There is a popular saying in the capital of the Qing Dynasty, that is, "do not distinguish between Manchu and Han, but look at the banner people".
The flag and the people are the main distinction in society, those who belong to the provincial capital, state and county (i.e., the people's nationality) are the people, and those who belong to the eight banners (i.e., the flag nationality) are the flag people.
In the Qing Dynasty society, the banner people were a special group of people, and they were significantly different from the people in terms of administrative subordination, rights and obligations, economic status, political status, and cultural customs.
The territory where the banner people lived and the land they occupied were also different from those of the people at first. The flag man mainly consists of three parts: the Kwantung flag man, the Beijing flag and the garrison flag man. Among them, the Eight Banners of the Forbidden Brigade were the most important in military and political terms, and the population of the Beijing Banner was more than the other two parts of the Banners combined.
The Manchurian aristocracy was central to the Qing dynasty's regime, controlling the central institutions and granting many privileges to the bannermen. The Council of Ministers was an important tool for the Manchurian aristocracy to control the country, and only the nobles of the Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners could participate.
The grade of the scholar also reflects the difference in status between the Manchurian and Han Chinese, and the grade of the Manchurian scholar is higher than that of the Han scholar. In the cabinet of the Qing Dynasty, the status of Manchurian scholars was also higher than that of Han scholars, and the real power of the cabinet was in the hands of Manchurian officials.
In order to consolidate their privileged position, the Manchurian aristocracy established the principle of "worshipping Manchuria first" and granted many privileges to the bannermen. Although the Manchus and Han were united, the Manchurian aristocracy still held a central position in the Qing regime and controlled the power of the state.
In the various institutions of the Qing Dynasty, the status and power of Manchuria** were higher than that of Han**.
After the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, in order to ensure the privileged status of the Manchurian aristocracy, the division system was implemented, and the positions of the ** institutions were divided into clan vacancies, Manchurian vacancies, Mongolian vacancies, Han army vacancies, internal affairs office clothing vacancies and Han vacancies.
Local officials also began to favor Manchurian bannermen, and garrison generals, deputy commanders, counselors, and ministers of affairs were appointed by Manchus. Although there were more Han Chinese than Manchus, the Manchurian aristocracy, through institutions and measures, succeeded in fixing political privileges and attempted to keep them permanent.
In order to commend the emperor's clan and Jueluo, the Qing Dynasty implemented a knighthood system. In the tenth year of Shunzhi, the clan was knighted in ten ranks, the prince was named the prince, the county king was the county king, the first son of the Beile was the king, the first son of Bei Zi was the title of the prince of Zhenguo, the first son of the prince of Zhenguo was awarded the title of the auxiliary duke, the first son of the auxiliary duke was awarded the third class of the general of Fengguo, and the first son of the general of Fengguo was awarded the general of Fengen.
In the Qianlong period, the knighthood system was further improved and increased to the twelfth rank. These titles include Prince Heshuo, King Doragun, Dorobele, Gushan Beizi, Feng'en Zhenguogong, Feng'en Fuguogong, Bu Bafen Zhenguo Gong, Bu Bafen Fuguo Gong, Zhenguo General, Fuguo General, Fengguo General, and Feng'en General.
Among them, General Zhenguo, General Fuguo, General Fengguo, and General Fengen are divided into one, two, and three. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the six princes of Li, Rui, Zheng, Zhuang, Yu and Su and the two county kings of Shuncheng and Keqin were known as the "Iron Hat King" because of the great meritorious work and the hereditary non-surrender.
As for the heroes and nobles with different surnames of the banner people, they will also be awarded the title of Shijue, which is divided into duke, marquis, uncle, son, male, light car captain, cavalry lieutenant, cloud cavalry lieutenant, and en cavalry lieutenant.
Among them, Gong, Hou and Bo are "super products", which are above the first grade, and are divided into three grades. The viscount is the first grade, the baron is the second grade, and the light car lieutenant is the third grade, which is also divided into one, two, and three grades.
The cavalry captain is the fourth grade, the cloud cavalry lieutenant is the fifth grade, and the en cavalry lieutenant is the sixth grade, regardless of the grade. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, it was stipulated that the founding ministers were hereditary regardless of rank, and later changed to descend to the rank of En Cavalry Captain.
