Volume 438 Biographies 225: Yan Jingming, Zhang Zhiwan, Lu Chuan Lin, Lin Shaonian

列傳二百二十五

Biographies 225

閻敬銘張之萬鹿傳霖林紹年

Yan Jingming, Zhang Zhiwan, Lu Chuanlin, and Lin Shaonian

閻敬銘，字丹初，陝西朝邑人。道光二十五年進士，選庶吉士，散館改戶部主事。咸豐九年，湖北巡撫胡林翼奏調赴鄂，總司糧台營務。累遷郎中，擢四品京堂。林翼請病，复疏薦敬銘才，授湖北按察使。同治元年，嚴樹森繼為巡撫，亦推敬銘湖北賢能第一，署布政使。以丁本生父憂歸，命治喪畢赴軍，未行，詔署山東鹽運使，擢署巡撫，疏乞終制，不許。時山東教匪入新泰，捻、幅各匪犯鄒、曲阜，降眾竄陽穀、聊城。敬銘既受任，檄總兵保德等進剿，而自督軍規淄川，克之。已革參將宋景詩引降眾屯東昌，复叛，飭按察使丁寶楨討之。景詩竄莘，敬銘檄軍防運河，令之曰：「使一匪潛渡者，殺無赦！」而自移軍博平。已而保德、寶楨連敗賊唐邑馬橋，克王家海，別軍克甘官屯，賊遁開州。事平，再請終制，仍不許。三年，服除，實授。

Yan Jingming, whose style was Danchu, was a native of Chaoyi in Shaanxi. In the twenty-fifth year of the Daoguang reign he passed the jinshi examination, was selected as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and upon completing his academy term was assigned as a principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. In the ninth year of Xianfeng, Hubei governor Hu Linyi memorialized to have him transferred to Hubei to take charge of grain supplies and camp affairs. He rose step by step to bureau director and was then promoted to a fourth-rank post at the capital. When Hu Linyi fell ill and requested leave, he again memorialized recommending Jingming's ability, and Jingming was appointed provincial judicial commissioner of Hubei. In the first year of Tongzhi, Yan Shusen succeeded him as governor and likewise ranked Jingming first among Hubei's able men, appointing him acting provincial treasurer. He returned home to observe mourning for his biological father and was ordered to join the army once the funeral rites were finished; before he could depart, an edict appointed him acting Shandong salt transport commissioner and then acting governor. He memorialized begging to complete his mourning obligations, but permission was refused. At that time Shandong religious rebels entered Xintai, Nian and various banner bandits attacked Zou and Qufu, and surrendered groups scattered into Yanggu and Liaocheng. Once Jingming had taken up his post, he ordered Brigade General Baode and others to advance in suppression while he personally directed the army against Zichuan and captured the city. The dismissed deputy general Song Jingshi had led surrendered troops to encamp at Dongchang and rebelled again; Jingming ordered provincial judicial commissioner Ding Baozhen to suppress him. Jingshi fled to Shen. Jingming ordered troops to guard the Grand Canal and instructed them: "If even a single bandit slips across in secret, execute without mercy!" He then moved his own forces to Boxing. Before long Baode and Baozhen defeated the rebels in succession at Tangyi and Maqiao, captured Wangjiahai, another column took Gangguantun, and the rebels fled toward Kaizhou. When the disturbances were pacified, he again asked to complete his mourning period, but was still refused. In the third year, when his mourning period ended, he received formal appointment to the post.

奏言抽調綠營兵練騎隊，朝旨允行，令即遣散募勇。敬銘言：「東省變故頻仍，亂甫定，降眾未必革心。綠營廢弛已久，驟裁勇易啟戎心。臣不敢為節嗇帑項浮詞遺後患。」又言：「兵之能強，端恃將領。將領之材，亦資汲引。如胡林翼、曾國籓、左宗棠倡率鄉里，楚將之名遂著。前者僧格林沁奏稱不宜專用南勇，啟輕視朝廷之漸。老成謀國，瞻言百里。自古名將，北人為多。臣北人也，恥不知兵。以在軍久，見諸軍之成敗利鈍，必求其所以然之故。深知不求將而言兵，有兵與無兵等。今北方雖所在募勇，皆烏合耳。為將者貪婪欺飾，不知尊君親上為何事，使握兵符，民變兵譁，後患滋大。故欲強兵必先儲將。北人之智勇兼備者，推多隆阿。請飭多隆阿募北方將士，教之戰陣，擇其忠勇者，補授提、鎮、參、遊，俾綠營均成勁旅，何必更募勇丁？」時捻患熾，台臣議行團練。敬銘言：「斂鄉里之財以為餉，集耕種之民以為兵，於事有害無益，不如力行堅壁清野之法。」事遂寢。

