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 withdrawal of troops, and so tried to persuade the local authorities in Kwangsi and Yunnan to issue the necessary orders. In the meantime the war party in Peking forced the throne to issue an edict forbidding the withdrawal of troops. The Chinese commander in Tongking could not therefore leave his post without disobeying an imperial order. Meanwhile an impetuous French officer tried to force his way to the Chinese border and would not heed the explanation given by the Chinese commander. The result was a clash at Bac-lé 北黎 on June 23–24, in the course of which the French detachment was forced back. The responsibility for this incident rested chiefly on Li Hung-chang who had concealed what he had agreed to; but the French blamed the Chinese government and demanded a large indemnity. As China refused to comply the French naval force attacked Kelung (August 5–6, see under ) and Foochow (August 23, see under ) and war was formally declared. It was at this juncture that Fêng Tzŭ-ts'ai was recalled from retirement to assist in defending Kwangsi.

While the troops from Yunnan (see under and ) were stopped at Hsüan-kuang (宣光 Tuyen-Quan), the Kwangsi troops bore the brunt of the attacks by the French army. In October the French reached a point half-way between Langson and Hanoi, and on December 16 Fêng Tzŭ-ts'ai and his force of about two thousand men had their first encounter with the French south of Bac-lé. In February 1885, after a series of battles, the French general, de Négrier, occupied Langson and pursued the Chinese forces to Chên-nan-kuan 鎮南關, the pass on the Kwangsi border. It was in the battle at this pass on February 23 that the general, Yang Yü-k'o (see under ) was killed. The French took the pass on that day, but left it two days later after burning the town.

In March 1885 the Chinese command in Kwangsi was given to Li Ping-hêng (see under ) and Su Yüan-ch'un 蘇元春 (d. 1908), with directing the transport of supplies to the front from Canton. Fêng Tzŭ-ts'ai and other generals were entrusted with defending Chên-nan-kuan against a second assault, which finally came on March 23. Fêng, although then in his late sixties, leaped over the barricades, and while shouting at the enemy, led his men to battle. Other generals also fought bravely. The French troops were badly defeated and retreated to Langson with Fêng's men in hot pursuit. On March 28 de Négrier was seriously wounded and the French fled from Langson which Fêng entered on the 29th. Almost all the territory lost in 1884 was now recovered. In Paris the news of the defeat caused the downfall of the Cabinet (March 30). At the same time China came to terms with France through negotiations of James Duncan Campbell (金登幹), Billot of the French Foreign Office, and a Chinese Customs official. Campbell had received instructions from Sir Robert Hart (see under ) in Peking, who had been entrusted by the Chinese government to negotiate a peace. The protocol was signed on April 4, 1885, and by it China agreed to ratify the Li-Fournier convention of Tientsin as a basis for peace. On June 9 the treaty concluding the war was signed at Tientsin by Li Hung-chang and his assistants, Hsi-chên 錫珍, and Têng Ch'êng-hsiu 鄧承修.

After the victory at Langson Fêng Tzŭ-ts'ai obeyed the imperial order to withdraw to Kwangsi and was appointed director of defense in southwestern Kwangtung. He was also awarded the title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and his hereditary rank was raised to Ch'ing-ch'ê tu-yü. In 1886 he was ordered to take the post of commander-in-chief of the forces in Yunnan, but at his own request he was allowed to remain in Kwangtung. In 1894, on the sixtieth birthday of Empress, he was given the title of president of a Board. Later in that year he was ordered to command troops in Manchuria against the Japanese, but on failing to go, was sent to Yunnan. At the outbreak of the Boxer Movement in 1900 he was ordered to come to the rescue of Peking, but failed to respond. In 1901 he was transferred to Kweichow but at his own request he was permitted to retire. Two years later he was appointed one of several commissioners to quell bandits who were then ravaging Kwangsi, but he died without accomplishing this task. He was canonized as Yung-i 勇毅.

[1/465/1a; 2/53/9b; 2/62/47a; 5/53/20b; Ch'ing-chi wai-chiao shih-liao (see under ); Palace Museum, Peiping, 清光緒朝中法外交史料 Ch'ing Kuang-hsü ch'ao Chung-Fa wai-chiao shih-liao;, Tsêng Hui-min kung i-chi; Shao Hsün-cheng 邵循正, 中法越南關 246