱林之望奏摺，自請議處，革職留任，降三品頂戴。 迭疏請罷，詔以左宗棠代之，未至，六年春，复陳病劇，乃命穆圖善暫署總督，許岳斌回籍。
Gansu Muslim rebels were then raging and the whole province lay in ruin. Lei Zhengwan and Cao Kezhong had just been beaten at Jinji Fort; Duxing'a and Mutushan failed before Ningxia and were ordered beyond the pass; provincial troops were exhausted; he called for aid from every province but none came, leading only a few thousand new recruits; war and famine had long stopped farming, supply routes were blocked, and the treasury was bare. Yuebin repeatedly begged coordinated pay; only Sichuan and Shaanxi gave slight help, far short of need. He planned first to strike Lingzhou, then Hezhou and Didao. Soon Tao Maolin's and Lei Zhengwan's armies mutinied and collapsed in succession. In the spring of 1866 Yuebin personally inspected armies at Jingzhou and Qingyang. Lanzhou garrison troops mutinied, besieged the yamen, killed officials, and forced Financial Commissioner Lin Zhiwang to complain that rations favored Hunan troops. Hearing the alarm Yuebin sent Cao Kezhong to pacify the city, returned himself, executed more than a hundred ringleaders, and spared the rest. For opening Lin Zhiwang's memorial en route he asked to be punished, was stripped of rank but kept in office, and demoted to third-grade insignia. Repeatedly asking to be removed, he was replaced by Zuo Zongtang; before Zuo arrived, in the spring of 1867 he reported grave illness, Mutushan acted temporarily, and Yuebin was allowed home.
23
光緒元年，命偕彭玉麟巡閱長江，整頓水師，屢以親病請罷，五年，始允之。 九年，法越戰事起，詔岳斌會辦福建軍務，未至，復命赴江南幫辦軍務。 十一年，率十二營赴援台灣，和議成，仍乞養歸。
In 1875 he was ordered with Peng Yulin to inspect the Yangtze navy, repeatedly asked leave for his parents' illness, and was finally released in 1879. In 1883 the Franco-Vietnamese war brought orders to assist in Fujian; before he arrived he was redirected to Jiangnan. In 1885 he led twelve battalions toward Taiwan; peace concluded, he again asked to retire home.
24
十六年，卒於家，贈太子太保，照總督例賜卹，建專祠，諡勇愨。 岳斌與玉麟始終長江軍事，所部以功敘擢至提、鎮者不可勝數，實膺專閫者亦數十人。
In 1890 he died at home; the court made him Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, granted governor-general mourning, built a shrine, and gave the posthumous name Yongque, "Brave and Sincere." Yuebin and Yulin commanded Yangtze operations throughout; countless subordinates rose to commander and major general, and dozens held independent commands.
25
=王明山=王明山，湘潭人。 初隸岳斌營，積功至守備。 彭玉麟調領一營。 戰鸚鵡洲，登陸破賊，攻金口先登，累擢游擊。 咸豐六年，補乾州協都司。 攻漢陽，焚東南門賊船，連破賊於黃州樊口、富池口。 戰武穴，伏蘆洲，伺賊登岸，突擊殲之。 回擊武昌援賊，累捷，擢參將。 戰蘄州，焚賊舟七十餘。 登岸誘敵，賊聚攻，別隊乘虛襲城，克之，擢副將，賜號拔勇巴圖魯。 進克黃州，會攻九江。 八年，授浙江金華協副將。 克東流，薄安慶，毀城外賊壘，以總兵記名。 九年，乞假回籍。 會石達開犯湖南，率隊自衡州趨祁陽要擊之，破賊於毛家埠。 十年，授安徽壽春鎮總兵，破賊蕪湖蟂磯、義橋。 十一年，破賊練潭鎮，斬其渠龔天福。 復會陸師克赤岡嶺，遂下安慶。 楊岳斌假歸，令明山代統其軍。 連复池州、銅陵、破泥汊口、神塘河諸壘。 克無為州，別遣將遏巢湖口，克運漕鎮，進拔東關。 同治元年，擢福建陸路提督。 克銅城徬，復和州、含山、巢縣，殲逸賊於木橋、沙洲，又破之江心洲、西梁山。 尋以傷病乞假歸。 明山在軍十餘年，屢當大敵。 江南平，遂不出。 光緒中，圖功臣像於紫光閣，明山與焉。 十六年，卒於家，賜血卩。
Biography of Wang Mingshan. Wang Mingshan came from Xiangtan. He first served in Yang Yuebin's battalion and rose through merit to battalion commander. Peng Yulin transferred him to command a battalion. At Yingwuzhou he landed and routed rebels; first over the wall at Jinkou, he rose repeatedly to colonel. In 1856 he was appointed battalion commander of the third rank in the Qianzhou garrison. Assaulting Hanyang he burned boats at the southeast gate and repeatedly beat rebels at Fankou and Fuchikou near Huangzhou. At Wuxue he ambushed rebels at Luzhou and annihilated them as they landed. Wheeling back he repeatedly defeated Wuchang relief forces and was promoted brigadier general. Fighting at Qizhou, he