In the economic rights and interests of the Manchurian aristocracy, the princes of the clan were mostly prominent in the court, and the rest of the nobles' children were honored according to their status. During the period outside the Guan, the princes of Manchuria received Zhuangtian according to their ranks, and did not withdraw silver and rice.
After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it followed the tax system of the Ming Dynasty, including land silver, miscellaneous tax silver, salt tax and customs duties. In the eighth year of Shunzhi, the country's annual income was only 14.8 million taels, but by the end of Shunzhi, the income had increased to 24 million taels.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty amassed a large amount of wealth, and they distributed a portion of it as a fortune to the princes and nobles and the Eight Banners. The highest-ranking Prince Heshuo received 10,000 taels of silver and 10,000 taels of rice per year, and the lowest-ranking general Bong-eun received 160 taels of silver and 80 stone rice per year.
In addition to the fixed salary, the emperor would also reward according to various names, and each reward would cost a lot of wealth. For example, in the eleventh year of Shunzhi, the emperor planned to reward about 6,400 horses of yellow satin and more than 355,000 taels of silver, but due to the financial constraints of the household department, the reward could not be carried out.
During the Kangxi period, the two seasons of silver in Manchuria were more than 30 times that of Han officials, which shows that the biggest beneficiary is still the Manchus.
During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchurian aristocracy enjoyed privileges, received annual grain and monthly salaries, and used their power to obtain a large amount of wealth and land, becoming the most powerful group in the ruling class.
At the same time, in order to maintain its own rule, the Qing Dynasty regarded the banner people who "entered the customs from the dragon" as the foundation of the state, and gave them corresponding privileges. Under the enclosure policy, the Manchurians were given a large amount of land, some of which was occupied by the imperial family, and the other part was given to the Eight Banners as a share of land for military service.
These lands are collectively known as "flag lands", but for the local Han people, it was a naked and violent plunder. In addition, the Imperial Village is the private property of the royal family, which is managed by the head of the village, and the Zhuang Ding is a slave of the royal family, whose status is hereditary, and is strictly bound to the manor, bearing heavy miscellaneous errands.
One is the manor land that is divided according to the lord, and the other is the land that is given according to the ding. The prince of the Eight Banners captured a large number of strong men when they attacked the city and plundered the land before entering the customs, and according to the regulations, each of these strong men should be entitled to six yuan (36 acres) of land, but in fact they all belonged to the master.
After the Kangxi Dynasty, the princely manor of the prince was no longer given land according to Ding, but allocated from the imperial village according to the rank. The prince can get 20 large grain farms, 3 silver farms, 2 semi-farms, 2 melon orchards, 2 vegetable gardens, and 3 orchards, a total of 39, about 7,024 hectares.
Below the county king, Baylor, Beizi, and Gong descend according to their rank. In addition to the land granted, the princes of the clan also used the method of forcing Han peasants to join the banner people as slaves in the early days of entering the customs.
This method is called "topping". When Dolgon was regent, he collected and confiscated more than 680 people by virtue of his power, and all of them had rich family properties with real estate.
Dolgon's half-brother Azig also received nearly 700 people, with an average of more than 10 hectares of land per person, a total of about 8,000 hectares. As a result, the estates of the princes and nobles far exceeded the land granted.
The nature of Wang Zhuang and Guan Zhuang is the same, each has a head of the village, and supervises the production of the village. The enclosure allocated to the Eight Banners is called "Zhuangtian".
After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to ensure the burden of military service on the banner people, the "Ji Ding granted land" was implemented, and each flag man was given a certain amount of land. A portion of these lands is called "general flag land" and is allocated to the flag bearers as their share; The other part was used to set up a manor, called "Zhuangtian".
Most of these farms are owned by the ** who occupy more Ding, and they take Zhuangding as their servants, in addition to paying rent to the owner, they also have to act as servants when the owner goes on the expedition.
These strong men varied in number, size of land, and tax burden, but they all enjoyed some degree of privilege. In addition, the Qing Dynasty also implemented a policy of Manchu and Han separation, where the Banner and Han people lived separately to avoid conflicts between them.
