1
吳振棫，字仲雲，浙江錢塘人。 嘉慶十九年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 道光二年，出為雲南大理知府，歷山東登州、沂州、濟南，安徽鳳陽知府； 山東登萊青道； 貴州糧儲道； 貴州按察使； 山西、四川布政使。 咸豐二年，擢雲南巡撫。 尋甸、東川回匪蠢動，粵匪由廣西闌入開化、廣南境，偕總督吳文鎔先後遣將擊平之。 四年，調陝西巡撫，未行，署雲貴總督。 貴州興義、普安匪起，檄安義鎮總兵金剛保等剿之。 遵義亦被匪圍，合滇、黔兵力，迭戰獲勝，擒匪首楊鳳先於石阡葛莊司。 五年秋，始抵陝西任。 匪首陳通明受粵匪指揮，於潼關糾眾謀響應，以計擒之，並獲其黨張順、羅吉祥等置諸法，被詔嘉獎。 鹽課攤歸地丁，數倍於昔，奏請改行招販，先課后鹽，民便之。 未幾，擢四川總督。
Wu Zhenyu, courtesy name Zhongyun, was a native of Qiantang in Zhejiang. He earned his jinshi degree in the nineteenth year of the Jiaqing reign, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and was appointed Compiler. In 1822 he was posted as prefect of Dali in Yunnan, and later served successively as prefect of Dengzhou, Yizhou, and Jinan in Shandong and of Fengyang in Anhui; as intendant of the Deng-Lai-Qing Circuit in Shandong; as grain intendant of Guizhou; as judicial commissioner of Guizhou; and finally as provincial administration commissioner of Shanxi and Sichuan. In 1852 he was promoted to governor of Yunnan. When Hui rebels rose in Xundian and Dongchuan and Guangdong bandits from Guangxi invaded Kaihua and Guangnan, he and Governor-General Wu Wenrong sent troops in succession until both disturbances were suppressed. In 1854 he was transferred to Shaanxi as governor, but before he could take up the post he acted as governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. When rebels broke out in Xingyi and Pu'an in Guizhou, he ordered Regional Commander Jin Gangbao of the Anyi garrison and others to suppress them. Zunyi too came under rebel siege; he combined Yunnan and Guizhou troops, won a series of victories, and captured the rebel leader Yang Fengxian at Gezhuang in Shiqian. Not until the autumn of 1855 did he finally reach Shaanxi to assume office. The rebel chief Chen Tongming, directed by Guangdong bandits, mustered men at Tong Pass to join the uprising; Zhenyu captured him by stratagem, seized his associates Zhang Shun and Luo Jixiang, and had them executed, for which he received an imperial commendation. Because the salt tax folded into the land-and-poll assessment had risen several fold, he memorialized for licensed private salt sales with tax collected before delivery, a reform the people welcomed. Soon afterward he was promoted to governor-general of Sichuan.
