Taiping cavalry mainly plays a role in the battlefield. From the initial dozens to hundreds of people, to more than 1,000 people during the Northern Expedition, to thousands of people in the Battle of Three Rivers, and then to more than 20,000 people in Tianjingguan, the cavalry team gradually developed and expanded. Taiping troops are equipped with cavalry in any battlefield that needs cavalry, so they are scattered and have limited functions. Generally speaking, cavalry accounts for a very small proportion of all troops. If the total force of the Northern Expedition is 30,000, the proportion of cavalry is about 1∶30. One of the reasons for the failure of the Northern Expedition was the serious shortage of cavalry units. Meibang and Freddie also said, "If they have artillery and cavalry, they will certainly continue to win and hit Tianjin and Peiping." (Note: Translation Series of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History compiled by Beijing Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Research Association, second series, Zhonghua Book Company, 1983 edition, p. 153. ) Smith Barney and Fred affirmed the importance of cavalry to the Northern Expedition, but thought that there was no cavalry in the Northern Expedition of Taiping Army. In fact, there were cavalry troops during the Northern Expedition, but the proportion was very small and it was not easy to attract attention. In the battle of Sanjiang, the cavalry invested by Taiping Army was not high in the total force, but the infantry army was overwhelmingly dominant. The important thing is proper strategy and tactics. 186 1 In the battle of Poyang Lake Plain, the Taiping Army invested only 4,000 troops (divided into two teams with 2,000 troops each), while the Qing cavalry accounted for one-third of the total troops (about 50,000 people), and they were "fully armed and good at fighting". ), as a result, the Taiping Army won a great victory. The equipment of cavalry is not necessarily conventional, but mainly depends on the actual needs of war or campaign. Improper strategy and tactics, no matter how many cavalry troops, can only be attributed to failure.
First, the origin of arms trade and its smuggling nature.
The arms trade is the result of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's correct foreign trade policy and the complicated and severe war environment it faces. Since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established itself as the capital of Tianjing, it has been promoting open and proper foreign trade and actively seeking foreign aid. At the same time, businessmen from all countries are required to pay customs duties and abide by various trade laws and policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Especially from the battlefield of blood and fire, the soldiers of Taiping Army saw the great power of foreign guns with their own eyes. Therefore, in foreign trade, "they are most concerned about foreign weapons" (Selected Translation of the Good News of Taiping Army in Shanghai-North China, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1983, pp. 43, 49, 309 and 32/kloc-0). Shortly after the capital was Tianjing, the Taiping Army in Zhenjiang said to the passing British ships, "You can sell guns, gunpowder and rice. (China Modern History Data Series: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1957 (the same below), Volume 7, Page 123. At the end of 1858, Hou Yutian, commander of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Wuhu, begged Captain Barker, a British ship sailing on the Yangtze River, to "give each other one or two foreign guns, some foreign powder and more than one foreign gun mouth" (Collection of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Documents, Zhonghua Book Company, 1979 edition, pp. 309, 324 ~ 325, etc. 186 1 In June, Hong Mou, the leader of Taiping Army stationed in Zhapu, noticed that the British navy prefect Herb said that Taiping Army would not attack Ningbo, and offered to trade guns and gunpowder with him, guaranteeing that "whatever the cost, it will be paid" (Flantz Michael: Uprising of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume 3: Literature and Comments, P 1 14 1.) "Even in the war-torn year of 1863, Li Xiucheng, a loyal king, and Tan Shaoguang, a long-awaited king, wrote to Gordon, the leader of Chang, talking about the arms trade:" As for everyone's uniforms and artillery, we all know each other's details. You're profitable. I'll handle it. Listen to the deal. There is no ban. At this time, if you have guns and foreign goods, you will still come here to trade as usual. (Collection of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Documents, Zhonghua Book Company, 1979, pp. 309, 324 ~ 325, 443 and 445. Robert Phelan, an American foreign company businessman who had done arms business with Taiping Army, reported to his boss that Taiping Army "welcomes foreigners to do business with them" ... what they need first is weapons, even though they want them. (S.C. Lockwood: Augustine Heart and Company, 1858 ~ 1862: American businessmen in China, P95 ... quoted from Nie's Modern Shipping History of China, Volume I, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1983, p. 267. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom made Tianjing its capital, western powers announced the so-called "neutrality" policy one after another, prohibiting all trade with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom except opium. 1855, Britain even issued a decree prohibiting subjects in China from "offering to sell or acting as agents for any kind of war materials" to the Taiping Army. Or equip you with a spaceship. (The English version of History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the first series, Zhonghua Book Company, 198 1 edition, p. 52. ) "The Qing government also wrote to the great powers and other countries many times, demanding that those who" went to the mainland privately or smuggled guns and gunpowder should be immediately taken back, handed over to their consular investigation, and their goods confiscated. (Selected Files of Wu Xu, the first series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1983, p. 104). ) "But the huge demand for arms and the temptation of huge commercial profits in military struggle are hard to ban by any form of law. On the one hand, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been seeking to buy elite weapons and equipment from foreign businessmen; On the one hand, there are a steady stream of adventurous arms dealers who violate the prohibitions of the Qing court and the powers and do not avoid risks. The arms trade has been banned.
