During the Spring and Autumn Warring States period to the Qin Dynasty, in order to reward the merits of their subordinates, the great kings of various princely states especially liked to give their subordinates "the title of prince and reward the marquis"! However, unlike the previous dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou), it was generally only a nominal "fictitious seal" at that time.
Those "princes" who were given the title of king, in fact, the number of disciples and guards in their palaces was generally not many, and they did not have any actual military power, let alone private soldiers! Far less powerful than the later "generals".
Dynasties and generations, all kinds of "general" titles are dazzling!
From the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there were gradually more "generals" with real power, and many well-known "military families" also appeared. As we all know, Emperor Wu of Han's two most favored and powerful generals: Wei Qing and Huo Fuyi.
In fact, both uncles and nephews were only "princess family slaves", but as a result, the two were constantly promoted and reused by Emperor Wu of Han, and they naturally threw their heads and spilled their blood! In order to repay the "grace of knowledge" of Emperor Wu of Han.
Later, as the two men's military achievements grew, Emperor Wu of Han specially established the post of "Great General" for Wei Qing. In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (121 BC), Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also enfeoffed Huo to be ill as the first "Hussar General" in Chinese history. In the fourth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Emperor Wu of han made another decree: "The general of the Hun Horse is equal to the general of the great general, and the golden seal is purple silk, and the position is the same as the three dukes." ”
However, the official position of the Hussar general is generally lower than that of the general, most of which is two or one product. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the highest-ranking general positions were as follows: the first was the general of the hussars, the second was the general of the hussars, the third was the generals of the cheri, and the fourth was the generals of the wei.
Further down are the front, rear, left, and right generals, as well as some "miscellaneous" generals (such as "General Li Guangli of the Second Division"). Perhaps later, some subordinates who liked to pat the horse riding general's ass felt that the "horse riding general" was too low-key compared with the "great general". So they added a "big" word to the title of "Hussar General" and shouted it as "Hussar General"!
It was also from the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that "general" became a permanent military general of all dynasties and generations. Successive emperors will prepare some honorary titles and corresponding official positions for some high-ranking officers or military officials who have made great contributions.
Therefore, the so-called great generals of most dynasties in our country are actually equivalent to the position of commander-in-chief of the three services of the modern army. Strictly speaking, although his official position was slightly smaller than that of the chancellor, he could control all the military affairs of the imperial court. Therefore, in fact, the power in his hands is understood by everyone, after all, the great general has the "barrel of the gun" in his hands.
As for the hussar general, he is equivalent to the current commander-in-chief of the army. Although the position of Hussar General is one level lower than that of Grand General! But his treatment and strength are really not necessarily much worse than those of the great general!
Depending on the dynasty, the forces controlled by the Hussar generals and generals were actually less fixed. In some special periods, there have also been cases where the roles and statuses of the general and the general of the hussar have been exchanged.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were more specific official positions or titles such as generals: there were some Jianwei generals, hussar generals, Chinese army generals, Zhendong generals, Fujun generals, etc., and most of them were above the three dukes. Because most of these "generals" held official positions during the Eastern Han Dynasty, they led to the chaos of their respective support and division at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the title of "general" was even more rampant!
As we all know, there is no specific division between military ranks and military positions in ancient China, so the position of "general" has become more and more mixed! Especially from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, the word "general" was even more rampant!
General of the Three Kingdoms
For example, Liu Bei was called "General Zuo" at that time, Guan Yu was "General Of Dangkou", and there were also generals of Hussars, General Pingbei, General Zhenxi, and so on.
As a very complex historical stage in Chinese history, although many military generals in the Three Kingdoms period followed the division of the Han Dynasty. However, the four kinds of generals who ranked first in the "Great Horse Guard" actually had to be divided by the emperor himself to count. At first, neither Sun Quan nor Liu Bei claimed the title of emperor, so they could not privately divide the four generals of the "Great Horse Guard" to their subordinates.
