1
榮祿，字仲華，瓜爾佳氏，滿洲正白旗人。 祖喀什噶爾幫辦大臣塔斯哈，父總兵長壽，均見忠義傳。
Rong Lu, whose courtesy name was Zhonghua, belonged to the Guwalgiya clan and was a Manchu of the Plain White Banner. His grandfather Tasgha, who had served as assistant commissioner at Kashgar, and his father Changshou, a regional commander, both have entries in the Biographies of Loyalty and Righteousness.
2
榮祿以廕生賞主事，隸工部，晉員外郎。 出為直隸候補道。 同治初，設神機營，賞五品京堂，充翼長，兼專操大臣。 再遷左翼總兵。 用大學士文祥薦，改工部侍郎，調戶部，兼總管內務府大臣。 穆宗崩，德宗嗣統。 榮祿言於恭親王，乃請頒詔，俟嗣皇帝有子，承繼穆宗。 其後始定以紹統者為嗣。 ，兼步軍統領。 遷左都御史，擢工部尚書。 慈禧皇太后嘗欲自選宮監，榮祿奏非祖制，忤旨。 會學士寶廷奏言滿大臣兼差多，乃解尚書及內務府差。 又以被劾納賄，降二級，旋開復，出為西安將軍。 二十年，祝嘏留京，再授步軍統領。 日本構釁，恭親王、慶親王督辦軍務，榮祿參其事。 和議成，疏薦溫處道袁世凱練新軍，是曰「新建陸軍」。 授兵部尚書、協辦大學士。 疏請益練新軍，而調甘肅提督董福祥軍入衛京師。
Through hereditary privilege as a yinsheng, Rong Lu received appointment as a secretary in the Ministry of Works and was later promoted to vice director. He was then posted as an expectant circuit intendant in Zhili. Early in the Tongzhi reign, when the Shenji Camp was founded, he was given fifth-rank capital status, appointed wing commander, and made concurrent drill commissioner. He was soon promoted again to commander of the Left Wing. On Grand Secretary Wen Xiang's recommendation, he became vice minister of Works, was transferred to Revenue, and was also appointed superintendent of the Imperial Household Department. After Emperor Muzong's death, Emperor Dezong ascended the throne. Rong Lu urged Prince Gong to seek an edict providing that when the new emperor should have a son, that son would carry on Emperor Muzong's succession. Only later was it finally decided that the heir by succession would be adopted into Muzong's line. He was also made concurrent Metropolitan Infantry Commander. He was moved to Left Censor-in-Chief and promoted to Minister of Works. Empress Dowager Cixi once wanted to select palace eunuchs herself; Rong Lu submitted that this violated ancestral practice and thereby drew her displeasure. When Academician Bao Ting reported that Manchu ministers were holding too many concurrent appointments, Rong Lu was stripped of his ministry posts and his Imperial Household superintendency. After he was impeached for bribery, he was demoted two ranks, soon reinstated, and appointed general at Xi'an. In the twentieth year of Guangxu, he stayed in the capital for the birthday celebrations and was again appointed Metropolitan Infantry Commander. When Japan provoked war, Princes Gong and Qing were put in charge of military affairs, and Rong Lu assisted them. Once peace was made, he recommended in a memorial that Yuan Shikai, intendant of the Wenzhou circuit, train a new army—the force known as the "Newly Created Army." He was appointed Minister of War and Associate Grand Secretary. In a memorial he asked to expand the new army's training and to bring Gansu provincial commander Dong Fuxiang's troops to guard the capital.
3
二十四年，晉大學士，命為直隸總督。 是時上擢用主事康有為及知府譚嗣同等參預新政，議變法，斥舊臣，召直隸按察使袁世凱入覲，超授侍郎，統練兵。 榮祿不自安，御史楊崇伊奏請太后再垂簾，於是太后复臨朝訓政，召榮祿為軍機大臣，以世凱代之，命查拿康有為，斬譚嗣同等六人於市，以上有疾，詔徵醫； 復命榮祿管兵部，仍節制北洋海陸各軍。 榮祿乃奏設武衛軍，以聶士成駐蘆臺為前軍，董福祥駐薊州為後軍，宋慶駐山海關為左軍，世凱駐小站為右軍，而自募萬人為中軍，駐南苑。 時太后議廢帝，立端王載漪子溥俊為穆宗嗣，患外人為梗，用榮祿言，改稱「大阿哥」。
In the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu he was promoted to Grand Secretary and appointed governor-general of Zhili. The emperor was then promoting Kang Youwei, a secretary, and Tan Sitong, a prefect, among others to take part in the new policies; reform was debated, veteran ministers were pushed aside, and Yuan Shikai, Zhili surveillance commissioner, was summoned to court, given a leap promotion to vice minister, and placed in command of military training. Uneasy at these developments, Rong Lu watched as Censor Yang Chongyi asked the empress dowager to resume regency behind the curtain; the empress dowager then took up government again, recalled Rong Lu as a Grand Councilor, put Yuan Shikai in his former post, ordered Kang Youwei arrested, and had Tan Sitong and five others executed in public; because the emperor was said to be ill, physicians were summoned by edict; Rong Lu was again put in charge of the Ministry of War and retained overall command of Beiyang land and naval forces. Rong Lu then proposed the Wuwei Army: Nie Shicheng at Lutai as the Front Army, Dong Fuxiang at Jizhou as the Rear Army, Song Qing at Shanhaiguan as the Left Army, Yuan Shikai at Xiaozhan as the Right Army, while he personally raised ten thousand men for the Central Army at the Southern Park. The empress dowager then considered deposing the emperor and naming Prince Duan's son Pujun as heir to Muzong's line; fearing foreign interference, she followed Rong Lu's counsel and styled the boy "Great Elder Brother" instead.
