The new Viceroy at Foochow applies for permission to retain the services of three Officers of whom he has had previous nonce.
ai Ming-shan is a Hunan man who entered the army in 1857 and has since covered himself with glory in a hundred engagements. He was the first to storm the ramparts at Nanking in 1864 for which he received substantive promotion, He served previously under the memorialist in Hunan and accompanied him thence to Foochow. Yang Ch'un-lan, a native of Hunan, after a long and varied career in the army, accompanied Yang Ch'ang-chun to Turkestan in 1878 to assist him in re-organising the province after the war. came with a relieving force to Foochow during the French troubles and has since had a very active career. The third, Chang Ting-t'ai is also a Hunan man who has risen by his own merit from a subordinate position in the army to the rank of Colonel, which he now holds. The services of all three are urgently required at Foochow and the Viceroy hopes that he will be allowed to continue to avail himself of them.
7th May.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.