The Late Fresh Army was the first modern army in Chinese history, drawing mainly on the system and practice of the New Army edited by Germany and Japan, in which the conditions were based on Germany, because the Prussian Army defeated the French army that had dominated Europe in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, and since then, the military system of the German army has become the object of various countries.
The Compilation of the New Army of the Qing Dynasty began in 1894 during the Sino-Japanese War. As for how arrogant this army was at that time, the clues can be seen from the strictness. I believe that more than 90 per cent of young people are not eligible to join the military.
Before the end of 1894, Hu was ordered by Hu to organize and train 10 battalions of the New Army in Xinnong Town, Tianjin, with a total number of 4,750 people, including 1,000 artillery, 3,000 infantry, 250 cavalry, and 500 engineers. Soon after Yuan Shikai took office, the Dingwu Army was renamed the New Army, and its number expanded to 7300 people. This was a small station training that attracted worldwide attention at that time. The training of the Late Fresh Army began from then on.
Subsequently, recruitment of new recruits began throughout the country.
The conditions are as follows:
1: The recruitment standard for recruits in the north is 4'8 inches, and the southern recruitment standard is 4'8 inches, and the southern recruits are 4'6 inches.
2: Recruits from the south (Hubei Zhangzhidong Self-Strengthening Army) must be between the ages of 16 and 20. The age of the Northern New Army (Yuan Shikai's small station training) is 20 to 25 years old.
3: Soldiers must be from the province where they are recruiting.
4: Can lift more than 100 pounds of weight.
5: The village chief and the chief of the security guarantee shall issue a roster and report to the family residence of the three generations of the father and grandfather, and with the consent of the family, the final inspection and acceptance of the local government.
6: It is necessary to check whether the body is healthy and whether there are bad hobbies such as smoking, and only those who pass can join the army.
7: A three-month probationary period is required for the selected to become a soldier in the Forces nouvelles.
8: The element is restless, and the offender does not accept it.
9: Incomplete facial features, weak hands and feet, sick constitution, eye diseases will not be accepted.
At the same time, under the auspices of Zhang Zhidong, the recruitment conditions of the Hubei New Army also included that new recruits must be able to read, write, and liberal arts, such as the 1905 Changsha recruit recruitment requirements: must be people who can really read... Illiterate people cannot make up for numbers.
After that, the recruitment conditions of the provinces required soldiers to have a certain cultural quality.
Seeing the above conscription requirements, I think it may be nothing, but after all, there are very few people who read the text in the late Qing Dynasty, and many young people can only become soldiers at that time. But that's not the end of it. The following one can not only exclude many young people at that time, but also make more than 90% of young people sigh that it is not as good.
Due to the restrictions on vision in the conscription requirements, there is a provision in the 1909 Jilin Provincial Conscription Notice that the eyesight of the conscripts beyond 200 steps should be able to see the five fingers raised by the conscripts, and those who cannot see clearly will not be accepted.
People who now go to the hospital for a physical examination or test for myopia have the experience of looking at the eye chart. Although the letters are small but close, the vision limits under conscription conditions are stricter than looking at the eye chart. Not to mention whether there are 200 meters away from 200 steps away, and even if you can see five fingers at a distance of 150 meters, this is really a test of people's vision limits. This is undoubtedly a bombshell for today's young people who like to play with mobile phones and computers. Look at how myopic the hard-working students in school are. Look at the proportions of a day of playing with your phone. Even at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the conditions for conscription were very strict, and more than 90% of young people would lose their eligibility to join the army.
It can be said that the recruitment standards of the new army fully draw on the model of the Western army, and have strict requirements for the height, physique, age, arm strength, vision and cultural level of soldiers, which are more scientific. At the same time, replacing the original Eight Banners and Green Battalion of the Qing Dynasty with a new system is different from the Xianghuai Army, which did not retire and served for a long time, which greatly strengthened the combat effectiveness of the New Army, and the promotion of the retirement system also allowed the New Army to always remain young, absorbing the advantages of the Western military service system, and having a positive impact on the modernization of the Chinese army.
Although many of the problems of the New Army have not yet been solved, the most arrogant troops in the country at that time were not excessive...