In the course of its implementation, this policy has led to large-scale nuisance incidents, and many people have been forced to move out of their original land and houses, leaving them without the security of their livelihoods. In general, these policies of the Qing Dynasty were intended to maintain the privileged position of the banner people, but they also led to a large number of social problems and injustices.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty used violent means to divide the inside and outside of Beijing into banner areas. In the third year of Shunzhi, the Qing court ordered the Han residents to move out of the inner city and make room for the soldiers of the Eight Banners to live.
This provision effectively means that the banner people are divided into cities. The Qing Dynasty introduced this system to ensure the independence of the Eight Banners in Han Chinese society and to maintain their combat effectiveness. However, for the hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese who were forced to relocate, this was undoubtedly a form of violent plunder, and it also caused a lot of resistance.
In order to carry out this order, the Qing Dynasty reaffirmed it in the fifth year of Shunzhi and stipulated that Han officials and merchants must move out by the end of the second year. After several years of large-scale cleanup, the Han Chinese in the inner city were forcibly relocated to the outer city, and the inner city became the world of the soldiers of the Eight Banners.
In addition, the bannermen, with Manchuria as the main body, were regarded by the Qing Dynasty as the "foundation of the state" and enjoyed many preferential treatments. Economically, the people of the Eight Banners were exempt from all kinds of errands and military service, and at the same time, the people of the Banners were forbidden to hand over property.
Since the soldiers of the Eight Banners were often sent out, a salary system was established. The Han Chinese, on the other hand, did not have these preferential treatment and suffered unfair treatment.
Legally, there is a clear distinction between the flag people. In the event of a dispute between the flag man and the people, it is necessary for the special directors of each flag and the local government to hear the case, and the state and county officials do not have the right to make judgments.
For the people who break the law, there are five punishments, such as flogging, cane, imprisonment, exile, and death, while the banner people enjoy the privilege of exchanging punishments, such as flogging and cane, and the army, exile, and prisoners are exempted from being repatriated.
In addition, a person who commits a sentence of one year shall be sentenced to 20 days; sentenced to 2,000 li in exile, and sentenced to 50 days; Whoever commits a crime of being in the army shall be sentenced to 90 days. Banner people are exempt from stabbing when they commit theft, and even if they are repeat offenders, they are only stabbed in the arm and not in the face like the Han people; A person who commits a capital offense may also be commuted from a death sentence to a prison sentence.
According to the Manuscript of the Qing Dynasty and the Criminal Law, the reason for this legislation was that the Manchurian rulers regarded the Eight Banners as the main military machine for consolidating their rule, so they gave special treatment to the bannermen politically, economically, and legally.
In reality, since the core of the banner people is the Manchurians, and the main body of the people is the Han people, the inequality between the banner people and the people actually reflects the differences and differences between the Manchus and the Hans.
In addition, it is more convenient for the banner people to advance than the people. The three banners are the emperor's own army, and the children of its high-ranking officials are mostly guarded. In addition, the pen post style (Chinese translation of documents) is also a shortcut to the promotion of ordinary flag people's children.
The pen-post exam is a very extensive **, whether you are a flag person or an idle person, as long as you have the experience of civil and military translators, translators, tribute students, supervisors, official students, leaders, pro-army, treasury envoys, and horsemen (vests), you can take the exam.
The exam questions are very simple, and only one question needs to be translated. Those who pass the exam will be registered for the pre-order class and selected according to the flag score. In addition, there are some people who do not need to take the exam, they can directly serve as a non-quality pen post, and they can discuss and correct it after the expiration of the validity period.
As long as there are reliable supporters or good at climbing, even if the qualifications are mediocre or illiterate, you can be promoted to a senior position in a short period of time.
In order to ensure that the bannermen could participate in the imperial examination, the Qing Dynasty implemented the policy of dividing the Manchu and Han ranks, and set up a special translation examination for the bannermen. The content of these examinations was far easier than that of the Han Chinese, and the Manchurian rulers provided a convenient path for the promotion of the bannermen through these measures.
Although the number and status of Han officials gradually increased during the Qing Dynasty, the policy of preferential treatment of banner people remained consistent, and its far-reaching influence lasted for a long time.