2
七年，調雲貴總督。 雲南漢、回積仇，自中原兵事亟，協餉不至，回亂愈恣。 團練跋扈，動相殺掠，省城戒嚴。 前任總督恆春不能制，夫婦同縊，巡撫舒興阿亦以病求去，惟布政使桑春榮困守危城。 文宗知振棫熟悉滇省情形，故以代之。 命選川兵三千，攜餉五萬馳往，調前山東巡撫張亮基幫辦軍務以副之。 振或至，先駐宣威，進次曲靖。 疏言：「先剿後撫，勢順而易，不待智者而知。 兵盛餉足，必應如是。 前督臣林則徐剿永昌回匪，兵、練萬餘，本省有餉可籌； 彌渡獲勝，匪旋受撫，其地祗迤西一隅中之一隅。 此次匪遍三迤，情形迥不相同，非數千之兵、十數万之餉所能蕆事。 如率意迳行，徒損國威，於事無補。 臣初到滇，於漢、回兩無嫌怨，惟憑藉兵威，結以恩信，有所申訴，處以公平。 省城為根本重地，省回解散，此外漸次籌辦，其負嵎抗拒者，仍當力剿。 匪勢漸孤，較易得手。 否則不自量度而急乘之，更無轉圜地步，禍更烈矣。 現在兵無可調，餉無可籌，宵旰焦勞，事非一省。 臣為雲南一省計，並當為天下全局計，豈容再有貽誤，致令徵調無休？ 故未言剿先言撫，有萬不得已之苦衷，雖成敗利鈍難以逆料，捨此亦別無良策也。」
In 1857 he was transferred to governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. Yunnan was torn by long-standing Han-Hui hatred; with the empire consumed by war in the central provinces, relief funds never arrived, and the Hui rebellion grew worse. Local militia ran rampant, killing and looting at will, and the provincial capital was placed under martial law. Former Governor-General Hengchun proved unable to restore order and hanged himself with his wife; Governor Shu Xing'a resigned on grounds of illness; only Provincial Administration Commissioner Sang Chunrong remained, holding the besieged capital. Knowing Zhenyu's familiarity with Yunnan, Emperor Wenzong appointed him to replace Hengchun. He was ordered to take three thousand Sichuan troops and fifty thousand taels of silver to Yunnan, with former Shandong Governor Zhang Liangji assigned to assist him in military affairs. When Zhenyu arrived he first halted at Xuanwei and then advanced to Qujing. In a memorial he wrote: "Suppress first and pacify afterward—that is the easier course, and needs no sage to see it. With ample troops and funds, that is surely the right course. When Governor Lin Zexu suppressed the Hui rebels of Yongchang, he had more than ten thousand regulars and militia and could raise supplies within the province; after victory at Midu the rebels soon submitted; that trouble was confined to a single corner of western Yunnan. Now rebels roam all three western circuits of Yunnan—a wholly different situation that cannot be settled with a few thousand men and a hundred thousand taels of silver. To rush ahead regardless would only damage imperial prestige without advancing the cause. When I first reached Yunnan I bore no grudge against either Han or Hui; I would rely on military strength, win them with kindness and trust, and judge every petition fairly. The capital is the root of the province: disband the Hui there first, then handle the rest step by step, while still crushing those who stubbornly resist. The rebels would grow isolated and be easier to defeat. Otherwise, if we overreach and press the attack, there will be no room to retreat and the disaster will only worsen. At present there are no troops to mobilize and no funds to raise; the emperor labors in ceaseless anxiety, and this is not a crisis for Yunnan alone. I must plan for Yunnan and for the empire as a whole; how can we risk another mistake that would bring endless troop levies? That is why I speak of pacification before suppression—not from choice but from necessity; though the outcome cannot be foreseen, I see no better course."
3
又奏：「在籍侍郎黃琮、御史竇墉、總兵周鳳岐奉命團練，設總局於省城。 周鳳岐意見不合，引嫌不肯與聞。 黃琮、竇墉聯銜出示，專主痛剿，民間紛紛集練，回眾疑忌日深。 地方官苦心解散，漢民往往閧堂塞署，逼官殺回。 故團練在他省為要務，在滇省竟為大患。 黃琮等每言省團可得六十萬人，無虞寇警。 回匪初至城外，不及千人，團丁招之不來，來即奔潰。 近日省練一萬餘人，月需餉數万，經費不敷。 練頭自行管帶，不盡官派。 回眾有求撫之意，梗議者忽用練往剿，妄殺邀功，致可撫者終不能撫。 黃琮、竇墉系特派人員，非臣力所能製，請旨定奪。 臣已諮桑春榮嚴覈守城之練，裁汰冗濫，以節糜費。 練歸官統，如不奉調派，自行出隊，即按軍法從事，庶一事權而免掣肘。」 疏入，詔褫黃琮、竇墉職，許回民悔悟自新，其負固不服者，痛加剿辦。 漢民借團練為名肆行殺掠者，以軍法從事。 於是振棫遣漢、回委員赴省城曉諭漢、回，解釋猜嫌，分畫所居街道，撥抵難民遺產，議定章程，遣散歸業。 先後剿平霑益回匪，殲咸寧土匪李廣沅。 八年四月，撫局粗定，入駐省城，偕張亮基籌辦迤西剿撫事宜。 臨安回匪攻府城，遣兵擊走之，又敗之於阿迷州，解河西縣之圍。
