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列傳二百五十四
Biographies 254
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李秉衡王廷相聶士成羅榮光壽山族孫瑞昌鳳翔崇玉等
Li Bingheng, Wang Tingxiang, Nie Shicheng, Luo Rongguang, and Shoushan's kinsmen Ruichang, Fengxiang, Chongyu, and others
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李秉衡，字鑑堂，奉天海城人。 初入貲為縣丞，遷知縣。 光緒五年，除知冀州。 歲饑，發倉粟，不給。 州俗重紡織，布賤，為醵金求遠遷，易糧歸，而裁其價以招民，民獲甦。 越二年，擢知永平府。 部議追論劫案，貶秩。 李鴻章上其理狀，請免議，不獲。 時稱「北直廉吏第一」。 以張之洞薦，超授浙江按察使，未到官，移廣西。 十年，平峒寨亂，晉二品秩。
Li Bingheng, whose style was Jiantang, came from Haicheng in Fengtian (Liaoning). He first bought his way in as an assistant magistrate, then was promoted to county magistrate. In 1879, the fifth year of the Guangxu reign, he was appointed to govern Jizhou. When famine struck that year, he opened the public granaries, yet the supply still could not meet the need. The region prized textile work, but cloth was selling cheap. He pooled funds to ship it to distant markets, traded the proceeds for grain, and sold the grain at a reduced price so people could afford it; the populace thus pulled through. Two years on, he was promoted to prefect of Yongping. The Board reopened an old robbery case against him, and his rank was lowered. Li Hongzhang memorialized on his behalf, pleading that the inquiry be set aside, but the request was denied. People then called him "the most upright official in all of Zhili." Recommended by Zhang Zhidong, he was promoted ahead of schedule to judicial commissioner of Zhejiang, but before he could take up the post he was reassigned to Guangxi. In 1884 he put down the Dongzhai uprising and was raised to the second rank.
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明年，法人假越事寇邊，秉衡主龍州西運局。 是時財匱，戰士不得餉，蹂屍輿廝，無人過問。 秉衡益節儉，汰浮費，無分主客軍，給糧不絕，戰卹功賞力從厚。 复創設醫局，治負傷軍士，身自拊循之，日數四，雖末弁，亦延見，殷殷勗以殺敵報國。 護撫命下，驩聲若雷動。 與馮子材分任戰守。 諒山之捷，彭玉麟等疏言：「兩臣忠直，同得民心，亦同功最盛。」 予優敘。 重申前命為護撫，整營製，舉賢能，資遣越南游眾，越事漸告寧。 新任巡撫沈秉成蒞官，乃乞病去。
The following year, as the French used the Vietnamese crisis as a pretext to raid the frontier, Bingheng was placed in charge of the Longzhou Western Transport Bureau. Funds were exhausted; troops went unpaid, and the dead lay heaped in wagons and litters with no one to care for them. Bingheng tightened his own frugality, cut waste, and—making no distinction between local and outside troops—kept rations flowing without interruption; for the wounded and the meritorious in battle, he rewarded as generously as he could. He also set up a field hospital for wounded soldiers and visited them in person three or four times a day; even the lowest officers he would receive and earnestly exhort to kill the enemy and repay the dynasty. When the appointment as acting governor-general was announced, cheers rolled like thunder. He and Feng Zicai split the duties of attack and defense between them. After the victory at Lang Son, Peng Yulin and others wrote: "These two ministers are loyal and upright, equally trusted by the people, and their achievements are equally outstanding." Both men received special commendation. His earlier appointment as acting governor-general was confirmed; he reorganized the camps and regulations, elevated the able, provided for Vietnamese refugees, and the Vietnamese crisis gradually quieted. When the new governor Shen Bingcheng arrived to take office, he pleaded illness and resigned.
