Dai Zhaochen was appointed prefect of Dengzhou 登州 (Shandong) in 1861; he had the city wall rebuilt and successfully defended the place against a 40-day siege by Nian rebels. The work is composed of “preserved drafts” (存稿) from that period. It includes 20 entries (proclamations, communications, and regulations) dealing with such problems of local administration as examinations, corruption by clerks and runners, the salt monopoly, and especially with problems of defense; there is an account of the rebuilding of the city wall. The ed. seen at Fu Sinian and the one reproduced in GZSJC and Gudai difang falü have two “old documents” (舊牘) appended. Shortly after the events, Dai Zhaochen’s son, Dai Xieyuan 燮元, who had been assisting in the defense, composed a day-by-day account titled Dongmou shoucheng jilüe (1861 pref.), published in Canton in 1869.