2 government committed itself to purchasing a naval force for the Yangzi River to be staffed by British officers(the Lay-Osborn flotilla),but local officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang had also begun to raise Sino-foreign mercenary contingents such as the Ever- Victorious Army(EVA)to contend with the persistent Taiping menace.Meanwhile,the Sino-foreign Inspectorate of Customs,established in 1854 at Shanghai,had become an ever more visible and influential feature of China's civil administration.Despite his claim to Zeng Guofan that he would simply "strive for self-strengthening and not mix with foreigners,"Li Hongzhang could not have avoided contact with them even if he had wanted to.[3] Li Hongzhang and the Ever-Victorious Army Li quickly sized matters up in 1862.As Professor Kwang-Ching Liu has indicated,the newly-appointed acting governor immediately recognized the inevitability of dealing with foreigners,and lost no time in trying to gain the upper hand with them. Within two weeks of his arrival at Shanghai,he began to acquire modern Western weapons for his Anhui Army,having viewed their effectiveness against the Taipings first-hand.Employment of Western instructors from the Ever-Victorious Army followed naturally.By late 1862,Li's army had acquired over one thousand rifles and employed perhaps a half a dozen Western instructors from the EVA.Less than a year later,the Anhui Army had expanded to over forty thousand men and now boasted more than ten thousand rifles and several large cannon,in addition to about a dozen new foreign drill instructors--most of whom also came from the Ever-Victorious Army.[4] In the early stages of modernizing his military forces,Li relied heavily on the personal assistance of Frederick T.Ward,the colorful American commander of the Ever- Victorious Army.He used Ward's contacts to acquire guns,ships,and other military supplies,and sought to win the American commander's friendship in order to ingratiate himself with the foreign powers.In what would become a characteristic feature of Li's approach to foreign relations,he overestimated American influence,both locally and at the capital;but he had a far more realistic grasp of domestic political realities.He saw, for example,that Ward enjoyed a close personal relationship with the corrupt but powerful local taotai,Wu Xu,and that any effort to undermine the position of one would necessarily provoke the antagonism of the other.[5] As the first Westerner in modern times to hold official rank in the Qing military hierarchy,Ward presented special problems of responsibility and restraint.Although the American adventurer had petitioned to become a Chinese subject,and had married a Chinese woman(the daughter of his merchant-official patron,Yang Fang),his loyalties were difficult to judge,much less to assure.Although in the early stages of his career as a Chinese officer Ward had established an extraordinary reputation for bravery and effectiveness against the Taipings,reports in March and April by Li's predecessor(Xue Huan),that the American commander had not yet shaved his head in the Manchu fashion nor changed to Chinese clothing because he feared the ridicule of other foreigners, provoked the throne to issue several anxious edicts on the subject.Li,however,remained relatively unconcerned.Writing to Zeng Guofan in June he stated that although Ward had not yet shaved his forehead,nor paid him a courtesy visit,he (Li)had no time to quarrel with foreigners over such "petty faults."[6]2 government committed itself to purchasing a naval force for the Yangzi River to be staffed by British officers (the Lay-Osborn flotilla), but local officials in Jiangsu and Zhejiang had also begun to raise Sino-foreign mercenary contingents such as the Ever￾Victorious Army (EVA) to contend with the persistent Taiping menace. Meanwhile, the Sino-foreign Inspectorate of Customs, established in 1854 at Shanghai, had become an ever more visible and influential feature of China's civil administration. Despite his claim to Zeng Guofan that he would simply "strive for self-strengthening and not mix with foreigners," Li Hongzhang could not have avoided contact with them even if he had wanted to. [3] Li Hongzhang and the Ever-Victorious Army Li quickly sized matters up in 1862. As Professor Kwang-Ching Liu has indicated, the newly-appointed acting governor immediately recognized the inevitability of dealing with foreigners, and lost no time in trying to gain the upper hand with them. Within two weeks of his arrival at Shanghai, he began to acquire modern Western weapons for his Anhui Army, having viewed their effectiveness against the Taipings first-hand. Employment of Western instructors from the Ever-Victorious Army followed naturally. By late 1862, Li's army had acquired over one thousand rifles and employed perhaps a half a dozen Western instructors from the EVA. Less than a year later, the Anhui Army had expanded to over forty thousand men and now boasted more than ten thousand rifles and several large cannon, in addition to about a dozen new foreign drill instructors--most of whom also came from the Ever-Victorious Army. [4] In the early stages of modernizing his military forces, Li relied heavily on the personal assistance of Frederick T. Ward, the colorful American commander of the Ever￾Victorious Army. He used Ward's contacts to acquire guns, ships, and other military supplies, and sought to win the American commander's friendship in order to ingratiate himself with the foreign powers. In what would become a characteristic feature of Li's approach to foreign relations, he overestimated American influence, both locally and at the capital; but he had a far more realistic grasp of domestic political realities. He saw, for example, that Ward enjoyed a close personal relationship with the corrupt but powerful local taotai, Wu Xu, and that any effort to undermine the position of one would necessarily provoke the antagonism of the other. [5] As the first Westerner in modern times to hold official rank in the Qing military hierarchy, Ward presented special problems of responsibility and restraint. Although the American adventurer had petitioned to become a Chinese subject, and had married a Chinese woman (the daughter of his merchant-official patron, Yang Fang), his loyalties were difficult to judge, much less to assure. Although in the early stages of his career as a Chinese officer Ward had established an extraordinary reputation for bravery and effectiveness against the Taipings, reports in March and April by Li's predecessor (Xue Huan), that the American commander had not yet shaved his head in the Manchu fashion nor changed to Chinese clothing because he feared the ridicule of other foreigners, provoked the throne to issue several anxious edicts on the subject. Li, however, remained relatively unconcerned. Writing to Zeng Guofan in June he stated that although Ward had not yet shaved his forehead, nor paid him a courtesy visit, he (Li) had no time to quarrel with foreigners over such "petty faults." [6]