forth they became the nucleus of the army of occupation, being particularly necessary to guard the palace, the city of Peking, Chihli, and the northern and northwestern frontiers. Their numbers gradually swelled to more than two hundred thousand, an overwhelming proportion of which were in Manchuria, Turkestan, and Chihli.[1] They inherited their rights to enrollment.
The primary aim of holding firmly the imperial domain of Manchuria and the metropolitan province against attacks from Mongolia and Turkestan was apparent. The Chihli garrisons were so distributed as to form a cordon about the capital, while the large garrisons in the northwestern provinces of Shensi, Kansu, and Shansi were vital outposts. In the other parts of China garrisons were generally placed in the provinces where a viceroy lived, except in the distant Yuunan-Kweichow.[2] Kwangsi, Hunan, Kiangsi, and Anhui, having governors only, were
- ↑ The figures for 1850, based on the statistics of 1825, but approximately correct, give the following totals:
Grand divisions Officers Privates* Supernumeraries† Artificers Chichli, 16 7,919 131,493 31,694 2,538 Manchuria, 4 1,086 41,350 1,138 1,568 Turkestan, 1 289 13,576 504 128
Total 9,294 186,419 33,336 4,234 The other provinces of China proper1,297 49,595 8,088 1,011
Grand total 10,591 236,014 41,424 5,245 * Privates: including non-commissioned officers.
† Supernumeraries: those eligible to active service, from whom promotions were made.
But of the numbers in China proper, Shensi (1 division), Kansu (6 divisions), and Shansi (3 divisions) had about half, leaving the other half for eight provinces. The above tables are from the Chinese Repository, XX.
- ↑ Owing possibly to the fact that this was originally given as a fief to Wu San-kwei, and was too far away, after the rebellion, to be held by a small force.