Second, the way, region, scale and transportation route of arms trade.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom adopted a flexible and diverse approach to the arms trade. Since the first organized to send people to buy. 1June, 860, after the Taiping Army captured Suzhou, in Jiaxing, Prime Minister Sheng Ze Taiping Army, King Geng Tianfu and Wang Tianfu Shen sent people to sneak into Shanghai with remittances and silver at the checkpoint, "snooping on officers and soldiers, buying guns and gunpowder, and helping the thief camp. (Compendium of Historical Materials of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume II, Zhonghua Book Company, 1962, p. 184. ) "In June 5438+the following year 10, Zhongjun Li Xiucheng ordered the township officials of Zhouzhuang and the two places to" buy guns on the beach 1000, 202,000 copper caps and 200 red pancakes "as military service (Selected Records of Wu Xu, second series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House,1). )。 1in February, 862, Li Tianfu, the leader of Taiping rebels stationed in Nanhui, sent three Taiping rebels to Songjiang to buy guns and gunpowder with foreign money 1400 yuan (Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume VI, p. 490). )。 In Shanghai, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom specially appointed secret arms agents to compete with the Volleyguns for foreign guns and ammunition (The History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the third series, Zhonghua Book Company, 1985 edition, p. 83). )。 The second is to invite "foreign brothers" who visit or serve the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to buy arms. 1In May, 860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom tried to invite foreign missionaries, such as Herwell, who was visiting Suzhou, to bring money to Shanghai to buy weapons, but it was rejected (Selected translation of the good news of Taiping Army in Shanghai-North China, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1983, paras. 43, 49, 309, 32/kloc-0, 6543). )。 186 1 At the beginning of the year, Li Xiucheng, a loyal soldier, not only asked him to train the Taiping Army, but also sent him to purchase arms for the Taiping Army many times. 1863 12, Li Xiucheng issued a ticket for the last time and sent him to "buy warships in Shanghai and Ningbo" (Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume II, p. 872. )。 1From March to June, 863, Cai, the deputy commander of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and Li and General Yu Tianan, who had been loyal for 39 days before Wang opened the port, also successively issued road tickets to "foreign brothers" and went to Taicang, Shanghai, Jiaxing and other places to purchase military supplies ("Newly discovered Taiping Heavenly Kingdom road checkpoints", see Modern History). In August of the same year, after Bai, the former leader of Chang, joined the Taiping Army, Tan Shaoguang, the king of Mu, sent him to Shanghai to buy foreign guns and arms, and said that he would bring as many troops as possible (Wang Chongwu, translated historical materials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the first series, Shenzhou Guoguang Society, 1954 edition, p. 66). )。 Third, take the initiative to trade arms with foreign businessmen and arms dealers who take risks here. These foreigners who deal in arms with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have a complex composition, mainly including the following five categories: (1) people who sympathize with and support the revolutionary cause of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. They are very dissatisfied with the so-called "neutrality" policy implemented by the great powers, and think that "if foreigners are guilty of selling arms and long hair, then the officers and men of Turkey and He Prefect should also be guilty." A foreign friend who claimed to be a foreign agent publicly declared that he "sold foreign guns for many times, and there are still foreign guns to sell in the future, that is, I personally sold all the foreign guns used by Taicang Wool. ("Selected Files of Wu Xu", fifth series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984 edition, p. 373. (2) Some diplomats with status in China. 