He memorialized proposing to transfer Green Standard troops to train cavalry detachments. The court approved and ordered the immediate disbandment of recruited braves. Jingming said: "Shandong has suffered repeated upheavals. The rebellion has only just been suppressed, and the surrendered masses may not yet have truly changed their hearts. The Green Standard forces have long been neglected, and to dismiss the braves abruptly would easily provoke mutiny. Your servant dares not offer empty talk of saving treasury funds that would leave troubles for later." He also said: "An army's strength depends entirely on its commanders. Commanders' talent likewise depends on being cultivated and promoted. Men such as Hu Linyi, Zeng Guofan, and Zuo Zongtang rallied their home districts, and the renown of Chu generals thus became famous. Earlier Senggelinqin had memorialized that one should not rely exclusively on southern braves, lest this foster a gradual tendency to look down on the court. Such seasoned statesmanship looks a hundred li ahead. Since antiquity, famous generals have been mostly northerners. Your servant is himself a northerner and is ashamed not to understand military affairs. Having long served with the army, he had witnessed the successes and failures of various forces and always sought the underlying reasons. He understood deeply that to discuss armies without first securing generals is tantamount to having troops or having none at all. Although braves are now recruited everywhere in the north, they are mere rabble. Generals are greedy and deceitful, ignorant of what it means to honor the sovereign and serve superiors. If such men hold military authority, popular uprisings and army mutinies will follow, and later troubles will only grow worse. Therefore, to strengthen the army one must first build up a corps of generals. Among northerners who combine wisdom and courage, Duolong'a stands foremost. He asked that Duolong'a be ordered to recruit northern officers and soldiers, train them in battle formations, select the loyal and brave among them, and appoint them as provincial commanders, regional commanders, deputy generals, and assistant commanders, so that the Green Standard forces would all become crack troops—why recruit more braves?" At that time the Nian rebellion was raging fiercely, and censorial officials proposed instituting local militia training. Jingming said: "To levy village wealth for pay and gather farming folk as soldiers is harmful rather than helpful. It would be better to carry out vigorously the policy of strengthening walls and clearing the countryside." The proposal was then dropped.

四年，僧格林沁戰歿曹州，賊勢張，益趨張秋南，將犯省城。敬銘督師東昌，還軍御之，增設砲劃防河，賊折而東。移軍兗州，賊竄豐、沛。乃檄總兵楊飛熊間道趨滕，防賊還竄。賊果入湖濱，以飛熊扼運河，不得逞，竄徐州。明年，賊入鉅野，游擊王心安失利。敬銘方臥疾，強起視師東平。兗沂曹濟道文彬督團勇擊賊，賊引去。敬銘赴濟寧，會曾國籓商定分扼黃、運之議。賊復大股趨鉅野、金鄉，分擾運西。遣知府王成謙等要擊，而自督軍巡河，露宿四晝夜，賊連敗，始西遁。有張積中者，結寨肥城黃崖，集眾自保，以不受撫，夷之。六年，移疾歸，居久之，以工部侍郎召，不起。

In the fourth year Senggelinqin was killed in battle at Caozhou. Rebel strength surged and they pressed increasingly south of Zhangqiu, threatening the provincial capital. Jingming directed operations at Dongchang, brought his army back to resist them, added batteries to defend the river, and the rebels turned eastward. He shifted his army to Yanzhou while the rebels scattered into Feng and Pei. He then ordered Brigade General Yang Feixiong to take a detour and hurry to Tengzhou to block any rebel attempt to double back. The rebels did enter the lake district, but Feixiong held the Grand Canal and they could not break through, fleeing instead to Xuzhou. The following year the rebels entered Juye, and guerrilla commander Wang Xin'an was defeated. Jingming was then ill in bed but forced himself up to take command at Dongping. Circuit intendant Wen Bin of the Yan-Yi-Cao-Ji circuit led militia against the rebels, and the rebels withdrew. Jingming went to Jining and met with Zeng Guofan to work out a plan for dividing control along the Yellow River and Grand Canal. The rebels again advanced in force toward Juye and Jinxiang and sent detachments to raid west of the canal. He sent Prefect Wang Chengqian and others to intercept them while he personally patrolled the river with his army, sleeping in the open for four days and nights. The rebels were defeated repeatedly and at last fled westward. A man named Zhang Jizhong had fortified a stockade at Huangya in Feicheng and gathered followers for self-defense. Because he refused to submit to pacification, Jingming destroyed him and his followers. In the sixth year he reported illness and retired home. After a long residence there he was summoned as vice minister of the Ministry of Works but declined to serve.

