Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/457

Rh his headquarters to Ta-chou in eastern Szechwan. He adopted the new policy of arming the farmers and fortifying the villages, thus preventing the rebels from getting reinforcements or provisions. He also took steps to encourage deserters from the rebel ranks, especially those who had been impressed against their will. In the middle of the year 1799 he succeeded in rounding up the rebels in northeastern Szechwan. The emperor suggested sending ten to twenty thousand recruits to Szechwan in order to extirpate them at one blow, but Lê-pao insisted that he could do it without the recruits. He failed, however, to do so after several months of fighting. In September he was accused of loitering at Ta-chou while the rebels increased in number, and for this he was released from his command, in favor of Ming-liang who was soon replaced by E-lê-têng-pao. After two months' investigation the new governor-general, K‘uei-lun (see under ), reported that Lê-pao had not been guilty of misusing military funds, nor was he incompetent as a commander. The emperor, however, blamed Lê-pao for sending other generals to fight while he himself stayed at Ta-chou, and so had him imprisoned in Peking awaiting execution. All his ranks and titles were taken from him. Early in 1800, when Ê-lê-têng-pao was sent to Shensi, the campaign in Szechwan was entrusted to K'uei-lun who also suffered several defeats. In April 1800 Lê-pao was freed from imprisonment and was sent to Szechwan as provincial commander-in-chief (t'i-tu 提督) and concurrently as acting governor-general. A month later he and the great general,, defeated the rebels near Ho-chou, Szechwan, and stopped a rebel thrust on western Szechwan. Then Lê-pao turned towards the northwest to pursue a band of rebels into Kansu. In the middle of 1800 he was made full governor-general of Szechwan and for a year pursued rebel bands in the eastern part of that province. In September 1801, for capturing the leader of an important band, he was rewarded with the hereditary rank of a third class baron. In the first six months of 1802 he captured or killed a number of rebel leaders in Szechwan and was raised to a first class baron. By the end of the year most of the important rebel bands were crushed. Hence, early in 1803, Lê-pao was raised to a first class earl and was restored his designation, Wei-ch'in. In September 1804 Szechwan was finally cleared of rebels and he began work on the demobilization of volunteers. At an audience in Peking in 1805 he was praised for his adoption of the policy to fortify the villages, which, according to the edict, was an important factor in the final victory. Thus Lê-pao was rewarded with the title, Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and was decorated with a double-eyed peacock feather. From 1806 to 1807 he was active in crushing several revolts of recently reorganized provincial armies, and in 1808 put down an uprising of aborigines in southwestern Szechwan.

Early in 1810 Lê-pao was made a Grand Secretary and later was called to Peking to serve in that capacity. Before he arrived, however, he was accused of failure to report—when he was in Szechwan in 1809—a scandal about the high officials of that province. Inquiries by the emperor resulted in his degradation to president of the Board of Works. When he reached Peking he was transferred to the Board of Punishments and served concurrently in other posts. Early in 1811 he was sent to Nanking as governor-general, but in July was again recalled to Peking as a Grand Secretary. In 1812 he was made concurrently a chamberlain of the Imperial Bodyguard and was given a garden near the Yüan-ming Yüan, or Old Summer Palace. A year later he was given the concurrent post of a Grand Councilor. Soon he was troubled with his eyes and in 1814 he retired because of that ailment. He died in 1819, aged eighty (sui), and was canonized as Wên-hsiang 文襄. His hereditary rank was posthumously raised to a third class Marquis. The rank was inherited by his son, Ying-hui 英惠 (d. 1832), who served as military lieutenant governor of Urumchi (1822–29) and as assistant military governor at Kobdo (1831–32).

Lê-pao's younger brother, Yung-pao 永保 (posthumous name 恪敏, d. 1809), was in 1796 commander of the forces fighting the Pai-lien chiao rebels in Hupeh, but was arrested late in that year for errors in directing the campaign. He was imprisoned and all his property was confiscated. In 1798, in deference to his brother's successes, he was released and was given the command of a small force. In 1799, however, he was again imprisoned—at a time when his brother was also punished for military failures. In the account-book of a convicted official in charge of military expenses it was revealed that Yung-pao had received bribes of various amounts. Hence his property was again seized. In 1800 he was released and sent to Uliasutai in Mongolia to redeem himself. Late in 1802 he was made governor of Yunnan and in 1808 445