4
二十六年，拳匪亂作，載漪等稱其術，太后信之，欲倚以排外人。 福祥率甘軍攻使館，月餘不下； 榮祿不能阻，載漪等益橫，京師大亂，駢戮忠諫大臣。 榮祿踉蹌入言，太后厲色斥之。 聯軍入京，兩宮西幸，駐蹕太原。 榮祿請赴行在，不許，命為留京辦事大臣。 已而詔詣西安，既至，寵禮有加，賞黃馬褂，賜雙眼花翎、紫韁。 隨扈還京，加太子太保，轉文華殿大學士。 二十九年卒，贈太傅，諡文忠，晉一等男爵。
In the twenty-sixth year the Boxer uprising broke out; Prince Duan and others extolled their magic, the empress dowager trusted them, and hoped to use them to expel foreigners. Dong Fuxiang led the Gansu troops against the legations, yet after more than a month they still had not fallen; Rong Lu could not restrain them; Prince Duan's faction grew ever more arrogant; the capital descended into chaos, and loyal ministers who remonstrated were slaughtered in groups. Rong Lu stumbled in to remonstrate, but the empress dowager sharply rebuked him. When the allied armies entered Beijing, the court fled west and made its halt at Taiyuan. Rong Lu asked to join the traveling court but was refused and appointed minister left in Beijing to manage affairs. He was soon summoned to Xi'an, where he was received with heightened favor: the yellow jacket, double-eyed peacock feathers, and a purple bridle were all bestowed on him. He accompanied the court back to Beijing, was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and became Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall. He died in the twenty-ninth year; the court posthumously made him Grand Tutor, gave him the posthumous title Wenzhong, and raised his rank to first-class baron.
5
榮祿久直內廷，得太后信仗。 眷顧之隆，一時無比。 事無鉅細，常待一言決焉。
Rong Lu had long served at the inner court and enjoyed the empress dowager's full trust. No one of his time was favored as highly. On matters great and small, affairs often hung on his single word.
6
王文韶，字夔石，浙江仁和人。 咸豐二年進士，銓戶部主事。 累遷郎中，出為湖北安襄鄖荊道。 左宗棠、李鴻章皆薦其才。 擢按察使，遷湖南布政使。 同治十年，署巡撫。 黔苗亂熾，桂東淪寇域。 文韶條上援黔、防境機宜，以兵事屬按察使席寶田，督其部將蘇元春、龔繼昌等進剿，斬首逆張秀眉烏鴉坡，黔境平。 文韶繪苗疆要塞圖，上之朝。 十一年，除真。 寧遠莠民倡亂，耒陽硃鴻英复妄稱明裔構眾，先後檄道員陳寶箴討平之。 光緒元年，遣總兵謝晉鈞平新化、衡、永土寇。 撫湘六年，內治稱靜謐焉。 入權兵部侍郎，直軍機。 會歲旱，各省籥災，中旨罪己。 文韶亦自陳無狀，詔革職留任。 旋除禮部侍郎，兼總理衙門行走。 八年，御史洪良品、鄧承修劾雲南軍需案，文韶坐失察，奪二級。 乞養歸，終母喪，還前除。
Wang Wenshao, whose courtesy name was Kuishi, came from Renhe in Zhejiang. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Xianfeng and was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. He rose through the ranks to director and was then posted as intendant of the An-Xiang-Yun-Jing circuit in Hubei. Both Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang commended his ability. He was promoted to provincial surveillance commissioner and then made Hunan financial commissioner. In the tenth year of Tongzhi he served as acting governor of Hunan. The Miao rebellion in Guizhou raged, and eastern Guangxi was overrun by rebels. Wenshao laid out in detail how to aid Guizhou and guard the frontier, put military affairs in the hands of Surveillance Commissioner Xi Baotian, and directed subordinates such as Su Yuanchun and Gong Jichang in the campaign; the rebel leader Zhang Xiuhui was beheaded at Wuyapo, and Guizhou was pacified. He drew a map of Miao frontier fortifications and submitted it to the court. In the eleventh year his acting appointment was made permanent. Ruffians in Ningyuan rose in revolt, and in Leiyang Zhu Hongying again falsely claimed descent from the Ming and gathered followers; Wenshao successively ordered Circuit Intendant Chen Baozhen to put down both outbreaks. In the first year of Guangxu he sent Regional Commander Xie Jinjun to suppress native bandits in Xinhua, Hengzhou, and Yongzhou. During six years as Hunan governor, his civil administration was regarded as notably calm. He was recalled to serve as acting vice minister of War and join the Grand Council. When drought struck and provinces reported disasters, the throne issued a self-reproaching edict. Wenshao likewise confessed his failures; he was ordered stripped of rank but kept at his post. He was soon made vice minister of Rites and given concurrent duty in the Zongli Yamen. In the eighth year Censors Hong Liangpin and Deng Chengxiu impeached officials in the Yunnan military supplies scandal; Wenshao was held negligent and stripped of two ranks. He asked to retire and care for his parents, completed mourning for his mother, and was then restored to his former post.
