How long has Shanghai been laughing at this time?

Because Li Hongzhang's 9,000 Huai troops are all poor people from the countryside, with shabby clothes and backward weapons, they are laughed at by foreigners and the rich in Shanghai.

During the Taiping Rebellion, Li Xiucheng led the Taiping rebels all the way to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and many rich local tyrants fled to Shanghai to take refuge, but Shanghai was not safe, and the Taiping rebels would soon attack Shanghai. At that time, apart from the British and French allied forces, only green camp and Ying Yong were in charge of public security, but these people were not strong in fighting capacity and few in number, and the situation in Shanghai became precarious. In this situation, Li Hongzhang returned to his hometown in Anhui to recruit a group of rural farmers, trained them into the Sixth Battalion of Huai Army, and formed a team of 9,000 people together with his original part of Xiang Army, and hurried to Shanghai to prepare for resisting the Taiping Army.

However, after Li Hongzhang's Huai army appeared in Shanghai, it was ridiculed by foreigners and rich people in Shanghai, saying that his army was like a group of beggars, how could it win the Taiping Army? It turns out that these people brought by Li Hongzhang are all poor families recruited from the countryside. They wrapped their heads in handkerchiefs, spoke the local dialect of their hometown, and wore old shoes and underwear. Because they didn't take a bath during the trip, they smelled very strong. Their weapons against the Taiping rebels are also some broadswords and spears that I don't know where to find. It can't be compared with the foreign gun bayonet of the British and French Coalition forces. No wonder foreigners and rich people who have seen the world look down on them.

After these Huai troops came to Shanghai, they were also shocked by the prosperity of Shanghai. They look at the foreign girls and the world in front of them curiously, which makes people feel that they are rather rustic, so they don't have much hope for them to protect Shanghai. However, Li Hongzhang does not agree with this. He loudly encouraged these Huai troops to show their true skills to others and raise money to change guns for them in Shanghai. This Huai army died heroically in the defending war in Shanghai, which effectively blocked the Taiping Army.