On the eve of the Sino-French War, observers still regarded the shortage of military talents as the main difficulty of the French army. After 1860, as China tried to modernize his army, the weakness of the shortage of military talents became more serious than before, because the role of commanders in modern wars became more and more important. China's military training is mainly to wave a gaudy flag at a distance, and everyone acts according to their own imagination, as if it were hand-to-hand combat.
Under this training system, the ignorance of officers is not important. When danger comes, soldiers never want to meet an officer, and the latter will not let them down at this point. But under the foreign training system, it is very important for an officer to go to the scene in person. If a commander wants to teach his soldiers foreign tactics, but doesn't work hard to learn the simplest password, it will cause confusion. The owner of ZTE saw this problem and tried to solve it. 1862, the prime minister's yamen asked the emperor to approve a plan to let the westernization instructors comprehensively train Manchu and Han officers to use foreign tactics. After the training, China officers were able to train and command the China army. The Prime Minister's yamen believes that to train soldiers, officers must be trained first, and a plan in this regard has been carefully formulated.
The imperial edict repeatedly called for the recommendation and selection of military talents, and put forward numerous suggestions on this issue. Feng Guifen, for example, advocates the importance of restoring the military examination system and encourages and promotes the selection of talents from junior officers through such examinations. This plan sounds feasible, but it is actually hopeless wishful thinking. In fact, China society is divided into peasants and the upper class. The latter's values hinder strict military training and personal command at the front. This plan was not realized because the planners did not see the demand of modern officers, but because no class could produce such military talents.
Those junior officers who are good at leading troops to fight are rarely promoted; And those who have no practical ability even after three years of modern training are qualified to become officers under the China system because of their social status. This post-the premise of command-determines that the quality of people and the command ability required under new conditions are contradictory. The lack of military talents not only hinders the military training plan, but also undermines other aspects of ZTE's plan aimed at self-improvement. The corruption of middle-level officers makes the plan of improving supply and increasing military pay useless, and the troops still want to plunder the people, and the grievances of the people are increasing day by day.
After a short period of development, the newly established arsenals and shipyards immediately stagnated and declined. Because capable junior officers are essential, superior officers have to tolerate their improper behavior of undermining military discipline. For example, Chen Guorui disobeyed the orders of his superiors, but was obviously tolerated. The imperial court also knew that most of the battlefield reports it received were pure forgeries. Mediocre people brag, talented people cover for their subordinates, because they dare not send those less talented people to replace their original posts. Victory or defeat can often be verified, but it is impossible to get all the facts.
Hiring foreign officers cannot solve the serious problem of insufficient military talents. Foreigners who are employed as military experts can't play a political, social and ideological role, which is a prerequisite for becoming capable soldiers. Westerners slowly understand this very late. Making the army loyal to the country and gaining the support of the people is not only the basic problem of the whole army reform plan, but also involves the whole political and social plan of ZTE. It goes without saying that an army that does not fight for any ideal and is badly treated is prone to riots; An army that plundered the local people, then turned pale at the sight of bandits and abandoned the soil can hardly get the support of the people.
All ZTE companies pay special attention to competing with the rebels for the support of the people, because in their view, even the best plan is useless if the people object. Zeng Guofan was very worried about the report that loyal subjects were more destructive than rebels in rural areas. He is worried that once he loses the support of the people, he will never get it back. He believes that the rebels are hateful because they robbed and burned the people, while the government troops won the respect of the people because they saved the people and reassured them. If loyalists rob and kill people, they are no different from rebels. Hu Linyi pointed out that the common people are the foundation of the army, but the soldiers exercise power over the villagers who treat them with courtesy. The duty of a soldier is to protect the people. If they don't love the people, what else do they need to do?
An "imperial edict" from 65438 to 0867 called for attention to a report, which said that people in the north were more afraid of the imperial army than the rebels. Foreign observers pointed out that the peasants provided real information to the rebels, while the Qing army provided dangerous false information. Newly recruited troops often clash with ordinary people on their way to the front. For example, when the northwest Hui people were suppressed, the ship owners refused to transport government troops. The imperial edict is a long-term record of looting by the army. Officers fail to enforce military discipline, and they often take part in robberies and take the robbed things to Tianjin or other places to sell.
