Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/330

 for having appointed a favorite to office; but because he informed the Emperor privately and had failed to make his accusation public, he incurred the imperial rebuke. Though the accused official was degraded, Ying-ho himself was also lowered in rank. Nevertheless, later in the same year (1805), he was again made a sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat. In 1806 he was promoted to be a vice-president of the Board of Works and was once more made a minister of the Imperial Household. In 1810 he was reinstated in the Board of Revenue. The following year he accompanied the Emperor on a journey to Mt. Wu-t'ai in Shansi. For failure to detect in 1812 an error in the Kao-tsung Ch'un Huang-ti shêng-hsün (see under ), he was again degraded; but scarcely a year elapsed before he was made a vice-president of the Board of Ceremonies.

During most of his years after 1802 Ying-ho served as one of the Emperor's private secretaries in the Imperial Study. It was in this capacity that he accompanied Emperor Jên-tsung on a hunting trip to Jehol in the summer of 1813. The Emperor was on his way back from Jehol when it was reported that the Palaces in Peking were being stormed by the T'ien-li chiao rebels (see under ). The Emperor at once dispatched Ying-ho to the capital to assume acting command of the Gendarmerie. By swift and efficient action Ying-ho was able to take into custody many leading offenders. His activities during this episode, and in the subsequent campaign in Honan, are recounted in the official publication, 平定教匪紀略 P'ing-ting chiao-fei chi-lüeh, 42 + 1 chüan, printed in 1818. It seems that his services at this juncture were highly appreciated, for in 1813 he was made president of the Board of Works and filled several concurrent posts. The following year he was given the lucrative post of superintendent of the Customs and Octroi of Peking and was promoted to be president of the Board of Civil Office.

In 1820, on his fiftieth birthday, Ying-ho was honored with unusual gifts. In that year the new Emperor, Hsüan-tsung, ascended the throne and Ying-ho was transferred to be president of the Board of Revenue. Two years later he was appointed concurrently an Associate Grand Secretary and chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In 1824 he expressed himself in favor of transporting grain from South China by the sea rather than the canal route (see under ), and in 1826 advised the Emperor to undertake an extensive campaign in Turkestan (see under ). Late in 1826, however, he incurred the Emperor's displeasure by requesting permission to open silver mines in the vicinity of Peking. For this request he was degraded to be president of the Court of Colonial Affairs. He was also ordered out of the Imperial Study and the Imperial Household. In 1827 a tenant of one of his houses in Tungchow accused him of unjustly raising the rent. In consequence of this charge he was deprived of all his high offices, including that of Associate Grand Secretary, and was degraded to be military governor of Jehol. In 1828, when he was ordered to go to Ninghsia, he pleaded illness and was allowed to go back to Peking.

After two months in Peking, a serious charge was lodged against him. From 1821 to 1827 he had been assigned the task of constructing the tomb of the reigning Emperor, at Pao-hua yü 寶華峪 in the Eastern Mausoleum, on a site that had been selected by Grand Secretary Tai Chün-yüan 戴均元. In his frugality, however, the Emperor had not allowed an adequate sum for construction. In 1827 the tomb was completed, and Ying-ho, Tai Chün-yüan and others were rewarded. After a lapse of only a year the walls were reported to be damp and the stone floor covered with a thin sheet of water. Angered by this report, the Emperor ordered the arrest of all concerned, as well as a thorough investigation. Ying-ho, Tai, and several other officials were deprived of their ranks and had their property confiscated. None of these officials were found to have misappropriated funds—their mistake was one of faulty engineering. But because he had the final decision in these matters, Ying-ho was punished with banishment to Heilungkiang; while his sons, K'uei-chao 奎照 and K'uei-yüeh 奎耀, were dismissed from the posts they held, and sent to Heilungkiang to keep their father company. Several other officials were banished to Turkestan. Owing to his advanced age of eighty-three (sui), Tai was pardoned and was allowed to return to his home in Ta-yü, Kiangsi. The Emperor abandoned the Eastern Mausoleum as a site for his tomb and built a less pretentious one at the Western Mausoleum. The new tomb was completed in 1835, and he was buried there.

While in exile, Ying-ho studied local conditions at Tsitsihar, capital of Heilungkiang, and wrote two works about the region: one, entitled 卜 932