岑毓英 (彥卿)

Ts'ên Yü-ying 岑毓英 (T. 彥卿 H. 匡國), June 26, 1829-1889, June 6, official, was a native of Hsi-lin, Kwangsi. One of his ancestors, a military man, was sent in the middle of the eleventh century to command a garrison at Yung-ning 永寧 (present Nanning), Kwangsi. There he settled, and there his descendants became hereditary chieftains of the local aborigines. In the early Ming period another paternal ancestor was appointed hereditary chieftain of the aborigines at Shang-lin t'ung 上林峒, Kwangsi. In 1666 the chieftainship was abolished and the area under the family's control was changed into a district (hsien) with the name, Hsi-lin. Ts'ên Yü-ying's family lived in the district, in a fortress called Na-lao-chai 那勞寨. Although the family lost the chieftainship, it continued to be influential.

Ts'ên's father was a hsiu-ts'ai in the district school, and in 1845 Ts'ên Yü-ying himself became a hsiu-ts'ai. When Hung Hsiu-ch'üan [q.v.] rose in revolt in Kwangsi in 1850, the gentry was ordered to organize local militia to defend their homes. Ts'ên took command of such a force and, with it, quelled several uprisings of local bandits. In 1853 he was rewarded with the rank of an assistant district magistrate.

In 1855 a Mohammedan rebellion broke out in Yunnan; it lasted seventeen years, and provided Ts'ên with the opportunity to display his abilities and to advance in officialdom. The Moslems of Yunnan, a very strong minority, had for many years been dissatisfied with the local government; and in the forty years prior to 1855 they had several times rebelled (1818-19, 1826-28, 1834-40), but after each failure their lot became less endurable. In this year adherents of that religion, aided by miners at Shih-yang-ch'ang 石羊廠 in Ch'u-hsiung, began an armed conflict which soon spread throughout the province, giving the Moslems predominant power, particularly in the western part. Ts'ên led his militia to the capital at Kunming and his offer to help suppress the revolt was promptly accepted.

At this time (1856) the Mohammedans had two leaders in Yunnan. One was Ma Tê-hsin 馬德新 (also known as Ma Fu-ch'u, d. 1874), an old Imam of Tali, who had made the pilgrimage to Mecca and had gained the confidence of his co-religionists. He lived in or near Kunming, helping the rebels, and at the same time accepting official ranks from the government. Apparently his dominant motive was to increase his own influence. The other leader was Tu Wên-hsiu 杜文秀 (T. 雲煥 H. 百香, d. 1872) who was the political head of the rebel government. Known as Sultan Suleiman, he called his kingdom P'ing-nan Kuo 平南國, and made his capital at Tali. At the height of his power he ruled the western half of Yunnan and had adherents in Szechwan and Kansu. His kingdom lasted more than sixteen years (1856-72), roughly corresponding to the other Moslem uprisings in Shênsi, Kansu, and Turkestan (see under Tso Tsung-t'ang).

Early in 1857 Ts'ên Yü-ying assisted the government forces in a vain attempt to recover Tali, but by the middle of that year these armies were withdrawn because Kunming was besieged i,y Mohammedan forces under Ma Ju-lung 馬如龍 (T. 獻之 H. 雲峰, d. 1891), a general who collaborated with Ma Tê-hsin. Ts'ên returned to Kwangsi, raised recruits and, early in 1859, led them to Kunming to reinforce the defense of the capital. Soon after his arrival the siege was raised; then he was sent to recover nearby cities. Later in the year he took I-liang and was named its acting magistrate. The following year he advanced to Lu-an and was made concurrently acting magistrate of that department. Early in 1861 he was promoted to be acting prefect of Ch'êng-chiang-fu. In 1861, when the Moslems again attacked Kunming, Ts'ên was sent by Governor Hsü Chih-ming 徐之銘 (T. 新齋, chin-shih of 1836, d. 1864) to the rebel camp to negotiate a truce. He succeeded in persuading the commanding general, the above-mentioned Ma Ju-lung, to render allegiance to the government. Ma was made a brigade-general, and Ts'ên was rewarded with promotion to acting lieutenant-governor of Yunnan.

