Bao Qing Si Zhi Ming pointed out: "At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, we gathered soldiers from all over the world, camped in Gyeonggi, and fought in the south and the north, so we sent troops from it. Therefore, only the three soldiers are called imperial soldiers, and the counties are guarded by the Xiang army. " [3]
(Volume 7) This is a high-level summary of the military functions of the Xiang Army. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Xiang Army was one of the standing armies guarding various places. According to the General Theory of Martial Arts, "Zhou Bing" was an integral part of the garrison on the border and around the Song Dynasty. For example, the following officers are deployed in the garrison of "Zhiben Road" on Dingzhou Road, and the eight state armies of unity, security, depth, qi, Guangxin, Shun 'an and Yongning are deployed. This road was more guarded by state soldiers and forbidden brigades sent by the imperial court, and also led the township army and volunteers, with 58 general headquarters and 28,348 people, and transferred to Li Xian "[4].
(Last episode (Volume 16). In the historical records of the Song Dynasty, the Xiang army was called "state soldier" in many cases, and the "state soldier" here refers to the Xiang army, which also reflects the defense and garrison functions of the Xiang army to some extent.
Ministers in the Song Dynasty also talked a lot about the defense and garrison functions of Xiang Army. In June of the third year of Qing Dynasty (1043), Fan Zhongyan pointed out: "I secretly know that there are no fewer than 200,000 imperial and Xiang armies in Shaanxi. Autumn is near, so we must cultivate and practice them, and then we can achieve great things, care about food and clothing, make them strong, accumulate money and silks as rewards, treat them with pleasure, and punish them with punishment." In this way, when soldiers have fighting spirit, they will increase their anger. Although 200 people are United as one, we must be strong in defense, strong in war and predictable in peacetime. " [5]
(Volume 14 1 Jia Zi in June of Three Years) Li Qing four years (1044), analyzing Beijing, Pakistan, Hebei, Qi, Bao, Ying, Mo and Cang, on the "frontier and sub-frontier". * * * Counting the important military significance and troop deployment of the Nineteen Cities, it is pointed out that "when there is nothing to do today, there are 180,000 soldiers stationed in grain and 50,000 soldiers in the city. When soldiers are used, the number of soldiers will increase by about 100,000." [5]
(Volume 150 "June of the Fourth Year of Wu"). Fan Zhongyan and Fu Bi's comments show that the Shaanxi-Hebei-Hunan Army, like the imperial army, also has the military function of guarding the local area.
There are also many fragmentary records about the specific situation of Xiang troops stationed in various places. For example: (1) Emperor Zhenzong lived in Xianping for five years (1003), "Huan, Qing and other states selected 4,500 brave men from more than 6,000 people and paid them to be stationed one by one to replace the forbidden soldiers" [2].
(ice bully). (2) In the sixth year of Injong (1046), he became acquainted with Bingzhou, and changed to Ze, Lu, Lin, Fu, Lan and Shi, with all the military and horses in tune. "At that time, there were twelve people under Ma Su's command", and Jian Zheng "trained by himself, and there were no soldiers and horses." This 3,000-strong army became the backbone of Jian Zheng's preparations, so he secretly transferred tens of thousands of garrison troops back to the capital, so that "all troops were rested and the cost was reduced by several and a half times" [6].
(The Epitaph of Wensu Gong Zheng (Volume 36). (3) During the reign of Zong Xining, Wang Zhongzheng, who was sent with imperial equipment, recruited people to be archers and used them to defend troops in the provinces. Transshipment enabled Zhao Zi to improve its military policy for several reasons, instead of paying the cost [5].