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二十年，東事棘，召為山東巡撫。 至則嚴紀律，杜苞苴。 以威海、旅順筦鑰北門，遂率師駐煙台。 聞旅順不守，劾罷丁汝昌、龔照嶼等，以警威海守將。 既而日軍浮三艦窺登州，秉衡悉萃精兵於西北，而榮城以戎備寡，為日軍所誘而獲，時論詬之。 其時大刀會起，主仇教，勢漸張。 二十三年，會眾戕德國教士，德使海靖要褫秉衡職，編修王廷相力爭之，徙督四川。 海靖請益堅，乃罷免。 於是秉衡隱安陽，居三年，剛毅入樞廷，薦之起，入都。 廷相慕其名，往訪，遂訂交。 朝命秉衡詣奉天按事，奏廷相自隨。 既至，糾不職者數人，皆廷相微服所詗知者。 還，會御史彭述疏請整飭長江水師，詔使秉衡往，秉衡固辭，太后責勉之，遂行。
In 1894, as the crisis in the east grew acute, he was summoned to serve as governor of Shandong. On taking office he enforced strict discipline and shut the door to bribery. Because Weihai and Lüshun held the keys to the northern coast, he led his forces to camp at Yantai. When he learned that Lüshun had fallen, he impeached Ding Ruchang, Gong Zhaoyu, and others, intending to warn the commanders at Weihai. Soon afterward three Japanese warships probed Dengzhou; Bingheng concentrated his best troops in the northwest, while Rongcheng, thinly garrisoned, was lured into a trap and seized by the Japanese—drawing widespread blame upon him. About then the Big Sword Society arose, devoted to anti-Christian violence, and its influence steadily grew. In 1897 society members killed a German missionary; Minister von Heyking demanded that Bingheng be removed, but Compiler Wang Tingxiang fought hard on his behalf, and he was transferred instead to governor-general of Sichuan. Von Heyking pressed his demand still harder, and Bingheng was dismissed. Bingheng then withdrew to live quietly at Anyang. Three years later, when Gangyi joined the Grand Council and recommended him, he was summoned back to the capital. Wang Tingxiang, admiring his reputation, called on him, and the two became close friends. The court ordered Bingheng to Fengtian on an inspection tour, and he asked that Tingxiang accompany him. On arrival he impeached several negligent officials, every case having been uncovered by Tingxiang in plain clothes. After his return, when Censor Peng Shu memorialized for reform of the Yangtze fleet, the throne ordered Bingheng to take charge; he firmly declined, but the Empress Dowager rebuked and pressed him, and he went.
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歲餘，拳禍作，枋事者矯詔趣戰，電各省，諸疆臣失措，商之鴻章。 於是定畫保東南約，秉衡與焉。 無何，又請募師入衛。 至京，入覲太后，力主戰，遂命統張春發、陳澤霖、夏辛酉、萬本華四軍，出屯楊村、河西塢。 戰才合，張、萬二軍先潰，澤霖自武清移壁，聞砲聲，軍皆走。 秉衡不得已，退通州，疾書致各將領，述諸軍畏葸狀，飲金死。 事聞，優詔賜卹，諡忠節。 聯軍索罪魁，請重治，以先死免議，詔褫職，奪卹典。
A little over a year later the Boxer catastrophe broke out; those in power forged edicts urging war and wired every province; the provincial governors were at a loss and turned to Li Hongzhang for counsel. The plan to preserve the southeast was then drawn up, and Bingheng was party to it. Before long he also asked permission to raise troops and march to the capital's defense. When he reached the capital he had an audience with the Empress Dowager, urged war with all his force, and was ordered to take command of the four armies under Zhang Chunfa, Chen Zelin, Xia Xinyu, and Wan Benhua, encamped at Yangcun and Hexi Wu. Hardly had battle been joined when Zhang's and Wan's forces broke and ran; Zelin had shifted camp from Wuqing, but at the first cannon shot his entire army fled. Bingheng had no choice but to fall back to Tongzhou; he wrote urgently to the commanders describing the armies' cowardice, then took poison and died. When the news reached court, an edict of special favor granted posthumous honors, and he was given the posthumous name Zhongjie, Loyal to the End. The allied powers demanded the chief culprits and called for severe punishment; because he had already died he escaped formal prosecution, but an edict stripped his office and revoked his posthumous honors.
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廷相，字梅岑，直隸承德人，本籍山東。 少劬學，以孝稱。 光緒十三年進士，以編修督山西學政。 口外七廳洊飢，有司匿不聞，為上流民殘弊狀，獲賑如腹地。 二十三年，轉御史，敢言事。 時宗室、覺羅官學久廢不葺，廷相謂培材宜自近始，請依八旗官學新章，求實際，議行。 國用患不足，計臣議加賦，廷相力申李鴻藻議，為民請命，事遂寢。 二十四年元旦，日食，疏請勤修省，條上七事，而尤以進賢退不肖為國家治亂之源。 因劾張廕桓媚外人、交近侍，並以浙江學政徐致祥秩滿調安徽，外似優隆，內實屏絕。 嚴旨下吏議，敕還原衙門行走。 拳亂起，秉衡出禦聯軍，廷相從。 及敗，尋秉衡不遇，還至倉頭橋，赴河死。 子履豐，拯之不及，從之，遇救免。 贈五品卿，予世職，賞履豐主事。
Wang Tingxiang, styled Meicen, was registered in Chengde, Zhili, though his ancestral home was in Shandong. From youth he studied hard and was known for filial devotion. He passed the jinshi examination in 1887 and, while serving as a Hanlin compiler, was appointed educational commissioner of Shanxi. In the seven districts beyond the pass famine struck again and again, but local officials hid the reports; he memorialized the suffering of refugees and the abuses they endured and secured relief on the same terms as the interior provinces. In 1897 he was made a censor and spoke boldly on public affairs. The official schools for the imperial clan and the Aisin Gioro line had long fallen into neglect; Tingxiang argued that cultivating talent should begin at home and asked that the new regulations for the Eight Banners schools be applied in earnest; the proposal was adopted. With the treasury short, the finance planners proposed raising taxes; Tingxiang strongly backed Li Hongzao's argument and pleaded for the people, and the proposal was shelved. On New Year's Day of 1898 there was a solar eclipse; he memorialized urging the court to examine itself, listed seven points, and stressed above all that promoting the worthy and removing the unworthy is what makes a state rise or fall. He impeached Zhang Yinhuán for fawning on foreigners and consorting with palace eunuchs, and charged that when Zhejiang Education Commissioner Xu Zhixiang completed his term and was transferred to Anhui, it looked like promotion but was in fact banishment. A stern edict sent the case to the judicial offices, then ordered him pardoned and restored to his former post. When the Boxer uprising broke out, Bingheng went out to face the allied armies, and Tingxiang went with him. After the defeat, unable to find Bingheng, he returned to Cangtou Bridge and threw himself into the river. His son Lüfeng, too late to save him, jumped in after him but was pulled out alive. He was posthumously granted the fifth-rank honorary title and a hereditary office, and Lüfeng was given a post as secretary.
