When we watch some Qing Dynasty film and television dramas, we can often see some scenes of Qing soldiers coming in and out, but some careful viewers may notice that in the same barracks, some Qing soldiers have "soldiers" written on their chests, while others write "brave", what is the difference between them?
When the Qing Dynasty first entered the customs, it was all Eight Banner Soldiers, most of whom were Manchus. However, the Qing Dynasty army entered the customs because Wu Sangui put them in, otherwise it would not be so easy to enter the customs with their own strength. It is precisely because of the discovery of the inadequacy of the army that the Qing Dynasty also paid attention to strengthening military strength. However, the number of Eight Banner soldiers is small after all, which is no longer enough to support the army's increasingly rapid pace of reform.
The Han chinese were recruited to form an armed force, called the Han soldiers, and later renamed the green [lù] battalion. Compared with the Green Battalion soldiers, the Eight Banner Soldiers were the concubines of the imperial court, belonging to the reliable and trustworthy, so they had a higher status, responsible for defending the imperial palace and guarding the important town fortress. Although the Green Battalion soldiers were not treated as well as the Eight Banner Soldiers, they were also regular troops and became the main armed force of the Qing Army during the war. All in all, these two types of soldiers were regular soldiers, who could be hereditary and enjoy the food of the imperial court.
If you live until the end of the war, you can go straight back to your home and then do farm work. Then if there is a war, they will go to the battlefield again, as long as they have a certain income, and some people will use these village warriors to train themselves as their own private army.