Volume 413 Biographies 200: Ceng Guoquan younger brother: Zhen Gan, Shen Baozhen, Liu Kunyi

列傳二百

Biographies 200

曾國荃弟貞幹沈葆楨劉坤一

Zeng Guoquan; his younger brother Zhen Gan; Shen Baozhen; Liu Kunyi

曾國荃，字沅甫，湖南湘鄉人，大學士國籓之弟也。少負奇氣，從國籓受學京師。咸豐二年，舉優貢。六年，粵匪石達開犯江西，國籓兵不利。國荃欲赴兄急，與新授吉安知府黃冕議，請於湖南巡撫駱秉章，使募勇三千人，別以周鳳山一軍，合六千人，同援江西。十一月，克安福，連破賊於大汾河、千金坡，進攻吉安，下旁數縣。

Zeng Guoquan, whose style was Yuanfu, came from Xiangxiang in Hunan and was the younger brother of the grand secretary Zeng Guofan. Even as a young man he showed unusual force of character and followed Guofan to study in Beijing. In the second year of the Xianfeng reign he passed the selection as an outstanding tribute student. In the sixth year the Taiping commander Shi Dakai invaded Jiangxi, and Guofan's forces were hard pressed. Guoquan wanted to rush to his brother's relief. He and Huang Mian, the newly appointed prefect of Ji'an, petitioned Hunan governor Luo Bingzhang to let them raise three thousand militiamen; Zhou Fengshan's separate column would bring the total to six thousand, and the two forces would march together into Jiangxi. In the eleventh month he captured Anfu, routed the rebels at Dafen River and Qianjin Slope in turn, pressed the attack on Ji'an, and brought several surrounding counties under control.

七年春，丁父憂回籍。夏，賊麕聚吉安，周鳳山軍敗潰。時王珍、劉騰鴻皆喪亡，士氣衰沮。江西巡撫耆齡奏起國荃統吉安諸軍，軍復振。冬，敗石達開於三曲灘，吉安圍始合。八年春，克吉水、萬安。八月，督水師毀白鷺洲賊船，破城外堅壘，遂克吉安，擒賊首李雅鳳。以功累擢知府，撤軍還長沙。九年，复赴江西，率硃品隆等軍五千餘人援剿景德鎮。時諸軍與賊相持數月，莫肯先進。國荃至，乃合力敗援賊於浮梁南。三戰皆捷，火鎮市，追殲賊及半，克浮梁，擢道員。江西肅清。

In the spring of the seventh year he went home to observe mourning for his father. That summer the rebels massed at Ji'an, and Zhou Fengshan's army was smashed and driven off the field. Wang Zhen and Liu Tenghong had both fallen in battle by then, and morale had collapsed. Jiangxi governor Qiling memorialized to bring Guoquan back to take command of the Ji'an armies, and the troops recovered their fighting spirit. In winter he routed Shi Dakai at Sanqu Shoal, and the encirclement of Ji'an was finally drawn tight. In the spring of the eighth year he captured Jishui and Wan'an. In the eighth month he ordered the river force to burn the rebel fleet at Bailuzhou, stormed the strong outer fortifications, and finally took Ji'an, capturing the rebel leader Li Yafeng. For these services he was promoted step by step to prefect and then led his troops back to Changsha. In the ninth year he returned to Jiangxi at the head of more than five thousand men under Zhu Pinlong and others to help suppress Jingdezhen. The allied columns had been locked with the rebels for months, and none of the commanders would move first. Once Guoquan arrived, the columns finally joined forces and routed the relief army south of Fuliang. He won three engagements in a row, put the market town to the torch, hunted down and killed nearly half the enemy, and took Fuliang, for which he was promoted to circuit intendant. Jiangxi was cleared of rebels.

國籓出九江，至黃州，與胡林翼議分路圖皖。國荃留軍巴河，自還湖南增募為萬人。多隆阿、鮑超等既大破賊於太湖、潛山，十年閏三月，國荃乃進軍集賢關，規攻安慶。陳玉成來援，擊走之。十一年，陳玉成復糾捻眾至於菱湖，兩岸築堅壘，與城賊更番來犯。國荃調水師入湖，令弟貞幹築壘湖東以御之。會陳玉成在桐城為多隆阿所敗，還趨集賢關，迎擊破之。玉成由馬踏石遁走，仍留黨踞赤岡嶺，與菱湖賊壘犄角。國荃困以長壕，鮑超來，合攻，悉破其壘，擒斬萬餘。進破安慶城外賊營，毀東門月城。惟北門三石壘堅不可下，令降將程學啟選死士緣砲穴入，拔之。陳玉成屢為多隆阿所創，收餘眾，糾合捻匪，复屯集賢關，襲官軍後路，城賊葉芸來亦傾巢出撲。國荃憑壕而戰，屢擊卻，仍復進，增築新壘，遣貞幹合水師扼菱湖，絕賊糧路。八月，以地雷轟城，克之，殲賊萬餘，俘數千。捷聞，以按察使記名，加布政使銜，賜黃馬褂。尋以追殄餘賊，賜號偉勇巴圖魯。於是國籓進駐安慶，國荃率師東下規江寧，克無為州，破運漕鎮，拔東關，加頭品頂戴。分兵守諸隘，自回湖南增募勇營。

Guofan marched out from Jiujiang to Huangzhou, where he and Hu Linyi worked out a plan to advance on Anhui along separate routes. Guoquan left his troops at Bahe and went back to Hunan to recruit until his command stood at ten thousand. Once Duo Long'a, Bao Chao, and the others had shattered the rebels at Taihu and Qianshan, Guoquan in the intercalary third month of the tenth year moved up to Jixian Pass to lay siege to Anqing. Chen Yucheng marched to relieve the city, but Guoquan attacked and drove him away. In the eleventh year Chen Yucheng rallied Nian auxiliaries at Linghu, threw up strong works on both shores, and with the garrison took turns sallying against the besiegers. Guoquan sent the river flotilla into the lake and had his brother Zhen Gan throw up batteries on the eastern shore to block them. Chen Yucheng had just been beaten by Duo Long'a at Tongcheng; as he rushed back toward Jixian Pass, Guoquan met him and routed his column. Yucheng slipped away through Mata Stone, yet left a detachment on Chigang Ridge to work in tandem with the Linghu forts. Guoquan hemmed them in with a long entrenchment; when Bao Chao came up they stormed the works together, smashed every fort, and killed or captured more than ten thousand men. He then overran the rebel camps outside the walls and tore down the barbican at the east gate. Only three stone redoubts at the north gate still held out; he had the defector Cheng Qikai pick volunteers to crawl in through the embrasures and take them. Chen Yucheng, battered again and again by Duo Long'a, rallied his survivors, called in Nian allies, and reoccupied Jixian Pass to threaten the imperial rear, while the garrison commander Ye Yunlai threw every man he had into the fight. Guoquan held the entrenchments, drove assault after assault back, pushed forward again, threw up fresh works, and sent Zhen Gan with the flotilla to seal Linghu and starve the garrison. In the eighth month a mine blew in the wall; the city fell, more than ten thousand rebels were killed, and several thousand were taken prisoner. When the victory was reported he was marked for promotion to provincial surveillance commissioner, given the rank of provincial administration commissioner, and awarded a yellow riding jacket. Soon afterward, for hunting down the last bands of rebels, he received the honorific title Weiyong Batulu. Guofan then moved his headquarters to Anqing while Guoquan marched east toward Nanjing, capturing Wuwei, storming Yuncao Town, and taking Dongguan, for which he received the first-rank cap button. He left detachments to hold the key passes and went back to Hunan to recruit additional battalions.