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聶士成，字功亭，安徽合肥人。 初從袁甲三軍討捻，補把總。 同治初，改隸淮軍，從劉銘傳分援江、浙、閩、皖，累遷至副將。 東捻敗，賜號力勇巴圖魯，擢總兵。 西捻平，晉提督。 光緒十年，法人據基隆，率師渡台灣，屢戰卻敵。 還北洋，統慶軍駐旅順。 十七年，海軍大閱禮成，晉頭品秩。 調統蘆臺淮、練諸軍，擊熱河朝陽教匪，擒斬其酋楊悅春，賞黃馬褂，易勇號曰巴圖隆阿。 明年，授山西太原鎮總兵，仍留蘆臺治軍。 請單騎巡邊，歷東三省俄羅斯東境、朝鮮八道，圖其山川阨塞，著東遊紀程。
Nie Shicheng, whose style was Gongting, came from Hefei in Anhui. He first served under Yuan Jiasan in the campaign against the Nian rebels and was appointed platoon commander. Early in the Tongzhi reign he joined the Huai Army, followed Liu Mingchuan on relief operations in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Anhui, and rose step by step to deputy commander. When the eastern Nian were defeated, he was granted the title Liyong Batulu and promoted to regional commander. When the western Nian were pacified, he was promoted to provincial military commander. In 1884, when the French seized Keelung, he led his troops across to Taiwan and repeatedly drove the enemy back. He returned to the Beiyang command and led the Qing Army garrison at Lüshun. In 1891, after the grand naval review, he was raised to the first rank. He was transferred to command the Huai and trained troops at Lutai, attacked the Chaoyang sect rebels in Rehe, captured and beheaded their leader Yang Yuechun, was granted the yellow riding jacket, and his bravery title was changed to Baturong'a. The following year he was appointed regional commander of the Taiyuan garrison in Shanxi but remained at Lutai to command his forces. He asked to tour the frontier alone on horseback, traveling through the three eastern provinces, Russia's Far East, and Korea's eight provinces, mapping mountains and passes, and wrote An Eastern Journey Record.
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逾歲，日韓亂起，隨提督葉志超軍牙山。 聞高升兵艦毀，語志超曰：「海道梗，牙山不可守。 公州背山面江，勢便利。」 從之。 士成乃先諸軍發，次成歡，遇伏，迷失道，吏士無人色。 士成見二鶴立岡阜，語眾曰：「彼處無隱兵也！」 遂出險，往就志超。 志超已棄公州行，追及之。 士成議趨平壤合大軍，而鴻章檄令內渡，以故平壤陷，得免議。 志超逮問，宋慶接統諸軍，遣士成守虎山。 未幾，銘軍潰，諸軍皆走，士成猶悉力以御。 日軍大集，力不支，退扼大高嶺。 是時遼西危棘，士成請奇兵出敵後截其運道，諸帥不從，乃自率師偪雪裡站而陣。 除夕，置酒飲將士，預設伏以待，日軍果來襲，大敗之分水嶺，斬日將富剛三造。 優詔褒勉，授直隸提督。
A year later, when trouble broke out between Japan and Korea, he followed Provincial Commander Ye Zhichao's army to Asan. When he learned that the transport Kowshing had been sunk, he told Zhichao: "The sea lane is cut; Asan cannot be held. Gongju has the mountains at its back and the river before it—the ground favors defense." Zhichao took his advice. Shicheng marched ahead of the other columns, reached Seonghwan, ran into an ambush, and lost the road; officers and men turned ashen. Shicheng saw two cranes standing on a hill and told the men: "No troops are hidden there!" They thus got clear of the trap and rejoined Zhichao. Zhichao had already abandoned Gongju and marched on; Shicheng caught up with him. Shicheng urged pressing on to Pyongyang to join the main army, but Li Hongzhang's order commanded withdrawal across the sea; when Pyongyang fell he therefore escaped blame. Zhichao was arrested and brought to trial; Song Qing took command of the armies and sent Shicheng to hold Tiger Mountain. Before long Liu Mingchuan's army collapsed and every column fled, yet Shicheng still fought with all his strength to hold the line. The Japanese massed in force; unable to hold, he fell back to defend Dagao Ridge. Western Liaoning was then in dire peril; Shicheng proposed sending a daring detachment behind the enemy to cut their supply line, but the other commanders refused, so he himself led his troops forward and drew up battle lines before Xuelizhan. On New Year's Eve he feasted his officers and laid ambushes in advance; the Japanese attacked as expected and were routed at Fen Shuiling, where the Japanese officer Fukushima was beheaded. An edict of special praise was issued, and he was appointed provincial commander of Zhili.