1853, Edward Curningham, a businessman of American flag foreign firm and vice consul in Shanghai, sold a ship and a large number of American firearms and ammunition to Taiping Army, which was unexpectedly seen by Qing Army. As a result, public opinion in Shanghai was in an uproar ((France) by Mei Ming and Fu Lide, translated by Ni Jinglan: History of French Concession in Shanghai, Shanghai Translation Publishing House 198). )。 1In September, 863, the Qing army detained nine foreigners who sold arms to the Taiping Army on a Ningbo fishing boat, one of whom was "Deacon Shen". These prominent people are also engaged in smuggling because of their rich interests. (3) profiteering businessmen. According to Farside, the deputy leader of the foreign gun team captured by the Taiping Army, at that time, "the Taiping Army had to pay the smuggler 100 yuan for the short guns that could be bought in Shanghai120 yuan" (the third series of the English translation of History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zhonghua Book Company 1985, p.1/) )。 According to Yiliang, Governor of Liangjiang River, in mid-October 1853+065438+ 10, "Foreigners' gunpowder has always been three yuan, but now it has increased to 256 yuan", and "thieves buy it at a high price, while traitors sell it privately for profit" (Book I of Preparing the Westernization Story (Xianfeng Dynasty), Zhonghua Book Company 65438. ), foreign businessmen are eager. " Illegal foreigners have always brought foreign guns to Suzhou to sell and sell long hair. Although the China authorities are strict, there are many people who steal things. ("Selected Files of Wu Xu", fifth series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984 edition, p. 399. ) "According to the British consul in Shanghai, Ali Guo estimated that at that time, countries in China" behaved well and hated rebellion, so that the goods were unsalable, nine times out of ten; Eight out of ten people tried to evade taxes and help gunpowder and grain make profits. (The Story of Preparing for Westernization (Xianfeng Dynasty), Volume I, Zhonghua Book Company, 1979, p. 242. It is worth noting that, in addition to the general bulk merchants, powerful foreign firms account for a large part of the arms trade with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. According to 1862, British Ambassador to China Bruce and Admiral James Hope reported to the British government that at that time, "foreign firms in Hong Kong and trading ports were openly engaged in the sale of guns", and "many ships transported guns and ammunition to the rebels for foreign firms in Shanghai, and they were far from the supervision scope of the consulate, and unloaded their goods at pre-agreed places for Taiping rebels to collect. ((France) Mei Ming, Fu Lide, Ni Jinglan. History of French Concessions in Shanghai. Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1983, p. 248. ) In order to hide people's eyes and ears, some famous foreign firms in the British Concession in Shanghai changed their packaging methods and sold boxes of carbines marked with "umbrellas" and revolvers packed with "Bible boxes" to the Taiping Army (translated by Mei Ming, Fu Lide and Ni Jinglan, History of the French Concession in Shanghai, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1983, p. 26544) )。 1In May, 862, after foreign guns captured Jiading and Qingpu, there were dozens of iron cannons made by 186 1 and printed with the words "Tong Zhen Yang Hang" and the British merchant's crown trademark (selected translation of the good news of Taiping Army in Shanghai-North China, Shanghai People's Publishing House 65438+). (4) foreign scoundrels, criminals and adventurers scattered in the trading ports. During the Taiping Army's attack on Shanghai, "a large number of foreigners came to apply for loitering, or sold foreign guns to help bandits or hooligans make trouble." (Selected Archives of Wu Xu, fifth series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984, 43 1 page. ) "1862 10 Li Hongzhang also complained in his letter to Ceng Guoquan:" There are many foreign guns among thieves, but they can be far or near, and they are all buyers of China mang devils (that is, idle