Great Han Empire

Chapter 428 Command and Dispatch of Ancient Chinese Army
Command and Dispatch of Ancient Chinese Army
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The system is "separation of powers" under the emperor: administrative power, military power, and supervisory power are juxtaposed.As Yuan Shizu Kublai Khan said: Zhongshu Province (the highest administrative institution) is my left hand, the Privy Council (the highest military institution) is my right hand, and Yushitai (the highest supervisory institution) is what I use to heal these two hands.
Even if the military power is directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor, it still cannot reassure the emperor.Therefore, it is necessary to further decompose the military power and put it under heavy mutual surveillance, even if it reduces the operational effectiveness of the military machine.As a result, a complicated military command and dispatch system has been formed in the past dynasties.Its main principles are roughly as follows:
Separation of strategic decision-making power and military command power,
Separate the organization and training power of the army from the command power in wartime,
Separate the personnel power of the army from the command power of the army,
Separate the command of the theater from the command of combat units.
1. Civil and military separation
China was still in the tribal state until the Spring and Autumn Period, and nobles at all levels held political power.The princes, princes, uncles, sons, and male nobles below Zhou Tianzi were entrusted to form countries in various places, and they were named "vassal princes".In the court of Emperor Zhou, nobles such as Gong, Qing, and Dafu presided over the government, and the monarchs of various vassal states also relied on Qing, Dafu and other nobles to manage government affairs. There were Sima in charge of military affairs and Sikou in charge of justice, etc., but these nobles had their own fiefdoms. , fief, all hereditary positions, named "Shiqing Shilu".
Qings are divided into upper, middle, and lower, and doctors are also divided into upper and lower. Generally, there is no clear classification of civil and military officials. They usually handle government affairs in the court, and some are designated by the emperor or the monarch to be in power and control the overall situation; During the period, general ministers were ordered to lead the army as "shuai" or "general" (both meaning commanding). According to "Gongyang Biography", if the leading nobleman had a high status and a large army, he was called "handsome". ; If the noble status of the leader is high and the army is small, they are called "generals".Since Shangqing often leads the army, he is also honored as "general".Before the battle, the generals and commanders will assign doctors to tactical command positions such as "wei", "yu", and "right".
During the Warring States period, the original old clan nobles gradually withdrew from the political arena, and the new nobles who grew up with the original "scholar" as the main body took full control of the government affairs of various countries.For example, the Qin State implemented the [-]th-class military title system and established a new noble hierarchy.These new nobles did not have hereditary status. Their aristocratic status came from their loyalty to the king and their literary and martial arts. Their fiefdoms were only a supplement to their salaries, and their titles were different from those in the past.At the beginning, like the nobles in the past, they ruled the court and led the army.
With the strengthening of the centralization of autocratic monarchies in various countries, the new aristocrats transformed into professional bureaucrats.At the same time, due to the increasing frequency of wars, the continuous expansion of the scale and area of ​​operations, the continuous extension of combat time, the increasingly complex forms of combat, and the diversification of soldiers, it is necessary to have full-time officers as commanders.The "Lieutenant", who was just a temporary field commander, gradually became a full-time officer.
By the end of the Warring States period, all countries had established a system of professional officers: "Wei" is the collective name for military officers, and those who command a "department" of troops are called "Buwei" or "Xiaowei". ", is the local commander; there is "duwei" above, which can command a certain theater or campaign direction; the imperial court set up "Guowei" (or "Taiwei"), which is equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the army and is on the same level as the prime minister .Later, the state of Qin also set up full-time military officers such as "Lieutenant" to guard the capital and "Weiwei" to guard the court.
Although the professional officer system had been formed, the practice of expressing rank by knight title was still retained at that time, and "general" mainly refers to field commanders.
For example, Shang Yang presided over the reform as "Leader Zuo Shu", which was the tenth-level title of the Qin State at that time. Four years later, he was promoted to "Da Liang Zao" (No. 4 title) for his meritorious service in presiding over the reform, and led the siege of Anyi (now Xia County, Shanxi) in Wei State.In 16 BC, Shang Yang was appointed as a "general" and led the attack on Wei.He set up a trap and tricked his old friend from the past, Prince Ang, the general of the Wei State, to come to the battle to reminisce with him, captured him alive, and then took the opportunity to attack on a large scale, winning a big victory.So he was named the highest title "Liehou", and he was granted the title of merchant in the local 340 "Yi".
