Click the image for details Text by Liu Chunxiong / Teacher Liu's Forum (ID: liuchunxiong1964) Why choose this topic? Mainly because the topic of 'transformation' is hot right now, and I wanted to seek inspiration from history. Historian Ma Licheng wrote a book, "Historical Turning Points: A Record of Reform and Change in Chinese Dynasties." On the cover, the author poses a question: There is a mystery in traditional Chinese history: more than a dozen dynastic changes succeeded, while more than a dozen major reforms mostly failed. That's a good question! Worth pondering. 1 Joint Training When the Qing Dynasty conquered the realm, it relied on the Eight Banners. Later, when the Eight Banners declined, the Green Standard Army replaced them. During the Taiping Rebellion, the early stages relied mainly on the Green Standard Army. Hong Xiuquan's swift advance was also because the Green Standard Army had lost its fighting capability. Zeng Guofan initially, while in mourning, helped organize local militia (tuanlian), mainly to make up for the shortage of Green Standard Army numbers. At first, he didn't intend for the militia to fight the Taiping army; it was mainly for suppressing bandits and protecting the people. At the beginning of organizing the militia, Zeng Guofan had the intention of reforming the Green Standard Army, as shown by having the militia and the Green Standard Army train together. Logically, the Green Standard Army was more professional than the militia, so in joint training, the Green Standard Army should lead the militia. But in fact, it was the opposite: Zeng Guofan led the Green Standard Army in training. Why did Zeng Guofan take over the leading role? Because the Green Standard Army didn't take training seriously. Since Zeng Guofan was willing to take charge, they simply let him do it. During the joint training, although Zeng Guofan was dissatisfied with the Green Standard Army, he still discovered many useful talents, whom he later employed. 2 Failed Reform If joint training had worked, history might have been different. But under Zeng Guofan's training methods, the Green Standard Army couldn't bear it. It turned out that those Green Standard soldiers were used to being lazy, training only once or twice a month at most. Even on those few occasions, not many showed up; they would hire someone to substitute for a few coins, while they slept, went to restaurants, or visited brothels. The training was nominal: gather, roll call, march a bit, wave weapons a few times, and it was done. They routinely skipped training in the hottest and coldest weather. Zeng Guofan's training style was completely different. The main militia trained for more than four hours a day, with strict attention to detail and no tolerance for sloppiness. He himself went to the training ground several times a day to supervise strictly. As a result, the Green Standard soldiers had to stay there too. On the regular training days (the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, and 28th of the lunar month), they had to assemble before dawn. Those veteran Green Standard soldiers, rubbing their sleepy eyes, hastily put on their uniforms, and followed groggily, all grumbling. Zeng Guofan never left the training ground all day, so the soldiers had no choice but to practice over and over. By the end of the day, they were exhausted. As soon as they returned to camp, they would curse: "Zeng Guofan is just a militia minister; what right does he have to control us!" "Training with those farmers is a disgrace!" 3 Conflict with the Green Standard Army Once, the concubine of a Green Standard deputy general had a birthday, and he sent out invitations for a grand celebration. Coincidentally, that day was the 8th, a training day. Zeng Guofan, in his capacity as militia minister, issued a notice for a grand joint drill of the Green Standard Army and militia at the south gate parade ground. During roll call, Zeng Guofan found that the Changsha Xie Left Battalion, which should have had 500 men, had fewer than 300. He immediately became angry and stopped the drill. He then sent people into the city to find the absentees and record their names. That evening, Zeng Guofan submitted a memorial to the emperor, requesting the removal of the deputy general. This enraged the Green Standard Army. "Pass my order: from tomorrow, the regular troops will no longer drill with the militia," ordered the Green Standard high command. Not only did they stop joint drills, but they also held a grudge from then on. Militia members were often beaten by Green Standard soldiers on the streets. 4 Forced to Retreat to Hengzhou Eventually, a conflict broke out between the Green Standard Army and the militia, and it was a large-scale drunken brawl, with over 100 Green Standard soldiers involved in the private fight. The fault lay with the Green Standard Army, and Zeng Guofan wanted to punish the instigators. The Green Standard Army expected the militia to apologize, but instead Zeng Guofan wanted to subject the troublemakers to military discipline. So, led by their ringleader, over 300 people rushed to Zeng Guofan's office. "If Zeng Guofan dares to kill our men, we'll kill Zeng Guofan." The ringleader even threatened Zeng Guofan with a knife to release the prisoners, and one soldier even pointed his blade at Zeng Guofan's forehead. Zeng Guofan had no choice but to call for Governor Luo Bingzhang, but to his surprise, the governor sided with the Green Standard Army. If the Green Standard Army was punished, who would fight? In the end, although the troublemakers were given dozens of lashes due to Zeng Guofan's authority, Governor Luo Bingzhang said, "The feud between the Green Standard Army and the militia will never be resolved in this lifetime." Although Zeng Guofan won this round, he could no longer organize the militia in Changsha. So he retreated to Hengyang, where he could organize the militia without interference, and it was there that he trained the Xiang Army. 5 Reflections

  • 1. Was the conflict between the militia and the Green Standard Army accidental or inevitable? Zeng Guofan was a great Confucian of modern times who achieved merit, virtue, and words, and had experience in the Six Ministries, yet he still had intense conflicts with the Green Standard Army. I believe this conflict was inevitable and structural, unless the militia was assimilated by the Green Standard Army.
  • 2. In the governor's mind, the Green Standard Army remained the main reliance. Wars depended on the Green Standard Army, while the militia could only protect the area and suppress bandits. When the authorities had such a mindset, in any conflict, they would inevitably side with the Green Standard Army. Although Zeng Guofan impeached the deputy general and the emperor approved, the deputy general was just a representative of the Green Standard Army; there were many such people. Could the emperor dismiss them all?
  • 3. Zeng Guofan's brilliance lay in his rapid retreat to Hengzhou, developing rapidly on the periphery. When the war was won, the periphery became the pillar.
  • 4. There is no transformation; only new forces replace traditional forces. Whether it was the Green Standard Army replacing the Eight Banners, the Xiang Army replacing the Green Standard Army, or later the Beiyang Army and New Army replacing the Xiang and Huai armies, it was always the rise of new forces that then replaced the old. Without such replacement, it might have led to a change of dynasty.
  • 5. There were many talented people in the Green Standard Army, but they were buried in the overall atmosphere. In a new environment, they could stand out.
  • 6. There were thirty or forty militia organizers like Zeng Guofan, but only Zeng Guofan succeeded. This shows that the success rate of new forces is also very low. -END-