同治元年，授浙江按察使，遷江蘇布政使。詔以軍務緊要，毋庸與兄國籓迴避同省。三月，率新募六千人至軍，自循江北岸，令弟貞幹循南岸，彭玉麟等率水師同進，拔銅城徬、雍家鎮諸隘，复巢縣、含山、和州，克裕溪口、西梁山。渡江會攻金柱關，乘間襲太平，克之。回克金柱關，貞幹亦剋蕪湖。令彭毓橘截敗賊於薛鎮渡口，大破之。五月，連奪秣陵關、大勝關要隘。水師進扼江寧護城河口，陸師迳抵城南雨花台駐屯，賊來爭，皆擊卻之。國籓猶以孤軍深入為慮，國荃謂：「舍老巢勿攻，浪戰無益，逼城足以致敵。雖危，事有可為。」會秋疫大作，士卒病者半。賊酋李秀成自蘇州糾眾數十萬來援，結二百餘壘。國荃於要隘增壘，輔以水師，先固糧道。賊環攻六晝夜，彭毓橘等乘其乏出擊，破賊營四。賊悉向東路，填壕而進，前仆後繼。國荃督軍抵禦，砲傷頰，裹創力戰，賊始退。李世賢又自浙江率十萬眾至，與秀成合攻，屢掘地道來襲，毀營牆，百計攻襲，皆未得逞。蕪湖守將王可升率援師至，國荃簡精銳分出，焚賊數壘，餘棄壘走，進擊，大破之。先後殲賊數万，圍乃解。秀成、世賢引去。是役以病餘之卒，苦戰四十餘日，卒保危局，詔嘉獎，頒珍賚。

In the first year of Tongzhi he was made surveillance commissioner of Zhejiang and then transferred to be administration commissioner of Jiangsu. The throne ruled that because the campaign was urgent, he did not have to observe the usual prohibition against serving in the same province as his brother Guofan. In the third month he brought six thousand fresh recruits to the front. He advanced along the north bank while Zhen Gan moved on the south; Peng Yulin's flotilla supported them. They seized Tongcheng Pang, Yongjia Town, and other strongpoints, recovered Chaoxian, Hanshan, and Hezhou, and took Yuxikou and Xiliang Hill. They crossed the Yangzi to assault Jingzhu Pass together, then slipped in a strike at Taiping and captured it. On the return march they secured Jingzhu Pass, and Zhen Gan took Wuhu as well. He sent Peng Yuju to cut off the rebels at Xuezhen Ford and won a crushing victory. In the fifth month he captured the vital passes at Muling and Dasheng in quick succession. The river force moved up to block the mouth of Nanjing's moat while the infantry pitched camp on Yuhuatai south of the walls; every rebel attempt to drive them off was repulsed. Guofan still feared that the column was overextended, but Guoquan replied: "Skirmishing away from their lair does no good; only by pressing the city will we draw them out. It is risky, but the situation can still be turned." At that point autumn sickness swept the camps and half the men were down. The Taiping commander Li Xiucheng rallied several hundred thousand men from Suzhou and threw up more than two hundred camps around the siege lines. Guoquan strengthened the key positions, backed them with the river force, and secured his supply lines first. The rebels pressed the siege for six days and nights straight; Peng Yuju and others counterattacked when the enemy flagged and overran four camps. They massed on the eastern sector, filled the trenches, and hurled wave after wave forward. Guoquan directed the defense in person; a shell fragment struck his cheek, yet he bandaged the wound and kept fighting until the enemy finally fell back. Li Shixian marched in from Zhejiang with another hundred thousand men to join Xiucheng; they tried mining, breached the parapets, and exhausted every tactic, yet could not break the ring. Wang Kesheng brought reinforcements up from Wuhu; Guoquan sent picked troops out, burned several enemy camps, and when the rest abandoned their works and ran, he pursued and shattered them. In the end they killed tens of thousands of rebels, and the relief army melted away. Xiucheng and Shixian drew off their forces. With half his men still sick, Guoquan had held the line for more than forty days of brutal fighting and saved the siege; the court praised him and sent rich rewards.

議者欲令乘勝退保蕪湖，國荃以賊雖眾，烏合不足畏，不肯退。二年春，國籓親至視師，見圍屯堅定，始決止退軍之議。詔擢浙江巡撫，仍統前敵之軍規取江寧。四月，攻雨花台及聚寶門外石壘，克之。九洑洲為江寧犄角，賊聚守最堅。國荃偕彭玉麟、楊岳斌往覘形勢，合水陸軍血戰，克之，江面遂清。連克上方橋、江東橋，近城之中和橋、雙橋門、七甕橋，稍遠之方山、土山、上方門、高橋門、秣陵關、博望鎮諸賊壘，以次並下。國荃初至，合各路兵僅二萬，至是募圍師至五萬人。十月，分軍扼孝陵衛。李鴻章克蘇州，李秀成率敗眾分佈丹陽、句容，自入江寧，勸洪秀全同走，不聽，遂留同城守。

Some urged him to pull back to Wuhu while he still had the upper hand, but Guoquan insisted that the enemy horde was only a rabble and refused to retreat. In the spring of the second year Guofan inspected the front himself, saw how solid the siege lines were, and finally put an end to talk of withdrawal. He was promoted to governor of Zhejiang but kept command of the field army aimed at Nanjing. In the fourth month he stormed Yuhuatai and the stone redoubts outside the Gate of Gathering Treasure and carried them. Jiufu Island was Nanjing's strategic anchor on the river, and the rebels held it with their stiffest garrison. Guoquan went with Peng Yulin and Yang Yuebin to scout the ground; the combined river and land forces stormed it in a bloody fight, and once it fell the Yangzi was clear. He then took Shangfang Bridge and Jiangdong Bridge, the inner ring at Zhonghe Bridge, Shuangqiao Gate, and Qiweng Bridge, and in turn the outer forts at Fang Hill, Tu Hill, Shangfang Gate, Gaoqiao Gate, Muling Pass, and Bowang Town. When he first arrived he had barely twenty thousand men from all columns combined; by now his siege army had grown to fifty thousand. In the tenth month he posted a detachment to block Xiaolingwei. After Li Hongzhang captured Suzhou, Li Xiucheng dispersed his beaten forces around Danyang and Jurong, slipped into Nanjing himself, and urged Hong Xiuquan to flee with him; when Hong refused, Xiucheng stayed to help hold the city.

三年春，克鍾山天保城，城圍始合。賊糧匱，城中種麥濟飢。國荃迭令掘地道數十處，賊築月圍以拒，士卒多傷亡。會詔李鴻章移師會攻，諸將以城計日可破，恥借力於人，攻益力。鴻章亦不至。國荃慮師老生變，督李臣典等當賊砲密處開地道。既成，懸重賞募死士，李臣典、硃洪章、伍維壽、武明良、譚國泰、劉連捷、沈鴻賓、張詩日、羅雨春誓先登者九人。六月十六日，日加午，地道火發，城崩二十餘丈，李臣典、硃洪章等蟻附爭登。賊傾火藥轟燒，彭毓橘、蕭孚泗手刃退卒數人，遂擁入。硃洪章、沈鴻賓、羅雨春攻中路，向偽天王府；劉連捷、張詩日、譚國泰攻右路，趨神策門，硃南桂等梯城入，合取儀鳳門；其左路彭毓橘由內城至通濟門，蕭孚泗等奪朝陽、洪武門，羅逢元等從聚寶門入，李金洲從通濟門入，陳湜、易良虎從旱西、水西門入：於是江寧九門皆破。守陴賊誅殺殆盡，猶保子城。夜半，自縱火焚偽王府，突圍走。要截斬數百人，追及湖、熟，俘斬亦數百。洪秀全已前一月死，獲其屍於偽宮。其子洪福瑱年十五六，訛言已自焚死，餘黨挾之走廣德。國荃令閉城救火，搜殺餘賊。獲秀全兄洪仁達及李秀成，伏誅。凡偽王主將大小酋目三千餘，皆死亂兵，斃賊十餘萬，拔難民數十萬。捷聞，詔嘉國荃堅忍成功，加太子少保，封一等伯爵，錫名威毅，賜雙眼花翎。