(November of Xining Six Years, Volume 248). In the fifth year of Xining (1072), the imperial edict in October said: "Xihe Road will be set up along the fourth road along the border. When a thief enters the country, he will be handed over accordingly. Anyone who is in the land of Fan Bu will be guarded by the Xiang army. " [5]
(Volume 239 "October of Xinning Five Years") (4) In the second year of Zhezong Yuanfu (1099), "I heard that Xiang was robbed by thieves, but I was reported to have lived in exile", so the court ordered "Xiang in Xia Pingcheng and other places is unknown, but still supports it, such as living for three years" [5]
(Renchen in November of the second year of Fu Yuan, Volume 5 18). Therefore, the city is also guarded by Xiang. The above examples show that the Xiang army has a considerable number of troops for border defense in the northern and northwestern border areas, and participates in garrison and performs garrison and other military tasks together with the imperial army. The elite can replace the original imperial soldiers.
It should be pointed out that the frontier defense of Xiang Army is not a special case in individual areas or a specific period, but a common phenomenon in the Northern Song Dynasty. Xiang army was a standing military force in the external defense of the Northern Song Dynasty, second only to the imperial army. At the same time, the Xiang army in the mainland also has strong guarding function and potential deterrence. For example, in Renzong, "Jingxi was stolen", and Zhou Fang was "caught off guard and the people were in trouble". Chen Xiliang, the new magistrate, said, "A hundred people kill the prison, and the department will enjoy the night, and the people will be safe, and thieves will not dare to enter" [7].
(The Biography of Chen Xiliang, Volume 75). In the tenth year of Xining (1077), Fu Xuan proposed that "Guangyuan satrap was a state at the beginning, so it is necessary to prevent expansion. Take Xixi, Hehe and Yuanzhou as examples to make criminals prison cities. A letter from the army and sinners in South Huai Prefecture and Guangyuan Prefecture [5].
(The first month of the tenth year of Xining (Volume 280). Obviously, the purpose of setting up prison city in Guangyuan is to "prevent expansion".
In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Xiang army still had garrison functions. For example, Wang and Zhi Kuizhou proposed to the court that "combining Xiang and imperial army and attaching Wulin as regular army" in Ma Gang on West Road was an important harm to weaken the guarding role of Xiang and imperial army. The king said to:
Kuixia is also the gateway to Sichuan and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which is also the reason why Cao Cao defended and controlled his throat to strengthen the natural barrier. However, the land is narrow and sparsely populated, and there are many vacancies in the compartments and the imperial army. Every state is worried that it can't recruit people, and Yiling is different to prevent autumn. There is not much left. Less soldiers are tired of traveling, so it is necessary to have an endless horse outline, which not only consumes money and food, but also hinders teaching and reading You are afraid that the county is empty, and something has happened, which is no small matter. [8]
(Volume III "Re-discussion on the Form of Caravan") Kuizhou is the governor's mansion and the place where troops are stationed. Wang's statement just shows that the imperial army here not only teaches reading at ordinary times, but also plays the role of "defending" and "going out to defend". At the time, Zhu's students learned about the situation of Hanyang Army and actively prepared for the war. In his book "Five things about the convenience of playing in Hanyang", he thinks: "There are compartments between counties, and there are imperial troops. Not only do you have to prepare an order, Gai will make it go out, thinking it is for offensive and defensive purposes. " [9]
The comments in Volume 24 generally reflect the understanding of the military role of Xiang Army by Song officials. The above examples show that the Xiang army in all parts of the Song Dynasty generally had the functions of defense and garrison.
The rulers of Song Dynasty tried to strengthen the military functions of Xiang Army. For example, after the appearance of Xiang Army in Renzong period, the supreme ruler approved it and vigorously promoted it, hoping it could be used to "ban the army", and the military function of Xiang Army's external defense and internal repression was once again highlighted. Song Shenzong wrote in the imperial edict of June in the second year of Yexi Ning (1069): "The state and county compartments, that is, the soldiers guarded by the previous generation, should choose the strong ones, unite and teach, and often stay in the city to prevent thieves. Don't apply for help and guard the army in the future. " [ 10]
(Volume 12) further clearly endowed the teaching and learning compartments with the military function of guarding the local area instead of the imperial army. In the second year of Yuan You (1087), Wen Yanbo pointed out that "the secret courtyard is called the military home, with 500,000 soldiers inside and outside, but it is not limited. They are forbidden to use, and they are not only used for various buildings and chores "[18].
