At the end of June in the twelfth year of Chongzhen and the Manchu Tatar puppet emperor Huang Taiji in the fourth year of Chongde, the so-called Eight Banners of the Han Army entered the stage of history two or three years ahead of schedule.

Shocked by the raids along the southern coast of Liaoning, Huang Taiji, the Manchu Tatar puppet emperor, felt that the territory controlled by the Qing Dynasty was expanding day by day, but the Manchu Eight Banners who could defend various places were seriously insufficient in strength, so he accepted Fan Wencheng, a bachelor of Neihongwen Academy.

According to the proposal of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, all the Han armies that had surrendered and surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty over the years were incorporated into the Eight Banners, forming the Eight Banners Han Army in one fell swoop.

Vigorously absorbing the surrendered Mongolians and surrendered Han troops into the banner was a common trick used by the Manchu Tatar puppet emperor Huang Taiji to quickly increase his strength.

Long before Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor, that is, in the eighth year of Tiancong's reign in the Later Jin Kingdom, Huang Taiji, in order to expand his military strength and facilitate management, based on the population of the Mongolian tribes he had conquered before the Later Jin Kingdom, based on the Jurchen Eight Banners system, that is, Zheng

The flag colors of yellow, bordered with yellow, pure white, bordered with white, pure red, bordered with red, pure blue and bordered with blue were compiled into the so-called Eight Banners of Mongolia.

Of course, the so-called Eight Banners of Mongolia are not eight independent banners, but they are affiliated to the Eight Jurchen Banners according to their flag colors. In fact, they are just equivalent to the Mongolian cattle records compiled under the Eight Jurchen Banners.

The Mongolian Niulu under the Jurchen Eight Banners actually existed as early as the time of the old slave Nurhaci.

The sources of Niulu at that time were mainly Mongolian tribal prisoners captured during the war, and the young men of the Mongolian tribes who were plundered by the Jurchens.

In the early days, the Jurchen tribe of Nurhachi had a small population. In order to expand its military strength, these plundered Mongolian tribes were organized into Niulu under their banner, and they were allowed to follow them in the war.

Therefore, the so-called Eight Banners of Mongolia actually just gave the Mongolian Niulu, which already existed under the Eight Banners of the Jurchens, the status of Eight Banners, which was equivalent to giving them the status of bannermen.

As for the Eight Banners of the Han Army, the same situation exists. There are no independent Eight Banners of the Han Army at all.

The so-called Eight Banners of the Han Army, to put it bluntly, are just a lot of records of the Han Army compiled under the Eight Banners of the Manchu Tatars.

Of course, some records of the Han army compiled under the Jurchen Eight Banners also existed as early as the time of Nuerhachi.

It was just that at that time, Nurhachi was massacring Han people in Liaodong and was extremely distrustful of the Han people in Liaodong. Therefore, only the most die-hard traitors, after marrying Jurchens, could join the banner and be included in the Han Army Niulu.

For example, the traitor Li Yongfang who surrendered in Fushun City, and Shi Tingzhu and others who surrendered in Guangning City.

Therefore, in the era of Nuerhachi, there were not many Han army soldiers under the Jurchen Eight Banners, or even just a handful.

However, during the Tiancong period after Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, Huang Taiji changed Nurhachi's policy of killing the Han people in Liaodong, and began to recruit a large number of Ming army generals to surrender, and accepted and "preferentially treated" the Ming army's surrendered troops.

It was under this situation that the famous Sanshun kings Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi and Dongjiang Town rebel general Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang took the initiative to surrender under this situation.

After these people took refuge, Huang Taiji, in order to show his kindness and tolerance to them and to strengthen his own strength, initially organized them individually into the so-called God's Blessing Soldiers and God's Assistance Soldiers.

The Han army, the so-called old Han army in the Manchu Dynasty, fought in the Chaoha camp in Wuzhen, but they were not included in the flag register.

During the Chongde period after Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor, more and more Ming troops surrendered and surrendered. Forces such as Wuzhen Chaoha Camp and Tianyou Bing, which were dominated by the Han army, became stronger and stronger.

, the upper-class dignitaries of the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty became more and more serious in their fear and dissatisfaction with these Han armies who were not incorporated into the banners.

Correspondingly, leaders such as Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexiang, and Shen Zhixiang, who were later reduced to generals in the Ming army, also began to write letters one after another, requesting that independent banners such as Tianyoubing and Tianzhubing be removed, and requesting that they be included in the banner.

They did this, on the one hand, to show their loyalty and to protect themselves, and on the other hand, to dispel the fear of the upper-class dignitaries of the Eight Banners of Manchuria towards them, so that they could be more trusted, and at the same time, they could also improve their status in the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

status.

As early as when the Mongolian troops and generals and the tribes they surrendered were incorporated into the Eight Banners, these people headed by Kong Youde wrote a letter requesting to join the banner. However, the slave chief Huang Taiji at that time wanted to show his generosity and at the same time take a long-term view to catch the big fish.