He also reported: "Retired Vice President Huang Cong, Censor Dou Yong, and Regional Commander Zhou Fengqi were ordered to organize militia and set up a general bureau in the provincial capital. Zhou Fengqi disagreed with their views and, pleading conflict of interest, refused to participate. Huang Cong and Dou Yong issued joint proclamations calling for ruthless suppression; civilians rushed to form militia bands, and Hui suspicion deepened daily. Local officials struggled to disband the militia, but Han mobs often stormed government offices and forced officials to kill Hui. What was an essential tool in other provinces became a grave disaster in Yunnan. Huang Cong and his allies claimed the provincial militia could field six hundred thousand men and that bandits need not be feared. When the Hui rebels first appeared outside the walls there were fewer than a thousand; militiamen would not answer the call, and those who did fled at once. The provincial-capital militia now exceed ten thousand men and cost tens of thousands of taels a month—far beyond available funds. Militia leaders commanded their own followers rather than answering fully to official appointment. Many Hui were ready to submit, but hard-liners sent militia against them, killing indiscriminately for credit, so that those who might have been pacified never could be. Huang Cong and Dou Yong were imperial appointees beyond my authority to restrain; I beg Your Majesty to decide. I have already instructed Sang Chunrong to audit the capital garrison militia strictly, cut redundant numbers, and curb waste. Militia must return to official command; any who march out without orders should face military law, so that authority is unified and interference ended." When the memorial arrived, the court stripped Huang Cong and Dou Yong of office, allowed repentant Hui to reform, and ordered ruthless suppression of those who still resisted. Han who used the militia as a cover for killing and looting were to face military justice. Zhenyu then sent Han and Hui commissioners to the provincial capital to explain the settlement, assign residential streets, allocate abandoned property to refugees, set regulations, and send people home to their trades. He successively suppressed the Hui rebels of Zhanyi and destroyed the Xianning bandit Li Guangyuan. In the fourth month of 1858 the pacification was roughly in place; he moved into the provincial capital and, with Zhang Liangji, organized suppression and pacification in western Yunnan. When Lin'an Hui rebels attacked the prefectural seat, he drove them off, defeated them at Ami, and lifted the siege of Hexi County.
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That winter he resigned on grounds of illness and went to Shanxi to live with his son Chunjie, who held the Yanping intendant post. In 1862 he was ordered to join Governor Yinggui in river defense, and soon after was sent to Shaanxi to assist in military affairs. He died in 1871, and the court granted the usual posthumous honors.
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Zhang Liangji, courtesy name Shiqing, was a native of Tongshan in Jiangsu. He passed the provincial examination in 1834 and purchased appointment as a secretary in the Grand Secretariat. He accompanied Grand Secretary Wang Ding to Henan for river control and supervised construction of the western embankment. When the project was finished he received the peacock feather and was promoted to Reader. In 1846 he was posted as prefect of Lin'an in Yunnan; Governor-General Lin Zexu, who had worked with him on river projects, recognized his ability and secretly recommended him for higher office; he was transferred to act as prefect of Yongchang. When border tribes grew restless, Liangji used the native officer Zuo Daxiong to capture the rebel chief and restore order. He was promoted out of turn to judicial commissioner of Yunnan and soon after to provincial administration commissioner. In 1850 he became governor of Yunnan and also acted as governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. As Guangdong rebels grew stronger, he submitted a secret memorial on military affairs that Emperor Wenzong endorsed.