In the spring of the third year he seized Tianbao Castle on Purple Mountain, and the ring around Nanjing was finally closed. Supplies inside the city ran out, and the defenders sowed wheat in the streets to stave off famine. Guoquan opened dozens of mining galleries in turn; the defenders threw up outer crescent walls to block them, and casualties mounted on both sides. The court then ordered Li Hongzhang to bring his army to help, but the commanders believed the city would fall any day and were determined not to share the glory, so they redoubled their efforts. Li Hongzhang never showed up. Fearing that a prolonged stalemate would breed unrest in the ranks, Guoquan had Li Chengdian and others drive a gallery under the heaviest enemy batteries. When the mine was ready he posted a rich bounty for volunteers; nine officers swore to lead the assault: Li Chengdian, Zhu Hongzhang, Wu Weishou, Wu Mingliang, Tan Guotai, Liu Lianjie, Shen Hongbin, Zhang Shiri, and Luo Yuchun. On the sixteenth of the sixth month, just past noon, the charge detonated and a twenty-zhang breach opened in the wall; Li Chengdian, Zhu Hongzhang, and the rest scrambled up the rubble in a frantic rush. The defenders ignited a powder cache in the breach; Peng Yuju and Xiao Fusi cut down several men who hung back, then drove the column through. Zhu Hongzhang, Shen Hongbin, and Luo Yuchun pushed up the center toward the Taiping palace; Liu Lianjie, Zhang Shiri, and Tan Guotai took the right toward the Divine Strategy Gate while Zhu Nangui's men scaled the wall and together seized the Yifeng Gate; On the left Peng Yuju fought through the inner city to Tongji Gate; Xiao Fusi stormed Chaoyang and Hongwu; Luo Fengyuan entered by the Gate of Gathering Treasure; Li Jinzhou forced Tongji; Chen Chi and Yi Lianghu broke in from the western land and water gates—and with that all nine gates of Nanjing were in imperial hands. The defenders on the walls were cut down almost to a man, but a remnant still held the inner citadel. At midnight they torched the palace and tried to break out. Intercepting parties killed several hundred on the spot; pursuers caught up with them near Lake Tai and the town of Shu and killed or captured several hundred more. Hong Xiuquan had died a month earlier; his body was found in the palace. His son Hong Fuzhen, fifteen or sixteen years old, was rumored to have died in the fire, but surviving rebels carried him off toward Guangde. Guoquan sealed the city, put out the fires, and hunted down the last pockets of resistance. They captured Hong Xiuquan's brother Hong Renda and Li Xiucheng and put them to death. More than three thousand Taiping princes, generals, and officers of every rank perished in the sack; well over a hundred thousand rebels were killed and several hundred thousand civilians were brought out to safety. When the victory was reported, the court praised Guoquan's tenacity, appointed him Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, created him a first-class earl with the honorific name Weiyi, and awarded him the double-eyed peacock feather.

國荃功高多謗，初奏洪福瑱已斃，既而奔竄浙江、江西，仍為諸賊所擁，言者以為口實，遂引疾求退，遣撤部下諸軍，溫詔慰留；再疏，始允開缺回籍。四年，起授山西巡撫，辭不就。調湖北巡撫，命幫辦軍務，調舊部剿捻匪。

Guoquan's triumph drew envy as well as praise; he had first reported Hong Fuzhen dead, yet the boy soon turned up in Zhejiang and Jiangxi still at the head of rebel bands, giving his enemies fresh ammunition. Guoquan asked to step down on grounds of illness and began disbanding his troops, but the throne sent a gracious edict urging him to remain; Only after a second memorial was he allowed to resign and go home. In the fourth year he was called back and offered the governorship of Shanxi, but he declined. He was transferred to Hubei as governor, told to assist in military affairs, and his former troops were ordered against the Nian rebels.

五年，抵任，汰湖北冗軍，增湘軍六千，以彭毓橘、郭松林分統之。時捻匪往來鄂、豫之交，國荃檄鮑超由棗陽趨淅川、內鄉防西路，郭松林由桐柏、唐縣出東路，劉維楨向新野為聲援。賊折而北竄，詔郭松林越境會剿。是年冬，敗賊於信陽、孝感。賊竄雲夢、應城、德安，郭松林擊走之，克應城、雲夢，又敗之皁河、楊澤。松林追賊臼口，中伏受重傷，其弟芳珍戰死。彭毓橘破賊於沙口，又敗之安陸。國荃以賊多騎，難與追逐，欲困之山地。毓橘偕劉維楨屢戰不能大創，賊竄去。總督官文與不協，國荃疏劾其貪庸驕蹇，詔解官文總督任。六年春，賊复犯德安，為劉銘傳、鮑超所敗，遁入河南境，尋復回竄。彭毓橘恃勇輕進，遇賊蘄州，戰歿於六神港。五月，捻匪長驅經河南擾及山東。詔斥諸疆吏防剿日久無功，國荃摘頂，下部議處，尋以病請開缺，允之。

In the fifth year he took up the post, cut bloated Hubei units, added six thousand Hunan troops, and placed them under Peng Yuju and Guo Songlin. Nian bands were raiding along the Hubei-Henan border; Guoquan ordered Bao Chao from Zaoyang toward Xichuan and Neixiang to cover the west, Guo Songlin out from Tongbai and Tangxian on the east, and Liu Weizhen toward Xinye as a diversion. When the rebels veered north, the court ordered Guo Songlin to cross into the neighboring province and join the pursuit. That winter he routed them at Xinyang and Xiaogan. They fled into Yunmeng, Yingcheng, and De'an; Guo Songlin drove them out, recovered Yingcheng and Yunmeng, and beat them again at Zao River and Yangze. Guo Songlin pursued the enemy to Jiukou, walked into an ambush and was badly wounded, and his brother Fangzhen was killed in the fighting. Peng Yuju routed the rebels at Shakou and beat them again at Anlu. Guoquan judged that the Nian bands were too mobile to chase in the open and planned to pin them in the hills. Peng Yuju and Liu Weizhen fought several engagements without a decisive blow, and the rebels slipped away. He clashed with Governor-General Guan Wen and memorialized against him as greedy, incompetent, and overbearing; the court dismissed Guan Wen from the post. In the spring of the sixth year the rebels struck De'an again, were beaten by Liu Mingchuan and Bao Chao, fled into Henan, and soon doubled back to raid Hubei once more. Peng Yuju, overconfident in his bravery, pushed too far, met the enemy at Qizhou, and was killed at Liushen Harbor. In the fifth month the Nian columns swept through Henan and raided deep into Shandong. The throne rebuked the provincial commanders for months of failure; Guoquan was stripped of his rank insignia and referred for discipline, then resigned on grounds of illness and was allowed to go.

光緒元年，起授陝西巡撫，遷河東河道總督。二年，復調山西巡撫。比年大旱，災連數省。國荃力行賑恤，官帑之外，告貸諸行省，勸捐協濟，分別災情輕重、賑期久暫，先後賑銀一千三百萬兩、米二百萬石，活饑民六百萬。善後蠲徭役，歲省民錢鉅萬。同時荒政，山西為各省之冠，民德之，為立生祠。六年，以疾乞罷，慰留，尋召來京。七年，授陝甘總督，命赴山海關治防，复乞病歸。八年，署兩廣總督。

In the first year of Guangxu he was recalled as governor of Shaanxi and soon moved to head the Hedong waterways administration. In the second year he was transferred back to Shanxi as governor. Years of severe drought had spread famine across several provinces. Guoquan threw himself into relief work: beyond the provincial treasury he borrowed from neighboring provinces, organized donations, and tailored aid to each district's needs. In all he distributed thirteen million taels and two million shi of grain and kept six million people alive. In the recovery he waived labor levies, saving the people millions of cash each year. Among the famine relief efforts of the day Shanxi's was judged the finest; the people honored him with a living shrine. In the sixth year he asked to retire because of illness; the court urged him to stay, then recalled him to Beijing. In the seventh year he was made governor-general of Shaanxi and Gansu and sent to fortify Shanhaiguan, but again pleaded illness and went home. In the eighth year he served as acting governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi.

