In 1643, Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, the founder of the Qing Dynasty who wanted to enter the Central Plains, died suddenly, because Emperor Taiji died very suddenly, and he did not clearly appoint an heir before his death, so the throne of the Qing Dynasty fell into strife after his sudden death.
In the end, the result was unexpected, and it was actually succeeded by Fu Lin, the ninth son of the six-year-old Emperor Taiji, who was later the Shunzhi Emperor. And when Huang Taiji died, his eldest son Hao Ge was already thirty-four years old, capable and had military merits, so why did he finally let the six-year-old Fu Lin succeed to the throne?
After the death of Emperor Taiji, a dispute for the throne arose, and the competitors were his eldest son Hauge and his brother Dolgon
Although the foundation of the Qing Dynasty was laid by the Qing emperor Nur Hachi, the person who really changed the name of the country to establish the Qing Dynasty was Huang Taiji, and it was also Huang Taiji who actively accepted Sinicization, which made the Qing Dynasty gradually shift from the tribal slavery system of the Nur Hachi period to the feudal system.
In fact, when Nur Hachi died, the Khan throne was still jointly elected by the princes and nobles of the Eight Banners, and the Emperor Taiji was the product of the joint election of the nobles, but after the Emperor Taiji succeeded to the throne, he actively promoted the feudal system and changed the Khan's throne to the imperial throne, and during his reign, he initially dispersed the power of the princes and nobles of the Eight Banners to achieve the strengthening of imperial power.
However, the biggest problem during Huang Taiji's reign was that he did not pre-canonize the crown prince, so after his sudden death, the heir to the throne returned to the model of the Baqi prince and noble council in the Nurhachi period.
After the sudden death of Emperor Taiji, the main contenders for the throne were his eldest son Hauge and his fourteenth brother, Dolgon, the fourteenth son of Nurhach.
As the eldest son of Huang Taiji, Hao Ge was 34 years old at the time, and he was already the owner of the Zhenglan Banner during the Huang Taiji period. Hauge was brave and good at fighting, and also had military merits, which was actually quite prestigious among the courtiers. Moreover, he also received the support of the two yellow banner aristocrats controlled by Huang Taiji during his lifetime, and the important ministers in the two yellow banners such as Soni, Ao Bai, Tan Tai and others strongly supported Hao Ge's succession.
Haug was not only supported by the two yellow flags, but also by the blue banner owner Zilharang, who was Nurhach's own nephew and the son of Nurhachi's brother Shulhaqi. Zir Harang was raised by Nur Hachi since he was a child, so he has been the closest to Huang Taiji since he was a child, coupled with Zilharang's humility and low-key, so Huang Taiji used him very much after he succeeded to the throne, and Zir Harang was also very loyal to Huang Taiji.
Counting the support of the blue flag led by Zilharan to Haug, Haug can be said to have the support of two blue flags and two yellow flags in the eight flags, a total of four flags.
Dolgon was supported by only the two white banners controlled by him, his brother Azig and his brother Dordor, and the two red banners controlled by Nurhach's second son, the Great Beldeshan family, did not explicitly support who succeeded to the throne.
However, Daisan was humble and cautious, and although Emperor Taiji suppressed Daishan, in order to take care of the overall situation, Daishan, he saw that four of the eight banners supported Haoge, so he gradually tended to support Haoge's succession.
Therefore, during the battle between Haug and his uncle Dolgon, Haug was relatively dominant, but Haug lost the support of many supporters because of his character problems.
Haug's cowardly concession caused him to lose support
Although Haug holds a good deck of cards in his hand, he can't play ah, and his political skills are far from his younger uncle Dolgon. Haug is capable, but not good at resourcefulness and decisiveness, and even a little indecisive, while Dolgon is witty and decisive, very good at improvisation.
When Dolgon found himself at a disadvantage in the competition with Haug for the throne, he immediately began to enlist the nobles with two blue and two red flags and two yellow flags, promising rich profits in exchange for their support for him.