put more than seventy rebel vessels to the torch. He landed as bait; when rebels massed against him another column seized the city; he was promoted vice commander and granted the title Bayong Batu. He advanced to take Huangzhou and joined the siege of Jiujiang. In 1858 he was appointed vice commander of the Jinhua garrison in Zhejiang. He took Dongliu, closed on Anqing, destroyed outer forts, and was marked for major general. In 1859 he asked leave to return home. When Shi Dakai invaded Hunan he marched from Hengzhou to intercept at Qiyang and routed rebels at Maojiapu. In 1860 he became major general of Shouchun garrison and beat rebels at Xiao-ji and Yiqiao near Wuhu. In 1861 he broke rebels at Liantan Town and beheaded their leader Gong Tianfu. He again joined land forces at Chigang Ridge and then helped take Anqing. When Yang Yuebin went on leave he left Mingshan in temporary command. He retook Chizhou and Tongling and broke forts at Nizhakou and Shen-tang River. He took Wuwei Prefecture, blocked Chaohu mouth, captured Yuncao Town, and advanced to Dongguan. In 1862 he was promoted land commander of Fujian. He took Tongcheng Pass, retook Hezhou, Hanshan, and Chaoxian, destroyed fugitives at Muqiao and Shazhou, and beat them again at Jiangxinzhou and Xiliangshan. Soon wounds and illness drove him to ask leave and go home. Mingshan served more than ten years in the field and repeatedly faced major enemy forces. After Jiangnan was pacified he never returned to active service. During the Guangxu reign his portrait joined those of meritorious ministers in the Hall of Purple Glories. In 1890 he died at home and received blood-money condolence payments.
26
=孫昌凱=孫昌凱，清泉人。 入水師，積功擢千總。 昌凱舊業鐵工，田家鎮之戰，領小舟為頭隊。 冒槍砲鼓備斷鐵鎖，纜開，大呼猛進，筏上賊潰走。 後隊縱火，賊舟盡焚。 功最，擢守備。 咸豐五年，破賊漢口，擢都司。 六年，從攻武昌，焚賊舟，授廣東陸路提標游擊。 七年，從平蘄、黃賊巢，克小池口、湖口，擢參將。 克九江，加副將銜，補兩廣督標參將。 九年，回援湖南，防祁陽、衡州，擢惠州協副將。 以母病乞養開缺。 光緒中，彭玉麟疏薦昌凱誠實篤毅，驍果善戰，授浙江海門鎮總兵。 丁母憂，改署任，留襄海防。 事定，請終制。 後仍補原官，調署處州鎮。 二十一年，卒，賜卹，附祀彭玉麟祠。
Biography of Sun Changkai. Sun Changkai came from Qingquan. He joined the river fleet and rose through merit to company commander. A blacksmith by trade, Changkai led the vanguard of small boats at Tianjiazhen. Under musket fire he worked with maul and axe to cut the iron chains; as the barrier opened he shouted and drove forward and rebels on the rafts fled. Rear squadrons set the fire that burned every rebel boat. For the foremost merit he was promoted battalion commander. In 1855 he routed rebels at Hankou and was promoted battalion commander of the third rank. In 1856 he joined the assault on Wuchang, burned rebel boats, and was appointed colonel in the Guangdong land commander's garrison. In 1857 he helped pacify Qizhou and Huangzhou, took Xiao-chikou and Hukou, and was promoted brigadier general. At the fall of Jiujiang he received vice commander's rank and a brigadier's post in the Two Guang commander's garrison. In 1859 he returned to relieve Hunan, defended Qiyang and Hengzhou, and was promoted vice commander of the Huizhou garrison. When his mother fell ill he asked to retire and vacate his post. During Guangxu, Peng Yulin recommended Changkai as honest, resolute, and valiant in battle and had him appointed major general of Haimen garrison in Zhejiang. After his mother's mourning he served in acting appointment on coastal defense. When affairs settled he asked to complete mourning properly. Later he resumed his original post and was transferred to act as commander of the Chuzhou garrison. In 1895 he died; mourning payments were granted and he was enshrined with Peng Yulin.