Bai Qi, a famous general of Qin State, was Zuo Shuzhang in 294 BC, "the general attacked the new city of Han".After winning, the title will be promoted to "Zuo Geng" (No.12 rank).In the second year, as a "general", he commanded the Qin army and the coalition forces of Han and Wei to fight in Yique, beheading 24 people, and captured Gongsun Xi, the commander of the coalition forces, and captured 5 cities.So he was appointed as "National Captain".In the next year, the title was promoted to "Da Liang Zao", and he commanded the attack on Wei State again, capturing 61 large and small cities.After that, he attacked Wei, Zhao, and Chu successively, forcing Chu to move its capital.The State of Qin changed Ying, the original capital of the State of Chu, to Nanjun, and granted Baiqi the title of Liehou, titled "Jun Wu'an".During the Changping War, Bai Qi was secretly appointed as the "General" to command the final battle.Later, because of conflicts with the prime minister at the time, Fan Sui, Bai Qi was dismissed from his official position and title, demoted to a "commoner" (civilian), and was finally forced to commit suicide.
Another example is Zhao She, a famous general of the State of Zhao, who defeated the Qin army in the "Battle of Yanyu" in 269 BC, and was named Liehou, named "Ma Fujun"; Po and Lin Xiang are in the same place.
When the officers of the Qin Army went out to fight, their ranks were often indicated by their titles. For example, in 260 BC, the "Leader of the Zuo Shu" Wang Yan attacked Shangdang in South Korea.In the second year, Qin State sent the "Five Doctors" Wang Ling to attack Zhao State Handan.
At the end of the Warring States period, countries gradually used the official position of the military attache to directly express the rank. "General" can also directly express the rank besides the meaning of the field commander.The career officer system has been fully formed.
The commanders sent by Qin State to fight after King Zhuangxiang of Qin ascended the throne (249 BC) were all called generals, and titles were no longer used to indicate rank.In 247 BC, Wei Wuji, the king of Xinling who had fled the misfortune and lived in Zhao as an overseas Chinese, recalled Wei Wuji, commanded the Allied Forces of the Five Kingdoms in the name of "Super General", and defeated the Qin army commanded by General Meng Ao of Qin.
When Qin Wangzheng launched a unification war to conquer the six countries in an all-round way, he no longer granted marquis or fiefdoms to generals with military exploits.In 226 BC, the State of Qin planned to destroy the State of Chu. The brave general Li Xin, who was famous for chasing Prince Yan with thousands of people, claimed that only 20 people would be enough to destroy Chu. The King of Qin was very happy. A big defeat was fought, two forts were breached, and seven captains were killed.The king of Qin had no choice but to go to the place where the old general Wang Jian lived in seclusion to ask him to be the commander in chief of destroying Chu.Wang Jian asked for an army of 7, and asked King Qin for "beautiful fields and gardens." Huidu asked the king of Qin for a beautiful house in a fertile field, and acted like he only knew how to get benefits and had no ambitions, so as to appease the king of Qin.
Qin Shihuang conquered six countries and established the first dynasty in Chinese history with absolute monarchy and centralized power.In the government agencies of the Qin Dynasty, the two professional bureaucratic systems of civil and military have been fully formed.The military officer system of the imperial court includes the Taiwei who is listed as the "Three Dukes" with the prime minister and the Yushi doctor, the Lang Zhongling who guards the palace gate, the guard who commands the palace guards, the lieutenant who guards the capital area, and the guard captain who supervises the military officer. .Some official positions with "wei" are civil servants. For example, the court lieutenant is in charge of judicial judgment, and the lord and lieutenant are in charge of title awards. They have always been civil servants.
When going out to fight, commanders with different titles such as generals, generals, generals, generals, etc. are appointed.The local government also adopts the system of separating civil and military forces, and the county lieutenant and county lieutenant are in charge of the command of the local army and are responsible for local defense and public security.Checkpoints were also set up on major traffic arteries in various places, and "Guan Duwei" were sent to guard and guard.