Dolgon's method of winning people's hearts is still very effective, many nobles in the six flags have been encircled by him, even Hauge's own control of the blue flag has many nobles thrown at Dolgon, only in the two yellow flags such as Sony, Ao Bai and other people who are extremely loyal to the emperor Taiji are not encircled by Dolgon, many nobles are encircled by Dolgon, so as Dolgon's means of winning people's hearts are effective, the resistance to Haug's succession to the throne is increasing.
From September 21, 1643, when the first Qing Dynasty's Eight-Banner Prince and Noble Council discussed the heir to the throne, the atmosphere in the parliament was tense, and the important ministers in the Six Banners who supported Hauge all called Hauge the "eldest son of the emperor" and should succeed to the throne, at this time Dorgon's younger brother Dodor took the lead in counterattacking, and Dordor asked on the spot in the council: "If it is about the status of the eldest son, Taizu's eldest Beledaishan should inherit the throne." ”
Indeed, Haoge as the eldest son of Emperor Taiji is very important, the throne can be inherited by him can also serve the public, so Dordo used Daisan as the Great Baylor failed to succeed to disrupt the opponent's position, Daisan was over 60 years old at the time, and he never thought about succession, moreover, Dodor took the initiative to elect Daishan, and he could also replace Goodwill in exchange for Daishan's support for Dorgon.
Unsurprisingly, the elderly and courteous Daisan tried his best not to succeed to the throne, so the two sides who supported Haug and supported Dolgon entered into a strong gunpowder dispute.
It was also at this council that Haug found that Dolgon was really very powerful, because he found that many of the important ministers who supported him in the Six Flags turned to Dolgon to speak, so Haug understood that he was calculated by Dolgon behind his back, which also made him lose some confidence in the succession, and he was not confident in solving Dolgon by force.
In this case, Hauge, dissatisfied with the people who had supported him in the Six Flags, turned to Dolgon, and on the other hand, he lacked the self-confidence to compete with Dolgon, so at the end of the council, Hauge said a humble and polite remark with resentment: "Virtue is shallow and blessed, how can it be a great task." ”
Haug also completely lost most of his supporters because of this sentence, and also made him finally pass by the throne.
You must know that the Manchus admire brave and confident people, and Hauge's last words in the parliament make people feel that he lacks self-confidence, and is a little weak, and does not show the heroism and decisiveness that he should have in the face of the tough Dolgon, which makes those who originally supported Hauge lose confidence in him.
The person most disappointed by Hauge's performance was Zilharang, and according to historical records, Dordor later said to Haug: "Prince Heshuo Zheng (Zilharang) first proposed Lier as a king, but because the king was soft and incompetent, he went to sleep." ”
Dodor's meaning is very straightforward, he is to tell Haug that Zir Harang was originally a strong supporter of Haug, but because Haug was weak and indecisive, lacked confidence, could not calm the scene, could not convince the public, so he no longer supported Haug.
Not only Zilharang was disappointed with Haoge's performance, but even the two yellow banner loyalists Sonny and Ao Bai, who were most loyal to Huang Taiji, were also disappointed with Haoge, and after this council, they gradually changed their minds, from the original must not Hao Ge to succeed to the throne, to must be the son of Huang Taiji to succeed to the throne.
This time the parliament also made Dolgon realize a problem, that is, his succession is also unlikely, because Zilharang and the two yellow banner heavy ministers such as Soni, Ao Bai and others are resolutely unwilling to support him, if he wants to forcibly use force to succeed to the throne, it will definitely cause internal military conflicts, so even if he succeeds to the throne, the Qing Dynasty will also lose its national strength, let alone enter the Central Plains, it is likely that the Ming Dynasty's Guan Ning Iron Horse will be able to eliminate him.