foreigners-the original note), Guangdong, Guangxi and Ningbo merchant ships, which cannot be banned. (Wu Rulun, editor. : Complete Works of Li Wenzhong Gong, Jinling Engraving in the 31st year of Guangxu, Ming Dynasty suicide note, Volume II, page 14. ) "(5) Foreign officers and men who met the Taiping Army. 186 1 After the Taiping Army captured Ningbo in February, the military discipline was strict and there was no crime in the autumn. Foreign businessmen and the British and French navies rushed to sell arms and supply food. 1June, 863, the "Long Street Army" attacked Shaoxing. Because Ningshao Daotai refused to give them food, four small French officers "sold guns for food" (Selected Files of Wu Xu, fifth series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984 edition, p. 393). )。 Even Gordon, the later leader of Chang, was lured by huge profits, and a fake foreign merchant made a big arms deal with the Taiping Army (see Jian Youwen: General Examination of Taiping founding ceremony (Middle), page 7 16 ~ 7 19). )。
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has a positive attitude towards foreign arms dealers who come here to take risks. They specially issue road cards for these foreign businessmen, and even require all the cards along the way to provide accommodation (for the newly discovered road cards of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, see Modern History Materials of China Social Sciences Press, No.65, 1987, pages 3-4). )。
The arms trade between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and foreign countries is mainly carried out in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River centered on Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and Ningbo, and in the areas occupied by Jiangsu (Fuzhou) and Zhejiang (Jiang). Its transportation routes mainly include: first, foreign businessmen use big ships from Singapore and Hong Kong to reach coastal ports such as Shanghai, Ningbo, Zhenhai, Zhapu and Zhangzhou by sea, and then sell them to Taiping Army locally or everywhere, especially to Taiping Army in Zhejiang; Second, taking advantage of the convenience of shipping along the Yangtze River, foreigners took the opportunity to do arms business with Taiping Army in ports along the Yangtze River in the name of trade. The arms and ammunition obtained by this road are mainly used to strengthen the defense force of Nanjing Taiping Army. 3. Four routes from Shanghai to Suzhou and its vicinity (including Suzhou to Shanghai): (1) Wujiang Waterway to Shanghai; (2) From Wuxian Waterway to Shanghai; (3) From Wang Ping waterway to Shanghai; (4) From Shengze Waterway to Shanghai. There are six routes from Shanghai to Suzhou: (1) Shanghai-Qingpu-Shenhanjing-Gaodian-Suzhou Fengmen, which is a waterway with a total length of 196 Li; (2) Shanghai-Qingpu-Zhujiajiao-Tengcun-Gaodian-Suzhou-Fenmen is a waterway with a total length of 2 10 Li; (3) Shanghai-Qingpu-Huatuo Temple-Xietang Town-Suzhou is a waterway with a total length of 204 miles; (4) South Huangpu-Min 'gang-Kanazawa-Thaksin-Tongli-Suzhou; (5) Shanghai-Qingpu-Caotengqiao-Kunshan-Suzhou; (6) Huang Du-Kunshan-Weiting-Suzhou. For the above route reference (1), Editor-in-Chief Dong: Special History of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, 3 17 pages, 429 ~ 430; (2) Selected Archives of Wu Xu, the third series, 287 pages, the first series, 3 14, 367 pages; (3) Collection of Historical Materials of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume II, page 184, etc. ), this route is the main area of foreign arms trading in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the arms obtained are mainly supplied to the arms forces of loyal Li Xiucheng. The main trading places are:
