The left wing army entered the pass from Qiangziling and Dongjiakou, plundered Shanxi, broke Jinan, and killed Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xuanda of the Ming Dynasty; Then he swept Tianjin and Qian'an in the north, returned from Qingshan Pass, swept thousands of miles back and forth, and returned to Liaodong in March of the fourth year of Chongde (the twelfth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1639); A total of 36 cities were captured, 6 were surrendered, 17 enemies were defeated, and 260,000 men and animals were captured [17]. In the battle of Songjin from the sixth year of Chongde (the fourteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1641) to the seventh year of Chongde (the fifteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1642), the two sides each invested more than 100,000 troops to fight. At first, the Qing army was led by Dolgon, Zilharang, etc., and then Emperor Taiji personally rushed to reinforce him. After two years of fierce fighting, the Ming army was finally defeated, Hong Chengchou Songshan Chengpo was captured and surrendered, and Zu Dashou surrendered Jinzhou City. [20] After the decisive battle of Songjin, the Ming Dynasty left only Ningyuan to the east of Shanhaiguan. [17]

When Huang Taiji changed the official system, he handed over the officials of the head of the six departments to Dolgon. On the basis of his recommendation, Huang Taiji promoted Xifu, Fan Wencheng, Bao Chengxian, Ganglin and other Wenchen respectively, and used their talents to govern the country[21]. On the basis of his suggestion, Huang Taiji made a major reform of the government institutions and established the Eight Officials system[22]. In addition, the succession and promotion of civil and military generals, and even the princes and nobles who managed the various ministries, were appointed by him[23]. In the process of taking charge of the six ministries, Dorgon honed his administrative skills and prepared the conditions for his later regentship.

Champion the Young Emperor

On the ninth day of the eighth lunar month in the eighth year of Chongde (the sixteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1643), Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty died suddenly in Qingning Palace in Shengjing, and he did not have an heir during his lifetime. At this time, the power of the two red flags of Daishan has been weakened. He himself is over the age of sixteen, and he has long been out of politics, and the most talented of his sons, Yue Tuo and Sakhalian, have passed away when they were young, and the remaining Shuo Tuo is not liked by Dai Shan, and Mandahai has just emerged, and he has no right to speak. However, with Dai Shan's qualifications and the strength of the two red flags, his attitude can influence the development of the situation. Huang Taiji's efforts to centralize power during his lifetime and the increasing feudalization of Manchu society naturally made Huang Taiji's eldest son, Haoge, participate in the competition. In terms of stakes, the ministers of the two yellow flags hoped that the prince would succeed them to the throne in order to continue to maintain the superior position of the two banners. They believe that Haoge has many military merits and high talents, and Tiancong has been promoted to Heshuo Belle in six years, and Huang Taiji is the prince of Jinsu at the beginning of the emperor, in charge of household affairs, and several uncles are on an equal footing. When Huang Taiji was alive, in order to strengthen the centralization of power, he greatly weakened the power of the flags, but at the same time maintained a certain strength, and took the Zhenglan Banner into his own hands, and the strength of the three flags was far stronger than other flags. Therefore, the representatives of these three banners must support Hauge to succeed to the throne.

Dorgon is another contender.

Concubine Zhuang Yongfu Palace

Concubine Zhuang Yongfu Palace

Not to mention his civil and military talents, the two white flags behind him and the two brothers who are brave and good at fighting are strong backings, and there are also some clans in the Zhenghongqi, Zhenglan Banner and Zhenghuang Banner secretly supporting him, which makes him even more powerful. There is another person who cannot be ignored, and he is the Blue Banner Lord Zilharang. While he is unlikely to be in contention, his backing has a significant impact on the other factions, tilting the balance of power regardless of which side he leans. Therefore, the county kings Adali and Bei Zishuo persuaded Dolgon to establish himself as emperor. On 14 August, Prince Dai Shan, Prince Zheng Jierharang, Prince Yu Duoduo, and Prince Rui Dolgon all came to the Chongzheng Hall to hold a meeting to decide the ownership of the throne. In the end, the conflict centered on the two yellow flags headed by Hauge and the two white flags led by Dorgon and Dord. The two sides are fighting each other, and the commission will not be decided. [24]

