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卷439 列傳二百二十六 景廉 额勒和布 许庚身 钱应溥 廖寿恒 荣庆 那桐 戴鸿慈

Volume 439 Biographies 226: Jing Lian, E Lei He Bu, Xu Gengshen, Qian Yingpu, Liao Shouheng, Rong Qing, Na Tong, Dai Hongci

Chapter 439 of 清史稿 · Draft History of Qing
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1
Biography 226
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Jing Lian, E Lei He Bu, Xu Gengshen, Qian Yingpu, and Liao Shouheng
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Rong Qing, Na Tong, and Dai Hongci
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滿 貿 便 便 綿
Jing Lian, whose style name was Qiuping, was of the Yan Zha clan and served in the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner. His father Yande had held the post of General of Suiyuan. Jing Lian became a jinshi in the second year of the Xianfeng reign and rose through five promotions from Compiler to Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. He served as chief examiner for the Fujian provincial examination, was promoted to Vice Minister of Works, and was sent to offer sacrificial rites in Korea. In the eighth year of the reign, he was appointed Assistant Resident at Ili. By established practice, Kazakh traders were required to leave as soon as their business was concluded. Later, because merchandise moved slowly, two or three men were permitted to stay through the winter to guard unsold stock; a settlement gradually took shape, roughly two li around. Jing Lian warned that trouble was brewing close at hand and urged that the settlement be destroyed, but the general was afraid to take action. When the general died, Jing Lian assumed his duties, submitted a memorial setting out the risks and benefits, asked for authority to act as circumstances required, and in the end had the settlement destroyed. The court issued an edict granting what he had requested. The Assistant Residents Ying Xiu at Tarbagatai, Mian Xing at Aksu, and Ying Yun at Yarkand were impeached one after another for corruption and brutality; Jing Lian was sent to investigate each case, found the accusations true, and the offenders were demoted or dismissed to varying degrees.
5
調 西
In the eleventh year he was transferred to serve as Assistant Resident at Yarkand, the leading city among the eight southern towns, where Han Chinese and Muslims lived side by side. Kokand frequently raided the frontier, while Russians prowled the southwestern marches, and many Kazakh tribes were divided in loyalty toward Russia. Jing Lian raised revenue, drilled troops, and governed with steady composure until all eight cities were secure. He strictly forbade Green Standard soldiers from extorting Muslim property for profit, to the great satisfaction of the populace. In the second year of Tongzhi he lost his post after being implicated in a case; thousands of men and women gathered weeping at the Zharma shrine. Zharma was a Muslim shrine where deities were housed; the mourners hoped by prayer to keep him from leaving. Stripped of office, Jing Lian was sent to serve at the Ningxia army camp, where General Du Xing'a called him into his staff. When Anhui Governor Weng Tonghe died in the field, Du Xing'a again ordered Jing Lian to take over his troops and secure the rear against enemy raids.
6
滿 沿西 西 西西 西 西 便
In the fifth year he was appointed First Class Bodyguard and Assistant Commissioner at Hami. He raised more than a thousand militiamen but had fewer than a hundred horses and scant grain; in the ice and snow his attendants froze to death in succession. Jing Lian urged loyalty and duty on his men, slept under a single tent at night, warmed himself with burning horse dung, sat on the bare ground, and went out regularly to encourage the troops, so that their morale held firm. Rebels from Suzhou fled west along the southern mountains; Jing Lian sent Brigadier Zhang Yuchun to rout them at Huanghuaying. When the rebels raided Anxi Prefecture, he defeated them again. Jing Lian argued that Anxi and Yumen were the gateway to Xinjiang and that, although Barkol was a natural fortress, his forces were too weak to hold it alone; he memorialized to base himself at Anxi and organize defenses and supply lines, and the court approved. When rebels attacked Dunhuang, Jing Lian openly ordered Deputy Commander Jiang Fushan to meet them at Nangan Gully while secretly placing elite troops in ambush at Qiaowan Sanshui Liang. The rebels took the southern Gobi route past Sanshui Liang as expected; the ambush sprang up, pursued them, and won a decisive victory. When word of the victory reached the capital, the throne issued a commendatory edict. When the rebels struck Anxi again, Jing Lian ordered the garrison to hold the walls and avoid reckless sorties, to strike when the enemy grew careless, and to lay ambushes on their line of retreat; the rebels suffered heavy losses and fled. Jing Lian judged Dunhuang a strategic strongpoint that required a substantial garrison, moved his headquarters there, and stationed troops at Anxi and Yumen so the three posts could support one another. He implemented a scorched-earth defense: repaired the walls, deepened the moats, built hollow watch towers at key points, and fully equipped the garrisons. He also organized merchant militias and local levies to support the regular troops along baojia lines, thwarting the rebels' plans for looting. He brought back more than 3,600 native households, encouraged the donation of over 20,000 shi of grain, and set up a transport bureau at Malianjing, which officials and civilians alike found highly convenient.