(Volume 29 "Collection of Military Affairs Departments and Offices"). Wen Yanbo not only expounded the necessity of the Privy Council's management of Xiang Army, but also revealed the military functions of Xiang Army in Song Dynasty.
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The military function of Xiang Army was also fully reflected in the military system of Song Dynasty. Garrison system is an important military system in the Northern Song Dynasty. There are many researches on the garrison system of the imperial army and related issues in academic circles, but few on the garrison system of the Xiang army. In fact, it was a wrong conclusion of Mitchell in the Yuan Dynasty that the Xiang army had no garrison in the Song Dynasty. The multi-garrison system was implemented not only in the imperial army, but also in the Xiang army. Song Qi said in the preface of Soldiers' Celebration Calendar that Xiang Army "defended more than once" [12].
(Volume 45) Historical Records of Countries in the Two Dynasties also said that the Xiang Army was "more heavily guarded" [1].
(Volume 152 "Bing Kao Si"). Injong, Cai Xiang knew Fuzhou, and experienced "the state was stationed in Guangnan, and the army was returned to Japan, and the number of people was less than half, six or seven times before and after" [13].
(Volume 26 "Begging to be stationed in Guangnan only moved to Xiajunzhou for Zhazi"). In March, the eighth year of Li Qing (1048), Ceng Gongliang, the magistrate, said in his book: "Since the ancestral system, the southeast states have only sent troops to garrison. As for the buffer region, the number of soldiers stationed in the berth has been increased, thinking that the next county-level repression has been going on for a long time, which is quite appropriate. " [ 14]
(Volume 147 "Shang Renzong answers current affairs of imperial edict painting") This shows that after the founding of the Northern Song Dynasty, the system of guarding the Xiang army was generally implemented in the southeast, with a wide distribution and a large number of guarding the Xiang army. Only the buffer region "increased the number of soldiers stationed in the berth", and the garrison task in the southeast region was mainly undertaken by the Xiang army. According to "Baoqing Sizhiming", Xiong Jie, the commander-in-chief of the imperial army in Mingzhou and the governor-in-chief of Xiang Jun, said, "At the beginning, you should keep more, while those in Zhejiang should keep more, and those in the river should keep more, so you want to learn unforgettable feelings." [3]
(Volume VII). Volume 18 of "Three Hills of Xichun" records in detail the situation that the Xiang Army of Fuzhou has been guarding Guangdong and Guangxi and the Xiang Army of Wailu has been guarding Fuzhou since the early Song Dynasty. Among them, Fuzhou Xiang Army defended Guangdong and Guangxi more often: (1) In the fifth year of Xianping (1002), "the rented Panghan sent One Happy and Fifth people to Fuzhou and stayed in Chaozhou"; (2) In the first year of He Zhi (1054), in Xiang Jun, Fuzhou, "forty people went to Zhou Xun and fifty people went to Guangxi and Yizhou; To two years, 45 people went to Tengzhou, 73 people went to Pennsylvania, and 48 people went to Rongzhou "; (3) In the eighth year of Xining (1075), the governor said: "Guangxi Money Administration Department and Yizhou stationed in Bo have taken full command of the grain-banned army and the teaching and reading army, and they are still replacing them", including "1,000 deformed troops stationed in Yongzhou and Fujian"; (4) In the tenth year of Xining (1077), "Fuke Guangyuan, Shiro and other states wanted to station military forces, and sent Fuzhou Guangjie First Command 1 10 people". In addition to being sent to Guangdong and Guangxi, the Xiang army in Fuzhou was also sent to the local state army in JaeHee Ning six years (1073). Foreign troops were also sent to Fuzhou to strengthen their garrison. In the sixth year (1053), "Fuzhou commanded 100 people in Fuzhou and still sent them back to Fuzhou"; In the second year of Jiayou (1057), "Fuzhou stationed in Chongjie, Fuzhou, Suzhou Prison City, Runzhou Water Army and other 80 people each, and sent people to replace them one by one from the city". From this point of view, some soldiers commanded by Fuzhou Riding and Shooting, Chongjie, Suzhou Prison City and Runzhou Water Army were also sent to Fuzhou in a certain period of time. Not only that, the Song government also stipulated the number of years that Xiang troops were stationed in the garrison. For example, in the sixth year of Jiayou (106 1), the Privy Council stipulated that "soldiers from Fujian Road will be stationed in Guangxi, and they will be relieved every two years" [15].