Early in 1863 the Mohammedan soldiers who had surrendered with Ma Ju-lung were incited by Ma Tê-hsin to rebel once more. They took control of Kunming and murdered the governor-general, P'an To 潘鐸 (T. 木君 H. 振之, chin-shih of 1832, d. 1863, posthumous name 忠毅). Ts'ên, in co-operation with Ma Ju-lung, put down the revolt, thus leaving only the forces of Tu Wên-hsiu to be dealt with. Ma Ju-lung was left in charge at Kunming, and Ts'ên led an army against the Moslems of Tali. He took several cities, but in March 1864 his forces were defeated near Tali. Presently the Moslems at Ch'ü-ching, northeast of Kunming, rose in arms. This gave Ts'ên a pretext for withdrawing from Tali in order to suppress the rebels in the east. He recovered Ch'ü-ching late in 1864 and finally stabilized eastern Yunnan. Thereafter he made Ch'ü-ching his headquarters, and gave to the farmers and merchants of eastern Yunnan a sense of security, such as they had not known for years. At the same time he nursed his army until it became the strongest force in the province. Kunming would have been his natural headquarters, but he was unable to establish himself there, owing, it is said, to a misunderstanding with Ma Ju-lung.

After a year's respite Ts'ên was appointed intendant of eastern Yunnan and was ordered by Governor-general Lao Ch'ung-kuang (see under Liang Lun-shu) to suppress rebel bands in the region where Yunnan, Szechwan and Kweichow meet. These bands were especially numerous in Kweichow; some were followers of secret religious sects, some were Mohammedans, but most of them were Miao tribesmen. The trouble in Kweichow began about 1854 and lasted for almost twenty years. By 1865 the rebels in the northwestern part of that province became very active, and Ts'ên was sent to suppress them. In the following year be recovered Chên-hsiung and other cities in northeastern Yunnan which they had seized. In 1867 he took the strongholds of the Miao tribesmen on the Yunnan-Kweichow border. The rebellion elsewhere in Kweichow was not put down until 1873, by the forces of Hsi Pao-t'ien (see under Hung Jên-kan) and those of Governor Tsêng Pi-kuang 曾璧光 (T. 毓東 H. 樞垣, 麗東, d. 1875, posthumous name 文誠).

Late in 1867, soon after Ts'ên had returned to Ch'ü-ching, he was called to defend the capital of the province against a severe onslaught of Moslems led by Tu Wên-hsiu. Early in 1868 the latter laid siege to Kunming, and Ts'ên had to fight step by step to open communications between Ch'ü-ching and the capital. Faced thus by a common enemy, Ts'ên and Ma Ju-lung composed their differences. When Ts'ên reached Kunming he was promoted to be governor of Yunnan. He and a protege, named Yang Yü-k'o 楊玉科 (T. 雲階, d. 1885, posthumous name 武愍), fought bitterly against the rebels, and gradually recovered a number of cities, thus relieving the pressure on the capital. In June 1869 Yang brought about the surrender of the female rebel commander who was a daughter of Tu Wên-hsiu. Three months later another rebel headquarters was taken and the siege was raised. Then the government troops under Yang Yü-k'o advanced westward while Ts'ên maintained order in the east. After three more years of warfare Yang reached the rebel capital in Tali (late in 1872). Tu Wên-hsiu attempted suicide, but before his death his guards brought him to Yang's camp to be beheaded. Those of his followers who continued the revolt in parts of the city were overcome early in 1873. Several months later the whole province was pacified, and Ts'ên and Yang were each rewarded with the hereditary rank of Ch'ing-ch'ê tü-yü (Yang's rank being raised to a baron in 1875). In 1874 Ts'ên ordered the arrest and execution of Ma Tê-hsin, denouncing him as the actual instigator of the Mohammedan Rebellion in Yunnan. Of an estimated eight million people in the province before the revolt only about three million were said then to be left-the rest having perished or moved away. The rehabilitation of the devastated area was a long and tedious task, and for his part in it the people of Yunnan hailed Ts'ên as their saviour and ruler. In recognition of his services the Peking government appointed him governor-general of Yunnan and Kweichow.