7
使 貿
At that time the Urumqi Muslim leader Tuo De Lin rallied more than eighteen thousand Han, Hui, and Turki fighters for an eastern invasion and secretly enlisted the Hami Muslim prince as an inside collaborator. The prince was naive, but his mother, the fujin Maili Banu, was intelligent and resourceful; she turned the rebel correspondence over to the government forces and pledged to hold Hami loyal. Jing Lian sent envoys with rewards and encouragement, then ordered Fushan to join Commissioner Wen Lin and Lieutenant Kong Cai in attacking the rebels; after six days and nights of fighting they won a crushing victory. Rewards for merit were distributed and the officers were promoted in varying degrees. He was soon appointed General Commandant at Urumqi. At that time the rebel commander Ma Ming at Gucheng repeatedly feigned surrender while using trade as cover to spread rebel agents through Jimsar and along the Mulei River. Jing Lian uncovered the plot and secretly ordered Kong Cai, Jin Yongqing, and others to wipe them out in a single night. Russians brought Mongols and Kazakhs across the border to seek trade; Jing Lian replied that the region was still unsettled and he could not guarantee their safety, and had troops escort them back out. For the remainder of Jing Lian's tenure, the Russians did not raise trade again.
8
西
When the Tongzhi Emperor assumed personal rule, Jing Lian argued that sound government depends on laying the right foundations and submitted six proposals: promote orthodox learning, open channels of remonstrance, appoint magistrates with care, streamline military forces, emphasize agriculture and sericulture, and suppress heterodox teachings. He shifted his headquarters to Gucheng and memorialized to place military operations under Vice Commander Jir Hong'e and Brigade Commander Shakudulin Zhabu. The Shaanxi Muslim rebel Bai Yanhu rallied more than ten thousand Xining Muslims to march on Urumqi; the rebels were ferocious, seized the Muslim quarter of Hami, sent scouting parties across the Tianshan to harass Barkol, and both cities sent urgent appeals for help. When Tuo De Lin died, the Kokand leader Pasha gathered Han and Hui forces from Urumqi, Gucheng, and elsewhere to attack Shashanzi in concert with Bai Yanhu from a distance. Jing Lian urgently ordered Kong Cai to secure the passes at Jimsar, sent the Heilongjiang commander E Lei He Bu to relieve Shashanzi and Jir Hong'e to relieve Hami, while he himself remained at Gucheng drinking wine and practicing archery as though nothing were wrong. E Lei He Bu and Guerrilla Commander Xu Xuegong led five hundred horsemen to rout the rebels at Shazao Garden, capturing and killing countless enemy fighters. Pasha fled back to Turfan, and the siege of Shashanzi was lifted. Jir Hong'e and his forces reached Barkol, won a series of victories, crossed the Tianshan, and defeated the rebels at Hami Nijitou. When the garrison heard that relief had arrived, the defenders charged out with a great shout; the rebels were defeated and Barkol was cleared. Commentators regarded this campaign as a decisive turning point in whether Xinjiang would remain under Qing control. Bai Yanhu fled toward Tangcha Qu intending to enter Manas; Xue Gong learned the rebels' password, picked four hundred elite horsemen, disguised them as locals from Manas, and met the rebels at Gongjia Long with handshakes and greetings; the enemy suspected nothing and pressed on until they came to a broad river. Government troops sprang up from behind; the rebels panicked; Bai Yanhu escaped with a little more than forty horsemen while the rest were wiped out. Xue Gong was the son of a farming family near Urumqi, known for steady courage and keen stratagems. When the fighting began he gathered local militia for self-defense. At times he shifted allegiance between Tuo De Lin and Pasha, employing the strategy of setting one rebel force against another. Jing Lian brought him in and treated him with complete sincerity; Xue Gong then pledged his life to the cause, and on this occasion proved his value. Jing Lian memorialized for his exceptional appointment to office, and the request was approved.
9
使 西
Jing Lian fell ill from overwork and anxiety and twice asked to resign, but received warm edicts urging him to stay in office. In the thirteenth year he was appointed Imperial Commissioner to direct military affairs in Xinjiang. Jing Lian then memorialized for a coordinated campaign: Ili General Jin Shun was to advance by way of Gucheng, Brigadier Zhang Yao to take Turfan from south of the Tianshan, and Brigade Commanders Shakudulin Zhabu and Xilun to strike Manas from Shashanzi, with all three columns moving together so the rebels could not shift forces between fronts. Because Qitai and Gucheng shielded Hami and Barkol, he ordered Vice Commanders E'er Qing'e, Xiaoshun, and Fuzhuli to hold Xihu and block rebel incursions into the northern route. South of Urumqi lay Daban Cheng, commonly so called, which was in fact the vital route to Turfan; the rebels held it with heavy forces, and he urged covert raids to strike at their jugular. He also asked that Shaanxi-Gansu Governor Zuo Zongtang be placed in overall charge of rear-area supply depots. He proposed resettling a thousand Gansu households to farm at Qitai and Gucheng, purchasing several thousand Mongol camels, and borrowing six hundred thousand taels from the ministry. The memorial was submitted and every point won approval, but jealous rivals blocked him and his plans were never fully implemented. He was appointed General of the Plain White Banner Han Army. He was soon recalled to the capital and promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief.