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和議成，還駐蘆臺。 北洋創立武衛軍，改所部三十營為前軍，與宋慶、董福祥、袁世凱並為統帥。 慶、福祥用舊法訓練，世凱軍仿日式，士成軍則半仿德式，是為武衛四軍。
When peace was made, he returned to camp at Lutai. The Beiyang command created the Wuwei Army; his thirty battalions became the Front Army, and he served as one of its four commanders alongside Song Qing, Dong Fuxiang, and Yuan Shikai. Song and Dong trained by the old methods, Yuan's force followed the Japanese model, and Shicheng's troops were half trained on the German pattern—these were the four Wuwei armies.
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二十六年，拳匪亂，戕總兵楊福同，命士成相機剿辦。 匪焚黃村、廊坊鐵軌，士成阻止之，弗應，擊殺數十人。 其黨大恨，訴諸朝，朝旨訶責士成。 時匪麕集天津可二萬，遇武衛軍輒詬辱，士成檢勒部下毋妄動。 榮祿慮激變，馳書慰解之，士成覆書曰：「匪害民，必至害國！ 身為提督，境有匪不能剿，如職何？」 乃鬱鬱駐楊村觀變。 會英、法諸國聯軍至，士成三分其軍，一護鐵路，一留蘆臺，而自率兵守天津。 連奪陳家溝、跑馬廠、八里台，徑攻紫竹林，喋血八晝夜，敵來益眾，燃毒煙砲，我軍稍卻。 士成立橋上手刃退卒，顧諸將曰：「此吾致命之所也，逾此一步非夫矣！」 遂殞於陣，腸胃洞流。 詔賜卹。 閱二載，以世凱言，贈太子少保，諡忠節，建專祠。
In 1900 the Boxer bandits rose in revolt and killed Regional Commander Yang Futong; Shicheng was ordered to suppress them as circumstances permitted. The bandits burned the railway at Huangcun and Langfang; Shicheng tried to stop them, but they would not listen, and he killed several dozen. The Boxers hated him bitterly and complained to the court, which issued an edict sharply rebuking Shicheng. Some twenty thousand bandits had gathered in Tianjin; whenever they met Wuwei troops they cursed and abused them, and Shicheng strictly forbade his men to retaliate. Ronglu feared provoking a crisis and sent a letter to calm him; Shicheng replied: "These bandits harm the people and will surely harm the state! As a provincial commander, if bandits roam my jurisdiction and I cannot suppress them, what is left of my duty?" He then withdrew in gloom to Yangcun and waited to see how events would unfold. When the British, French, and other allied armies arrived, Shicheng split his force three ways: one detachment guarded the railway, one remained at Lutai, and he himself led the rest to defend Tianjin. He took Chenjiagou, Paomachang, and Balitai in succession and pressed straight on the Zilinzhu concessions; for eight days and nights the fighting was bloody, but the enemy came in ever greater numbers, fired poison-gas shells, and our troops were forced to give ground. Shicheng stood on the bridge and himself killed fleeing soldiers; turning to his generals he said: "Here I lay down my life; any man who steps back from this spot is no man at all!" He then fell in battle, his bowels torn open and spilling forth. An edict granted posthumous honors. Two years later, on Yuan Shikai's recommendation, he was posthumously made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, given the posthumous name Zhongjie, and granted a special shrine.