The Han Dynasty basically followed the Qin system, and still used "Wei" as the general name for military officials, and made it clear that civil and military officials expressed their ranks by the amount of their annual salaries.Taiwei (later renamed Da Sima), as the highest military officer, is listed as "Three Dukes" and his annual salary is "Wanshi" (actually 4200 hu).The "Jiuqing" below the three princes, the annual salary is "Zhongerqianshi" (actually 2160 hu), and the military officers are listed as Jiuqing with Guang Luxun (renamed by Lang Zhongling) and Wei Wei.Although Zhijinwu (renamed as the lieutenant) is not listed as Jiuqing, he is also "Zhong Erqianshi".The main deputies of the most senior military officers of the imperial court are called "Cheng", usually there are 2 people, and the rank is "Qianshi" (actually 960 hu).In addition, Emperor Wu set up the city gate, center base, Tuenqi, infantry, Yueqi, Changshui, Huqi, Shesheng, and Huben "eight school lieutenants", with a slightly lower level, named "Two Thousand Stones" (actually 1440 hu) .The level of the local county lieutenant is slightly lower than that of the "two thousand stones", which is "bi two thousand stones" (actually 1200 hu); "(actually 600 hu).
There are also many "wei" who are not real military officers. In addition to the Tingwei and Duwei who inherited from the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also set up "Duwei Fengche" to be in charge of the emperor's cars, and "Duwei" to be in charge of the emperor's car. The emperor's horse, "Shuiheng Duwei" is in charge of the emperor's garden, and the grade is "bierqianshi".Some changed from military officers to civilian officials. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up "Sili Xiaowei", who was originally a military officer in charge of detecting and suppressing major political crimes in the capital area.
The title of "general" in the Western Han Dynasty still had the nature of a commander in the field or a certain army, and it was not considered the official title of a military attache, so the rank was not fixed.For example, when fighting against the Xiongnu, Wei Qing was the commander-in-chief of the whole army, and he was named "General"; For example, "General Caiguan", "General Louchuan", "General Xiaoqi" and so on.
As a commander, the general has the power to organize a command post. He can organize the "shogunate" (so named because it is set up in the tent of the military camp) by himself, and appoint "Sima" and "Changshi" and other staff members.
In the future, the general will be set up for a long time and become a formal official position.The Eastern Han Dynasty officially defined the "General" as the highest official of the imperial court, and later it was generally only used to reward the relatives (relatives of the queen) who were in charge of the court.Below are Huqi, Cheqi, General Wei, Fubo, Fujun, Zhongjun, Sizheng, Sizhen, Longxiang, Dianjun, Shangjun, Fuguo, etc. If you add "Kaifu" The title of "Yitong Sansi" (kaifu means that a formal yamen organization can be established) is also related to the three levels of fairness.
The Three Kingdoms, Two Jins, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties were the period when the names of generals were most indiscriminate.Cao Wei set up a "central leading general" under the general to command the central army group, and changed the guard captain to the guard general to preside over the selection and appointment of military attaches.In the future, the two highest-level generals will be gradually added.Others include left and right guard generals, Xiaoqi generals, and guerrilla generals.After the implementation of the nine-rank official system, all the generals or the generals who opened the mansion were listed as the first rank, the generals such as hussars, chariots, leaders, and guards were the second rank, the left and right guards, and the front, rear, left, and right generals were the third rank. Wei is the fourth rank.Military attaches such as Changshi, Sima, Zhubu, and Junjun who served as staff officers in the general's mansion were fifth or sixth rank.The basic officer is still named as "Lieutenant", and the lowest Saiwei is the ninth rank.Later, more and more generals became more and more generals. In the Jin Dynasty, there were 40 titles of generals, and the titles of generals had nothing to do with the command positions they assumed. It was even customary for the front, rear, left, and right generals to be given to civilian officials, such as In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi was the "General of the Right Army".However, there are as many as 240 general titles in Nanliang, which are divided into 44 classes in addition to distinguishing grades.There were more than 60 generals in the Northern Wei Dynasty, all of whom were used to "reward Xunyong", and had no military command authority.