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In 1852 he was transferred to Hunan; en route he learned that rebels were besieging Changsha and memorialized to halt at Changde. Ordered to relieve Changsha, he entered the city by scaling ladders, led repeated sorties with outside relief forces, and drove the rebels away. The rebels took Yuezhou and swept into Hubei; Hanyang and Wuchang fell in turn; Governor-General Xu Guangjin was dismissed, and Liangji was appointed in his place to organize a counteroffensive. Liangji argued for guarding against a rebel return into Hunan, intending to concentrate on Hunan, and the court ordered him to advance at once. In the spring of 1853 the rebels abandoned Wuhan and marched east; Liangji reached Hubei to organize recovery and relief. He suppressed bandit outbreaks in Tongcheng, Chongyang, Jiayu, and Guangji. When rebel detachments from downstream raided Jiangxi, Liangji personally held Daoshifu and Huangshigang and sent troops to reinforce. That autumn a rebel column from Henan entered Huang'an and Macheng in Hubei via Luoshan; he destroyed them in a combined land-and-water attack.
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Transferred to be governor of Shandong; before he could leave, he sent Circuit Intendant Xu Fengyu to meet Jiangxi rebels from Jiujiang at Tianjiazhen; the battle was lost and Fengyu was killed; Liangji was demoted four ranks but kept his post. Meanwhile Li Kaifang and other Guangdong rebels invaded the capital region and occupied Jinghai. On reaching Shandong, Liangji was ordered to hold Dezhou and block a southern escape. Southern rebels sought to move north through Huai and Xu in support; he stationed Judicial Commissioner Li En'guan north of Suqian to block them. In 1854 rebels entered Shandong; Liangji rushed to Jining to block their northward flight. They soon took Yuncheng and raided Fan, Shouzhang, and Dongping; he cut ahead of them and defeated them at Heijiazhuang near Linqing. After he reported victory, Sheng Bao accused him of claiming false credit; the court denounced Liangji as deceitful, cited his delay in relieving Changsha and his self-preservation in Hubei, dismissed him, and sent him to exile at the military garrison. More than a year later, Mao Hongbin argued that Sheng Bao's impeachment over Linqing was false, and Zong Jichen said Liangji was capable and underused; he was released, assigned to the Eastern River service, and soon sent to assist military affairs in Anhui.
8
In 1857 he received the fifth-rank cap button and was ordered to Yunnan to assist in suppressing rebels. Hui rebels were raging in Yunnan and militia terrorized the capital; Governor-General Wu Zhenyu had just arrived at Qujing, where he curbed the militia and sought to pacify the Hui. The Zhanyi Hui were the fiercest; when they attacked Xuanwei, Liangji led Judicial Commissioner Xu Zhiming and others to repulse them. In the spring of 1858 he defeated them again at Yuanjiatun, killed many rebels, and received the surrender of the rest; the court commended him and appointed him governor of Yunnan. When Zhenyu resigned, Liangji was promoted to governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou and recommended Xu Zhiming as governor. When Lin'an Hui rebels attacked cities and spread to Ami, he suppressed them. In 1859, after capital Hui had submitted, some occupied Biji Pass and raided the suburbs until detachments dispersed them. He also suppressed rebels in Pingyi, Anning, Mianning, and Chuxiong, and recovered Wuding, Luoci, Fumin, Lufeng, and Luquan in turn. Yet Hui and militia remained mutually suspicious, and unrest broke out repeatedly.