10
調 調
In the second year of Guangxu he entered the Grand Council and was concurrently appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Minister of Works and then transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. After being implicated in a case he was demoted two ranks but kept his seat on the Grand Council. He was appointed Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat and later promoted again to Minister of War. Remonstrance was still fierce in those days, and some colleagues took offense; Jing Lian said, "The government is the target in archery, and critics only hope to hit the mark—what is there for us to resent? Besides, those who attack the government are usually not guilty of any crime, and their criticism may prove a blessing to senior ministers." People admired his breadth of mind. After Xinjiang was pacified, General Jin Shun memorialized praising Jing Lian's earlier service and asked that he be rewarded. Jing Lian argued that when frontier commanders pushed credit onto Grand Council members it encouraged flattery and asked that the reward be denied; contemporary opinion sided with him. In the tenth year an imperial rescript declared that Jing Lian should keep to his proper duties, that statecraft was not his strength, and he was demoted two ranks and reassigned. The following year he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. In the eighth month he died in office at the age of sixty-two. His son Zhilin served as Vice Director of the Imperial Academy; see the Biographies of Filial Sons and Friends.
11
滿 調滿 調 調
E Lei He Bu, whose style name was Xiaoshan, was of the Juercha clan and belonged to the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner. In the second year of Xianfeng he passed the translation jinshi examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. He rose in succession to Vice Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs. In the third year of Tongzhi elders in the Tumed Prince's Banner of Rehe stirred up trouble; E Lei He Bu was ordered to investigate, confirmed the charges, recommended disciplinary action against the prince, and demoted or dismissed his subordinates in varying degrees until the affair was settled. He was transferred from a Mongol vice commander's post to a Manchu assignment. He was soon appointed Vice Minister of Revenue at Mukden and concurrently served as Prefect of Fengtian. When Zhili Governor Liu Changyou led troops against bandits in Rehe and Fengtian, E Lei He Bu organized the supply of rations. The rebel leader Zhou Rong rallied his followers and fled back into the region, raiding as far as Changtu and setting off alarms throughout the territory. E Lei He Bu sent cavalry to meet them at Kaiyuan while infantry blocked their retreat, and the rebels broke and scattered. In the sixth year he proposed allocating salt levies to fund militia training and establishing a coastal defense sub-prefect at Yingkou; both proposals were approved. In famine relief he worked especially hard to raise donations. He served as acting General of Mukden and was then transferred to Commander at Chahar. During the Xinjiang campaign he managed grain transport, mobilized Eight Banner troops for the fighting, was promoted to General at Uliastai, and repeatedly repelled fierce rebel forces.
12
調 殿
In the third year of Guangxu he requested retirement because of illness. In the sixth year he was recalled to serve as General of the Bordered White Banner Han Army and was transferred to Mongolia. He served in succession as Commander at Rehe, Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, Minister of Revenue, and Grand Minister of the Imperial Household Department. In the tenth year he was appointed to the Grand Council and made Associate Grand Secretary. He memorialized to open mining along the Yunnan-Vietnam border and also asked that provincial grain-tax arrears accumulated before the fourth year of Guangxu be remitted. Vice Director Pan Yantong proposed a special civil service examination in technical arts; E Lei He Bu opposed it and the proposal was dropped. In the eleventh year he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Hall of Embodying Benevolence and transferred to the Hall of Military Glory. He repeatedly served as chief examiner and in other such posts. In the twentieth year he was removed from the Grand Council. In the twenty-second year he retired from office. A little more than four years later he died at home and was posthumously titled Wengong.
13
E Lei He Bu was a man of few words; while his colleagues gradually seized power and took bribes, he alone remained incorrupt and was widely praised.
14
使
Xu Gengshen, whose style name was Xingshu, was a native of Renhe in Zhejiang. Early in the Xianfeng reign, as a provincial graduate he passed the examination for Secretariat Drafter in the Grand Secretariat. Once, substituting for a colleague on night duty, he processed two hundred memorials in a single night, signing his name on the back of each document. The Xianfeng Emperor read the documents, took note of him, and asked Vice Minister Xu Naipu—who was of his father's generation—about him; he was then appointed a Grand Council clerk. By precedent the sons of senior ministers were barred from regular Grand Council duty, so this appointment was an exceptional honor. In the tenth year, when the court was hunting at Mulan, he was summoned to the traveling palace. At that time Su Shun was abusing his power and repeatedly encroaching on Grand Council business, sitting imperiously in the duty hall and ordering clerks to draft whatever he dictated. Gengshen held that this violated regulations and refused; messengers came more than a dozen times, but he never complied. Su Shun was both ashamed and furious and sought to trap him on a capital charge, but found no opportunity. When the Tongzhi Emperor succeeded, he was specially granted gold to honor his integrity and ordered to take regular duty alongside the ministers.