九年，內召。十年，署禮部尚書，調署兩江總督兼通商大臣，尋實授。時法蘭西兵犯沿海，中朝和戰兩議相持。國荃修江海防務，知上海關係諸國商務，法兵不能驟至，馭以鎮靜。詔遣文臣分赴海疆會辦，福建疆吏遂不能主兵。國荃言權不可分，朝廷亦以其老於軍事，專倚之。命遣兵輪援台灣，原議五，實遣其三。坐下部議，革職留任。兵輪終不得達，其二折至浙洋，助戰鎮海有功，和議尋定。十一年，京察，以國荃夙著勳勤，開復處分。十五年，皇太后歸政，推恩加太子太保。

In the ninth year he was called to the capital. In the tenth year he acted as minister of rites, then as acting governor-general of Jiangsu and Jiangxi with charge of foreign trade, and soon received the posts in full. French forces were threatening the coast, and the court was split between advocates of peace and war. He strengthened coastal defenses, understood that Shanghai's trade tied in many foreign powers and that French troops could not strike the city overnight, and kept the port steady through the crisis. The court dispatched civil commissioners to the coast, leaving Fujian's military commanders without authority over the troops. Guoquan insisted that command must not be split, and the court, trusting his long military experience, leaned on him alone. He was ordered to send gunboats to Taiwan; five had been promised, but only three sailed. The ministries reviewed the case and stripped him of rank while leaving him in post. The ships never reached Taiwan; two diverted to Zhejiang and fought well at Zhenhai, and a peace settlement soon followed. In the eleventh year the capital evaluation restored his honors for his long record of service. In the fifteenth year, when the empress dowager handed back the reins of government, he was promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent as part of the general amnesty.

國荃治兩江凡六年，總攬宏綱，不苛細故，軍民相安。十六年，卒於官，贈太傅，賜金治喪，命江寧將軍致祭，特諡忠襄，入祀昭忠祠、賢良祠，建專祠。孫廣漢襲伯爵，官至左副都御史。

For six years he governed the Two Jiangs, kept his eye on the large issues rather than petty disputes, and kept soldiers and civilians at ease. In the sixteenth year he died in office. The court posthumously made him Grand Tutor, funded his funeral, ordered the Jiangning general to conduct the rites, gave him the posthumous name Zhongxiang, enshrined him in the loyal-officials and worthy-ministers halls, and built him a private temple. His grandson Guanghan inherited the earldom and eventually became left vice censor-in-chief.

國荃弟貞幹，原名國葆。諸生。從兄國籓剿平常德、寧鄉土匪。時楊岳斌為把總，彭玉麟為諸生，貞幹亟稱於國籓，謂二人英毅非常，同闢領水師。初敗於岳州，貞幹自引咎，言諸將無罪。國籓東征，貞幹家居未從。及其兄國華戰歿三河，貞幹誓殺賊復仇。胡林翼使領千人，自黃州轉戰潛山、太湖。從國荃攻安慶，設計招降賊將程學啟，克城之功，學啟為多。同治元年，與國荃分路沿江進師，破魯港，克繁昌、南陵、蕪湖，會軍雨花台。尋染疫，將假歸，援賊至，被圍，強起任戰守，圍解而病劇，卒於軍。初以功敘訓導，加國子監學正銜，賜號迅勇巴圖魯。既破援賊，擢知府，命下而貞幹已歿。事聞，贈按察使。李鴻章為陳戰績，詔依二品議卹，贈內閣學士，予騎都尉世職，建專祠，諡靖毅。

Guoquan's younger brother Zhen Gan had originally been named Guobao. He held the licentiate degree. He followed his elder brother Guofan in clearing bandits from Changde and Ningxiang. Yang Yuebin was then a platoon officer and Peng Yulin a degree holder; Zhen Gan kept urging Guofan to notice them, calling both men of rare drive, and together they helped launch the river force. After the first defeat at Yuezhou he blamed himself and insisted the other commanders were not at fault. When Guofan marched east, Zhen Gan stayed home and did not join the campaign. After his brother Guohua fell at Sanhe, Zhen Gan swore to avenge him on the enemy. Hu Linyi gave him a thousand men; he fought his way from Huangzhou through Qianshan and Taihu. He joined Guoquan at Anqing, engineered the defection of the rebel commander Cheng Qikai, and Cheng did much of the work in taking the city. In the first year of Tongzhi he and Guoquan advanced along opposite banks of the Yangzi, took Lugang, Fanchang, Nanling, and Wuhu, and rendezvoused at Yuhuatai. He soon fell ill and was preparing to go home on leave when relief forces arrived and trapped the besiegers; he dragged himself from his sickbed to hold the line, the siege was broken, but his illness worsened and he died in camp. For his early services he was ranked as director of studies, given an Imperial Academy title, and awarded the name Xunyong Batulu. After the relief army was routed he was promoted to prefect, but the appointment arrived after he was already dead. On report of his death he was posthumously made surveillance commissioner. Li Hongzhang summarized his campaigns; the court granted second-rank mourning honors, posthumously made him a grand secretary, gave his heirs a hereditary commandant's post, built a shrine, and named him Jingyi posthumously.

沈葆楨，字幼丹，福建侯官人。道光二十七年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。遷御史，數上疏論兵事，為文宗所知。咸豐五年，出為江西九江知府。九江已陷賊，從曾國籓筦營務。六年，署廣信府。賊酋楊輔清連陷貴溪、弋陽，將逼廣信。葆楨方赴河口籌餉，聞警馳回郡，官吏軍民多避走。妻林，先刺血書乞援於浙軍總兵饒廷選。會大雨，賊滯興安。廷選先入城，賊至，七戰皆捷，解圍去。曾國籓上其城守狀，詔嘉獎，以道員用。七年，擢廣饒九南道，留筦廣信防務。數假客軍擊走竄賊，平弋陽土匪，誅安仁抗糧奸民，加按察使銜。以伉直忤大吏，乞養親去官。

Shen Baozhen, whose style was Youdan, came from Houguan in Fujian. He passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang, entered the Hanlin Academy, and was appointed a compiler. He became a censor, memorialized repeatedly on military affairs, and won the notice of Emperor Wenzong. In the fifth year of Xianfeng he was appointed prefect of Jiujiang in Jiangxi. Jiujiang had already fallen to the rebels, so he joined Zeng Guofan's staff to manage camp logistics. In the sixth year he acted as prefect of Guangxin. The rebel leader Yang Fuqing captured Guixi and Yiyang in turn and was closing on Guangxin. Baozhen was at Hekou raising funds when the alarm came; he raced back to find officials, troops, and civilians already fleeing. His wife, Lady Lin, pricked her finger and wrote a blood-letter begging Rao Tingxuan, the Zhejiang commander, for help. Heavy rains then stalled the rebels at Xing'an. Rao entered the city first; when the rebels came he fought seven engagements and won them all, and the enemy withdrew. Guofan reported the defense of the city; the court praised him and appointed him a circuit intendant. In the seventh year he was promoted to the Guangrao-Jiunan circuit and stayed to oversee Guangxin's defenses. He repeatedly borrowed allied troops to chase raiders, pacified bandits in Yiyang, executed grain-resisting ringleaders in Anren, and was given the rank of surveillance commissioner. His blunt integrity offended a senior official, and he resigned to care for his parents.

