governor of Hupeh.[1] He was commanded to divide his army and fleet and hasten down the river to Nanking, taking Kiukiang and Anking as he went, acting in consultation with Yang Pei, viceroy of Hukwang, and T'a Chi-pu.[2]
For the time being this last order was impossible to follow, because scattered groups of fleeing rebels were taking refuge in the Han River and small tributary streams. These must first be dealt with. Several dozen sampan were sent to this region, and on the fifteenth of October they rounded up and burned the vessels of the enemy, more than a thousand in number, which were trying to get back into the Yangtse[3]
Military affairs were now progressing favorably, but the maintenance of the troops was a matter of more concern than ever before, as shown by a dispatch of October 21, in which Tsêng complains of very poor provincial support for his armies. Had he accepted the office as acting governor of Hupeh this might have been somewhat remedied, because Tsêng would then have had direct control over provincial funds; but as things were, he was more or less at the mercy of the regular officials of various provinces whom he could reach only indirectly through the emperor. The heavy strain of maintaining his lengthening line of communications and of securing needed reinforcements and supplies might, he feared, re-
- ↑ The peacock feather was like a modern decoration and three grades were recognised, single-eyed, double-eyed, and triple-eyed. Tsêng refused the office of acting governor because, as he wrote home in a letter of November 3, it would offend his mother's memory. To raise troops and help to quell the rebellion are duties not to be avoided by a loyal officer, but to accept office and strive for honors must be scrupulously avoided during the period of mourning. The emperor accepted Tsêng's refusal to take the office but reprimanded him for not using the title pending the acceptance of his petition. Nienp'u, III, 22b, 23.
- ↑ Imperial mandate summarised in Nienp'u, III, 20a.
- ↑ Nienp'u, III, 20; Home Letters, November 3, 1854.