(Volume 13). The more troops played a role in guarding the local area, Su Song explained this clearly:
I fell to the southeast of Hangzhou to be a vassal, control the rivers and seas, and be in charge of all soldiers, thieves and officials. In the meantime, Bian Jiang, lakes and counties gathered and often built, but human feelings were frivolous and easy to shake. When you live in peace, you still need a dike. It's not easy to get old. There are many unemployed people, and thieves take advantage of it. Can you get ready? I secretly know that the imperial army has been stationed in Nanjing, Cao and Yunzhou Lane, but it was taken back by the general the year before last and has never been supplemented. Or I heard that it was recently sent, but it was still less than the number of people in the Yuan Dynasty. I want to ask the imperial court to suffer more disasters, so I specially parked it there for the commander of the nearest county car and the imperial army, and appointed the Ministry of Self-government to cut the volume. If there is a group of thieves on this road, the counties can't control them, so they will immediately measure the number of people, and the difference should be matched, so as to catch them together, so as not to make them panic. [ 16]
(Volume 19 "On the Southeast Can't Relax") Su Song once knew Hangzhou, and his comments on the garrison situation in Hangzhou should be credible. It can be seen that not only foreign troops have been stationed in Hangzhou, but also foreign troops stationed here have the same military function of internal repression as the imperial army. During the Yuanfeng period, due to the rise of the Xiang army, the garrison system of the Xiang army was cancelled.
In addition to the garrison system, the Song government also played the military function of suppressing the Xiang army internally through the governor system. Song system: "the inspection department has inspected along rivers and caves, or both barbarians and Han people;" Or several States and counties, or one state and one county. Responsible for training and treating military personnel, patrolling counties and cities and catching thieves. There are also the inspections of swordfish boats and battlements, the inspections of catching thieves along the Yangtze River and Huaihai, the inspections of Madian, and the inspections of smuggling tea and salt. " [3]
(Volume 3) It can be seen that the patrol in the Song Dynasty has the function of maintaining social order, and the Xiang Army was one of the basic military forces in the patrol system before the mid-Northern Song Dynasty. In June of the third year of Qing Dynasty (1043), Ouyang Xiu, a member of Zhijian Academy, wrote in Miscellaneous Words that "Wang Lun, a thief of Yizhou Army, passed through Chu, Thailand and other states and even rode a flag, like riding a nobody's land. However, due to the serious situation that the governor and county commandant were summoned by thieves, all their armor and equipment were disarmed, and a series of suggestions were put forward to investigate the responsibility of dereliction of duty officials and make up for it, which were adopted by the court. One of the measures is to allow local patrols to "recruit soldiers from their own teams, not stick to one pattern, and not be arbitrary, and listen to those who want to call the roll" [5].
(Volume 14 1 June of the Third Year of Li Qing). Cai Xiang also said in his notes that the Fuzhou Xiang Army sent to Guangnan was "under inspection again" [13].
(Volume 26, "Begging for a chariot in Guangnan only moves near Junzhou, saving time and making sacrifices"). This shows that whether in the south or the north, the Xiang army has been dispatched to patrol and perform the task of maintaining local public security. In the fifth year of Xining (1072), the court still decided that "the inspection department should leave the Xiang army to make it, and the rest of the soldiers should know about it" [5].