十年，起授吉贛南道。以親老辭，未出，命留原籍治團練。曾國籓屢薦其才，十一年，詔赴安慶大營委用。未幾，超擢江西巡撫，諭曰：「朕久聞沈葆楨德望冠時，才堪應變。以其家有老親，擇江西近省授以疆寄，便其迎養；且為曾經仕宦之區，將來樹建殊勳，光榮門戶，足承親歡。如此體恤，如此委任，諒不再以養親瀆請。」葆楨奉詔，感泣赴官。時浙江淪陷，左宗棠由江西進軍規复。賊酋楊輔清、李世賢合擾江西，冀斷皖、浙運道。同治元年，葆楨親赴廣信籌防，令士民築堡自衛，堅壁清野。倚用湘將王德榜、段起及席寶田、江忠義諸人，客軍並聽指揮，賊至輒擊退。二年，破黃文金於小路口，又破之於祁門。會浙軍克黟縣，賊由太平、石埭、建德擾江西，督軍進擊走之。是年秋，因病請假。

In the tenth year he was recalled and appointed to the Ji-Gan-Nan circuit. He pleaded that his parents were elderly and did not take up the post; he was ordered to stay home and organize local militia. Guofan recommended him repeatedly; in the eleventh year the court ordered him to the Anqing headquarters. Soon he was promoted straight to governor of Jiangxi. The edict read: "We have long heard that Shen Baozhen's reputation stands above his contemporaries and that his talent meets every emergency. Because his parents are elderly, We assign him a neighboring province so he may bring them to live with him; and it is country he already knows, where he may yet win distinction, honor his house, and give his parents joy. With such consideration shown him, We trust he will not plead filial duty again to refuse." Baozhen received the edict, wept with gratitude, and took up the post. Zhejiang had fallen by then; Zuo Zongtang was advancing from Jiangxi to recover it. Rebel leaders Yang Fuqing and Li Shixian raided Jiangxi together, hoping to sever the supply line between Anhui and Zhejiang. In the first year of Tongzhi he went to Guangxin in person to organize defense, had locals build stockades, and cleared the countryside behind walled strongpoints. He leaned on Hunan officers Wang Debang, Duan Qi, Xi Baotian, and Jiang Zhongyi; allied columns obeyed his orders, and every rebel probe was driven back. In the second year he routed Huang Wengin at Xiaolukou and again at Qimen. When Zhejiang forces took Yixian, rebels slipped through Taiping, Shiji, and Jiande into Jiangxi; he led troops out and chased them off. That autumn he took sick leave.

初，曾國籓軍餉多倚江西。葆楨以本省軍事方殷，奏留自給。江寧前敵需餉亟，而江西協解不至，國籓疏爭。御史華祝三亦疏言兩人齟《齒吾》，慮誤大局，詔兩解之，命各分其半，別以江海關撥款濟江南軍。三年，大軍圍江寧急。賊聚擾江西，圖牽後路。詔楊岳斌移師督剿，命葆楨會商機宜。既而江寧、杭州相繼复，黃文金擁洪福瑱由浙、皖竄江西，為入粵計。葆楨令席寶田追剿，至石城，大破之。陣擒洪仁玕、洪仁政、黃文英等，搜獲洪福瑱於荒谷中，皆伏誅。以擒首逆功，予一等輕車都尉世職，加頭品頂戴。葆楨推功諸將，疏辭，詔嘉其開誠佈公，將士用命，且江西吏治民風，日有起色，宜膺殊賞，不允所請。尋乞歸養，溫詔慰留。四年，以親病請假省視，因防務急，未行，丁母憂，命治喪百日，假滿仍回任。堅請終制，乃允之。

At first Guofan's army depended heavily on Jiangxi for funds. Baozhen, with fighting still fierce in his province, memorialized to keep the revenue for local needs. The Nanjing front needed money urgently, but Jiangxi's contributions did not arrive; Guofan protested in a memorial. Censor Hua Zhusan warned that their feud endangered the campaign; the court ordered them to settle, split the Jiangxi revenue equally, and allocated separate funds from the Shanghai customs for the Jiangnan army. In the third year the siege of Nanjing reached its crisis. Rebels massed in Jiangxi to threaten the besiegers' rear. The court ordered Yang Yuebin to take command of the pursuit and told Baozhen to coordinate strategy with him. Nanjing and Hangzhou then fell in turn; Huang Wengin escorted Hong Fuzhen from Zhejiang and Anhui into Jiangxi, aiming for Guangdong. Baozhen sent Xi Baotian in pursuit; at Shicheng Xi shattered the column. Hong Rengan, Hong Renzheng, Huang Wenying, and others were taken in battle; Hong Fuzhen was found hiding in a remote valley, and all were executed. For capturing the rebel heir he received a hereditary first-rank commandant's post and the first-rank cap button. Baozhen credited his generals and tried to decline the honors; the court praised his fairness, the discipline of his troops, and the improving order in Jiangxi, refused his declination, and insisted on rewarding him. He soon asked to go home to care for his parents; a gracious edict urged him to stay. In the fourth year he asked leave to visit his ailing father but could not go because of the emergency; when his mother died he was told to mourn for a hundred days and then return to office. He insisted on observing the full mourning term and was finally allowed to do so.

六年，命為總理船政大臣。初，左宗棠創議於福州馬尾山麓瀕江設船廠，未及興工，宗棠調陝甘，疏言非葆楨莫能任。葆楨釋服，始出任事。造船塢及機器諸廠，聘洋員日意格、德克碑為監督。月由海關撥經費五萬兩，期以五年告成。附設藝童學堂，預募水勇習練駕駛。事皆創立，船材來自外國，煤炭亦購諸南洋，採辦尤易侵漁。葆楨堅明約束，一無瞻徇。布政使周開錫為提調，延平知府李慶霖佐局事，皆為總督所不喜，齮齕欲去之，葆楨疏爭得留，籓署吏玩抗，以軍法斬之，眾咸驚服。

In the sixth year he was appointed superintendent of the Foochow Navy Yard. Zuo Zongtang had first proposed a dockyard on the Min River at Mawei near Fuzhou; before work began he was transferred to the northwest and wrote that only Baozhen could run it. After Baozhen ended his mourning, he took up the post. He built the dry dock and machine shops under foreign supervisors Prosper Giquel and Paul d'Aiguebelle. The customs paid fifty thousand taels a month, with a five-year completion target. He added a technical school for apprentices and began training sailors in seamanship. Everything had to be created from scratch; timber came from abroad and coal from Southeast Asia, and procurement was especially vulnerable to corruption. Baozhen enforced strict rules and showed favor to no one. Zhou Kaixi, the provincial treasurer, was appointed chief coordinator, with Yanping Prefect Li Qinglin assisting the bureau. The governor-general disliked them both and kept looking for pretexts to remove them; Shen Baozhen memorialized strenuously on their behalf and kept them in post. When clerks at the provincial yamen grew slack and defiant, he had one executed under military law, and the staff were thoroughly cowed.

九年，丁父憂，仍請終制，暫解事，服闋始出。當其居憂，內閣學士宋晉疏請暫停船工，詔下酌議。葆楨上疏，略謂：「自強之道，與好大喜功不同，不可以浮言搖動。且洋員合同不能廢，機廠經營不可棄。不特不能即時裁撤，五年期滿，亦不可停。」推論利害切至，詔嘉納之。十一年，再蒞事。先後造成兵艦二十艘，分佈各海口。尋以匠徒藝成，議酌改船式，督令自造，不用洋員監督。疏陳善後事宜，並如議行。

In the ninth year he took leave for his father's death, insisted on completing the full mourning observance, stepped aside from his duties temporarily, and returned to office only after mourning ended. During his mourning period, Grand Secretariat academician Song Jin submitted a memorial asking that shipbuilding be suspended temporarily, and the court ordered the matter discussed. Shen Baozhen submitted a memorial arguing, in essence: "Self-strengthening is not the same as grandiosity and vainglory; loose talk must not be allowed to derail it. Foreign specialists' contracts cannot simply be cancelled, nor can operation of the machine works be abandoned. The yards cannot be shut down immediately; they must not be halted even when the five-year term expires. His analysis of costs and benefits was trenchant, and the throne approved the memorial with praise. In the eleventh year he resumed his duties. Twenty warships were built in succession and stationed at major coastal ports. Once the craftsmen had mastered their skills, he proposed revising the ship designs and directing purely domestic construction, without foreign supervisors. He laid out follow-up measures in a memorial, and the court implemented them as he recommended.