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羅榮光，湖南乾州人。 初隸曾國籓麾下，補把總。 同治初，李鴻章規三吳，從西將華爾克青浦，攻南橋鎮、柘林，直搗其巢，大敗之。 乘勝复沙川、金山，遷守備。 又從西將戈登釋常、昭圍，以次下太倉、崑山諸邑。 累擢參將。 攻常州，先登，城复，遷副將，賜號果勇巴圖魯。 除狼山鎮右營游擊。 蘇軍分援浙、皖、閩，連克湖州、長興、廣德、漳州、漳浦諸城，與有功，擢總兵。 六年，東捻擾魯疆，榮光以偏師游弋淮南北，敗捻於運。 東捻回竄江、淮，分寇海、沭、邳、宿，並擊退之。 明年，西捻窺滑、濬，我師躡之，榮光戰數挫，而勇氣彌厲。 鴻章謀困之黃、運間，緣河築長壘，榮光壁當敵衝，相持凡三閱月。 會霖雨，寇多陷淖死，榮光復躡之東北，勢益蹙，張總愚自沉於河。 事寧，晉記名提督。 自是徙防金陵、武昌、西安，凡二年。 移駐天津，補大沽協副將。
Luo Rongguang came from Qianzhou in Hunan. He first served in Zeng Guofan's command and was appointed platoon commander. Early in the Tongzhi reign, as Li Hongzhang reorganized the lower Yangtze, he followed the Western officer Ward to Qingpu, attacked Nanqiao and Zhilin, struck straight at the rebel stronghold, and won a great victory. Pressing the advantage, he recovered Shachuan and Jinshan and was promoted to garrison commander. He also followed Gordon in raising the sieges of Changzhou and Zhaowu, then took Taicang, Kunshan, and other towns in turn. He rose step by step to colonel. At the assault on Changzhou he was first over the wall; when the city fell he was made deputy commander and granted the title Guoyong Batulu. He was appointed mobile battalion commander of the right camp at Langshan. When the Su forces were sent to aid Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian, he helped capture Huzhou, Changxing, Guangde, Zhangzhou, Zhangpu, and other cities, and was promoted to regional commander for his service. In 1867, when the eastern Nian raided Shandong, Rongguang led a detached column along the Huai and defeated them on the Grand Canal. When the eastern Nian swung back into the Jianghuai and split to raid Hai, Shu, Pi, and Su, he drove them off on every front. The next year the western Nian probed Hua and Jun; as our forces pursued them, Rongguang suffered several defeats, yet fought all the more fiercely. Li Hongzhang planned to trap them between the Yellow River and the Grand Canal and built long earthworks along the waterways; Rongguang's rampart lay in the enemy's path, and the standoff lasted three months. When torrential rains came, many rebels sank in the mud and died; Rongguang pursued them northeast; their plight grew desperate, and Zhang Zongyu drowned himself in the river. When peace was restored he was advanced to brevet provincial commander. He was then posted in turn to garrison Jinling, Wuchang, and Xi'an over two years. He was transferred to Tianjin and appointed assistant regional commander of the Dagu garrison.
13
光緒七年，創設水雷營，遴各營將士演習，兼授化電測量諸學。 既而北塘、山海關相繼設，皆受成於榮光。 醇親王閱北洋軍，以其教練有方，薦授天津鎮總兵。 位漸顯，服食儉約若老兵然。 二十六年，擢喀什噶爾提督，未之官而拳亂起，八國兵艦入寇，榮光守大沽砲台。 大沽水深廣，河道縈曲，曲有台，備險奧，外兵懾其勢，弗敢進。 榮光備益嚴，乃佯就款，使人言於裕祿，謂第得四五艘入口護僑商，無他意，裕祿許之。 榮光聞而大驚，力阻，而敵艦已踵入，將及台，遽出砲仰擊。 榮光再謁裕祿乞發戰令，諜者已報台毀，榮光憤極，歸，拔刀殺眷屬，曰：「毋令辱外人手！」 遂出赴難，一僕隨之，不知所終。 他日得其屍台下，僕屍亦在焉。 沒三日而天津陷，時年六十有七。
In 1881 he established a torpedo battalion, chose officers and men from every camp for training, and also taught chemistry, electricity, and surveying. Beitang and Shanhaiguan soon followed with similar units, all trained under Rongguang's supervision. When Prince Chun inspected the Beiyang army and found his training sound, he recommended him as regional commander of the Tianjin garrison. Though his rank rose high, he dressed and ate as plainly as a veteran private. In 1900 he was promoted to provincial commander of Kashgar, but before he could take office the Boxer uprising broke out; the fleets of eight powers invaded, and Rongguang held the Dagu forts. The waters at Dagu are deep and wide, the channels winding; forts stand at every bend, strong and hard to approach, and the foreign fleets feared them and held back. Rongguang tightened his defenses; the enemy then feigned negotiation and told Yulu through an envoy that only four or five ships wished to enter to protect their nationals, with no other intent—and Yulu consented. Rongguang was appalled and tried to stop them, but the enemy ships had already entered; as they neared the forts he opened fire at once. Rongguang again begged Yulu for the order to fight; spies had already reported the forts lost; in fury he returned, drew his sword, and killed his family, crying: "They must not be shamed by foreigners!" He then went out to die; one servant followed, and neither was ever seen again. Days later his body was found below the fort, with the servant dead beside him. Tianjin fell three days after his death; he was sixty-seven.