But before long, the murder of a British subject, Augustus Raymond Margary 馬嘉理 (1846-1875), on the Yunnan-Burmese border, caused Ts'ên to be denounced as an anti-foreign agitator. In the autumn of 1874 Margary made a five months' overland journey from Shanghai to the Burmese border to meet a British trade mission from Burma and to act as guide and interpreter during its travels in China. He met the expedition at Bhamo in January 1875 and then recrossed the border into Yunnan a little in advance of the party, to prepare for its arrival. On February 19, 1875 he reached Manwyn, Yunnan, and two days later was murdered in the jungle not far from the town. When, a day later, the mission was on its way to Manwyn, it was attacked by armed bands and was forced to return to Burma. A report of the incident was sent from India to Shanghai by cablegram and was forwarded to Peking. Sir Thomas Wade (see under Tso Tsung-t'ang) the British minister, received it on March 11, and two days later sent a memorandum to the Chinese government demanding that an investigation be made on the spot in the presence of British officials, Having no swift means of ascertaining the facts, the Chinese government had to wait until Ts'ên's report was delivered by courier, before it could reply to Wade's demands. Wade took advantage of this necessary delay to increase his demands to include the settlement of all outstanding issues, such as the question of granting an audience to foreign diplomats and the exemption of foreign goods from likin taxes -- threatening a break in relations, or even war. To show his impatience he left Peking in April 1875. In July Ts'ên's official report reached Peking, stating that Margary had been murdered by native bandits and that the authorities at Momein (Têng-yüeh) had aroused the hostility of the local people against the British expedition. On receipt of the report, the Peking government at once ordered Li Hung-chang and Ting Jih-ch'ang [qq.v.] to negotiate with Wade at Tientsin; and dispatched Li Han-chang (see under Li Hung-chang) and Hsüeh Huan 薛煥 (T. 覲堂, 1815-1880, in charge of foreign affairs at Shanghai from 1857 to 1863) to Yunnan to conduct the investigation (early in 1876) in the presence of British officials. The inquiry confirmed Tsêng's report, and several persons who had confessed to the murder were convicted. Wade, however, had no faith in the investigations, insisting that Ts'ên was really responsible. Since the Peking government was unwilling to summon Ts'ên for trial, Wade was given concessions in other matters, and the case was settled in September 1876 by the Chefoo Convention (see under Li Hung-chang). In addition to the opening 1l more ports to foreign trade and regulations, likin taxes on foreign goods, one important result of this episode was the appointment of China's first minister to the Court of St. James (see under Kuo Sung-tao).

It is safe to say that Ts'ên did not order an attack on the British expedition. If any order was given, it could have come only from Li Chên-kuo 李珍國 (T. 聘三, d. 1888), a native of Momein (born of a Burmese mother) who remembered that the British had conquered lower Burma in 1862, and that at the time of the Margary affair they were forcibly extending their influence northward. The city of Momein had been in the hands of Moslem rebels from 1861 to 1873. During that time (1867) a British trade mission came to the city and was well received by the rebels, but was prevented from going farther into Yunnan by government troops and by a native militia led by Li Chên-kuo whose operations blocked the highways. Li helped the government forces to recover Momein in 1873 and was made a colonel. Though by the time Margary came Li's troops had been disbanded, they might well have been summoned on short notice. In such a move he probably had the support of the local merchants who feared the impact of any new trade agreements on their livelihood.

