What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
Dorgon wanted to be emperor so much that after Emperor Taiji's death, he and his nephew Hauge competed for the throne. At that time, Dorgon became the most powerful contender for the throne with his two brothers Azig and Dordor, as well as the two white flags controlled by their brothers, and his rival Hauge, because of the support of the two yellow flags and the blue flag controlled by Hauge himself, was on a par with Dorgon.
When Dorgon and Hauge were inseparable, the opinions of Daishan, the Prince of Li, who controlled the two red flags, and the opinions of Zilharang, the lord of the blue flag, were particularly important. Daishan was not very powerful and did not want to participate in the struggle for the throne, and he also explicitly supported who would become emperor, but Daishan preferred to make Hauge emperor, and Zilharang proposed a compromise plan when Hauge and Dorgon were in contention and a civil war was imminent.
Zilharang proposed to make Fu Lin the emperor, and Fu Lin was also the son of Emperor Taiji, and could meet the requirements of the two yellow flags for the son of Emperor Taiji to be emperor. At the same time, Fu Lin was young, and Hauge and Dorgon did not have a festival, and after he became emperor, he would not deliberately suppress Dorgon and Hauge, which would not only avoid the civil war in the Qing Dynasty, but also make the Emperor Taiji and Hauge psychologically acceptable. In the end, Dorgon judged the situation and made concessions first, he listened to Zilharang's opinion and supported Fulin as emperor, Dorgon and Zilharang also because of their support, after Fulin ascended the throne as emperor, he and Zilharang became the regent of Fulin and helped Fulin govern the country.
However, after Dorgon became regent, he overthrew Zilharang through a power struggle and became the regent alone. At the same time, he also actively suppressed Aobai, Soni and others who opposed him in the two yellow flags, which made the two yellow flags dare not fight with Dorgon. Dorgon's rival Hauge was also killed by Dorgon, and the blue flag that Hauge was in charge of was handed over to Dorgon by Dorgon, which allowed Dorgon to achieve monopoly of power.
At this time, Dorgon had the ability to replace Fu Lin himself as emperor, why he did not depose the emperor and stand on his own and realize his wish to become emperor, in fact, it was not that Dorgon did not want to, but these disadvantages made Dorgon dare not.
First, his potential opponent is too strong
After Dorgon became regent, he achieved monopoly of power by suppressing Hauge, Zilharang, Aobai, Soni and others, but except for Haowai, who was killed by him, the others and the forces behind them did not really suffer damage, Daishan still controlled the two red flags, Zilharang was in charge of the blue flag, Soni, Aobai and others, although they were suppressed by Dolgun, had no control over the two yellow flags, but the two yellow flags were still firmly loyal to Fulin for their own interests, so Dolgun dared to depose the emperor and stand on his own, and they were the first to refuse.
In addition, the members of the Manchu clan were not suppressed by Dorgon, who held various important positions in the Manchu Qing, but Dorgon wanted to depose the emperor and stand on his own, and most of them would also stand against Dorgon. Although Dorgon held the two white flags and the blue flags in his hands, he might not have a chance of winning in the face of the opposition of Daishan, Zilharan, the two white flags, and a large number of clan members and ministers.
Second, the situation does not allow Dorgon to depose the emperor and stand on his own
After the rise of the Qing Dynasty, their goal was to enter Guannei and seize the lands of the Central Plains Dynasty, thus strengthening themselves. Therefore, during the Dorgon period, due to civil strife in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming general Wu Sangui chose to surrender to Dolgun and let the Manchu Qing Eight Banner Soldiers enter Guannei without bloodshed, but this did not mean that the Manchu Qing could sit back and enjoy the hard-won fruits of victory, and at that time the Qing Dynasty was still facing many external troubles.
After the Great Qing entered Guannei, there were still strong enemies such as Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng in the northwest, and there were also southern Ming imperial courts in the south, and if there was civil unrest in the Great Qing, this would give Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and NanMing and other opponents the opportunity to take the opportunity to counterattack the Great Qing, resulting in the defeat of the Great Qing, so For the benefit of the Great Qing, Dolgun did not dare to replace Fu Lin as emperor, and he also concentrated his forces to deal with li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Nanming and other fierce enemies.
3. Empress Xiaozhuang
In film and television dramas and wild histories, it is often mentioned that Empress Xiaozhuang and Dolgun fell in love, and Empress Xiaozhuang married Dolgun, which is still a suspicious case in history, and there is no specific evidence to prove this, but the power of Empress Xiaozhuang's mother's family makes Dolgun have to take care of it.
Empress Xiaozhuang was the second daughter of the Mongolian Horqin clan Bel borjigit Buhe, a golden family of Mongolia and a powerful mongol clan. The Mongol tribes were important allies of the Manchu Qing, and they maintained relations through marriage, but if Dorgon replaced Fu Lin as emperor, he might offend Empress Xiaozhuang's maternal power, the Mongolian Korqin Department, causing the Manchus to lose an important ally and possibly many strong opponents.
Dorgon has no heirs
Dorgon had only one daughter and no sons, and daughters could not be heirs to the throne, so even if Dorgon took the throne, he had no heirs. Dorgon's younger brother Dorgon had a good relationship with Dorgon and was also a very talented man, but unfortunately, although Dorgon was young, he died earlier than Dorgon, and Dorgon's brother Azig was a reckless man who lacked wisdom and was not suitable for emperor.
Moreover, Dorgon himself was already an uncle regent, and in fact exercised the power of the emperor, so there was no need to depose the emperor and stand on his own in order to gain a false name and risk failure. Also, even if Dorgon succeeds, because he has no heir, after his death, the throne will still fall into the hands of others, and he may be liquidated and bear the notoriety of being a traitor, so he does not dare to depose the emperor and stand on his own.