Volume 527 Biographies 314: Tributary State Biographies 2: Vietnam

越南先稱安南。順治初，安南都統使莫敬耀來歸，未及授爵而卒，尋授其子莫元清爲安南都統使。

Vietnam was earlier known as Annam. Early in the Shunzhi reign, Mo Jingyao, the regional commander of Annam, submitted to the Qing court. He died before a noble rank could be granted, and his son Mo Yuanqing was soon appointed regional commander of Annam in his place.

十六年八月，經略大學士洪承疇始奏言安南國遣目吏玉川伯鄧福綏、朝陽伯阮光華，齎啓赴信郡王軍前抒誠納款。

In the eighth month of the sixteenth year, Grand Secretary and commissioner-general Hong Chengchou first reported that Annam had dispatched the officials Deng Fusui, Earl of Yuchuan, and Ruan Guanghua, Earl of Chaoyang, who carried a memorial to the Prince of Xin's camp to declare their sincere submission.

十七年九月，黎維祺始自稱國王，奉表貢方物，帝嘉之，賜文绮、白金。

In the ninth month of the seventeenth year, Le Vi Qi first took the title of king, sent a memorial with tribute goods, and the emperor praised him and granted brocade and silver.

十八年，敕曰：「朕惟修德來遠，盛代之弘谟；納款歸仁，人臣之正誼。既輸誠而向化，用錫命以宣恩。褒忠勸良，典至重也。爾安南國王黎維祺，僻處炎方，保有厥衆。乃能被服聲教，特先遣使來歸，循覽表文，悃忱可見。古稱識時俊傑，王庶幾有之。用錫敕獎諭，仍賫爾差官，釵仁根、銀幣、衣服等事，遣通事序班一員伴送至廣西，沿途撥發兵馬導之出疆。爾受茲寵，命其益勵忠節，永作屏籓，恪守職貢，丕承無斁。欽哉！」未幾，維祺卒，子維禔嗣。尋又卒，子維禧嗣。

In the eighteenth year, an edict declared: "I hold that to cultivate virtue and draw distant peoples near is the grand design of a flourishing age; to offer submission and embrace righteousness is the proper duty of a subject. Now that you have shown sincerity and turned toward civilization, I bestow this mandate to proclaim my favor. To reward loyalty and encourage the worthy is a ritual of the greatest importance. You, King Le Vi Qi of Annam, dwell in the distant southern realm and hold your people in your charge. You have been able to accept our civilizing influence and have taken the lead in sending envoys to submit. Reading your memorial, I can see your earnest sincerity plainly. The ancients praised the man of talent who knows the times; Your Majesty may well deserve that name. I therefore grant this edict of commendation and reward your envoys with brocade, ginseng, silver, garments, and the like. One interpreter-attendant shall escort them to Guangxi, and troops shall be assigned along the route to conduct them out of the empire. Receive this favor and strive all the more in loyalty, that you may forever serve as a bulwark of the realm, strictly observe your tribute duties, and carry on this charge without fail. Take heed!" Not long afterward, Vi Qi died, and his son Vi The succeeded him. He too died soon after, and his son Vi Hi succeeded him.

康熙二年十一月，維禧遣黎斅等表謝，附貢方物。

In the eleventh month of the second year of the Kangxi reign, Vi Hi sent Le Jiao and others with a memorial of thanks and accompanying tribute goods.

三年二月，遣内院編修吳光、禮部司務朱志遠，諭祭故王維祺、維禔。

In the second month of the third year, the court sent Inner Court compiler Wu Guang and Ministry of Rites clerk Zhu Zhiyuan to conduct sacrificial rites for the late kings Vi Qi and Vi The.

五年五月，維禧繳送故明王永曆敕、印，遣内國史館翰林學士程方朝、禮部郎中張易賁冊封維禧爲安南國王，賜鍍金駝鈕銀印。

In the fifth month of the fifth year, Vi Hi turned over the edicts and seals of the former Ming Yongli Emperor. The court then sent Historiography Institute academician Cheng Fangchao and Ministry of Rites director Zhang Yiben to invest Vi Hi as king of Annam and grant him a gilded silver seal with a camel-shaped knob.

六年，維禧奪都統使莫元清高平地，元清奔雲南，上疏陳訴，帝命安置南甯。維祺亦上疏言興兵復讐本末。初，明正德十一年，社堂燒香官陳暠殺其王莫晭自立，晭臣都力士莫登庸讨殺暠，立晭兄子譓。嘉靖元年，登庸逐譓自立，譓子黎平據清華自爲一國。後莫氏漸衰，但保高平一郡，勢益弱。至是，帝遣内院侍讀李仙根、兵部主事楊兆傑，齎敕諭維禧，将高平土地、人民歸莫元清：『各守其土，盡爾籓職。』初，安南定爲三年一貢。七年，維禧疏請六年兩貢，并進，帝如所請。八年，使臣李仙根等齎回，維禧覆疏，言遵旨，将高平府、石林、廣原、上琅、下琅土地、人民歸莫元清，因奏稱黎維禧所歸土地，尚有保樂、七源二州，崑崙、金馬等十二總社未還，請再敕諭全還，帝不許。是年，黎維禧薨，弟黎維權理國事。十三年正月，維以訃告，遣陪臣胡士揚等進。

In the sixth year, Vi Hi seized Gao Ping from the regional commander Mo Yuanqing. Yuanqing fled to Yunnan and appealed to the throne, and the emperor ordered that he be resettled at Nanning. Vi Qi also submitted a memorial explaining in full why he had raised troops to take revenge. Earlier, in the eleventh year of the Zhengde reign, Chen Hao, an incense-offering official, killed King Mo Zhao and seized the throne. Zhao's subject Mo Dengyong, a capital guardsman, attacked and killed Hao and enthroned Zhao's nephew Mo Sui. In the first year of the Jiajing reign, Dengyong drove out Sui and seized power for himself, while Sui's son Le Bin held Qinghua and established a separate domain. Later the Mo clan gradually declined until they held only Gao Ping commandery, and their power grew steadily weaker. At this point the emperor sent Inner Court reader Li Xiangen and Ministry of War principal secretary Yang Zhaojie with an edict instructing Vi Hi to return the land and people of Gao Ping to Mo Yuanqing: "Each shall keep his own territory and fully perform his vassal duties." Annam had earlier been required to send tribute once every three years. In the seventh year, Vi Hi asked to send tribute twice within six years in a single mission, and the emperor approved. In the eighth year, after Li Xiangen and the other envoys returned, Vi Hi submitted another memorial stating that he had obeyed the edict and returned to Mo Yuanqing the lands and people of Gao Ping prefecture, Shilin, Guangyuan, Shanglang, and Xialang. He also reported that the prefectures of Baole and Qiyuan and twelve village leagues including Kunlun and Jinma had not yet been returned, and asked for a further edict ordering their full restoration. The emperor refused. That year Le Vi Hi died, and his younger brother Le Vi Quan took charge of state affairs. In the first month of the thirteenth year, Vi announced the death and sent attending ministers Hu Shiyang and others to present the memorial.

康熙八年、十一年歲貢，疏言：『先王世守安南，爲逆臣莫登庸篡弑，賴輔政鄭檍之祖剿除恢復。莫逆遺孽篡據高平，乍臣乍叛。至莫元清懼臣讨罪，潛入内地投誠。

In the tribute missions of the eighth and eleventh years of Kangxi, he wrote: "Our former kings held Annam for generations until the rebel Mo Dengyong usurped and murdered them. Only through the ancestor of Regent Zheng Zhen, who crushed the rebels and restored the realm, was the dynasty recovered. The surviving remnant of the Mo rebels seized Gao Ping and alternated between submission and rebellion. When Mo Yuanqing feared punishment, he secretly entered Qing territory and submitted.

康熙八年，奉命令還高平，臣維禧欽奉君命，敢不懔遵。但莫元清爲臣不共之仇，高平爲世守之土，叛逆竊據，禍在蕭牆。叩懔天恩，仍令高平屬歸本國。且莫元清尚有誓辭及祭伊父莫敬耀文，内有「圖逆天朝」之語，今謹敬呈，并貢方物。』事下部議。尋議：『前維禧退還莫元清高平，取有復相和好印結。今維雖言收得誓書、祭文，但此文年久，誓辭系莫敬耀名，或得自敬耀存時，或得自元清今日，殊難懸拟，應饬維查明具題再議。』從之。

In the eighth year of Kangxi, obeying the imperial command to return Gao Ping, your subject Vi Hi reverently accepted the sovereign's order and dared not fail to comply. Yet Mo Yuanqing is an irreconcilable enemy, and Gao Ping is territory our house has held for generations. With rebels holding it in secret, disaster threatens at our very gates. I humbly beg Heaven's grace that Gao Ping may again be restored to our realm. Moreover, Mo Yuanqing still possesses an oath and a funerary text for his father Mo Jingyao containing the words "plot against the Celestial Court." I now respectfully present these, together with tribute goods." The matter was referred to the ministries for deliberation. Shortly thereafter the ministries decided: "When Vi Hi earlier returned Gao Ping to Mo Yuanqing, a sealed bond of renewed friendship was obtained. Although Vi now claims to have obtained the oath and funerary text, the documents are old and the oath bears Mo Jingyao's name. They may date from Jingyao's lifetime or from Yuanqing's present holdings, and it is difficult to judge. Vi should be ordered to investigate and report in a memorial for further deliberation." The emperor approved.

十四年，黎維卒，弟維正權理國事。

In the fourteenth year, Le Vi died, and his younger brother Vi Chinh took charge of state affairs.

十六年，帝諭維正曰：『逆賊吳三桂，值明季闖賊之變，委身從賊，以父死賊手，窮竄來歸，念其投誠，錫之王爵，方且感恩圖報，殚竭忠誠。讵意以枭獍之資，懷狙詐之計，陰謀不軌，自啓釁端，藉請搬移，辄行叛逆，煽惑奸宄，塗炭生靈。朕連年遣兵征讨，秦、隴底定，閩、粵蕩平，惟吳三桂竊據一隅，苟延旦夕。今大兵雲集，恐其挺走，潛竄嶺南。茲以王累世屏籓，效忠天國，亂臣賊子，諒切同仇。今已遣諸軍大張撻伐，平定粵西，進取滇、黔。爾國壤地相屬，素谙形勢，王其遴選将士，協力殲除，懋賞榮褒，朝有令典。欽哉，無負朕命！』

In the sixteenth year, the emperor instructed Vi Chinh: "The rebel Wu Sangui, when the Ming dynasty was thrown into turmoil by roving bandits, threw in his lot with the rebels. Because his father died at rebel hands, he fled in desperation and came to submit. Considering his surrender, I granted him a princely title, and he was then planning to repay my favor with loyalty. Who would have thought that with the nature of a beast he harbored treacherous designs, plotted rebellion in secret, and opened hostilities himself? Under the pretext of requesting relocation, he promptly rebelled, incited wicked men, and brought ruin upon the people. For years I have sent troops on punitive campaigns. Qin and Long are now settled, and Fujian and Guangdong have been pacified. Only Wu Sangui still clings to a corner of the realm, prolonging his days. Now that great armies are massing, I fear he may break away and flee secretly into the Lingnan region. Since Your Majesty's house has for generations served as a bulwark of the realm and has been loyal to the Celestial dynasty, you surely share the same burning hatred of traitors and rebels. I have now dispatched the armies on a great punitive campaign to pacify western Guangdong and advance into Yunnan and Guizhou. Your territory adjoins his, and you are well acquainted with the terrain. Select officers and troops and join in destroying him. Splendid rewards and honors await—the court has established precedents for such service. Take heed, and do not fail my command!"

十八年十一月，維正慶賀大捷，疏言：『逆賊吳三桂，變亂數年，阻臣貢路，且再三脅誘，迫令服從，區區愚忠，罔敢易節。乃有逆臣莫元清與三桂密相締結，潛入高平，圖爲掩襲。今原仗天威，追擒逆黨，明正其罪，以固屏籓。』許之。

In the eleventh month of the eighteenth year, Vi Chinh congratulated the court on its great victory and wrote: "The rebel Wu Sangui, after years of turmoil, blocked my tribute route and repeatedly coerced and enticed me to submit. In my humble loyalty I dared not change my allegiance. Then the rebel Mo Yuanqing secretly allied with Sangui, entered Gao Ping in secret, and plotted a surprise attack. Now, relying on Heaven's awesome might, I intend to pursue and capture the rebels, establish their crimes clearly, and thereby strengthen the bulwark of the realm." The emperor approved.

二十一年九月，維正遣陪臣甲全等表賀閩、粵肅清，并進歲貢方物；又爲故王維請恤，議恤如例。時所貢金銀器皿與本内不符，诏免深求，其餘貢物酌減白絹、降真香、中黑線香等物。

In the ninth month of the twenty-first year, Vi Chinh sent attending ministers Jia Quan and others with a memorial congratulating the pacification of Fujian and Guangdong, together with the annual tribute goods; he also requested posthumous honors for the late King Vi, and the court decided to grant mourning rewards according to precedent. The gold, silver, and vessels presented in tribute did not match the standard list, but an edict exempted them from strict investigation. Among the remaining tribute items, white silk, eaglewood, and medium black incense sticks were reduced as appropriate.

二十二年四月，遣翰林院侍讀明圖、翰林院編修孫卓冊封黎維正爲安南國王，御書『忠孝守邦』四字賜之。同時遣翰林院侍讀鄔黑、禮部郎中周燦諭祭故王維禧、維。時莫元清已故，其弟敬光爲黎氏所敗，率衆來奔，帝命發回安南。尋敬光病殁泗城，土府莫氏遂絕。

In the fourth month of the twenty-second year, the court sent Hanlin reader Mingtu and compiler Sun Zhuo to invest Le Vi Chinh as king of Annam and granted him an imperial inscription of four characters: "Loyalty and Filial Piety Guard the Realm." At the same time the court sent Hanlin reader Wu Hei and Ministry of Rites director Zhou Can to conduct sacrificial rites for the late kings Vi Hi and Vi. By then Mo Yuanqing had already died. His younger brother Jingguang, defeated by the Le clan, fled with his followers to submit, and the emperor ordered that they be sent back to Annam. Soon afterward Jingguang died of illness at Sicheng, and the native office of the Mo clan came to an end.

二十五年，增賜安南國王表裏五十，著爲例。

In the twenty-fifth year, the court granted an additional fifty sets of imperial garments to the king of Annam and established this as precedent.

三十六年，維正奏言牛馬、蝴蝶、浦園三處爲鄰界土司侵佔，請給還。帝問雲南巡撫石文晟，知其地屬開化府已三十餘年，并非安南故地，移文責之。

In the thirty-sixth year, Vi Chinh reported that the three places of Niuma, Hudie, and Puyuan had been seized by neighboring native chieftains and asked that they be returned. The emperor inquired of Yunnan governor Shi Wencheng, who reported that these lands had belonged to Kaifu prefecture for more than thirty years and were not former Annam territory. A dispatch was sent rebuking Vi Chinh.

五十七年十月，黎維正薨，嗣子維祹以訃告，請襲封，附貢方物。

In the tenth month of the fifty-seventh year, Le Vi Chinh died. His heir Vi Ton reported the death, requested investiture, and presented tribute goods.

五十八年二月，遣内閣中書鄧廷喆、翰林院編修成文諭祭故王黎維正，兼冊封維祹爲安南國王。

In the second month of the fifty-eighth year, the court sent Grand Secretariat secretary Deng Tingzhe and Hanlin compiler Cheng Wen to conduct sacrificial rites for the late King Le Vi Chinh and to invest Vi Ton as king of Annam.

雍正二年，維祹遣陪臣表賀登極，附貢方物，賜御書『日南世祚』四字。

In the second year of the Yongzheng reign, Vi Ton sent attending ministers to congratulate the emperor on his accession, together with tribute goods, and received an imperial inscription of four characters: "Hereditary Rule in the Southern Sun."

三年，雲南總督高其倬奏言：『雲南開化府與安南接界，自開化府馬伯汛外四十里至鉛廠山下小河内有逢春里六寨，冊載秋糧十二石零。康熙二十八年，入於安南。又《雲南通志》載自開化府文山縣南二百四十里至賭咒河與安南爲界。今自開化府至現在之馬伯汛，止一百二十里，即至鉛廠山下小河，亦止一百六十里，是鉛廠山小河外尚有八十里，内設都龍、南丹兩廠，爲雲南舊境。雖失在前明，但封疆所係，均應一併清查，委勘立界。』帝谕：『都龍、南丹等處明季已入安南，是侵佔非始於我朝。安南入我朝以來，累世恭順，不宜與争尺寸之地。』維祹尋疏辯。嗣總督鄂爾泰疏請於鉛廠山下小河離馬伯汛四十里立界，維祹復激詞陳訴。

In the third year, Yunnan governor-general Gao Qizhuo reported: "Kaifu prefecture in Yunnan borders Annam. From forty li beyond the Mabo garrison of Kaifu prefecture to the small river below Leadworks Mountain lie the six villages of Fengchunli, registered for autumn grain tax of a little more than twelve shi. In the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign, they were incorporated into Annam. The Yunnan Gazetteer also records that from two hundred forty li south of Wenshan county in Kaifu prefecture to the Duzhou River was the border with Annam. Now from Kaifu prefecture to the present Mabo garrison is only one hundred twenty li, and even to the small river below Leadworks Mountain is only one hundred sixty li. Thus beyond that river there remain eighty li, within which lie the two mining districts of Dulong and Nandan—former Yunnan territory. Although these lands were lost in the former Ming, since the borderlands are involved, they should all be investigated and commissioners sent to survey and fix the boundary." The emperor instructed: "Dulong, Nandan, and the like entered Annam in the late Ming. This encroachment did not begin in our dynasty. Since Annam has submitted to our dynasty, it has for generations been respectful and obedient. We should not contend over a scrap of land." Vi Ton soon submitted a memorial in rebuttal. Later governor-general E'ertai requested that the boundary be fixed forty li from the Mabo garrison at the small river below Leadworks Mountain. Vi Ton again submitted an impassioned appeal.

