Ronglu

Also known as Zi Zhonghua · Hao Lueyuan

Ronglu, of the Guwalgiya clan, courtesy name Zhonghua, styled Lueyuan, belonged to the Manchu Plain White Banner. Entering office through his father's merit, he helped set up the Divine Engine Division in the early 1860s and later served as vice minister of works, commander of the Beijing gendarmerie and minister of war. In 1898 he became governor-general of Zhili, and after the coup that autumn he joined the Grand Council with command of all the northern armies, which he reorganised the next year as the Guards Army. In 1900 he favoured protecting the legations, yet Dong Fuxiang's Gansu troops under his command took part in the siege. He followed the court to Xi'an and, back in Beijing as senior grand councillor and grand secretary, backed the reform proposals of Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong. He died in 1903 with the posthumous name Wenzhong; his daughter married Prince Chun, Zaifeng, and their son Puyi became the last Qing emperor.