7
十五年，授雲貴總督。 武定會匪陷富民、祿勸，人心恟懼。 文韶斬獲叛將，三日而定。 無何，鎮邊夷亂起，檄迤南道劉春霖分道進攻，拓地三百里。 徙建廳城於猛朗，募勇屯墾。 改臨安猛丁歸流，移府經歷駐其地。 其餘寇亂及土族叛服不常，皆隨時殄滅。
In the fifteenth year he was appointed governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. Secret-society rebels in Wuding took Fumin and Luquan, throwing the populace into panic. Wenshao captured and executed the rebel leaders, and order was restored within three days. Soon afterward frontier Yi tribes rose in revolt; he ordered Yinan Circuit Intendant Liu Chunlin to advance on several routes and extended control over three hundred li of territory. He relocated the subprefectural seat to Menglang and recruited militia for garrison farming. He brought Mengding in Lin'an under regular administration and posted a prefectural assistant there. Other outbreaks and restive native groups were suppressed whenever they appeared.
8
初，英、法並緬、越後，西南緣邊防務益棘。 文韶綏靖各路土司，令自為守。 會日韓啟釁，詔入都詢方略。 既至，奉幫辦北洋之命。 鴻章赴日議和，文韶權直隸總督、北洋大臣。 和議成，實授。 時關內外主客軍四百餘營，酌留湘、淮、豫三十營，餘悉散遣，士卒帖然。 建議籌修旅大砲台，謂：「旅順舊台密於防前，疏於防後，敵自大連灣入，遂失所芘； 大連舊台，專顧防海，未及防陸，敵自金州登岸，遂不能支。 今重整海防，必彌其罅隙。」 又請加意水師、武備各學堂，以儲將才，嫺武幹，俟財力稍足，徐圖擴充。 又陳河運漕糧積弊，請蘇漕統歸海運，他若勘吉林三姓金礦、磁州煤礦，踵鴻章後次第成之，而京漢鐵路亦興築於是時矣。 又奏設北洋大學堂、鐵路學堂、育才館、俄文館，造就甚眾。
After Britain and France had absorbed Burma and Vietnam, defense along the southwestern frontier grew increasingly difficult. Wenshao pacified the native chieftains along the routes and ordered them to defend their own domains. When war broke out between Japan and Korea, he was summoned to the capital to advise on strategy. On arrival he was ordered to assist in Beiyang affairs. While Li Hongzhang went to Japan to negotiate peace, Wenshao served as acting governor-general of Zhili and Beiyang commissioner. After peace was concluded, he received the appointment in full. More than four hundred camps of regular and auxiliary troops then lay inside and outside the passes; he kept thirty Xiang, Huai, and Yu camps and discharged the rest, and the men accepted the arrangement peacefully. He proposed rebuilding the Lüda fortifications, arguing: "The old forts at Lüshun were strong facing the sea but weak to the rear; when the enemy came in through Dalian Bay, they lost their cover; the old forts at Dalian guarded only the sea and not the land; when the enemy landed from Jinzhou, they could not stand. In rebuilding coastal defenses now, we must close every gap." He also urged greater attention to the naval and military academies to cultivate commanders and martial skill, with gradual expansion once finances allowed. He also described the abuses of canal grain transport and asked that Jiangsu tribute grain be sent entirely by sea; surveys of the Three Surnames gold mines in Jilin and the Cizhou coal mines, following Li Hongzhang's lead, were carried through in turn, and the Beijing-Hankou Railway was begun in this period as well. He also founded Beiyang University, a railway school, the Talent-Nurturing Hall, and a Russian language school, training a great many students.
9
二十四年，入贊軍機，以戶部尚書協辦大學士。 二十六年，拳匪仇教，文韶力言外釁不可啟，不見納。 宮車既出，三日，始追及懷來。 自聯軍犯京，事急，兩宮召軍機，惟文韶一人入見，諭必侍行。 至是立召對，泣慰之，遂隨扈，自晉入秦，晉體仁閣大學士。 明年，改外務部會辦大臣，旋賞黃馬褂。 署全權大臣，命先還京，佐辦中俄條約。 交還東三省及關外鐵路，事寧，賞雙眼花翎。 充政務處大臣，督辦路礦總局。 轉文淵閣，晉武英殿。 三十一年，免直軍機。 明年，稱疾乞休。
In the twenty-fourth year he joined the Grand Council as Minister of Revenue and Associate Grand Secretary. In the twenty-sixth year, when the Boxers turned against Christianity, Wenshao strongly warned against provoking foreign powers, but his counsel was ignored. The court had already fled west; three days passed before he caught up at Huailai. When the allied armies threatened Beijing and the situation grew desperate, the court summoned the Grand Council but admitted only Wenshao, instructing him that he must accompany the flight. He was then summoned at once; the empresses wept as they comforted him, and he joined the flight west from Shanxi into Shaanxi, being promoted to Grand Secretary of the Tiren Hall. The following year he became co-managing minister of Foreign Affairs and was soon granted the yellow jacket. As acting plenipotentiary he was ordered back to Beijing ahead of the court to help negotiate the Sino-Russian treaty. After the three eastern provinces and the railways beyond the passes were restored and affairs settled, he received double-eyed peacock feathers. He served on the Bureau of Government Affairs and supervised the General Bureau of Railways and Mines. He moved from the Wenyuan Pavilion to Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall. In the thirty-first year he left the Grand Council. The following year he cited illness and asked to retire.
