After emperor Taiji's sudden illness and death, without a will, why did Shunzhi, who was only 6 years old, succeed to the throne? Isn't Hauge, the 34-year-old eldest son, worthy?
In 1643, news came from Shengjing that the 52-year-old Emperor Taiji had died. Sudden illness, there is no time to leave a will. The country cannot be without a monarch for a day, and the new emperor who is fighting openly and secretly should also produce results. At that time, the seizure of the throne was divided into two major factions, one faction was The Emperor Taiji's eldest son Hauge, and the other was the Emperor Taiji's half-brother Dolgun.
Let's first talk about Hauge, the eldest son of Emperor Taiji. If you want to ascend to the throne, in addition to the identity of the eldest son of the emperor, it is more of a personal ability. Hauge had followed Emperor Taiji and Dolgun and others to fight together, and in the early years of the Qing Dynasty's foreign wars, it can be said that it has been experienced in the battlefield for a long time, and has been built many battles, and has been deeply valued. When Emperor Taiji called himself Emperor, he made Hauge the Prince of Heshuosu, and together with himself, he was the banner lord of the Zhenglan Banner. The decision-making figures of the Qing Dynasty all came from the Eight Banners, and five of the Eight Banners favored Hauge, which is equivalent to the struggle for the throne Hauge won three-quarters of the votes.
Let's talk about Dorgon, dorgon is Hauge's uncle and the younger brother of Emperor Taiji. He was named the Prince of Heshuo Rui, was the lord of the Zhengbai Banner, and like Hauge, he had experienced hundreds of battles and had outstanding military achievements. In charge of the head of the six parts of the court, whether it is prestige or status, it is slightly higher than Hauge. However, the succession to the throne is generally passed from father to son, and Dorgon is only the younger brother of Emperor Taiji, which puts Dorgon's throne struggle at a disadvantage.
It is said that when the two sides were fighting, Hauge pretended to be humble and said that he could not succeed to the throne. This little braid was grabbed by Dorgon, and Shunshi said that he would not succeed to the throne. Subsequently, the Yellow Banner Minister stepped forward and said that if he did not establish the son of emperor Taiji as the new emperor, he would rather go to the ground to continue to follow the former emperor. In this way, Dorgon also understood that he had no chance to ascend to the throne, and could only retreat to the second place, with the purpose of not allowing Hauge to ascend to the throne, supporting a person he could control to ascend to the throne.
Having said that, the ongoing battle between Dorgon and Hauge can be described as quite fierce. But in history, uncles and nephews generally fight each other, and nephews can't fight uncles. As an uncle, Dorgon is 3 years younger than Hauge, but his brain flexibility is still online. In view of the increasing division of the Qing Dynasty, in order to stabilize the political situation at an early date, Prince Zheng Zilharang compromised and listed a plan. It was proposed that Fu Lin, the ninth son of the six-year-old Emperor Taiji, succeed to the throne, so that the regent could also play a role, after all, the prince of 34 did not need his uncle regent who was 3 years younger than him. This move caught Hauge off guard, not only an extra candidate for the throne, but also worried about the forces behind Fu Lin. Although most of the palaces are expensive by mothers and children, there are also many children who are expensive by mothers in ancient times. Behind the young Fu Lin is Concubine Zhuang, who is one of the five concubines, and her mother's family is backed by Horqin Mongolia.
The Manchu Qing Empire attached great importance to the alliance of the Mongols, and in terms of origin, Hauge did not have any advantage. At this time, this proposal cleverly opened up the situation, at least satisfying the opinion of the previous two yellow flags, who supported the son of Emperor Taiji, after all, Fu Lin and Hauge were both sons of Emperor Taiji. At this time, Dorgon took the opportunity to propose that Zilharan and himself be regents to guide the new emperor, and Zilharan would be in charge of the blue flag. After all, Zilharang was raised by Nurhaci since childhood, and his relationship with the Emperor Taiji was not ordinary, if Zilharan and Dolgun assisted the government together, at some levels, a check and balance could be formed on Dolgun.
In 1636, Emperor Taiji was proclaimed emperor, and seven years later he died suddenly in the harem of Shengjing. The history books record that Huang Taiji "sat upright and died without illness", and in modern parlance, it should be a sudden cerebral hemorrhage or myocardial infarction. Without the death of a will, who will inherit this Qing Empire?
Earlier, we said that Hauge and Dolgun divided the situation in the court into two sides. One was the son of the First Emperor who was closely related by blood, and the other was the younger brother of the Emperor Xiandi with higher prestige. Some people think that to follow the first emperor should be the son of the first emperor, and some people think that those who can do it are competent. So Zilharang compromised and proposed to let Fu Lin succeed to the throne, first, because of the bloodline of Fu Lin's birth mother, Concubine Zhuang, who was the daughter of the Mongolian Bel Zaisang-Buhe, and Fu Lin was the grandson of the Mongolian Beyler. Under the purpose of "Manchu and Mongolian family affinity", Fu Lin's succession to the throne could also encompass Mongolia, which was the best candidate for succession under the circumstances at that time. Second, because the ministers at that time only supported the son of Emperor Taiji, Dorgon would certainly not let go, and continuing to cause social unrest would cause social unrest. As the son of the former emperor, Fu Lin was only 6 years old, and although he did not have the ability to pro-government for the time being, he could have the "help" of the regent and the flag lords. This made all the forces of all sides slightly moved, and many parties considered it, and it was not impossible for Fu Lin to succeed to the throne. Together with the regency of Dorgon and Zilharan, the situation can be balanced, but Hauge, who was originally on the larger side, was eliminated. In the end, after the interests of the Eight Banners were weighed by many parties, Fu Lin was proclaimed the emperor's successor.
On October 8, 1643, Fu Lin inherited his father's throne, changed the name of the country to Shunzhi in the following year of his ascension to the throne, and moved the capital from Shenyang to Beijing. After the Shunzhi Emperor arrived in Beijing, he paid homage to the Taimiao Temple, and took the throne at the Wuying Hall, becoming the first emperor of the Qing Dynasty to enter the customs.