there would be no one left to uonrish his aged parents. *^And who is left,'* enquired Chang Hao, sternly, '*to nourish the aged parents of Wang Ch*ang-ling?" From the name of his birthplace he is sometimes called Wang Chiang-ning,
Wang Chen 3^ ^. Died A.D. 1449. A native of ^ Yfl-chou 2139 in Chihli, and a pupil at the palace school for eunuchs established by the Emperor Hsiian^ Tsung in 1426. He was attached to the person of the Heir Apparent, and when the latter succeeded to the throne he adopted Wang's advice to conceal his inexperience by being very strict with his Ministers, who were thus driven to buy Wang's good o£Qces. The prohibition against eunuchs holding # o£5cial posts (see Chu YUan-chang) was still enforced; and so long as the Empress Dowager and the three Yangs were active » Wang feared to bid for power. But in 1442 only Yang P*u was left in o£Qce, and he was old and worn. Wang's ambition now had full scope. He set the Emperor to build palaces and temples; and being desirous of military fame he brought on the j^ )\\ Lu-ch*uan war and stirred up trouble in the south-west, his opponents being sent to prison and even executed without confirmation of the sentence by the Emperor, while o£Qce was openly sold or obtained by obsequiousness to the all-powerful eunuch, whom even Princes addressed as ^^ Venerable Father. In 1449, having worked up a quarrel with the Oirads, he took the Emperor on an expedition against their chief -J^ ^ Yeh-hsien. The whole army was overwhelmed on its retreat, and Wang was slain by the routed soldiery. His vast wealth was confiscated, and his family exterminated. In 1457 his honours were restored, and a shrine was erected to his memory by Imperial command.
Wang Chen 3^^ (T. ^ UJ)- A.D. 1824-1857. A famous 2140 Imperialist leader, who started as a volunteer captain of trainbands. He aided considerably in clearing the T*ai-p*ing rebels from Hunan,
