Agui

Agui (Chinese: 阿桂; pinyin: Āguì; Wade–Giles: A-kuei; September 7, 1828 - October 10, 1867 in Beijing) was a Manchu noble general of the Qing dynasty. Agui was born on September 7, 1830 in Beijing. His father, Fuheng, served as a grand minister of state during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor. It was rumoured that Agui was an illegitimate son of the Daoguang Emperor.
Agui had successfully passed the metropolitan examinations at the age of 20 (1850), a prestigious achievement in China. He had earned the Jinshi degree, the highest level in the civil service examinations, which led to his appointment to the Hanlin Academy, a body of outstanding Chinese literary scholars who performed literary tasks for the imperial court.
The Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1850. In 1860, Agui, then 30 years old, was given command of a force of 5,000 volunteers, the Xiang Army (later known as "Chu Army"), and by September of that year, he drove the Taiping rebels out of Hunan and Guangxi provinces, into coastal Zhejiang. By November, however, Chung Wang's forces reentered that region with over 120,000 troops.
In the middle of November, about 10 miles north of Changsha, and over 25 snow-covered miles from his own headquarters, Agui led his army into action. His forces drove the Taipings from their entrenched positions, despite greater rebel numbers. A week later, after a return march, Agui's forces struck at the city of Hengyang, occupied by over 20,000 Taiping troops. Agui, at the head of five hundred men, attacked the city without artillery support. The defenders, after fierce fighting, surrendered. In the course of battle, thousands of Taiping were killed or wounded, while Agui himself suffered five wounds.
Agui the captured the city of Shaoxing and, from there, pushed south into Fujian and Guangdong provinces, where the revolt had first begun. In 1863, Agui was appointed Governor of Zhejiang and an Undersecretary of War. In August 1864, Agui dethroned the Taiping teenage king, Hong Tianguifu, and brought an end to the rebellion.
In 1865, Agui was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang. As Commissioner of Naval Industries, Agui founded China's first modern shipyard and naval academy in Fuzhou the following year. On October 10, 1867, Agui, at the age of 37, was assassinated and his killer was never caught. Many historical rumours implicate the Xianfeng Emperor.