During this period, the official position actually serving as the commander of the theater or the front army was renamed "dudu".At first, this was the position of commander-in-chief of the whole army. For example, in 216 AD, Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Dun to "supervise the 26th Army" as a general, and in 222, Cao Zhen "supervised all Chinese and foreign military forces" as a general.In the future, the establishment will become more and more indiscriminate, and a military region the size of a state or a county will also have a governor.The system of the Jin Dynasty: the command of the whole army is "supervisors of all armies" and "supervisors of China and foreign countries", and the temporary command of "supervisors of all armies". According to the hierarchy, "envoy Chijie" has the right to kill the governor and below, "Chijie" has the right to kill people without official positions, and "false festival" can only execute those who violate military orders.This system was inherited by successive dynasties in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Except for some generals who commanded the troops directly under the imperial court, only generals with the title of governor were real military officers.In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, another "Marching Chief" was set up as the commander of the front army.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, each of the 12 imperial guards set up a general of the third rank.The following guards have generals, from the third rank; long history, from the sixth rank; record and participate in the military, from the eighth rank; below there are other officers who join the army, division ranks, school lieutenants, brigade commanders, team leaders, and deputy teams.Local governments (called "Huqi" and "Yingyang" in the Sui Dynasty, and Zhechong Prefecture in the Tang Dynasty) set up Zhechong Duwei, according to the ranks of the military's upper, middle, and lower ranks, from the fourth rank to the fifth rank; The deputy is Captain Guoyi, from the fifth rank to the sixth rank; the other generals, from the seventh rank to the seventh rank; From the ninth grade to the next.The subordinates include junior officers such as school lieutenants, brigade commanders, and captains.
These are military officers in peacetime. In wartime, those with the prince as the commander-in-chief are called marshals, and those who are in charge of civil and military officials in the theater are called general managers.The border military region set up "Jiedushi", because "on the day of the order, the festival (representing the emperor's token)" was given, and it was able to have the arbitrary power of military command.There are ambassadors, deputy envoys, judges and other subordinate officials who command the garrison.It was originally held by civil servants, but it was gradually changed to full-time generals in the later period of Emperor Xuanzong's reign.After the Anshi Rebellion, Jiedushi was also generally set up in the mainland, which became a professional title of senior military officer.But there is actually no official level.Its rank depends on the other official positions held by the Jiedushi. For example, the early Jiedushi often held the title of Shangshu, which is the highest-ranking official.Some of the later Jiedu envoys were given the rank of the 12th General of the Central Army, and some were given the title of Taiwei, or the title of "Tongping Zhangshi under Zhongshu Menxia", and the ranks were quite confusing.
Due to the historical lessons of the warlord separatism and military dictatorship in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the rulers of the Song Dynasty deliberately implemented the policy of "suppressing military affairs with literature". Generally speaking, the actual rank of military officials was greatly reduced.In addition, the system of separating "official" and "post" was implemented, so that the rank of military attache was not necessarily related to the military position he held.The highest rank of military officer is still "Taiwei", but only from the second rank, and it is only an honorary title, which can be awarded regardless of civil or military.At the same time, the titles of generals and lieutenants from the previous dynasty were retained, but they were only used as "gifts" for military attaches, and only had the meaning of honorary titles. Some even had the title of "general", but they were actually just officials without rank.
The rank of the military officer is expressed by "so-and-so envoy" (changed to such-and-such doctor in the late Northern Song Dynasty), such as the traditional title: Jiedu envoy (from the second rank), Chengxuan envoy (the fourth rank), and the observation envoy (the fifth rank ), as well as defense envoys, regiment training envoys, governors, etc. (all from the fifth rank), or the new creations of the Song Dynasty. deputy envoy".At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the senior military officer was changed to "so-and-so doctor" with the character "wu" series, and the low-level military officer was changed to "so-and-so lang".But they are all empty titles, which only indicate the amount of salary.
The real highest military position is the chief of the "Three Offices" of the imperial court, that is, the "commander of the capital" of the Dianqian Division, the Guards Horse Army Division, and the Guards Infantry Division, often with only a fourth or fifth rank official title.And it is clear that civil servants can govern military officials, but military officials must never govern civilian officials.In front of civil servants of higher rank than himself, the military officer had no choice but to bow his head and obey orders.