10
文韶歷官中外，詳練吏職，究識大體，然更事久，明於趨避，亦往往被口語。 三十四年，鄉舉重逢，賜太子太保。 其冬，卒，年七十九，晉贈太保，諡文勤。
Wenshao served at court and in the provinces, knew official routine thoroughly, and grasped the larger picture; yet long experience had taught him how to advance and withdraw, and he was often criticized for it. In the thirty-fourth year he celebrated the anniversary of his provincial examination and was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He died that winter at seventy-nine; the court posthumously made him Grand Tutor and gave him the posthumous title Wenqin.
11
張之洞，字香濤，直隸南皮人。 少有大略，務博覽為詞章，記誦絕人。 年十六，舉鄉試第一。 同治二年，成進士，廷對策不循常式，用一甲三名授編修。 六年，充浙江鄉試副考官，旋督湖北學政。 十二年，典試四川，就授學政。 所取士多俊才，遊其門者，皆私自喜得為學塗徑。 光緒初，擢司業，再遷洗馬。 之洞以文儒致清要，遇事敢為大言。 俄人議歸伊犁，與使俄大臣崇厚訂新約十八條。 之洞論奏其失，請斬崇厚，毀俄約。 疏上，乃褫崇厚職治罪，以侍郎曾紀澤為使俄大臣，議改約。 六年，授侍講，再遷庶子。 复論紀澤定約執成見，但論界務，不爭商務，並附陳設防、練兵之策。 疏凡七八上。 往者詞臣率雍容養望，自之洞喜言事，同時寶廷、陳寶琛、張佩綸輩崛起，糾彈時政，號為清流。 七年，由侍講學士擢閣學。 俄授山西巡撫。 當大祲後，首劾布政使葆亨、冀寧道王定安等黷貨，舉廉明吏五人，條上治晉要務，未及行，移督兩廣。
Zhang Zhidong, whose courtesy name was Xiangtao, came from Nanpi in Zhili. Even as a youth he showed great vision, read widely, cultivated literary skill, and possessed a memory few could match. At sixteen he took first place in the provincial examinations. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Tongzhi; his palace examination essay broke with convention, yet he still ranked among the top three of the first class and was appointed a Hanlin compiler. In the sixth year he served as associate examiner for the Zhejiang provincial examinations, then was appointed educational commissioner of Hubei. In the twelfth year he served as chief examiner in Sichuan and was appointed educational commissioner there on the spot. Most of those he selected were outstanding scholars, and students who passed through his school privately rejoiced that they had found a true path in learning. Early in the Guangxu reign he was promoted to vice director of studies and soon moved up to groom in the heir apparent's stud. As a literary scholar he had risen to a prestigious court post and was not afraid to speak out boldly on public affairs. When Russia proposed returning Yili, Minister to Russia Chonghou negotiated a new treaty of eighteen articles. Zhidong memorialized on its defects, demanding Chonghou's execution and the abrogation of the Russian treaty. Once the memorial reached the throne, Chonghou was dismissed and punished, and Vice Minister Zeng Jize was sent to Russia to renegotiate the treaty. In the sixth year he became an expositor and was soon promoted to tutor in the heir apparent's household. He again criticized Jize for clinging to preconceptions in the treaty talks, attending only to boundaries and not commercial rights, and appended proposals for frontier defense and military training. He submitted seven or eight such memorials in all. Court literati had long cultivated reputation in comfortable ease; once Zhidong took to remonstrance, Bao Ting, Chen Baochen, Zhang Peilun, and others rose with him to criticize policy and were known as the Pure Stream faction. In the seventh year he was promoted from Hanlin expositor to academy bachelor. He was soon appointed governor of Shanxi. After a severe famine he impeached Financial Commissioner Bao Heng, Jining Circuit Intendant Wang Ding'an, and others for corruption, recommended five upright officials, and laid out essentials for governing Shanxi; before these measures could be enacted he was transferred to the two Guang provinces.
