In the first year of Shunzhi (1644), Dorgon marched south. Successfully seized the rare opportunity of the chaos in the Central Plains, defeated the peasant army of Li Zicheng, the king of the Ming Dynasty, and occupied the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, and entered the Central Plains. In the same year, under the auspices of Dorgon, the Qing Dynasty moved its capital from Shengjing (Shenyang) to Beijing, and the Shunzhi Emperor also came to Beijing from Shengjing.
In fact, in the early days of the Qing Dynasty's occupation of Beijing, it can be said that it was attacked on all sides. Although the Qing army defeated Li Zicheng's peasant army at Shanhaiguan, Li Zicheng's military strength was not devastated. Moreover, Li Zihua has also withdrawn to the west, preparing to accumulate and restore strength in the Shanshan area and make a comeback.
Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 17 May 1645)
At the same time, although the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself and the northern capital of the Ming Dynasty fell, most of the land south of the Yellow River still belonged to the Ming Dynasty, and the establishment of the Hongguang regime in the Ming Dynasty became one of the major threats to the Qing Dynasty. In the context of the chaos in the Central Plains, as a foreign minority regime, it seems that it is not clear what the Qing Dynasty will do in the Central Plains.
However, even when his foothold was unstable, Dorgon moved the capital and the Shunzhi Emperor to Beijing. It should be known that this decision is extremely risky, and once Nanming or Li Zicheng successfully counterattacks Beijing, it is likely to be a disaster for the Qing Dynasty. So why did Dorgon insist on doing so?
The author believes that for Dorgon and the Qing Dynasty, there were at least three urgent needs that prompted Dorgon to make the decision to move the capital to Beijing.
Above: Aisin Kyora Fulin (15 March 1638 – 5 February 1661), also known as the Shunzhi Emperor
1. Dorgon could not loosen his grip on the puppet Shunzhi Emperor
As we all know, the Shunzhi Emperor succeeded to the throne with Chong Ling and did not have the ability to govern and real power, and the actual helmsman of the Qing Dynasty was Dolgun. However, an important prerequisite for Dorgon to ensure his dominance was to completely control the puppet of the young emperor. At this time, Dorgon was leading the army in the Central Plains, while the emperor was in the rear of Shengjing, which obviously gave those dorgon political enemies and royalists (such as Zilharang and other figures) an opportunity to take advantage of, which was obviously very unfavorable to Dorgon's control of the emperor.
Such a major political crisis, Dorgon naturally will not sit idly by. Therefore, after the Shunzhi Emperor moved the capital to Beijing, Dorgon actively gave Zilharang the honorary title of "Uncle Of Xinyi Auxiliary Government". While stabilizing Zilharang and others, he also gave himself the title of "Auxiliary Uncle King" and improved his own status.
This is definitely a double victory for Dorgon to maintain his dominance.
If the above relocation is dorgon out of "private", then let's discuss the significance of this move for "public".
In 1644, the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty moved its capital from Shengjing (Shenyang) to Beijing in the same year
Second, if you want to stabilize people's hearts, you must move the capital
After the Qing Dynasty occupied Beijing, what to do next was a difficult problem facing Dorgon. Is it a desperate gamble to complete the great unification? Or do you take the old path, plunder in the Central Plains, and return to your hometown outside Guanwai "with a full load"? Obviously, the extremely enterprising Dorgon did not want to choose the latter, and he hoped that the Qing Dynasty would have a higher breakthrough under his leadership, not to mention that he had now occupied Beijing and made a good start.
Since Dorgon wanted to accomplish the great cause, the two pressing problems in front of him must be solved as soon as possible.
Above: Aishin Kyora Dolgun (17 November 1612 – 31 December 1650)
1. The half-heartedness of the Manchus, especially the nobles
In the minds of many ordinary Manchurians (including the Mongols and Han Bannermen), the purpose of fighting a war was to plunder, to make a windfall, and then to live a good life. Therefore, they are not very enthusiastic about whether they can win the Central Plains. As a result, many Manchurians at that time were "in the heart of Cao Ying in Han", although they fought with the generals in the Central Plains, but their hearts had already flown to their hometown outside Guanwai.
Moreover, at that time, the epidemic of diseases in the Central Plains made many Manchurian people feel uneasy, and many times they did not exert their combat effectiveness in the Guanwai period, and the combat effectiveness of the Qing army declined. If this problem is not solved in time, the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners of the Great Qing Dynasty is likely to decline much faster than the real situation.
