The Eight Banners originally originated from the hunting organization of the Manchurian (Jurchen) people, which was the social life and military organization form of the Flag People of the Qing Dynasty, and was also a fundamental system for the founding of the Qing Dynasty.
In the twenty-ninth year of the Ming Dynasty (1601), Nurhaci reorganized the organization, with Niulu Erzhen, Jia La Erzhen, and Gushan Erzhen as the leaders. Initial: yellow, white, red, blue four color flags, organized into four flags. It was not until the forty-third year of the Wanli Calendar (1615) that four flags were added: yellow, white, red and blue, making the eight flags system officially established.
Manchurian (Jurchen) society implemented the eight flags system, and these Ding Zhuang were soldiers in wartime and civilians in peacetime, which made the Qing Dynasty army have extremely strong combat effectiveness. Many friends find it strange why the Eight Banner Army of the Qing Dynasty, with a total number of only more than 100,000 troops, was able to defeat the Ming Dynasty and the Great Shun Army, which had millions of troops. In the face of such a hundredfold difference, Daqing can still win, why is this?
Among them, the most important point is that the Eight Banner Army has a strong combat effectiveness.
They grew up on horseback, especially in the cold weapons period, and whoever had the advantage of riding a horse could get the opportunity to fight. This is also the obvious advantage of the Qing army in the process of competing for the country.
Of course, this is not the whole factor. Therefore, we should consider from the negative side that the reason why the Qing army is invincible, in fact, there are several prerequisites:
First, the Daming army was very decayed at that time, the soldiers had little combat effectiveness, and the morale was low;
Second, the Daming army suffered great consumption due to the enemy in the abdomen and back, and at this time they had to fight on two fronts, which was very energy-intensive;
Third, the struggle between the various parties became more and more obvious, and the leadership ability of the Chongzhen Emperor was indeed not ideal;
These were all important reasons for the eventual defeat of the Ming army.
Li Zicheng's army was very arrogant, and when faced with the Courage of the Manchu Qing Soldiers, it even had some contempt. It is also because Li Zicheng's underestimation, in the end, caused the enemy to take advantage of the situation. The Qing army, on the other hand, knew how to grasp the opportunity very well, and they first recruited Wu Sangui and gained the initiative in the whole battle, thus defeating the Dashun army with superiority in troops. In addition, the scale of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty is also a team that should not be underestimated.
Next, let's talk about the "Eight Flags Army" and look at the structure of the Eight Flags Army.
In fact, the Eight Banners Army did not only have eight banners, but the "Twenty-Four Banners" composed of eight banners of Manchuria, Mongolia and Han, but the tasks held by each ethnic flag on the battlefield were different. The main body of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Eight Banners of Mongolia was cavalry, and the soldiers were divided into three classes: horse soldiers, warriors and defenders, and the salaries were reduced in turn. Ordinary men of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and the Eight Banners of Mongolia can take the flag entrance examination from the age of ten. After that, an examination is held every three years, and those who meet the standard are guards and enjoy the treatment of military salary. If, those who have made meritorious military achievements and passed the examination, they will be promoted by one level and increased by military pay.
Horsemen, warriors, and guards are set according to rank. The Eight Banners of the Han Army are also called Wuzhen Chaoha, and they are mainly artillery. The smallest unit of the Eight Banners is the NiuLu, which is both a social organization and a unit in combat. Each niulu 300 households, the Eight Banners Army in order to strengthen the members, requiring each family to produce a zhuang ding, if, this strong ding unfortunately died in battle, there must be a male ding to replace, that is, the father died in battle, the son took over the father's class, the brother died in battle, the younger brother took over the brother's class.
In fact, they do not need to be too "publicity" every time they attack, and only when they encounter a major battle will the whole army go out, at this time, each cattle record 300 troops. In general combat, each bull record has only a few dozen people to meet the battle. Another is that in the Eight Banners system, every three hundred people are one cattle record, and five hundred cattle records are equal to one jia la, five jia la is equal to one gu mountain, and so on.
However, in the early days of the Eight Banners Army, most of the members were still Manchu, and as its power gradually expanded, the territory was also getting larger and larger, so they began to slowly recruit some Mongol and Han mercenaries to join.
As a result, the most basic military force of the Qing Empire was formally formed, the Eight Banners Army.
The Eight Banner Army played an important role in the battles in the early Qing Dynasty, and played an important role as a guarantee for the repeated victories of the Qing Army in battle. These are all related to the daily training of the Eight Banner Soldiers, and they are self-sufficient and do not rely on the imperial court for supplies. In times of war, even, there is the ability to prepare their own food, bows and arrows, etc.
Just think, how can such an elite army be defeated?
As for how to divide the spoils of war on the battlefield, it is necessary to decide according to the forces of each banner. Whichever banner has great power, more territory, and more population will get more loot. In layman's terms: "Whoever can grab it is the boss!" ”
As a result, during the Qing Dynasty, the regulations for the heirs to the imperial throne were also like this: the Qing Dynasty did not promote the principle of han people's longevity, but adhered to the principle of establishing a virtuous person. Whoever receives more support, who is more virtuous and capable, is the heir to the throne.
So, in times of war, how to evaluate a person's "ability"?
It is nothing more than judging by fighting a war, who is the bravest in the war, who can rob more of the spoils, who is the boss. Therefore, Nurhaci's post-Jin period was still in the primitive slave social system.
As a result, under the great temptation of this system, the owners of the eight flags naturally played very hard. They also know this truth: whoever has done the most on the battlefield will get more benefits. The Han people are different, in the final analysis, it is still a fixed concept of unification that has long been formed, even the heirs have been appointed in advance, even if there are capable soldiers and strong generals at the bottom, it is useless, it is impossible to withstand the power of the candidates.
Although the Eight Banner Army was more cruel in this process and seemed a bit "vulgar", the result was ideal. Under such a system, it plays a positive role in enhancing the combat effectiveness of the army, and it is believed that this is also an important reason why the Qing army was finally able to enter the Central Plains.
Resources:
["The Eight Flags System in the Early Qing Dynasty", "Eight Flags General Zhi", "Han Eight Flags in the Eight Flags System of the Qing Dynasty"]