12
八年，法越事起，建議當速遣師赴援，示以戰意，乃可居間調解。 因薦唐炯、徐延旭、張曜材任將帥。 十年春，入覲。 四月，兩廣總督張樹聲解任專治軍，遂以之洞代。 當是時，雲貴總督岑毓英、廣西巡撫潘鼎新皆出督師，尚書彭玉麟治兵廣東。 越將劉永福者，故中國人，素驍勇，與法抗。 法攻越未能下，復分兵攻台灣，其後遂據基隆。 朝議和戰久不決，之洞至，言戰事氣自倍，以玉麟夙著威望，虛己聽從之。 奏請主事唐景崧募健卒出關，與永福相犄角。 朝旨因就加永福提督、景崧五品卿銜，炯、延旭亦皆已至巡撫，當前敵，被劾得罪去，並坐舉者。 之洞獨以籌餉械勞，免議。 廣西軍既敗於越，朝旨免鼎新，以提督蘇元春統其軍，而之洞復奏遣提督馮子材、總兵王孝祺等，皆宿將，於是滇、越兩軍合扼鎮南關，殊死戰，遂克諒山。 會法提督孤拔攻閩、浙，砲毀其坐船，孤拔殪，而我軍不知，法原停戰，廷議許焉。 授李鴻章全權大臣，定約，以北圻為界。 敘克諒山功，賞花翎。
In the eighth year, when the Franco-Vietnamese conflict broke out, he urged that troops be sent at once to show a readiness to fight, arguing that only then could China mediate effectively. He recommended Tang Jiong, Xu Yanxu, and Zhang Yao as capable commanders. In the spring of the tenth year he was summoned to court. In the fourth month Governor-General Zhang Shusheng was relieved of civil duties to concentrate on the war, and Zhidong took his place. At that time Cen Yuying, governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Pan Dingxin, governor of Guangxi, were both in the field, while Minister Peng Yulin directed forces in Guangdong. The Vietnamese commander Liu Yongfu was originally Chinese, renowned for valor, and fought the French. Unable to conquer Vietnam, France sent troops against Taiwan and soon seized Keelung. The court long wavered between peace and war; Zhidong's arrival redoubled the war party's confidence, and he deferred to the long-respected Peng Yulin. He asked that Secretary Tang Jingsong recruit troops and advance beyond the frontier to coordinate with Liu Yongfu in a pincer. The court then made Liu Yongfu a provincial commander and gave Tang Jingsong fifth-rank noble rank; Tang Jiong and Xu Yanxu, already governors, were impeached after failures at the front and removed, and those who had recommended them were punished too. Zhidong alone escaped censure on the grounds of his work supplying funds and arms. After the Guangxi army's defeat in Vietnam, Pan Dingxin was removed and Provincial Commander Su Yuanchun took over; Zhidong then sent veteran commanders Feng Zicai and Wang Xiaoqi; Yunnan and Guangxi forces united at Zhennanguan, fought a desperate battle, and captured Lang Son. Meanwhile French Admiral Courbet attacked Fujian and Zhejiang; cannon fire destroyed his flagship and killed him, but Chinese forces did not know; France had already sought a truce, and the court agreed. Li Hongzhang was made plenipotentiary and concluded a treaty with Tonkin as the boundary. For the capture of Lang Son he was awarded peacock feathers.
13
之洞恥言和，則陰自圖強，設廣東水陸師學堂，創槍砲廠，開礦務局。 疏請大治水師，歲提專款購兵艦。 復立廣雅書院。 武備文事並舉。 十二年，兼署巡撫。 於兩粵邊防控制之宜，輒多更置。 著沿海險要圖說上之。 在粵六年，調補兩湖。
Ashamed of the peace settlement, Zhidong quietly pursued self-strengthening: he founded Guangdong naval and military schools, an arsenal, and a mining bureau. He memorialized for a major naval buildup and annual dedicated funds to buy warships. He also established the Guangya Academy. He pursued both military training and literary education together. In the twelfth year he also served as acting governor. He frequently reorganized frontier defenses in the two Guang provinces. He compiled an illustrated report on coastal defenses and submitted it to the court. After six years in Guangdong he was transferred to the two Hu provinces.
14
會海軍衙門奏請修京通鐵路，臺諫爭陳鐵路之害，請停辦。 翁同龢等請試修邊地，便用兵； 徐會灃請改修德州濟寧路，利漕運。 之洞議曰：「修路之利，以通土貨、厚民生為最大，徵兵、轉餉次之。 今宜自京外盧溝橋起，經河南以達湖北漢口鎮。 此幹路樞紐，中國大利所萃也。 河北路成，則三晉之轍接於井陘，關隴之驂交於洛口； 自河以南，則東引淮、吳，南通湘、蜀，萬里聲息，刻期可通。 其便利有數端：內處腹地，無慮引敵，利一； 原野廣漠，墳廬易避，利二； 廠盛站多，役夫賈客可舍舊圖新，利三； 以一路控八九省之衢，人貨輻輳，足裕餉源，利四； 近畿有事，淮、楚精兵崇朝可集，利五； 太原旺煤鐵，運行便則開採必多，利六； 海上用兵，漕運無梗，利七。 有此七利，分段分年成之。 北路責之直隸總督，南路責之湖廣總督，副以河南巡撫。」 得旨報可，遂有移楚之命。 大冶產鐵，江西萍鄉產煤，之洞乃奏開鍊鐵廠漢陽大別山下，資路用，兼設槍砲鋼藥專廠。 又以荊襄宜桑棉麻枲而饒皮革，設織布、紡紗、繅絲、制麻革諸局，佐之以堤工，通之以幣政。 由是湖北財賦稱饒，土木工作亦日興矣。
When the Naval Office proposed building the Beijing-Tongzhou railway, censors protested its dangers and demanded that work stop. Weng Tonghe and others proposed trial lines in frontier regions to facilitate troop movement; Xu Huifeng urged building the Dezhou-Jining line instead to aid the grain transport system. Zhidong argued: "The greatest benefit of railways is moving local goods and enriching the people; military transport comes second. The line should run from Lugou Bridge outside Beijing through Henan to Hankou in Hubei. This trunk line would be the pivot on which China's greatest advantages would turn. Once the Hebei section was built, Shanxi would link at Jingxing and Shaanxi and Gansu at Luokou; south of the Yellow River it would reach east to the Huai and Wu regions and south to Hunan and Sichuan, so that news and goods could cross thousands of li within fixed time. He listed seven advantages: running through the interior, it would not invite enemy invasion—first; the open countryside would make graves and dwellings easy to avoid—second; numerous workshops and stations would let laborers and merchants shift to new livelihoods—third; one line would command the routes of eight or nine provinces, concentrating people and goods to enrich revenue—fourth; if trouble arose near the capital, elite Huai and Chu troops could assemble within a day—fifth; Taiyuan's rich coal and iron would be mined far more once transport was easy—sixth; in a war at sea, Grand Canal grain transport would remain unimpeded—seventh. With these seven advantages, he proposed building the line in sections over successive years. The Zhili governor-general would oversee the northern section, the Huguang governor-general the southern, with the Henan governor assisting. The throne approved, and he received orders to transfer to Huguang. With iron from Daye and coal from Pingxiang in Jiangxi, he founded an ironworks at Hanyang beneath Mount Dabie to supply the railway, along with specialized factories for firearms, artillery, steel, and powder. Since the Jing-Xiang region was suited to mulberry, cotton, hemp, and ramie and rich in leather, he set up textile, spinning, silk-reeling, and leather works, supported them with dike projects, and tied them to monetary policy. Hubei's revenues grew abundant, and construction boomed.