14
壽山，字眉峰，袁氏，漢軍正白旗人，黑龍江駐防，吉林將軍富明阿子。 以父任為員外郎，兼襲騎都尉世職，遷郎中。 光緒二十年，日軍犯奉天，自請赴前敵，充步隊統領。 弟永山領馬隊，數與日軍戰，复草河嶺，克連山關，進薄鳳凰城。 敵援至，永山歿於陣，壽山被重創。 以敢戰，兼領鎮邊軍馬隊。 逾歲，降敕褒嘉。 官軍既克海城，壽山領七十騎詣遼南诇敵勢，遇之湯岡子，搏戰，槍彈入右腹，貫左臀出，戰愈猛，敵稍卻，馳還壁，血縷縷滿衣袴。 上嘉其勇，遷知府，賞花翎。
Shoushan, styled Meifeng, of the Yuan clan, was a Plain White Bannerman garrisoned in Heilongjiang and son of Fuming'a, governor-general of Jilin. Through his father's position he became an outer-court secretary, also inherited the hereditary post of Commandant of Cavalry, and rose to director. In 1894, when the Japanese invaded Fengtian, he volunteered for the front as commander of the infantry. His younger brother Yongshan led the cavalry; they fought the Japanese repeatedly, recovered Caoling, took Lianshan Pass, and pressed toward Fengcheng. When enemy reinforcements arrived Yongshan fell in battle and Shoushan was badly wounded. For his bold fighting he was also given command of the Frontier Defense Army's cavalry. A year later the throne issued an edict of praise. After the army recovered Haicheng, Shoushan led seventy horsemen to scout the enemy in southern Liaoning; at Tangangzi they fought; a bullet entered his right side and passed out his left hip; he fought all the harder; the enemy fell back slightly; he rode back to camp with blood soaking his clothes. The court praised his courage; he was promoted to prefect and granted the peacock feather.
15
二十三年，調充鎮邊軍左路統領，徙駐黑龍江城。 越二年，除知開封遺缺知府，未之官，值東北邊防亟，超改黑龍江副都統。 明年春，入覲，垂詢邊情甚悉，命佐將軍恩澤治軍。 疏請增募十五營，調諳邊事者十餘人，躬詣上海購軍械，自長崎、海參崴、伯利循海歸，潛度形勢，備戰守。 新軍成，而恩澤卒於任，朝命代之。 既蒞事，鏟姦弊，明賞罰，圖要塞； 手訂行陣操法，頒之各將領，使番上，授以方略； 雖末弁亦接見，籍記備器使。
In 1897 he was made commander of the left wing of the Frontier Defense Army and moved his headquarters to Heilongjiang City. Two years later he was named to the vacant prefecture of Kaifeng but did not take office; with the northeastern frontier in crisis he was promoted out of turn to deputy lieutenant-general of Heilongjiang. The next spring he had an audience; the throne questioned him closely on border affairs and ordered him to assist General Enze in commanding the army. He asked to recruit fifteen more battalions, called in more than ten men who knew the frontier, went himself to Shanghai to buy arms, returned by sea via Nagasaki, Vladivostok, and Khabarovsk, secretly surveyed the terrain, and prepared for defense. When the new army was ready Enze died in office and the court ordered Shoushan to succeed him. Once in office he rooted out corruption, made rewards and punishments clear, and planned fortifications; he personally drafted field-drill regulations and issued them to every commander, requiring rotation on duty and teaching strategy; even junior officers he received in audience and recorded what equipment each could provide.
16
二十六年夏，拳亂作，俄軍數千聲為保護哈爾濱鐵軌，紛集海蘭泡，乞假道。 壽山曰：「敵偪我都，我假敵道，如大義何！」 拒之。 遂檄愛琿副都統鳳翔禦北路，呼倫貝爾副都統依興阿禦西路，通肯副都統慶祺禦東路，令各嚴戒備毋浪戰； 並牒俄勿進兵，願負保路責。 而俄軍已分道進，重以鐵路土工可十餘萬索值，倡罷工，揚言與俄為難。 壽山亟下令軍中曰：「保鐵路，護難民，全睦誼，違者殺無赦！」 復使統領吉祥約富拉爾基監工蓋爾肖甫入城，俾釋疑懼，而蓋爾肖甫乃擊殺工人宵遁。 壽山猶強為容忍也，慎導俄民出境，籍錄其財物備還，然俄軍不為止，入寇愛琿及黑河屯，華人被迫赴水者，屍蔽江下。
In the summer of 1900 the Boxer uprising broke out; several thousand Russian troops, claiming to protect the Harbin railway, gathered at Blagoveshchensk and asked to pass through. Shoushan said: "The enemy threatens our territory; if we let the enemy march through, what becomes of duty!" He refused. He ordered Deputy Lieutenant-General Fengxiang of Aihui to hold the northern route, Yixing'a of Hulunbuir the west, and Qingqi of Tongken the east, telling each to stand on guard and not fight recklessly; he also notified the Russians not to advance, offering to bear full responsibility for protecting the railway. But Russian columns were already advancing on several roads; more than a hundred thousand railway laborers demanded wages, struck work, and openly threatened Russia. Shoushan urgently ordered the army: "Protect the railway, shelter refugees, preserve good relations—violators shall be executed without mercy!" He also sent Commander Jixiang with Giershov at Fularji to supervise work and enter the city to ease fears, but Giershov killed workers by night and fled. Shoushan still forced forbearance, carefully escorting Russian civilians out and recording their goods for return, yet the Russians did not stop; they invaded Aihui and Heihe Tun; Chinese driven into the river left the water choked with corpses downstream.
