Wu Xu (吳煦) | 24 Histories

Overview

Wu Xu was a Qing circuit intendant who sponsored Frederick Townsend Ward's foreign-drilled force against the Taiping rebels.

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 1862 同治元年；喪歸
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 435, passages 18, 49
AD 1860 咸豐十年
Dated from the passage context · Draft History of Qing 435, passages 6, 8

Career and standing

Suzhou-Songjiang-Taicang Circuit intendant 蘇松太道
Held
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 435, passage 6

Places and affiliations

Qing 清
Relation Served
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 435, passage 6

Events and relationships

Secured Ward release
Political · Patron · With Ward (華爾)
Directly stated · Draft History of Qing 435, passage 6

References in the histories

Draft History of Qing, Chapter 435Volume 435 Biographies 222: Hua Er, Lei Bo Lei Dong, Fa Er Di Fu, Ge Deng, Ri Yi Ge, De Ke Bei, He De, Bo Li · 5 passages

Open chapter

蘇松太道吳煦識其才，言於美領事，獲免，以是德之，原效力，俾領印度兵。 Wu Xu, intendant of the Suzhou-Songjiang-Taicang circuit, recognized his ability, appealed to the American consul to spare him arrest, and won his lasting loyalty; Ward volunteered to serve and was put in command of Indian soldiers.

咸豐十年，粵匪陷松江，煦令募西兵數十為前驅； In 1860 the rebels took Songjiang, and Xu ordered Ward to recruit several dozen Western soldiers as the vanguard;

先是煦與華爾約，城克，罄賊所有以予。 Xu had earlier promised Ward that if the city fell, Ward would receive everything the rebels left behind.

至是入賊館，空無所得，以五千金酬之。 When they entered the rebel headquarters they found nothing of value, so Xu paid him five thousand taels of silver instead.

初，喪歸，煦檢其篋，得金陵城圖，賊所居處及城垣丈尺方位纖悉畢具，論者頗稱其機密雲。 When Ward's body was brought back, Xu examined his trunk and found a detailed map of Nanjing showing rebel quarters and the exact dimensions and layout of the walls; contemporaries praised his remarkable intelligence work.