15
二十一年，中東事棘，代劉坤一督兩江，至則巡閱江防，購新出後膛砲，改築西式砲台，設專將專兵領之。 募德人教練，名曰「江南自強軍」。 採東西規制，廣立武備、農工商、鐵路、方言、軍醫諸學堂。 尋還任湖北。 時國威新挫，朝士日議變法，廢時文，改試策論。 之洞言：「廢時文，非廢五經、四書也，故文體必正，命題之意必嚴。 否則國家重教之旨不顯，必致不讀經文，背道忘本，非細故也。 今宜首場試史論及本朝政法，二場試時務，三場以經義終焉。 各隨場去留而層遞取之，庶少流弊。」 又言：「武科宜罷騎射、刀石，專試火器。 欲挽重文輕武之習，必使兵皆識字，勵行伍以科舉。」 二十四年，政變作，之洞先著勸學篇以見意，得免議。
In the twenty-first year, when the Sino-Japanese crisis erupted, he replaced Liu Kunyi as governor-general of the two Jiangs; on arrival he inspected river defenses, bought new breech-loading guns, rebuilt Western-style forts, and assigned dedicated commanders and troops. He hired German instructors for a force called the "Jiangnan Self-Strengthening Army." Adopting Eastern and Western models, he founded schools for military affairs, agriculture, industry, commerce, railways, foreign languages, and military medicine. He soon returned to his post in Hubei. National prestige had just been shaken; court officials daily debated reform, abolishing the eight-legged essay and shifting examinations to policy essays. Zhidong said: "Abolishing the examination essay is not abolishing the Five Classics and Four Books; the literary form must remain correct and examination topics must be set with strict intent. Otherwise the state's emphasis on classical learning will be lost, candidates will stop reading the classics, turn from the Way, and forget their roots—this is no small matter. The first session should test historical essays and current government and law, the second current affairs, and the third classical interpretation. Candidates should pass or fail at each session in sequence, which would reduce abuses. He also urged that the military examinations drop mounted archery and strength tests and test firearms exclusively. To reverse the habit of honoring scholars and slighting soldiers, troops must be literate and the ranks encouraged through the examination system. In the twenty-fourth year, when the political coup occurred, Zhidong had already published his Exhortation to Learning to state his position and escaped punishment.
16
二十六年，京師拳亂，時坤一督兩江，鴻章督兩廣，袁世凱撫山東，要請之洞，同與外國領事定保護東南之約。 及聯軍內犯，兩宮西幸，而東南幸無事。 明年，和議成，兩宮回鑾。 論功，加太子少保。 以兵事粗定，乃與坤一合上變法三疏。 其論中國積弱不振之故，宜變通者十二事，宜採西法者十一事。 於是停捐納，去書吏，考差役，卹刑獄，籌八旗生計，裁屯衛，汰綠營，定礦律、商律、路律、交涉律，行銀圓，取印花稅，擴郵政。 其尤要者，則設學堂，停科舉，獎遊學。 皆次第行焉。
In the twenty-sixth year, when the Boxer uprising convulsed Beijing, Kunyi governed the two Jiangs, Li Hongzhang the two Guang, and Yuan Shikai Shandong; they urgently asked Zhidong to join foreign consuls in the agreement to protect the southeast. When the allied armies advanced inland and the court fled west, the southeast fortunately remained at peace. The following year peace was concluded and the court returned to Beijing. For his services he was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Once military affairs had settled somewhat, he and Liu Kunyi jointly submitted three reform memorials. They analyzed why China had remained weak, listing twelve areas for institutional change and eleven Western practices to adopt. Purchase of office was halted, clerks removed, runners examined, prisons reformed, Eight Banner livelihood addressed, military colonies cut, Green Standard troops reduced, mining, commercial, railway, and foreign-relations laws drafted, silver dollars introduced, stamp duties levied, and the postal service expanded. Most important were establishing schools, ending the civil examinations, and rewarding study abroad. These measures were enacted in turn.
