In the TV series "Yongzheng Dynasty", the plot of Yongzheng's ascension to the throne is gripping, and the strength that Yongzheng relies on is mainly the nine-door admiral Long Keduo and the thirteenth master Yinxiang, of which the Fengtai camp and the Xishan Ruijian camp controlled by the thirteenth master have become an important guarantee for Yongzheng's smooth ascension to the throne. In fact, during the Yongzheng period, there was no Xishan Ruijian Battalion, which was really called Jianrui Battalion, which was only created during the Qianlong period. How was the Qing Dynasty's army guarding the Beijing Division arranged, and what kind of unit was the Jianrui Battalion?
1. The Manchu Qing military system
After the Manchu Qing Dynasty set the capital of Beijing, most of the Eight Banner Soldiers were stationed near Beijing, called the Eight Banners stationed in Beijing, and the establishment of the Eight Banners also changed greatly, the original role of the flag owner was diluted, and the Eight Banner Soldiers were recombined and unified under the jurisdiction of the Qing court.
The Eight Banners stationed in Beijing had pro-military camps, guard camps, Shenji battalions, and infantry barracks, etc. The pro-military camps and escort camps were commanded by the Minister of The Interior of the Guards, who were responsible for the palace guards and patrol guards, and the Shenji Battalion was established in the late Qing Dynasty and was personally led by Prince Gong Yi of the Then King of Parliament. The infantry battalion is the commander of the infantry army, and its chief officer is the commander of the five battalions of the Nine Gate Infantry Army, that is, the Nine Gate Commander we often hear, who is responsible for the security and security of the Beijing Division.
The Eight Banners stationed in Beijing also include the Xiao Riding Battalion, the Forward Battalion, the Firearms Battalion, the Jianrui Battalion, the Tiger Gun Battalion, and the Shanpu Battalion. They cover different classes and different tasks, such as the cavalry battalion is cavalry, the forward battalion is infantry, the firearms battalion is artillery, the Jianrui battalion is a special soldier, the tiger gun battalion is responsible for hunting and patrolling, and the good poker battalion is responsible for wrestling training and performance.
When Kangxi was pro-government, in order to regain power from Ao Bai, a group of young wrestlers (Manchu Buku) were arranged in the palace to accompany the emperor to practice wrestling in the name of covering people's eyes and ears, and later these Buku trained to be strong and strong, and when the time was ripe, Kangxi summoned Ao Bai into the palace to discuss, and the Buku who was ambushed around him captured Ao Bai in one fell swoop, and Ao Bai Ao Bai Bai Bai Bai ... These Buku became Kangxi's personal bodyguards, and used this as a team to form the Shanpu Battalion.
2. Creation of Jianrui Camp
Jianrui Battalion, full name Feihu Yunti Jianrui Battalion, is a special unit stationed in Xiangshan, a western suburb of Beijing. The predecessor of the Jianrui Battalion was the Yunti Unit formed in the thirteenth year of Qianlong (1748).
In the twelfth year of Qianlong (1747), The Toast of Jinchuan, Sichuan, provoked an incident. In the thirteenth year of Qianlong (1748), Qianlong sent Zhang Guangsi, the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, to send troops to Jinchuan to quell the war. Jinchuan Toast relied on the local unique stone pillar building to resist, resulting in the Qing army helpless, unable to attack for a long time, and suffered heavy casualties.
Qianlong ordered that the Eight Banner Soldiers stationed in the Beijing Division be selected from the best of the eight banners to form a cloud ladder unit to conduct special cloud ladder erection and climbing siege training for the stone pillar buildings in Tibet. The initial number of people was 300 people, of which 50 people per flag in the upper three banners and 30 people per flag in the lower five banners, 300 people were certainly not enough, and then gradually increased to 3,000 people, this ladder unit is the predecessor of the Jianrui battalion.
In the fourteenth year of Qianlong (1749), Qianlong sent the specially trained Yunti troops to Jinchuan, and soon Tusi went out of the city to surrender, and the Yunti troops were considered the key to victory and were specially praised by Qianlong.
In fact, at the end of the thirteenth year of Qianlong (1748), Fu Heng acted as the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi with the hubu Shangshu assistant university scholar, and after a little military affairs, personally supervised the battle, and only the soldiers and 300 Yunti soldiers brought by Fu Heng's entourage arrived in Jinchuan first. After the 300 ladder soldiers who arrived earlier captured several stone pillars, Kanegawa Toji knew that the army was pressing the border and it was difficult to support the single tree, and he landed in the first month of the following year. The role of the Yunti troops in determining the battle situation cannot be ignored, but it may not be as important as Qianlong believes.