五年，谕維祹曰：『朕統馭寰區，凡茲臣庶之邦，莫非吾土，何必較論此區區四十里之地。但分疆定界，政所當先，侯甸要荒，事同一體。今遠籓蒙古，奉谕之下，莫不欽承，豈爾國素稱禮義之邦，獨違越於德化之外哉？王不必以侵占内地爲嫌，拳拳申辯，此乃前人之誤，非王之過也。王惟祇遵諭旨，朕不深求，傥意或遲回，失前恭順，則自取咎戾，懷遠之仁，豈能幸邀？王其祇哉，無替朕命！』維祹感悔奏謝。帝因以馬伯汛外四十里賜維祹，仍以馬伯汛之小賭咒河爲界。

In the fifth year, the emperor instructed Vi Ton: "I rule the realm, and all these subject states are my territory. Why must we dispute this mere forty li? Yet to divide territories and fix boundaries is what government must put first. The marquisates, the service domains, and the distant wilds are all one in this matter. Now the distant vassals of Mongolia, upon receiving my instructions, all reverently comply. Can your state, renowned as a land of ritual and righteousness, alone stand outside the reach of moral transformation? Your Majesty need not take offense at the encroachment upon Qing territory. Your earnest repeated appeals reflect the error of former men, not Your Majesty's fault. Your Majesty should only reverently obey my instructions, and I will not press the matter deeply. If you should hesitate and turn back, losing your former respectful obedience, you will bring blame upon yourself. How then can you hope to receive the grace extended to the distant? Your Majesty, take heed and do not fail my command!" Vi Ton, moved to repentance, memorialized his thanks. The emperor therefore granted Vi Ton the forty li beyond the Mabo garrison, while still taking the small Duzhou River at the Mabo garrison as the boundary.

六年三月，遣副都御史杭奕祿、内閣學士任蘭枝往安南宣諭，略云：『王今自悔執迷，情詞恭謹，朕特沛殊恩，即将馬伯汛外四十里之地，仍賜國王世守之。』尋諭鄂爾泰曰：『朕既加恩外籓，亦當俯從民便。此四十里内人民，若有原遷内地者，可給赀安插滇省，毋使失所。其原居外籓屬安南管轄者，亦聽其便。』

In the third month of the sixth year, the court dispatched vice censor-in-chief Hang Yilu and Grand Secretariat academician Ren Lanzhi to Annam to proclaim the imperial will, in brief: "Your Majesty now repents your obstinacy, and your words are respectful and careful. I therefore bestow special grace and grant the forty li beyond the Mabo garrison to your state to hold in perpetuity." Shortly afterward the emperor instructed E'ertai: "Since I have shown grace to the outer vassals, I should also defer to the people's convenience. Among the people within these forty li, if any originally wished to move to Qing territory, funds may be given to resettle them in Yunnan province so that they do not lose their livelihood. Those who originally dwelt in the outer vassal domain and are subject to Annam's jurisdiction may also be left to their own choice."

十一年十一月，黎維祹薨，王嗣子維祜以訃告，請襲封，附貢方物。

In the eleventh month of the eleventh year, Le Vi Ton died. The king's heir Vi Hau reported the death, requested investiture, and presented tribute goods.

十二年二月，遣翰林院侍讀春山、兵科給事中李學裕諭祭故王維祹，冊封維祜爲安南國王。

In the second month of the twelfth year, the court sent Hanlin reader Chunshan and supervising secretary Li Xueyu of the Bureau of Military Affairs to conduct sacrificial rites for the late King Vi Ton and to invest Vi Hau as king of Annam.

十三年，黎維祜薨，弟維禕權理國事。

In the thirteenth year, Le Vi Hau died, and his younger brother Vi Y took charge of state affairs.

乾隆二年，維禕以訃告，請襲封。遣翰林院侍讀嵩壽、修撰陳倓諭祭故王維祜，冊封維禕爲安南國王。

In the second year of the Qianlong reign, Vi Y reported the death and requested investiture. The court sent Hanlin reader Song Shou and compiler Chen Tan to conduct sacrificial rites for the late King Vi Hau and to invest Vi Y as king of Annam.

三年九月，維禕遣使奉表賀登極，並貢方物。

In the ninth month of the third year, Vi Y sent envoys with a memorial congratulating the emperor on his accession and presented tribute goods.

九年九月，兩廣總督馬爾泰奏：『粵西奸民葉蓁私出外夷，誘教爲匪，安南饑民流入甯明諸處。』帝命滇、粵界接安南關隘，嚴行稽查，毋釀事端。嗣兩廣總督馬爾泰、廣西署撫托庸、提督豆斌奏言：『南甯府屬遷隆土峒之闆蒙等隘，太平府屬思陵土州之川荒等隘，鎮南府屬下雷土州之下首等隘，共三十餘口岸，俱逼近安南，宜疊石建栅，添卡撥兵，各土司帶領土勇，扼險守巡，并饬地方官每年冬月查修通報。安南驅驢地方爲貨物聚集之所，最與由隘相近。從由隘出入，向設閉禁，開之實便商民。應設客長，稽商民往來，并責地方官慎察查。至平而、水口兩關，通太源、牧馬等地，宜設立鐵鍊橫江攔截，逢五、十日開一面以通商。』從之。

In the ninth month of the ninth year, Guangdong-Guangxi governor-general Ma'ertai reported: "The Guangxi scoundrel Ye Zhen secretly went among the outer barbarians and incited them to become bandits, while hungry people from Annam flowed into Ningming and other places." The emperor ordered that the passes on the Yunnan and Guangdong-Guangxi borders adjoining Annam be strictly inspected so that no incident might arise. Later Guangdong-Guangxi governor-general Ma'ertai, acting Guangxi governor Tuo Yong, and provincial military commissioner Dou Bin reported: "At more than thirty passes close to Annam—including Banmeng in Qianlong native cave under Nanning prefecture, Chuanhuang in Siling native prefecture under Taiping prefecture, and Xiashou in Xialei native prefecture under Zhennan prefecture—it is fitting to pile stones and build palisades, add checkpoints and assign troops, and have each native chieftain lead native braves to hold the strategic points and patrol, while ordering local officials to inspect, repair, and report each winter month. The Qulü place in Annam is a gathering point for goods and lies closest to the You Pass. Traffic through You Pass had long been barred by closure and prohibition; opening it would genuinely serve merchants and the people. Guest headmen should be appointed to monitor merchant and civilian traffic, and local officials should be ordered to investigate with equal care. At Ping'er and Shuikou, the two passes leading to Taiyuan, Muma, and neighboring districts, iron chains should be stretched across the river to block passage, with one side opened on the fifth and tenth of each month for commerce." The emperor approved the proposal.

初，廣西思陵州沿邊與安南接壤，巡撫舒輅請栽竹以杜私越。憑祥、思陵土、目有乘機侵安南地者，交人不甘，恆與争閧。

Earlier, where Siling prefecture in Guangxi borders Annam, Governor Shu Yu had proposed planting bamboo to block illicit crossings. Native chieftains of Pingxiang and Siling sometimes took advantage of the situation to seize Annamese land; the Annamese resented it and quarreled and fought with them constantly.

十六年，總督蘇昌奏聞，帝諭舒輅下部察議。安南猺匪盤道鉗、鄧成玉等謀亂，造黃袍、黃旂、木印，句結内地民夷何聖烈等，散劄招匪，謀攻都龍、安北、宜經等處，爲安南兵目偵知，獲何聖烈等，盤道鉗等竄匿山箐間。

In the sixteenth year, Governor-General Su Chang reported the matter, and the emperor ordered Shu Yu to have the relevant ministry investigate and deliberate. Annam's Yao bandits Pan Daoqian, Deng Chengyu, and their confederates plotted rebellion. They made yellow robes, yellow banners, and wooden seals, recruited allies among interior subjects and tribesmen such as He Shengle, and sent out placards calling up outlaws to attack Dulong, Anbei, Yijing, and other posts. Annamese officers discovered the plot, captured He Shengle and others, and Pan Daoqian's band fled into the mountain ravines.

十九年，安南八寶河沙目黃國珍誘獲盤道鉗、鄧成玉，雲貴總督碩色訊得實，奏聞正法。初，廣東土匪李文光與順化土豪阮姓謀踞祿賴、桐狔等處爲亂，番官捕獲繋諸獄。

In the nineteenth year, Huang Guozhen, a Sha petty official of Babao River in Annam, enticed and captured Pan Daoqian and Deng Chengyu. Yunnan-Guizhou Governor-General Se Se examined them, confirmed the facts, reported the case, and they were executed according to law. Earlier, the Guangdong bandit Li Wenguang and a Shunhua local strongman of the Ruan clan had plotted to seize Ludai, Tongyi, and other places and raise rebellion. Frontier officials captured them and put them in prison.

二十一年，械送李文光十六人於福建，閩浙總督喀爾吉善奏言：『安南僻處蠻陬，不敢将李文光擅自加誅，送歸請示，足徵懷服之忱。應将李文光等照交結外國例，分別處治。』從之。二十二年六月，安南番船失風，飄泊永甯汛，撥兵守護，給資送歸，并收貯其軍械，歸時給還。帝諭：『收械貯庫，殊爲非體，可頒谕沿海提鎮知之。』

In the twenty-first year, Li Wenguang and sixteen others were escorted in chains to Fujian. Fujian-Zhejiang Governor-General Kar Jishan reported: "Annam, remote in the barbarian marches, did not dare execute Li Wenguang on its own but returned him for instruction—a clear sign of loyal submission. Li Wenguang and the rest should be punished separately under the statutes governing collusion with foreign states." The emperor approved. In the sixth month of the twenty-second year, an Annamese ship was driven off course and washed up at Yongning garrison. Troops were posted to protect it, funds were supplied for its return, and its arms were taken into storage and given back when the ship sailed home. The emperor said: "To seize arms and put them in storehouses is quite improper. Issue an edict so the coastal provincial commanders and regional commanders will know."

二十五年，閩浙總督愛必達奏言：『安南邊境沙匪與交目蘇由爲難，闌入漫卓、馬鹿二寨，搶掠滋事，已咨其國王擒解矣。』帝以平日巡防不嚴，臨時追捕不力，切責之。

In the twenty-fifth year, Fujian-Zhejiang Governor-General Aibida reported: "Border sand bandits in Annam quarreled with the Annamese officer Su You, broke into the stockades of Manzhuo and Malu, looted, and stirred up trouble. Their king has already been asked to seize and extradite them." The emperor sharply rebuked them for lax routine patrols and feeble pursuit when the incident occurred.

二十六年，黎維褘薨，王嗣子維以訃告，請襲封，遣翰林院侍讀德保、大理寺少卿顧汝修諭祭故王維禕，冊封維爲安南國王。維欲以彼國五拜事天之禮受封，德保等執不可，随如儀，禮成。顧汝修既出境，以安南王送迎儀節未周，遺書責之，廣西巡撫熊學鵬以聞，汝修坐革職。

In the twenty-sixth year, Le Vi Hui died. His heir Le Vi sent word of the death and asked for investiture. The court sent Hanlin reader De Bao and Vice Minister Gu Ruxiu of the Court of Judicial Review to conduct sacrificial rites for the late King Le Vi Yi and invest Le Vi as king of Annam. Le Vi wanted to receive investiture by his own country's five-bow rite of serving Heaven. De Bao and his colleagues refused, and Le Vi then followed the prescribed ceremony to its completion. Once Gu Ruxiu had crossed the border, he sent a written rebuke because the Annamese king's ceremonies of welcome and farewell had fallen short. Guangxi Governor Xiong Xuepeng reported the matter, and Gu Ruxiu was stripped of office.

二十七年三月，帝諭禮臣曰：『安南世爲屬國，凡遇朝使冊封至其國，自應遵行三跪九叩頭禮。乃國王狃於小邦陋見，與冊使商論拜跪儀注，德保、顧汝修指示成例，始終恪遵。外籓不谙體制，部臣應預行宣示。嗣後遇安南冊封等事，即将應行典禮並前後遵行拜跪儀節告知正副使，令其永遠遵循，著爲令。』

In the third month of the twenty-seventh year, the emperor told the ministers of rites: "Annam has long been a tributary state. Whenever a court envoy arrives to invest its king, the three kneelings and nine kowtows must be performed. Yet the king, trapped in the petty outlook of a small realm, haggled with the investiture envoy over bowing and kneeling. De Bao and Gu Ruxiu cited precedent, and in the end he obeyed throughout. Outer vassals are unfamiliar with court protocol, and the ministry should instruct them beforehand. Henceforth, in all Annamese investitures and like occasions, the chief and deputy envoys are to be told at once the required ceremonies and the bowing and kneeling rites observed before and after, and commanded to follow them permanently. Let this be law."

三十四年，安南莫氏後黃公缵居南掌猛天寨，黎氏逼之，率屬内投，維請索回處治，移檄責之。

In the thirty-fourth year, Huang Gongzuan, a descendant of Annam's Mo clan, dwelt at Mengtian stockade in Nanzhang. Pressed by the Le clan, he led his followers to defect inward. Le Vi asked that he be sent back for punishment, and a dispatch was sent rebuking him.

四十三年，安南解竄匪入關，賜維緞匹。

In the forty-third year, Annam delivered fugitive bandits captured after they had crossed the frontier. Le Vi was rewarded with bolts of satin.

四十六年，維遣使謝恩，貢方物。帝命收受，下次正貢著減一半，並命嗣後陳謝表奏，毋庸備禮。五月，諭禮部：『本年安南國貢使到京，命堂官一人帶往熱河瞻觐。』

In the forty-sixth year, Le Vi sent envoys to offer thanks and presented tribute goods. The emperor accepted the tribute, ordered the next formal tribute cut by half, and ruled that future memorials of thanks need not bring gifts. In the fifth month, the emperor told the Ministry of Rites: "When this year's Annamese tribute envoys arrive in the capital, assign one director-level official to escort them to Rehe for an audience."

四十九年，帝南巡，安南陪臣黃仲政、黎有容、阮堂等迎觐南城外，賜幣帛有差，特賜國王『南交屏翰』扁額。

In the forty-ninth year, on the emperor's southern tour, Annamese attendant ministers Huang Zhongzheng, Li Yourong, Ruan Tang, and others received him and paid homage outside the southern city. They were granted silks and cloth in varying amounts, and the king was specially given a plaque inscribed "Southern Frontier, Screen and Pillar of the Realm."

五十一年，安南阮氏變作。

In the fifty-first year, rebellion erupted among the Nguyen clan of Annam.

初，明嘉靖中，安南王黎維潭復國，實其臣鄭氏、阮氏之力，自是世爲左右輔政。後右輔政乘阮死幼孤，兼攝左輔政以專國事，而出阮氏於順化，号廣南王。阮、鄭世仇構兵。及黎維，權益下移，僅同守府。輔政鄭棟遂殺世子，據金印，謀篡國，而忌廣南之強，乃誘其土酋阮嶽、阮惠，共攻廣南王，滅之於富春。阮惠自爲泰德王，鄭棟自爲鄭靖王，兩不相下，維無如何也。

Earlier, in the Jiajing reign of Ming, King Le Vi Dam restored the kingdom, in truth through the strength of his ministers the Zheng and Nguyen clans. Thereafter they served for generations as left and right regents. Later the right regent, seizing on the Nguyen lord's death and the heir's youth, also took the left regency and monopolized state power. He drove the Nguyen clan to Shunhua and styled them kings of Guangnan. The Nguyen and Zheng, hereditary foes, took up arms against one another. By the time of Le Vi, authority had slipped further down, and the king was little more than a prefect holding his post. Regent Zheng Dong then killed the crown prince, seized the golden seal, and plotted usurpation. Dreading Guangnan's strength, he lured its native chieftains Nguyen Nhac and Nguyen Hue into a joint attack on the Guangnan king and destroyed him at Fuychun. Nguyen Hue made himself King Taide, and Zheng Dong made himself King Zhengjing. Neither would bow to the other, and Le Vi was powerless.

安南所都曰東京，即古交州，唐安南都護治所；而以廣南、順化二道爲西京，即古日南、九真地。黎維潭起兵之所，與東京中隔海口，世爲廣南阮氏所據，兵強於安南。至是，鄭棟死，阮惠以鄭姓專國，人心不附，乃藉除鄭氏爲名，攻破黎城，擊滅鄭棟之子鄭宗，阮氏復專國。維犒以兩郡，且妻以女。

Annam's capital is Dongjing, ancient Jiaozhou and seat of the Tang Protectorate-General of Annam; while the two circuits of Guangnan and Shunhua form the Western Capital, the old lands of Rinan and Jiuzhen. The region where Le Vi Dam had raised his army lay across a sea inlet from Dongjing. For generations the Nguyen of Guangnan held it, and their armies were stronger than Annam's. By then Zheng Dong was dead. With the Zheng clan ruling alone and the people unreconciled, Nguyen Hue took the banner of destroying the Zheng, stormed the Le capital, killed Zheng Dong's son Zheng Zong, and the Nguyen again held sole power. Le Vi rewarded him with two prefectures and gave him a royal daughter in marriage.

五十二年，維卒，嗣孫維祁立，阮惠盡取象載珍寶歸廣南，使鄭氏之臣貢整留鎮都城。貢整思扶黎拒阮，乃以王命率兵奪回象五十，而阮岳亦於廣南要奪其辎重。阮惠歸，治城池於富春，使其将阮任以兵數萬攻貢整於國都。整戰死，維祁出亡，阮任遂據東京，四守險要，有自王之志。

In the fifty-second year Le Vi died and his grandson Le Vi Khe succeeded. Nguyen Hue carried off every elephant load of treasure to Guangnan and left Zheng minister Gong Zheng to hold the capital. Gong Zheng, intent on upholding the Le and resisting the Nguyen, led troops by royal order to recover fifty elephants, while Nguyen Nhac also ambushed his baggage train in Guangnan. Nguyen Hue went back, fortified Fuychun, and sent his general Nguyen Nhan with an army of tens of thousands against Gong Zheng in the capital. Gong Zheng fell in battle. Le Vi Khe fled into exile. Nguyen Nhan seized Dongjing, secured the four strategic passes, and began to dream of kingship.