By the time the Chefoo Convention was signed, Ts'ên was no longer at the head of affairs in Yunnan, since several months earlier he had retired to Kweilin, Kwangsi, to observe a twenty-seven months' mourning period for the death of his mother. Early in 1879 he went to Peking where he was granted several audiences, and where he met for the first time the higher officials of the central government. After serving as governor of Kweichow (1879-81) and of Fukien (1881-82), he was promoted in 1882 to be governor-general of Yunnan and Kweichow and was ordered to prepare for a possible conflict with France over Annam. In 1883 he and T'ang Chiung [q.v.] were reprimanded for temporarily withdrawing their troops from the border. Early in 1884 Ts'ên went to Annamese territory to direct supplies to the army under Liu Yung-fu who was then fighting the French (see under Fêng Tzŭ-ts'ai). When war with France was openly declared in August 1884 the Yunnan troops advanced along the Red River to Hsüan-kuang 宣光 (Tuyen-Quan), with the purpose of joining the Kwangsi troops under Governor P'an Ting-hsin 潘鼎新 (T. 琴軒, chü-jên of 1849, d. 1888), but Ts'ên failed to take Hsüankuang or to advance any farther. After the armistice was signed in April 1885 he returned to Yunnan--a province whose treasury had been drained and whose border now faced French forces. He had learned the importance of having western arms, and of swift communications. The question of communications was solved by the extension, at this time, of the telegraph to Kunming.

Late in 1885 Ts'ên was given the additional hereditary rank of Yün-ch'i-yu. In 1888, on his sixtieth birthday, he was presented with many gifts from the Emperor. The gentry of Yunnan presented to him an album of forty paintings depicting the important events of his life, which was lithographically reproduced (1891) under the title, 勖德介福圖 Hsün-tê chieh fu t'u. On this anniversary year he edited and printed the genealogy of his family, entitled 西林岑氏族譜 Hsi-lin Ts'ên-shih tsu-p'u, 10 chüan. After he died he was canonized as Hsiang-ch'in 襄勤 and was celebrated in the Temple of Eminent Statesmen in Peking, as well as in special temples in Kunming, Kweiyang, and elsewhere. A chronology of his life was compiled by Chao Fan 趙藩 (T. 樾村, 1851-1927), and was printed in 1899 under the title Ts'ên Hsiang-ch'in kung nien-p'u (公年譜). His collected memorials, Ts'ên Hsiang-ch'in kung tsou-i (奏議), 30 + 1 chüan, were printed in 1897. It is said that his hereditary rank was posthumously raised to a second-class baron.

Ts'ên Yü-ying had seven sons. The eldest, Ts'ên Ch'un-jung 岑春榮 (T. 泰階 H. 伯頤 b. 1852), inherited the family hereditary rank and later served as intendant of Northern Honan (1893-?). The second, Ts'ên Ch'un-hsü 岑春煦 (T. 暄庭 H. 旭階, b. 1857), headed a number of prefectures in Honan and Chihli. The fifth, Ts'ên Ch'un-ming 岑春蓂 (T. 堯階 H. 馥莊, b. 1865), served as governor of Kweichow (1905-06) and of Hunan (1906-10). The most famous of his sons was the third, Ts'ên Ch'un-hsüan 岑春煊 (original ming 春澤, T. 雲階 H. 雲階, b. 1861), a chü-jên of 1885 who filled various posts in Peking, Kwangtung, and Kansu. In the Boxer uprising of 1900 he led some troops to the rescue of Peking, and escorted the Court on its flight through Taiyuan to Sian. He became a favorite of the Empress Dowager (Hsiao-ch'in, q.v.). Later he served as governor of Shensi (1901-02) and as governorgeneral of Szechwan (1902-03) and of Kwangtung and Kwangsi (1903-06). In 1907 he retired under criticism. Early in the Republican period he opposed Yüan Shih-k'ai (see under Yüan Chia-san) and took part in the civil wars against him, being made in 1916 commander-in-chief of the forces concentrated at Chao-ch'ing, Kwangtung, to oppose Yuan's monarchical schemes. In 1918 he was elected one of the directors of the so-called Military Government 炯堂 at Canton, but two years later he and the other militarists of Kwangsi and Yunnan were driven from Canton. Thereafter he lived in retirement at Shanghai.