After the End of the Battle of Jinchuan, yunti troops returned to the capital in May of the fourteenth year of Qianlong (1749). The Qianlong Emperor issued an edict: "The art that the husband has learned cannot be abolished, and the achievements that have been played must not be forgotten, so he made a successful journey and established a Jianrui camp." So the Yunti unit was reorganized into the Jianrui Battalion, stationed at the foot of Xiangshan Mountain in the western suburbs of Beijing, and became a special unit in the Eight Banners of Beijing.
The reason why they chose to be stationed in the Xiangshan area was, on the one hand, because the topographical characteristics of the Xiangshan area and the Jinchuan area were similar, which was convenient for organizing actual combat training; on the other hand, the western suburbs of Beijing were the focus of the Beijing division's defense, and the three battalions outside the Eight Banners (Yuanmingyuan Guard Battalion, Jianrui Battalion, and Firearms Battalion) as the main defensive force of the Beijing Division were all deployed here, which was a deliberate arrangement.
The Jianrui Battalion, which he had set up by himself, was Qianlong's proud work, and when he saw the soldiers neatly being inspected, at that moment he wanted to recite a poem:
"Eight Banners disciples, Jian Rui this camp." There is no temptation in the gathering place, and it is self-sufficient to practice diligently. Look at the axe for a while, and wait for the dry city on another day. It has also received obvious results, and the Western Division is quite famous. ”
Third, the daily life of Jianrui Camp
The chief officer of the Jianrui battalion was the chancellor of the seal, and the number was uncertain, and he was appointed by the imperial court through the military department, most of whom were princes and ministers in Beijing. According to the regulations of the Eight Flags, the Jianrui Battalion is divided into two wings on the left and right, with two wing lengths and two wings on the left and right, the left wing is in order of yellow, white, white, and blue, and the right wing is the four flags of yellow, red, red, and blue.
In addition to the wing commander, there is also a wing commander forward staff, which is a unique organization of the Jianrui Battalion. There are eight regular staff leaders under the wing commander, who are in charge of each flag, and there are more than ten forward schools in the flag, each of which manages the first class, and the first class has 28-30 people.
The regular soldiers of the Jianrui Battalion are called forwards, and the reserve team as a forward also has the commission forwards and nurturing soldiers. Jianrui Battalion implements the eight-flag hereditary system, and the children of Jianrui Battalion are qualified to become nurturing soldiers, and when they reach adulthood, they can apply for the examination committee forward, and after selection, they can become regular soldiers of Jianrui Battalion.
The barracks of Jianrui Camp have been built many times, centered on the Jingyi Garden of Xiangshan Mountain, relying on the natural landform of the foothills to extend to the east and south, like the two wings of the phoenix. Among the buildings of the Jianrui Camp, the Tuancheng Yanwu Hall was dedicated to the Qianlong Review Troops, the Watchtower was built in accordance with the style of the Tibetan settlement, and there was also a royal monument carved by Qianlong to commend the battle achievements of the Jianrui Battalion.
The daily training of Jianrui Battalion is unique, including ladders and stairs, musket shooting, equestrian riding and shooting, horse racing, marine division training, etc. At that time, Jianrui Battalion can be described as a new type of special force with its own characteristics, Manchu Qing tradition and the requirements of the times.
Fourth, prosperity and decline
After the establishment of the Jianrui Battalion, it was regarded as an elite unit of the Qing Army, and participated in many battles, such as the Battle of Daxiaohe zhuo, the battle of Jinchuan twice, the battle against burmese criminals, and the battle against the Tiandihui and the White Lotus Sect uprising. Whenever a difficult situation was encountered in battle, the Qing court first thought of the Jianrui battalion.
As the ace special forces that Qianlong relied on, the Jianrui Battalion undertook the task of attacking strong points many times and made great achievements, and their victory consolidated the unity of the country while maintaining the Qing court, and they were the warriors of that era.
Under the hereditary system, with the accumulation of meritorious service and the solidification of the organization, the Jianrui battalion also gradually bred a trend of arrogance and laziness, military discipline was abolished, and combat effectiveness declined. When faced with the Western cannons after the Industrial Revolution, their shotguns are no longer a weapon for victory, but have become cannon fodder under the fire of war.
After the Opium War, in the battle with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as well as the Anglo-French Coalition and the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Jianrui Battalion did not regain its former courage and was defeated again and again. While covering the strategic retreat of Empress Dowager Cixi, they completed their final mission, and the Jianrui battalion eventually withdrew with the demise of the Qing court.