(Volume 235, No Noon in July of Xining Five Years). In the sixth year of Xining (1073), the Guangdong and Guangxi Salt Administration dispatched 1,000 people to ban the increasingly serious smuggling of salt, which was also approved. Wang Anshi commented on this: "In the six months from last year to this year, Zhejiang Province added 400,000 salt courses, and now it has increased to 250,000 courses. However, it is very convenient for us to recruit 40,000 troops and increase patrol inspections on this road. " He further pointed out that:
If my husband raises the salt class by one tenth or two, it will be enough to recruit more soldiers, so that people who speculate privately will never be punished again, which is one advantage. In coastal areas, there are soldiers stationed, so they can keep safe, which has two advantages. The increase of salt has three advantages. [5]
(Volume 247 "Geng Yin in October of Xining Six Years" Note) From Wang Anshi's exposition, it can be seen that the requirement of "Hui Wan Bing" on the two Zhejiang roads is actually to increase troops. In Wang Anshi's view, these troops can not only ban illegal salt and maintain law and order under inspection, but also be important military forces in garrison areas. The above examples fully show that it is quite common for the Song government to use Xiang troops in inspections. Before the mid-Northern Song Dynasty, Xiang Army had been the backbone of the patrol and played an important role in maintaining social order and ensuring social stability.
Before Yuanfeng, there were not only troops in the governor, but also the imperial army. During the Yuanfeng period, the composition of the governor's troops began to change. In July of the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), Qiu Xiaozhi, the executioner of Fujian Road, said: "All the soldiers under inspection are mixed in the command post, imperial army or guest army. In the meantime, many westerners are unfamiliar with local places, and when they are old, they are forced to move because they know their way, mountains, water and people. As for Haidao, I am not used to learning and make it an enemy. There is no reason to win. Please order the local soldiers to be recruited one by one, half to recruit new people, and half to replace them with old people in the imperial army. Familiar with the old and the new, you can still get rid of the gap between the imperial army. " [ 15]
(Volume 19) A suggestion of Xiao Zhi was adopted by the court. "It is purposeful to make the army do its best to recruit soldiers under inspection, and it is not necessary to unite soldiers to be inspected" [3]
(Volume VII). In fact, Qiu Xiaozhi's suggestion and imperial edict are aimed at "localization" of scouts, which leads to changes in the composition of scouts. Since then, in October of Yuanfeng six years, in view of the disadvantages of the inspection department's use of troops, Sun Lan, the judge of Jingxi Road, was sent to put forward the suggestion of reusing Xiang:
Sun, a transfer judge sent by the whole law to Jingxi Road, said: "Look carefully at the legislative meaning of patrolling the local soldiers, that is, the natives are familiar with the local people's feelings and it is easy to catch thieves. During a recent state tour, I saw how old and weak the recruited soldiers are, and all those who can be arrested and stolen are not necessarily locals. If you want to choose a person from the supervision department to stay, you will stab the state army instead. " From it. [5]
(Volume 340 "Xin Si in October of Yuanfeng Six Years") Due to the unfavorable recruitment, the court resumed the system of using Xiang Army in the inspection, which also reflected the vacillating attitude of the court in the inspection. After Yuan You, Xiang began to gradually withdraw from the inspection department. Two years in Yuan You (1087), "I was still recruiting, with a long history and many relatives and neighbors, so I covered for each other. It is half of the amount of soldiers in each patrol. It is forbidden to rotate troops and change them every six months. Schools and sections are allowed to do so. Today, there are many places to be filled, and the imperial army is poor [3]
(Volume VII). In the second year of worshipping Ning (1069), another minister pointed out the disadvantage that "the imperial army always looks forward to the replacement period, but is not familiar with the way elsewhere" and suggested that "all soldiers should be levied according to Yuanfeng law" [3]
(Volume VII) actually copied Qiu Xiaozhi's suggestion. In August of that year, the soldiers of Zhedong Road Patrol were recruited according to law. Since then, the soldiers in the governor have replaced the imperial army and the Xiang army.