[ Nien-p'u; 1/425/6a; 5/30/4a; Ts'ao K'un, "The Rebellion of Tu Wên-hsiu in T'êng-yüeh" (in Chinese), printed in 1910 in 曲石叢書 Ch'ü-shih ts'ung-shu; Ho Hui-ch'ing, "Eighteen Years of Tu Wên-hsiu's Rebel Government in Yunnan" (in Chinese), printed in 逸經 I-ching, nos. 12-16 (1936); P'ing-ting Yunnan Hui fei fang-lüeh, Ping-ting Kweichow Miao fei chi-lüeh, and Ch'ing-chi wai-chiao shih-liao (characters for all these in I-hsin); Wên-hsien ts'ung-pien (see bibl. under Li Fu), no. 22; The Journey of Augustus Raymond Margary (1876); Anderson, J., Mandalay to Momein (1876); Wang, S. T., The Margary Affair and the Chefoo Convention (1940); Li Kên-yüan 李根源, 雪生年錄 Hsüeh-shêng nien-lu, 1/3a, 2/12a, 3/2a; 金陵通傳 Chin-ling t'ung-chuan, 40/3b; Chin-shih jên-wu chih (see under Wêng T'ung-ho); Broomhall, M., Islam in China, a Neglected Problem (1910); see bibl. under Fêng Tzü-ts'ai.]

FANG CHAO-YING

《清史稿》卷419

岑毓英，字彥卿，廣西西林人。諸生。治鄉團，擊土匪，以功敘縣丞。咸豐六年，率勇赴雲南迤西助剿回匪。九年，克宜良，權縣事。十年，克路南，署州事，擢同知直隸州。進攻澂江，兼署知府。十一年，克澂江賊壘，破昆陽海口賊，迤西回匪連陷楚雄、廣通、祿豐，省城戒嚴。毓英赴援，同治元年，破賊大樹營。時總督張亮基引疾去，巡撫徐之銘主撫，回酋馬如龍通款，毓英往諭順逆，如龍獻所踞新興等八城，之銘奏以毓英攝布政使。尋以安撫功，加按察使銜，賜花翎。二年，回弁馬榮叛，戕總督潘鐸，毓英率所部粵勇一千，與弟毓寶等守藩署。之銘微服詣毓英，司道皆集，分兵守東、南門，密召馬如龍入援。如龍至，誅亂黨，馬榮跳走南寧，合馬聯陞踞曲靖八屬。詔嘉毓英守城功，擢道員。

率師西剿，復富民、安寧、羅次、高明、祿豐、武定、祿勸、廣通、陸涼、南安諸城，及黑、元、永三鹽井，進擣楚雄。會東路有警，之銘檄回省，分兵克霑益、平彝。赴楚雄督攻，克其城。進復大姚、雲南、趙州、賓川、鄧川、浪穹、鶴慶，分道進規大理上下關。三年，克定遠，圍攻鎮南，大破援賊於普棚。馬聯陞復陷霑益，犯馬龍，回軍破之於天生關。進攻曲靖，復馬龍、霑益。進克尋甸，擒馬榮、馬興才，克曲靖，擒馬聯陞，並誅之。尚書趙光疏呈滇紳公啟，言毓英所向有功，特詔嘉勉，下總督勞崇光據實保奏。四年，肅清迤東，加布政使銜，賜號勉勇巴圖魯。

西路自毓英軍移去，所克諸城多復陷，僅存楚雄未失。毓英駐軍曲靖，護省城運道。五年，命署布政使，勞崇光至是始至滇受事，奏以提督馬如龍專辦西路，令毓英督剿豬拱箐苗。豬拱箐隸貴州威寧州，與海馬姑相犄角，山溪阻深，苗酋陶新春、陶三春分據之。糾聚苗、教諸匪及粵匪石達開餘黨，凡十數萬人，迭擾滇之鎮雄、彝良、大關、昭通，黔之大定、黔西、威寧、畢節，且及川疆，三省會剿久無功。毓英上書駱秉章，謂權不一則軍不用命，願率滇軍獨任，期百二十日覆其巢，授迤西道，署布政使如故。

