Preface
It can be said that from ancient times to the present, there have been many famous generals in all dynasties, in the Spring and Autumn Period, famous generals such as Bai Qi, Wang Qian, Li Mu, etc. are all outstanding military achievements, Huo Quzhi, Wei Qing and others emerged in the Han Dynasty, Guo Ziyi, Li Jing and so on during the Tang Dynasty, Yue Fei in the Song Dynasty, Xu Da in the Ming Dynasty......
But when it comes to the famous generals of the Qing Dynasty, everyone can't think of particularly impressive famous generals in their minds for a while, why is this?
1. Limitations of the Eight Banners
I believe that through the number of famous generals of all dynasties, it can also be seen that none of them are relatives of the royal family, some are relatives, but most of them are foreign surnames. So there is an unwritten rule for famous generals, that is, famous generals cannot be members of the royal family, but recalling the founding of the Qing Dynasty, this has already indicated that they have no way to emerge famous generals.
As we all know, the Qing Dynasty was an out-and-out founding of the world, and it can be said that even Liu Bang, who originally wanted to realize the world, could not compare to the extent to which the Qing Dynasty implemented the world. There are indeed many famous generals who emerged in the early Qing Dynasty, not to mention that Nurhachi is a famous general.
His sons are also brave and good at fighting, Chu Ying, Dai Shan, Dolgon, Duoduo and so on all of them have made great achievements for the establishment and stability of the Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty is also a general with both civil and military skills.
It can be said that no matter which prince of the early Qing Dynasty took it out alone, he could be in charge alone. As Nurhachi's eldest son, Chu Ying followed Nurhachi in the early days to fight in the south and north, and the same was true for Daishan.
During the Huang Taiji period, Dolgon and Duoduo began to emerge, but the real stroke that made the two leave a strong mark on the historical traces was during the reign of Fulin, Dolgon was the first hero of the Qing Dynasty to enter the customs, and Duoduo also made immortal military exploits for pacifying the interior.
If they are not famous generals, they are indeed famous generals, but why do future generations always ignore this? Because in addition to famous generals, their other identity is even more impressive - vassal kings.
It can be said that almost all of Nurhachi's more than a dozen sons in his life have made military exploits on the battlefield. His grandson is not inferior, the most noteworthy is Huang Taiji's eldest son Haoge, who is also a famous general who is better than the blue, but when people mention them, they think of them as vassal kings and princes.
And in the early days and before entering the customs, most of the battles were fought by the Eight Banners with each other, and it is really hard to say which one is a famous general, because everyone has contributed. After the victory, they were all rewarded together, so there was no such thing as a master at all.
It is worth mentioning that in the previous dynasties, the military power was in the hands of the generals, but in the Qing Dynasty, in order to strengthen the centralization, the emperor held the military power tightly in his own hands. To put it simply, the Qing Dynasty did not have the title of a great general at all, and only when the war started, the emperor would issue an order and canonize them to lead troops to fight.
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Huo Qubing was in the battle with the Xiongnu, and Huo Qubing had already reached the enemy's lair here, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not know it when he was far away in the capital. However, this did not happen during the Qing Dynasty, because most of the wars were directly commanded by the emperor.
This is to show that even if the Lord has accomplished so much on the battlefield, they are only doing what they are told to do when it comes to rewarding their deeds, and they do not have much merit. This also reduces the chance of a famous player to a certain extent.
Second, the medium term is relatively stable
Compared with other dynasties, the progress of the Qing Dynasty was relatively smooth. Take the Ming Dynasty as an example, it can be shown that Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang to Ming Chengzu Zhu Di In fact, these two emperors have roughly determined the territory of the Ming Dynasty, so there were also many famous generals during their reign.
Even some small minions were swept away after Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne. It can be said that in just a few decades, the Ming Dynasty has been pacified.
Although the Han Dynasty was not like this, he alone expanded the territory of the Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it is natural that there should be famous generals, whether it is Wei Qing or Huo Quzhi, they have left a strong mark in history.
The great influence of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty on the Western Han Dynasty is recognized by later generations. However, this situation did not occur in the Qing Dynasty, even though Kangxi was called the first emperor of the ages by later generations, but it is undeniable that the war continued after Kangxi's death.
To put it simply, from the Nurhachi period to the Qianlong period, the war was continuous. Several emperors have made achievements in this aspect, and since it is impossible to evaluate who has the greatest credit, the probability of a famous general appearing is very small.
At the same time, none of the traces left by these emperors in history are on the expansion map, but later generations will always associate Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty with the Xiongnu.
Whether it is Nian Qianyao or Fukangan, when they are mentioned, people's attention is always on other aspects, and their exploits on the battlefield are forgotten.
3. Decay and late Qing Dynasty
The end of the reign of the Qing Dynasty was a humiliating time that the world did not want to recall, and it can be said that in this context, even if there were famous generals, their brilliance was overshadowed a lot.
And because of the policy of closing the country to the outside world, there is no place for China to turn over. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be people like Guo Ziyi and others who have been famous for thousands of years because of the pacification of the "Anshi Rebellion" in the Tang Dynasty. The reason why they are called famous generals is because they single-handedly saved the entire dynasty.
Some people may say that at the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were also such figures, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and others. But it would be too one-sided to describe them by name in the future, and they are even more important ministers and even powerful ministers with both civil and military skills.
Of course, later generations will have a more suitable evaluation of them - the ministers of Zhongxing. They are not a general, but only a commander, because they are all from civil servants.
When the country was in danger, he had to step forward to strategize and lead his troops to fight. At that time, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi, Li Hongzhang, etc., all had a common feature - they were all Hanchen.
It can be said that all minority regimes are the same, they are all xenophobic, and the same is true of the Qing Dynasty, if it were not for the incompetence of the children of the Eight Banners in the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing government would not have reused the Hanchen and let them have military power in their hands.
After the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing government initially suppressed the Eight Banners and the Green Camp under its command. However, after many years of pleasure, the army under the jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty was useless and ineffective.
Seeing that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was expanding its territory step by step, the Qing army was losing ground and losing one city after another. For the sake of the stability of the country, the Qing government had to reuse Hanchen.
If it was placed in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, this would not have been possible. In the early Qing Dynasty, there were no military generals with outstanding military achievements, and Yue Zhongqi fought in the north and south for the Qing Dynasty, but he was always under the command of Manchu. And Yue Zhongqi in the later period was also suspicious.
This was actually a norm in the rule of the Manchu dynasty, and it is known that the Manchus were less than one-tenth of the Han Chinese. The emperors sitting on the throne could not help but worry, since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, they have been curbing the power and status of Hanchen in the court. All in order to consolidate their own throne.
In this case, many ministers did not have a bright future at all, which is one of the reasons why the Qing Dynasty did not have famous generals.
epilogue
As the last feudal dynasty, the Qing Dynasty also made improvements in some policies, the most important of which was the centralization of power. It was certainly a good thing for the rule of the imperial power, but it also curbed the possibility of the emergence of famous generals.
And when Qianlong was alive, he once said that there is no need for famous ministers and famous generals to appear in the prosperous era. How could he, who prides himself on being a wise man, need the appearance of a famous general?