光緒三年，山西大饑，奉命察視賑務。奏劾侵帑知州段鼎耀，置之法。請裁減山、陝諸省差徭，並追彈尚書恩承、童華前奉使四川過境擾累狀，均下吏議。八年，起戶部尚書，甫視事，以廣東布政使姚覲元、荊宜施道董俊漢賄結前任司員骫法，咸劾罷之。兼署兵部。疏陳興辦新疆屯田。明年，充軍機大臣、總理衙門行走，晉協辦大學士。十一年，授東閣大學士，仍筦戶部，賜黃馬褂。自陳衰老，辭軍機大臣。時上意將修圓明園，而敬銘論治以節用為本，會廷議錢法，失太后旨，因革職留任。十三年，復職，遂乞休，章四上，乃得請。十八年，卒，贈太子少保，諡文介。

In the third year of Guangxu, Shanxi suffered a great famine, and he was ordered to inspect relief work. He memorialized impeaching Prefect Duan Dingyao for embezzling relief funds, and Duan was punished according to law. He requested cuts in corvée levies in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and other provinces, and also pursued charges against Ministers En Cheng and Tong Hua for the burdens their earlier missions to Sichuan had imposed on districts along the route. All cases were referred for official review. In the eighth year he was recalled as minister of the Ministry of Revenue. As soon as he took office, he impeached and dismissed Guangdong provincial treasurer Yao Jingyuan and Jing-Yi-Shi circuit intendant Dong Junhan, who had bribed former ministry clerks to bend the law. He also served concurrently as acting minister of War. He memorialized on establishing military colonies in Xinjiang. The following year he was appointed Grand Councilor and commissioner of the Zongli Yamen and was promoted to associate grand secretary. In the eleventh year he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion while continuing to head the Ministry of Revenue, and was granted a yellow riding jacket. He reported that he was aging and resigned from the Grand Council. At the time the court intended to restore the Old Summer Palace, while Jingming's governing principle was frugality. When deliberations on currency reform offended the Empress Dowager, he was stripped of rank but kept in his post. In the thirteenth year his rank was restored. He then requested retirement, submitted four memorials, and only then received permission. In the eighteenth year he died. He was posthumously granted the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Wenjie.

敬銘質樸，以潔廉自矯厲，雖貴，望之若老儒。善理財，在鄂治軍需，足食足兵，佐平大難。及長戶部，精校財賦，立科條，令出期必行。初直樞廷，太后頗信仗之，終以戇直早退雲。

Jingming was plain and unassuming, holding himself to strict standards of integrity. Though he rose to high rank, in appearance he still looked like an elderly Confucian scholar. He was skilled at managing finances. In Hubei he handled military supplies, ensuring adequate provisions and troops and helping to suppress the great rebellion. When he headed the Ministry of Revenue, he carefully audited revenues and expenditures, established regulations, and saw that every order issued was carried out on schedule. When he first entered the Grand Council the Empress Dowager trusted him greatly, but in the end his blunt integrity led him to retire early.

張之萬，字子青，直隸南皮人。道光二十七年，以一甲一名進士授修撰。咸豐二年，出督河南學政。粵賊破歸德，近偪開封，之萬條上防剿事宜，多允行。俄，召還，授鍾郡王讀。由侍讀累遷內閣學士。同治元年，擢禮部侍郎，兼署工部。嘗被詔偕太常寺卿許彭壽等匯輯前代帝王及垂簾事蹟可法戒者上之，錫名治平寶鑑。會河南州縣以苛派擅殺為御史劉毓楠奏劾，命之萬往按，得實，巡撫鄭元善以下降黜有差，即以之萬署巡撫事。疏陳軍興財匱，請仿湖北變通漕折，言：「汴漕一石舊折銀四兩，今請令州縣留辦公費七錢，實解司庫三兩三錢，以二兩購米實倉，餘一兩充汴餉，其三錢為通省公費。」允行。

Zhang Zhiwan, whose style was Ziqing, was a native of Nanpi in Zhili. In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang he passed the jinshi examination as top graduate of the first class and was appointed Hanlin compiler. In the second year of Xianfeng he was appointed educational commissioner of Henan. Cantonese rebels captured Guide and threatened Kaifeng. Zhiwan submitted detailed proposals on defense and suppression, most of which were approved. Before long he was recalled and appointed tutor to Prince Zhong. From reader-in-waiting he rose step by step to Grand Secretariat academician. In the first year of Tongzhi he was promoted to vice minister of Rites and served concurrently as acting minister of Works. He was once ordered by imperial edict, together with Court of Imperial Sacrifices director Xu Pengshou and others, to compile precedents from former dynasties concerning emperors and regencies that could serve as models or warnings. The work was presented to the throne and granted the title Precious Mirror of Good Governance. When Henan prefectures and districts were impeached by Censor Liu Yunan for harsh levies and unauthorized executions, Zhiwan was ordered to investigate. He found the charges substantiated, and Governor Zheng Yuanshan and subordinates were demoted or dismissed in varying degrees. Zhiwan was then appointed acting governor. He memorialized that military campaigns had exhausted finances and requested adapting Hubei's flexible grain transport conversion, saying: "Bian grain transport formerly converted one shi of grain to four taels of silver. I now propose that prefectures and districts retain seven qian for office expenses, remit three taels three qian to the provincial treasury, use two taels to purchase grain for granaries, devote one tael to Bian army pay, and assign three qian to province-wide public expenses." The proposal was approved.

