At first it consisted of a few experimental units, but after 1901 it was envisioned as a regular and professional fully trained and equipped according to Western standards with a reserve.

Yuan became increasingly disrespectful of the dynasty and only loyal to the party from which he benefited; his defection to Cixi against the Guangxu Emperor was a major blow to the Hundred Days' Reform.

However, the Zongli Yamen retorted that disbanding such a large army would be extremely difficult and came out in favour of a more gradual program of reform with modernisation being extended to the existing forces.

[12] The Throne approved the creation of 2 German-style brigades but unlike previous reforms this was not a mere copy of drill and weapons but it followed German organisation patterns as well as German training and tactics in addition to drill and weaponry these were the Self-Strengthening Army of Zhang Zhidong and the Newly Created Army of Yuan Shikai.

[12] In late 1895 Yinchang was ordered to choose and instruct Manchu officers at the Tianjin Military academy in anticipation of them taking command.

[13] Zhang Zhidong declared in 1896 in a memorial to the Throne that the reason for German military pre-eminence was the universal education of its officer corps and asked for a military academy and railway school to be established in Nanjing this was approved and Zhang organised the training of 150 Chinese cadets under German instruction on a 3-year course involving techniques, strategy, tactics of the infantry, artillery engineers and both fortress and field artillery, surveying and cartography.

A German language school was established and 3 foreign officers instructed the cavalry, artillery and infantry, the upper organisation and staff components of the unit were also westernised as was the maintenance of telegraph communications and the introduction of night fighting something previously avoided by Chinese armies.

The Tartar-General of Heilongjiang even praised the ability of his forces in fighting bandits and their lack of reform whilst simultaneously admitting they would be useless in true combat additionally, spears and bows were still commonplace and the Heilongjiang general complained that it was too expensive to equip his entire force with rifles and instead asked for permission to make breech loaded jingals a weapon similar in cost.

The Throne complained of the lack of reform enacted in the provinces especially the continued corruption and military bloat caused by padded muster-rolls and the failure to disband the Green Standard Army, within the same edict the Throne called for new local militia and volunteer units to be raised and to replace the Green Standard; this was the same approach used 30 years earlier by Zeng Guofan and whilst it might have brought about a temporary boost to military power it would inevitably devolve back into corruption and stagnation as the Yong Ying had done.

However, the throne did pass an edict on the recommendation of Hu Yufen to abolish the military exam which was agreed to be phased out by 1900, the 10,000 strong Peking Field Force left to languish since 1865 was to be given a refresher course in western-style training.

[25] K'ang-i the President of the Board of war was sent on an inspection tour of 1899 to improve the defenses of Liangguang and to raise money in the aspect of finances he was successful being given the sobriquet "imperial high extortioner" by the foreign press.

[27] Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi jointly proposed the formation of an Imperial General Staff modelled on the Japanese equivalent and that the chief of the General Staff be a competent professional soldier not just a Noble or Imperial Clansmen this could have centralised military forces and allowed for a standardisation of training, pay and equipment and become an engine of reform however the Throne did not approve it until 1909.

The 2 initial divisions were to form a Corps of 19,120 men organised into 42 battalions with a total annual cost of 2,387,600 taels not including armament.

Yuan Shikai hired Japanese instructors and advisors and established many schools offering diverse courses such as topography and ballistics as well as sending cadets to be educated in Japan.

[32] Liu Kunyi as Viceroy of Liangjiang controlled the vital lower Yangtze region and began to organise new military forces.

[34] A division of the Changbei Jun was to consist of 2 infantry brigades a cavalry and artillery regiment, an engineer and transport battalion and a band.

[37] Robert Hart the Inspector-General of the Imperial Maritime Customs Service reasoned that the Qing weakness allowing Russia and Japan to wage war in Manchuria was due to fiscal weakness he therefore proposed a uniform land tax at a low rate that would yield 400,000,000 taels to the Dynasty to be controlled by the Central Government.

[38] The report called for the implementation of a western and Japanese style army system in China and to maintain a middle path between over and underspending respectively.

In 1904-1905 Yuan Shikai attempted to raise 10,000 men roughly a division but was blocked by the board of revenue as the figure of 3,000,000 taels required was seen as too heavy a burden.

In light of the Russo-Japanese war Yuan consolidated the disparate forces in Zhili forming 3 divisions of Chinese and a brigade of bannermen which was to be increased with additional battalions.

[44] In 1905 the 6 divisions or elements of them all participated in a corps level manoeuvre and war games with 1 corps opposing another though exact figures of participants varies from 23,600 to 50,000 per the official regulations there would be 50,710 men in the manoeuvres praise was forthcoming from the press but the military observers were less impressed and issues were still common especially in the senior officers with a lack of strategic and tactical thought at senior levels whilst the junior officers performed better and the majority of the NCOs were still not trained at all.

Thus in a few years Yuan had shown considerable progress fielding 2 western-style corps with modern equipment and moderate ability with a large potential for growth.

Zhang taking into account the numerous hills and waterways of Huguang aimed to reduce non-combatants especially logistical troops and replace field with mountain guns this would reduce his division to 12,071 and his brigades to 5,180 a reduction of several hundred men in each and be over 300,000 taels cheaper this was approved by the throne and Zhang was allowed to form his smaller division and mixed brigade.

[45] The division was ready by April 1906 and the mixed brigade by the end of the year there was also an additional 18,000 soldiers in Hubei not including police forces or militia a reminder of the main issue facing the Qing where insufficient funding was due to the number of old troops needed to keep the peace and therefore halting the formation of new style troops who were needed to protect the country.

The instructors were usually Japanese, Japanese-instructed Chinese and Germans (though these were noted as being undesirable in Germany) and thus their contracts were rarely renewed, Zhili, Anhui and Hubei produced the best officers though even these remained inferior to those trained in Japan on paper.

[47] In the hunting-park, three miles to the south of Peking, is quartered the Sixth Division, which supplies the Guards for the Imperial Palace, consisting of a battalion of infantry and a squadron of cavalry.

By his strategic disposition Yuan Shi Kai completely controls all the approaches to the capital, and holds a force which he may utilize either to protect the Court from threatened attack or to crush the Emperor should he himself desire to assume Imperial power.

Contrary to treaty stipulations made at the settlement of the Boxer trouble, the Chinese have been permitted to build a great tower over the Chien Men, or central southern gate, which commands the foreign legations and governs the Forbidden City.

In the threatening condition of Chinese affairs it might be assumed that this structure had been undermined by the foreign community, but this has not been done, and if trouble again arise in Peking the fate of the legations will depend upon the success of the first assault which will be necessary to take it.

In a field a couple of hundred yards away is the long pole of a wireless telegraph station, from which he can send the message that any day may set all China ablaze.