Therefore, Dolgon decided to give up the throne after weighing the pros and cons, but he must not let Haug succeed to the throne, if Haug succeeds to the throne, then Dolgon's future power and status cannot be guaranteed, so the premise of Dolgon's abandonment of the throne is to ensure that he can continue to control the emperor's power in the future.
When the situation was deadlocked, Sonny and Ao Bai and other two yellow banner ministers lost confidence in Hauge, but they were not willing to let Dolgon succeed to the throne, so Sonny once said to Dolgon: The first emperor is more kind to me and other heavens, if I do not establish the prince of the first emperor, I am willing to follow the first emperor in Jiuquan.
This meaning of Soni and Ao Bai and others is that if they cannot establish the son of Emperor Taiji to succeed to the throne, then they will die and fight with Dolgon to break the net, and follow Huang Taiji under the Nine Springs.
However, the words of Soni and Ao Bai and others also inspired Dolgon, since the heavy ministers of the two yellow banners no longer mentioned that Hauge must succeed to the throne, but only the son of Huang Taiji, then Dolgon could consider supporting the younger son of Huang Taiji's many sons, which would also facilitate his future control of power.
Therefore, in this case, Hauge is completely further and further away from the imperial throne, and the candidate suitable for the succession to the throne becomes Shunzhi.
Shunzhi's ability to inherit the throne had a lot to do with the family origin of his biological mother, Empress Xiaozhuangwen
Therefore, Dolgon proposed to Zilharang and Daisan to choose a prince to succeed the throne among the remaining sons of Huang Taiji, this method was actually a compromise solution, since Hauge and Dolgon's uncle and nephew did not obey each other, then not choose between the two, and choosing one of Huang Taiji's other sons was also acceptable to everyone. So Zir Harang, Daishan, and other important ministers such as Soni and Obai, and even Haug himself, agreed to Dolgon's proposal.
So Dolgon recommended Emperor Taiji's ninth son Fulin that is, Shunzhi to succeed to the throne, but in addition to Shunzhi, Haoge and the deceased sons of Emperor Taiji at that time, the surviving sons were four sons Yebushu, five sons Shuosai, six sons Gaosai, seven sons Changshu, ten sons Taosai, and eleventh sons Bogol, why did they choose Shunzhi?
Regarding Dolgon's choice of Shunzhi to succeed to the throne, it is rumored that he had an uncle and sister-in-law with Shunzhi's biological mother Emperor Taiji's Empress Xiaozhuangwen Borzigit Bumubutai, and it is rumored that Xiaozhuang seduced Dolgon, in exchange for Dolgon's support for Shunzhi's succession.
Of course, this matter is just a folk rumor, in fact, Dolgon did not choose Shunzhi because of his relationship with Xiaozhuang, you must know that at that time Dolgon only proposed Shunzhi to succeed to the throne, and whether Shunzhi can succeed to the throne requires the consent of Zilharang and Daishan, as well as the decision of the Eight Banner Prince and the noble council, so it is not something that Dolgon alone can say.
In fact, the historical Xiaozhuang is definitely a strong woman in the political arena, she definitely has excellent political means, but the current historical records do not record in detail what political means she used, in short, under her operation, Dolgon and Zir Harang and Daishan, the three people who had the right to decide the succession to the throne at that time, were persuaded by her and chose to support the Shunzhi succession.
Of course, the choice of Dolgon, Zir Harang and Daishan, as well as the princes and nobles of Manchuria, to support the Shunzhi succession was also due to political considerations, mainly because of Xiaozhuang's maiden family, Xiaozhuang's maiden family was a Mongolian Horqin nobleman, and Xiaozhuang's father was Horqin Belezai Sambuhe.
At the beginning, Nur Hachi and Huang Taiji's father and son formulated the national policy of Manchu-Mongolian marriage in order to win over the Mongolian nobles, and Huang Taiji included Xiaozhuang and accepted a total of five Mongolian noble women as concubines, the original intention was to promote the Manchu family and win the support of the Mongolian nobles.
