From Nurhachi’s establishment of the Great Golden State (1616) to the Qing army’s entry and occupation of the capital in 1644, the Jurchen people took a short period of 28 years. From a backward tribe in the northeast that lived on gathering and hunting, gradually Completed the magnificent change of unifying the tribe, founding the foundation and then entering the Central Plains. The Jurchen tribe can accomplish the feat of unifying the country in such a short period of time, mainly due to the powerful combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers.
The Eight Banners soldiers in the early Qing Dynasty were full of combat effectiveness. In the "Manuscript of Qing History", there was a record of the early Eight Banners soldiers:
"Tai Zong Zhengfan Department, Shizu determined the Central Plains, The Eight Banners have the strongest strength.”
It can be seen that in the early Qing Dynasty, the Eight Banners had a very strong combat power, and they were the backbone of the Manchurian Qing to fight the country. However, the Eight Banners after that seemed to have declined in combat effectiveness. Kangxi quelled the San Francisco rebellion, Yongzheng quelled the Qinghai rebellion, and Qianlong quelled the Junggar. In these three periods, the Qing army was mainly composed of the Eight Banners soldiers, supplemented by the Green Camp soldiers. It can be seen from this that the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers at this time has already declined somewhat, and has been gradually replaced by the newly-rising green camp soldiers.
So why did such a powerful Eight Banners soldier begin to decline in the middle of the Qing Dynasty?
After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Eight Banners soldiers were unable to make ends meet.
After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the banner people became the aristocratic rank of the Qing Dynasty, and a payment system was tailored for the banner people. It is called the "banner rate system", which divides the bannermen and soldiers into five grades, and gives different rates according to their ranks. This system has a very large preferential treatment to the bannermen, but at the same time, it also divides the bannermen into agriculture and business. The way out was blocked.
Over time, this banner man became a "parasite" of the court. He had no ability to make a living and needed to rely solely on the court to survive. Especially after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were many descendants of the Eight Banners soldiers, but the court did not have too much money to provide these idlers, so the livelihood of these banners had very serious problems.
This serious problem first started in the capital, then spread to the stations of various provinces and regions, and finally spread to the frontiers, until the national roots of the Eight Banners were shaken.
In this regard, the Qing court also made corresponding measures, but they were too simple and rude. Isn't there more and more people who need to support, so let more people out. As a result, batches of Han banner men and account holders who had share of food rates were expelled from the Eight Banners to ensure the normal life of Manchu banner people. Especially during the Qianlong reign, Emperor Qianlong ordered the Han Dynasty Eight Banners, another record of the archives and other non-full household registration to open "banners for the people". This measure guaranteed the livelihood of the Manchurian banners for a period of time, but it also directly led to The decline of the strength of the Eight Banners soldiers.
The backward Eight Banners system cannot adapt to the new social situation
The Qing army was a feudal serf society before entering the customs, which was mainly reflected in the Eight Banners army. The Eight Banners Army is a military-civilian system that combines soldiers and civilians. Farmers and herdsmen are soldiers when they pick up knives and guns. They can also cultivate land when they lay down their knives and guns. In the early Qing Dynasty, this system was able to continuously provide the army with all kinds of materials needed by the army. , Which greatly reduced the burden of the imperial court, but after the Qing army entered the customs, this system has been unable to adapt to the needs of the situation in the Central Plains.
First, after the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the area controlled by the Eight Banners soldiers expanded a lot, which increased the military burden of the Eight Banners soldiers. In the early Qing Dynasty, there were about 200,000 Eight Banners soldiers. After the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, the territory of the country was dozens of times larger than that outside the Guan. It was not enough for these 200,000 people to control the country, so the court recruited some Ming dynasty soldiers and local armed forces to form a green camp. However, the imperial court did not trust these foreigners, so the Eight Banners soldiers were appointed as the officers of the green camp to control the green camp. But in this way, the burden of the Eight Banners soldiers has increased by another layer, making the Eight Banners soldiers overwhelmed, and their military strength will inevitably fall back.
After the Qing army entered the customs, the war did not completely stop, and countermeasures swarmed all over the place.The Qing wave, the rebellion of San Francisco, the frontier war, etc. These frequent wars and unstable political situation made the Eight Banners soldiers, the main force of the imperial court, exhausted for a long time, and they were unable to fight and cultivate the land. In addition, the Eight Banners soldiers brought their own horses, food, and ordnance to the battlefield. This made many Eight Banners soldiers more and more impoverished, which affected their combat effectiveness.
The Qing Dynasty was able to conquer the world and the Eight Banners soldiers were indispensable. However, after the Qing Dynasty entered the Pass, the backward Eight Banners system could not adapt to the new social order. Coupled with the preferential policies of the court for the Eight Banners soldiers, the Eight Banners became increasingly lazy. This led to a decline in the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners soldiers and was gradually replaced by the Green Camp soldiers.
Reference: "Drafts of Qing History", "Laws of the Qing Dynasty", "A Brief Introduction to the Eight Banners System", etc.
