If you are the Xianfeng Emperor, you are faced with two choices: one is to let the Taiping Army fight in Beijing, roll up and roll back to the northeast, and become the king of the subjugated country; the other is to let the local regiments practice to replace the incompetent Eight Banners and Green Camp, even if it is a division, you can mix for a long time. I think the average person will choose the latter. Moreover, the situation at that time was different from the Tang Dynasty's Fanzhen, and the Xianfeng Emperor was not stupid.
Township brave regiment training - historical inheritance
The so-called township brave regiment training refers to the ancient Chinese local militia system, which can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. In the early years of the Kangxi Dynasty, it had already begun to be set up, and during the Jiaqing period, in order to suppress the White Lotus Sect uprising, regimental training was held everywhere, so regimental training had already existed, but Zeng Guofan carried them forward. Since then, the training of the township brave regiment has become a brave camp system.
Playing with words - Zeng Guofan's careful thinking
At that time, Zeng Guofan was in Dingyou, Hunan, and the Taiping Army at that time was already calling for wind and rain in Hunan. Zeng Guofan, who was deeply educated in Confucian orthodoxy, was determined to serve the country, although he had never been a soldier and had never touched a weapon. However, from the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang (1849), he also served as the left attendant of the military department for several years, so he knew the current situation of the Qing Dynasty army very well. However, if you want to run your own regiment training, you must also get the approval of the imperial court. So Zeng Guofan wrote to the emperor:
Hunan is empty, and training troops is the most important task. Since the rise of the army, there have been more than two years, the salary is not much, the mobilization of large soldiers is not a small number of people, but often see thieves fleeing, have not heard of those who fight, the weapons used are cannons, shotguns, far from bombardment, and there is no news of short soldiers handing over, why is this? By the soldiers did not practice, no courage and no art also. Now I want to change my course and set up a large group in the provincial city, choose the strong and simple people of the villagers to recruit to the province, practice one person to reap the benefits of one person, and practice in January to have a monthly effect.
This recital is the practice of building an army in the name of regimental training. However, in order to approve the proposal, Zeng Guofan also said: "The subject drafts the current training charter, and it is advisable to visit former Ming Qi Jiguang and his close associate Fu Naicheng, but seek its refinement, not more; but seek help, not seek quick results." ”
In fact, Qi Jiguang and Fu Nai are fundamentally different, the former is a new army, and the latter is a regimental training. And Zeng Guofan is to build a new army, and what he built is not a regimental training in the township, but a large regiment at the provincial level.
Then Xian Feng is not afraid that Zeng Guofan will become a powerful vassal of the divided side in the future?
Knowing the Heart - The Cognition of the Xianfeng Emperor
The Xianfeng Emperor actually knew Zeng Guofan very well, because in the early days of his ascension to the throne, the two had "clashed".
The emperor of that year was quite ambitious and very motivated. He works very diligently, carefully reviews a large number of recitals every day, and will
He personally issued many edicts, and opened up a wide range of words for the ministers to give their opinions. At that time, Zeng Guofan thought that he had met Ming Jun, so he connected with the "Ying Zhao Chen Yan Shu", "Tiao Chen Ri Talk about Matters Neglect", "Discussion of The Soldiers's Neglect", "Bei Chen Folk Suffering Neglect", "Ping Silver Price Thin" and other multi-way play, which made the emperor very satisfied, but Zeng Guofan's "Respect chen Shengde Three Ends to Prevent Fraud and Neglect" completely offended the emperor, and Xian Feng even issued an edict to defend himself, which made the relationship between the two sides very tense.
Although the Xianfeng Emperor did not like Zeng Guofan, he also knew that he was not a Kuangshi Mingjun, and Zeng Guofan could not be a thief, and from his performance, he knew that Zeng Guofan was a Confucian idealist, even a little pedantic. As the saying goes, "Xiucai rebels, not in three years", people like Zeng Guofan basically will not rebel!
Reality – checks and balances
From a practical point of view, the township brave regiment needed to prepare military supplies by itself, which reduced the burden of the Qing court a lot, so why didn't they enjoy it?
In addition, although Zeng Guofan established Xiangyong, he did not have real power himself. He himself is worried at home, just a white Ding. The later "Inspector of Hubei" was given to Zeng Guofan after a long time. Moreover, the distribution of local forces is complex, and Zeng Guofan has also been constrained by many parties.
Moreover, at that time, the total number of troops trained in the whole country was about 1:3 compared with the Green Battalion soldiers in the same period, and the country's army still had an absolute advantage, and later Zuo Zongtang's Chu army and Li Hongzhang's Huai army also gradually rose, forming a full momentum.
Facts have proved that zeng guofan is trustworthy, and after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Xiang army was constantly dismantled, and later there was almost no power, and the Huai army finally gradually declined. But this private form of the army was learned by posterity, and this person was Yuan Shikai! The modern new army he trained in Tianjin eventually became a gravedigger of the Qing Dynasty.