Tianjing (Nanjing) and Zhenjiang are the main places in Sufu Province of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. As early as March 1853, there was a time when "foreigners moored in Shimonoseki in a big ship from Shanghai, ... showed their guns and gunpowder to the thief army. The thief army was overjoyed and advocated welcoming his chief into the city and contacting him to teach him money, so that he could often help weapons, and ... foreigners benefited a lot. ((Qing) Wang Zhichun: "Notes of the Qing Dynasty Rouyuan", Zhonghua Book Company, 1989, p. 259. See also (Qing) Xia Xie's Chronicle of China and the West, Yuelu Bookstore, 1988, page 149. A few months later, British businessman Ronatu (Wen) hired two Ningbo fishing boats, loaded with 200 foreign guns, 100 foreign knives, gunpowder, foreign nitrate and other things, and "sold them to thieves in Zhenjiang". Since then, Tianjin's foreign trade has become increasingly prosperous. Not only in the Taiping Army barracks near the town outside the city, there are foreigners "selling arms privately and helping bandits there" (Selected Works of Wu Xu, fifth edition, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984 edition, page 4 14). ), the trading street outside the four cities is also "a lot of foreign guns." French businessmen in the city "are all wearing long-haired clothes, carrying guns and all kinds of artillery equipment for sale there, and some ships have no names and are parked outside Yifeng Gate, specializing in this kind of business. (Historical Data Series of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume III, p. 256. ) "After 1860, the arms trade between foreigners and the Taiping Army was so common that the opening of the Yangtze River was like" specially designed to help the Taiping Army supply materials "((English) translated by Wright and Yao Zengguang: China Tariff History, Commercial Press, 1964, p. 202. )。
In Sufu Province, besides Shanghai, Suzhou, Taicang and Songjiang, there are Wujiang, Qingpu and Jiading. 1In July, 860, foreign black businessmen lived in Wujiang for more than ten days, and sold four cannons, six barrels of gunpowder and eight five-foot guns worth more than 10,000 taels of silver to Taiping Army, and soon sold two ships of gunpowder guns to Suzhou (Selected Files of Wu Xu, the first episode, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1983 edition, p. 362). In the same year, in the east of Huang Du, the Qing army intercepted three foreign merchant ships that came back from Qingpu with guns and medicines to help bandits, forcing them to return by the same way (Selected Files of Wu Xu, the first series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1983 edition, p. 426). )。 1In August, 860, Beihua Jiebao reported that foreigners in Shanghai packaged gunpowder and other weapons in the name of snuff and sold them to the rebels in the upper reaches of Huangpu River and Suzhou River (selected translation of Taiping Army in Shanghai-Beihua Jiebao), Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1983, pp. 43, 49 and 33. )。 The development of land and water transportation greatly facilitated arms trafficking, making the arms trade in Sufu Province the main arms supplier in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
There are mainly Ningbo, Zhenhai, Shaoxing, Jiaxing and Zhapu in Zhejiang Province. 1862, Jiangnan Customs discovered that "(Taiping Army) approached Ningbo and Zhenhai, intercepted seagoing ships and bought foreign ships and guns at a heavy price." Therefore, it is suggested that the Qing court "stop Ningbo trade and avoid contact with thieves" (Selected Files of Wu Xu, fifth series, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984, pp. 237-238). )。 In the Qing Dynasty, Ningbo Customs sent gunboats to patrol the waters around Zhoushan, and intercepted many foreign ships smuggling firearms and ordnance to Taiping Army (Selected Works of Wu Xu's Archives, fifth edition, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1984 edition, p. 376). )。 1July, 864, Tianjing fell, and the rest of Taiping Army went south to Fujian. On June+10, 5438, Li Shixian, the servant king, was stationed in Zhangzhou to repair internal affairs and engage in diplomacy. He rallied and gained a great reputation, attracting many international friends to Taiping Army, and foreign businessmen to help Taiping Army with arms. Li Shixian's "Guns, Lead and Poison Are Shipped from Foreign Ships" (Wang Weizhou translated "The Biography of Taiping Jianguo", Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985 edition (the same below), Volume II, p. 656. ), well-armed and coached by European art of war, "the Qing army can't compete with them in this respect."