However, the only of the five Mongolian noble concubines of Emperor Taiji were Xiaozhuang and Yijing's grand concubine Namuzhong, whose sons Shunzhi and Bogol were alive at the time.
But Namu Zhong was the empress of Lin Dan Khan, the last emperor of the Northern Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia, and after Lin Dan Khan was defeated by Emperor Taiji, Namu Zhong led the Mongolian Chahar Department to surrender to Huang Taiji, and the Emperor Taiji encircled the Chahar Department to marry Na Mu Zhong as a concubine, and the two gave birth to Bogol.
Think of Namu Zhong was once the empress of Lin Dan Khan, Lin Dan Khan can be regarded as the lifelong enemy of Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji married Na Mu Zhong out of political needs and gave birth to Bogol, and the princes and nobles of the Qing Dynasty must not support the son born of a woman who was once the sworn enemy of Huang Taiji to inherit the throne of Huang Taiji.
And has always been the closest to the Qing Dynasty, the most supportive of the Qing Dynasty is the Mongolian Horqin tribe, so Xiaozhuang is from the Mongolian Horqin nobility, and the son Shunzhi born to her has the blood of the two nobles of the Manchu Qing and Horqin in his body, and the succession by Shunzhi can better encircle the Mongolian Horqin tribe.
If the biological mother's family origin is included in the consideration of the heir to the throne, then it makes sense in comparison for Hao Ge to call himself "Desha Fu Bo", Haoge's biological mother is Emperor Taiji's step-concubine Ulanara clan, because of offending Nur Hachi, was abandoned by Emperor Taiji to marry others, so Hao Ge is indeed "Fu Bo".
Although Hauge and Dolgon failed to inherit the throne in this battle for the throne, it seems that neither of them won, but in the end it was actually Dolgon who won, and Dolgon proposed that he and Zilharang jointly serve as the regent when he supported the Shunzhi succession, so Dolgon still controlled the regent power after Shunzhi succeeded to the throne.
After Shunzhi succeeded to the throne, Dolgon completely cleaned up all the ministers who had supported Hauge through co-optation, division and suppression, and Soni and Ao Bai were suppressed by Dolgon, and Tan Tai defected to Dolgon, and Dolgon also quickly used political means to empty Zir Harang, thus achieving the goal of monopolizing the regent's power, and the young Shunzhi became a puppet in the hands of Dolgon.
And Haug was miserable, when his trusted ministers were all cleaned up by Dolgon, he was also quickly imprisoned by Dolgon by taking away his title, in which he was soon tortured to death by Dolgon, and after his death, his three Fujins were married by Dolgon, Dordor, and Zilharang.
Therefore, in this uncle-nephew battle in the early Qing Dynasty, although it seemed that Shunzhi succeeded to the throne in the end, neither Dolgon nor Hauge's uncle and nephew succeeded, but in fact, Hauge was a crushing defeat, and Dolgon completely defeated him.
Write at the end
Therefore, due to Haoge's cowardly character and lack of self-confidence and indecision, he missed the opportunity to inherit the throne, and Shunzhi's succession to the throne was the result of a compromise between all forces at that time, coupled with the power of Shunzhi's biological mother Xiaozhuang's mother's family, so in the end, Shunzhi was able to pick up the leaks and successfully succeed to the throne.
The situation of the Qing Dynasty before entering the customs is still relatively complex and changeable, and it needs a flexible and fickle person to control the overall situation, and there is no doubt that Dolgon is far better than his nephew Hao Ge in this regard, so if the throne really falls to Hao Ge after the death of Emperor Taiji, he may not be able to lead the Qing Dynasty to smoothly enter the customs and unify the world.
And the reason why the Qing Dynasty was able to enter the customs smoothly and quickly unify the world relied on Dolgon's strategy and talent, in contrast, Hauge was far inferior to Dolgon in this regard, so Hauge's loss of the throne was an unfortunate thing for himself, but it was a blessing for the Qing Dynasty at that time.