六年，擢布政使。二月，師抵豬拱箐，令張保和、林守懷領二千人，由大溜口出二龍關後，掩襲吳家屯，自督三千人攻關。賊傾巢出戰，關後砲發，賊回救，毓英揮軍夾擊，三隘皆下，遂奪吳家屯，擒斬數千。賊自海馬姑來援，截擊之，斬其酋，餘賊反奔。令蔡標、劉重慶分軍圍剿海馬姑，克紅巖、尖山，賊援乃斷，遂逼豬拱箐老巢。賊以巨石自山顛墜下，驅牛馬突營，將士多傷亡，毓英督軍搏戰，斬悍酋，賊始卻。於營前掘深坎，賊所發石盡陷坎內，誘降倮人，得賊虛實，選敢死士二千，填壕以進，連破木城二，直擣其巢，縱火焚之，斬馘二萬，擒陶新春及其死黨，磔之，拔出男婦四萬餘人。乘勝合攻海馬姑，伏兵山前後，進毀賊壘三十餘，以噴筒環燒，擒陶三春及悍酋二百餘人，皆斬之，賊悉平。計自進兵至是，僅逾期四日，加頭品頂戴。

馬如龍剿迤西屢失利，勞崇光病歿，杜文秀大舉東犯，連陷二十餘城，省垣告急。是年冬，毓英自豬拱箐凱旋曲靖，先遣弟毓寶助省防。七年春，揚言師出陸涼，而取道宜涼、七甸，連破大小石壩、小板橋、古庭庵、金馬寺賊壘，進屯大樹營。馬如龍來會，人心始定。昆陽匪首楊震鵬夜渡昆明池襲省城，毓寶擊敗之，震鵬負創遁。進攻楊林，毓英鼻受槍傷，回軍省城，連破石虎關賊壘，擒賊渠李洪勛，擢授巡撫。附省賊壘猶繁，與之相持。總督劉嶽昭初至滇，由馬龍進剿尋甸，失利，賊勢復熾。 毓英疏陳軍事、餉事，略曰：「杜文秀竊踞迤西十有三載，根深蒂固。今擬三路進兵，一出迤南牽賊勢，一出三姚、永北斷賊援，大軍由楚雄、鎮南直擣中堅，使賊面面受敵，不能兼顧。臣選精銳六萬，更番戰守，既無停兵之時，亦免師老之患。兵勇無須外募，以本省兵剿本省賊，既習地利，復熟賊情。現在滇省兵勇鄉團已調集八萬有奇，擬俟附省逆壘肅清，認真裁汰，選定精銳，以資得力。滇省綠營額設馬步兵三萬七千數百名，承平日久，訓練多疏，將不知兵，兵不知戰。倉卒有事，則募勇以代兵；餉需支絀，不能不後兵而先勇。於是兵丁愈困，營務益弛。通省營兵所存不及十一，臣擬即此六萬人中，擇補營額，目前仍令隨征，事竣再飭歸伍。既有常業，自有恆心，責以成功，收效必速。滇省近年用兵，多藉鄉勇之力，擬按州縣之大小，定徵調之多寡，共編鄉勇四十營，分兩班隨營征討，餉銀仍由各地籌捐。兩年之內，迤西肅清，即可裁撤歸農。滇省兵勇，向於餉銀之外，每名月支米三斗。現擬用兵六萬，每年共需米二十餘萬石，為數甚鉅。歷年皆按成熟田畝酌抽釐穀，約十分取其一二，資助軍食，與川之津貼，黔之義穀，名異實同。今請照舊抽收，並將近年可徵地丁抽糧，全數改徵糧米，如不敷用，再行籌價採買接濟，一俟軍事肅清，分別裁止。滇省綠營官兵俸餉，有閏之年，需銀七十萬兩有奇，無閏需銀六十四萬數千兩。現既易勇為兵，則餉銀較勇糧稍厚。倘因籌餉維艱，每月先給半餉，加以賞需軍火各費，約共需銀八萬兩。鹽課、地丁、釐稅之外，每月所短不過三四萬兩，應由外省協撥，較之向例協餉，有減無增。若發全餉，則每月應由外省撥銀六萬，較常例所增亦屬無幾。現在部臣指撥各省協滇軍餉，如浙江、廣東、江西，距滇較遠，籌撥起解，往返經年，緩難濟急。請飭改作京餉，另由川、楚等省應解京餉，改撥濟滇，兩無窒礙。至於選任鎮將，宜不拘資格，不惜情面，凡有能將三千兵以上，才當一面者，雖其名位尚卑，亦宜委署要職。其謀勇平常，僅止熟習營務，縱係實缺，另予差遣，勿使倖位。」疏入，下部如所議行。 八年春，賊酋楊榮率眾數萬踞楊林長坡，分黨踞小偏橋、十里鋪、羊芳凹、牛街、興福寺，省城大震。毓英督諸軍分剿，奪回小偏橋諸處，復連敗之於蕭家山、鸚鵡山，擒斬逾萬，剷除省東賊壘百餘。西北兩方賊仍負隅拒守，毓英令副將楊玉科、總兵李維述等規迤西，與騰越義兵約期並進。於是副將張保和等克富民、昆陽，總兵馬忠等克呈貢、晉寧、易門、澂江、祿豐，玉科等克武定、祿勸、元謀、羅次、定遠、大姚，維述等克廣通、楚雄、南安及黑琅、元水諸井。凡悍酋劇匪，擒斬殆盡，省城解嚴，被詔嘉獎。

