In the previous article, the author talked to everyone about the division of power between the prefect and the county, and the armed forces that can be mobilized. Today, we talk about the inspectors, who, unlike the prefects and counties, belong to the provincial level of senior officials. So, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, how many troops could the Inspector of Zheng'erpin mobilize? Because by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the population of some provinces had exceeded 40 million, such as Jiangsu Province. How many troops are stationed to manage a large population? Today, we're going to talk about this story.
First of all, let's talk about the high-ranking provincial officials during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, namely the governor, the inspector, the envoy, the envoy, the viceroy, and the xuezheng. In the history of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to the viceroy and the viceroy of Sichuan, the rest of the governors could administer two or three provinces. He mainly managed military affairs, river affairs, grain transportation, etc., and his status was similar to that of the current theater commander. The Governor General generally hangs the official title of Shangshu of the Military Department or the Right Capital Imperial History of the Metropolitan Inspection Bureau, and belongs to the high-ranking officials from the first or second product.
According to the regulations of the imperial court, the governor was responsible for controlling all the green camp troops in the jurisdiction, and in the Official Field of the Qing Dynasty, the governor was called lord of the system or the lord of the ministry. The Governor belongs to the first in command of a province, please note that the Governor is not a subordinate of the Governor. The Inspector is responsible for all aspects of the province's work, including military affairs. Generally speaking, the official title of Inspector General hanging on the right deputy capital of the Metropolitan Chayuan or the rebbe attendant belongs to the zheng erpin or subordinate erpin. In a province, the inspector is generally called Lord Futai or Lord Zhongcheng. The Governor and the Governor have been competing with each other because the two official positions have overlapping scopes of work, and there are many of them.
For example, in the history of the late Qing Dynasty, Shen Baozhen, the governor of Jiangxi, staged a dragon and tiger fight with Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang. However, in military affairs, if there is a conflict between the governor and the inspector, it is still necessary to rely on the opinion of the governor. In addition to the governor and the inspector, there were several vice-provincial officials. The Admiral belonged to the military attaché of the Viceroy, and in terms of rank, he was on the same level as the Governor-General. However, in the division of power, the admiral must be subject to the restraint of the governor and the governor. In the history of the Qing Dynasty, the admiral was generally called Junmen. From the admiral of Yipin to the inspector of Zheng Erpin, he must say " Participate in the Lord of Zhongcheng ." ”
The inspector would say, "The old military gate does not have to be polite." "However, in military operations, the inspector has the power to move the governor. The envoy belongs to the second in command of the province, and the civil official from Erpin is responsible for civil affairs, economy, taxation, personnel appointment and removal, etc., known as lord of The Taiwan, and belongs to the executive deputy provincial level. Once the inspectors were transferred away, if there was no accident, they were basically taken over by the envoys. He was also a high-ranking official, a civilian official of Zheng Sanpin, who was responsible for the judicial, prison, and public security work of the whole province, and was known as the Lord of Zhentai. The last one is Xuezheng, which is a very special official position.
Xuezheng is responsible for the province's education work and the examination of the imperial examination, and in the era of electing officials by examination, the status of xuezheng is very high. Studying politics was an independent work, directly subordinate to the imperial court, and neither the governor nor the governor had the right to interfere. The population of the Qing Dynasty has been growing continuously, from tens of millions in the early days of the Qing Dynasty to the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the total population of the country has reached more than 300 million people. The total population of the country has increased several times, and the population of each province has naturally risen. For example, in Jiangsu Province, in the late period of Qing rule, the total population exceeded 40 million, and the population of several provinces such as Henan and Shandong also exceeded 30 million.
How these populations were managed was very important, so the Qing Dynasty stationed varying numbers of troops in each province. First, let's look at the differences between the Qing dynasty's armies. The Qing Dynasty army was divided into the Eight Banner Army and the Green Camp Army, and the Eight Banner Army belonged to the elite force of the Qing Dynasty army and was also a field ace. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, each province would garrison several thousand eight banner troops. The Eight Banners Army was not subject to the control of the governor and the governor, and was managed by special Eight Banner generals, such as generals of Hangzhou, Xi'an, and so on. Once an emergency occurs, the Eight Banners Army will be dispatched urgently.
The Green Camp Army was a unit of ming dynasty surrender officers and soldiers, and was known as the Green Camp Army due to the use of a green military flag. The number of Green Battalion troops in the Qing Dynasty was constantly changing, and in the middle of the Qing Dynasty's rule, it remained at more than 600,000. According to the different situations of each province, some provinces have more than 20,000 green battalion troops stationed, and some provinces have stationed more than 40,000 troops. Each governor and inspector had his own pacesetter battalion, about a few thousand men and horses. The remaining army was under the administration of the Admiral. Under the admiral were also generals, deputy generals, staff generals, guerrilla generals and other generals.
In the later period of Qing rule, after the green camp army and the Eight Banner Army in each province were combined, there were at least more than 20,000 troops. In some provinces with special circumstances, there are more troops stationed. For example, in the northwest region, due to the fierce people's customs, the Qing Dynasty stationed more troops. In addition, the province was directly subordinate to the responsibility of defending the capital, with a total of 70,000 or 80,000 troops stationed. Although the total population of a province may be 30 or 40 million, even if there is a peasant uprising, it is a regional problem, and the Qing Dynasty can draw troops from all over the country to suppress it. Of course, if it was a large-scale peasant uprising, the Qing Dynasty would also be in a state of disrepair. In the last year of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the White Lotus Rebellion broke out in 8 provinces.
By the time of the Xianfeng Emperor's reign, the massive Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement swept through the entire southern region. The governors and inspectors everywhere were unable to cope, because the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banner Army and the Green Battalion Army was obviously reduced. Under such circumstances, the Qing Dynasty began to encourage regimental training in various regions. Among them, Zeng Guofan's Xiang army stood out and became the main force in suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In addition, there were Zuo Zongtang's Chu Army, Li Hongzhang's Huai Army, and so on.
From this time on, the army establishment of the Qing Dynasty was very chaotic, and the number of troops in each province also underwent great changes. As the Western powers launched a series of wars of aggression, the number of troops in the frontier provinces increased significantly. Heilongjiang Province, for example, originally had only a few thousand garrisons. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it increased to more than 18,000 people. In the southwest region of China, the number of troops in Yunnan, Guangxi and other places is also increasing. At the end of the 19th century, in order to save its rule, the Qing Dynasty formed the Beiyang New Army and the Nanyang New Army, while retaining the Eight Banner Army and the Green Camp Army. Therefore, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the number of garrisons in various provinces expanded significantly.