During the rule of the Liao, Xixia, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, they generally kept the names of military officers of the Central Plains dynasties while maintaining the characteristics of their own tribes.For example, the Jin Dynasty established by the Jurchen tribe continued to use the titles of Du Check, Du Commander, and various generals since the Tang and Song Dynasties. Generals and so on have their own ranks. At each key point, set up a general in charge of the military and civilians, who is the third rank; or set up a military town, set up a festival, and follow the third rank.The tribal army is still commanded by Meng'an and Mouk.
Most of the Privy Council, the highest military commanding body in the Yuan Dynasty, consisted of military attaches who acted as privy envoys and deputy envoys. They can be called the highest level of military attaches, and they were the first rank.The commanding envoys who command the guards of the imperial court, as well as the "Wanhu" and the commanding envoys of the Mongolian army in various places are all of the third rank, the "thousand households" are the fifth rank, and the "hundred households" are the seventh rank.At the same time, it also inherited the titles of generals and lieutenants of the previous generation, and added titles to military officers as military officers.
The Ming Dynasty established the country with military force, but learned from the lessons of the Song Dynasty, it did not adopt the policy of restraining military force with literature.The highest military organization is set up as the five governors' mansions of the Central Army, the Left Army, the Right Army, the Front Army, and the Rear Army.The command envoys of the guards of the imperial court are all of the third rank, and the military chiefs of each province are all of the command envoys of the second rank, which is higher than the chief executive of the province (from the second rank).The commanders of the local guards are also officials of the third rank, the thousand households of the thousand households are the fifth rank, and the hundred households of the hundred households are the sixth rank, which are much higher than the county magistrates (the seventh rank).In the novel "Jin Ping Mei", the bully Ximen Qing later got the rank of "Thousand Households", and the county magistrate had to salute him when he saw him.In this way, the Ming Dynasty became one of the dynasties with the highest rank of military officers in history.
However, just like in previous dynasties, this series of military officers did not work well after the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The imperial court successively set up "general soldiers" as the commander-in-chief of a certain army in various places. Mid-level officers such as generals, guerrillas, and garrison serve as commanders of grassroots units.In addition, officers with titles such as Qian Zong and Ba Zong will be appointed to organize and command small troops.However, above these military attaches, those who have the command of the theater are often the "admirals", "governors", and "economic strategists" sent by the imperial court to serve as civil servants.
After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the rank of officers of the Eight Banners soldiers was quite high, and all the banners were unified as Cong Yipin, and the generals stationed in the Eight Banners in various places were also Cong Yipin (formerly Zheng Yipin, which was changed to Cong Yipin during the Qianlong period).The deputy capital commander who has the full authority to command the Eight Banners of a certain city is the second rank.The following are the general manager (the third rank), the deputy chief manager (the fifth rank), the city guard (the third rank), the defense captain (the fourth rank), the leader and the co-leader (the third rank).The sequence of officers of the Green Battalion followed the practice at the end of the Ming Dynasty, with the admiral (from the first rank) as the highest-ranking officer, followed by the chief soldier (the second rank), the deputy general (the third rank), and the generals (the third rank), guerrillas (from the third rank), Officers at the ranks of Dusi (fourth rank), garrison (fifth rank), and junior officers "Qian Zong" (from the sixth rank) and "Ba Zong" (seventh rank) are also very high-ranking.
Generally speaking, the level of military officers was comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty, but more attention was paid to coordinating the relationship between the levels of local administrative officials and civil servants, and they generally tried to achieve equal levels.Also like the Ming Dynasty, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty generally avoided appointing military attaches as commanders of a large theater of war as much as possible, but were accustomed to sending civilian officials from the imperial court to command theaters or military regions.
In the early Qing Dynasty, it became a common practice that a large military region composed of several provinces would be commanded by a governor (cong yipin) with the title of censor of the right capital of the imperial court, and a provincial military region would be commanded by a governor (second rank) with the title of right minister of the imperial military department.Theoretically speaking, the governor is equal to the admiral, and the governor is equal to the commander-in-chief, but in fact, these military officers have to kneel down and pay respects when they see the governor and governor.This is the case even in the localities, and the magistrates who always see the same level cannot be treated equally.
(End of this chapter)