17
三姓、呼倫貝爾又紛紛告警，壽山亟電吉林將軍長順會攻哈爾濱，然猶囑其語俄總監工，謂若罷兵，願以全家質。 當是時，諸路軍皆潰敗，北路統領崇玉，營官德春、瑞昌，西路統領保全，東路營官保林，並陷陣死，於是俄遂偪齊齊哈爾省城。 既而聞聯軍媾和，乃遣同知程德全往商和議，而自守「軍覆則死」之義，命妻及子婦先裁，手繕遺疏，猶惓惓於墾政，並致書俄將領囑勿戕民。 閱日，具衣冠，飲金，臥柩中，不死； 呼其屬下材官擊以槍，不忍，手顫機動，彈出中左脅，猶不死； 更呼材官擊小腹，仍不死； 呼益厲，又擊之，氣始絕。 先是詔責其開邊釁，部議奪職。 後以總督徐世昌請復官，予騎都尉兼雲騎尉世職，附祀富明阿祠。
Sanxing and Hulunbuir also sent alarms; Shoushan wired Jilin Governor Chang Shun to attack Harbin jointly, yet still told the Russian chief engineer that if they halted he would pledge his whole family. By then every column had been broken; on the north Commander Chongyu and camp officers Dechun and Ruichang, on the west Commander Baoquan, on the east camp officer Baolin—all fell; the Russians then pressed on Qiqihar. When word came that the allied powers had made peace, he sent Subprefect Cheng Dequan to negotiate, while he upheld the rule that a defeated commander must die; he had his wife and daughters-in-law killed first, wrote his final memorial still urging land reclamation, and wrote the Russian commanders begging them not to harm civilians. A day later, in full dress, he drank poison and lay in his coffin, but did not die; he called his armorer to shoot him; the man could not bear to, his hand shook, the trigger slipped, the bullet struck his left side, yet he still lived; he called again for a shot in the lower belly; still he lived; he shouted all the fiercer; they shot again, and only then did he die. Earlier an edict had blamed him for provoking border trouble and the Board had voted to strip his rank. Later, at Governor-General Xu Shichang's request, his rank was restored; he was granted hereditary offices and given a place in sacrifice at Fuming'a's shrine.
18
族孫瑞昌，充北路營官，俄陷黑河，與統領崇玉同戰歿。
His clansman Ruichang served as northern-route camp officer; when the Russians took Heihe he died fighting beside Commander Chongyu.
19
鳳翔，字集庭，漢軍鑲黃旗人，吉林駐防。 累官協領。 光緒二十一年，中日事起，將軍長順赴奉督師，鳳翔任餽運，給食不乏。 尋擢愛琿副都統。 二十六年，俄將固畢乃脫爾來假道，壽山令愛琿戒備。 俄軍已自黑龍江下駛，翼日，俄官廓米薩爾名闊利士密德者，浮軍艦至，鳳翔遣軍拒之三道溝。 闊利士密德來謁，申前請，弗允，赬怒去，令舟師擊我，而我師已先發，殲其軍官二，闊利士密德被重創，奔還海蘭泡，旋卒。 於是黑河軍與海蘭泡俄軍相轟擊者數日。 鳳翔令統領王仲良率騎旅三百渡江擊之，始小挫，繼獲大勝。 俄軍緣江遁，師往馳之，會其軍艦泊江岸，載歸。 閱二日，又渡江來，擊卻之。 遲明，又率步旅六千自五道河濟，右路統領崇玉望見之，其軍皆樹我幟，衣我衣，意為漠河護礦兵也，弗敢擊，既登岸始覺，而勢已不可遏，我師敗績，崇玉殞於陣，愛琿陷。 壽山聞之，亟令鳳翔回援，弗及。 鳳翔駐兜溝子，去愛琿七十里。
Fengxiang, styled Jiting, was a Bordered Yellow Bannerman garrisoned in Jilin. He rose step by step to assistant commandant. In 1895, when war broke out between China and Japan, General Chang Shun went to Fengtian to command; Fengxiang handled transport and food never ran short. Soon he was promoted to deputy lieutenant-general of Aihui. In 1900 the Russian general Gubinadel came asking passage; Shoushan ordered Aihui to stand on guard. Russian troops had already sailed down the Amur; the next day the Russian officer Komissarov arrived with gunboats; Fengxiang sent troops to meet him at Sandao Gou. Komissarov came to call and repeated the request; it was refused; he left in anger and ordered his fleet to attack, but our troops had already fired, killing two officers; Komissarov was badly wounded, fled to Blagoveshchensk, and soon died. For days thereafter the Heihe army and the Russians at Blagoveshchensk exchanged fire. Fengxiang ordered Commander Wang Zhongliang to lead three hundred cavalry across the river; at first they met a small setback, then a great victory. The Russians fled along the river; our forces pursued and towed back their gunboats moored on the bank. Two days later they crossed again; we drove them back. At dawn six thousand infantry crossed from Wudao River; Commander Chongyu on the right saw them flying our banners in our uniforms and thought them the Mohe mineral guard; he dared not fire until they had landed; by then it was too late; our army was routed, Chongyu fell, and Aihui was lost. When Shoushan heard, he urgently ordered Fengxiang back, but too late. Fengxiang held Dougouzi, seventy li from Aihui.