五十三年夏，阮惠復以兵誅阮任於東京，而請維祁復位。維祁知其叵測，不敢出。惠知民心不附，盡毀王宮，挾子女玉帛舟回富春，留兵三千守東京。有高平府督阮輝宿者，護維祁母妻宗族二百口由高平登舟遠遁至博淰溪河，廣西太平府龍州邊也，冒死涉水登北岸，其不及渡河者，盡爲追兵所殺。兩廣總督孫士毅、廣西巡撫孫永清先後以聞，且言：『推固予奪，惟上所命。』帝以黎氏守籓奉貢百有餘年，宜出師問罪，以興滅繼絕。先置其家於南甯，遣其陪臣黎佪、阮廷枚回國，密報嗣孫。時安南疆域，東距海，西接老撾，南與占城隔一海口，北連廣西、雲南。有二十二府，其二府爲土司所居，實止二十府，共分十三道。此時未陷者，清華道四府十五縣，宣光道三州一縣，興化道十州二縣；又上路未陷、下路已陷者，安邦道四府十二縣，山西道五府二十四縣，京北道四府二十縣，太源道三州八縣；其上路已陷、下路未陷者，山南道九府三十六縣，海陽道四府十九縣。惟廣南、順化二道，本阮酋巢穴，又據高平道一府四州，諒山道一府七縣，以捍遏内地。

In the summer of the fifty-third year, Nguyen Hue again marched on Dongjing, killed Nguyen Nhan, and invited Le Vi Khe to return to the throne. Le Vi Khe, knowing Nguyen Hue's designs were treacherous, did not dare emerge. Hue saw that the people would not follow him. He razed the royal palace, loaded women, children, jade, and silks onto ships, and sailed back to Fuychun, leaving three thousand men to garrison Dongjing. Nguyen Huy, supervisor of Gaoping prefecture, escorted Le Vi Khe's mother, wife, and two hundred kinsmen by boat from Gaoping. They fled far down the Bo'an Stream to the Longzhou border of Taiping prefecture in Guangxi, waded the river at the risk of their lives to reach the north bank, and all who failed to cross were cut down by pursuers. Guangdong-Guangxi Governor-General Sun Shiyi and Guangxi Governor Sun Yongqing reported in turn, saying: "To grant or withdraw a throne belongs only to the command of the Son of Heaven." The emperor held that the Le had guarded the frontier and paid tribute for more than a century. He ordered an expedition to punish the wrongdoers and restore a fallen line—to raise up what had been destroyed and continue what had been cut off. The royal family was first lodged at Nanning, and attendant ministers Li Khe and Ruan Tingmei were sent home to inform the heir in secret. At that time Annam reached the sea in the east, Laos in the west, Champa across a sea inlet in the south, and Guangxi and Yunnan in the north. It had twenty-two prefectures, two of them seats of native chieftains, leaving twenty prefectures in fact, grouped into thirteen circuits. Districts still holding out were Qinghua circuit, four prefectures and fifteen counties; Xuan'guang circuit, three prefectures and one county; and Xinghua circuit, ten prefectures and two counties; where the upper route still stood but the lower route had fallen: Anbang circuit, four prefectures and twelve counties; Shanxi circuit, five prefectures and twenty-four counties; Jingbei circuit, four prefectures and twenty counties; and Taiyuan circuit, three prefectures and eight counties; where the upper route had fallen but the lower route had not: Shannan circuit, nine prefectures and thirty-six counties, and Haiyang circuit, four prefectures and nineteen counties. Only Guangnan and Shunhua, the Nguyen strongholds, plus Gaoping circuit with one prefecture and four subprefectures and Langshan circuit with one prefecture and seven counties, remained in rebel hands to bar the interior.

帝命孫士毅移檄安南諸路，示以順逆，早反正。時維祁弟維䄂、維祉皆外出避難，維䄂死宣光城，維祉由京北波篷廠來投。孫士毅以維祉有才氣，欲令權攝國事。帝慮其兄弟日後嫌疑，不許，乃令土田州岑宜棟護維祉出口，号召義兵。會阮廷枚等以嗣孫復書至，乞轉奏。於是安南國土司及未陷各州官兵争縛僞黨，獻地圖，而關外各廠義勇亦皆乞饷團練，請爲嚮導。時阮惠兄弟亦叩關請貢，以其國臣民表至，言黎維祁不知存亡，請立故王維之子翁皇司維主國事，並迎其母妃回國。帝知阮惠欺維愚懦易與，狡計緩師，命孫士毅嚴斥之。

The emperor ordered Sun Shiyi to issue proclamations to every Annamese circuit, setting forth loyalty and rebellion and urging an early return to the right. Le Vi Khe's younger brothers Le Vi Thien and Le Vi Chi had both fled abroad. Le Vi Thien died at Xuan'guang city; Le Vi Chi came over from Bo Peng garrison in Jingbei. Sun Shiyi, judging Le Vi Chi able and spirited, wanted him to govern provisionally. The emperor, fearing future jealousy among the brothers, refused. He ordered Tuzhou native chieftain Cen Yidong to escort Le Vi Chi through the pass to raise loyal troops. Just then Ruan Tingmei arrived with the heir's reply, asking that it be forwarded to the throne. Then Annamese native chieftains and the troops of districts still loyal competed to seize rebels and offer maps, while loyal volunteers at frontier garrisons begged pay to drill militia and volunteered as guides. Meanwhile Nguyen Hue and his brothers also came to the frontier asking to pay tribute. A memorial from their subjects arrived saying Le Vi Khe's fate was unknown, asking that Ong Hoang Si Vi, son of the former king Le Vi, be set up to govern, and that the queen mother be brought home. The emperor saw that Nguyen Hue was playing on Le Vi's folly and weakness with a ruse to stall the army, and ordered Sun Shiyi to rebuke them sharply.

安南進兵路三：一，出廣西鎮南關爲正道；一，由廣東欽州泛海，過烏雷山至安南海東府，爲唐以前舟師之道；一，由雲南蒙自縣蓮花灘陸行至安南之洮江，乃明沐晟出師之道。孫士毅及提督許世亨率兩廣兵一萬出關，以八千直搗王京，以二千駐諒山爲聲援。其雲南提督烏大經以兵八千取道開化府之馬白關，逾賭咒河，入交趾界千有百里而至宣化鎮，較沐晟舊路稍近。雲貴總督富綱請行，帝以一軍不可二帥，命駐關外都龍督饷運。

Three routes led into Annam: first, through Zhennan Pass in Guangxi—the main road; second, from Qinzhou in Guangdong by sea past Wulei Mountain to Haidong prefecture in Annam—the pre-Tang route of the fleet; third, overland from Lianhua Beach in Mengzi county, Yunnan, to Annam's Tao River—the road Mu Sheng had taken in Ming. Sun Shiyi and Provincial Military Commissioner Xu Shiheng led ten thousand Guangdong-Guangxi troops through the pass: eight thousand to drive straight at the royal capital and two thousand to hold Langshan in reserve. Yunnan Provincial Military Commissioner Wu Dajing meanwhile took eight thousand men through Mabai Pass in Kaifu prefecture, crossed the Duzhou River, marched more than a thousand li into Jiaozhi, and reached Xuanhua garrison—a road slightly shorter than Mu Sheng's old one. Yunnan-Guizhou Governor-General Fu Gang asked to lead the campaign. The emperor replied that one army cannot have two commanders and ordered him to stay at Dulong beyond the pass to direct supplies.

十月末，粵師出鎮南關。诏以安南亂後，勞瘠不堪供億，運饷由内地滇、粵兩路，設台站七十餘所，所過秋亳無犯。孫士毅、許世亨由諒山分路進，總兵尚維升、副将慶成率廣西兵，總兵張朝龍、李化龍率廣東兵。時土兵義勇皆随行，聲言大兵數十萬，各守隘賊望風奔遁，惟扼三江之險以拒。十一月十三日，尚維升、慶成率兵千餘，五鼓抵壽昌江。賊退保南岸，我兵乘之，浮橋斷，皆超筏直上。時天大霧，賊自相格殺，我兵遂盡渡，大破之。張朝龍亦破賊柱石。十五日，進兵市球江。江闊，且南岸依山，高於北岸，賊據險列砲，我兵不能結筏。諸軍以江勢缭曲，賊望不及遠，乃陽運竹木造浮橋，示必渡，而潛兵二千於上遊二十里溜緩處用小舟宵濟。十七日，乘筏薄岸相持。適上遊兵已繞出其背，乘高大呼下擊，聲震山谷。賊不知王師何自降，皆驚潰。

At the end of the tenth month the Guangdong force crossed Zhennan Pass. An edict declared that after Annam's upheaval the people were worn out and could not sustain levies. Provisions would move from the interior along the Yunnan and Guangdong routes through more than seventy relay stations, and nothing whatsoever was to be harmed along the way. Sun Shiyi and Xu Shiheng split from Langshan: Major-General Shang Weisheng and Vice General Qing Cheng commanded the Guangxi troops; Major-Generals Zhang Chaolong and Li Hualong commanded the Guangdong troops. Native soldiers and loyal volunteers marched with the column, claiming an army of hundreds of thousands. Rebels at every pass fled at the rumor—except at the Three Rivers, where they made a stand. On the thirteenth of the eleventh month, Shang Weisheng and Qing Cheng led more than a thousand men and reached the Shouchang River at the fifth watch. The rebels fell back to the south bank. Our men pressed the attack; when the pontoon bridge broke, they vaulted onto rafts and crossed at once. A heavy fog shrouded the field. The rebels turned on one another in the murk, our troops finished the crossing, and the enemy was broken completely. Zhang Chaolong likewise shattered the rebel main force. On the fifteenth the army moved on the Shiqiu River. The river was wide, the south bank climbed the hills above the north, and the rebels held the heights with batteries. Our men could not assemble rafts. Because the river bent and the rebels' sight was short, the commanders openly hauled bamboo and timber to build a bridge as if to force a crossing, while secretly sending two thousand men twenty li upstream to a slow stretch, where they crossed by night in small boats. On the seventeenth they pressed rafts to the bank and held the enemy in a standoff. Just then the upstream force had swung behind them. From the heights they shouted and struck down, and the valleys rang. The rebels could not tell from where the imperial army had descended, and broke in panic.

十九日，薄富良江，江在國門外，賊盡伐沿江竹木，斂舟對岸。然遙望賊陣不整，知其衆無固志，乃覓遠岸小舟，載兵百餘，夜至江，復奪小舟三十餘，更番渡兵二千，分搗賊營。賊昏夜不辨多寡，大潰，焚其十餘艘，獲總兵、侯、伯數十。黎明，大軍畢濟。黎氏宗族、百姓出迎伏道左，孫士毅、許世亨入城宣慰而出。城環土壘，高不數尺，上植叢竹，内有磚城二，則國王所居，宮室已蕩盡矣。而黎維祁匿民村，是夜二鼓始出詣營見孫士毅，九頓首謝。捷聞。初，王師之出也，帝慮事成後，冊封往返稽時，緻王師久暴露於外，先命禮部鑄印，内閣撰冊，郵寄軍前。孫士毅遂以二十二日宣诏冊封黎維祁爲安南國王，并馳報孫永清歸其家屬。維祁表謝，請於乾隆五十五年詣京祝八旬萬壽。帝命俟安南全定，維祁能自立，許來朝。是役也，乘思黎舊民與各廠義勇先驅鄉導，又許世亨、張朝龍等新自台灣立功，皆善戰之将，故得以兵萬餘長驅深入，不匝月而復其都，時雲南烏大經之兵尚未至也。诏封孫士毅一等謀勇公，許世亨一等子，諸将士賞赉有差。

On the nineteenth they closed on the Fujiange River outside the capital gate. The rebels had felled every tree and bamboo along the bank and massed boats on the far shore. Seen from afar the rebel line was ragged, a sign their ranks lacked resolve. Our men found boats on a distant shore, sent more than a hundred soldiers by night, captured thirty-odd more craft, and in relays ferried two thousand troops across to hit the camps from several sides. In the dark the rebels could not tell friend from foe or count our numbers. They fled in rout. More than ten of their boats were burned, and dozens of major-generals, marquises, and earls were taken. By dawn the main force had crossed entirely. Le clansmen and common people came out to welcome the army, prostrating themselves along the road. Sun Shiyi and Xu Shiheng entered the city to offer reassurance and withdrew. The city was ringed by earthen walls only a few chi high, topped with bamboo thickets. Inside stood two brick citadels where the king had lived, but the palace was already in ruins. Le Vi Khe had hidden among the villages. Not until the second watch that night did he come to camp to see Sun Shiyi and bow nine times in gratitude. News of the victory reached the court. When the army first marched, the emperor had feared that after victory the investiture mission's round trip would delay matters and leave the troops long exposed. He had therefore ordered the Ministry of Rites to cast the seal, the Grand Secretariat to draft the patent, and both sent ahead to the front. On the twenty-second day Sun Shiyi proclaimed the edict investing Le Vi Khe as king of Annam and sent urgent word to Sun Yongqing to restore his family. Le Vi Khe sent a memorial of thanks and asked to travel to the capital in Qianlong 55 to celebrate the Emperor's eightieth birthday. The emperor replied that he must wait until Annam was fully settled and Le Vi Khe could govern on his own; only then would he be allowed to come to court. In that campaign the army relied on former Le loyalists and frontier militia as guides, and on Xu Shiheng and Zhang Chaolong—fresh victors from Taiwan and proven fighters both. With more than ten thousand men it drove deep and recovered the capital in under a month, before Wu Dajing's Yunnan column had even arrived. An edict made Sun Shiyi Duke of the First Rank with the merit-name Mouyong, Xu Shiheng a First-class Baron, and granted the officers and soldiers rewards of varying rank.

時阮惠已遁歸富春，孫士毅謀造船追讨。孫永清奏言：「廣南距黎都又二千里，用兵萬人，設糧站需運夫十萬，與鎮南關至黎城等。」帝以安南殘破空虛，且黎氏累世孱弱，其興廢未必非運數也。既道遠饷艱，無曠日老師代其搜捕之理，诏即班師入關。而孫士毅貪俘阮爲功，師不即班，又輕敵，不設備，散遣土軍義勇，懸軍黎城月餘。阮氏諜知虛實，歲暮傾巢出襲國都，僞爲來降者，士毅等信其诳詞，晏然不知也。五十四年正月朔，軍中置酒張樂，夜忽報阮兵大至，始倉皇禦敵。賊以象載大砲沖我軍，衆寡不敵，黑夜中自相蹂躏。黎維祁挈家先遁，滇師聞砲聲亦退走，孫士毅奪渡富良江，即斬浮橋斷後，由是在岸之軍，提督許世亨、總兵張朝龍，官兵夫役萬餘，皆擠溺死。時士毅走回鎮南，盡焚棄關外糧械數十萬，士馬還者不及半。其雲南之師，以黎臣黃文通鄉導得全返。黎維祁母子復來投。奏聞，帝以士毅不早班師，而又漫無籌備，緻挫國威、損将士，乃褫職來京待罪，以福康安代之。

By then Nguyen Hue had already withdrawn to Fuychun. Sun Shiyi planned to build ships and pursue him. Sun Yongqing memorialized: "Guangnan lies another two thousand li beyond the Le capital. Ten thousand troops with supply depots would need one hundred thousand transport laborers—as many as the haul from Zhennan Pass to the Le capital." The emperor held that Annam was ruined and empty, and that the Le had been feeble for generations; their rise and fall might simply be the turn of fortune. The road was long and supplies hard to move; there was no sense in leaving the army exposed while hunting Nguyen on Annam's account. An edict ordered an immediate withdrawal across the frontier. Sun Shiyi, hungry to take Nguyen prisoner for glory, would not withdraw. He also despised the enemy, made no dispositions, sent the native troops and militia home, and left his army stranded in the Le capital for more than a month. Nguyen spies had learned how weak the garrison really was. At year's end they marched out in full strength against the capital, pretending to surrender. Sun Shiyi and his officers swallowed the lie and stayed complacent. On New Year's Day of the fifty-fourth year the camp feasted with wine and music. That night came sudden word that Nguyen troops were upon them, and only then did the army scramble to fight. The enemy drove elephants mounted with heavy cannon into our ranks. Outnumbered and blind in the dark, our men turned on one another. Le Vi Khe fled with his family first. The Yunnan column, hearing the guns, fell back as well. Sun Shiyi forced a crossing of the Fujiange River and cut the pontoon bridge behind him, abandoning Provincial Commander Xu Shiheng, Major-General Zhang Chaolong, and more than ten thousand officers, soldiers, and laborers on the far bank—all crushed together and drowned. Sun Shiyi fled back to Zhennan and burned supplies and arms worth hundreds of thousands outside the pass. Fewer than half the men and horses came back. The Yunnan army, guided by the Le minister Hoang Van Thong, got out whole. Le Vi Khe and his mother again crossed over to seek protection. When the disaster was reported, the emperor judged that Sun Shiyi had neither withdrawn in time nor made any provision, shaming the empire and wasting officers and men. He was stripped of office and ordered to the capital to await judgment; Fu Kang'an replaced him.

阮惠自知賈禍，既懼王師再讨，又方與暹羅構兵，恐暹羅之乘其後也，於是叩關謝罪乞降，改名阮光平，遣其兄子光顯齎表入貢，懇賜封号。略言守廣南已九世，與安南敵國，非君臣。且蠻觸自争，非敢抗中國，請來年親觐京師，并於國内爲死綏将士築壇建廟，請頒官銜谥号，立主奉祀。又聞暹羅貢使将入京，恐受其媒孽，乞天朝勿聽其言。福康安先後以聞。

Nguyen Hue knew he had courted ruin. He feared another imperial expedition and was already fighting Siam, dreading a blow from the rear. He came to the pass to confess and beg mercy, took the name Nguyen Quang Binh, and sent his brother's son Quang Hien with a memorial and tribute, pleading for a title. The memorial said in brief that his house had ruled Guangnan for nine generations, that Guangnan and Annam were rival kingdoms, not ruler and subject. Barbarians had quarreled among themselves, he said, and he had never meant to defy China. He asked to come in person to the capital the next year, to raise altars and temples at home for officers and soldiers who had died in the field, and to receive posthumous ranks and titles for their worship. He also heard that Siamese tribute envoys were bound for the capital and, fearing their slander, begged the Celestial Court not to listen to them. Fu Kang'an forwarded the reports in turn.