17
二十八年，充督辦商務大臣，再署兩江總督。 有道員私獻商人金二十萬為壽，請開礦海州，立劾罷之。 考鹽法利弊，設兵輪緝私，歲有贏課。 明年，入覲，充經濟特科閱卷大臣，釐定大學堂章程，畢，仍命還任。 陛辭奏對，請化除滿、漢畛域，以彰聖德，遏亂萌，上為動容。 旋裁巡撫，以之洞兼之。 三十二年，晉協辦大學士。 未幾，內召，擢體仁閣大學士，授軍機大臣，兼筦學部。 三十四年，督辦粵漢鐵路。
In the twenty-eighth year he became supervising minister of commerce and again served as acting governor-general of the two Jiangs. When a circuit intendant privately accepted two hundred thousand taels from a merchant as a birthday gift in exchange for mining rights at Haizhou, Zhidong impeached and dismissed him at once. He reviewed the salt monopoly, deployed armed steamers against smuggling, and produced annual surpluses. The following year he went to court, served as chief examiner for the special economic examination, finalized university regulations, and was then ordered back to his post. At his farewell audience he urged breaking down Manchu-Han barriers to manifest imperial virtue and forestall disorder; the emperor was deeply moved. The governorship was soon abolished and Zhidong held it concurrently. In the thirty-second year he was promoted to Associate Grand Secretary. He was soon recalled to the capital, made Grand Secretary of the Tiren Hall, appointed to the Grand Council, and put in charge of the Ministry of Education. In the thirty-fourth year he supervised construction of the Canton-Hankou Railway.
18
德宗暨慈禧皇太后相繼崩，醇親王載灃監國攝政。 之洞以顧命重臣晉太子太保。 逾年，親貴浸用事，通私謁。 議立海軍，之洞言海軍費絀可緩立，爭之不得。 移疾，遂卒，年七十三，朝野震悼。 贈太保，諡文襄。
Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi died in succession, and Prince Chun Zai Feng became regent. As a deathbed entrusted minister, Zhidong was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Within a year imperial princes increasingly wielded power and accepted private audiences. When a new navy was proposed, Zhidong argued that funds were insufficient and the project could wait, but he could not prevail. He reported illness and died at seventy-three; court and country mourned deeply. He was posthumously made Grand Tutor and given the posthumous title Wenxiang.
19
之洞短身巨髯，風儀峻整。 蒞官所至，必有興作。 務宏大，不問費多寡。 愛才好客，名流文士爭趨之。 任疆寄數十年，及卒，家不增一畝雲。
Zhidong was short and heavily bearded, with a stern and dignified bearing. Wherever he served, he launched new projects. He thought on a grand scale and paid little heed to cost. He loved talent and entertained guests generously; leading scholars flocked to him. Though he held provincial power for decades, it is said that when he died his family had not gained a single extra mu of land.
20
瞿鴻禨，字子玖，湖南善化人。 同治十年進士，授編修。 光緒元年，大考一等，擢侍講學士。 久乃遷詹事，晉內閣學士。 先後典福建、廣西鄉試，督河南、浙江、四川學政。 所行皆本功令，律下尤嚴。
Qu Hongji, whose courtesy name was Zijiu, came from Shanhua in Hunan. He passed the jinshi examination in the tenth year of Tongzhi and was appointed a Hanlin compiler. In the first year of Guangxu he ranked first class in the palace examination and was promoted to attendant academician. Only after a long interval was he made tutor to the heir apparent and then inner court academician. He presided over the provincial examinations in Fujian and Guangxi in turn and served as educational commissioner in Henan, Zhejiang, and Sichuan. His administration strictly followed official regulations, and discipline under him was especially severe.
21
朝鮮戰事起，我師出平壤。 鴻禨上四路進兵之策，請兼募沿海漁人蜑戶編為舟師，使敵備多力分，庶可制勝。 及和議成，鴻禨方自蜀還，復奏言秦中地形險要，請豫建陪都。 日本增兵遼東，鴻禨以敵情叵測，請敕劉坤一、王文韶簡練勁旅，不可專任淮軍。 適坤一奏劾山西將賀星明侵餉，革職，鴻禨言：「刑賞治天下之大柄，軍紀廢弛已久，宜嚴懲以儆其餘。」 又：「葉志超、龔照嶼等敗軍辱國，罪當死。 和約既定，勢不能與勾，宜籍其財產，或令巨款捐贖，然後貸其一死。」 皆不報。 旋遷禮部侍郎，出督江蘇學政。 請罷武科。
When war broke out in Korea, Chinese forces advanced on Pyongyang. Hongji proposed a four-route advance and urged recruiting coastal fishermen and Tanka boat people into a naval force, arguing that dividing the enemy's attention would make victory possible. After peace was concluded, Hongji had just returned from Sichuan and memorialized that the Qin region's terrain was strategically vital, urging the court to establish a secondary capital in advance. When Japan reinforced its troops in Liaodong, Hongji, finding the enemy's intentions unpredictable, urged that Liu Kunyi and Wang Wenshao train crack forces and that the court not rely solely on the Huai army. Just then Liu Kunyi impeached Shanxi General He Xingming for embezzling pay and had him dismissed; Hongji argued: "Reward and punishment are the great levers of government; military discipline has long been lax, and stern punishment is needed to warn others. He also wrote: "Ye Zhichao, Gong Zhaoyu, and others shamed the nation in defeat and deserve death. With the treaty already signed they cannot be executed in the usual way; their property should be confiscated, or they should pay a huge ransom, and only then be spared. None of these proposals was adopted. He was soon made vice minister of Rites and appointed educational commissioner of Jiangsu. He petitioned to abolish the military examinations.