捻酋陳大喜犯南陽，之萬親赴汝州督師。大喜竄阜陽，勾結皖捻，一由岳城趨楊莊偪雷堰，一入張岡，總兵張曜馳擊破之。團練大臣毛昶熙諸軍相繼至，連戰皆捷，斬逆酋張鳳舞，汝南肅清。之萬駐軍許州，既分遣諸將設防，自引軍還省；而亳捻乘虛襲許，陷兩寨，坐降二級留任。西捻張總愚竄鄧州，藍大順走西坪，謀與合。張曜既敗總愚重陽店，乘勝襲西坪，大順亦敗走。之萬復進汝州。三年，移屯南陽，賊犯開封，還軍擊走之。四年，遷河道總督。僧格林沁戰歿曹州，督兵大臣皆獲咎。之萬亦革職留任，以助防省城功，給二品頂戴。五年，移督漕運。捻入徐州，之萬以里下河為財賦所出，嚴防清、淮及六塘河諸要地。六年，淮軍獲賴文光於揚州，東捻平。捷聞，賜之萬花翎、頭品頂戴。七年，會剿西捻，總愚溺死，東南大定。之萬疏陳江北善後事宜。九年，調江蘇巡撫。遷浙閩總督，以母老乞養歸。

Nian chieftain Chen Daxi attacked Nanyang, and Zhiwan personally went to Ruzhou to direct operations. Daxi fled to Fuyang and joined forces with Anhui Nian rebels. One column advanced from Yuecheng toward Yangzhuang threatening Leiyan, while another entered Zhanggang. Brigade General Zhang Yao rushed to attack and defeated them. Militia commissioner Mao Changxi and various armies arrived in succession. They won successive victories, beheaded rebel chieftain Zhang Fengwu, and pacified Runan. Zhiwan stationed his army at Xuchang. After dispatching generals to set up defenses, he led his own forces back to the provincial capital; but Bozhou Nian rebels seized the opportunity to raid Xuchang, captured two stockades, and he was demoted two ranks while retained in office. Western Nian leader Zhang Zongyu fled to Dengzhou while Lan Dashun moved toward Xiping, planning to join forces with him. Zhang Yao had already defeated Zongyu at Chongyangdian and, pressing his advantage, attacked Xiping. Dashun was also defeated and fled. Zhiwan again advanced to Ruzhou. In the third year he shifted his encampment to Nanyang. When rebels attacked Kaifeng, he brought his army back and drove them off. In the fourth year he was transferred to director-general of waterways. When Senggelinqin was killed in battle at Caozhou, the grand coordinators of troops were all held accountable. Zhiwan was also stripped of rank but kept in his post. For his merit in helping defend the provincial capital he was granted a second-rank official's hat button. In the fifth year he was transferred to grain transport commissioner. When Nian rebels entered Xuzhou, Zhiwan, knowing that the Li-Xia-He region was the source of the empire's revenue, strictly defended key points along the Qing and Huai rivers and the Liutang River. In the sixth year the Huai Army captured Lai Wenguang at Yangzhou, and the eastern Nian rebellion was suppressed. On report of the victory he was granted a peacock feather and a first-rank official's hat button. In the seventh year, in joint operations against the western Nian, Zongyu drowned and the southeast was largely pacified. Zhiwan memorialized on post-pacification affairs in the Jiangbei region. In the ninth year he was transferred to governor of Jiangsu. He was transferred to governor-general of Zhejiang and Fujian but begged leave to return home and care for his aged mother.

光緒八年，起兵部尚書，調刑部。十年，入軍機，兼署吏部，充上書房總師傅、協辦大學士。十五年，授體仁閣大學士，轉東閣。賜雙眼花翎、紫韁。二十年，免直軍機。

In the eighth year of Guangxu he was recalled as minister of War and transferred to the Ministry of Punishments. In the tenth year he entered the Grand Council, served concurrently as acting minister of Personnel, and was appointed chief tutor of the Upper Study and associate grand secretary. In the fifteenth year of his reign he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Tiren Pavilion and then transferred to the Eastern Pavilion. He was granted the double-eyed peacock feather and purple reins. In the twentieth year he was relieved of his duties at the Grand Council.

之萬入直凡十年，領樞密者為禮親王世鐸，治尚安靜，故得無事。及日韓事棘，之萬乃先罷退。又二年，以病致仕。卒，年八十七，贈太傅，諡文達。

Zhiwan had served on the Grand Council for ten years in all. State secrets were headed by Prince Li Shishuo, whose governance favored quietude, and thus affairs passed without incident. When the Japan-Korea crisis grew acute, Zhiwan was the first to resign and withdraw. Two years later he retired on account of illness. He died at the age of eighty-seven, was posthumously granted the title Grand Tutor, and was given the posthumous name Wendá.

