Preface
In the long river of history, the eldest concubine passed by like a meteor, and her life was full of mysteries and tragedies. Married to Nurhachi for the second time, she should have enjoyed glory and wealth, but she fell into the whirlpool of power and conspiracy. However, why was her fate so bumpy, and even thrown out of the imperial tomb after her death, and her children were not allowed to die well?
1. A virtuous helper from a noble background
When it comes to the Fucha clan, a Manchu noble family, many people will first think of Empress Xiaoxian, the wife of Emperor Qianlong. She was born from the most prominent Shaji branch of the Fucha clan. However, two centuries ago, Nurhachi's birth as the Grand Concubine Gundai was not lost to Empress Hyoxian.
Gon Dai was the youngest daughter of the famous chief of Jianzhou, Mang Sedu, and his elder brother Agubayan was once famous in the Jurchen region. Agubayan is not only talented, but also proficient in Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese. He led his subordinates to break the power of corrupt officials, and became famous for a while. However, the good times did not last long, and the Ming court had always pursued a strategy of "supporting the weak and suppressing the strong" for the Jurchen tribes. Seeing that the power of Agubayan was growing day by day, he sent his general army to encircle and suppress it. In 1574, at the age of 47, Agubayan was killed in a counterattack.
If it weren't for the fact that Gundai had already married Nurhachi, I am afraid that she would not have escaped death. It was precisely because of his noble birth that Gundai was favored by Nurhachi from the beginning. In 1585, Gundai's first husband died of illness, coinciding with Nurhachi's widowhood. According to the Jurchen Xi custom of "brother to brother", Gundai took his son to marry Nurhachi and became his second concubine.
With Nurhachi for more than 30 years, Gon gave birth to two princes and a princess for him. As the eldest concubine, she was in charge of the entire harem, handling the allocation of intimate belongings, and discussing many important matters with Nurhachi. It can be said that Nurhachi trusted her very much, and left the internal and foreign affairs of the Jurchen ministries to Gundai.
This trust was vividly demonstrated in one campaign. In 1593, the Nine-Division Coalition Army suddenly attacked, tens of thousands of enemy soldiers approached the city, and Nurhachi's thousands of Houjin troops faced an unprecedented life and death crisis. In the middle of the night, Gundai received urgent news from Tanma to report to the enemy. The entire barracks was silent, and none of the generals dared to disturb the sleeping Nurhachi.
However, Gundai did not hesitate in the slightest, and she walked lightly into the tent and woke Nurhachi. Nurhachi immediately deployed his troops, and the next day he defeated the enemy with fewer victories.
If you have to say that the creation of Houjin, the credit of the Gun Dynasty is almost no less than that of any general. She can be described as Nurhachi's most powerful "virtuous helper".
However, as the years passed, so did the appearance of the Gundai. The principle of "color decay and love relaxation" is applicable to anyone. Nurhachi's favor for Gundai was gradually replaced by a new favorite.
Perhaps realizing that the scenery was no longer there, Gundai's temperament became more and more perverse. Once, when she was dealing with financial revenues and expenditures, she was negligent and lost part of her military spending. Nurhachi was furious and directly deposed her as the eldest concubine.
After that, the Gon dynasty had no chance to turn over. She was abandoned in the deep palace by Nurhachi, and was suppressed and bullied by the new favorite concubines. Until his death in 1620, he was not favored by Nurhachi.
Second, in order to please his father, he actually killed his biological mother
After the relationship between Gundai and Nurhachi broke down, he was replaced by Abahai, who entered the palace at the age of only 12. Abahai was born beautiful and intelligent. She soon won Nurhachi's favor, and gave birth to three sons for him, who were favored for more than 20 years. The fate of the three children born to Gundai was very different.
The eldest son, Mang Gurtai, was an outstanding commander. He inherited the genes of his mother's bravery, and began to follow Nurhachi on the battlefield at the age of 25 and made great achievements. In 1612, Mang Gurtai led 500 warriors to six cities of the Keula Department and captured 10,000 enemy heads. In 1619, he took the lead in the Battle of Salhu and annihilated tens of thousands of Ming troops.
Nurhachi has repeatedly praised Mang Gultai in public, and even intends to train him as the heir to the throne. However, this young general like a god of war also has an indelible violent nature. He was murderous and cruel, which eventually became an important reason for his failure to win the throne.
