He oversaw the area's courts, law enforcement, civic defense, canals, and customs collection.
The position was only compensated at the 4a level[clarify] (正四品官) but, in addition to other sources of income, it was seen as a springboard to higher office within the empire.
The first foreign settlement in Shanghai, the British Concession, was established by the Land Regulations (土地章程) undertaken on the initiative of the intendant Gong Mujiu.
On 6 April 1849, he signed the agreement with Charles de Montigny formalizing and delineating the city's French Concession.
[7] The intendant was forced to flee the Small Sword Society in 1853 amid the chaos surrounding the Taiping Rebellion.