鹿傳霖，字滋軒，直隸定興人。父丕宗，官都勻知府，死寇難，諡壯節，傳霖其第五子也。當丕宗守都勻時，叛苗麕聚城下，傳霖方率健卒迎餉，聞警，馳還助城守，相持十閱月，援絕城陷。傳霖投總督告父死狀，大兵攻复都勻，奉父母遺骸歸葬，時年甫二十，由是知名。以舉人從欽差大臣勝保徵捻，授同知。同治元年，成進士，選庶吉士，散館改廣西知縣。以督剿柳、雒土匪功，賜孔雀翎，擢桂林知府。光緒四年，調廉州。時李揚才將叛擾越南，急捕之，立散其黨。旋升惠潮嘉道。擢福建按察使，調四川，遷布政使。九年，授河南巡撫，清釐州縣納糧積弊，歲增三十餘萬。十一年，調陝西，引疾歸。十五年，再出撫陝。值黃河西囓，將與洛通。傳霖增築石壩三十餘座，得無患。中日構釁，遣兵入衛，命兼攝西安將軍。二十一年，擢四川總督。蜀故多盜，特立一軍捕治之。夔、萬大饑，發上游積穀，又採湖北糧米平糶。

Lu Chuanlin, whose style was Zixuan, was a native of Dingxing in Zhili. His father Pizong had served as prefect of Duyun and died in the turmoil of bandit raids, receiving the posthumous title Zhuangjie. Chuanlin was his fifth son. While Pizong was defending Duyun, rebellious Miao gathered beneath the walls. Chuanlin was then leading picked troops to meet a supply convoy; hearing the alarm, he galloped back to help hold the city. The siege lasted ten months until supplies were cut off and the city fell. Chuanlin went to the governor-general to report his father's death. When the main force recaptured Duyun, he brought his parents' remains home for burial. He was then only twenty years old, and from this he first won renown. As a provincial graduate he followed the imperial commissioner Sheng Bao in the campaign against the Nian rebels and was appointed subprefect. In the first year of Tongzhi he passed the jinshi examination, was selected as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, and upon completing his academy term was assigned as a county magistrate in Guangxi. For his merit in supervising the suppression of bandits in Liu and Luo, he was granted the peacock feather and promoted to prefect of Guilin. In the fourth year of Guangxu he was transferred to Lianzhou. At that time Li Yangcai was on the verge of rebellion and intended to stir trouble in Vietnam. Chuanlin seized him at once and immediately broke up his faction. He was soon promoted to intendant of the Huichao-Jia Circuit. He was promoted to provincial judicial commissioner of Fujian, transferred to Sichuan, and then advanced to provincial treasurer. In the ninth year he was appointed governor of Henan. He cleared longstanding abuses in tax collection at the prefectural and county levels, increasing annual receipts by more than three hundred thousand taels. In the eleventh year he was transferred to Shaanxi, but cited illness and returned home. In the fifteenth year he returned to office as governor of Shaanxi. At that time the Yellow River was eroding westward and threatened to link up with the Luo River. Chuanlin had more than thirty stone dams built, and the danger was averted. When hostilities broke out between China and Japan, he dispatched troops to serve as an escort guard and was ordered concurrently to act as general at Xi'an. In the twenty-first year he was promoted to governor-general of Sichuan. Sichuan had long been rife with bandits, so he established a dedicated force to hunt them down and restore order. Kuizhou and Wanzhou suffered severe famine. He released stored grain from upriver and also brought in grain and rice from Hubei for sale at fair prices.

是時英、俄交窺西藏，藏番恃俄援，梗英畫界。英嗾廓爾喀與藏構兵，而瞻對土民苦藏官苛虐，思內附。傳霖以瞻對為蜀門戶，瞻不化服，無以威藏番；藏番不聽命，則界無時定。而英之忌俄者益急圖藏，藏亡瞻必隨亡，行且及於蜀。會硃窩、章谷土司爭襲事起，傳霖檄知府羅以禮、知縣穆秉文往諭，以提督周萬順統防邊各軍進駐打箭爐。瞻酋仔仲則忠札霸以兵侵章谷，抗我軍。傳霖乘機進發，迭克諸要害。各土司讋服，率兵聽調。渡雅龍江抵瞻巢，斬馘過當，盡收三瞻地，乃請歸流改漢，條陳善後之策，疏十數上。會成都將軍恭壽、駐藏辦事大臣文海交章言其不便，達賴复疏訴於朝，廷議中變，傳霖解職去。