15
祿 西輿 調
In the first year of Tongzhi he passed the jinshi examination, asked to retain his original post, and was appointed Reader. He rose in succession to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He returned home to observe mourning for his mother; when the mourning period ended he was appointed Reader in the Grand Secretariat and resumed Grand Council duty as before. He presented his work Spring and Autumn Annals: Phrasing and Meaning and received imperial commendation. He was appointed Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He served as chief examiner in Guizhou, supervised education in Jiangxi, and often tested candidates in astronomy, mathematics, geography, and related fields. In the fourth year of Guangxu he was appointed Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites and later transferred to the ministries of Revenue and Justice. In the tenth year, when the Franco-Vietnamese conflict broke out, he joined the Grand Council, concurrently directed foreign affairs, and was granted first-rank court dress. At the time Sun Yuwen enjoyed the greatest favor in the Grand Council, but Gengshen's quick and polished responses also won the Empress Dowager's trust. In the fourteenth year he was promoted to Minister of War. In the nineteenth year he died and was posthumously titled Gongjin.
16
From a bureau post to minister, Gengshen served at the Grand Council for nearly thirty years, spanning the entire course of the military crises of the age—the longest such tenure on record.
17
西
Qian Yingpu, whose style name was Zimi, was a native of Jiaxing in Zhejiang. As a selected tribute student he ranked first in the palace examination, was appointed a seventh-rank capital official in the Ministry of Personnel, and served on the Grand Council. In the tenth year of Xianfeng the Taiping rebels overran prefectures and counties across eastern and western Zhejiang; Yingpu's father Taiji, a dismissed instructor at the Haining prefectural school and a scholar of plain integrity and solid learning, had been kept by local people to head the academy. When he heard the alarm, Yingpu urgently asked leave to return and care for his father; after a year of displacement his hair and beard turned white.
18
Zeng Guofan raised troops at Anqing and recruited him to his staff; he excelled at drafting proclamations and dispatches with the speed of long practice. Guofan repeatedly sought to recommend him for special promotion, but he firmly declined each time. In the third year of Tongzhi he was granted the honorary fifth-rank title of Qing by memorial. When the main army campaigned against the Nian rebels, it was stationed at Zhoujiakou. When the Nian attacked at night, the garrison had only a thousand men and the troops panicked, but Yingpu remained as calm as if nothing were wrong. Guofan then lay firm in bed and refused to stir, and the Nian soldiers did not dare attack. He was promoted to fourth-rank honorary Qing; Guofan relied on him heavily, and when Guofan governed the Two Jiangs and undertook major reforms, he entrusted all memorials to Yingpu to draft.
19
駿
Early in the Guangxu reign, after completing his filial duties, he returned to the capital, resumed service on the Grand Council, and was promoted to department director. When Prince Gong and Prince Chun successively held power, both praised his experience and competence. Whenever he received orders to draft edicts he could produce a thousand words in moments, fitting the sovereign's intent exactly. He rose in succession to Vice Minister of Rites. Together with Minister Kun Gang he investigated affairs in Henan, and officials from Governor Yu Kuan downward were demoted or dismissed in varying degrees. When the Korean crisis arose and court debate favored war, Yingpu went before the throne and spoke frankly on matters others dared not raise. He soon joined the Grand Council and was later promoted again to Minister of Works. He resigned because of illness and returned home. In the twenty-eighth year he died and was posthumously titled Gongqin. His son Junxiang served as Reader in the Hanlin Academy.
20
Liao Shouheng, whose style name was Zhongshan, was a native of Jiading in Jiangsu. He became a jinshi in the second year of Tongzhi and was appointed Compiler. He was sent out to supervise education in Hunan. In the second year of Guangxu he was promoted again to Lecturer. When drought struck the capital region, Shouheng responded to an imperial edict, arguing: "When official governance fails, popular discontent builds until the people's anguish disturbs the balance of yin and yang and calamities follow; Heaven must be answered with real deeds, not empty rhetoric. I pray that Your Majesty will examine who is diligent and who is negligent, distinguish right from wrong, assess merit and fault, enforce rewards and punishments in earnest, and not treat such measures as mere formalities." His words were remarkably earnest. Soon afterward, because the Imperial Household Department's accounts were false, he asked for strict correction as a warning against waste. He again supervised education in Henan, rose in succession to Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, and continued to hold his educational post. Because he had been lax in supervising licentiates who missed examinations, the ministry deliberated on disciplinary action.