The other person, Cao Cao, was different, although he himself could not be made a "general", but the emperor was in his hands at that time! Therefore, Cao Cao often used the name of the emperor to unscrupulously give his military generals many titles and high official positions. For example, the fiercest military general, Xiahou Huan, was made a "great general" by Cao Cao's hand through the emperor.
After Cao Pi was created by Emperor Chan and established the State of Wei, its official system was basically the same as that of the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, the State of Wei added a "Great Sima " to the Three Dukes, and gui was the shanggong, and the official was the first product, ranking above the great general. And this "Great Sima " is not available to anyone, usually directly promoted by major generals, such as: Cao Ren, Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen.
Liu Bei and his generals
Liu Bei claimed to be emperor later, and when he was named a first-generation elder-level general under his command, he still did not have the post of "great general". Because at that time, the most powerful Guan Yu under his command had already died in battle, only Zhang Fei was the oldest qualified. However, Liu Bei only named Zhang Fei a "che riding general" instead of a "great general", perhaps considering that Zhang Fei was a bit reckless.
Another slightly higher-ranking Hussar general, Liu Bei, was given to Ma Chao at the time. After all, Ma Chao had also been a prince of the party, and it was completely understandable to give him a hussar general. But Zhao Yun, one of the Five Tiger Generals, was more embarrassed: he only got a second-level General Zhengnan.
Zhao Yun was alone to save Ah Dou
It is reasonable to say that after the death of Huang Zhong, who was the fourth in the Shu state at that time, Liu Bei at least had to name Zhao Yun as a "Wei General"! But Liu Bei just doesn't give. It can be seen from this that compared with the other Five Tiger Generals, Zhao Yun's status in Liu Bei's heart is really not high.
But then again, at that time, official positions were not equal to power and military strength. However, the position of "great general" has always been very important, for example, Xiahou Huan, Jiang Wei, and Zhu Ran have all held this highest military position. However, according to different national conditions, the number of troops controlled by the "great general" is also different, and there is no fixed standard.
Therefore, in the various dynasties after the Eastern Han Dynasty, the emperors were also very jealous of those "great generals"! For example, during the Southern Song Dynasty, the famous "Yue Family Army" sounded like a private army. But in fact, this was not the case, the Yue family army's finances were heavily dependent on the Southern Song Dynasty court and emperor, and Yue Fei was only the commander of the 100,000 Yue family army.
It is precisely because the emperors are very afraid of the generals to support the army and respect themselves! Therefore, the position of the so-called "great general" gradually degenerated into a senior adviser or agent of the emperor. Only at the personal instruction of the emperor could they command the army in military operations with "restriction"!
epilogue
In the long process from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, general titles such as "front and back left and right" were gradually abandoned. The position of "Hussar General" has always been placed in the past, in fact, there will be some differences in each dynasty:
For example, the Tang Dynasty's Hussar general was Congyi Pin (congyi pin), and his official rank was second only to that of general Tiance (only Li Shimin had supervised this position). The Song Dynasty Hussar General was also the highest ranking military attaché from Congyipin. During the Reign of Emperor Huizong of Song and the years of the military attaché, the rank of military attaché was reformed, and the highest rank was Taiwei, and the official names of Dafu and Lang were used below.
The Jin Dynasty's "Hun Riding Guard General" was under Zheng Sanpin and ranked eleventh in military attachés; the Yuan Dynasty was Zheng Erpin, ranking third in the rank of military attaché. Until the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was still the official position of "Hun Riding General", which was officially re-established, but it was quickly abolished.
By the Qing Dynasty, the ranks of Green Camp officers were from Five Pins to Zheng Er Pin ( 正二品 ), followed by general titles such as General of the Horse Riders , General of the Horse Riders , and General Zhaoyong.
After the Republic of China, the word "general" became in line with the international community, and it became the honorific title of the senior commander of the army! For example, General so-and-so (name).
Since then, the word "general" has no longer been a solid position and status like in ancient times. And the modern military ranks that really have status have become: major general, lieutenant general, major general.
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