Direct measures, such as burning the ships of disobedient shipowners, cannot solve the problem. It involves something more basic. Unless the ideological concept of the whole society is restored, it is impossible for the military and civilians to have common interests to defend this concept. Unless the army is well paid and well supplied, looting can't be stopped. This involves not only the quality of officers, but also the structure of imperial finance. Xiang Army and other armies developed on the basis of Xiang Army are aimed at improving the morale of the troops and winning the support of the people.
Zeng Guofan has repeatedly stressed that to convince the people, it is better to meet loyalists than rebels. The first thing here is morale and spirit. In the next 70 years, China's army was still taught to sing Zeng Guofan's "Love Folk Song": "Desperate for the official army" and so on. Zeng Guofan's basic purpose is to protect the people and support Confucianism. For this purpose, the Xiang army trained in thought is an excellent tool, because this kind of training not only cultivates the attitude of being loyal to the court, but also has a code of conduct that can win the support of the people. The authority of China's research project called it "the peasant army led by scholar-officials". This combination, because it was particularly suitable for the situation at that time, was very effective under the banner of reviving Confucianism.
Other efforts to improve morale and win the hearts of the people also followed this model formulated by Zeng Guofan. The left "Chu army" fighting in the northwest is a good example. The left has good command and strict military discipline, and the left can lead by example and share joys and sorrows with the soldiers. He asked the troops to buy grain at the market price and send troops to plant trees and engage in other activities beneficial to agriculture. As soon as a certain area was recovered, he immediately set about making and implementing the reconstruction plan. It is not easy to accurately understand these related documents warning "love the people", but it goes without saying that these documents cannot be completely discarded as meaningless red tape. Take Lu Cheng, a senior general who suppressed the Hui rebellion in northwest China, as an example.
Zuo reported that Lu's troops abused the people and regarded the good people as rebels. According to Zuo's report, Wu's suggestion played a role in the discussion. It is not difficult to understand that Zuo is eager to replace a general who has been deadlocked with him for a long time, and he is happy to get rid of potential opponents from now on. The key point is that for Zuo, the charge of insulting the common people is not only a legitimate basis for accusing a general, but also a better basis for accusing him than mediocrity and incompetence. This also reminds people that Wu Kewen later committed suicide to protest against the unfilial behavior of Guangxu's successor, which shows that he put traditional moral considerations first.
As far as loyalty, betrayal and social cohesion are concerned, what people say is as important as what they do. A theory-whose belief has been widely and unanimously recognized-is usually the key to the spiritual outlook of an era. It is true that the Qing government did not win the people's long-term support for its army in the end, but the leaders of ZTE did realize the importance of this issue and made efforts to achieve it. Although these efforts can't save the old order forever, they do weaken the people's support for the rebels and make it possible to restore the domestic order and the arrival of the era of stability.
Although the military history of ZTE is largely the history of Xiang Army and similar new troops, the plans involving the old army are also worth mentioning. By the time of ZTE, the Eight Banners were considered outdated, and some people suggested that the Eight Banners should be gradually integrated into public life instead of restoring their military status. But there are also efforts to rebuild green camp and make it a modern national army. As we mentioned, the new local troops are directly controlled by their generals, so they only indirectly and even subtly obey the control of the imperial court. In this case, the Qing government naturally tried to revive the imperial army directly under the jurisdiction of the old Ministry of War to counter the new army.
1864 After Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was conquered, some officials of the imperial court and local government played an important role in advocating the gradual demobilization of local troops, and those who stayed were registered in the reformed imperial army. Zeng Guofan himself immediately took the initiative to dismiss his Xiang army. If this move is a political strategy taken by him under pressure, then the existing evidence shows that it is also a statesmanlike action taken by him to support the Qing government, which conforms to his own political principles.
However, although Zeng Guofan and his colleagues gave formal support to the efforts to revive green camp, they doubted whether such efforts could produce any results. The difficulty of green camp's revival is enormous. Morale is low, military spending is insufficient, and corruption still exists. The effective methods of education and training in the "brave training" of the new army have been used in green camp, with little effect except Zhili. Thirty years later, the next generation of reformers still point out that green camp is a kind of vegetation. Their salaries have drained the people, but the result has not provided them with any protection.