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom purchased all kinds of arms from foreign vendors through various channels, including all kinds of gun and ammunition accessories and warship ammunition. The number is also amazing. For example, in April of 1862, a foreign company in Shanghai sold 3,046 rifles, 795 wild guns, 484 barrels of gunpowder (10947 pounds),18,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 4.5 million holsters (C.A. Montalto de jesus Shanghai. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Ningbo, the foreign arms trade was huge, "hundreds of cannons, thousands of guns and tons of ammunition were imported" (North China Herald, May, 17, 1862. 6 16. ). A British merchant ship named Paragon tried to sell 300 cannons ranging from 6 pounds to 32 pounds to Taiping Army, 100 boxes of light weapons and 50 tons of ammunition (selected translation of Taiping Army in Shanghai-North China News), Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1983, pp. 43, 49 and 33. )。 1In the spring of 862, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom planned to spend 500,000 taels of silver to send people to the United States to buy boats and guns. Later, due to the fact that Walter tipped off Su Songtai and Lu Yu Wu Xu, it failed. According to Ma Dun, an American who once surrendered to the Taiping Army, Suzhou Taiping Army has 30,000 foreign guns, and a quarter of its soldiers are equipped with rifles, while all the 1000 guards of loyal Li Xiucheng are equipped with rifles (translated by Wang Chongwu and Li Shiqing: Translation of Historical Materials of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume I, China Guoguang Society, 1954, p. 73). )。 1862 10, when Li Xiucheng led an army to attack Zeng Guofan's Xiangying on the outskirts of Tianjing, the army "had as many as 20,000 guns" and was equipped with a considerable number of fireworks (Luo Ergang's Notes on Li Xiucheng's Self-reported Manuscripts, Zhonghua Book Company, 1982, p. 288). )。 Other generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, such as Yang Fuqing, Chen Kunshu, Garrison, Tan Shaoguang, Li Shixian, Wang Haiyang, Kang Wang, Deng Guangming, Chen Bingwen, Liao Fashou, Huang, Cai and other Taiping Heavenly Kingdom kings, all set up foreign gun teams and foreign gun teams of different sizes in the camp. Among them, Wang Dengguang-ming's foreign artillery team is the "crown of thieves in the world", with a scale of 5,000 people (The Complete Works of Li Wenzhong, printed in Jinling in the 31st year of Guangxu, Ming Xin, Volume 3, p.41page. )。 So people at that time commented: "Thieves have no skills and no courage ..... only foreign heavy artillery. Barbarians overestimated their own value, and half of the gold and silver looted by thieves after the fire belonged to barbarians. (Compendium of Historical Materials of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume II, Zhonghua Book Company, 1962, p. 152). ) "The prosperity and scale of the arms trade between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and foreign countries can be seen from this.
Third, the impact of the arms trade.
Weapons and equipment are one of the important factors in winning or losing a war. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom actively carried out foreign arms trade and purchased a large number of advanced western military weapons, which not only effectively promoted the development of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's revolutionary movement, but also had a noticeable impact on the occurrence of the Westernization Movement and the process of modern military modernization in China.
First of all, the import of a large number of foreign arms has greatly improved the military equipment of the Taiping Army and greatly enhanced its combat effectiveness. Shortly after the Taiping Army set its capital in Tianjing, it began to buy and use foreign guns, and all major troops were equipped with a considerable number of foreign guns. It can be said that until Li Hongzhang led the Huai army to Shanghai in April 1862, the Taiping army used more foreign weapons than the Qing army, and it also greatly surpassed the Qing army in weapons and equipment. Zeng Guofan, Commander-in-Chief of Xiang Army, admitted in June 1862 that "thieves' firearms are a hundred times stronger than ours" (Luo Ergang's Notes on Li Xiucheng's readme manuscript, p. 288). See also the English version of History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Series 3, p. 186. )。 After the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was able to explore the west, especially attacking Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas where Chinese and foreign reactionary forces gathered, opening up Jiangsu and Zhejiang base areas, and often competing with the foreign gun teams trained by Xiang, Huai and Westerners for eight years, which was inseparable from the role played by the Taiping Army in adopting a large number of foreign new military weapons in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Secondly, hiring foreign "foreign brothers" coaches to join the Taiping Army to use modern hot weapons has improved the military technical quality of the Taiping Army to some extent. As early as 1854, Luo's outline was in Hukou's Four Foreign Devils (Complete Works of Zeng Guofan, Letters from Home 1, Yuelu Bookstore, 1986, p. 7 10. )。 