The volume 19 of "Three Mountains of Xichun" records in detail the use of Xiang Army under the inspection of Fujian Road. In Fujian Road, it is more common to teach troops to be scouts. In the second year of Xining (1069), when Song Shenzong emphasized the garrison function of the Xiang army, there were only 200 people in Fuzhou who taught, studied and guaranteed the festival (later changed to Guangjie Command), and "patrol the state boundary and the state army twice, and change the guard once a year" in the fifth year of Xining, Fujian Road (1073). The patrol of Houguan Sugarcane Island (the number of soldiers in the old management 180, which was set at 100 in Xining five years, and the state sent troops to make up for it) and the patrol of Fuqing Pine Forest (the number of soldiers sent by the state Xiang Army and the imperial army was 50) all served in the Xiang Army. It can be seen that maintaining public order under patrol is a basic task of Fujian Luxiang Army. A surname Xiao Zhi's proposal to recruit local soldiers with the inspection department was approved, and Fujian Road earnestly implemented it:
At that time, the Eighth Army of the National Army on this road was in charge of the old patrol, with 28 members and 3,500 soldiers. In addition to 800 people patrolling everywhere, the land is vast and the people are far away, and soldiers are still forbidden, there are 24,700 people and 350 people patrolling four members, and * * * 3,500 people, all recruiting. With half of the rated number, replace Xu Xiang and the Imperial Guard, eliminate 800 staff, teach and study Hirosuke 1200, and recruit 150. In addition to the reduction of seven national soldiers, the country has only reduced the number of One Happy and Fifty people. [ 15]
Volume 19 When the governor of Fujian Road implemented the policy of recruiting soldiers, all the governors "recruited soldiers" except "the land is far away and the forbidden soldiers are still there", but half of the troops were "Xu Xiang and the old soldiers in the imperial army were replaced" and some soldiers were "replaced" as soldiers, thus changing their original identities. Judging from the "reduction" of the number of people, the soldiers before the Fujian Road Inspection were all Xiang Army and Imperial Army, among them, except Guo Wei's 800 was Imperial Army, the rest were Xiang Army, which shows that Xiang Army accounted for the majority in the Fujian Road Inspection. According to the records in "Bao Qing Si Zhi Ming", the patrol situation of Qingyuan House in Zhejiang Road is roughly the same as that in Fujian Road, and the Xiang Army and the Imperial Army are also used. However, according to the provisions of Huang You, its "Hangzhou, Xiuzhou, Wenzhou, Taiwan and Ming borders govern the inspection of saltworks, and the inspection of tea and salt is not as good as that of soldiers on the city. These professional inspectors in charge of salt and tea affairs all use the Xiang army. In addition, until the fifth year of Xuanhe (1023), Xiang Jun [3] was still used for the inspection of Qingyuan Prefecture.
(Volume VII).
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Xiang Army's functions of external defense and internal repression are not only reflected in military deployment, garrison system and inspection system, but also in specific military actions. According to historical records, in different historical periods of the Song Dynasty, in the battle of foreign aggression and internal repression, Xiang's participation in the war was not an individual phenomenon. In this paper, the war cases of Xiang Army are researched, in order to fully understand the military role of Xiang Army from another side.
Judging from the historical facts of Xiang army's resistance to foreign invasion, it can be divided into three situations:
First, the imperial army was defeated, and the Xiang army fought bravely to kill the enemy, with remarkable results. In the third year of Yongxi (1 176), the Khitan Northern Expedition was defeated in the Song Dynasty. At that time, "Cao Bin and Liu Tingrang were defeated one after another, and the army killed tens of thousands of people. There are thousands of people who are dissatisfied with their fate and have no fighting spirit. He Shuo was frightened by the earthquake and learned that the villagers were soldiers guarding the city. They are all white disciples, never used to fighting, but they are all self-reliant and dare not defend the enemy. The enemy's potential has improved, and he has occupied the deep and harmonious areas, occupied Yizhou and killed the officials. After crossing the county town, those who could not attack captured the children in the village, set fire to them and left with gold and silver wires. Wei, Bobei, Xian suffered from it "[5].