At that time Britain and Russia were both casting covetous eyes on Tibet. Tibetan tribes relied on Russian support and obstructed British efforts to demarcate the border. Britain incited the Gurkhas to war with Tibet, while the people of Dromo, ground down by harsh treatment from Tibetan officials, wished to submit to the Qing. Chuanlin regarded Dromo as the gateway to Sichuan. Unless Dromo were brought to submission, there was no way to overawe the Tibetan tribes; and unless the Tibetan tribes obeyed orders, the frontier could never be settled. Meanwhile Britain, ever more anxious over Russia, was pressing its designs on Tibet. If Tibet fell, Dromo would surely fall with it, and the danger would soon reach Sichuan itself. Just then a succession dispute broke out among the Zhuwo and Zhanggu native chiefs. Chuanlin dispatched orders to Prefect Luo Yili and Magistrate Mu Bingwen to go and instruct them, while Metropolitan Commander Zhou Wanshun led the border defense armies forward to station at Dajianlu. The Dromo chieftain Zai Zhong Zezhong Zhaba invaded Zhanggu with his forces and resisted the Qing army. Chuanlin seized the opportunity to advance and captured one strategic point after another. The native chiefs submitted in awe and led their troops to obey his command. He crossed the Yalong River to the Dromo stronghold, executed many captives, and fully recovered the three Dromo districts. He then memorialized to replace native chieftain rule with regular administration, laid out plans for pacification and recovery, and submitted more than a dozen memorials. Meanwhile the Chengdu general Gong Shou and the Tibet resident commissioner Wen Hai jointly memorialized that the plan was ill-advised. The Dalai Lama again appealed to the throne, court deliberation shifted midway, and Chuanlin was relieved of his post and withdrew.

二十四年，召授廣東巡撫，旋移江蘇，攝兩江總督。二十六年，拳匪亂作，傳霖募三營入衛，奔及乘輿於大同。至太原，授兩廣總督。旋命入直軍機，從幸長安。擢左都御史，遷禮部尚書，兼署工部。明年，回蹕，兼督辦政務大臣。凡疏陳加賦括財、損民以益上者，傳霖率擯勿用；而務汰冗費，去中飽，並奏罷不急之工：均報可。有詔自后宮內供需皆取給內務府，戶部專掌軍國大計，實傳霖發之也。三十年，轉吏部。三十二年，新官制成，乃退直，專治部事。尋仍入直，解部務，以尚書協辦大學士。命查辦歸化城墾務大臣貽穀，論遣戍，參劾不職者數十人。

In the twenty-fourth year he was summoned and appointed governor of Guangdong, soon transferred to Jiangsu, and served as acting governor-general of Liangjiang. In the twenty-sixth year the Boxer uprising broke out. Chuanlin raised three battalions for the escort guard and raced to join the imperial carriage at Datong. On reaching Taiyuan he was appointed governor-general of the Two Guangs. He was soon ordered to join the Grand Council and accompanied the court on its journey to Chang'an. He was promoted to Left Censor-in-chief, transferred to Minister of Rites, and served concurrently as acting Minister of Works. The following year, when the court returned to the capital, he was concurrently appointed to supervise the Administrative Affairs Commission. Whenever memorials proposed raising taxes, squeezing wealth, and harming the people to enrich the throne, Chuanlin habitually rejected them; but he pressed to cut wasteful spending, root out embezzlement, and memorialized to halt nonessential public works—and all of these proposals were approved. An edict was issued that henceforth all supplies for the inner palace were to come from the Imperial Household Department, while the Ministry of Revenue was to focus solely on the great plans of army and state. In truth this policy originated with Chuanlin. In the thirtieth year he was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. In the thirty-second year, when the new official system was completed, he withdrew from the Grand Council and devoted himself solely to ministry affairs. Before long he rejoined the Grand Council, relinquished his ministry duties, and served as minister assisting the associate grand secretary. He was ordered to investigate the Guihua City land-reclamation commissioner Yi Gu, had him sentenced to banishment, and impeached several dozen incompetent officials.

宣統嗣立，與攝政醇親王同受遺詔，加太子少保，晉太子太保。歷拜體仁閣、東閣大學士，兼經筵講官。二年春，疾作，章四上，皆溫諭慰留。七月，卒，年七十五，贈太保，諡文端。

When Xuantong succeeded to the throne, he and the regent Prince Chun together received the testamentary edict. He was given the rank Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and then advanced to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He was successively appointed Grand Secretary of the Tiren Pavilion and the Eastern Pavilion, and served concurrently as lecturer at the imperial classics lecture. In the spring of the second year he fell ill and submitted four memorials requesting leave, but each time received a warm edict urging him to stay on. In the seventh month he died at the age of seventy-five, was posthumously granted Grand Guardian, and was given the posthumous name Wenduan.

傳霖起外吏，知民疾苦。所至廉約率下，尤惡貪吏，雖貴勢不稍貰。其在軍機，凡事不苟同，喜扶持善類。晚病重聽，屢乞休不獲，居恆鬱鬱雲。

Chuanlin had risen through provincial service and knew the people's hardships. Wherever he served he was frugal and restrained his subordinates, hated greedy officials above all, and would not spare even the powerful and well connected. In the Grand Council he refused to go along with everything and liked to support men of integrity. In his later years he grew seriously ill and hard of hearing, repeatedly begged to retire without success, and lived in constant gloom.

