Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/597

 had not been on friendly terms with the governor of Kwangtung, and fearing that the governor would injure him, Chi-ch'ing is said to have choked himself by swallowing a snuff bottle in the governor's yamen. This was the report given by Na-yen-ch'êng. It was accepted by the Emperor, and the case was dropped. In the meantime Na-yen-ch'êng, as acting governor, had all the leaders of the uprising arrested and punished, and warned the rioters to maintain quiet. Thus in two months the case was settled.

After supervising two trials—one in Chekiang and another in Chihli—Na-yen-ch'êng was appointed (September 1803) president of the Board of Ceremonies. Early in 1804 he settled another lawsuit in Heilungkiang; and in July, after being made a Grand Councilor, was sent to Sian as acting governor-general of Shensi and Kansu. Late in 1804 he was made governor-general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi and served there for a year. One of his responsibilities was the regulation of the foreign trade at Canton. In April 1805 he transmitted to Peking some gifts from the English merchants. Early in 1806 a Russian ship came to Canton but was not permitted to trade, on the ground that there were ample facilities for doing so at Kiakhta. His other responsibilities as governor-general included the suppression of secret societies, especially the Tien-ti hui 添弟會 (or 天地會), the enlargement of the naval forces to combat pirates (see under ), and the enforcement of laws forbidding armed conflicts between villages or clans. His policy with pirates was to lure them to abandon their activities by promises of pardon and rewards. He succeeded thus in disbanding some groups, but for keeping these promises he was accused of undue leniency. He was discharged, and in March 1806 was tried in Peking an the ground that he had taken too much liberty in distributing rewards and official ranks. In April he was deprived of all his ranks and was sent to Ili to redeem himself by serving under the military-governor, Sung-yün.

For a time, in 1807, Na-yen-ch'êng served at Kharashar. In June of that year he was recalled and was made imperial controller-general at Sining to assist in suppressing the revolt of the native tribes in Kokonor. The revolt was put down in September and October (see under ). After superintending the rehabilitation of the native Tibetan and Mongol tribes he was recalled in April 1808 and was appointed assistant director of river conservancy in Kiangnan. However, in February 1809, for failing to repair a broken dike in time, he was again degraded and sent to Kharashar as imperial agent with the rank of an Imperial Bodyguard. In 1809 he was transferred to Yarkand and later was made assistant military-governor at Kashgar. Early in 1810 he was again made governor-general of Shensi and Kansu. Three years later, at the outbreak of the T'ien-li-chiao 天理教 rebellion in northern Honan, he was ordered to direct picked Shensi troops, under and others, against the rebels.

The T'ien-li-chiao, like the Pai-lien-chiao, was a secret religious society. After the rebellion of the latter was suppressed the leaders of the T'ien-li-chiao, Lin Ch'ing 林清 of Huang-ts'un 黃村, a village south of Peking, and Li Wên-ch'êng 李文成 of Hua-hsien, Honan, plotted an uprising. The plot was initiated about 1811, and a general meeting of the conspirators took place in 1812 at Tao-k'ou, Honan. Late in 1812 they decided on the fifteenth day of the ninth moon (October 8) 1813 as the time for the uprising to take place. The plan was that Lin would take Peking and Chihli and that Li would conquer Honan. Other partisans were ordered to take Shantung and Shansi. As the day for the uprising drew near many villagers on the border of Honan, Chihli and Shantung heard rumors of the plot and began to move away. Some people in Peking, among them several officials, also heard of the plot, but did not pay much attention to it. When, however, a police officer of Hua-hsien, Honan, heard of it he and the local magistrate arrested Li Wên-ch'êng (late in September). On September 30 the adherents of the T'ien-li-chiao rose in arms, freed Li from prison, and killed the officials. Thus the rebellion in Honan was started eight days in advance of the date set. In Peking the uprising started as planned on October 8, 1813. A force of 200 men, sent by Lin Ch'ing and guided by eunuchs, made their way into the Palace grounds. But the contingent, being too small for the purpose, had to confine its activities to a few buildings near the western gate of the Forbidden City. Inside the Palace the Emperor's second son,, directed the defense and personally shot down two rebels. Two days later all the rebels in the city were killed and Lin Ch'ing was arrested at his home in Huang-ts'un. The emperor returned to Peking 585