21
宿 退
In the ninth year the French invaded and seized Anding in Vietnam; Shouheng memorialized: "France began with missionary work, but now seeks to open trade and advance through Vietnam. Vietnam is firmly our tributary state; we cannot possibly abandon it and look away. This humble subject believes that we must first fight when fighting is necessary, and only then can a settlement become possible. Li Hongzhang enjoys the greatest prestige, and the Beiyang elite troops cannot be commanded by anyone else. Li Hongzhang should be ordered back to his original post as Beiyang Minister to hold Tianjin and guard the capital region, while Acting Governor Zhang Shusheng should return to govern the Two Guangs. Shusheng is a loyal and seasoned commander who will surely advance as circumstances allow and uphold our duty to protect a tributary state. If both governors return to their original posts, the move will appear routine and need not arouse foreign suspicion; while in advancing to fight or retreating to defend they can strike boldly and withdraw when needed. If the French repent their aggression, negotiations can naturally be reopened. If they insist on swallowing Vietnam, they will have opened hostilities themselves, and we cannot be accused of failing to keep the peace."
22
使 西 忿 使
After the Franco-Vietnamese peace was concluded, Shouheng memorialized again: "I hear the French envoy has reached Tianjin and, claiming that Vietnam has already agreed terms, intends to press Li Hongzhang on demarcation and troop withdrawal; Hongzhang has refused, and the envoy plans to come to the capital to negotiate at the translation bureau. Some advisers say we should temporize and stall. They fail to see that France now holds Vietnam and has stripped us of a tributary state; driven out the Black Flag and removed our frontier barrier; opened the Red River and seized the great commercial advantage of our Yunnan river trade. We have already lost the initiative and must plan to recover it. Our present course should be to announce to all nations France's crime of bullying a weak state, invoke international law against them, and demand revision of the treaties they imposed. Hanoi and Anding must be returned in full, and only then should Franco-Vietnamese trade agreements be discussed. I hear that Tianjin's coastal defenses have been ordered into strict readiness and that the army's appearance has greatly improved. I believe we should still select an experienced military commander, send gunboats to the Vietnamese capital, and observe developments on the ground. We should also urgently order Guangxi frontier troops to aid Liu Yongfu, increase forces and arms production, swiftly take Hanoi, and block the enemy's advance. Once Hanoi falls, Tonkin will be secure. Because we have not openly fought France, Yongfu has had no choice but to defend Vietnamese territory; hence our recent secret aid to the Black Flag, which has won repeated victories. The French, left with no alternative, then pleaded protection as their pretext. Yongfu is filled with indignation; if he receives an imperial edict, his men will fight one as a hundred. In this way the border troubles of Yunnan and Guangdong may be eased and the fighting between Vietnam and France brought to an end." Shouheng also wrote: "The fundamental remedy lies with the sovereign himself. Only by keeping upright men at his side at every step can moral character be nurtured. I propose that the Empress Dowager and Emperor choose only grave and steady eunuchs for attendance at court and bar from proximity those who are too young or temperamentally flighty. I also ask that imperial instructions regularly admonish that shallow, vulgar, and trivial speech must never reach the sovereign's ears. Then life in the inner palace may become at every turn an occasion for cultivating virtue and may supplement what the Yuqing Palace curriculum cannot provide. As for palace construction and items ordered through the inner household, though ordinary matters, they most easily encourage extravagance. I humbly pray that the Empress Dowager will honor frugality, reject luxury, keep the people's livelihood in mind, and teach the Emperor the hardship of farming; through daily example his sage virtue will naturally flourish. In this way the Empress Dowager's instruction will surpass even the ancient appointment of Kui as Director of Music." When the memorial was submitted, the sovereign was visibly moved.
23
調 調
In the tenth year of his career he served in the Zongli Yamen (Foreign Affairs Office). He rose to Vice Minister of War and served successively as Vice Minister of Rites, Revenue, and Personnel, presiding repeatedly over the civil examinations. With Censor-in-Chief Yude he investigated Sichuan salt administration, impeached Salt and Tea Circuit Intendant Cai Fengnian, stripped him of office, and banished him. In the twenty-third year he became Left Censor-in-Chief and entered the Grand Council. The following year he was appointed Minister of Rites. When the Empress Dowager resumed regency, he was ordered to leave the Grand Council. He requested retirement on grounds of illness. He died in the twenty-ninth year.
24
使 調 調 調調
Rong Qing, styled Huaqing, of the Ozhuo'er clan, was a Mongol bannerman of the Plain Yellow Banner. In Guangxu 9 he passed the metropolitan examination. In Guangxu 12 he received his jinshi degree and, as a Hanlin Compiler, served as educational officer for the Bordered Blue Banner. He rose through successive promotions to Reader-in-Waiting and Mongol Commissioner. Promotions came slowly; when his audience was due some suggested he request leave, but he refused: "Fortune and obscurity are ordained—how could I deceive the throne?" After three years he was promoted Director of Banquets, then Vice Commissioner of the Communications Office. Appointed Shandong education commissioner, he then withdrew for mourning upon his mother's death. In Guangxu 27 he became Director of the Court of Judicial Review and acted as Vice Minister overseeing the grain depots. To stop boat stripping and grain theft he shifted transport to direct rail delivery, consolidated granaries, increased funding, closed loopholes in grain collection, and eliminated censorate inspectors of granary affairs—all approved and enacted. After the peace settlement he was assigned to joint management of postwar recovery and made coordinator at the Office of Government Affairs. In Guangxu 28 he was appointed Minister of Punishments. When the Imperial University was founded, Rong Qing was appointed to assist Zhang Baixi as Superintendent of Studies. Zhang Baixi pushed relentlessly for reform; Rong Qing often balanced him with the classical tradition. He soon served as associate metropolitan examiner and as chief examiner for the special examinations in practical statecraft. He was transferred to Minister of Rites, then to Minister of Revenue. He was appointed Grand Councilor and Minister of Government Affairs.