林紹年，字贊虞，福建閩縣人。同治十三年進士，以編修歷充鄉會試同考官。光緒十四年，改御史。時議修頤和園，先是疆吏籌設海軍經費，輸存北洋，及園工興，陰移其費以助工，號為「進獻」。紹年極陳：「生民疲敝，當以儉化天下，使督撫愛養百姓。若誅求進獻，未足以言忠。請即下詔停輸，還所進奉。」得旨嚴飭。會以憂去，服除，補山西監察御史。疏嚴門禁，杜宦寺交通之漸。十九年，陝西考官丁維禔夤緣內監得試差，复疏論之。

Lin Shaonian, whose style was Zanyu, was a native of Min County in Fujian. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi and, as a Hanlin compiler, repeatedly served as associate examiner for the provincial and metropolitan examinations. In the fourteenth year of Guangxu he was transferred to the post of censor. At the time the court was debating repairs to the Summer Palace. Border officials had earlier raised funds for the navy and deposited them with the Beiyang fleet, but when work on the gardens began they quietly diverted those funds to the project under the name "presentation tribute." Shaonian protested forcefully: "The people are exhausted. The court should lead the realm by frugality and require governors to cherish and care for the common people. To squeeze the provinces for presentation tribute is no mark of loyalty. I beg that an edict be issued at once to halt these deliveries and return what has already been presented." The throne responded with a stern reprimand. He then left office to observe mourning for a parent. When the mourning period ended he was appointed surveillance censor in Shanxi. He memorialized for strict gate regulations to cut off the gradual encroachment of eunuchs into official affairs. In the nineteenth year the Shaanxi examiner Ding Weiti had used connections with palace eunuchs to secure an examination assignment, and Shaonian again memorialized against it.

俄，授雲南昭通府知府。邊瘠難治，土目祿爾泰橫暴，睚眥殺人，莫敢訴，猝捕戮之，眾懾而定。期年劾罷文武吏不職者五人。調攝雲南府，甫受事，安寧州盜劫貨戕人於塗，州牧以總督崧蕃怒緝捕不力，妄系平民二十餘。紹年覆按，疑其枉，謁總督廷爭，卒獲正犯，出二十餘人者於死。崧蕃愧謝，密疏薦紹年可大用。擢迤南道，未之任，擢貴州按察使。二十六年，遷雲南布政使，就擢巡撫，兼署雲貴總督。廣西遊匪侵滇邊，遣將擊卻之。招撫八達河村民之陷匪者，以斷賊接濟，益大出兵合剿。滇境既清，乃以全力赴援廣西，而蒙自土匪乘間復發，連陷臨安、石屏。紹年會商總督丁振鐸，檄按察使劉春霖扼通海，廣南軍躡其後，不兩月事平。疏言督撫同城任事非便，自請裁缺，從之。移撫貴州，而湖北、廣東兩巡撫旋亦議裁。印江團首呂志禮、楊鑫不相能，積十餘載，相殘殺。紹年至，以兵脅之降，仍擁眾不散，遂案誅之。

Before long he was appointed prefect of Zhaotong in Yunnan. The frontier was poor and hard to govern. The native official Lu Ertai was brutal and killed people over the slightest grievance, yet none dared bring suit. Shaonian seized and executed him at once, and the people were awed into order. Within a year he impeached and dismissed five incompetent civil and military officials. He was transferred to act as prefect of Yunnan. Just after he took office, bandits in Anning robbed travelers and killed people on the road. The prefect, fearing Governor Song Fan's anger over the weak pursuit, wrongly detained more than twenty civilians. Shaonian reinvestigated the case, suspected a miscarriage of justice, went to the governor and argued the matter in open court, finally secured the real culprits, and saved more than twenty innocent men from execution. Song Fan apologized in embarrassment and secretly memorialized that Shaonian was fit for high office. He was promoted to the Yinan Circuit but had not yet taken up the post when he was advanced to provincial judicial commissioner of Guizhou. In the twenty-sixth year he was transferred to provincial treasurer of Yunnan, then promoted to governor and appointed acting governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. Roaming bandits from Guangxi raided the Yunnan border, and he sent generals to drive them back. He won over villagers along the Badu River who had fallen in with the bandits, thereby cutting off their supplies, and then sent larger forces for a joint campaign of suppression. Once the Yunnan frontier was pacified, he threw his full strength into aiding Guangxi, but bandits in Mengzi seized the opportunity to rise again and in quick succession took Lin'an and Shiping. Shaonian consulted Governor-General Ding Zhenduo, ordered Judicial Commissioner Liu Chunlin to hold Tonghai, and had the Guangnan force follow in pursuit. Within two months the disturbance was suppressed. He memorialized that it was awkward for governor and governor-general to serve in the same city and asked that his own post be abolished. The request was approved. He was transferred to govern Guizhou, and the governorships of Hubei and Guangdong were soon discussed for abolition as well. The militia leaders of Yinjiang, Lü Zhili and Yang Xin, were at odds and had been killing one another for more than ten years. When Shaonian arrived he used troops to force them to submit, but they still held their followers together and refused to disband, so he tried them and had them executed.