("the first month of the fourth year of yongxi" (volume 28). The Song Dynasty was in an extremely passive state militarily. In December of the 3rd year of Yongxi (1 176), Zhang Qixian, the new magistrate of Daizhou, made a temporary decision at the critical moment when the Qidan army arrived in Daizhou and the reinforcements did not come. He "chose 2,000 Xiang troops to meet the enemy", "vowed to do the best of the people's feelings, but the enemy left" and "captured one of his sons, King Peking University, and set up a relic in front of the account.
("December of the third year of Yongxi", volume 27). This is a successful example of winning more with less, and winning the strong with weakness, and the Xiang army won a total victory. After that, the Khitan invaded south from Dashi Road at the beginning of Duangong. Zhang Qixian "planned in advance to divide Xiang's troops into five units, Fan Shi and Hunxian, and ordered:' If there are bandits in the west, Hunxian's troops should respond, and if there are bandits in the east, Fan Shi's troops should respond. Instead of fighting, the troops in the county will gather. To be, the fruit was defeated by countless soldiers "[4]
(Post-volume 10). Xiang army once again won the victory against Qidan. When Yongxi failed in the Northern Expedition and Song Jun was in an extremely passive position, Zhang Qixian's command troops repelled the invasion of Qidan twice in more than a year, which depended on Zhang Qixian's resourcefulness and strategizing as well as the heroic struggle of the participating troops. These two victories changed the passive military situation in the Song Dynasty to some extent.
The example of Xiang army winning more with less also happened in the battle with Xixia army. In the first year of Injong (104 1), the Xixia army attacked Fu Lin and captured Fengzhou in August.
(Volume 133 "Li Qing's first year of August B did not") "The soldiers are stationed in Liulibao, and the money and food are riding between the houses, and the two States are not out of the wall" [5]
("Geng Xu in September of the first year of Li Qing" (volume 133), Song Fang is at a military disadvantage. In this case, I knew that Gao Wei of Bingzhou was the frontier guard of the Qing army, who raised Xiang to meet the Xixia army and won the battle of Sansongling:
Yuan Hao rebelled and claimed to invade Guanlong. Please prepare our house after the announcement. It was a matter of time. The Qiang people entered the Kouhe River, fell into the Koulin family in Fengzhou, followed by Xuanshuaibing in Jing Ling, arrived in Tianmen Pass, entered the Tunfu Valley, and sent warriors to camp at night. He also raised more than 2000 people to cooperate with the Xiang army. He was appointed as the frontier guard of the Qing army and ordered Wang Kai to take the lead. The third army went to Songling, surrounded by thousands of thieves. The border troops of the Qing army rose up and beheaded more than a thousand people, which deserved to die. [2]
("Biography of Gao Qiong") According to "A Brief Introduction to the East Capital", the Qing border guards were founded by Yu Shizhen and Ren Shi when Hao Ming was a transit ambassador in Shaanxi. History says that Hao Ming "learned Tongzhou Army, gained 300 fighters, taught it to be a strong crossbow, and fought for the Qing Border Army, the bravest, and later Shaanxi and Hedong learned to establish this army" [7].
(The Biography of Hao Ming, Volume 63). The battle of Sansongling is a concrete example of the Qing army's border guards successfully resisting foreign invasion. In this campaign, in the case of disparity in strength between the two sides, the Song side formed the Qing border guards when the Xiang army chickened out, rose to kill the enemy and defeated the Xixia army, which fully demonstrated the strong combat effectiveness of the Xiang army. At the same time, the new Zhang Kang, who was in charge of the military affairs in Gou Linzhou, built a fortress outside Fuzhou and actively prepared for the war. Xiang army played an exemplary role in the battle;