It would be more convenient to continue to recruit and surrender the Ming army, soldiers, generals and officials, so I did not agree.

So this time, after Yang Zhen led his army across the sea and raided southern Liaoning, the performance of Shang Kexi's Tianzhu Army greatly disappointed Huang Taiji. At the same time, he also had an excuse, so he decided to cancel the Tianzhu Army and the Tianzhu Army No.

The idea of ​​putting ideas into practice.

When Fan Wencheng, who was good at understanding Huang Taiji's thoughts, proposed the formation of the Eight Banners Han Army, the Tatar puppet emperor Huang Taiji immediately applauded and agreed, and the matter was settled.

In fact, when Wuzhen Chaoha Camp was first established, it was mainly based on the old Han army that surrendered early. After Kong Youde and others joined, Wuzhen Chaoha Camp was divided into left and right wings, and its scale was already very large.

It was once known as the Two Banners of the Han Army, or the Left and Right Han Army Flags.

At this time, they were simply divided into eight. Not only were the numbers of Tianyou soldiers and Tianzhu soldiers withdrawn, but also the establishment of Chaoha camp in Wuzhen was also withdrawn. Only a certain number of each was listed in the Niu Lu of the Eight Banners Han Army.

The Wuzhen Chaoha Niulu is for the command of Prince Baylor of each banner clan.

After this compilation, including the so-called old Han army that surrendered during the Nurhaci era, a total of 110 Han army records were compiled, with a number of 33,000 people.

In addition, the Mongolian Niulu who were included in the Eight Banners a few years ago, that is, the Eighty-Four Mongolian Niulu of the Eight Banners totaled more than 25,000 people, and the number of the Eight Banners' army that filled the Tatars reached 394 in one fell swoop.

Niulu, a total of 118,200 people.

And by doing this, Huang Taiji was able to achieve success in one fell swoop.

On the one hand, he put aside the magnanimous and hypocritical face of the past, and combined the various departments of the old Han army that had surrendered during the Nurhaci era with the large number of Ming troops who had newly surrendered during the Tiancong period and the Chongde period, including Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Shang Kexi, Shen Zhixiang, etc.

All the lands were compiled into Han army records, which eliminated hidden dangers and strengthened the strength of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties.

On the other hand, his approach also appeased the emotions of the upper echelons of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty. In the past, Wuzhen Chaoha Camp and the Tianyou Soldiers, Tianzhu Soldiers and other troops affiliated to Wuzhen Chaoha Camp were all under the direct control of the Tatar puppet emperor Huang Taiji

Commander, the Eight Banners of the Han Army, or the Eight Banners of the Han Army, is equivalent to allocating a large number of firearms, soldiers, horses, and people to the Eight Banners of Manchuria.

At this time, the upper-level princes and princes of the Eight Banners of Manchuria were all satisfied. The previous slander and opinions against Huang Taiji due to the failure of the siege of Songshan and the failure of Liaonan had disappeared.

On the other hand, Huang Taiji also took the opportunity of establishing the Eight Banners of the Han Army to place the new and old Han Army teams that had always been loyal to him and under his direct command under the Eight Banners of Manchuria, which was equivalent to quietly placing them under other banners.

He made a group of his cronies.

For example, the Ministry of Gongshun Kong Youde was merged into the Zhenghong Banner of Prince Heshuoli Daishan, the Ministry of Zhishun Gong Shangkexi was merged into the Xianglan Banner of Prince Heshuozheng Jierhalang, and the Ministry of Xushun Gong Shen Zhixiang was merged into Prince Heshuorui

Dorgon's White Flag, etc.

At the same time, Huang Taiji appointed a group of his confidants to serve as the Gushan Ezhen of the Eight Banners and Han Army, such as Shi Tingzhu, who became the Gushan Ezhen of the Zhengbai Banner and the Xiangbai Banner of the Han Army.

Although there were many Han Army Niulu under the Two White Flags of the Dorgon brothers, these Han Army Niulu were under the direct command of Shi Tingzhu, the Two White Banners Han Army Gushan Ezhen.

Huang Taiji's actions not only diluted the loyalty of the Two White Banners to the Dorgon brothers, but also placed countless informants loyal to him within the Two White Banners.

The same is true for the two red flags of Daishan and the blue flag of Jierhalang.

Because these old Han armies from the Nuerhachi era and the so-called Tianyou soldiers, Tianzhu soldiers and other new Han armies who have returned since Tiancong are completely loyal to Huang Taiji, not other Eight Banners dignitaries.

So are these arrangements by Huang Taiji useful?

Of course it was useful. On the one hand, this strengthened the power of the entire Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, and on the other hand, it effectively restricted the ambitions of the Dorgon brothers.

Especially after Huang Taiji died of a sudden illness, his arrangement played an important role.

The large number of Han troops Niulu organized in the Two White Banners greatly increased the number of people in the Two White Banners, but it reduced the Dorgon brothers' control over the Two White Banners.
Chapter completed!