Speaking of the history of the Qing Dynasty, we can think of the legendary invincible and invincible Eight Banners Army. This may be because the Qing Dynasty was composed of the Eight Banners system. The Eight Banners are soldiers and the people's army, which is equivalent to all looting. Therefore, in the struggle against the Ming army, more than one person failed, and was unconsciously touted as a world-beater problem. First of all, this number is too small. Second, after China's entry into the customs, the people and army of the Ming Dynasty were even more resistant to protecting their families and countries. Thus, the myth that the Eight Banners Army was invincible was broken.

The green army appeared.

In order to solve these problems, from the early years of Shunzhi, before the Qing army began, the Ming army and the Han people surrendered and fought for green camp. These troops, marked by the Green Flag Army, were arranged by the battalion of the Ming Dynasty, so they were called green camp Army, independent of the Eight Banners Army. The Eight Banners Army suffered repeated setbacks, and green camp almost defeated half of China. In addition, it also played a higher role than the Eight Banners Army in pacifying San Francisco and Junggar and conquering Jinchuan and Xiaojinchuan.

During the Jiaqing period, the Green Army became the main force, with about 600,000 people. But then it declined. The main reason is that the Qing government didn't trust the green camp Army, because the green camp Army was a team organized by the Han people. Manchu people would rather trust the Manchu army than let green camp get great development. Therefore, they can't enjoy normal treatment. If only it hadn't been cooked by cunning rabbits and lackeys. Officers of the green camp Army cannot hold important positions. The pay is much higher than that of the Eight Banners Army, and even the whole family can't afford it. So most of them will take a second job to make a living. Soldiers sell vegetables in the street and farm at home. They don't take part in training at all. The weapons and equipment of the Green Army are also seriously backward. The firearms used by green camp's army are not as good as those used by the Eight Banners Army, nor can they compete with western countries. This army was completely abandoned by the Qing government.

The decline of the green army

By the time of the Taiping Rebellion, green camp's army basically surrendered without fighting. I can't help it. I'm too weak and have no fighting spirit. So Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army and Li Hongzhang's Huai Army appeared one after another. However, these are not the government troops of the Qing Dynasty. They belong to the militia they recruited. Because the Han people have their own army, Emperor Xianfeng is not at ease. He wants to reform the Green Army, lay off the old and the weak, and choose the old and the young to save military expenses and improve military strength. Replace new weapons and strengthen military training. Then green camp was sent to the heart of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with 200,000 people. However, he failed irretrievably. The army was completely abandoned.

Completely cut off

After Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Cixi realized that the strategic significance of green camp as a standing army no longer existed. We can only rely on the Xiang Huai army to fight. Thus, the Qing government began the disarmament action. Since it's useless, you'd better not do it. There are different plans for downsizing in different provinces, but generally speaking, there are two main ways for the Qing government to abolish green camp: one is to retain green camp's strength and strength, the other is to send more money as compensation before leaving the company; The second is to bring people with good quality and strong fighting capacity into Yingyong camp and raise their wages. Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, more than 6.5438+0.7 million people were disarmed, accounting for one third of the total strength of green camp's army. The fiasco of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 showed that not only the green camp army, but also the whole Manchu army had problems. Under the leadership of some people of insight, the Qing dynasty began a wave of disarmament and building a new army. 1895, Guangxu ordered? The provinces keep 30% of green camp, and the rest will be wasted? . 1909, Qing government