Under the situation that the two yellow, two red, and two blue six banners were not supported, the conditions for Dolgon's self-reliance were not yet ripe, and the resistance came from the cronies of the two yellow banners under the former emperor Taiji. As a last resort, Dolgon finally agreed that the ninth son of Huang Taiji, the six-year-old Fulin, would be crowned emperor. [25-26] As a result, Prince Dai Shan and others were blessed to ascend the throne, and the ministers of the kings and ministers of Baylor jointly swore an oath to declare the heavens and the earth, and at the same time announced that the Prince of Zheng Zilharang and the Prince of Rui Dolgon would be the auxiliary government and change the Yuan Shunzhi. [25] In this way, Dorgon managed to deal with the thorny issue of the struggle for the throne and took a step towards the pinnacle of power. After that, the county kings Adali and Bei Zishuo persuaded Dolgon to establish himself as emperor, and Dolgon killed Adali and Shuoshuo. [27] Subsequently, Hauge and his subordinates who opposed this new pattern were purged and the new rule was secured. [28] Dolgon's plan objectively avoided civil strife in the Eight Banners, preserved its strength, and maintained the basic unity of the upper ruling group. Of course, his proposal was put forward only after it was not easy for him to succeed in his struggle for the throne, and it was put forward as a middle or lower strategy under the pressing situation of the ministers of the two yellow banners "moving forward with swords", not because he was far-sighted and had an extremely broad mind from the beginning. [29] Dolgon's power also increased, and Zilharan instructed his ministers to report to Dolgon, Prince of Rui, in advance, and to take precedence in the title of the book. [30]

In April of the first year of Shunzhi (the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, 1644), Emperor Shunzhi worshiped Dolgon as a general in the Dugong Palace, and personally gave the general the seal, so that he led the army to the south, and entered the customs to start the grand cause of competing for the world with Li Zicheng and the Southern Ming Dynasty. [25]

Dingding Yanjing

When Emperor Shunzhi came to power, there was chaos in the Guannai. In March of the 17th year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1644), the peasant rebel army led by the powerful Li Zicheng conquered the city of Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Coal Mountain (now Jingshan), and the Ming Dynasty, which had ruled China for 276 years, was destroyed. On the fourth day of the first month of April, Wu Sangui had just rebelled back to Shanhaiguan and asked for military assistance from the Qing Dynasty. [31] Fan Wencheng, a scholar of the Inner Academy, wrote to Dolgon, believing that "if Qin loses its deer, Chu and Han chase it, it is not me who fights with the Ming Dynasty, but also fights with the Liukou". He advocated the immediate dispatch of troops to advance into the Central Plains. He proposed, "The battle must be won, the attack must be taken, and the thief is not as good as me; Obey the will of the people and recruit the people, I am not as good as a thief", so it is necessary to change the previous policy of slaughter and looting, "strictly prohibit soldiers, and do not commit any crimes in autumn" [32]. That is, not only to change the strategy of not defending the city strategically, but also to enter the Central Plains, and to win the hearts of the people in tactics. Dolgon accepted Fan Wencheng's suggestion and agreed to Wu Sangui's request for troops. [31] And after receiving the confirmation report that Beijing had broken through the peasant army, he "hurriedly gathered troops and horses" and fought with the peasant army for the world. [29]

Li Zicheng was aware of the seriousness of the situation at this time, and on April 10

In the first year of Shunzhi, the regent issued an edict to the military and people of the Ming Dynasty

In the first year of Shunzhi, the regent issued an edict to the military and people of the Ming Dynasty

On the third day, he personally led the troops to Shanhaiguan to ask for Wu, but he still had the luck mentality of surrendering him, and the speed of the march was also quite slow, and the troops came to the city around the nineteenth.