九年，澂江回復叛，踞府城，毓英率軍往剿，圍其郛，十年二月，克之。並拔竹園、江那諸賊巢，迤西軍亦克麗江、劍川、永北、鶴慶、賓川、姚州、鎮南諸城。疏言：「滇省前事之誤，東南未定，遽議西征，屢致喪師失地。今通籌全局，必先掃蕩東南兩迤，然後全軍西上，方無後顧之憂。」

十一年，迤東、迤西兩路悉平，西軍亦先後克復永昌、鄧川、浪穹、趙州、雲南、永平、蒙化及上下兩關，而大理賊猶堅守，恃騰越、順寧互為應援。十一月，毓英親往督戰，先斷賊援，直薄城下，掘隧道，陷城垣數十丈，奪東南兩門入。賊守內城，晝夜環攻，守陴賊多死。杜文秀窮蹙服毒，其黨舁之出城詐降，斬首傳示，勒繳軍械，賊黨猶請緩期。毓英令楊玉科率壯士二百入城受降，布重兵城外夾擊之，斬酋目三百餘名，生擒楊榮、蔡廷棟、馬仲山，磔於市。大理肅清，賜黃馬褂，予騎都尉世職。十二年，順寧、雲州、騰越皆下，全滇底定，加太子少保，晉一等輕車都尉世職。

十三年，兼署雲貴總督。光緒二年，丁繼母憂。五年，服闋，授貴州巡撫，加兵部尚書銜。七年，調福建督辦臺灣防務，開山撫番，濬大甲溪，築臺北城。八年，署雲貴總督，九年，實授。

法越兵事起，自請出關赴前敵，屯興化。十年，命節制關外粵、楚各軍。會廣西軍潰於北寧、太原，毓英全師退屯保勝，以未奉命，降二級留任。七月，命進軍決戰，連復越南館司、鎮安、清波、夏和諸縣，屯館司關，規取河內諸省。令丁槐、何秀林攻宣光，以地雷毀其城，擒斬甚眾。十一年，京察，開復降級處分，令覃修綱攻克緬旺、清水、清山。法兵援宣光，掘地營延袤十餘里扼之。破法兵於臨洮府，奪梅枝關。連克不拔、廣威、永祥，進擣山西、河內，廣西軍亦收復諒山。越南興安、寧平、南定、興化、太原各省聞風響應。會和議成，詔班師。五月，回駐邊關。十二年，會勘邊界，兼署巡撫。十三年，剿順寧倮黑夷匪張登發，平之。十四年，京察，議敘。十五年，皇太后歸政，晉太子太保。尋卒，贈太子太傅，入祀賢良祠，雲南、貴州建專祠，諡襄勤。子春煊，官至四川總督。