帝以維祁再棄其國，并冊印不能守，是天厭黎氏，不能自存；而阮光平既請親觐，非前代莫、黎僅貢代自金人之比。且安南自五季以來，曲、矯、吳、丁、李、陳、黎、莫互相吞噬，前代曾郡縣其地，反側無常，時憂南顧。乃允其請，即封阮光平爲安南國王，冊曰：「朕惟王化遐覃，伐罪因而舍服，侯封恪守，事大所以畏天。鑒誠悃於荒陬，贳其既往，沛恩膏於屬國，嘉與維新，賁茲寵命之頒，勖以訓行之率。惟安南地居炎徼，開十三道之封疆，而黎民臣事天朝，修百餘年之職貢，每趨王會，舊附方輿。自遭難以流離，遂式微而控愬。方謂興師復國，字小堪與圖存，何期棄印委城，積弱仍歸失守，殆天心厭其薄德，緻世祚訖於終淪。爾阮光平起自西山，界斯南服，向匪君臣之分，浸成婚媾之仇。釁啓交讧，情殊負固。抗顔行於倉卒，雖無心而難掩前愆，悔罪咎以湔除，原革面而自深痛艾。表箋籥請，使先猶子以抒忱，琛獻憬來，躬與明年之祝嘏。自非仰邀封爵，榮藉龍光，曷由下莅民氓，妥茲鸠集。況王者無分民，讵在版章其土宇，而生人有司牧，是宜輯甯爾邦家。爰布寵綏，俾憑鎮撫，今封爾爲安南國王，錫之新印。於戲！有興有廢，天子惟順天而行，無貳無虞，國王咸舉國以聽。王其懋将丹款，肅矢冰兢，固圉以長其子孫，勿使逼滋他族，悉心以勤於夙夜，罔令逸欲有邦，益敬奉夫明威，庶永承夫渥典。欽哉，毋替朕命！」其黎維祁賞三品銜，令同屬下人戶來京，歸入漢軍旗下，即以維祁爲佐領。又令阮光平訪問維祁親屬，護送進關。其前安插内地之西南夷人，有系懷故土者，并令阮光平善爲撫綏，以示矜全。

The emperor held that Le Vi Khe had again abandoned his realm and could not even hold patent and seal—Heaven had turned from the Le, and they could no longer stand alone; whereas Nguyen Quang Binh had asked to attend court in person, not like the Mo and Le of old who sent tribute by proxy, as the Jurchens once had. Moreover, since the Five Dynasties the Qu, Jiao, Wu, Ding, Li, Chen, Le, and Mo of Annam had swallowed one another in turn. Earlier dynasties had once county-organized the region, yet it remained restless and unstable, always troubling the court's southern gaze. He granted the request and invested Nguyen Quang Binh as king of Annam. The patent ran: "I hold that royal virtue reaches far and wide; in punishing guilt one may yet spare those who submit; fiefs must be strictly kept; to serve the great is to revere Heaven. Seeing sincerity in a distant corner, I pardon what is past; pouring grace on a tributary state, I rejoice in renewal; with this favor of appointment I exhort you to heed these instructions. Annam lies in the hot south, its thirteen circuits of territory laid open; yet the Le people served the Celestial Court and kept more than a century of tribute, ever hastening to the royal assembly, long part of the imperial domain. Since calamity drove them into exile they waned and cried out in distress. One had thought that sending troops to restore the kingdom, small though its name, might yet preserve it. Who expected them to cast away seal and city, weakness yielding once more to defeat? Perhaps Heaven had wearied of their meager virtue and their dynasty's fortune had run its course. You, Nguyen Quang Binh, rose from the Western Hills on this southern march. Once there was no lord-and-subject tie between you, yet by degrees it became the hatred of affinal kin. Quarrel opened and strife followed; your temper was stubborn indeed. You bore yourself defiantly in haste. Though not wholly deliberate, past faults are hard to hide. Repenting guilt to wash it clean, you would change your ways and repent in depth. Your memorial and letter earnestly petition. You sent your nephew ahead to declare your sincerity; tribute and gifts arrive in reverence; you yourself will join next year's birthday rites. Had you not looked up to seek rank and borrow imperial glory, how could you descend to rule the people and settle this gathered realm? Moreover, a king does not divide his people—why should he care only for the lines on a map? Yet the living must have rulers; it is right that you bring peace to your state and house. Therefore I spread favor and comfort, that you may rely on it to govern and pacify. I now invest you as king of Annam and grant a new seal. Alas! There is rise and there is fall; the Son of Heaven acts only as Heaven directs. Without disloyalty and without doubt, the king must lead the whole nation to obey. King, earnestly uphold your loyal heart, keep your purpose firm as ice, strengthen your defenses to lengthen your line, do not let other peoples press upon you, labor day and night without letting indulgence ruin your state, revere all the more the bright majesty, and may you forever inherit this rich mandate. Take heed; do not fail my command!" Le Vi Khe was granted Third Rank and ordered to bring his household and dependents to the capital, enrolled in the Han Eight Banners, with Le Vi Khe made an assistant captain. Nguyen Quang Binh was also ordered to find Le Vi Khe's relatives and escort them across the frontier. Southwestern tribesmen previously resettled inland who still longed for home were likewise entrusted to Nguyen Quang Binh for gentle settlement, to show imperial clemency.

五十五年，阮光平來朝祝釐，途次封其長子阮光缵爲世子。七月，入觐熱河山莊，班次親王下、郡王上，賜御製詩章，受冠帶歸。其實光平使其弟冒名來，光平未敢親到也，其谲詐如此。五十六年，擊敗黎維祉及萬象國之師來獻捷，帝優賞之。五十七年，議定安南貢期，舊例三年一貢者，定爲兩年，六年遣使來朝一次者，定爲四年。

In the fifty-fifth year Nguyen Quang Binh came to court for the birthday rites. En route his eldest son Nguyen Quang Toan was invested as heir apparent. In the seventh month he had audience at the Rehe mountain resort, seated below princes of the first rank and above those of the second. He received an imperial poem, cap and belt, and returned. In truth Quang Binh had sent his younger brother in his place; he himself had not dared come. Such was his deceit. In the fifty-sixth year he defeated Le Vi Tri and the army of Vientiane and reported victory. The emperor rewarded him generously. In the fifty-seventh year Annam's tribute schedule was fixed: triennial tribute became biennial, and the six-year court mission became one every four years.

九月，阮光平在義安病故，世子阮光缵權國事，以訃告。五十八年正月，遣廣西按察使成林谕祭，加谥忠純，并頒賜御製詩，於墓道勒碑，以表恭順。封光缵爲安南國王。帝以阮邦新造，人心未定，阮光缵尚幼，且阮嶽尚在廣南，吳文楚久握兵柄，主少國疑，恐有變，特調福康安總督雲、貴備邊，并令成林密偵其國。成林旋以國事觕定聞，乃止。

In the ninth month Nguyen Quang Binh died of illness at Nghe An. Heir apparent Nguyen Quang Toan took charge of affairs and reported the death. In the first month of the fifty-eighth year Guangxi surveillance commissioner Cheng Lin was sent to perform sacrificial rites, posthumously grant the title Zhongchun, bestow an imperial poem, and carve a stele at the tomb road to mark reverent submission. Quang Toan was invested as king of Annam. The emperor judged the Nguyen state newly made, hearts unsettled, Nguyen Quang Toan still young, Nguyen Nhac still in Guangnan, and Ngo Van Chu long holding the armies—a young ruler, a realm in doubt. Fearing trouble, he specially transferred Fu Kang'an to govern Yunnan and Guizhou and guard the frontier, and ordered Cheng Lin to watch the kingdom in secret. Cheng Lin soon reported that affairs in the kingdom seemed stable, and the measures were dropped.

八月，署兩廣總督郭世勳奏安南添立花山市。先是安南通市，平而、水口兩關商人在其國之高憑鎮牧馬庯立市，由隘商人在諒山鎮之驅驢庯立市，分設太和、豐盛二号，并置廒長、市長各一人，保護、監當各一員。而從平而關出口之商，必由水路先抵花山，計程僅二百餘裏。且花山附近村莊稠密，至是添設行鋪，其市長、監當各員，即於驅驢額内派往。客民中有由陸路前赴牧馬者，仍聽其便。

In the eighth month Acting Governor-General Guo Shixun of Guangdong-Guangxi reported that Annam had established a market at Huashan. When trade with Annam had first opened, merchants from the Ping'er and Shuikou passes set up a market at Muma ward in Gaoping prefecture, and You'ai merchants set up a market at Qulü ward in Lang Son, dividing them into the Taihe and Fengsheng markets, each with a granary chief and market chief, and one protector and one supervisor. Merchants leaving by Ping'er Pass had to go by water to Huashan first—a journey of only a little over two hundred li. Villages near Huashan were thickly settled; shops were now added there, and the market chiefs and supervisors were drawn from the Qulü establishment. Resident merchants who traveled overland to Muma were still free to go as they chose.

嘉慶元年，福州将軍魁倫、兩廣總督吉慶先後奏言，獲烏艚船海盜，有安南總兵及封爵敕命、印信等物。初，阮氏據廣南，以順化港爲門戶，與占城、真臘、暹羅皆接壤，西南瀕海。有商舶飄入海者，阮氏辄沒入其貨，即中國商船，亦倍稅沒其半，故紅毛、占臘、暹羅諸國商船，皆以近廣南灣爲戒。阮光平父子既以兵篡國，國用虛耗，商船不至，乃遣烏艚船百餘、總兵十二人，假采辦軍饷，多招中國沿海亡命，啖以官爵，資以器械船隻，使鄉導入寇閩、粵、江、浙各省。時浙師禦海盜，值大風雨，雨中有火爇入賊舟，悉破損。參将李成隆率兵涉水取賊砲，并搜獲安南敕文、總兵銅印各四。敕稱『差艚隊大統兵進祿侯倫貴利』，而教諭王鳴珂獲三賊，一詭爲瘖者，一名王貴利，訊，雲即倫貴利也。同時閩中獲艇賊安南總兵範光喜，供述：『阮光平既代黎氏，光平死，傳子光缵，時與舊阮構兵，而軍費又苦不給，其總督陳寶玉招集粵艇肆掠於洋。繼而安南總兵黃文海與賊官伍存七有隙，以二艇投誠於閩，今閩中造船用其式也。倫貴利者，廣東澄海人，投附安南，與舊阮戰有功，封侯。以巡海，私結閩盜來閩、浙劫掠。安南艇七十六艘，分前、中、後支，倫貴利統帶後支。其銅印凡四，貴利自佩其一，餘三印，三總兵曰耀、曰南、曰金者佩之，耀已擒斬，南、金則均溺斃於海』雲。巡撫阮元磔貴利，而以供辭入奏。

In Jiaqing 1 Fuzhou General Kuile and Governor-General Ji Qing reported in turn the capture of wuchuan pirate ships bearing, among other things, an Annam major-general's seal, noble patents, and edicts. Earlier the Nguyen had held Guangnan, with Thuan Hoa harbor as its gate. It bordered Champa, Cambodia, and Siam and opened on the sea to the southwest. Merchant ships driven in by storm had their cargo seized by the Nguyen. Even Chinese merchants paid double tax and lost half their goods. Dutch, Cambodian, Siamese, and other traders all shunned Guangnan Bay. After Nguyen Quang Binh and his son seized the throne by force, the treasury was drained and merchant traffic ceased. They sent out more than a hundred wuchuan and twelve major-generals, pretending to buy military supplies, recruited coastal desperadoes from China with promises of rank, armed and shipped them, and used them as guides to raid Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. Zhejiang troops were fighting the pirates when a great storm broke. Fire fell from the rain into the rebel boats and wrecked them all. Assistant General Li Chenglong waded in to seize the rebel guns and also recovered four Annam edicts and four major-general bronze seals. One edict named "Commissioned Grand Commander of the Wuchuan Fleet, Advance Merit Marquis Lun Guili." Instructor Wang Mingke seized three rebels; one played mute and gave the name Wang Guili. Under interrogation he admitted he was Lun Guili. At the same time Fujian captured boat-pirate Annam major-general Pham Quang Hy, who testified: "After Nguyen Quang Binh overthrew the Le, Quang Binh died and rule passed to Quang Toan. He was then at war with the Old Nguyen and could not meet military costs; Governor Chen Baoyu gathered Guangdong boats to raid the open sea. Later Annam major-general Hoang Van Hai fell out with pirate officer Wu Cunqi and brought two boats to Fujian in surrender. Fujian now builds boats to that pattern. Lun Guili was from Chenghai in Guangdong. He had gone over to Annam, fought the Old Nguyen with distinction, and been made a marquis. While patrolling the sea he secretly joined Fujian pirates and raided Fujian and Zhejiang. The Annam fleet numbered seventy-six boats in van, center, and rear divisions; Lun Guili commanded the rear. There were four bronze seals in all. Guili wore one; the other three went to major-generals Yao, Nan, and Jin. Yao had already been taken and executed; Nan and Jin had both drowned at sea." Governor Ruan Yuan had Guili executed by dismemberment and forwarded his confession to the throne.

帝命軍機大臣字寄兩廣總督，照會安南國王。冬十二月，阮光缵呈覆，略曰：「小番世蒙天朝恩庇，曠格逾涯，無能酬報，思以慎守疆宇，永作屏翰。祗以本國極南沿海農耐地初，有賊渠阮種，竊據其地，嘯聚齊桅盜夥，數爲海患。本國整饬海防，間收艙客，以離賊黨，且助海面帆柁之役。倫貴利者，前居本國，随同商伴巡防。讵料伊包藏禍心，私瞞小番，竟敢潛約匪船，越赴内洋，肆行劫掠。又擅造印劄，轉相诳誘，情罪重大，實爲法律所不容。小番不能先燭其奸，疏於钤束。仰蒙聖慈普鑒，洞悉肫誠，訓誨有加，天日垂照。恭繹聖谕，且感且悚。謹當遵奉彜訓，靖守籓封，令本國巡海人員，嚴加警饬，密施钤勒，斷不容結同匪夥，越境作非，務期桂海永清，以上副聖天子懷柔之至德，是所自勉也。」帝以國王不知，赦之。二年，兩廣總督奏稱，安南國王阮光缵差委官弁丁公雪等，帶領兵船，拿獲盜犯黃柱、陳樂等六十餘名，解送内地。帝降敕褒賜，并頒賜如意、玉山、蟒錦、紗器，以示優獎。

The emperor ordered the Grand Council to write the Governor-General of Guangdong-Guangxi and notify the king of Annam. In the twelfth month Nguyen Quang Toan submitted a reply, saying in brief: "This petty state has long rested under the Celestial Court's grace, favor beyond all measure, with no way to repay it. I mean only to guard my borders carefully and forever serve as a bulwark. Only at Nong Nai on our far southern coast there was the bandit chieftain Nguyen Chong, who seized the place and gathered a great pirate fleet under many masts, repeatedly troubling the sea. Our state tightened coastal defense, occasionally taking ship passengers to split the bandits and help patrol the open sea. Lun Guili had formerly lived in our country and joined merchant patrols. Who could have known he hid treacherous intent from me and secretly arranged with outlaw ships to cross into the inner seas and plunder at will? He also forged seals and letters on his own and used them to lure others on. The crime was grave and truly beyond the law. This petty state failed to see his treachery in time and was lax in restraining him. I look up to the sage's universal discernment, who sees my sincere heart, adds instruction beyond measure, and shines like sun and sky. Reverently pondering the imperial instruction, I am grateful and awed. I shall obey the canonical teaching, keep the frontier at peace, and order my coastal patrol officers to tighten warnings and apply secret restraint, never allowing alliance with outlaws or border crossings for wrongdoing, striving that the Guangxi seas may stay clear forever and so match the sage Son of Heaven's utmost virtue of gentle rule. This I charge myself." The emperor, holding that the king had not known, pardoned him. In the second year the Governor-General reported that King Nguyen Quang Toan of Annam had sent officers including Ding Gongxue with military boats to capture pirates Huang Zhu, Chen Le, and more than sixty others and deliver them inland. The emperor issued an edict of praise and reward and also bestowed ruyi scepters, jade mountains, python brocade, and gauze vessels as special marks of favor.

初，阮光平既攻滅廣南王阮某，阮某爲黎王婿，妻黎氏有娠，逃於農耐，農耐爲水真臘舊都，即嘉定省，今之西貢也。黎氏生子曰阮福映，本名種，潛匿民間。及長，奔暹羅。暹羅王故與阮光平夙仇，乃以女弟歸福映，助之兵，攻克農耐，據之，勢漸強，号『舊阮』，而稱阮光平父子爲『新阮』，亦曰『西阮』。舊阮以復讐爲辭，奪其富春舊都，時嘉慶四年也。

Earlier, after Nguyen Quang Binh destroyed the Guangnan king Nguyen Mo, Nguyen Mo—son-in-law to the Le king—had a pregnant Le wife who fled to Nong Nai. Nong Nai was the old capital of Lower Cambodia, Gia Dinh province—today's Saigon. The Le woman bore a son named Nguyen Phuc Anh, originally called Chong, and hid him among the people. When he came of age he fled to Siam. The Siamese king, long Nguyen Quang Binh's enemy, gave his younger sister to Phuc Anh in marriage, sent troops to help him take Nong Nai and hold it, and his power slowly grew. He styled himself the "Old Nguyen" and called Nguyen Quang Binh and his son the "New Nguyen," also the "Western Nguyen." The Old Nguyen, claiming revenge, retook their old capital at Fuychun in Jiaqing 4.