十三年，日本因商船避風泊台灣，又為生番所戕，藉詞調兵，覬覦番社地。詔葆楨巡視，兼辦各國通商事務。日兵已登岸結營，葆楨據理詰之。曉諭番族遵約束，修城築壘為戰備。提督唐定奎亦率淮軍至，日人如約撤兵。乃議善後事宜，疏陳福建巡撫宜移駐台灣，吏治軍政方能整頓，詔如所請。甫內渡，獅頭社番戕官滋事，光緒元年，復往，督唐定奎等伐山開道，攻破內外獅頭等社，毀其巢，脅從者次第就撫。中路、北路亦分軍深入，諸番皆聽約束。先於琅玡增設恆春縣，至是奏設台北府，淡水、新竹、宜蘭三縣隸之；噶瑪蘭通判移駐雞籠山；台灣府同知移駐卑南；鹿港同知移駐水沙。連疏陳營伍積弊，請歸巡撫節制。購機器，開台北煤窯，為明遺臣鄭成功請予諡建祠，以作台民忠義之氣，並報可。遂撤軍內渡，事竣，擢兩江總督，兼通商大臣。

In the thirteenth year, after a Japanese merchant ship sheltered from a storm off Taiwan and crew were killed by indigenous tribesmen, Japan used the incident as a pretext to deploy troops and eyed aboriginal lands. Shen Baozhen was ordered to inspect Taiwan and oversee treaty-port trade with foreign powers. Japanese troops had already landed and encamped; Shen Baozhen challenged them on legal and moral grounds. He instructed the indigenous peoples to keep the peace, and fortified towns and built bastions against attack. Provincial commander Tang Dingkui brought the Huai Army as well, and the Japanese withdrew as agreed. He then proposed follow-up reforms, urging that the Fujian governor be stationed in Taiwan so civil and military administration could be brought to order; the court agreed. Hardly had he returned to the mainland when tribesmen of the Lion Head communities killed officials and rose in revolt. In the first year of Guangxu he went back, directing Tang Dingkui and others to cut roads through the mountains, stormed the inner and outer Lion Head settlements, destroyed their strongholds, and gradually brought intimidated followers back under control. Forces on the central and northern fronts pushed deep as well, until all the tribes submitted to authority. Hengchun County had already been established in the Langqiao region; he now memorialized to create Taibei Prefecture, subordinating the counties of Danshui, Xinzhu, and Yilan; the Gamalan subprefect was relocated to Jilong (Keelung); the Taiwan-fu subprefect was moved to Beinan; and the Lugang subprefect was transferred to Shuishua. In a series of memorials he exposed longstanding abuses in the garrisons and asked that troops be placed under the governor's command. He procured machinery and opened coal mines at Taipei, and secured approval to confer a posthumous title on Zheng Chenggong and build him a temple, so as to inspire loyalty among the people of Taiwan. He then withdrew his forces to the mainland; when the assignment was complete he was promoted to Liangjiang governor-general and concurrent trade minister.

江南自軍事定後，已逾十年。疆吏習為寬大，葆楨精覈吏事，治尚嚴肅。屬吏懍懍奉職，宿將驕蹇者繩以法，不稍假借。尤嚴治盜，蒞任三月，誅戮近百人，莠民屏跡。皖南教案，華教士誣良民重罪，親訊，得其受枉狀，反坐教士，立誅之，然後奏聞，洋人亦屈伏。淮南引地以次歸复，濬河、積穀、捕蝗、禁種罌粟諸政，並實力施行。數以病乞退，五年，入覲，皇太后溫諭勉以共濟時艱，毋萌退志，自此遂不言病。是年十一月，卒於位，贈太子太保，祀賢良祠，立功各省建專祠，諡文肅。子瑋慶，賜舉人，襲一等輕車都尉世職；瑜慶，恩廕主事，官至貴州巡撫。

More than ten years had passed since the fighting ended in the Jiangnan region. Border governors had grown used to leniency, but Shen Baozhen audited administration closely and governed with marked strictness. Subordinates served in wary obedience; veteran generals who were arrogant or insubordinate were held strictly to the law, without favor. He cracked down especially hard on banditry: within three months of taking office he had executed nearly a hundred men, and rogues vanished from the streets. In the South Anhui missionary incident, a Chinese priest had framed innocent villagers on grave charges. Shen Baozhen examined the case personally, found they had been wronged, reversed the charges onto the priest, and executed him on the spot before reporting to Beijing; even the foreign parties acquiesced. The Huainan salt transit zone was gradually restored, and policies such as dredging rivers, building granaries, catching locusts, and banning opium cultivation were all enforced vigorously. He repeatedly asked to retire on grounds of illness. On an audience visit in the fifth year the Empress Dowager gently urged him to share in meeting the nation's difficulties and not think of quitting; thereafter he stopped mentioning illness. He died in office that November, and was posthumously made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, enshrined in the Hall of Worthy Officials, with commemorative temples erected in the provinces where he had served; his posthumous name was Wensu. His son Weiqing was granted the rank of provincial graduate and inherited the hereditary title of first-class Captain of Light Chariots; Yuqing received a grace appointment as a department secretary and eventually became governor of Guizhou.

劉坤一，字峴莊，湖南新寧人。廩生。咸豐五年，領團練從官軍克茶陵、郴州、桂陽、宜章，敘功以教諭即選。六年，駱秉章遣劉長佑率師援江西，坤一為長佑族叔而年少，師事之，從軍中自領一營。長佑既克萍鄉，令進戰蘆溪、宣風鎮，連破賊，逼袁州，招降賊目李能通。於是降者相繼，守城賊何益發夜啟西門，坤一先入，复袁州。累擢直隸州知州，賜花翎。

Liu Kunyi, courtesy name Xianzhuang, was from Xinning in Hunan. He was a government student (licentiate). In the fifth year of Xianfeng he led local militia with government forces to take Chaling, Chenzhou, Guiyang, and Yizhang, and was rewarded with eligibility for immediate appointment as a district instructor. In the sixth year Luo Bingzhang sent Liu Changyou to reinforce Jiangxi. Kunyi was Changyou's younger clansman and became his protégé, commanding his own battalion in the field. After Liu Changyou took Pingxiang, he ordered Kunyi to attack Luxi and Xuanfeng, won repeated victories, closed on Yuanzhou, and won over the rebel leader Li Nengtong. Defectors came in one after another; the defender He Yifa opened the west gate by night, and Kunyi entered first to recover Yuanzhou. He was promoted in stages to magistrate of a Zhili prefecture and awarded the peacock feather.