Above_ Eight Banner Soldiers of the Qing Army
Of course, no matter what ordinary soldiers or generals say, the impact is still limited, and it can not be taken seriously. However, this kind of negative thinking also had a "market" among the Manchu nobles. Among them, Dorgon's half-brother Azig is one of the negatives. He was skeptical and even negative about the Qing Dynasty's rise to the throne of the Central Plains. The high-ranking generals, even their own cronies, did not have a heart for themselves, which forced Dorgon to face up to the seriousness of the problem.
Therefore, in order to dispel the idea of these people returning to their hometown outside Guanwai, Dorgon chose to move the capital, and at the same time, he also moved a large number of Manchurian people outside Guanwai into the Gyeonggi region. This trick basically made those who stayed in their hometown outside guanwai stop thinking, and the determination of Dorgon to eliminate the drawbacks was evident.
Above_ Forbidden City
2. Rumors are rife in the city of Beijing
Dorgon knew very well that if the Qing Dynasty wanted to conquer the Central Plains, it would be impossible to rely on their 100,000 and 200,000 Manchurian soldiers, and it would be impossible to rely on the returning Han Chinese in the Central Plains.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty's occupation of Beijing, the city of Beijing was in chaos after the disaster of war, and maintaining stability became one of the most important tasks of Dorgon at present. In the process of maintaining stability, the surrendered Ming Dynasty officials and local gentry played a very important role. In this way, Dorgon realized that effectively incorporating and using former Ming officials would allow the Qing to quickly and effectively control the occupied territories.
But just as Dorgon was actively wooing former Ming officials and local gentry, rumors that "the Manchurians would soon return to their hometown outside Guanwai" spread wildly in the city of Beijing. Where this rumor originated is unknown, but it is clearly very unfavorable to Dorgon's grand plan to "unite" the former Ming officials and gentry. Although Dorgon issued several edicts explaining that the Qing dynasty would not return to Guanwai, the results were very limited.
Fengtian Province, one of the names of the Qing Dynasty, is located in Shengjing
The reason why the rumors can be believed by people is fundamentally that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was in Shengjing and not in Beijing. No matter how powerful you Dorgon is, you are also a "king", not an "emperor". Where the emperor is, is the "old nest" of the regime. In order to eliminate the fearsome rumors, moving the capital quickly is the only best strategy.
Sure enough, after the Shunzhi Emperor entered the city of Beijing with the Manchurian soldiers and civilians, the rumors broke without attack. The policy of moving the capital to Dorgon has solved the problem of "people's hearts" in a timely and effective manner, which means that the subjective internal causes of the Qing Dynasty's victory in the Central Plains have been basically solved, and the rest is to solve the external objective problems.
Above_ Anti-Qing activities around 1647 to 1648
Third, the relocation of the capital to Beijing is of extremely important strategic significance
Since the next heavy task of the Qing Dynasty is to solve external objective problems, that is, to eliminate other hostile forces and regimes, military strikes must become the next main means. There are many influencing factors on how to effectively and efficiently achieve the purpose of military operations, but the location of the capital city must be one of them. Pushing the capital from the back forward was of great strategic significance for the further military operations of the Qing Dynasty. This is just like the reason why Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei moved the capital to Luoyang, in the era of poor communication of cold weapons, it is even more important to improve the efficiency of information transmission than to strengthen the superiority of troops.
In addition, Beijing's geographical location is very special and important. In the Northern Song Dynasty at that time, because of the lack of "Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures" in the north, especially the "Seven Prefectures in Front of the Mountains", the Northern Song Dynasty always felt that the sword was hanging over its head, like a carp in the throat. And Youzhou (Beijing) is the center of this "seven states before the mountain", which is the most important.
Above_ Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures
Now that the Qing Dynasty occupied Beijing, it meant that the Qing Dynasty had full control of the Liaodong Outside guanwai and the various passes connecting Mongolia with the Central Plains. In this way, the Qing Dynasty could easily transport strategic materials (war horses, soldiers, etc.) from the north to the front line of the Central Plains. The timely supply of the front line ensured a sustained and effective military attack on the enemy, which was one of the reasons why the Qing Dynasty was able to break through in the early stage of the Central Plains War.
Looking at the overall situation, it is not difficult to find that Dorgon's strategy of moving the capital is absolutely wise, and the final history also confirms this. Objectively evaluated, for the Qing Dynasty, Dorgon was indeed more meritorious than excessive. More than a hundred years after dorgon was deposed, the Qianlong Emperor rehabilitated him, not only restoring him to the title of "Iron Hat King" of Prince Heshuorui, but also giving Dolgun a very high praise, personally giving him the title of "Loyal".
Author: Wang Jinbai Correction/Editor: Lilith
Resources:
[1] Hongye: A History of the Founding of the Qing Dynasty (United States) by Wei Feide/ Nova Publishing House
[2] "History of the Southern Ming Dynasty" by Gu Cheng/Guangming Daily Publishing House
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author