六年十一月，安南僞總兵陳天保攜眷内投，始知安南與農耐兵争事。

In the eleventh month of the sixth year bogus Annam major-general Tran Thien Bao defected with his family, and only then did the court learn that Annam and Nong Nai were fighting.

七年八月，農耐攻升隆城，阮光缵敗走被擒。八月，阮福映縛送莫觀扶等三名來粵，并獻其攻克富春時所獲阮光缵封冊、金印，奉表投誠。莫觀扶等皆中國盜犯，受安南招往投順，封東海王及總兵僞職者。帝以『從前阮光平款阙内附，恩禮有加，阮光缵嗣服南交，復頒敕命，俾其世守勿替。乃薮奸窩盜，肆毒海洋，負恩反噬，莫此爲甚！且印信名器至重，辄行舍棄潛逃，罪無可逭！其命兩廣總督吉慶赴鎮南關備邊，俟阮福映攻復安南全境以聞。』十二月，阮福映滅安南，遣使入貢，備陳構兵始末，爲先世黎氏復讐；并言其國本古越裳之地，今兼并安南，不忘世守。乞以『南越』名國。帝諭以『南越』所包甚廣，今兩廣地皆在其内，阮福映全有安南，亦不過交趾故地，不得以『南越』名國。

In the eighth month of the seventh year Nong Nai attacked Thang Long. Nguyen Quang Toan was routed, fled, and was taken. In the eighth month Nguyen Phuc Anh sent Mo Guanfu and two others bound to Guangdong and presented Nguyen Quang Toan's patent and golden seal taken when Fuychun fell, with a memorial of submission. Mo Guanfu and the others were Chinese outlaws recruited by Annam to defect, ennobled with bogus titles as Prince of the Eastern Sea and major-general. The emperor declared: "Formerly Nguyen Quang Binh came to court in sincerity and was treated with added grace. Nguyen Quang Toan succeeded in the south and was again granted an edict that his house might hold the throne forever. Yet he harbored villains and sheltered pirates, poisoning the seas and biting the hand that fed him—nothing could exceed this! Moreover seals and insignia are things of utmost weight; to cast them aside and flee in secret—his guilt admits no escape! He ordered Governor-General Ji Qing to the Zhennan Pass to guard the frontier and wait until Nguyen Phuc Anh had recovered all of Annam to report. In the twelfth month Nguyen Phuc Anh extinguished Annam and sent envoys with tribute, recounting at length how he had raised armies to avenge the Le of earlier generations. He also declared that his realm was the ancient land of Yuechang; having annexed Annam, he had not forsaken the domain his house had long held. He asked that his kingdom be named Nanyue. The emperor replied that Nanyue had once embraced a vast domain—including all of the two Guang provinces—and that though Nguyen Phuc Anh now held all of Annam, he possessed no more than the old lands of Jiaozhi and could not take the name Nanyue.

八年，改安南爲越南國。六月，命廣西按察使齊布森往封阮福映爲越南國王。蓋自阮光平篡黎氏十九年，復滅於阮福映，嗣後修職貢者爲舊阮子孫矣。

In the eighth year, following Gia Long's unification of the realm in 1802, the court renamed Annam the Kingdom of Vietnam. In the sixth month he dispatched Guangxi Intendant Qi Busen to invest Nguyen Phuc Anh (Gia Long) as King of Vietnam. Nguyen Quang Binh had usurped the Le nineteen years earlier, only to be overthrown in turn by Nguyen Phuc Anh; henceforth tribute came from the old Nguyen line.

九年，遣編置佐領及安插江甯、熱河、張家口、奉天、黑龍江、伊犁等處安南人回國，赉銀有差，并許黎維祁歸葬。

In the ninth year assistant commandants were sent to organize the return of Annamese resettled in Jiangning, Rehe, Zhangjiakou, Fengtian, Heilongjiang, Yili, and elsewhere, with silver granted according to rank; Le Vi Khe was also permitted a funeral burial at home.

十一年，越南興化鎮目請以臨安府所屬六猛地方外附，檄谕王自懲之。阮光缵遺族阮如權避捕投内地，兩廣總督吳熊光奏請發交阮福映。帝嫌其爲屬籓擒送逋逃，不許，亦不許其逼留内地。

In the eleventh year the Xinghua garrison commander sought to annex the Six Meng districts under Lin'an prefecture; the court rebuked the Vietnamese king and ordered him to restrain himself. Nguyen Nhu Quyen, a kinsman of the fallen Nguyen Quang Toan line, fled into Chinese territory to escape capture; Governor-General Wu Xiongguang asked permission to deliver him to Nguyen Phuc Anh. The emperor refused: a tributary state ought not seize and remand fugitives, and they must not be forcibly kept on Chinese soil either.

十四年，阮福映遣員至諒山，齎送乾隆六十年錫封南掌國王敕印，帝嘉獎之。

In the fourteenth year Nguyen Phuc Anh sent an officer to Lang Son bearing the Qianlong sixtieth-year patent and seal of the King of Luang Prabang; the emperor praised the gesture.

阮福映之得國也，藉嘉定、永隆兵力居多，乃取二省爲年号，曰嘉隆。在位十七年而薨，子福皎嗣。

Nguyen Phuc Anh had won his realm chiefly through the armies of Gia Dinh and Vinh Long; he took those two provinces for his reign title—Jialong, Gia Long. He reigned seventeen years and died; his son Nguyen Phuc Dam succeeded.

道光元年，遣廣西按察使潘恭辰齎敕印往封阮福皎爲越南國王。

In Daoguang 1 Guangxi Intendant Pan Gongchen was sent with patent and seal to invest Nguyen Phuc Dam as King of Vietnam.

九年，越南使臣請改貢道由廣東水路，部議駁之。

In the ninth year Vietnamese envoys asked to shift the tribute route to the Guangdong waterways; the ministry refused.

十九年，帝谕向來越南國二年一貢，四年遣使來朝一次，合兩貢并進，嗣後改爲四年遣使來貢一次，其貢物照兩貢并進之數減其半。福皎改元明命，在位二十一年。嘗以兵奪高蠻國河仙一帶地，分通境爲三十省：曰富春，國都也；廣南、廣義二省爲右圻；廣治、廣平二省爲左圻；平順、富安、廣和、邊和、嘉定、安江、河仙、永隆、定祥九省爲南圻；河靜、海陽、廣安、清化、乂安、南定、廣平、興安、河内、北甯、諒山、高平、太原、山西、宣光、興化十六省爲北圻。後又以廣義、廣治各省過小，改爲道。疆域較曆世爲大。惟宣光省西北直廣西鎮安府之南，有地曰保樂州，其酋農姓，系黎氏舊臣，仍念故主，不服新王，越南僅羁縻處之。黎維祉子孫逃居老撾深山中，時思聚衆復國，所謂黎王後也。其餘黎氏疏族，好滋事，俱安置平順以南各省。又自鄙其國文教之陋，奏請頒發康熙字典。其取士則用元制，以經義、詩賦考試。

In the nineteenth year the emperor ordered that Vietnam's former practice—tribute every two years, envoys every four, two cycles bundled in one mission—be simplified to one envoy every four years, with tribute goods cut by half. Nguyen Phuc Dam took the reign title Minh Mang and ruled twenty-one years. He had seized the Ha Tien region from Cambodia by force and divided the realm into thirty provinces; Phu Xuan served as the capital— Guangnan and Quang Ngai formed the Right Circuit; Quang Tri and Quang Binh formed the Left Circuit; Nine provinces—Binh Thuan, Phu Yen, Quang Hoa, Bien Hoa, Gia Dinh, An Giang, Ha Tien, Vinh Long, and Dinh Tuong—formed the Southern Circuit; Sixteen provinces from Ha Tinh northward through Hanoi, Lang Son, and Xinghua formed the Northern Circuit. Later Quang Ngai, Quang Tri, and other small provinces were reorganized as circuits. The realm was larger than in any previous reign. Only at Ba Le subprefecture in northwest Tuyen Quang, just south of Guangxi's Zhen'an prefecture, a Nong chieftain—an old Le retainer still loyal to his fallen lords—refused the new king, and Vietnam could govern him only loosely. Descendants of Le Vi Chi hid in the Laotian mountains, ever plotting to raise an army and restore the Le kingdom—the so-called heirs of the Le kings. Other distant Le kinsmen, prone to trouble, were resettled in provinces south of Binh Thuan. Ashamed of his kingdom's crude literary culture, he asked the court to send copies of the Kangxi Dictionary. Civil examinations followed the Yuan model, testing classical exposition and regulated verse.

道光二十一年，阮福皎薨，遣使告哀，诏停進貢方物，命廣西按察使寶清往封其子福巿爲越南國王。福巿改元紹治，在位七年。

In Daoguang 21 Nguyen Phuc Dam died; mourning envoys came and tribute was suspended; Guangxi Intendant Bao Qing was sent to invest his son Nguyen Phuc Mien as King of Vietnam. Nguyen Phuc Mien took the reign title Thieu Tri and ruled seven years.

道光二十八年，薨，子福時嗣。凡朝使冊封，曆世隻在河内。河内即東京，其國建都處也。及阮福映得國，以東京屢毀於兵，而其先人世居嶺南，遂遷都於富春省，改東京爲河内省。封使至其國，仍循例駐節於此。阮福時嗣位年幼，奏乞天使至其國都，由是廣西按察使勞崇光至富春冊封焉。

In Daoguang 28 he died; his son Nguyen Phuc Thi succeeded. Investiture envoys from the Qing had always resided at Hanoi. Hanoi was Dongjing—the kingdom's historic capital. After Nguyen Phuc Anh (Gia Long) united the realm, war had repeatedly laid waste to Dongjing; his house had its roots in the south, so he moved the capital to Phu Xuan and demoted Dongjing to Hanoi province. Investiture envoys still followed precedent and lodged there. The young Nguyen Phuc Thi asked that the investiture envoy come to the capital itself; Guangxi Intendant Lao Chongguang accordingly performed the rite at Phu Xuan.

三十年，鄭祖琛奏越南國王阮福時因先後奉到孝和睿皇后，宣宗成皇帝遺诏，拟請遣使恭進香禮，并進香品祭物，又齎遞表文、貢物慶賀登極。帝谕孝和睿皇后、宣宗成皇帝梓宮均已奉移陵寝，止其遠來進香。其慶賀登極方物，亦無庸呈進。咸豐二年，論越南國明年例貢著於咸豐三年五月内到京。六年，谕越南國王阮福時以丁巳年正貢屆期，咨呈勞崇光奏請於何月進關。現在用兵諸省分尚未肅清，越南國此次例貢，著緩至下屆兩貢并進。

In the thirtieth year Zheng Zuchen reported that King Nguyen Phuc Thi of Vietnam, having received the death edicts of Empress Xiaohui Rui and Emperor Xuanzong Cheng, wished to send envoys to burn incense and offer sacrifices, and also to present memorials and tribute congratulating the new emperor's accession. The emperor replied that the coffins of Empress Xiaohui Rui and Emperor Xuanzong Cheng had already been moved to the imperial tombs and forbade so long a journey merely to burn incense. Congratulatory tribute for the accession was likewise declined. In Xianfeng 2 the court fixed Vietnam's next regular tribute for arrival in the capital by the fifth month of Xianfeng 3. In the sixth year King Nguyen Phuc Thi, the dingsi regular tribute being due, asked through Lao Chongguang in which month his envoys might enter the frontier pass. With campaigning provinces not yet fully pacified, Vietnam's regular tribute was deferred to the next combined cycle.

八年，法蘭西奪取越南國西貢。先是，明季有法蘭西天主教徒布教來安南。康熙五十九年，法兵艦俄羅地号泊交趾，士官三人登陸至平順省，土人縛而獻之王。艦長與教師商，以重金贖歸。此爲法、越交涉之始。乾隆十四年，法王路易十五命皮易甫亞孛爾者爲全權大臣，至順化府謀通商，國王不許。乾隆十八年，越人大戮天主教徒。五十一年，越内亂，阮嶽自稱王，阮光平使其子景叡詣法國乞援。翌年，遂訂法越同盟之約，割崑崙島之茶麟港於法。未幾，爽約。嘉慶二十五年，法艦來越南測量海口，國人激王殺法人狄亞氏。道光二十七年，法人以兵艦至茶麟港，大敗越軍，至是年遂徑奪西貢，越南第一都會也。

In the eighth year France seized Saigon—the opening move in its colonial encroachment upon Vietnam. Earlier, in the late Ming, French Catholic missionaries had begun preaching in Annam. In Kangxi 59 the French warship Rolland anchored off Jiaozhi; three officers who landed in Binh Thuan were bound by locals and sent before the king. The captain consulted the missionary and paid a heavy ransom for their release. Thus began dealings between France and Vietnam. In Qianlong 14 King Louis XV sent Pierre de Behaine as plenipotentiary minister to Shunhua to open trade; the Vietnamese king refused. In Qianlong 18 the Vietnamese carried out a great massacre of Catholics. In the fifty-first year civil war erupted in Vietnam; Nguyen Nhac proclaimed himself king, and Nguyen Quang Binh sent his son Canh Thinh to France to beg for aid. The next year they signed a Franco-Vietnamese alliance and ceded Da Nang on Pulo Condore to France. Before long the treaty was broken. In Jiaqing 25 French warships came to survey Vietnam's harbors; the people stirred the king to have the French officer Dayot killed. In Daoguang 27 French warships appeared at Da Nang, routed the Vietnamese army, and that same year seized Saigon—Vietnam's greatest city.

咸豐十年，谕内閣：「劉長佑奏越南國入貢屆期，現在廣西軍務未竣，道路不甯，其丁巳、辛酉兩屆例貢，暫行展緩。」同治元年，法國拿破侖第三以海軍大舉伐越南，奪茶麟港，約割下交趾邊和、嘉定、定祥三省，開通商三口，賠償二千萬佛郎，許其和。嘉定省即西貢所在也。二年，越南國王阮福時因奉到文宗顯皇帝遺诏，咨請遣使進香、表賀登極、貢方物，卻之。三年，越南乙丑例貢及上二屆兩貢仍命展緩。

In Xianfeng 10 the emperor told the Grand Secretariat: "Liu Changyou reports that Vietnam's tribute mission is due; Guangxi military affairs are unfinished and the roads unsafe—the dingsi and xinyou regular missions are temporarily deferred. In Tongzhi 1 Napoleon III of France sent a great fleet against Vietnam, took Da Nang, and by treaty seized the three Lower Cochinchina provinces of Bien Hoa, Gia Dinh, and Dinh Tuong, opened three treaty ports, extracted twenty million francs in indemnity, and was granted peace. Gia Dinh province was where Saigon stood. In the second year King Nguyen Phuc Thi, having received Emperor Wenzong Xian's death edict, asked to send envoys with incense, accession congratulations, and tribute; the court declined. In the third year Vietnam's yichou regular tribute and the two prior combined missions were again deferred.

六年冬，廣西太平、鎮安兩府土匪蜂起，官軍擊之，敗遁越南。

In the winter of the sixth year bandits rose in swarms in Guangxi's Taiping and Zhen'an prefectures; government troops routed them and they fled into Vietnam.

七年，國王咨乞廣西巡撫蘇鳳文代奏請兵援剿，帝命提督馮子材率三十營讨之。

In the seventh year the Vietnamese king asked Guangxi Governor Su Fengwen to request military aid; the emperor ordered Brigadier Feng Zicai to lead thirty battalions against the bandits.

八年七月二十一日，華軍由鎮南關進發。八月，賊酋吳鲲戰北甯，傷於铳，飲孔雀血死，諸賊大懼，大兵至，遂乞降。冬，賊酋梁天錫西奔宣光，投歸河陽賊首黃崇英。是年，法人割取越南國安江、河仙、永隆三省，自是下交趾六省悉隸法版。

On the twenty-first day of the seventh month of the eighth year the Chinese army marched out from Zhennan Pass. In the eighth month the bandit chief Wu Kun fought at Bac Ninh, took a musket wound, drank peacock's blood, and died; the bandits were terrified, and when the main army arrived they surrendered. That winter the bandit chief Liang Tianxi fled west to Tuyen Quang and joined the bandit leader Huang Chongying at Heyang. That year France annexed the three Vietnamese provinces of An Giang, Ha Tien, and Vinh Long; all six Lower Cochinchina provinces now fell under French rule.

九年，興化省保勝賊首劉永福、太原省蘇街賊首鄧志雄皆來降。夏四月，黃崇英遁入保樂州白苗界内，提督溤子材班師。七月，師次龍州，而黃崇英復踞河陽，劉永福復踞興化之保勝，鄧志雄復踞太原之蘇街。十月，降賊蘇國漢乘夜襲陷諒山省城，北圻總統段壽死之。時廣西候補道徐延旭因事至諒山城外驅驢庯，調兵助越攻城，不克。十一月，賊酋阮四、陸之平、張十一等復踞高平省，越王復懇出師，帝命馮子材再督軍出關，廣西巡撫李福泰請以廣東候補道華廷傑襄辦軍事。

In the ninth year Liu Yongfu of Baosheng in Xinghua and Deng Zhixiong of Sujie in Thai Nguyen both surrendered. In the fourth month of summer Huang Chongying fled into White Miao territory in Ba Le subprefecture, and Brigadier Feng Zicai withdrew his army. In the seventh month the army halted at Longzhou—but Huang Chongying reoccupied Heyang, Liu Yongfu reoccupied Baosheng in Xinghua, and Deng Zhixiong reoccupied Sujie in Thai Nguyen. In the tenth month the surrendered bandit Su Guohan seized Lang Son city in a night attack; Duan Shou, governor-general of the Northern Circuit, was killed. Guangxi expectant intendant Xu Yanxu, passing Qulu Post outside Lang Son, mobilized troops to help the Vietnamese retake the city—but failed. In the eleventh month the bandit chiefs Ruan Si, Lu Zhiping, Zhang Shiyi, and others reoccupied Cao Bang; the Vietnamese king again begged for troops; the emperor ordered Feng Zicai to lead another expedition, and Guangxi Governor Li Futai asked that Guangdong expectant intendant Hua Tingjie assist.

