Officials such as governor, inspector, general, and general soldier were all available during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but their functions and powers varied greatly. Taking the viceroy as an example, during the Ming Dynasty, the viceroy was only a temporary dispatched official, so the full name of the governor was "governor of a certain place, such as the local governor of the military affairs and the inspectorate", and the official position of the governor was "Bingbu Shangshu and The Right Capital Imperial History of the Metropolitan Inspection Yuan", which was congyipin.
Territory at the height of the Qing Dynasty
However, after the Qing Dynasty, although the name of the Ming Dynasty was continued, the governor had changed from a temporary dispatch to a fixed position, becoming the supreme governor of a province or a district. As a result, the power of these official positions varied greatly at different times. Let's take the viceroys, inspectors, generals, governors, admirals, and general soldiers of the Qing Dynasty as examples.
Let's start with the Governor. During the Ming Dynasty, the governor was responsible for the military and civilian affairs of one or more provinces. For example, after the Qing Dynasty occupied the world, it initially set the world as 8 governors and 12 fu. The eight governors were Zhili, Liangjiang, Shaanxi and Gansu, Huguang, Fujian and Zhejiang, Sichuan, Liangguang, and Yungui. As the highest official at the provincial level, the governor was given the title of governor by a high-ranking official of the rank of waiter, who was either a positive second product or a high-ranking official.
The Governors of the Provinces of the Qing Dynasty were set up
Generally speaking, the governor of the Qing Dynasty had jurisdiction over one or two provinces, and was a veritable feudal official. However, there are also special circumstances, such as the governor of the three eastern provinces in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, who ruled over the land of the three provinces. In the early qing dynasty, Hong Chengzu, a traitor who had jurisdiction over 6 provinces, served as the governor. There are also cases of the Viceroy of Liangjiang and the three provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi. In terms of rank, the viceroy in the Qing Dynasty was from one pin or two pins.
Like the governor, the inspector was an official position that was only fixed during the Qing Dynasty. Similarly, the inspector is also a high-ranking official in charge of the military and civilian affairs of a province. For example, in the early Qing Dynasty, the 8 governors and 12 fuses, in addition to the 8 major governors, 12 fu were the inspectors of each province. The rank of the inspector is one level lower than that of the governor, and is either the first or second product. However, the governor is not a subordinate of the governor, let alone his subordinate, and in terms of duties and powers, the governor and the inspector are equal.
Of course, during the Qing Dynasty, the governor's jurisdiction was a province. The actual power is naturally smaller than that of the governor, who can often rule two or three provinces, and because his rank is one level lower than that of the governor, although the governor and the governor are not subordinate to each other, the governor is greater than the governor in terms of rank and actual power.
The former site of Jiangsu Inspector Yamen
Then we compare the positions of general, metropolitan, admiral, and commander-in-chief. If we say that the governor and the governor are veritable feudal officials, high-ranking officials who "manage the army on horseback and herdsmen on horseback". Then, the generals, governors, admirals and general soldiers of the Qing Dynasty are typical military attaches. These military attaché positions were also divided into two parts according to the differences in the Eight Banners and the Green Camp of the Qing Dynasty. General and Du Tong were the officials of the Eight Banners Organization, while the Admiral and The Commander-in-Chief were officers at all levels of the Green Battalion, mainly Han Chinese.
As we all know, after the Eight Banners entered the customs and occupied the world, in addition to the Eight Banners of Gyeonggi, which was stationed in the capital Beijing, the Qing court also stationed the officers and men of the Eight Banners in various provinces and strategic places to strengthen its rule over all parts of the country. These top military attaches of the Eight Banners stationed in each province were appointed by the Qing Dynasty as garrison generals of the Eight Banners. For example, important locations such as Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and other places have the post of general. The garrison generals in the provinces were of the rank of Congyipin, equal to the governor, or even one higher rank, and had no subordination with the governor.
Eight flags
At the same time, in addition to the traditional 18 provinces of Han China, the northeast, the northwest, Mongolia and other regions, the Qing Dynasty did not set up a governor, but was controlled by a garrison general served by eight banner officials. And these generals are generally distinguished by the station plus the general, for example, the Heilongjiang general stationed in Heilongjiang, the usuyaritai general in Usuyaritai, etc., and the rank of these generals is also from Yipin.
Moreover, unlike the Eight Banners garrison generals in the interior who are only in charge of the military, the generals of the frontier provinces are not only responsible for military affairs and civil affairs, but they are also the supreme leaders of the region. However, because the border provinces are large, sparsely populated and have a harsh environment, the actual powers of the generals in the border areas are less than those of the governors in terms of their actual powers.
As for the capital, in terms of rank, it is actually completely consistent with the general, and it is all from the official position of Yipin. As we all know, after the Qing army entered the customs, the Qing court set up the Eight Banners of Manchuria, the Eight Banners of Mongolia and the Eight Banners of the Han Army, and each of the 24 Banners of the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Mongolia was under the responsibility of the capital. Of course, in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, with the degeneration of the Eight Banners and the emperor's reduction of power over the Lords of the Eight Banners and the Unification of the Eight Banners, the power of the Unification of the Eight Banners became smaller and smaller.
Eight flags
As for the Admiral and the Commander-in-Chief, they were the officers of the Green Battalion composed of Han Chinese. In all provinces of the country, the Qing Dynasty set up a viceroy in each province, who was the highest officer of the green battalion in the province, with the rank of Congyipin. In addition, there are two admirals in Guangdong and Fujian, whose rank remains unchanged. The green battalion troops stationed in each province will also be divided into several defense areas, and the general soldier is the highest officer in this defense area. Thus, the Admiral was the superior officer of the General Army.
It is worth mentioning that although the admirals and generals and the capital are all officers from Yipin, because the status of the Eight Banners in the Qing Dynasty is much higher than that of the Green Camp, therefore, in terms of actual power and status, the admiral is inferior to the general.
Therefore, if you compare these official positions, if you must rank high and low, then you can probably follow this order: from top to bottom, you are the governor, the general, the governor, the inspector, the governor, and the general soldier.