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徐之銘既為巡撫，貪縱險狠，與亮基陰不相能，時構煽其間。 十年秋，回人掌教馬德新、徐元吉，武生馬現，率各屬回民來省乞撫，住城外江右館，亮基約之銘同詣撫諭。 之銘陰嗾已散練丁擁至督署阻撓，諭之不可，殺通海知縣雷焱於門，遂逼殺招撫委員紳士馬椿齡、孫鈞。 亮基為所脅持，不敢入告，以病乞罷，命劉源灝代之。 源灝久不至，亮基迳去。 十一年，至湖北，乃疏陳滇事，劾之銘不法。 會布政使鄧爾恆升任陝西巡撫，去滇，之銘嗾匪戕於路。 於是罷源灝，以潘鐸署總督，命亮基赴滇查辦，督師剿匪。 亮基疏請發部照募損充餉，募勇千人然後行，與潘鐸先後至四川，欲資其餉力、兵力。 四川兵事未定，無以濟之。 林自清者，亮基之舊部，方署雲南提督，與之銘及馬如龍等皆不協，回人仇之。 聞亮基在四川，擅率所部號萬人入川求效用，阻之不聽。 詔亮基撫諭解散，而之銘嗾馬如龍等聲言拒亮基不使入境，相持久之。 同治元年，潘鐸先抵任，請暫留之銘以畢撫局，遂改命亮基以總督銜署貴州巡撫。 未幾，之銘复陰嗾回眾為變，鐸被戕，而雲南之亂愈亟矣。
Once Xu Zhiming became governor, his greed, cruelty, and treachery put him at odds with Liangji, and he constantly stirred trouble between them. In the autumn of 1860, Ma Dexin, Xu Yuanji, and Ma Xian led Hui from the districts to the capital to seek pacification and lodged at the Jiangyou Lodge outside the walls; Liangji asked Zhiming to join him in receiving them. Zhiming secretly roused disbanded militiamen to block the governor-general's yamen; they would not listen, killed Tonghai Magistrate Lei Yan at the gate, and then murdered pacification commissioners Ma Chunling and Sun Jun. Coerced by the mob, Liangji dared not report the affair; he resigned on grounds of illness, and Liu Yuanhao was appointed to replace him. When Yuanhao failed to arrive, Liangji left without waiting. In 1861, reaching Hubei, he memorialized on Yunnan affairs and impeached Zhiming for misconduct. When Provincial Administration Commissioner Deng Erheng was promoted to Shaanxi and left Yunnan, Zhiming incited bandits to murder him on the road. Yuanhao was dismissed, Pan Duo was made acting governor-general, and Liangji was ordered to Yunnan to investigate the situation and command troops against the rebels. Liangji asked for ministry authorization to raise funds through office sales and to recruit a thousand braves before setting out; he and Pan Duo reached Sichuan in turn, hoping to draw on its funds and troops. Sichuan's own war was still unsettled, and nothing could be spared to help. Lin Ziqing, Liangji's former subordinate and acting provincial commander of Yunnan, was at odds with Zhiming, Ma Rulong, and others, and the Hui hated him. Hearing that Liangji was in Sichuan, he led his troops—claiming ten thousand men—into the province on his own authority to offer his services; they were stopped but refused to turn back. The court ordered Liangji to pacify the force and send it home, but Zhiming incited Ma Rulong and others to declare they would bar Liangji from entering Yunnan, and the deadlock continued. In 1862 Pan Duo took up his post first and asked that Zhiming be kept on to finish the pacification; Liangji was reassigned as acting governor of Guizhou with governor-general rank. Before long Zhiming again secretly roused the Hui to revolt; Pan Duo was murdered, and the chaos in Yunnan grew worse still.
10
二年，亮基至貴州，黃號、白號、苗、教諸匪並熾，上下游遍地皆賊。 亮基令總兵沈宏富等攻遵義螺螄堰，破之，殲餘匪於上稽場。 令總兵劉義方等剿思南教匪，复普安、安南，又連破苗匪於桐梓鼎城及水城廳馬龍胯，擒匪首何潤科等於黔西，降萬人。 三年，尚大坪匪犯省城，督沈宏富等戰於郊，殲賊千計，復修文。 總兵林自清、趙德昌克龍里，又復興義，解清鎮之圍，收復定番、廣順、長寨諸城，破龍泉、湄潭黃、白號匪老巢，克滇西衛城。 四年，克黔西石阡、永寧、荔波，貴州地瘠財匱，飢軍索餉，時虞譁噪。 亮基撫馭防剿，僅得粗安，而所部諸將多驕蹇，輿論不協，為侍讀學士景其濬論劾。 亮基乃劾總兵林自清、劉有勳，副將池有連等劫掠扣餉，不聽調度，請嚴治。 詔布政使嚴樹森察奏，亮基復具疏自陳，言樹森規避貴州，安坐鄰省不親至，於是亮基、樹森並褫職。
In the second year Liangji reached Guizhou; Yellow Banner, White Banner, Miao, and sect rebels were all on the rise, and bandits filled the province from headwaters to lowlands. Liangji sent Regional Commander Shen Hongfu and others against the Snail Embankment at Zunyi, took it, and wiped out the survivors at Shangji Field. He sent Regional Commander Liu Yifang against the sect rebels in Sinan, recovered Pu'an and Annan, then broke Miao bands at Dingcheng in Tongzi and Malongkuai in Shuicheng, captured the chief He Runke and others in western Guizhou, and accepted ten