27
=楊明海=楊明海，長沙人。 入水師，洊擢守備。 咸豐十年，戰樅陽、殷家匯、池州、蟂磯，迭破賊，擢都司。 十一年，克南陵，擢游擊。 克安慶，擢副將。 同治元年，從攻東梁山、金柱關，裹創血戰，功最，以總兵記名，賜號忱勇巴圖魯。 二年，大捷於九洑洲，以提督記名。 戰江寧小沙口，先登陷陣，砲子穿右股，率哨船渡江，從陸軍進剿蘇州，授山東兗州鎮總兵。 蘇州复，遂留防。 三年，楊岳斌赴甘肅，調明海偕彭楚漢率所募兵從行，破回匪於金縣夏官營，晉號格洪額巴圖魯。 軍食久乏，明海奉檄治糧運。 八年，赴兗州鎮本任。 光緒元年，母憂去官。 七年，授狼山鎮總兵。 十一年，卒，賜卹。
Biography of Yang Minghai. Yang Minghai came from Changsha. He joined the river fleet and rose repeatedly to battalion commander. In 1860 he fought at Zongyang, Yinjiachui, Chizhou, and Xiao-ji, beat rebels repeatedly, and was promoted battalion commander of the third rank. In 1861 he took Nanling and was promoted colonel. At the fall of Anqing he was promoted vice commander. In 1862 he fought wounded at Dongliangshan and Jinzhuguan with foremost merit, was marked for major general, and granted the title Chenyong Batu. In 1863 he won a great victory at Jiufuzhou and was marked for commander. At Nanjing's Xiaoshakou he led the escalade; a round shot pierced his right thigh; he still ferried scout boats across the river and followed land forces against Suzhou; he was appointed major general of Yanzhou garrison in Shandong. After Suzhou was retaken he remained on garrison duty. In 1864, when Yang Yuebin went to Gansu, Minghai marched with Peng Chuhan, routed Muslim rebels at Xiaguanying in Jinxian, and received the title Gehong'e Batu. With army rations long exhausted, Minghai was ordered to manage grain transport. In 1869 he took up his substantive post at Yanzhou garrison. In 1875 he left office to mourn his mother. In 1881 he was appointed major general of Langshan garrison. In 1885 he died and mourning payments were granted.
28
=謝濬畬=謝濬畬，原名得勝，長沙人。 充水師哨長，進攻武昌，濬畬自請為前鋒。 突鹽關賊壘，薄鸚鸝洲，與陸師夾擊，克武、漢，戰蘄州田家鎮，累功擢守備。 克九江，擢都司。 破賊赤岡嶺，擢游擊。 同治元年，從彭玉麟克太平及金柱關、東梁山、秣陵關、九洑洲諸要隘，擢副將。 江寧平，以總兵記名，授提標中軍副將。 光緒十八年，擢瓜洲鎮總兵，兼署水師提督，調署漢陽鎮。 二十七年，卒於官，賜卹，附祀彭玉麟祠。
Biography of Xie Junshe. Xie Junshe, originally named Desheng, came from Changsha. As a navy outpost chief he volunteered for the vanguard in the advance on Wuchang. He stormed the Yanguan rebel fort, closed on Yingwuzhou, coordinated with land forces to retake Wuchang and Hankou, and at Qizhou and Tianjiazhen earned repeated promotion to battalion commander. At the fall of Jiujiang he was promoted battalion commander of the third rank. At Chigang Ridge he routed rebels and was promoted colonel. In 1862 he followed Peng Yulin in taking Taiping, Jinzhuguan, Dongliangshan, Moling Pass, and Jiufuzhou and was promoted vice commander. When Nanjing fell he was marked for major general and appointed vice commander of the commander's central army. In 1892 he became major general of Guazhou garrison, also acting navy commander, and was transferred to act as commander of the Hanyang garrison. In 1901 he died in office; mourning payments were granted and he was enshrined with Peng Yulin.
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=【論】=論曰：彭玉麟、楊岳斌佐曾國籓創立水師，為滅賊根本。 兩人勳績，頡頏相並。 岳斌後為朝旨強促西征，用違其才，僨事損望。 玉麟終身不任官職，巡閱長江，為國家紓東顧之憂。 其疏論古人晚節之失，由於不能自藏其短，且惜朝廷不善全其長，洵至言也。 後盛昱劾其辭尚書之命，乃謂抗詔鳴高，殆淺之乎測玉麟矣。
The commentators say Peng Yulin and Yang Yuebin helped Zeng Guofan found the river fleet—the foundation of rebel destruction. Their achievements stood equal in eminence. Yuebin was later forced west by court orders; the wrong assignment wasted his talent and damaged his reputation. Yulin never held regular office; inspecting the Yangtze he eased the dynasty's eastern worries. His memorial on how great men fall in old age by failing to hide their flaws—and how courts fail to preserve their strengths—was profoundly true. Later Sheng Yu impeached him for refusing the ministry as edict-defying posturing—a shallow reading of Peng Yulin indeed.