In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhachi led the original Jurchen tribe to gradually rise, established a friendly alliance with the Mongols, and began their conquest. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was already in a stage of decline, and it was difficult to resist for a while in the face of the powerful military power of the Jurchen people.
We often hear in film and television dramas "since the entry of the Qing Dynasty", however, from Nurhachi to Huang Taiji, and then to the prosperous Kangqian era, the Qing Dynasty has maintained prosperity.
The former Qing Dynasty army, under the leadership of Nurhachi, faced the Ming Dynasty's hundreds of thousands of troops, but it was not afraid. But why did such a fierce army go into decline?
It was not until the eighties that it was discovered that there was still one in the Qing army. At this time, China and Britain had launched many negotiations over the Hong Kong issue, and many people eagerly awaited that Hong Kong would return to the embrace of the motherland.
After the signing of the Treaty of Nanjing, Hong Kong fell under British rule, and the people of both places looked forward to the day when they returned to China. However, in 1987, a shocking discovery was made in Jiulongzhai: New China had been founded, but Qing Dynasty laws were still used here, and even the system of three wives and four concubines was legal.
The main part of the residents of Jiulongzhai were the remnants of the Qing army, who intermarried with the local residents and gradually integrated into one. After the Opium War, the Qing court stationed a force in the area, making it part of Chinese territory.
When the Qing soldiers demolished Jiulongzhai in the 80s, the world stumbled upon the existence of this army. However, this is only a small part of the Qing army. According to historical records, the Qing Dynasty's military strength has continued to grow since its entry into the customs, and even reached one million at its peak.
However, such a large army suffered humiliation at the end of the Qing Dynasty. The root of all this lies in the decay of the Qing ** itself. After entering the customs, the Qing Dynasty not only had Manchu and Mongolian marriages, but also carried out many Manchu and Han reforms to integrate into the Central Plains as soon as possible.
The originally heroic army outside the Guanxi continued to grow, and the Green Battalion of the Eight Banners became a symbol of the division of the Manchu and Han armies. After Emperor Shunzhi, the scattered troops of the Ming Dynasty were successfully absorbed, and the number of Qing Dynasty troops grew day by day.
However, after the world was pacified, internal corruption began to grow, and the army fell into decay due to a long period of slackness. In the Qing Dynasty, there were very few armed conflicts, until the appearance of the famous general Nian Qianyao in the Yongzheng period, the status of the Eight Banners Green Battalion changed, and the soldiers of the Han Green Battalion charged into battle and quelled the war.
At that time, the children of the Eight Banners were seriously corrupt. The reduction of the army's combat effectiveness was the biggest problem facing the Qing Dynasty. Under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, the people were already dissatisfied, and in the face of the rapid development of the Western Industrial Revolution, the Qing Dynasty was still stagnant in the backward stage of the small peasant economy.
The outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion made the Qing Dynasty soberly aware of the weakening of the Qing Dynasty's military strength. Although the Qing Dynasty had a military reserve of 600,000, it had no ability to suppress it in the conflict, and was even at a disadvantage in the situation.
In the backward Eight Banners army at that time, it was mainly composed of the children of the Manchu aristocracy, most of whom were the children of gentlemen, and after sending their families to the barracks, they still lived a luxurious and enjoyable life, and letting them go to pacify the war was tantamount to a fool's dream.
However, in the period before the Westernization Movement began, some outstanding talents who had opened their eyes to the world had discovered this and began to show signs at that time. After Zeng Guofan took up the post of Hunan regimental training, he began to recruit and train soldiers, while Li Hongzhang followed in the footsteps of Zeng Guofan, and imitated his form in Anhui, and also began to strengthen his troops and establish the Huai Army.
These two armies were clearly different from the corrupt Eight Banners army of the time, they had high morale, strong cohesion, and were well trained.
The reason why the Taiping Rebellion was suppressed was mainly because during the Qing Dynasty, there were still two powerful armies at their disposal. This forced Hong Xiuquan and others to leave the political scene, but the results were still unsatisfactory.
Who would have thought that the originally invincible Eight Banners Army would end up like this. After the Taiping Rebellion, the Westernization Movement began to rise, and armies began to be formed in various places.
This turmoil, which almost upended the Qing Dynasty, left the survivors with lingering fears, and everyone began to realize that the country's decline was unstoppable. Although the Beiyang Naval Division left a glorious chapter, with the decline of the Qing Dynasty, the momentum of the army is no longer as good as before.
After the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, morale was even lowered, and the Hunan Army and the Huai Army gradually declined, and the Qing Dynasty was crumbling, and finally collapsed in the torrent of history.
It turned out that the Qing Dynasty had more than a million troops, but now it seems like a joke. Generally speaking, the intrinsic factor of the development of things is the most important and the most fatal cause.
The Qing Dynasty, with a good momentum of development, did not think about curbing possible internal corruption. Corruption and incompetence are the main reasons for the invasion and continuous aggression of various countries.
However, how can an army that is powerless protect the peace of the country and its people?
The Qing Dynasty troops that remained in Jiulongzhai can be said to be a warning to some extent. Even in the tenth century, they still adhered to the laws and regulations of the Qing Dynasty, which was far from the outside world, and this situation was very worrying.
At the same time, from this remnant army, we can deeply feel the corruption at that time, and the severity of this corruption can be described in a few words.
They are closed and old-fashioned, failing to keep pace with the rapidly evolving world, and eventually falling into a state of self-doubt in the face of a huge gap.
From the situation of the Jiulongzhai army, it may be seen that the corruption and incompetence of the Qing Dynasty **.