十年夏，馮子材次龍州。四月二十一日，總兵劉玉成督諸将出關次北甯。九月，欽州知州陳某誘擒蘇國漢，解送兩廣總督瑞齡，誅之，其子蘇亞鄧遁入海，踞狗頭山。道員華廷傑旋回廣東。

In the summer of the tenth year Feng Zicai encamped at Longzhou. On the twenty-first day of the fourth month Major Liu Yucheng led his generals across the pass and encamped at Bac Ninh. In the ninth month the Qinzhou prefect, surnamed Chen, lured Su Guohan into capture, sent him to Governor-General Ruiling of the Two Guang for execution; Su Guohan's son Su Yadeng fled to sea and seized Goutou Mountain. Circuit intendant Hua Tingjie soon returned to Guangdong.

十一年，廣西巡撫劉長佑檄道員覃遠璡率勇十營辦太平、鎮安二府邊防，馮子材亦調回防邊。

In the eleventh year Guangxi Governor Liu Changyou ordered circuit intendant Tan Yuanlin to lead ten battalions to guard the Taiping and Zhen'an frontier, and Feng Zicai was recalled to the border as well.

十二年，華軍将撤，法人突以兵船至河内省。國王咨稱華總兵陳得貴派隊押令放入。劉長佑據情奏聞，朝命革職提訊。法人遂招中國散勇及雲南邊境不逞之徒攻越南各省，其守臣多降。至太原省，守臣招劉永福相助。法兵至，永福設伏敗之，擒其帥安鄴，法人敗退河内省，與王和。王遣其臣阮文祥與議，法人遂建館河内，并於白藤海口設關收稅。初，賊首黃崇英爲吳鲲中表，劉永福亦吳鲲之黨。吳鲲死，其弟吳鲸合家自殺。黃崇英、劉永福素不相能，永福降，越南王授以三省提督之職，黃崇英踞河陽爲盜自若。

In the twelfth year, just as the Chinese army was preparing to withdraw, French warships suddenly appeared at Hanoi province. The king reported that Chinese Major Chen Degui had sent a detachment to escort the French in and admit them. Liu Changyou reported the facts to the throne; the court ordered Chen Degui dismissed and brought up for interrogation. The French then recruited scattered Chinese braves and Yunnan frontier ruffians to attack Vietnam's provinces, and most defending officials surrendered. At Thai Nguyen the defending official called on Liu Yongfu for help. When French troops arrived, Liu Yongfu ambushed and routed them, captured their commander Garnier, drove the French back to Hanoi, and the king made peace. The king sent his minister Ruan Wenxiang to negotiate; the French established a legation at Hanoi and a customs post at the Bach Dang estuary. Huang Chongying had been Wu Kun's cousin; Liu Yongfu had belonged to Wu Kun's faction as well. When Wu Kun died, his brother Wu Jing and the entire household took their own lives. Huang Chongying and Liu Yongfu had long been at odds; when Yongfu surrendered the Vietnamese king made him governor-general of three provinces, while Huang Chongying held Heyang and raided as he pleased.

十三年，劉長佑遣劉玉成将左軍十營，道員趙沃将右軍十營，由鎮安府出關讨黃崇英。是年，法人逼令越南王公布天主教及紅河通航二事，紅河即富良江也。旋又以保商爲名，派兵駐守河内、海防諸地，且求開采紅河上流礦山。光緒元年，趙沃連克底定縣、襄安府各處，保樂州土民及白苗皆約降。崇英率衆來拒，旋遁去。趙沃督諸軍攻克河陽老巢，賊黨陳亞水降。七月，擒黃崇英戮之。二年春，班師。

In the thirteenth year Liu Changyou sent Major Liu Yucheng with ten battalions on the left and circuit intendant Zhao Wo with ten on the right out from Zhen'an to attack Huang Chongying. That year the French forced the Vietnamese king to promulgate Catholic toleration and Red River navigation—the Red River being the Song Hong. Soon they garrisoned Hanoi, Haiphong, and other ports in the name of trade protection and sought mining rights on the upper Red River. In Guangxu 1 Zhao Wo captured Didinh county, Xiang'an prefecture, and other places; the natives of Ba Le and the White Miao agreed to surrender. Huang Chongying led his men to resist, then fled. Zhao Wo led the armies against Huang Chongying's stronghold; the bandit Chen Yashui surrendered. In the seventh month Huang Chongying was captured and executed. In the spring of the second year the army withdrew.

七年，劉長佑移督雲、貴，知法人志在得越南以窺滇、粵，上疏略曰：「邊省者，中國之門戶，外籓者，中國之籓籬。籓籬陷則門戶危，門戶危則堂室震。越南爲滇、粵之脣齒。泰西諸國，自印度及新加坡、槟榔嶼設立埠頭以來，法國之垂涎越南久矣。開市西貢，據其要害，復通悍賊黃崇英，規取東京，聚兵謀渡洪江以侵諒山諸處，又欲割越南、廣西邊界地六百里爲駐兵之所。臣時任廣西巡撫，雖兵疲饷绌，立遣将卒出關往援。法人不悅，讦告通商衙門，謂臣包藏禍心，有意敗盟。賴毅皇帝察臣愚忠，乃得出助剿之師，内外夾擊。越南招用劉永福，以折法将、沙酋之鋒。廣西兩軍，左路則提督劉玉成趨太原、北甯，右路則道員趙沃由興化、宣光分擊賊黨，直抵安邊、河陽，破崇英巢穴，殲其渠魁。故法人寝謀，不敢遽肆吞并者，将逮一紀。然臣每詳詢邊将，知法人之志在必得越南，以窺滇、粵之郊而通楚、蜀之路，狡焉思啓，禍近切膚。乃入秋以來，法國增加越南水師經費，其下議院議借二百五十萬佛郎，經理東京海灣水師。其海軍卿格羅愛逐日籌畫東京兵事，俟突尼斯案一結，即可進行，竊歎法人果蓄志而潛謀，嗜利而背約也。竊聞造此謀者爲伯朗手般，在越南西貢爲巡檢司。開埠之後，招入土夷、客民衆至百萬，民情漸洽，物産日增。柬埔寨所招商民，亦逾百萬。運米出洋，歲百萬石，所徵賦稅入西貢庫藏者，歲計佛郎二百五十萬。柬埔本荒薮，開成通衢，車路方軌，溝渠修濬，東埔人感法恩德，至原以六百萬口獻地歸附，故伯朗手般以越南情形告其總統。富良江一帶，法已駛船開市，議上溯以達瀾滄江通中國之貨，結楢方諸夷以窺滇、粵邊境，築西貢至柬埔寨鐵路，以避海道之迂繞。越南四境皆有法人之迹，政治不修，兵賦不足，勢已危如累卵。今復興兵吞噬，加以柬埔之叛民，勢必摧敗不可支拄。同治十三年，法提督僅鳴砲示威，西三省已入於法人之手，而紅海通舟，地險復失。所立條約，惟不肯與以東京，國勢岌岌，恃此爲犄角。若復失其東京，即不窮極兵力圖滅富春，已無能自立矣。臣以爲法人此舉，志吞全境。既得之後，必請立領事於蒙自等處，以攘山礦金錫之利，或取道川蜀以通江海，據列邦通商口岸之上遊。況滇南自同治以後，平定逆回，其餘黨桀黠者，或潛竄越南山谷，或奔洋埠役於法人，軍情虛實，邊地情形，盡行泄漏，故時有夷人闌入滇以觀形勢。傥法覆越南，逆黨又必導之内寇，逞其反噬之謀。臣受任邊防，密迩外寇，不敢聞而不告。」奏入，不報。

In the seventh year Liu Changyou was transferred to govern Yunnan and Guizhou; seeing that France aimed to seize Vietnam and thereby threaten Yunnan and Guangdong, he memorialized: "Frontier provinces are China's gateways; outer tributaries are China's fence. When the fence falls the gateway is endangered; when the gateway is endangered the hall and chambers tremble. Vietnam is the lips and teeth of Yunnan and Guangdong. Ever since Western powers opened trading ports in India, Singapore, and Penang, France has long coveted Vietnam. France opened trade at Saigon, secured the key positions, reconnected with the bandit Huang Chongying, and set its sights on Dongjing—massing troops to cross the Hong River against Lang Son and the border regions, while seeking to annex six hundred li of disputed territory along the Vietnam–Guangxi frontier for military cantonments. I was then governor of Guangxi. Though our armies were exhausted and funds were scarce, I at once sent troops across the border to their aid. The French were displeased and complained to the Superintendency of Trade that I harbored ulterior motives and deliberately sought to wreck the accord. Only because the Yi Emperor saw through to my loyal intent were relief forces finally dispatched to join the campaign, attacking the enemy from both sides. Vietnam enlisted Liu Yongfu to blunt the advance of the French commanders and their allied frontier chiefs. Guangxi fielded two columns: on the left, Major Liu Yucheng advanced on Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh; on the right, Circuit Intendant Zhao Wo moved out from Xinghua and Xuan Quang, divided his forces against the bandits, drove to An Bang and Heyang, destroyed Chongying's stronghold, and killed the rebel leaders. For nearly twelve years thereafter the French shelved their designs and did not dare move openly toward annexation. Yet whenever I closely questioned the frontier commanders, I learned that France was resolved to take Vietnam, probe Yunnan and Guangdong, and open routes into Huguang and Sichuan—scheming for an opening while danger pressed close upon us. Since autumn France had increased funding for Vietnam's navy; its Chamber of Deputies debated a loan of two and a half million francs to build up the fleet in the Gulf of Dongjing. The French naval chief Ge Luoai plotted Tonkin operations day by day, ready to move as soon as the Tunisian affair was settled. I could only marvel that France had long harbored this design in secret—greedy for gain and faithless to its treaties. I have learned that the architect of this scheme was Paul Bert, resident commissioner at Saigon. After the port opened, settlers and local peoples numbered a million; relations gradually settled and commerce steadily grew. Chinese settlers brought into Cambodia likewise exceeded a million. A million shi of rice were shipped abroad each year, and taxes flowing into the Saigon treasury totaled two and a half million francs annually. Cambodia had been a wasteland; the French cut roads through it, laid carriage tracks, and dredged canals. The Cambodians, grateful for French favor, were even willing to offer six million subjects and their lands in submission—whereupon Paul Bert laid Vietnam's prospects before the French president. Along the Fuliang River the French had already opened trade by gunboat and planned to push upstream to the Lancang River and China's markets, win over the Yaofang tribes to probe the Yunnan and Guangdong border, and build a Saigon–Cambodia railway to bypass the long sea route. French influence touched every corner of Vietnam; government was neglected, armies and revenues were inadequate, and the kingdom stood perilous as eggs stacked one upon another. Now they were raising armies to devour it anew, and with Cambodia's rebellious subjects added to the balance, Vietnam could scarcely endure. In Tongzhi 13 a French admiral had done no more than fire a few warning shots, yet three western provinces were already in French hands; once the Red River was opened to shipping, the strategic passes were lost as well. Under the treaty then concluded, France had only withheld Dongjing; the kingdom's position was precarious, and that province alone remained as its corner of resistance. If Dongjing fell as well, Vietnam could no longer stand on its own—even before France exhausted its armies against Phu Xuan. I believe France intends to swallow the whole country. Once it was theirs, they would surely demand consuls at Mengzi and elsewhere to seize mining profits in gold and tin, or open routes through Sichuan to the rivers and coast and control the upper reaches above China's treaty ports. Moreover, though southern Yunnan's Muslim rebels had been suppressed after Tongzhi, crafty survivors either hid in Vietnam's mountains or fled to foreign ports to serve the French, leaking every detail of our forces and frontiers. Barbarian agents therefore slipped into Yunnan from time to time to reconnoiter. If France overran Vietnam, the rebel remnants would surely guide invaders inward and turn their fury back upon us. Entrusted with frontier defense and standing face to face with a foreign enemy, I dare not keep silent." The memorial was submitted and received no reply.

時駐英法使臣曾紀澤以越事叠與法廷辨诘，福建巡撫丁日昌亦疏法、越事以聞。帝命與北洋大臣李鴻章籌商辦法，并谕沿江沿海督撫，密爲籌辦。

At the time Zeng Jize, envoy to Britain and France, repeatedly pressed the French court over Vietnam, while Fujian Governor Ding Richang also memorialized on Franco-Vietnamese affairs. The emperor ordered Li Hongzhang, minister of the Northern Seas, to consult on a course of action, and secretly instructed the riverine and coastal governors to prepare.

八年二月，法人以兵艦由西貢駛至海陽，謀取東京，直督張樹聲以聞，帝谕滇督相機因應。三月，移曾國荃督兩廣。法攻東京，破之，張樹聲奏令滇、粵防軍嚴守城外，以剿辦土匪爲名，藉圖進步，并令廣東兵艦出洋遙爲聲援。五月，滇督劉長佑遣道員沈壽榕帶兵出境，與廣西官軍連絡聲勢，保護越南。并奏言：「探聞法人破東京後，退駐輪船，日日添兵，增招群盜，懸賞萬金購劉永福，十萬金取保勝州。又法領事破城後，劫掠商政衙門，傳示各商，出入貨稅另有新章，現仍調取陸軍趕造拖船，爲西取保勝之計。越王派其兵部侍郎陳廷肅接署河内總督，遣吏部尚書阮正等抵山西與黃佐炎等籌商禦敵之策。各省巡撫、布、按大半與黃佐炎、劉永福同原決一死戰。嗣後統領防軍提督黃桂蘭報稱劉永福馳赴山西，道經諒山，來見。比曉以忠義，感激奮發，據稱分兵赴北甯助守保勝，萬不使法人得逞，但兵力不足，望天朝爲援。其河内探報雲，法人恐援兵猝至，當釋所獲之河内巡撫，交還城池倉庫。巡撫不受，稱法人違約弄兵，以死自誓，乃轉交按察使。宗室阮霸復以火藥轟毀東京，以免越人復聚，且省兵力分守。其輪船或東下海陽，或分駛廣南、西貢，俟添兵既集，從事上遊。伏查法人焚掠東京，狡謀叵測，越南諸臣決計主戰。山西爲上通雲南要地，越軍能悉力抵禦，微特滇、粵邊防可保，即越南大局，亦尚有振興之期。而粵督與總署所議以滇、粵、桂三省兵力合規北圻一策，更可乘勢早圖，以杜窺伺。然越國受制法人已久，人心恇怯，此次決戰山西，期於必勝，稍有撓敗，則大局不堪設想。蓋山西有失，則法人西入三江口，不獨保勝無復障蔽，而滇省自河底江以下，皆須步步設防，益形勞費。以事機而論，中國有萬難坐視之處，且不可待山西有失，始爲事後之援。」旋召長佑入觐，以岑毓英署滇督。

In the second month of the eighth year French warships sailed from Saigon to Hai Duong intent on seizing Dongjing. Governor-General Zhang Shusheng reported the move, and the emperor told the Yunnan governor to respond as circumstances required. In the third month Zeng Guoquan was appointed governor-general of Guangdong and Guangxi. The French attacked and captured Dongjing. Zhang Shusheng memorialized that Yunnan and Guangdong frontier forces should hold positions outside the city walls under the pretext of suppressing bandits, thereby seeking room to advance, and ordered Guangdong warships to sea as a distant show of force. In the fifth month Yunnan Governor Liu Changyou sent Circuit Intendant Shen Shourong across the border with troops to coordinate with Guangxi forces and protect Vietnam. He also reported: "After capturing Dongjing the French withdrew to their steamships, adding troops each day and recruiting brigands, posting a bounty of ten thousand taels of gold for Liu Yongfu and one hundred thousand for the capture of Baosheng. After the city fell the French consul looted the trade and administration offices, announced new customs rules to the merchants, and was still calling up land forces and building towboats for a western thrust against Baosheng. The Vietnamese king sent Vice Minister of War Chen Tingsu to serve as acting governor of Hanoi and dispatched Minister of Personnel Ruan Zheng to Son Tay to confer with Huang Zuoyan and others on plans of defense. Most of the provincial governors, administrators, and judicial commissioners stood with Huang Zuoyan and Liu Yongfu, resolved to fight to the death. Later frontier commander Major Huang Guilan reported that Liu Yongfu, hurrying to Son Tay, had passed through Lang Son to see him. When urged in the name of loyalty and righteousness, he was deeply moved; he declared he would detach troops for Bac Ninh to help hold Baosheng and never let the French prevail, but his forces were too few and he begged the Celestial Court for aid. Scouts from Hanoi reported that fearing sudden arrival of relief troops, the French would release the captured governor of Hanoi and restore the city, warehouses, and treasury. The governor refused, declaring that the French had broken treaty and taken up arms; swearing to die before yielding, he transferred authority to the surveillance commissioner. The imperial clansman Ruan Ba blasted Dongjing with gunpowder to keep the Vietnamese from reassembling there and to spare the troops needed to garrison it. Their steamships either sailed east to Hai Duong or dispersed to Quang Nam and Saigon, waiting until reinforcements were gathered before moving upriver. In burning and looting Dongjing the French revealed a scheme impossible to fathom; Vietnam's ministers had resolved on war. Son Tay was the vital corridor to Yunnan; if Vietnamese forces could hold there with all their strength, not only Yunnan and Guangdong frontiers but Vietnam's larger fortunes might yet be saved. Moreover, the plan discussed by the governor-general of Guangdong and the Zongli Yamen—to combine Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guangxi forces in a joint Bac Bo campaign—could seize the moment and forestall French designs. Yet Vietnam had long been cowed by France and its people were faint of heart. The coming battle at Son Tay had to be won; the slightest reverse would be unthinkable for the larger cause. If Son Tay fell, the French would push west through Sanjiangkou; Baosheng would lose its shield, and every stretch of Yunnan below the Hedijang would have to be defended step by step—an exhausting drain. Given the turn of events, China could hardly stand idle—and could not wait until Son Tay had fallen to offer belated aid." Liu Changyou was soon summoned to court, and Cen Yuying was appointed acting governor of Yunnan.

