The most well-equipped, well-trained, and combat-effective troops of the ancient Chinese dynasties must have been the first Praetorian Guard of the dynasty in the early days.
As for the decay and degeneration of the Praetorian Guard at the end of the dynasty, that's another matter.Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, China's Praetorian Guard system has been very complete, and the deployment arrangements are scientific and reasonable.
And the Zhou royal family's janissary system is quite groundbreaking. The Qin and Han Janissaries in later generations basically referred to the Praetorian Guard system of the Zhou royal family.
The Praetorian Guard forces of Zhou Tianzi were divided into three divisions, which were as follows.
1) The guard of the heart - responsible for the guard;
2) The Ring Guard - responsible for guarding the wall of the royal palace;
3) Heavy Guards - field troops stationed outside the royal palace.
The following is a brief introduction to the respective composition and differences of these three forces.
This was the guard in charge of the residence of the king of Zhou, as well as the personal protection of the king of Zhou.
The members of the Heart Guard are all selected from the royal family or the best of the nobles.
Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the children of the nobles of the Gongqing have almost become synonymous with the children of the gentlemen, but in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which advocated martial arts, the nobles of the Gongqing and the nobles have learned the six arts since childhood, and they are strong and strong, skilled in martial arts, and have both civil and military skills.
To put it bluntly, they have all been cultivated since childhood for the purpose of becoming big officials in the future. And before they took up official positions, they had to enter the palace of Zhou Tianzi to stand guard and hold halberds and guards, and then they could be appointed as officials.
Another point, there are two reasons why the children of the nobles of the princess are selected to serve as the personal guards of the Son of Heaven.
One is that they are as prosperous as the royal family, and their loyalty is basically fine.
Before becoming officials, these people stayed by King Zhou's side for a year, and became familiar with the Son of Heaven, and also let the Son of Heaven understand the characteristics, personalities and abilities of these people, so that they could be appointed.
In this regard, after the Han Dynasty scholars were awarded the "Filial Piety and Honesty", they first had to enter the palace to serve as "Yulin Lang" as a guard, and then go out to the state and county as an official, which also referred to the "heart guard" system of the King of Zhou.
This force is the guard who is specially responsible for the guards of the four gates and palace walls of Zhou Tianzi's palace.
Interestingly, the members of the Huanlie Guard** were all selected from the foreign captives conquered by the Zhou Dynasty, and were selected from the noble children among the captives to become the guards of Zhou Tianzi's "Huanlie Guard".
Why did you choose the noble children among the foreign captives to guard the palace gate for Zhou Tianzi?
First: The homes and countries of these surrendered captives have been destroyed by Zhou, and they are asked to guard the palace gate for Zhou Tianzi, which can show Zhou Tianzi's great martial arts and mighty four seas.
Then they were selected from among the nobles among the returnees, because only the children of the nobles could understand the royal etiquette.
Second: these people have no friends and relatives in the capital of the Zhou Dynasty, and they will not be bought for a while. Allegiance to Zhou Tianzi was their only way out, and they would not get involved in the internal strife of the Zhou Chamber.
Therefore, let these people guard the door, they can be more loyal to their duties, and generally there will be no illegal conspiracy to let relatives and friends enter the palace privately.
Later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used the surrendered Xiongnu prince as a janissary, which also referred to the practice of the Zhou royal family's ring guards.
For example, Jin Riyan, a famous minister of the Western Han Dynasty, was originally the prince of the Hun Hutu King, after returning to the Han Dynasty, he and his mother and brother were first confiscated into the official as a horse slave, and later were appointed because of their loyalty and bravery, and was a guard for Emperor Wu, and became a famous minister step by step, which is a typical example.This is a regular army combat unit formed into a formation, and it is the guard pro-army of the Zhou royal family. There are two in total, one is called the Tiger Army;
The other is called the Brigade Army.
The origin of the Tiger Army.
In Chinese culture, the tiger is now synonymous with warriors in the army. However, where did these two words come from?
In ancient China, the word "Ben" had the same meaning as "Ben", which meant to run. Tiger Ben, that is, like the running of a tiger, is used to describe the brave warrior.
According to the "Zhou Li", from the beginning of the Xia Dynasty, the commander of the Praetorian Guard of the Xia King was named after the "Tiger Ben Clan".
In the Zhou Dynasty, the Tiger Ben became the name of the most elite field standing army, and the main combat force of the Praetorian Guard Army was called the Tiger Ben Army.
The Tiger Ben Army was the Praetorian Guard of the King of Zhou in peacetime, and went out with the King of Zhou in wartime.
What is the status of the Tiger Ben Army in the Zhou royal guard system?
This was the standing army of the Zhou Dynasty, the most elite field army.
Sergeant Huben is a professional soldier, and the unit has a certain size of strength, but the specific number of posts is unknown, and it is speculated that it should be about 1,000 people.
However, everyone is a crack soldier, and the so-called "tiger warriors" are also. So, don't underestimate the power of these more than 1,000 elite soldiers.
The Tiger Ben Army was stationed on the periphery of the palace in peacetime, and was responsible for guarding the king of Zhou on the outer layer of the palace wall. In wartime, he had to go out to fight and conquer the city for the king of Zhou.
For example, when King Wu was defeating, 800 tiger warriors charged first, fell into a strong formation, and broke the Shang army in Muye.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the tasks of guarding and conquest, the Hu Ben soldiers also had the task of holding the edict of the king of Zhou to send envoys to the princes of the four directions on behalf of the king of Zhou to convey orders when the country encountered an emergency.
Brigade Benjun.
The brigade army is small in size and has a relatively simple task, and its job is to be responsible for the Praetorian Guard when King Zhou travels.
Zhou Tianzi was in the palace and had a heartfelt guard. When leaving the palace, there are brigade guards wearing armor and marching on both sides of the Son of Heaven's chariot, serving as guards and honor guards.
According to the regulations, on both sides of the Son of Heaven of the King of Zhou, there were eight soldiers on each side, a total of 16 people on the left and right, all of whom were wearing strong armor and wearing long swords, holding Changge in their right hand and a strong shield in their left hand, responsible for guarding the safety of the Son of Heaven.
If the king of Zhou goes on an expedition, the brigade army will also have to accompany him.
When Zhou Tianzi's car drove into battle, the brigade soldiers were the vanguard of Tianzi's car, destroying the front and breaking the formation, and escorting the car forward.
The non-commissioned officers of the Tiger Army and the Brigade are well-equipped and well-trained, and all of them are skilled in martial arts and brave in battle.
The guard of the heart, the guard of the ring and the guard of the heavy army, these three parts of the force are responsible for the residence of the king of Zhou, the guard of the palace gate, and the travel, and the battle.
In the palace, the king of Zhou has the children of the nobles and ministers with the highest loyalty and outstanding martial arts as his guards.
The palace gate and palace wall of the royal palace are guarded by foreign captives who "do not recognize the six relatives" and only obey the rules and orders of their superiors. Without the order of the king of Zhou, no one would have wanted to let these foreign captives who wanted to make meritorious atonements be accommodating, and broke into the palace without an order;
On the periphery of the palace wall, there are heavy troops composed of professional soldiers, such as the Tiger Ben Army and the Brigade Ben Army, which are responsible for travel and expeditions.
If there is any change in the children of the alien captives guarding the gate, then under the attack of the heartfelt guards and the heavy guards of the Tiger Brigade, they can be wiped out immediately.
If a few Tiger Ben or Clan Guards have a different heart, then they don't want to break into the palace through the obstruction of the alien ring guards.