1860 After the Taiping Army entered Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the east, it attracted a group of foreign military and engineering technicians to serve in the Taiping Army with generous treatment. These foreign "foreign brothers" not only taught Taiping Army to use foreign guns and guns, but also taught Taiping Army a mixed array method to meet the operational requirements of new guns. With the increase of imported weapons, the maintenance of guns and the supply of ammunition were quickly put on the agenda. The Taiping Army initially set up a "foreign artillery museum" and a "foreign artillery officer" (Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Literature Collection, Zhonghua Book Company, 1979), pp. 309, 324-325, 443 and 445. ), responsible for the repair, maintenance and deployment of all kinds of imported artillery. Then many military factories were established in various places to repair and imitate foreign arms. From 65438 to 0854, the Taiping Army stationed in Zhenjiang hired four foreigners to "make giant guns and spray tubes, which are very fine and can hit far away" (a brief introduction to the second half of life). Translated from Guo Cunxiao's Research on Artillery of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, see Jianghai Daily, No.6, 1988. )。 In the later period of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the kings of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Taiping Army successively established military factories of different scales in Suzhou, Taicang, Kunshan, Shengze, Jiading, Qingpu, Nanqiao, Tuolin, Huzhou, Jiaxing and Zhangzhou, among which Suzhou, Kunshan and Taicang were the largest. With the help of foreign engineers and technicians, the imitation products of these military factories are mainly all kinds of guns, bullets, shells, gunpowder, cannons, ammunition cartridges, warships and so on. 1863165438+1October, with the help of an Englishman, Tan Shaoguang tried to build a big ship with a 32-pound artillery, but was forced to stop because of the approaching war (The History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Series II, p. 125). )。 The extensive use of these counterfeit and imported new weapons and ammunition and the exercise of new array methods not only greatly improved the fighting capacity of Taiping Army, but also caused major changes in combat mode and even strategy and tactics. It can be said that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom took the lead in the practice of China's military modernization.
Thirdly, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom began to attach importance to and absorb modern western science and technology, including military technology, by importing a large number of modern western military weapons. When the die-hards in the feudal ruling group still pretend to be "China powers" and regard modern western science and technology as "fantastic in its technology, fantastic in its technology", King Hong Rengan of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has shouted out the strongest voice of learning from the West. In the new edition of Senior Minister, Hong Rengan listed more than a dozen "useful things" representing the development level of modern western science and technology, such as ships, trains, clocks and watches, electric fire meters, thermometers, weatherometer, telescope, measuring ruler, serial guns and celestial spheres. , and put forward a series of "harmony" ideas, such as setting up a patent office, encouraging inventions, publicizing the benefits of chariots, horses and boats, and ship technology. The generals in the late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, such as Li Xiucheng, Li Shixian, Tan Shaoguang and Lin, also showed strong interest in western science and technology and tried to introduce "various mechanical technology reforms and foreign inventions into China" (Chronicle of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume I, page 235). ), competing to introduce and appoint some foreign military, engineering, mechanical, medical and other talents to serve the Taiping Army. It is worth noting that, under the baptism of blood and fire, the representatives of the peasant class and the landlord class have reached surprisingly similar conclusions on how to treat modern western industrial civilization represented by military weapons. It is conceivable that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was much earlier than the Westernization Movement within the landlord class, was further developed into a self-imposed movement to enrich the people under the guidance of the new senior minister and under the personal leadership and practice of a group of Taiping generals who had a high understanding of modern western civilization, such as Hong Rengan and Li Xiucheng. The course of history shows that from the initial purchase of foreign guns, to the introduction and appointment of western military and engineering technicians, and then to the establishment of factories to imitate foreign advanced weapons and equipment, the course that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom went through within the scope permitted by historical conditions at that time was the primary stage of the Westernization Movement that the Westernization School had to cross later. A clear understanding of this will enable us to grasp the position and role of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the modern history of China more scientifically and comprehensively.