Li Xiucheng led an army to attack Shanghai in 1860, but after losing due to the intervention of foreign invading forces, he attacked Shanghai twice in January and June 1862, but neither was successful. In February 1862, the Qing army, with the cooperation of Foreign troops such as Britain and France, defeated the Taiping Army that was besieging the city, and captured a letter signed "Wang Qi". This book is written in thousands of words, roughly to persuade the Taiping Army to reconcile with the foreigners, to borrow the strength of the foreigners to advance into the Central Plains, and overthrow the Manchu Qing rule. The strategy of attacking Shanghai is discussed in particular.
Wang Tao (1828–1897)
The letter said: The foreigners had sent emissaries to Tianjing, proposing that Shanghai was the "place of trade of all countries" and asking the Taiping Army not to attack Shanghai, but without the consent of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom; so the foreigners assisted the Qing army in defending the city and jointly dealt with the Taiping Army. This is really a big mistake for the Heavenly Kingdom. At that time, it should be promised that the foreigners would not attack Shanghai, on the condition that the foreigners would not be allowed to fund the Qing court with military funds and ammunition. Foreigners, in view of their own interests, will naturally agree. Then the Taiping Army sent elite troops to cross the river north to attack the "perfect areas" ruled by the Qing Dynasty in Tongzhou (present-day Nantong, Jiangsu), Taizhou, and Lixiahe, while dispatching sailors to patrol the coast and plunder Chinese merchant ships, so that they did not dare to transport goods north. As a result, trade was not passed, donations were cut off, and not only did the Qing army lack pay, but also the foreigners in Shanghai would sit and be trapped. Because when the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas fought for many years, millions of people in Suzhou, Changzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo and other places flocked to Shanghai to take refuge. The livelihood of so many people is cut off, and chaos will inevitably occur, and when foreigners are in internal and external difficulties, they can only bow down and reconcile with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At that time, they were ordered to sacrifice Shanghai, which was the best policy.
If you can't negotiate peace with the foreigners for a while, you must first get Shanghai, and you don't have to mobilize a large army to attack. Because foreigners are most greedy for generous profits, and recently because refugees from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces have gathered in Shanghai, foreigners have built wide houses in the concessions, allowing the refugees to live, in order to collect high rents and interest, etc., as long as they are available, and do not inquire about the history of the renters. The Taiping Army should send thousands of elite soldiers, disguised as refugees, to rent foreigners' houses to live first. Because it was located in the concession, the Manchu Qing government could not investigate. At the appointed time, as long as the leader gives an order in the middle of the night, the soldiers respond in all directions, set fire to the house, and kill people when they see it, and the concession is bound to be in chaos. In the midst of this chaos, foreigners could only board the ship and flee for their lives. At that time, the outside army quickly cooperated, and the city of Shanghai was within reach. After the capture of Shanghai, if the foreigners are recruited back and treated with kindness, the foreigners can still be used by me, and this is also a good strategy.
Xue Huan, the inspector of Jiangsu in the Qing Dynasty, read this letter and was so shocked that he urgently ordered the Qing army in the north and south of the great river to be on guard. Because he knew very well that if Li Xiucheng adopted Wang's advice, Shanghai would be very dangerous. In April, Li Hongzhang led the Huai army to Shanghai, using Shanghai as a base, dispatching troops and dispatching generals, cooperating with the British, American and French armies, and capturing Suzhou, Changzhou and other places, and the Taiping Army could no longer save the crisis. If the Taiping Army could capture Shanghai, the Qing Army would not have a consolidated rear base in the southeast region, and it would be extremely difficult to raise ordnance and food; while the Taiping Army would be able to obtain relatively reliable guarantees for military salaries, equipment, and financial resources in Shanghai, the situation in the later period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be greatly improved. Li Xiucheng was an excellent general in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and was known for his "thirst for talents, youli shifu", but he failed to take Wang Qi under the curtain, nor did heed his advice, and finally missed the opportunity. In June, when the Taiping Army attacked Shanghai again, but because the Xiang army was besieging Tianjing, Li Xiucheng had to withdraw his troops to the west to aid Tianjing, and there was no longer any strength to attack Shanghai.
The above record is found in the twelfth volume of the Qing Dynasty Chen Qiyuan's "Notes on Yong Xianzhai", and the sixth volume of the "Anecdotes of the Qing Dynasty" written by Qiu Yulin in the early years of the Republic of China is also included. Wang Qi (一作黄畹, 1828-1897 AD) was a native of Kunshan County, Suzhou, and his letter was written to Li Xiucheng's general Liu Zhaojun. After the letter was discovered, Wang Qi was wanted by the Qing court and had to change his name to Wang Tao and flee to Hong Kong. Wang Tao wrote many works in his lifetime, including politics, economics, history, geography, astronomical almanacs, and novel notes, and was a famous scholar in modern Chinese history.