Yijing was a Manchu

Manchu

The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...

 prince of the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

. He was a cousin of the Daoguang Emperor

Daoguang Emperor

The Daoguang Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Manchurian Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850.-Early years:...

. In 1826, he served at Kashgar

Kashgar

Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately...

 as a junior officer in the campaign against Jahangir Khoja. During the First Opium War

First Opium War

The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...

, after the British captured Zhenhai

Battle of Chinhai

The Battle of Chinhai was fought between British and Chinese forces in Chinhai, China, on 10 October 1841 during the First Opium War.- References :*Hall, William Hutcheon; Bernard, William Dallas . . Henry Colburn....

 and Ningpo, the emperor ordered Yijing to go to Zhejiang

Zhejiang

Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

 on 18 October 1841 and take command of a counter-offensive. In the Battle of Ningpo

Battle of Ningpo

The Battle of Ningpo was fought between British and Chinese forces in Ningpo, China, on 10 March 1842 during the First Opium War. After the British captured Chinhai on 10 October 1841, they captured the nearby city of Ningpo unopposed three days later...

on 10 March 1842, Yijing's troops attempted to retake the city, but the British successfully repelled the attack.