thousand surrenders. In the third year rebels from Shangdaping threatened the capital; he led Shen Hongfu and others in a suburban battle, killed several thousand, and recovered Xiuwen. Lin Ziqing and Zhao Dechang took Longli, recovered Xingyi, lifted the siege of Qingzhen, retook Dingfan, Guangshun, Changzhai, and other towns, destroyed Yellow and White Banner strongholds at Longquan and Meitan, and captured the Dianxiwei garrison. In the fourth year they took Qianxi, Shiqian, Yongning, and Libo; the province was poor and funds short, hungry troops clamored for pay, and mutiny was feared at any moment. Liangji held the province together by pacification and defense, achieving only rough stability; many of his generals were arrogant and insubordinate, opinion turned against him, and Academician Reader Jing Qijun impeached him. Liangji in turn impeached Lin Ziqing, Liu Youxun, Chi Youlian, and others for looting, withholding pay, and defying orders, and asked that they be severely punished. The court ordered Provincial Commissioner Yan Shusen to investigate; Liangji countered with a memorial accusing Shusen of avoiding Guizhou and staying in a neighboring province; both men were dismissed.
11
In the tenth year he died. Governors Wang Wenshao of Hunan and Zeng Biguang of Guizhou successively asked that his former rank be restored, and each province built him a shrine. In 1908 officials from Hunan and Guizhou in Beijing jointly memorialized on his public service, and he was posthumously given the posthumous name Huisu.
12
Mao Hongbin, courtesy name Yiyun, was a native of Licheng in Shandong. He passed the jinshi examination in 1838, was selected as a Hanlin bachelor, and was appointed Compiler. He rose to censor and supervising secretary and repeatedly submitted sealed memorials on military affairs. In 1853, on Minister Sun Ruizhen's recommendation, he was ordered home to organize local militia. In the fourth year he impeached Assistant Grand Councilor Shengbao and asked for a stern edict to investigate and punish him. In the fifth year he was made intendant of the Jing-Yi-Shi Circuit in Hubei, then of the An-Xiang-Yun-Jing Circuit, and later served as Anhui judicial commissioner and Jiangsu administration commissioner.
13
In the eleventh year he was acting governor of Hunan and soon received full appointment. He memorialized: "Hunan lies in a remote corner and has never been wealthy or strong; yet former governors Zhang Liangji and Luo Bingzhang worked hard at governance and local custom, cut down bandits, and made the province a pillar of the upper Yangzi—the proof that good appointments matter is plain to see. I hold that famous generals win no more than battlefield glory; it takes worthy governors and governors-general to bring peace and prosperity to a province. Zuo Zongtang's vision surpasses ordinary men; his ability matches Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi. Yet he is only allowed to lead troops, which wastes his gifts; give him a major frontier post and he will secure the province, calm the people, and serve the larger cause. Former governor-general Zhang Liangji is resolute and capable, but Yunnan borders foreign lands, pay is short, and Han-Hui strife never ends; even perfect management there would help only one corner. Better assign him to a key post where he can do his best work. If the southeast turns the corner, the unrest in Yunnan and Guizhou can be swept away quickly—that is why one must weigh priorities carefully." By then the Hunan armies were winning wherever they fought, and provinces rushed to recruit from them; Hongbin warned of the abuses of indiscriminate recruiting and asked that commanders be chosen carefully for real results, and the court approved.