紹年默察大勢，非立憲不足以救亡，請預定政體以係人心，不報。三十一年，移廣西。明年，內召，以侍郎充軍機大臣，兼署郵傳部尚書，授度支部侍郎。時黑龍江新設行省，驟擢道員段芝貴為巡撫。紹年言芝貴望輕，不稱邊帥任。御史趙啟霖劾芝貴，因及慶親王奕劻子載振納賄漁色事，命大臣按驗所劾，稱無左證，褫啟霖職，而芝貴亦由是罷。紹年言御史風聞言事，啟霖無罪，爭之不得，遂稱疾。

Shaonian quietly judged the larger trend and concluded that only constitutional government could save the dynasty. He asked that the political system be settled in advance to steady popular sentiment, but received no answer. In the thirty-first year he was transferred to Guangxi. The following year he was recalled to the capital, appointed a Grand Council member in the capacity of vice minister, served concurrently as acting Minister of Posts and Communications, and was appointed vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. At that time Heilongjiang had just been established as a province, and the circuit intendant Duan Zhigui was abruptly promoted to governor. Shaonian said that Zhigui's standing was too slight and that he was unfit for command on the frontier. Censor Zhao Qilin impeached Zhigui and extended the charge to Prince Qing Yikuang's son Zai Zhen for bribery and debauchery. The court ordered senior ministers to investigate, who reported that there was no corroborating evidence, stripped Qilin of his post, and Zhigui was dismissed as well. Shaonian argued that censors were entitled to report on rumor and hearsay and that Qilin was innocent, but his protest failed and he then claimed illness.

出為河南巡撫。以州縣吏罄貲遠宦，人地不習，無益於杜弊。請援漢、唐故事，免避本籍。部議自縣丞以下，如所請行。益飭吏治，得朝貴請託書輒焚之。兩疏糾彈百餘人。調倉場侍郎。

He was sent out to serve as governor of Henan. He argued that prefectural and county officials who exhausted their fortunes to secure distant posts were strangers to the people and the land, and that such appointments did nothing to stop corruption. He asked that the Han and Tang precedents be invoked to exempt lower officials from the rule barring appointment in one's home province. The ministry ruled that from assistant magistrate downward the request should be adopted. He tightened official discipline further and burned on the spot any letters of recommendation he received from powerful figures at court. In two memorials he impeached more than a hundred officials. He was transferred to vice minister of the granary commissionerate.

宣統元年，徙民政部侍郎。時奕劻握政柄，陝西巡撫恩壽與有連，總督升允劾其贓私，不報。俄，解升允職。紹年召對論其事，以為賞罰不當，則是非不明。退复具疏言之，不省。二年，充經筵講官，署學部侍郎，改弼德院顧問大臣。以病請告。卒，年六十八，諡文直。

In the first year of Xuantong he was transferred to vice minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. At the time Prince Qing Yikuang held political power. Shaanxi Governor Enshou was connected with him, and Governor-General Sheng Yun impeached Enshou for corruption, but the court took no action. Before long Sheng Yun was dismissed from his post. Shaonian was summoned for an audience to discuss the affair, arguing that when rewards and punishments are misapplied, right and wrong cannot be distinguished. After withdrawing he submitted another detailed memorial on the matter, but the court paid no heed. In the second year he served as lecturer at the imperial Classics Lecture, acted as vice minister of Education, and was appointed advisory grand minister of the Bide Academy. He requested sick leave. He died at the age of sixty-eight and was given the posthumous name Wenzhi.

論曰：同、光以後，世稱軍機權重，然特領班王大臣主其事耳。次者僅乃得參機務。光、宣之際，政既失馭，權乃益紛，雖當國無以為治焉。敬銘質樸，之萬練達，傳霖廉約，紹年勁直，其任封疆、治軍旅多有績，而立朝不復有所建樹。敬銘初欲得君專國政，為勢所限，終不能行其志，世尤惜之。

The appraisal states: After the Tongzhi and Guangxu reigns, the age spoke of the Grand Council's great authority, yet in practice only the prince of the first rank who headed the council directed affairs. Those below him were merely allowed to take part in confidential deliberations. At the transition from Guangxu to Xuantong, government had already lost its grip and authority grew ever more fragmented, so that even those who held power could no longer govern effectively. Jingming was plain, Zhiwan seasoned, Chuanlin frugal, and Shaonian forceful and upright. Each achieved much in frontier posts and military affairs, yet at court they accomplished little of lasting note. Jingming had once hoped to serve a ruler who would personally direct state affairs, but circumstances prevented him from realizing his aims, and the age especially regretted it.

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