25
滿 滿
Once in high office Rong Qing was especially zealous to cultivate talent and shore up public morals. He once submitted a memorial: "The state draws talent from Manchu and Han alike with equal importance. He requested that the ministries rigorously examine their Manchu officials and establish lecture halls in three subjects: institutional precedent, administrative practice, and current affairs. He especially named the Imperial Exhortations on Doing Good, Record of Officials' Self-Warning, Essentials of Principle, and Imperial Instructions to the Eight Banners as the foundations of official conduct. All were to study these by section, submit outline notes, and thereby reveal their capacity and judgment." The memorial was received and noted.
26
調
In the thirty-first year he was appointed Associate Grand Secretary. That winter he became Minister of Education. The following year he was appointed Commissioner for Administrative Reform. He was soon removed from the Grand Council and devoted himself solely to his ministry. Upon the death of the Guangxu Emperor he served as Commissioner for the Funeral Rites. In Xuantong 1 he requested retirement on grounds of illness; the throne issued a gracious edict urging him to stay. He was reassigned as Minister of Rites. At the interment of Empress Dowager Cixi he entered the underground palace with the coffin, reverently verified the spirit tablet, and was promoted Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the third year, when the Ministry of Rites was abolished, he became Vice President of the Institute for Royal Tutors. He soon served as Advisory Minister and Director-General of the Guangxu Emperor's Veritable Records. After the fall of the dynasty he retired to Tianjin. He died at the age of fifty-eight and was posthumously titled Wenge (Cultivated and Reverent).
27
Rong Qing was scrupulous and self-restrained in his conduct. By precedent Grand Councilors received no public stipend and generally lived on gifts from petitioners. When Rong Qing first entered the Council he regarded this practice as deeply corrupt; he persuaded his colleagues to petition jointly, securing two thousand taels of integrity stipend, and officials at court also received increased allotments by precedent in varying amounts.
28
滿
Na Tong, styled Qinxuan, of the Yehe Nara clan, was a Manchu bannerman of the Bordered Yellow Banner attached to the Imperial Household. A provincial graduate of Guangxu 11, he rose from a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue through successive promotions to fourth-rank capital official, became Director of Banquets, and was appointed Grand Secretariat Academician. In Guangxu 26 he served concurrently in the Zongli Yamen and was promoted Vice Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs.
29
西 使 調
When the Boxers provoked conflict and allied foreign armies invaded, he was ordered to Fengtai to meet them. When foreign troops entered Beijing they mistook Dongba for a rebel stronghold and planned a massacre; he argued forcefully and saved the district. When the court fled west, he was appointed Commissioner in Beijing and joined Li Hongzhang in peace negotiations. After the treaty was signed he went to Japan as special envoy to offer apology, and was later sent again to attend the exposition in Japan. In Guangxu 29 he became Minister of Revenue, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, and concurrently Commander of the Metropolitan Garrison; he oversaw the Works and Patrol Bureau, established the police force, and improved road administration. He reversed the wrongful conviction of Wang Weiqin, winning praise from merchants and townspeople. In the thirty-first year he was promoted Grand Secretary while continuing as Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs. He successively served on commissions for administrative reform, government affairs, and banner reform, and acted as Minister of Civil Affairs.
30
In Xuantong 1 he was appointed Grand Councilor. Upon his mother's death he requested full mourning leave; the request was denied. He served as acting Governor-General of Zhili and requested ministry funds to repair the Feng River. He soon returned to Beijing. In the third year, under the new administrative system, he was appointed Associate Prime Minister of the Cabinet but soon resigned and became Advisory Minister of the Institute for Royal Tutors. After the fall of the dynasty he remained bedridden with illness for a long time. He died at the age of sixty-nine.