七年，克臨江，擢知府。八年，長佑以病歸，坤一代將其軍。偕蕭啟江渡贛江規撫州，克崇仁。啟江在上頓渡為賊所困，往援，大破賊，遂復撫州，連克建昌，擢道員。九年，石達開犯湖南，坤一回援，解永州、新寧之圍，加鹽運使銜。賊竄廣西，從劉長佑追躡，复柳州。長佑擢撫廣西，令坤一駐柳州清餘匪，悉平之，加布政使銜。進攻潯州，十一年七月，拔其城，以按察使記名。石達開回趨川、楚，坤一扼之融縣，掩擊敗之，賊潰走入黔，授廣東按察使。

In the seventh year he helped take Linjiang and was promoted to prefect. In the eighth year Liu Changyou went home ill, and Kunyi took over his command. With Xiao Qijiang he crossed the Gan to threaten Fu Prefecture and captured Chongren. When Xiao Qijiang was trapped at Shangdundu, Kunyi relieved him, routed the rebels, recovered Fu Prefecture, and took Jianchang in succession, earning promotion to circuit intendant. In the ninth year, when Shi Dakai invaded Hunan, Kunyi marched back, lifted the sieges of Yongzhou and Xinning, and received the salt commissioner rank. The rebels fled into Guangxi; Kunyi followed Liu Changyou in pursuit and recaptured Liuzhou. When Liu Changyou became Guangxi governor, he left Kunyi at Liuzhou to mop up remnant bandits; Kunyi pacified them all and was given the provincial treasurer rank. He besieged Xunzhou and took the city in the seventh month of the eleventh year, and was placed on the list for provincial surveillance commissioner. When Shi Dakai turned toward Sichuan and the middle Yangtze, Kunyi blocked him at Rong County, ambushed and routed him, driving the rebels into Guizhou; Kunyi was then made Guangdong surveillance commissioner.

同治元年，遷廣西布政使。劉長佑赴兩廣總督任，命坤一接統其軍，赴潯州進剿。貴縣匪首黃鼎鳳，在諸匪中最狡悍，屢議剿撫，不能下。二年，坤一破之於登龍橋，遂駐守之。鼎鳳老巢曰平天寨，倚山險樹重柵，守以巨砲，覃墟相距十餘裡，為犄角。坤一陽議撫，撤軍回貴縣，潛師夜襲覃墟，遂圍平天寨，复橫州，鼎鳳勢蹙。三年四月，擒鼎鳳及其黨誅之。潯州平，賜號碩勇巴圖魯。四年，剿平思恩、南寧土匪，复永淳，擢江西巡撫。令席寶田、黃少春會剿粵匪餘黨於閩邊，五年，聚殲於廣東嘉應州，加頭品頂戴。軍事既定，坤一治尚安靜，因整頓丁漕，不便於紳戶。十一年，左都御史胡家玉疏劾之，坤一奏家玉積欠漕糧，又屢貽書干預地方事。詔兩斥之，家玉獲譴，坤一亦坐先不上聞，部議降三級調用，加恩改革職留任，降三品頂戴。尋復之，命署兩江總督。

In the first year of Tongzhi he became Guangxi provincial treasurer. When Liu Changyou left for the Liangguang governor-generalship, Kunyi was ordered to take over his forces and continue the campaign at Xunzhou. Huang Dingfeng of Guixian was the craftiest and toughest of the rebel chiefs; repeated campaigns of force and persuasion failed to subdue him. In the second year Kunyi defeated him at Denglong Bridge and encamped there. Dingfeng's stronghold was Pingtian Stockade, fortified on mountainous terrain with multiple palisades and heavy guns; Tanxu, more than ten li away, formed a supporting redoubt. Kunyi feigned interest in negotiation, withdrew to Guixian, then launched a night raid on Tanxu, besieged Pingtian Stockade, retook Hengzhou, and cornered Dingfeng. In the fourth month of the third year he captured Dingfeng and his followers and executed them. With Xunzhou pacified, he was granted the title Sure Valiant Baturu. In the fourth year he stamped out bandits in Si'en and Nanning, recovered Yongchun, and was made Jiangxi governor. He had Xi Baotian and Huang Shaochun cooperate in clearing Guangdong rebel remnants on the Fujian border; in the fifth year they destroyed them at Jiaying in Guangdong, and Kunyi received the first-rank official cap. Once the fighting ended, Kunyi governed lightly but tightened the land tax and grain transport levies, which displeased the local gentry. In the eleventh year the left censor-in-chief Hu Jiayu impeached him; Kunyi responded that Hu owed years of transport grain payments and had repeatedly meddled in local administration by letter. The throne rebuked them both; Hu was punished, but Kunyi was faulted for not reporting earlier—the ministry proposed demoting him three ranks, though by grace he kept his post with a third-rank cap. His rank was soon restored, and he was appointed acting Liangjiang governor-general.

光緒元年，擢兩廣總督。廣東號為富穰，庫儲實空，出入不能相抵。議者請加鹽釐及洋藥稅，坤一以加鹽釐則官引愈滯，但嚴緝私販，以暢銷路；又援成案，籌款收買餘鹽，發商交運，官民交便。藥釐抽收，各地輕重不同，改歸一律，無加稅之名，歲增鉅萬。吏治重在久任，令實缺各歸本任，不輕更調。禁賭以絕盜源，水陸緝捕各營，分定地段以專責成，盜發輒獲。

In the first year of Guangxu he was promoted to Liangguang governor-general. Guangdong had a reputation for wealth, but the treasury was empty and income could not cover outlays. Some proposed raising the salt surcharge and opium duty; Kunyi argued that raising the salt levy would only slow official sales further, and that strict interdiction of smuggling would suffice to restore the market; citing precedents, he raised funds to buy up surplus salt and release it to merchants for transport, benefiting both government and traders. Opium duties varied by region; he standardized them nationwide without formally raising the rate, yet added millions to annual revenue. Good administration depends on continuity in office; he kept substantive appointees in their posts and avoided frequent rotations. He banned gambling to dry up crime at its source, assigned land and water patrol units to fixed districts with clear accountability, and bandits were usually caught when they struck.

二年，調授兩江總督。六年，俄羅斯以交還伊犁，藉端要挾。詔籌防務，坤一上疏，略謂：「東三省無久經戰陣之宿將勁旅，急宜綢繆。西北既戒嚴，東南不可復生波折。日本、琉球之事宜早結束，勿使與俄人合以謀我。英、德諸國與俄猜忌日深，應如何結為聲援，以伺俄人之後。凡此皆賴廟謨廣運，神而明之。」九年，法越構釁，邊事戒嚴。坤一疏：「請由廣東、廣西遴派明幹大員統勁旅出關，駐紮諒山等處，以助剿土匪為名，密與越南共籌防禦。並令越南招太原、宣光黑旗賊眾，免為法人誘用。雲南據險設奇，以資犄角。法人知我有備，其謀自沮。雲南方擬加重越南貨稅，決不可行。重稅能施之越人，不能施之法人。越人倘因此轉嗾法人入滇通商，得以依託假冒，如沿海奸商故智，不可不慮。越南如果與法別立新約，中國縱不能禁，亦應使其慎重；或即指示機宜，免致再誤。越南積弱，若不早為扶持，覆亡立待。滇、粵籓籬盡失，逼處堪虞。與其補救於後，曷若慎防於先。此不可不明目張膽以提挈者也。」疏入，多被採納。

In the second year he was transferred to Liangjiang governor-general. In the sixth year Russia used the return of Ili as leverage for extortion. Ordered to prepare defenses, Kunyi memorialized that the Three Eastern Provinces lacked battle-tested commanders and troops and needed urgent reinforcement. With the northwest already on alert, the southeast cannot afford new troubles. Disputes with Japan over Ryukyu should be settled quickly, lest Japan align with Russia against us. Britain and Germany are increasingly at odds with Russia—how can we enlist them as counterweights and threaten Russia's rear? All of this depends on far-sighted deliberation in the inner court. In the ninth year France and Vietnam clashed, and the frontier was placed on alert. Kunyi proposed: "Select able officials from Guangdong and Guangxi to lead strong forces across the border to garrison Lang Son and similar points, ostensibly to help suppress bandits but in fact to coordinate defenses secretly with Vietnam. Have Vietnam recruit the Black Flag bands of Taiyuan and Xuangang so the French cannot enlist them. Yunnan should hold the mountain passes and keep irregular forces in reserve as a flank. Once the French see we are prepared, their designs will stall of themselves. Yunnan's plan to raise duties on Vietnamese goods is absolutely unacceptable. Heavier taxes might be levied on Vietnamese merchants, but not on the French. Vietnamese might then induce the French to enter Yunnan under treaty cover by proxy, repeating the ruses of coastal smugglers—this must be guarded against. If Vietnam negotiates a separate treaty with France, China may be unable to forbid it but should urge caution; or offer timely guidance so they do not blunder again. Vietnam has been weak for generations; without early support, its fall is imminent. Once Yunnan and Guangdong lose their buffer, the threat presses directly on our border. Better to guard against disaster beforehand than to pick up the pieces afterward. China must take the lead openly, not shrink from guiding Vietnam. Much of the memorial was adopted when it reached the throne.

