When the ancient dynasties changed, the question of the whereabouts of the former dynasty's army had always been an urgent problem that needed to be solved in the early days of the establishment of the new dynasty. Of course, the specific method also depends on the actual situation, generally speaking, either to be dismissed and returned to the hometown, or to be incorporated into the new Dynasty army and continue to be retained. However, there are also some more extreme emperors who will order them all to be removed so as not to leave a curse, but this situation is relatively rare, and generally it is ruled by the rule.
However, compared with China's last feudal dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, it failed to succeed the next feudal dynasty after its demise like the previous dynasties, and it ushered in a new era. So the question is, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, how were the remnants of the Qing army dealt with?
Before solving this problem, let's briefly introduce the military system of the Qing Dynasty!
The military system of the Qing Dynasty
The army in the early Qing Dynasty was mainly divided into
Eight Flags and Green Camp
Two.
The Eight Flags System is a system of unity of soldiers and civilians created by Nurhaci on the basis of the recording of the Jurchen Cow.
Among them, the eight banners are divided into eight banners, Mongolian eight banners and Han eight banners. Each banner is set up with a capital system, which is controlled by the central eight banners, and the local governor has no right to allocate the eight banner army.
In 1650, after the death of the regent Dorgon, the Shunzhi Emperor ordered the reform of the original eight flags system, and the emperor personally took charge of the three banners, namely the three banners of zhenghuangqi, the yellow flag, and the zhengbai banner. In this move, the Shunzhi Emperor changed the original eight flags system to "upper three banners" and "lower five banners", thus changing the situation that the eight banners were previously controlled by different princes and nobles. In addition, in order to strengthen the centralized rule, the Shunzhi Emperor also tried his best to strengthen the strength of the Three Banners, which greatly weakened the power of the original Manchurian Council of Ministers, until it was finally completely banned.
Regarding the military system of the Qing Dynasty, in fact, it is different in different periods, and it can be said that the military system of the Qing Dynasty changed with the changes of the times. For example, in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, due to the rise of peasant uprisings in various places, there were regiments of Han landlords recruiting and practicing village heroes on their own. For example, Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army, Li Hongzhang's Huai Army, Zuo Zongtang's Chu Army, and so on.
In the late Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai began to form a new type of army in North China that kept pace with the times, the later Beiyang Army. There is also the self-strengthening army formed by Zhang Zhidong in the south. According to records, on the eve of the fall of the Qing Dynasty, there were about 600,000 Qing troops, but more than 170,000 of them had been separated from the Qing Dynasty's subordination, so they were not counted as the inherent army of the Qing Dynasty.
So where did these armies go after the fall of the Qing Dynasty?
Where the Qing dynasty army went
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, most of these armies were incorporated into the "New Army", and some of them left the military camp and returned to their hometowns. Of course, there are always a few exceptions to everything, although most of the army left over from the Qing Dynasty was incorporated into the new army, but there was a Qing Dynasty garrison of 50,000 people, which was forgotten by the world because of its remote location!
This army is the 50,000 Qing troops stationed in the Kowloon City Walled City!
What's going on here?
The "forgotten" Qing army
We know that after the defeat of the First Opium War, China and Britain signed the Treaty of Nanking, ceding Hong Kong Island. However, the Kowloon Walled City north of Hong Kong Island is still under the jurisdiction of the Qing government, and since it has jurisdiction, it can garrison troops here. Therefore, on the basis of the original, the Qing government sent a modern army to this place to strengthen the defense of its city walls.
Before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the British army had not launched an excessive attack on the Kowloon Walled City, but after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the British army began to fight the idea of the Kowloon Walled City, but the brave and tenacious soldiers here were brave and tenacious, and they resisted the British attacks one after another.
In 1984, China and the United Kingdom signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration to deal with the Hong Kong issue, and in 1987 the two countries reached an agreement to jointly demolish the walled city and relocate the local population. In 1993, the Kowloon Walled City was officially demolished!
brief summary
Although the Qing army stationed in the Kowloon Walled City was "forgotten" after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, they repeatedly fought against the British colonists and defended their land. This is also a manifestation of their patriotism and defense!
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Studies in The History of Manchuria, Cambridge History of The Late Qing Dynasty of China;
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