31
調 使 滿
Dai Hongci, styled Shaohuai, was a native of Nanhai in Guangdong. A jinshi of Guangxu 2, he entered the Hanlin Academy and, as Compiler, served as Shandong education commissioner. He returned home upon his father's death; after mourning he served as Yunnan education commissioner. He later served again as chief examiner for the Yunnan provincial examination. In Guangxu 20 he ranked first class in the palace examination and was promoted Junior Tutor. When war broke out between Japan and Korea, Qing forces suffered repeated defeats. Hongci repeatedly impeached Li Hongzhang for mishandling deployments, fatal delays, and persistent reliance on Ding Ruchang, demanding severe punishment; and demanded that Ding Ruchang be swiftly brought to the ministry for trial to restore military discipline—all without response. After the peace settlement Hongci submitted twelve recovery policies: first, assess enemy intentions to secure foreign relations; second, establish additional subsidiary capitals to strengthen the capital's defenses; third, establish military colonies to build frontier grain reserves; fourth, build railways to reduce reliance on the grain transport system; fifth, develop coal and iron mining to retain economic sovereignty; sixth, levy taxes on tobacco and wine to supplement state revenue; seventh, conduct selective training to streamline effective fighting forces; eighth, expand arms manufacture to improve weaponry; ninth, select capable diplomats for foreign negotiations; tenth, elevate county magistrates to strengthen local governance; eleventh, hold audiences with officials to encourage mutual counsel and improvement; twelfth, reform the examination system to emphasize practical learning. He was promoted Reader-in-Waiting. As Fujian education commissioner he was later promoted Grand Secretariat Academician. When his term as education commissioner ended he took leave to return home and tend the family graves. He was promoted Vice Minister of Punishments.
32
西 使
He went to the court at Xi'an and submitted a memorial on fundamental reform; he also proposed dual capitals, six military districts under governors-general serving concurrently as frontier commissioners with authority to recruit staff, with all officials below governor under their command. That winter he returned to Beijing with the court and was appointed Vice Minister of Revenue. As missionary incidents multiplied across the provinces, Hongci proposed Commissioners for Proclamation and Guidance, to be filled concurrently by education commissioners. He compiled precedents in foreign affairs and distributed them for public instruction. He also proposed establishing a press bureau at the Hanlin Academy with official gazettes in each province; the proposal was rejected. The Office for Deliberating Government Affairs had been established; matters referred by imperial edict were discussed by capital officials of third rank and above. Hongci proposed that ministries, the Nine Chief Ministers, Hanlin, and the censorate all submit their views, with subordinates forwarding memorials through their superiors, to gather collective counsel and encourage talent. The proposal was referred to the Office of Government Affairs for consideration.
33
使 使 西 西 竿 滿 便 滿
In the thirty-first year five senior ministers were dispatched abroad to study foreign governments; Hongci was among them. Just before departure, revolutionaries boarded their train with explosives; attendants were wounded and panic spread. Hongci calmly went to the palace for instructions; the Empress Dowager and Emperor comforted him until they wept, and he then departed. He visited fifteen countries over eight months and returned home. With Zai Ze, Duan Fang, Shang Qiheng, Li Shengduo, and others he compiled 133 volumes of Essentials of Government among the Nations and eighteen chapters on Western political essentials, and jointly submitted them to the throne. They also submitted a memorial stating: "Surveying how nations govern, one may read their political forms: America is a federal republic that nevertheless places supreme emphasis on popular rights; Germany is nominally a federation but in practice a monarchy; Austria and Hungary are united under one crown yet retain separate institutions; France and Italy share a common Latin heritage and inevitably incline toward centralized authority; Only Britain cherishes order and shuns radical upheaval; its constitution grew by gradual evolution and has operated for a century without serious flaw. By contrast, states with constitutions but no true union, such as Sweden and Norway, have split apart; states with incomplete constitutions, such as Turkey and Egypt, have declined; and states with constitutions that are not fairly applied, such as Russia, suffer unrest without end. Different causes yield different outcomes. Hence some reforms only invite chaos—such is the difference among political systems. Measured by national power, Germany leads in land forces, Britain in sea power, and America in popular wealth—such are the differences in strength among nations. In foreign policy, Russia and France are allied, as are Britain and Japan, and Germany, Austria, and Italy—each bloc leaning on partners to steady its national position; the German-French conference over Morocco, Anglo-Russian talks on East Asia; toward China—the expansion of German and American fleets, increases in American and French garrisons—each power weighs gain and loss in commercial rivalry. Among rival great powers, no nation can survive in isolation; circumstance demands alliances. Moreover populations multiply, learning spreads, and domestic energies swell ever faster. Hence national policies—building the Trans-Siberian Railway for colonization, opening the Panama Canal for trade, or investing capital worldwide to grow national wealth—all serve deliberate strategic ends. Such are the differences in strategic policy. Judging national character, Russians are ambitious but disorderly—their state suffers from poor civic education; the French love art and leisure and their state suffers from extravagance; the Germans are stubborn and martial and their state suffers from overweening pride; Americans prize liberty and lax discipline and their state suffers from complexity; Italians chase profit and border on greed and deceit and their state remains poor; Only the English possess a spirit of self-government and self-reliance, an independent bearing, high personal character, and sturdy customs unmatched elsewhere. Such are the differences in national character. Having surveyed these world trends and weighed them together, we find the root of success or failure lies in unity between ruler and ministers and mutual support between court and country—only then can the whole nation move as one. Otherwise name and reality