Introduction of the Eight Banners Army in Qing Dynasty?

Nuerhachi, the emperor of Qing Dynasty, created the Eight Banners system in integration of defense and civilian technologies for the needs of military operations and hunting, which was also the earliest system of all soldiers in China. Nuzhen (the predecessor of Manchu) shot an arrow each time when hunting, and a leader was neutral for every ten people. The leader is called Zhen (meaning big arrow, forehead really means leader), and Zhen is equivalent to the leader of the hunting party. The computing unit is Lu Niu, on the basis of which Nurhachi reorganized, developed, expanded and finalized it, and created the Eight Banners system. Wu Niulu established a town of Jala 'e, and Wu Jala established a town of Gushan 'e. Gushan is the largest unit of Manchu household registration and military establishment, and each Gushan has a specific flag, so its Chinese translation is "flag". At first, there were only four flags: yellow, white, blue and red. Later, four flags were added to sharpen the original flag. The yellow, white and blue three flags are set with red edges, and the red flag is set with white edges, that is, the eight banners of Manchuria, that is, red, white, blue, yellow, white and blue. Later, the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of Han Army were gradually added, which was actually ***24 banners, but the Eight Banners of Manchuria were the highest. The Eight Banners system is "unify the army with flags, unify the people with flags, go out as soldiers and enter for the people". Farming and grazing at ordinary times, going into battle in wartime. Based on the Eight Banners, the Eight Banners system links the military, politics, economy, administration, justice and religion of the whole society into a well-organized social organism. The Eight Banners System is the creation of Nurhachi, the core system of the Qing Dynasty, and the key for the Qing Dynasty to make Beijing its capital, enter the Central Plains, unify China and stabilize the political power. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners Army was brave and good at fighting, and won many battles (except the battle of Ningyuan). According to Korean records, when the Eight Banners Army of Manchuria left home to fight, the wives and children of the Eight Banners Army were ecstatic, because every time the Eight Banners Army came back from the war, they would seize a large number of trophies, most of which would be shared equally with individuals. Records: AD 65438+. Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty ordered Prince Azig, king of the British county, to lead the troops into the customs. Prince Azig led his army to conquer 16 city, and only captured170,000 livestock. These spoils were divided equally among the Eight Banners. Can their wives and children be unhappy?

However, after the Qing dynasty entered the customs, the Eight Banners Army, which had no war to fight, fell into chaos. What should they do? At this time, the Qing government made a fatal decision-making mistake. The Qing government let the Eight Banners go south and put their swords and guns in storage. The Eight Banners' expenses for food, clothing, housing, eating, drinking and having fun are all borne by the court. This is not a small expense, which led to the livelihood problem of the Eight Banners, which appeared in Kangxi's later years. Yongzheng began to solve this problem when he was in office, but the effect was not good. The children of the Eight Banners began to live a life of idleness, walking birds in cages and teasing chickens and fighting dogs. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty, the children of the Eight Banners became synonymous with prodigal children and black sheep. 19 1 1 year, the Revolution of 1911 broke out, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown, and the children of the Eight Banners who had no financial resources had a survival crisis. Because of the support of the Qing government all the year round, the habit of reaching for food with clothes was formed. They are usually ignorant, unable to farm, do business and have no survival skills. Therefore, the life of the children of the Eight Banners in the early years of the Republic of China was quite miserable. Someone once said, "The Eight Banners flourished and the Qing Dynasty perished." If the Qing Dynasty is described as a tall building, then the Eight Banners system is the foundation of this tall building, and the foundation is rotten. Coupled with the corruption in Eight-Nation Alliance and officialdom, the collapse of high-rise buildings is not far away.

The proudest battle of the Eight Banners Army: the Battle of Salhu

In the forty-seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (A.D.1665438+February 2009), the Ming army140,000 divided into four roads and merged with Hetuala (now Liaoning Province), the capital of Houjin (predecessor of Qing Dynasty). At this time, Liaodong area has entered winter, with heavy snow in Hutuala, frozen rivers, cold weather and rugged roads. Not adapted to the cold weather in the north, the marching speed of the Fourth Route Ming Army was sometimes fast and sometimes slow. Nurhachi took advantage of the time difference of the Fourth Route Ming Army and defeated the Ming Army with 38,000 flag soldiers in five days. The battle of Salhu ended with the defeat of the Ming army and the victory of the Jin army. There are many reasons for the failure of the Ming army: first, the Ming army underestimated the combat capability of the late Jin army, the situation was unclear, the expectations of the enemy were inaccurate, the planning was not careful, and the preparation was not sufficient. Not only did they fail to achieve the purpose of converging attack, but they were defeated one by one. Second, the main force was aggressive, went deep alone, fell into a tight encirclement, and the whole army was wiped out. The victory of the late Jin army not only made its regime more stable, but also seized the initiative of Liaodong battlefield. After this fiasco, the Ming army was completely passive and the situation in Liaodong was extremely dangerous.

The most unsuccessful battle of the Eight Banners Army: the battle of Ningyuan

In the sixth year of the Ming Dynasty (the first month of the lunar calendar 1626), Nurhachi led hundreds of soldiers of the Eight Banners to attack Ningyuan (now Xingcheng, Liaoning). Yuan Chonghuan, a famous Ming Dynasty soldier in Ningyuan City, was guarded by ten thousand people, and Nurhachi led an army to storm Ningyuan City. Both the Ming Army and the Eight Banners Army suffered heavy casualties. At this time, Yuan Chonghuan moved out his trump card weapon: eleven western cannons. Yuan Chonghuan ordered the eleven western cannons to bombard down from the city wall, commanding and hitting the Eight Banners heavily. The city was full of the bodies of the Eight Banners, and Nurhachi himself was shot, so he had to retreat with a grudge and soon died. This is the famous battle of Ningyuan. There are many reasons for the defeat of the Eight Banners Army: First, Nurhachi has been a military attache for 44 years and has hardly ever lost a battle. However, victory will corrode his intelligence and his power will go to his head. Nurhachi lived in seclusion in his later years and was lazy in politics. Second, Nuerhachi did not study Yuan Chonghuan, commander of Ningyuan City, and did not make a clear reconnaissance on the weapons and equipment in Ningyuan City, especially the Eleventh Gate of the Western Artillery, so he rushed to send troops. Nurhachi used spears to make spears, short strokes to hit long ones, hard work to attack and escape, and movement to control quietness, and swallowed the bitter fruit that arrogance goes before a fall. The victory of the battle of Ningyuan gave the Ming Dynasty a shot in the arm.