20
踰月，俄軍復至，槍彈雨下，鳳翔以戰為守，相持累日。 黑龍江行軍故無棚帳，戰罷露宿，眾苦寒，以是軍有怨聲，鳳翔慮譁潰，復以地勢平衍難扼守，乃請壽山結陣徐退，抵內興安嶺軍焉，去兜溝子又百六十里。 未幾，俄軍爭上嶺，勢洶洶，師失利，仍扼嶺拒之。 敵攻益亟，鳳翔悉甲出，令曰：「有後者斬！」 而自赴前敵督懾。 有材官稍卻，立使飛騎斬之。 材官懼，大呼陷陣，俄軍少卻，復進，遂大敗，署北路翼長恆玉斷一臂，俄將卒死傷無算。 鳳翔戰既酣，右臂左足兩受彈傷，墜馬者三，輒复躍上，鏖戰不少休，既還，嘔血數升而死。 事聞，優恤如製。
A month later the Russians returned; bullets fell like rain; Fengxiang fought to hold and the standoff lasted many days. The Heilongjiang troops had no tents and slept in the open after battle; the cold bred discontent; Fengxiang feared mutiny; the ground was too open to hold; he asked Shoushan to withdraw in order to the Inner Xing'an camp, another hundred sixty li beyond Dougouzi. Soon the Russians pressed up the ridge in force; our troops were beaten but still held the pass. As the attack intensified Fengxiang sent out his whole force with the order: "Whoever retreats shall be beheaded!" He himself went to the front to command. When an armorer gave ground slightly he sent a mounted courier to behead him at once. The men in fear shouted and charged; the Russians fell back, advanced again, and were routed; Acting Northern Wing Commander Hengyu lost an arm, and countless Russians were killed or wounded. Fengxiang fought with all his might; his right arm and left foot were shot; three times he fell from his horse and leaped back up; he would not stop; after returning to camp he vomited blood and died. When word reached court, posthumous honors were granted by regulation.
21
崇玉，通肯正藍旗佐領。 時同死事者，玉慶，黑龍江城世管佐領。 城陷被執，詈不絕口，死最慘。 扎魯布，黑龍江城水師四品官。 懷印以殉，死後猶手握印不可脫。 又段國英，宜黃人，以縣丞榷鹽阿什河。 俄兵至，令讓所處屯兵，嚴詞拒之，縛而去； 旋釋歸，則俄兵已佔其地，且懸俄幟，國英大哭曰：「中國亡矣！」 觸石，頭裂，死。 俄人觀者皆嘆息。
Chongyu was an assistant commandant of the Plain Blue Banner at Tongken. Those who died with him included Yuqing, hereditary assistant commandant of Heilongjiang City. When the city fell he was taken alive; he cursed without cease and died most horribly. Zhalubu was a fourth-rank naval officer of Heilongjiang City. He died clutching his seal; after death his hand still held the seal and could not be pried open. Also Duan Guoying of Yihuang, who as assistant magistrate collected salt tax on the Ashi River. When Russian troops came they ordered him to yield the garrison; he refused in the strongest terms and was bound and led away; soon released, he found the Russians had occupied the place and raised their flag; Guoying wept aloud: "China is lost!" He dashed his head against a rock and died. Russian onlookers all sighed in admiration.
22
論曰：秉衡清忠自矢，受命危難，大節凜然，此不能以成敗論也。 聯軍之佔津、海也，長驅而入，唯士成阻之； 俄兵之侵龍江也，乘隙以進，唯壽山拒之：固知必不能敵，誓以一死報耳。 榮光爭大沽，鳳翔守愛琿，雖已無救於大局，而至死不屈，外人亦為之奪氣，何其壯哉！
The commentators say: Bingheng held fast to integrity and took up duty in crisis; his great constancy commands respect—this cannot be judged by success or failure alone. When the allied armies held Tianjin and the coast they advanced at will; only Shicheng stood in their way; When the Russians invaded the Amur country they pressed through every gap; only Shoushan stood against them—knowing he could not win, yet sworn to repay his duty with his life. Rongguang fought at Dagu and Fengxiang held Aihui; though neither could alter the larger outcome, both died unbowed, and even the foreigners were struck with awe—how splendid their courage!