Speaking of the big figures of the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang are certainly very dazzling, but when it comes to the final victory, it is Yuan Shikai who stands on their shoulders, and the most important capital of Yuan Shikai's starting is the new army, that is, the Beiyang Army.
In the twenty-first year of the Guangxu Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty (1895), Yuan Shikai came to Tianjin Xiaozhan and took over the Dingwu Army, his identity was the superintendent of the new army, and after continuing to recruit 2300 infantry and cavalry, the Dingwu Army was changed to the new army.
Yuan Shikai not only drew on the experience of the Xiang Army of Zeng Guofan and the Huai Army of Li Hongzhang, but also introduced the German army system, formulated various rules and regulations, and also reformed the military hierarchy.
Yuan Shikai also purchased a large number of weapons from abroad as equipment for the new army, and hired more than a dozen officers from Germany to serve as instructors to strengthen the cultivation of the quality of officers and men of the new army.
In the newly built army, there are also camps and armed weapons schools, focusing on improving the quality of soldiers, selecting talents from them to serve as junior officers, and Yuan Shikai then selects talents from them to study in Germany, Japan, and other countries.
Although Yuan Shikai's small station training was more regular than that of the Qing Dynasty's Eight Banner Army, the Green Battalion Army, and even the Xiang Army and the Huai Army in all aspects, in order to ensure that the new army was in his own hands, Yuan Shikai, like Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, insisted on "soldiers as generals" and tried his best to cultivate Yuan Family Army.
Yuan Shikai was the first to promote his relatives and friends, and although most of these people were sparsely educated, they were loyal to Yuan Shikai and held many important positions in the new army.
Yuan Shikai selected a large number of outstanding graduates from the Beiyang Martial Arts Academy founded by Li Hongzhang, these people were ambitious in the old army, but Yuan Shikai hired them to become officers, which looked very trendy, but in fact most of these people constituted the main body of the later Beiyang warlords, such as Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang, Cao Kun, etc. Yuan Shikai had the grace of knowing them, and of course they were grateful to Zero.
Yuan Shikai also actively recruited the old general of the Huai Army, and the famous whip general Zhang Xun in later generations was a very special one.
It should be said that Yuan Shikai attaches great importance to his relationship with Li Hongzhang, and his new army also has a strong Huai army color, which not only ensures the support of Li Hongzhang in the process of military training, but also inherits the tradition of the Huai army, and the new army has also become Yuan Shikai's private army.
Yuan Shikai also demanded that soldiers should "respect the lives of officials" and formulate various regulations to "save both grace and power", which made the officers and soldiers more determined to him and became the capital for future success.
In the twenty-second year of the Guangxu Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty (1896), the supervision of Yushi Hu Jinggui impeached Yuan Shikai for "withholding military salaries and killing innocents", at that time the new army had not yet made any achievements, which was a very serious accusation, but Yuan Shikai was supported by Shangshu of the Military Department and the co-founder university Shiguarjia Ronglu, not only did not receive any punishment, but was promoted to be directly subordinate to the inspector, and the training of troops continued.
The new army was a new army built by the Qing Dynasty with heavy money, which was valued by the imperial court, and Yuan Shikai's various efforts were also appreciated by powerful people such as Empress Dowager Cixi Yehenara.
The foreign officers stationed in Tianjin also often went to small stations to "observe the exercises," and most of them were "surprised by the grandeur of the new army" for the new appearance of the new army, and even more praised the new army and Yuan Shikai, which made Yuan Shikai's reputation soar.
In the twenty-third year of the Guangxu Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty (1897), the Qing Dynasty once again rectified the army and organized an elite army, which was divided into five armies, namely the middle, front, left, right, and rear armies, led by Rong Lu, Nie Shicheng, Ma Yukun, Yuan Shikai, Dong Fuxiang and others, of which only Yuan Shikai's new army was the most elite modernized force.
And this also determines that in the chaotic situation at the end of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai can stand on the basis of not falling and eventually influence the situation, becoming the dominant candidate of the north and south.