diverge, and three signs mark failure: first, states that lack sincerity court ruin. Spain oppressed its colonies and lost the Philippines and Cuba. Britain, learning from American rebellion, granted self-government in Australia and Canada and thereby grew strong—through sincerity. Russia destroyed Poland and banned its language; those who now rise in arms demanding rights are Poles. Its schools and armies too served autocracy alone; in the war in Manchuria Russian forces collapsed before fighting began. The uprisings in Moscow and Saint Petersburg came from soldiers and students. The tighter the guard, the deeper the danger within; trouble breaks out beyond the wall—because sincerity was lacking. Second, states that lack foresight grow weak. Russia, hampered by poor communications, relies on centralization, and local self-government steadily decays. America, vast in territory, practices local autonomy, and both central and local institutions advance together. Governing a great empire and governing a small state are not the same task. Germany's Germanic legal tradition favors local autonomy; though a monarchy, its people participate in politics. France's Roman legal tradition drives centralization; though called a democracy, officials hold real power and the people lack habits of self-rule. Compared side by side, France is weaker than Germany—and for good reason. Third, states that cannot assimilate their peoples fall into disorder. America's republic honors popular rights; though its population is diverse, its assimilative power is strong, and court and country live in peace. Turkey harbors a dozen peoples with different languages and faiths and no unifying institutions, and has therefore weakened. Russia's peoples are still more numerous—nearly a hundred groups and forty-odd languages—and official prejudice fuels today's turmoil. Austria and Hungary share one sovereign yet differ in appearance, custom, language, and temperament; disputes arise often, and separation may lie ahead. Where laws diverge and peoples are not fused, a state plainly remains two nations in one—and such states never enjoy lasting peace or true strength. Such is what our investigation of foreign states has found. Learning improves through exchange, and national strength grows through competition. China lies in East Asia and boasts millennia of civilization, yet tends to esteem itself and slight others, and has not measured itself against the changing powers of the world. Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, Beiyang and Nanyang arsenals and shipyards rose together and China's prestige seemed to revive. Compared with the provinces alone, it seemed ahead. Yet it was never weighed against the condition of other nations. Comparing only within breeds complacency; comparing outward sharpens the will to survive and advance. Those who plan for the nation must therefore use comparison wisely."
34
They submitted another memorial: "Surveying the world's great trends and China's present condition, we find that without fixing the nation's fundamental policy, no great plan can succeed. The essentials of national policy are roughly six: first, place all subjects under equal law to abolish every privilege and barrier; second, let national policy be decided by public deliberation; third, combine Chinese and foreign strengths to secure the nation's safety and the people's welfare; fourth, clarify the institutions of court and government; fifth, define the powers of central and local authorities; sixth, publish state finances and all major government business. We propose that Your Majesty issue a clear edict proclaiming these six points to the empire, and pledge to promulgate a constitution and convene a parliament in about fifteen or twenty years, putting constitutional government fully into practice." They added: "Once a deadline for constitutional rule is set, these dozen years must be used for preparation; otherwise, when the day arrives, the court will be left helpless. To clear accumulated abuses and fix clear lines of responsibility, reform must begin with the bureaucracy. We propose drawing on Chinese and foreign models to reshape the national bureaucracy as preparation for constitutional government." The throne approved all these proposals, and constitutional reform became settled policy.
35
使
While Hongci was still abroad on the mission, he had already been promoted Minister of Rites; on his return he served as commissioner for revising the bureaucracy, then became Minister of Law. He also served as lecturer at the imperial lectures and as a minister participating in government affairs. The Ministry of Law had just been created; he demarcated powers with the Supreme Court amid repeated disputes and reorganized the ministry's functions. Trial courts at every level were then established in the capital and provinces. He also founded a model prison in the capital on British and American lines. In Guangxu 34 he fell ill, asked to resign, and received a gracious edict urging him to remain. When the Empress Dowager and Emperor died, he forced himself to continue his duties despite illness.
36
使
In Xuantong 1 he received the First Class Third Grade Precious Star and served as envoy on a return mission to Russia. After completing his mission he returned and memorialized: "Traveling through the Three Eastern Provinces, I saw Japan and Russia devoting every effort to colonization. Unless countermeasures are planned at once, the frontier cannot be held; unless industry is developed to exploit natural resources, wealth and strength cannot be achieved. I urge immediate progress on land reclamation and forestry. When funds allow, schools, railways, mines, and military colonies should follow to strengthen defense." He then set out his proposals in detail. The throne approved and referred the matter to the relevant offices for implementation. In the eighth month of that year he entered the Grand Council and was promoted Associate Grand Secretary. In Xuantong 2 he died; he was posthumously made Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent with the posthumous name Wencheng.
37
退
The historian remarks: When Grand Council ministers attended audience, precedence was fixed; junior members could not speak out of turn even when questioned. In recent times princes led the council, power was still more fenced off, and ministers merely advanced and withdrew in company. Jing Lian won many battles, E Lei He Bu kept a clean reputation, Gengshen and Yingpu were seasoned in every branch of government, Shouheng spoke with sharp criticism, Hongci earned fame for embracing reform, Rong Qing was careful in conduct, and Na Tong was tactful and capable—were they not all, in their way, fit to rank among the great ministers of the age?
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