14
When Shi Dakai fled into Hunan, Hongbin sent Prefect Xi Baotian, Vice Commander Zhou Dawu, and Regional Commander Zhao Fuyuan by separate routes, lifting the sieges of Huitong and Qianyang. In 1862 he recovered Laifeng; Guizhou commander Tian Xingyu, also acting governor, filed false reports and trusted his favorites, and Hongbin impeached him. He sent troops across the border against Guizhou rebels and recovered Tianzhu. He also attacked Zhang Family Stockade in Tongren; the chief Xiao Wenkui surrendered with his men, and the Daqing and Xiaoqing forts were taken. Subprefect Chunling of Jianglan Department denounced militia leaders as bandits; Hongbin found he had tortured men to extort loans and had him dismissed. Chunling appealed in Beijing, claiming Hongbin had retaliated over a refused loan; Hongbin asked for an inquiry; Governor-General Guan Wen tried the case and cleared him.
15
Promoted to governor-general of the two Guangs, he sent Judicial Commissioner Zhang Yunlan to crush bandits who had risen in Yingde. Together with Governor Guo Songtao he drew up flexible regulations for pursuit and arrest, with preferential promotion for the capture of major bandits. The court approved.
16
In the third year, though Jiangnan had been recovered, unrest still lingered in Zhejiang and Jiangxi. Hongbin memorialized: "Southern Jiangxi remains inadequately defended, and along the Fujian-Guangdong border there are no troops at all. I fear the rebels will flee northward and make eastern Guangdong their last refuge. Jiangxi sits at a crossroads of four routes; we should combine troops from several provinces, press our advantage while victory is fresh, and destroy them in one concentrated strike. I have already asked Zeng Guofan to send crack troops around Ning Prefecture and Shicheng to block the rebels' southern escape routes; I will dispatch a force to the Fujian-Guangdong border to join the campaign. I also ask that the court order Zeng Guofan to hold southern Gan firmly so the rebels cannot slip through."
17
In the fourth year he was punished for an earlier affair in Hunan, when Intendant Hu Yong had sought a referral for an imperial audience: the consultation document was taken back, and Hu was assigned to an acting circuit vacancy; Mao was demoted one rank, transferred, and sent home. In the seventh year he died. Early in Xuantong, Shandong Governor Yuan Shuxun memorialized Hongbin's achievements; his former rank was restored and he was entered in the local worthies' shrine.
18
張凱嵩，字云卿，湖北江夏人。 道光二十五年進士，廣西即用知縣，歷宣化、懷集、臨桂知縣。 李星沅、勞崇光並薦其能，咸豐五年，擢慶遠知府。 剿平土匪王得勝等，擢左江道，調署右江道。 慶遠失守，革職留任。 八年，偕按察使蔣益澧破賊，克慶遠，復原官，署按察使，尋實授，遷布政使。 同治元年，巡撫劉長佑赴潯州籌剿撫，留凱嵩經畫後路。 荔浦張皋友陷陽朔，遣兵敗賊於鷓鴣岩，復其城，就擢巡撫。 諸匪中黃鼎鳳、張皋友最猖獗，分陷貴縣、陽朔、麕集大鹿灘、馬瀨，檄總兵李明惠、提督江忠義先剿馬瀨，進規貴縣，破之於桂嶺，殲擒賊首張皋友、陳土養。 二年，檄布政使劉坤一攻黃鼎鳳於登龍橋。 賊走覃塘，進圍之。 信都賊陳金剛等來援，道員蔣澤春逆擊敗之，進克容縣，坤一克覃塘。 三年，克天平寨，擒黃鼎鳳。 貴縣平，加頭品頂戴。
Zhang Kaisong, courtesy name Yunqing, was a native of Jiangxia in Hubei. A jinshi of the twenty-fifth year of Daoguang, he was appointed expectancy magistrate in Guangxi and served successively as magistrate of Xuanhua, Huaiji, and Lingui. Li Xingyuan and Lao Chongguang both praised his talents; in the fifth year of Xianfeng he was promoted to Prefect of Qingyuan. After suppressing bandits such as Wang Desheng, he was promoted to Intendant of the Left River Circuit and transferred to act as Intendant of the Right River Circuit. When Qingyuan fell he was stripped of rank but kept at his post. In the eighth year he and Judicial Commissioner Jiang Yili defeated the rebels, retook Qingyuan, was restored to office, served as acting and then substantive judicial commissioner, and rose to Provincial Administration Commissioner. In the first year of Tongzhi, Governor Liu Changyou went to Xunzhou to direct pacification; Kaisong was left to manage logistics on the rear lines. Zhang Gaoyou of Lipu seized Yangshuo; Kaisong sent troops, routed the