In 1621, after Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, Mang Gurtai repeatedly confronted him. Eventually, he was stripped of the title of Baylor, and his power was drastically reduced. This made Mang Gurtai have a plan, wanting to regain the favor of Huang Taiji by offering the head of the Gundai. As a result, this general, who has made great achievements, actually killed his biological mother who had been neglected for a long time with his own hands. However, he still miscalculated! This barbaric act did not win Huang Taiji's forgiveness, but was regarded by him as a great rebel.
Gundai's second son, Derge, was ten years younger than his brother. It wasn't until Nurhachi's death that he really began to build up his military exploits. Although he started late, Derge worked hard to make up for it, and soon through many battles, he was promoted to Heshuo Baylor, taking charge of Houjin's household department. This made Huang Taiji quite fond of him.
However, in 1632, the Dergers died of an illness. What is even more unexpected is that less than three months after his death, one of Mang Gurtai's past deeds was suddenly turned out of the old account by Huang Taiji. It turned out that many years ago, Mang Gurtai had conspired with his younger siblings to assassinate Huang Taiji at a banquet to seize power. The conspiracy was uncovered along with Derger's death.
As a result, the Derge class was also investigated for his crimes. Soon after his death, he was stripped of all official titles, and his eldest son was expelled from the clan, and his family was ruined.
And the only surviving daughter of the Gundai, Princess Hada Mang Guji, did not escape the tragic fate of being beheaded in the end. After the fall of the Hadabe, Mangguji returned to Nurhachi. In 1623, Huang Taiji betrothed her to the royal family Du Ling Beile Suo Nomu Du Ling. It would have been a glorious political marriage. However, the good times did not last long, because of his participation in the assassination plot of his brother, Mang Guji was also severely punished by Huang Taiji ten years later.
In the winter of 1633, Mang Guji was publicly executed by Huang Taiji and executed by Ling Chi. She became the first woman in the Manchu dynasty to be subjected to such a cruel criminal penalty. Her body was cut apart beyond recognition, and her flesh and blood were blurred, which was extremely tragic. This horrific palace execution became a landmark event for Huang Taiji's purge of dissidents, and also ended the life of the last Gendai's heir.
Third, the world is ups and downs, and the palace life is like a play
At the root of it, the tragedy of Mang Gurtai and others stems from the fact that they both underestimated the cruel reality of the imperial family. The royal family has never been an ordinary family, and imperial power needs to be constantly strengthened with iron and blood. Therefore, no matter how wise and martial the prince is, once he is regarded as a big trouble, he will only end up with blood dripping from his heart.
There are no mothers and sons, no siblings in the power struggle of the court, and everyone is like an isolated atom who will be shattered by the ruling of power at any time. In fact, behind this ruthless political purge, Huang Taiji's hardships as the head of a country can also be understood. It is even more difficult to maintain an empire ruled by both the Mongols and the Han Chinese. The slightest mistake could have torn apart a regime of many interracial populations. Therefore, even if he is a blood relative, once there is a sign of defection, he can only give up his feelings and cut the grass and eradicate the roots.
In the end, the reunion of the old and the young, the indifferent warmth of a room is the rarest place in the world. And those Jurchen nobles who have risen and fallen because of their power are the best footnotes in their court careers: today's stars and moons are not guaranteed to become tomorrow's sun and moon.
Looking at the fate of Nurhachi's three sons and one daughter, we can't help but sigh that the world is changing too fast.
The noble children who were still noble yesterday and showed their teeth and claws will collapse and die in the blink of an eye. And those ministers who were once at the pinnacle of power will also fall into the abyss of no return in an instant. This is the ruthlessness and cruelty of power. It can lift people to heaven or it can put people in hell.
As for the reckless Gurtai who killed his mother with his own hands, how did he look at his actions in the last moments of his life? Perhaps, when he was cornered and saw his mother and flesh and blood die in front of him, he would also regret his old arrogance. However, it was too late, and the glory and wealth of his life had already disappeared in his own hands.
epilogue
As the saying goes, "mothers are more precious than children", family affection should be above all else. It's a pity that in the cruel whirlpool of the royal family, love and morality are ruthlessly abandoned. And the mother's compassion from beginning to end can't withstand the iron hooves of power. This has also become a painful lesson in the long river of history, the son of man and the mother eventually fell victim to the fate of the court.