劉永福者，廣西上恩州人。咸豐間廣西亂，永福率三百人出鎮南關。時粵人何均昌據保勝，永福逐而去之，遂據保勝，所部旗皆黑色，号「黑旗軍」。永福既立功，越南授三省提督職，時時自備饷械剿匪，而黃佐炎皆匿不上聞，越臣亦多忌之，永福積怨於佐炎。佐炎爲越南驸馬，以大學士督師，督撫均受節制。馮子材爲廣西提督時，佐炎以事來見，子材坐将台，令以三跪九叩見，佐炎銜之次骨。越難已深，國王阮福時憤極決戰，責令佐炎督永福出師，六調不至。法軍忌永福，故越王始終倚任之。

Liu Yongfu was a native of Shang'en prefecture in Guangxi. During the Guangxi troubles of the Xianfeng reign, Yongfu led three hundred men out through Zhennan Pass. He Junchang, a Cantonese adventurer, held Baosheng; Yongfu drove him out, seized the place, and his troops—all black-bannered—became known as the Black Flag Army. After Yongfu proved his worth Vietnam made him governor-general of three provinces; he paid for his own supplies and arms to suppress bandits, but Huang Zuoyan always suppressed reports of his deeds. Many Vietnamese officials envied him, and Yongfu's resentment toward Zuoyan grew. Zuoyan was the Vietnamese king's son-in-law; as grand secretary he commanded the armies, and governors and administrators all fell under his orders. When Feng Zicai was Guangxi major, Zuoyan came on official business; Feng received him from the commander's dais and required the full three kneelings and nine kowtows. Zuoyan never forgave the humiliation. As Vietnam's crisis deepened, King Nguyen Phuc Thi, enraged beyond endurance, resolved on war and ordered Zuoyan to lead Yongfu into the field—but six summonses went unanswered. The French feared Yongfu, and so the Vietnamese king continued to rely on him.

先是，劉長佑命籓司唐炯率舊部屯保勝，曾國荃至粵，命提督黃得勝統兵防欽州，提督吳全美率兵輪八艘防北海，廣西防軍提督黃桂蘭、道員趙沃相繼出關，所謂三省合規北圻也。時法人要中國會議越事，谕滇、粵籌畫備議。法使寶海至天津，命北洋大臣會商越南通商分界事宜。吏部主事唐景崧自請赴越南招撫劉永福，帝命發雲南岑毓英差遣。

Earlier Liu Changyou had ordered Provincial Treasurer Tang Jiong to garrison Baosheng with his old troops. When Zeng Guoquan reached Guangdong he posted Major Huang Desheng at Qinzhou and Major Wu Quanmei with eight gunboats at Beihai; Guangxi frontier commander Huang Guilan and Circuit Intendant Zhao Wo then crossed the border in turn—the famed three-province Bac Bo campaign. France then demanded that China convene talks on Vietnam; the emperor ordered Yunnan and Guangdong to prepare for negotiations. French Minister Bouré arrived at Tianjin, and the emperor ordered the minister of the Northern Seas to negotiate Vietnam's trade and boundary questions. Tang Jingsong, a principal clerk in the Ministry of Personnel, volunteered to go to Vietnam and win over Liu Yongfu; the emperor ordered him dispatched under Cen Yuying of Yunnan.

九年正月，景崧乃假道越南入滇，先至粵谒曾國荃，韪其議，資之入越。見永福，爲陳三策，言：「越爲法逼，亡在旦夕，誠因保勝傳檄而定諸省，請命中國，假以名義，事成則王，此上策也；次則提全師擊河内，驅法人，中國必助之饷，此中策也；如坐守保勝，事敗而投中國，此下策也。」永福曰：「微力不足當上策，中策勉爲之。」三月，法軍破南定。帝谕廣西布政使徐延旭出關會商，黃桂蘭、趙沃籌防。李鴻章丁憂，奪情回北洋大臣任，鴻章懇辭。至是，命鴻章赴廣東督辦越南事宜，粵、滇、桂三省防軍均歸節制。鴻章奏拟赴上海統籌全局。法使寶海在天津議約久不協，奉調回國，以參贊謝滿祿代理。劉永福與法人戰於河内之紙橋，大破法軍，陣斬法将李成利，越王封永福一等男。徐延旭奏留唐景崧防營效用，并陳永福戰績。帝促李鴻章回北洋大臣任，并詢法使脫利古至滬狀，令鴻章定期會議。脫利古詢鴻章：「是否助越？」鴻章仍以邊界、剿匪爲辭，而法兵已轉攻順化國都，迫其議約。鴻章與法新使德理議不就，法兵聲言犯粵，廣東戒嚴。總署緻法使書，言：「越南久列籓封，曆經中國用兵剿匪，力爲保護。今法人侵陵無已，豈能蔑視？倘竟侵我軍駐紮之地，惟有決戰，不能坐視。」帝谕徐延旭饬劉永福相機規復河内，法軍如犯北甯，即令接戰。命滇督增兵防邊，唐蜅迅赴前敵備戰，并濟永福軍饷。旋命岑毓英出關督師。

In the first month of the ninth year Jingsong traveled through Vietnam into Yunnan, stopping first in Guangdong to see Zeng Guoquan, who endorsed his plan and funded his mission into Vietnam. Meeting Yongfu, he laid out three plans: "France presses Vietnam to the brink of extinction. Proclaim from Baosheng, bring the provinces to heel, and ask China for authority in name—when victory is won you become king: that is the best plan; Next, march the whole force on Hanoi, drive out the French, and China will surely supply you: that is the middle plan; If you merely hold Baosheng and, when all fails, throw yourself on China's mercy, that is the worst plan." Yongfu replied: "My strength is too slight for the best plan; I will do what I can with the middle one." In the third month the French captured Nam Dinh. The emperor ordered Guangxi Provincial Administrator Xu Yanxu across the border for consultations; Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo were to organize the defense. Li Hongzhang was in mourning; recalled from bereavement to resume as minister of the Northern Seas, he earnestly declined. He was then ordered to Guangdong to direct Vietnam affairs, with frontier forces of Guangdong, Yunnan, and Guangxi all placed under his command. Li Hongzhang proposed going to Shanghai to coordinate the overall situation. Bouré negotiated at Tianjin for months without agreement, was recalled, and Semallé served as acting minister. Liu Yongfu met the French at Paper Bridge outside Hanoi and routed them, killing General Rivière in battle; the Vietnamese king ennobled him as a first-class baron. Xu Yanxu memorialized to keep Tang Jingsong with the frontier forces and reported Yongfu's victories. The emperor pressed Li Hongzhang to resume his post as minister of the Northern Seas, asked after French Minister Tricou's arrival in Shanghai, and ordered him to fix a date for talks. Tricou asked Li Hongzhang point-blank: "Will you aid Vietnam?" Li Hongzhang still pleaded border questions and bandit suppression, even as French troops turned on the capital at Hue to force a settlement. Li Hongzhang's talks with the new French minister Tricou failed; French troops threatened invasion of Guangdong, and the province went on alert. The Zongli Yamen wrote the French minister: "Vietnam has long stood among our tributaries; China has repeatedly sent armies to suppress bandits and done all in its power to protect it. Now France invades and bullies without end—how can we look away? If they attack positions held by our troops, we can only fight—we cannot stand idle." The emperor ordered Xu Yanxu to instruct Liu Yongfu to recover Hanoi as opportunity allowed, and to engage the French immediately should they attack Bac Ninh. He ordered the Yunnan governor to reinforce the frontier, Tang Jiong to hurry to the front, and funds sent to Yongfu's army. Cen Yuying was soon ordered across the border to take command.

法兵破越之山西省，粵勢愈急，以彭玉麟爲欽差大臣督粵師。彭玉麟奏：「法人逼越南立約，欲中國不預紅河南界之地，及許在雲南蒙自縣通商，顯系圖我滇疆，冀專五金之利。不特滇、粵邊境不能解嚴，即廣東、天津，亦須嚴備。」時越南王阮福時薨，無子，以堂弟嗣。法人乘越新喪，以兵輪攻順化海口，入據都城。越南嗣君在位一月，輔政阮說啓太妃廢之，改立阮福升。至是乞降於法，立約二十七條，其第一條即言中國不得干預越南事，此外政權、利權均歸法人，逼王谕諸将退兵，重在逐劉永福也。

French troops captured Vietnam's Son Tay province; as the crisis in Guangdong sharpened, Peng Yulin was appointed imperial commissioner to command its forces. Peng Yulin memorialized: "France forced Vietnam into a treaty excluding China from lands south of the Red River and demanding trade at Mengzi in Yunnan—an obvious move against our Yunnan frontier and a bid to monopolize mining profits. Not only Yunnan and Guangdong frontiers but Guangdong itself and Tianjin would have to stand on guard." About then King Nguyen Phuc Thi died without an heir, and a younger clansman succeeded. Seizing on the new mourning in Vietnam, France attacked the harbor of Hue with gunboats and occupied the capital. The new king reigned one month before Regent Ruan Shuo, through the empress dowager, deposed him and enthroned Nguyen Phuc Thang in his place. He then surrendered to France and signed a treaty of twenty-seven articles—the first declaring that China must not interfere in Vietnamese affairs. Political and economic rights were surrendered to France; the king was forced to order his generals to withdraw, above all to drive out Liu Yongfu.

滇撫唐炯屢促永福退兵，永福欲退駐保勝，黑旗将士皆憤怒。副将黃守忠言：「公可退保勝，請以全軍相付，守山西。有功，公居之，罪歸末将。」永福遂不復言退。徐延旭奏言：「越人倉卒議和，有謂因故君未葬權顧目前者，有謂因廢立之嫌，廷臣植黨構禍者。叠接越臣黃佐炎等鈔寄和約，越誠無以保社稷，中國又何以固籓籬？越臣辄以俟葬故君即行翻案爲詞，請無撤兵。劉永福仍駐守山西，嗣王阮福升嗣位，具禀告哀，并懇準其遣使詣阙乞封。越國人心渙散，能否自立，尚未可知。」并将法越和約二十七款及越臣黃佐炎來禀錄送軍機處。兩江總督左宗棠請饬前籓司王德榜募勇赴桂邊扼紮。十一月，法人破興安省，拘巡撫、布政、按察至河内槍斃之。進攻山西，破之，劉團潰，永福退守興化城。十二月，嗣王阮福升暴卒，或云畏法逼自裁，國人立前王阮福時第三繼子爲王，輔政阮說之子也。徐延旭奏報山西失守，北甯斷無他虞，帝責其誇張。十年，唐景崧在保勝上樞府書，言：「滇、桂兩軍偶通文報，爲日甚遲，聲勢實不易連絡。越南半載之内，三易嗣君，臣庶皇皇，類於無主。欲培其根本以靖亂源，莫如遣師直入順化，扶翼其君，以定人心而清匪黨，敵焰庶幾稍戢，軍事亦易於措手。若不爲籓服計，北圻沿邊各省，我不妨直取，以免坐失外人。否則首鼠兩端，未有不歸於敗者也。」

Yunnan Governor Tang Jiong repeatedly pressed Yongfu to withdraw; Yongfu wished to fall back on Baosheng, and the Black Flag officers and men were furious. Vice General Huang Shouzhong said: "My lord may withdraw to Baosheng—leave the whole army to me, and I will hold Son Tay. If we succeed, take the credit; if we fail, let the blame fall on me." Yongfu said no more of retreat. Xu Yanxu reported: "The Vietnamese had rushed into peace—some said because the late king lay unburied and they grasped only at the moment; others because faction-ridden courtiers, embroiled in the succession dispute, had brought disaster upon the realm. Copy after copy of the peace treaty arrived from Huang Zuoyan and other Vietnamese ministers—if Vietnam could not preserve its altars, how could China hold its frontier of tribute? Vietnamese ministers kept pleading that once the late king was buried they would repudiate the settlement, and begged that troops not be withdrawn. Liu Yongfu still held Son Tay; the new king Nguyen Phuc Thang took the throne, memorialized announcing his mourning, and earnestly asked leave to send envoys to court to beg investiture. Vietnamese morale was shattered; whether the kingdom could survive remained uncertain." He also forwarded the twenty-seven-article Franco-Vietnamese treaty and Huang Zuoyan's petition to the Grand Council. Zuo Zongtang asked that former treasurer Wang Debang recruit troops to hold the Guangxi frontier. In the eleventh month the French took Hung Yen, seized the governor, treasurer, and judge, and executed them by firing squad in Hanoi. They advanced on Son Tay, captured it, routed the Black Flag Corps, and Yongfu retreated to Xinghua. In the twelfth month King Nguyen Phuc Thang died suddenly—some said he killed himself under French pressure; the people installed the late King Nguyen Phuc Thi's third son—the regent's son. Xu Yanxu reported Son Tay lost but Bac Ninh secure; the emperor rebuked him for gross exaggeration. In Guangxu 10 Tang Jingsong wrote from Bao Sheng: "Yunnan and Guangxi forces exchanged dispatches too slowly for effective coordination. Vietnam had changed kings three times in half a year; court and people were terrified, almost leaderless. To restore order we should march on Hue, uphold the king, settle hearts, and purge bandits—only then might the enemy's momentum break and the war become manageable. If tributary status no longer mattered, we might as well seize Tonkin's frontier provinces ourselves rather than lose them to foreigners. Otherwise, wavering between two courses could only end in defeat."

劉永福谒岑毓英於家喻關，毓英極優禮之，編其軍爲十二營。法軍将攻北甯，毓英遣景崧率永福全軍赴援。桂軍黃桂蘭、趙沃方守北甯，山西之圍，桂蘭等坐視不救，永福憾之深，景崧力解之，乃赴援。景崧勸桂蘭離城擇隘而守，桂蘭不從。二月，法兵攻扶良，總兵陳得貴乞援，北甯師至，扶良已潰，法兵進逼北甯，黃桂蘭、趙沃敗奔太原，劉永福亦坐視不救。徐延旭老病，與趙沃有舊，偏信之。趙沃庸懦，其将黨敏宣奸，欺蔽延旭。敵犯北甯，敏宣先遁。陳得貴爲馮子材舊部；骁勇善戰，子材曾劾延旭，延旭怨之，并怨得貴。及北甯陷，乃奏戮之，敏宣亦正法。延旭調度失宜，帝命革職留任。三月，命湖南巡撫潘鼎新辦廣西關外軍務，接統徐延旭軍，黃桂蘭懼罪仰藥死。帝谕：「徐延旭株守諒山，僅令提督黃桂蘭、道員趙沃駐守北甯，遇敵先潰，殊堪痛恨！徐延旭革職拿問，黃桂蘭、趙沃潰敗情形，交潘鼎新查辦。」以王德榜署廣西提督，德榜辭不拜。唐炯革職拿問，以張凱嵩爲雲南巡撫。北甯敗後，徐延旭以唐景崧護軍收集敗殘，申明約束。時唐仁廉署廣西提督。法軍由北甯進據興化，別以兵艦八艘駛入中國海，窺廈門及上海吳淞口，沿海戒嚴，於是中、法和議起。

Liu Yongfu visited Cen Yuying at Jiayu Pass; Cen treated him with great honor and reorganized his army into twelve camps. As the French prepared to attack Bac Ninh, Cen Yuying sent Tang Jingsong with Yongfu's entire army to reinforce. Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo held Bac Ninh but had watched Son Tay fall without helping—Yongfu deeply resented them; Tang Jingsong mediated, and they finally marched to aid. Tang Jingsong urged Huang Guilan to abandon the city and hold a defile; Guilan refused. In the second month the French attacked Phu Luong; Chen Degui begged for aid; Bac Ninh reinforcements arrived too late; the French pressed Bac Ninh; Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo fled to Thai Nguyen; Liu Yongfu again did not intervene. Xu Yanxu, old and ill, favored Zhao Wo from old acquaintance. Zhao Wo was incompetent and cowardly; his general Dang Minxuan was treacherous and deceived Xu Yanxu. When the enemy struck Bac Ninh, Dang Minxuan was first to flee. Chen Degui had served under Feng Zicai; a brave and capable fighter; Feng Zicai had impeached Xu Yanxu, who resented them both. After Bac Ninh fell Xu Yanxu had Chen Degui executed; Dang Minxuan was also put to death. Xu Yanxu's command was disastrous; the emperor stripped his rank but kept him in post. In the third month Pan Dingxin was ordered to manage Guangxi frontier operations; Huang Guilan, fearing punishment, committed suicide by poison. The emperor declared: "Xu Yanxu clung to Lang Son while Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo at Bac Ninh fled at first contact—this is intolerable! Xu Yanxu was dismissed and arrested; Pan Dingxin was to investigate Huang Guilan and Zhao Wo's rout." Wang Debang was appointed acting Guangxi intendant-general; he declined. Tang Jiong was dismissed and arrested; Zhang Kaisong became Yunnan governor. After Bac Ninh Xu Yanxu had Tang Jingsong rally the broken remnants and restore discipline. Tang Renlian was acting Guangxi intendant-general. The French advanced from Bac Ninh to Xinghua while eight warships probed Xiamen and Shanghai's Wusong—coastal alert sounded, and Sino-French peace talks began.