rebels at Partridge Rock Pass, recovered the city, and was promptly promoted to governor. Huang Dingfeng and Zhang Gaoyou were the fiercest among the rebels, overrunning Guixian, Yangshuo, Dalutan, and Malai. He ordered Regional Commander Li Minghui and Provincial Commander Jiang Zhongyi to clear Malai first, then advance on Guixian; at Guiling he routed them and killed or captured Zhang Gaoyou and Chen Tuyang. In the second year he ordered Administration Commissioner Liu Kunyi to attack Huang Dingfeng at Denglong Bridge. The rebels fled to Qintang and he pressed the siege. Chen Jingang of Xindu and others marched to relieve the siege; Intendant Jiang Zechun intercepted and routed them, recovered Rong County, and Kunyi took Qintang. In the third year he seized Tianping Stockade and captured Huang Dingfeng. With Guixian pacified, he was granted the first-rank cap button.
19
He memorialized that banditry still festered on the Left and Right Rivers and proposed a three-pronged advance: Liu Kunyi with seven battalions to hold Xunzhou, Yi Yuantai with eleven battalions through Binxian and Qianjiang toward Si'en, and Li Shien with eight land and water battalions from Hengzhou toward Nanning, pressing forward in stages. In the fourth year Kunyi took Damiao, Jiangkou, and Pingqin, beheaded the rebel leader Liang Anbang, and the waterways to Nanning were finally open. Yuantai suppressed Shanglin and pacified it. Kunyi was promoted to Jiangxi governor and departed; Subprefect Liu Peiyi took over his forces. Kaisong was preparing to lead the campaign at Nanning in person when the pretender Prince Kang, Wang Haiyang, fled into Guangdong and threatened Guangxi; the court ordered Kaisong to hold Xunzhou. In the fifth year Kaisong reached Nanning, attacked Shanzhe, directed his troops in mining and breaching the walls, stormed the heights, and captured the Taiping chancellor Su Zhongxi and others. Sun Renguang fled alone toward Wanglong and was run down and killed. Shanzhe had been held by rebels for more than a decade; at last it was wholly pacified.
20
In the sixth year he was promoted to Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou. Since Pan Duo's assassination, Yunnan affairs had grown ever more chaotic. Reaching Badong he pleaded illness and thrice asked to be relieved; convicted of shirking duty, he was dismissed. In the sixth year of Guangxu he was recalled as a fifth-rank capital official, made Counselor of the Office of Transmission, promoted to Reader in the Grand Secretariat, served as acting Governor of Shuntian, and was appointed Governor of Guizhou. In the tenth year he was transferred to Yunnan. He proposed a provincial bureau to develop the five metals and revive mining revenues, and joined Grand Secretariat Academician Zhou Derun in surveying the Vietnam border. In the twelfth year he died in office. Guangxi Governor Li Bingheng memorialized Kaisong's record and asked for a private shrine; Guangxi officials in Beijing objected, and the request was denied. His son Zhongxin, a jinshi of the third year of Guangxu, rose from Hanlin censor to Counselor of the Office of Transmission and won renown for outspoken memorials.
21
Commentary: Yunnan lay on a distant frontier where Han and Hui nursed old hatreds; while the heartland was torn by troubles, the province nearly slipped beyond imperial reach. Wu Zhenyu had to balance suppression and pacification at once—a fair measure of how hard the court's task was. Zhang Liangji was capable enough to make a difference, but misused Xu Zhiming, was driven out by him, and the situation became irremediable. After Pan Duo's murder, no one would take on so perilous a post. Mao Hongbin was right to argue that once inland rebellion was crushed, the borderlands would settle of themselves. Zhang Kaisong was cashiered for shirking duty, yet later restored for past service—the court had long understood his situation.