Although the military attachés of the Qing Dynasty were quite high, their actual social status was relatively low, mainly due to the system of "using literature to control military force" pursued by the Qing Dynasty.
In social situations, when the general soldiers of the third rank meet the civil officials of the sixth rank, they must show humility and let the civil officials sit first, and then they can take their seats. In addition, even the third-rank general soldier must be restrained by the Zhengfour-rank Daotai, who has the rank of military preparation, and at the same time, he must obey the command of the Zhengqipin Zhixian, and he must also be respectful and courteous to military attachés who are higher than themselves such as guerrilla and metropolitan divisions.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, one of the best benefits that military attaches could obtain was to become knighted as "nobles", that is, lords, to strive for a stable social status for future generations. Xungui was usually in charge of the garrison work in the interior or the relatively idle but well-paid positions such as salt transportation, but it was very difficult to be promoted to the rank of feudal official.
In contrast, civil servants, although of lower rank, enjoyed actual power. In the Ming Dynasty, the position of superintendent was usually held by a civil official of the second rank, and no matter how high the rank of the military attache was, he had to be obedient and obedient to him. The head of the Qing Dynasty's military department was responsible for the assessment of military attachés, although it was only the sixth grade, but even the second-rank military attachés needed to be polite to them.
Taking Heshen as an example, his titles include Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Parliament, Minister of Imperial Affairs, Associate University Scholar, Scholar of Wenhua Temple, Scholar of the Ministry of Officials, Scholar of the Ministry of Households, and Scholar of the Imperial Academy.
However, even if he held the only military position of "Minister of the Guard", his military title was still ranked behind various civilian positions, and although he was a Zhengyipin, his status in the officialdom was not prominent.
It is worth mentioning that the Qing Dynasty had clear norms for the titles of "minister" and "minion". Manchu civil officials are called "ministers" in official affairs and "slaves" in private affairs; And the Han people and ministers are called "ministers" without selfishness. And military attachés, whether they are Manchu or Han, are not selfish, they are all called "slaves".