22
兩宮西狩，鴻禨差竣詣行在，道授左都御使，晉工部尚書，仍以西安陪都為言。 既至，命直軍機，兼充政務處大臣。 請以策論試士，開經濟特科，汰書吏，悉允行。 改總理各國事務衙門為外務部，班六部上，以鴻禨為尚書。 時方與各國議和，鴻禨治事明敏，諳究外交，承旨擬諭，語中竅要，頗當上意焉。 扈蹕回鑾，賞黃馬褂，加太子太保。
When the court fled west, Hongji finished his assignment and hurried to the traveling court; en route he was made Left Censor-in-Chief and Minister of Works, again urging Xi'an as a secondary capital. On arrival he joined the Grand Council and also served on the Bureau of Government Affairs. He proposed policy-essay examinations, a special economic examination, and reduction of clerks; all were approved. The Zongli Yamen was reorganized as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ranked above the Six Ministries, with Hongji as its minister. While peace was being negotiated with the powers, Hongji handled affairs with sharp efficiency, knew foreign affairs thoroughly, drafted edicts that hit the essential points, and greatly pleased the throne. On the court's return to Beijing he received the yellow jacket and was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
23
自新政議起，興學、通商、勸工諸政，有司多藉端巧取。 鴻禨請降旨禁革苛派，任民間自辦。 又請旨以戶部正雜諸款供地方正用，宮中歲費，遵先朝定例，量入為出，不便自戶部增撥。 裁汰內務府冗員，用節糜費。 充中日議約全權大臣。 是時中外咸以立憲為請，朝廷下詔豫備憲政始基，勗天下以忠君尊孔、尚公尚武尚實，用鴻禨言也。 三十二年，協辦大學士。 特旨派議改官制大臣，鴻禨以樞廷事冗辭。 旋命與大學士孫家鼐复核，頗有裁正焉。
Once the new policies were debated, local officials often used school, commerce, and industry programs as pretexts for extortion. Hongji asked for an edict forbidding harsh levies and allowing local initiatives. He also urged that regular and miscellaneous revenue fund local needs, that palace expenses follow former precedents and live within means, and that the Ministry of Revenue not be asked for extra allocations. He cut redundant staff in the Imperial Household Department to curb waste. He served as plenipotentiary in the Sino-Japanese treaty negotiations. When court and country alike called for constitutional government, the throne issued an edict laying the groundwork for constitutional reform, exhorting loyalty to the ruler, reverence for Confucius, and esteem for public spirit, martial virtue, and practical learning—language drawn from Hongji's proposals. In the thirty-second year he was made Associate Grand Secretary. By special edict he was appointed to deliberate on bureaucratic reform, but Hongji declined, citing the press of Grand Council business. He was soon ordered to review the proposals with Grand Secretary Sun Jianai and made many corrections.
24
鴻禨持躬清刻，以儒臣驟登政地，銳於任事。 素善岑春煊，春煊入朝，留長郵傳部。 密疏劾慶親王奕劻，奕劻惡春煊，遂及鴻禨。 會鴻禨因直言忤太后旨，侍講學士惲毓鼎劾以攬權恣縱，遂罷斥歸里。 辛亥，湘變起，流寓上海，旋卒。 後追諡文慎。
Hongji lived with austere integrity; as a scholar suddenly thrust into high office, he was eager to act. He had long been close to Cen Chunxuan, who on entering court was kept on to head the Ministry of Posts and Communications. In a secret memorial he impeached Prince Qing Yikuang; Yikuang hated Cen Chunxuan, and Hongji was drawn into the feud. When Hongji's blunt remonstrance offended the empress dowager, Attendant Academician Yun Yuding impeached him for arrogating power, and he was dismissed and sent home. In 1911, when rebellion broke out in Hunan, he took refuge in Shanghai and soon died. He was later given the posthumous title Wenshen.
25
論曰：德宗親政，憤於外侮，思變法自強。 乃以輔導無人，戊戌黨禍，庚子匪亂，遂相繼而作。 太后再出垂簾，初堅復舊，繼勉圖新。 宣統改元，議行憲政。 政體既變，國本遂搖，而大勢不可問矣。 榮祿屢參大變，文韶久達世務。 鴻禨後起，參議立憲，終以失寵太后，不免放斥。 唯之洞一時稱賢，而監國攝政，親貴用事，欲挽救而未能，遂以憂死。 人之雲亡，邦國殄瘁，尚何言哉？
The historians comment: When Emperor Guangxu took personal rule, angry at foreign encroachment, he sought reform and self-strengthening. But lacking able counselors, the disaster of 1898 and the Boxer uprising of 1900 followed in turn. When the empress dowager resumed regency, she first insisted on restoring the old order, then pressed on toward reform. Under the Xuantong reign, constitutional government was debated and undertaken. Once the political system changed, the foundations of the state shook, and the larger course of events was beyond remedy. Rong Lu took part repeatedly in great crises; Wenshao had long mastered affairs of state. Hongji rose later and helped debate constitutional government, but ultimately lost the empress dowager's favor and was cast out. Only Zhang Zhidong was for a time hailed as a worthy minister; yet under the regency, imperial princes held power, and though he tried to save the situation he could not, and died in distress. When worthy men pass like clouds, the state is laid waste—what more is there to say?