四月，李鴻章與法總兵福祿諾在天津商訂條款，谕滇、桂防軍候旨進止。鴻章旋以和約五款入告，大略言：「中國南界毗連北圻，法國任保護，不虞侵占。中國應許於毗連北圻之邊界，法、越貨物聽其運銷，将來法與越改約，決不插入傷中國體面之語。」朝旨報可，予鴻章全權畫押。既而法公使以簡明條約法文與漢文不符相诘，帝責鴻章辦理含混，輿論均集矢鴻章，指爲「通夷」。法使既藉端廢約，帝令關外整軍嚴防，若彼竟求犯，即與交綏。命岑毓英招劉永福率所部來歸。潘鼎新奏：「法兵分路圖犯谷松、屯梅二處，桂軍械缺糧乏，恐不可恃。」帝以其飾卸，責之。法兵欲巡視諒山，抵觀音橋，桂軍止之，令勿入。法将語無狀，遂互擊，勝之。奏入，谕進規北甯，責法使先行開砲，應認償。令告法外部止法兵，并谕我軍：「如彼不來犯，不宜前進。」法使續請和議，帝諭桂軍回諒山，滇軍回保勝，不得輕開釁。法将孤拔欲以兵艦擾海疆，法使巴德諾逗留上海，不肯赴津，乃改派曾國荃全權大臣，陳寶琛會辦，邵友濂、劉麟祥随同辦理。諭言：『兵費、恤款萬不能允。越南須照舊封貢。劉永福一軍，如彼提及，須由我措置。分界應於關外空地作爲瓯脫。雲南通商應在保勝，不得逾值百抽五。』

In the fourth month Li Hongzhang and Brigadier Fournier signed draft terms at Tianjin; Yunnan and Guangxi forces were ordered to await instructions. Li Hongzhang reported the five-article treaty: "China's southern border adjoins Tonkin; France undertakes to protect it without encroaching on China. China will permit Franco-Vietnamese trade along the Tonkin frontier; future Franco-Vietnamese treaties will not contain language wounding China's dignity." The court approved and authorized Li Hongzhang to sign. The French minister then challenged mismatches between the French and Chinese texts; the emperor rebuked Li Hongzhang for muddled handling; public opinion denounced him as a traitor to China. When France used the dispute to abrogate the treaty, the emperor ordered frontier armies to prepare for battle if invaded. Cen Yuying was ordered to summon Liu Yongfu and his troops home. Pan Dingxin reported: "French columns threaten Gusong and Tunmei; Guangxi troops lack arms and grain and cannot be relied upon." The emperor, calling this excuse-making, rebuked him. French troops sought to patrol Lang Son; at Guanyin Bridge Guangxi forces blocked them. The French commander spoke insolently; fire was exchanged and the Chinese prevailed. On report the court ordered an advance on Bac Ninh and held the French minister responsible for opening fire first. France was told to halt its troops; Chinese forces were told not to advance unless attacked. France again sought talks; Guangxi forces were ordered back to Lang Son and Yunnan forces to Bao Sheng without provoking battle. Admiral Courbet threatened the coast; Minister Patenôtre lingered in Shanghai refusing Tianjin—Zeng Guoquan was appointed plenipotentiary with Chen Baochen, Shao Youlian, and Liu Linxiang assisting. Instructions stated: "War costs and indemnity are absolutely unacceptable. Vietnam must continue tribute as before. Liu Yongfu's army, if raised, must be handled by China alone. Boundaries should be drawn on neutral ground outside the passes as a buffer. Yunnan trade should be at Bao Sheng; duties must not exceed five percent."

六月，法将孤拔以兵艦八艘窺閩海，欲踞地爲質，挾中國議約，何璟、張佩綸以聞。法艦攻台灣之基隆砲台，台撫劉銘傳拒守。曾國荃、陳寶琛與法使議約於上海，國荃許給撫卹費五十萬，奉旨申斥。約議久不就，乃一意主戰。谕岑毓英令劉永福先行進兵，規復北圻，岑毓英、潘鼎新關内各軍陸續進發。以法人失和，不告各國。

In the sixth month Courbet sent eight warships to probe Fujian's coast, seeking territory as hostage to force treaty terms; He Jing and Zhang Peilun reported. French warships attacked Keelung fort in Taiwan; Governor Liu Mingchuan held firm. Zeng Guoquan and Chen Baochen negotiated in Shanghai; Zeng offered five hundred thousand in consolation money and was rebuked. Talks dragged on without success; the court chose war. Cen Yuying was ordered to have Liu Yongfu advance first to recover Tonkin; forces inside the passes were to follow. France had broken peace without notifying the other powers.

七月，法公使謝滿祿下旗出京，帝乃宣谕曰：「越南爲我封貢之國，二百餘年，載在史冊，中、外咸知。法人先據南圻各省，旋又進據河内，戮其人民，利其土地，奪其賦稅。越南闇懦，私與立約，并未奏聞，挽回無及。越亦有罪，是以姑與包涵，不加诘問。光緒八年，法使寶海在天津與李鴻章議約三條，當與總理各國事務衙門會商妥籌，法人又撤使翻覆。越之山西、北甯等省，爲我軍駐紮之地，清查越匪，保護屬籓，與法國絕不相涉。本年二月間，法兵竟來撲犯，當經降旨宣示，正拟派員進取，忽據伊國總兵福祿諾先向中國議和。其時法國因埃及之事岌岌可危，中國明知其勢處迫逼，本可峻詞拒絕，而仍示以大度，許其行成，特命李鴻章與議簡明條約五款，互相畫押。諒山、保勝等軍，應照議於定約三月後調回，叠經谕饬各防軍扼紮原處，不準輕動開釁。諸軍将士，奉令維謹。乃法國不遵定約，忽於閏五月初一、初二等日，以巡邊爲名，直撲諒山防營，先行開砲轟擊，我軍始與之接仗，互有殺傷。法人違背條約，無端開釁，傷我官兵，本應以干戈從事。因念訂約通好二十餘年，亦不必因此盡棄前盟，仍準各國總理事務衙門與在京法使往返照會，情喻理曉，至再至三。閏五月二十四日，復明降谕旨，照約撤兵。昭示大信，所以保全和局者，實屬仁至義盡。法人乃竟始終怙飾，橫索兵費，恣意要挾，辄於六月十五日占據台北基隆山砲台，經劉銘傳迎剿獲勝。本月初三日，何璟等甫接本領事照會開戰，而法兵已自馬尾先期攻擊，傷壞兵商各船。雖經官軍焚毀法船，擊壞雷艇，并陣斃法國兵官，尚未大加懲創。若再曲予含容，何以伸公論而順人心？用特揭其無理情節，布告天下。」

In the seventh month Minister Xie Manlu left Beijing; the emperor proclaimed: "Vietnam has been our tributary for over two hundred years, recorded in history and known to all nations. France first seized Vietnam's southern provinces, then Hanoi—slaughtering its people, seizing its land, taking its revenues. Vietnam, weak and secretive, made a private treaty without informing us—too late to undo. Vietnam too was at fault; for the moment we tolerated it without rebuke. In Guangxu 8 Bourée negotiated three articles with Li Hongzhang at Tianjin—they should have been discussed with the Zongli Yamen; France again withdrew its minister and reversed course. Son Tay, Bac Ninh, and other provinces where our troops suppressed bandits and protected our tributary had nothing to do with France. This second month French troops attacked; we had already ordered recovery—then Brigadier Fournier suddenly sought peace. France was then desperate over Egypt; China knew its weakness and could have refused sternly, yet showed forbearance—ordering Li Hongzhang to sign the five-article treaty. Lang Son and Bao Sheng forces were to withdraw three months after the treaty; frontier troops were repeatedly ordered to hold position and not provoke trouble. Frontier troops obeyed with strict discipline. France violated the treaty; on the first and second of the intercalary fifth month, under cover of border patrol, they stormed the Lang Son camp and opened fire first—our troops fought back with casualties on both sides. France violated the treaty, opened fire without cause, and wounded our troops—we should have met force with force. Yet remembering twenty years of treaty friendship, we need not abandon all prior bonds—still permitting the Zongli Yamen and the French minister to exchange notes again and again. On the twenty-fourth of the intercalary fifth month another edict ordered withdrawal per treaty. We had shown utmost good faith to preserve peace—benevolence and righteousness exhausted. France persisted in evasion, demanding war costs and wilfully coercing—and on the fifteenth of the sixth month seized Keelung; Liu Mingchuan fought them off. On the third of this month He Jing had just received the consul's declaration of war when French troops had already attacked from Mawei, damaging merchant and military vessels. Though our forces burned French ships, damaged torpedo boats, and killed French officers, France had not yet been sufficiently punished. Further forbearance would neither satisfy justice nor the people's will. We therefore expose France's conduct and proclaim it to the empire."

八月，谕岑毓英督饬劉永福及在防各營規復北圻，并谕潘鼎新饬各軍聯絡聲勢，分路并進。提督蘇元春與法軍戰於陸岸縣，敗之。十月，内閣學士周德潤奏：「官軍進取越南，宜以正兵牽制河内之師，別用奇兵由車裏趨老撾，走哀牢，以暗襲順化，募用滇邊土人，必能得力。」得旨交滇督詳察籌辦。是月，蘇元春與法人戰於紙作社，陣斬法兵官四人。十一月，王德榜軍大敗於豐谷，蘇元春不往援，唐景崧與劉永福、丁槐軍攻宣光，力戰大捷，優诏褒之。十二月十九日，法兵攻谷松，王德榜以豐谷之敗怨蘇軍不救，至是亦不往援，蘇軍敗退威坡，諒山戒嚴。帝命馮子材幫辦廣西關外軍務。二十九日，法軍攻諒山，據之，潘鼎新等退駐鎮南關，龍州大震。唐景崧、劉永福、丁槐攻宣光，月餘不能下。諒山失守，岑毓英慮景崧等軍斷後援，令勿拚孤注，景崧不可。馮子材與法軍戰於文淵，互有殺傷。

In the eighth month Cen Yuying was ordered to supervise Liu Yongfu and frontier camps in recovering Tonkin; Pan Dingxin was to coordinate a multi-route advance. Su Yuanchun defeated the French at Luc An district. In the tenth month Zhou Derun proposed: "Regular forces should pin down Hanoi while a surprise column through Cheli into Laos and Ailao secretly strikes Hue—frontier tribes of Yunnan would prove invaluable." The Yunnan governor was ordered to study the plan. That month Su Yuanchun fought at Zhi Zuo She and killed four French officers. In the eleventh month Wang Debang was routed at Fenggu without aid from Su Yuanchun; Tang Jingsong, Liu Yongfu, and Ding Huai stormed Tuyen Quang to great victory and received imperial praise. On the nineteenth of the twelfth month the French attacked Gusong; Wang Debang, still resentful over Fenggu, again withheld aid; Su Yuanchun retreated to Weipo and Lang Son went on alert. Feng Zicai was ordered to assist in Guangxi frontier operations. On the twenty-ninth the French took Lang Son; Pan Dingxin fell back to Zhennan Pass and Longzhou panicked. Tang Jingsong, Liu Yongfu, and Ding Huai besieged Tuyen Quang for over a month without success. With Lang Son lost, Cen Yuying feared Tang Jingsong's force would be cut off and ordered caution; Jingsong refused. Feng Zicai fought the French at Wen Yuan with casualties on both sides.

十一年正月初九日，法兵攻鎮南關，轟毀關門而去，提督楊玉科戰殁。潘鼎新退駐海村，帝命戴罪立功。元春退駐幕府。王德榜自負湘中宿将，屢催援不至，鼎新劾之，落職，所部歸元春轄。法軍攻劉永福於宣光，永福軍潰。唐景崧退駐牧馬，欽、廉防急。彭玉麟請調馮子材軍防粵，朝旨令鼎新議，鼎新素不協於子材，乃命子材行。子材以關外防緊，不肯退，玉麟乃令專顧桂防。鼎新師久無功，褫職，以李秉衡護理廣西巡撫，蘇元春督辦廣西軍務。法兵既毀鎮南關，逃軍難民蔽江而下，廣西全省大震。子材至，乃力爲安輯。

On the ninth of the first month of Guangxu 11 the French blasted Zhennan Pass gate and withdrew; Yang Yuke fell in battle. Pan Dingxin fell back to Haicun; the emperor ordered him to redeem himself through victory. Su Yuanchun fell back to Mufu. Wang Debang, a proud Hunan veteran, begged in vain for reinforcements; Pan Dingxin impeached him, stripped his rank, and transferred his troops to Su Yuanchun. The French attacked Liu Yongfu at Tuyen Quang and routed his army. Tang Jingsong fell back to Muma; Qinzhou and Lianzhou were urgently threatened. Peng Yulin asked to transfer Feng Zicai to defend Guangdong; Pan Dingxin, long at odds with Feng, ordered him to go. Feng Zicai refused to leave the urgent frontier; Peng Yulin then ordered him to focus on Guangxi alone. Pan Dingxin, long without success, was dismissed; Li Bingheng acted as Guangxi governor and Su Yuanchun supervised military affairs. After the French blasted Zhennan Pass, refugees and broken troops choked the rivers; all Guangxi trembled. When Feng Zicai arrived he worked to restore order.

子材久駐粵西，素有威惠，桂、越民懷之，人心始定。乃於關内十里之關前隘，跨東西兩嶺間，築長牆三里餘，外掘深塹，爲扼守計，自率所部駐之，而令王孝祺勒軍屯其後爲犄角。法兵揚言某日犯關，子材逆料其必先期至，乃議先發制敵，鼎新止之，子材力争，徑率王孝祺軍夜犯敵壘，殺敵甚多。法起諒山之衆撲鎮南關，子材誓衆曰：「法再入關，吾有何面目見粵人？必死拒之！」士氣皆憤。法攻長牆，急砲猛烈，子材勒諸統将屹立接戰，遇退後者手刃之。戰酣，子材自開壁率兩子相榮、相華直沖敵軍，諸軍以子材年七十，奮身陷敵，皆感憤，殊死戰。王孝祺、陳嘉率部将潘瀛、張春發等随其後，王德榜軍旁至，夾擊之，斃法兵無算。鏖戰兩日，法軍子彈盡，大敗潰遁。子材率兵攻文淵，法軍棄城走。諸軍三路攻諒山，孝祺、德榜戰尤力，連戰皆捷。二月十三日，遂克諒山，法悉衆遁。子材進軍克拉木，逼攻郎甲，王孝祺進軍貴門關，盡復昔年所駐邊地。越民立忠義五大團；二萬餘人，皆建馮軍旗幟。西貢亦聞風通款。自海通以來，中國與外國戰，惟是役大捷，子材之功也。

Long stationed in western Guangdong, Feng Zicai commanded authority and goodwill; Guangxi and Vietnamese people rallied to him and hearts steadied. At Guanqian Pass ten li inside the frontier he built a three-li wall between two ridges with a deep outer moat; he garrisoned it in person and posted Wang Xiaoqi behind as reserve. The French announced a date to attack the pass; Feng Zicai anticipated an early assault and argued for a preemptive strike; Pan Dingxin objected but Feng overruled him, leading Wang Xiaoqi in a night raid that killed many. France massed the Lang Son army against Zhennan Pass; Feng Zicai swore to his troops: "If the French breach the pass again, how can I face the people of Guangdong? I will die holding them!" Morale soared. The French assaulted the wall with fierce artillery; Feng Zicai held his commanders firm and personally killed any who retreated. At the height of battle Feng Zicai opened the gate and led his sons Xiangrong and Xianghua straight at the enemy; seeing their seventy-year-old commander charge in, the troops fought as if unto death. Wang Xiaoqi and Chen Jia followed with Pan Ying, Zhang Chunfa, and others; Wang Debang arrived from the flank; the pincer killed French troops beyond count. After two days of fierce fighting French ammunition ran out; they were routed. Feng Zicai drove on Wen Yuan; the French abandoned the city and fled. Three columns attacked Lang Son; Wang Xiaoqi and Wang Debang fought especially hard; victory followed victory. On the thirteenth of the second month Lang Son fell; the French army fled in full retreat. Feng Zicai advanced to Kelamu and pressed Langjia; Wang Xiaoqi took Guimen Pass—all former garrison positions were recovered. Vietnamese raised five great Loyalty and Righteousness Corps; more than twenty thousand strong, all flying Feng Zicai's banners. Even Saigon, hearing the news, sent overtures of submission. Since the opening of maritime contact, no war with a foreign power had ended in so complete a victory—credit belonged to Feng Zicai.

法兵六千犯臨洮府，復分兩隊；一北趨珂嶺、安平，一南趨緬旺、猛羅。滇督岑毓英命岑毓寶、李應珍等扼北路，王文山扼南路，而自率軍當中路，皆有斬獲。法軍遂合趨臨洮府，滇軍拒戰南北路，回軍夾攻之，陣斬法将五人，法軍大潰。

Six thousand French troops invaded Lin Tao prefecture in two columns; one north toward Kelin and Anping, one south toward Mianwang and Mengluo. Cen Yuying posted Cen Yubao and Li Yingzhen on the northern route, Wang Wenshan on the southern, and took the center himself—all with victories. The French converged on Lin Tao; Yunnan forces held the flanks, wheeled, and struck from both sides, killing five French commanders and routing the army.

時法兵艦據台灣之澎湖。諒山既大捷，法人力介英人赫德向李鴻章議和，言法人交還基隆、澎湖，彼此撤兵，不索兵費。鴻章奏言：「澎湖既失，台灣必不可保，當藉諒山一勝之威，與締和約，則法不至再事要求。」朝廷納其議，立命停戰。臨洮之戰，乃在停戰後電谕未達前也。鴻章遽請簽約，令諸将皆退還邊界，将士扼腕痛憤，不肯退，彭玉麟、張之洞屢電力争。帝以津約斷難失信，嚴谕遵辦。法人要求逐劉永福於越南，張之洞乃拟令永福駐思、欽，永福堅不肯行，唐景崧危詞脅之，朝旨嚴切，乃勉歸於粵，授總兵。馮子材奉督辦廉、欽邊防之命。約既成，越南遂歸法國保護焉。

French warships then held Penghu in the Taiwan Strait. After Lang Son the French had Robert Hart approach Li Hongzhang: France would return Keelung and Penghu, both sides would withdraw, and no indemnity would be demanded. Li Hongzhang argued: "Penghu is lost and Taiwan cannot be saved—we should use Lang Son's prestige to make peace before France demands more." The court agreed and immediately ordered a ceasefire. The battle of Lin Tao was fought before the ceasefire order arrived. Li Hongzhang rushed to sign and ordered withdrawal to the border; troops gnashed their teeth in fury and refused to go; Peng Yulin and Zhang Zhidong telegraphed repeated protests. The emperor, bound by the Tianjin treaty, sternly ordered compliance. France demanded Liu Yongfu's expulsion; Zhang Zhidong proposed posting him at Si and Qin; Yongfu refused until Tang Jingsong threatened him; under stern orders he reluctantly returned to Guangdong as major-general. Feng Zicai was ordered to supervise the Lianzhou and Qinzhou frontier. Once the treaty was signed, Vietnam passed under French protection.

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