十二年，丁繼母憂。十六年，仍授兩江總督。十七年，命幫辦海軍事務。二十年，皇太后萬壽，賜雙眼花翎。日本犯遼東，九連城、鳳凰城、金州、旅順悉陷，北洋海陸軍皆失利。召坤一至京，命為欽差大臣，督關內外防剿諸軍。坤一謂兵未集，械未備，不能輕試，詔促之出關。時已遣使議和，坤一以兩宮意見未洽為憂，瀕行，語師傅翁同龢曰：「公調和之責，比餘軍事為重也。」二十一年春，前敵宋慶、吳大澂等复屢敗，新募諸軍實不能任戰，日本議和要挾彌甚，下坤一與直隸總督王文韶決和戰之策。坤一以身任軍事，仍主戰而不堅執。未幾和議成，回任。坤一素多病，臥治江南，事持大體。言者論其左右用事，詔誡其不可偏信，振刷精神，以任艱鉅。坤一屢疏陳情乞退，不許。

In the twelfth year he mourned his stepmother. In the sixteenth year he was again appointed Liangjiang governor-general. In the seventeenth year he was ordered to assist in naval affairs. In the twentieth year, for the Empress Dowager's birthday celebration, he was awarded the double-eyed peacock feather. Japan invaded eastern Liaodong; Jiuliancheng, Fengcheng, Jinzhou, and Port Arthur all fell, and the Beiyang land and naval forces were defeated throughout. Liu Kunyi was called to Beijing and made imperial commissioner to direct all forces guarding and fighting along the northeastern frontier. Liu Kunyi argued that troops and arms were not ready and that a premature offensive would be reckless; the court ordered him to march out all the same. Peace envoys were already abroad, and Liu Kunyi feared discord between the empress dowagers. Before leaving he told Weng Tonghe, the emperor's tutor: "Your task of reconciling the court matters more than anything I can do in the field." In the spring of the twenty-first year Song Qing, Wu Dacheng, and other front commanders were beaten again and again; the new levies proved useless in battle; Japan's peace terms grew harsher by the day. Liu Kunyi and Zhili governor Wang Wenshao were ordered to settle whether to fight on or sue for peace. Liu Kunyi took military responsibility on himself and still leaned toward continuing the war, but did not cling to that view obstinately. Peace was soon signed, and he returned to his governorship. Chronically ill, Liu Kunyi often governed Jiangnan from his sickbed, keeping his eye on essentials rather than detail. Critics said his favorites were running affairs; the throne warned him not to trust them blindly, to shake off his lassitude, and to meet the heavy duties before him. He memorialized again and again asking to retire; each time the court refused.

二十五年，立溥俊為穆宗嗣子，朝野洶洶，謂將有廢立事，坤一致書大學士榮祿曰：「君臣之分久定，中外之口宜防。坤一所以報國在此，所以報公亦在此。」二十六年，值德宗萬壽，加太子太保。拳匪亂起，坤一偕李鴻章、張之洞創議，會東南疆吏與各國領事訂約，互為保護，人心始定。車駕西幸，議者或請遷都西安，坤一復偕各督撫力陳其不可，籥請回鑾。二十七年，偕張之洞會議請變法，以興學為首務，中法之應整頓變通者十二事，西法之應兼採並用者十一事，聯銜分三疏上之。詔下政務處議行，是為實行變法之始。洎回鑾，施恩疆吏，加太子太保。

In the twenty-fifth year Pujun was named heir to Emperor Muzong, and rumor swept the empire that the throne itself might be at stake. Liu Kunyi wrote to Grand Secretary Ronglu: "The bond between sovereign and subject is settled; we must not give scandal a foothold at home or abroad. That is how I serve the dynasty—and how I repay your trust." In the twenty-sixth year, on the emperor's birthday, he was promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. When the Boxer rising broke out, Liu Kunyi joined Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong in a plan for the southeast: local officials and foreign consuls agreed to protect one another's jurisdictions, and public panic subsided. When the court fled west, some urged moving the capital to Xi'an; Liu Kunyi and the other governors protested vigorously and pleaded for the emperor's return to Beijing. In the twenty-seventh year he and Zhang Zhidong jointly proposed reform, putting education first: twelve items for reviving Chinese institutions and eleven for adopting Western practices, set out in three co-signed memorials. The court referred the proposals to the Bureau of Government Affairs, marking the start of the reform program. After the emperor's return, frontier officials were rewarded, and Liu Kunyi was again made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

二十八年，卒，優詔賜卹。嘉其秉性公忠，才猷宏遠，保障東南，厥功尤著，追封一等男爵，贈太傅，賜金治喪，命江寧將軍致祭，特諡忠誠。祀賢良祠，原籍、立功省建專祠。賜其子能紀四品京堂，諸孫並予官。張之洞疏陳坤一居官廉靜寬厚，不求赫赫之名，而身際艱危，維持大局，毅然擔當，從不推諉，其忠定明決，能斷大事，有古名臣風。世以所言為允。

In the twenty-eighth year he died, and the court granted generous funeral honors. The court praised his integrity, breadth of vision, and above all his defense of the southeast; he was posthumously created a first-class baron, made Grand Tutor, given funds for his funeral, honored with sacrifices by the Jiangning general, and named Zhongcheng posthumously. He was enshrined in the Hall of Worthy Officials, with commemorative temples in his home province and every province where he had served. His son Nengji received a fourth-rank capital post, and his grandsons were given official rank as well. Zhang Zhidong wrote that Liu Kunyi governed with quiet integrity and generosity, sought no fame, yet in crisis held the realm together, shouldered responsibility without excuse, and decided great matters with the steadiness of the statesmen of old. Contemporaries agreed that this was fair.

論曰：曾國荃當蘇、浙未復，孤軍直搗金陵，在兵事為危機，其成功由於堅忍。鏟其本根，則枝蔓自絕，信不世之勳也。屢退復起，朝廷倚為保障，以功名終。沈葆楨清望冠時，力任艱鉅，兵略、吏治並卓然。其手創船政，精果一時無耦。後來不能充拓，且聽廢棄，豈非因任事之難其人哉？劉坤一起家軍旅，謀國獨見其大，晚年勳望，幾軼同儕，房、杜謀斷之功，不與褒、鄂並論矣。

The historians comment: When Jiangsu and Zhejiang were still in rebel hands, Zeng Guoquan drove a single column straight at Nanjing—the riskiest move in the war—and won through sheer tenacity. Cut out the root and the branches die on their own—a feat unmatched in his generation. He resigned and returned to duty more than once; the court leaned on him as a pillar of the realm, and he finished his career in honor. Shen Baozhen's moral authority stood above his peers; he took on the hardest tasks, excelling equally in war and in civil government. The navy yard he built from nothing was run with an efficiency none could rival at the time. Later it was neither expanded nor properly maintained—is that not because such work demands a leader of rare caliber? Liu Kunyi rose through the army yet always thought in terms of the whole empire; in his last years his stature nearly eclipsed his contemporaries. As strategists he belongs with Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui rather than with mere battlefield champions like Bao Xin and E Yi.

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