1. The mystery of succession

In the first month of the eleventh year of the Mandate of Heaven (1626), Nurhachi led an army of 60,000 to the lonely city of Ningyuan. At that time, Yuan Chonghuan, the general of Ning Yuan, bombarded Nurhachi's military tent with Western artillery, and the shot was hit. Nurhachi was not killed in the tent, but was rescued from the tent. But he died soon after. As soon as Nurhachi died, the choice of who would be his successor became a top priority. Nurhachi's favorite concubine, Abahai, gave birth to three sons: Azig, Dolgon, and Dordor. It stands to reason that among these people, Huang Taiji is the most unlikely candidate to inherit the throne. Because Huang Taiji's mother came from Nurhachi's rival tribe, and Huang Taiji's uncle was always working against Nurhachi, the two tribes were-for-tat. Nurhachi's last words were for Dolgon to succeed him, so how did Huang Taiji fight his way to the throne in such a disadvantage?

At the beginning, Nurhachi wanted his second son Daishan to be his successor. Unexpectedly, Daishan and Dolgon's mother were of the same age, and the two got closer to each other. So the others ran to Nurhachi and sued the two men. Nurhachi personally interrogated, and the two admitted that they did have some friendship with each other. In fact, maybe it's just a meeting and eating, but with the help of others, the whole situation has become out of control. This "scandal" became more and more evil, forcing Nurhachi to end the game, so he had to deprive Daishan of his inheritance qualifications. As a result, only two of the four Baylor contenders, Amin and Mang Gurtai, remain.

The two sons of Da Belle Daishan who really sent Huang Taiji to the throne were actually the two sons of Da Belle Daishan. Their reasons were simple: first, no one could support Dorgon. If it weren't for Dolgon's mother and Dai Shan's unclear "scandal", Dai Shan would have been a great sweater. That's a hatred for Dorgon. Second, although Huang Taiji is not his own person, he is the weakest in power and is the easiest to become their puppet. So the father and son worked together to help Huang Taiji inherit the throne.

2. The death of the biological mother

Regarding the death of Dorgon's biological mother, Abahai, there are different accounts in the official history books of the Qing Dynasty.

In the earliest written book, the Records of Emperor Taizu Wu of the Qing Dynasty, Abahai is depicted as a person with a beautiful face but a jealous heart, which repeatedly displeased Nurhachi. Nurhachi had her martyred. After Nurhachi's death, Daishan, Huang Taiji, and others told Abahai that she had to commit suicide according to her father's last words. Abahai is only 37 years old, and he is in the prime of life. Based on her nostalgia for life and concern for her beloved son, she was unwilling to die. Dai Shan and Huang Taiji insisted that they must obey the last orders of the first emperor. Babhai was forced to commit suicide in the morning (7-9 a.m.). However, this deliberate attempt to vilify Abahai seems far-fetched, so some researchers speculate that this "Actual Record", written in the era of Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, is an attempt to conceal some historical truths.

According to the Korean historical book "Chunpotang Riyuelu", when Nurhachi was dying, he ordered his youngest son Dolgon to inherit the throne and serve as regent on behalf of Seon. But after Nurhachi's death, Daishan supported Huang Taiji's ascension. In order to ensure that Dorgon's mother did not object, she had to be forced to commit suicide. Since then, the record of Dorgon's biological mother has been revised several times in the official history book of the Qing Dynasty, Shilu.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Shunzhi Emperor Fulin was young, Dolgon was the chief regent, and his power reached its peak. He also ordered the historian who wrote the history of his dynasty to remove from the "Actual Records" records that were unfavorable to his mother. However, once Dorgon died, among the many "crimes" that the kings had imposed on him, he had tampered with history and made his mother worthy of the temple. Immediately, the nickname of "Empress Xiaoliewu" was posthumously seized, and the deleted content about Abahai in the "Actual Record" was reinstated. Finally, in the final version of the "Records of Taizu of the Qing Dynasty" compiled during the Qianlong period, a new explanation was made about Abahai's death.

3. Offer the jade seal

In the ninth year of Tiancong (1635), Dolgon made a special contribution to Huang Taiji and the Qing Dynasty. In September of that year, Dolgon led an army to conquer the remnants of Lin Dan Khan in the Mongol Chahar tribe. He used his power and tactics to cause the remnants of Lin Dan Khan to surrender without a fight, and offered the "jade seal of the country" that had been missing from the Chinese Empire for more than 200 years. It is said that this heirloom jade seal has been passed down from Qin Shi Huang to the Yuan Dynasty, and has an extremely important symbolic meaning of the destiny of heaven. Dolgon received this heirloom jade seal and presented it to Huang Taiji, who was embraced by everyone and ascended to the throne of the emperor of the Qing Empire.

It was for these reasons that Dorgon was pushed to a crucial crossroads after the death of Huang Taiji.

Fourth, give death to Hauge

On April 1 of the first year of Shunzhi (1644), on the eve of Dolgon's expedition to the Ming Dynasty, one of Haoge's cronies came forward to report Haoge's "rebellion". As a result of the treatment, several of Hauge's loyal subordinates were killed, and Hauge himself was deposed as a concubine. It's a bizarre, utterly bullshit verdict. Three years later, in the first month of the third year of Shunzhi (1646), Dolgon, who had firmly controlled the power, used Hauge again and ordered him to lead an army to deal with Zhang Xianzhong. On the third day of the second month of the fifth year of Shunzhi, Haoge returned to Beijing in triumph after killing the "Emperor Daxi" who made the people of Sichuan smell and change. A month later, before the enthusiasm for his celebration had fully passed, Hauge was once again convicted and imprisoned. This time, his crime can really be called a crime of desire, and there is no excuse for it. Soon after, Hauge, then forty years old, died in solitary confinement. Some believe that he was killed by order by the specially trained and highly skilled personnel of the Ming Jinyi Guard. After death, no cause of death can be detected. This may be one of the reasons why the little Emperor Fulin hated Dorgon, and Dolgon's death was doomed.

Fifth, the Queen Mother married

Whether Empress Xiaozhuang Wen married Dolgon or not was one of the three major doubtful cases in the early Qing Dynasty and was the focus of controversy in the historiography.

Reasons for holding the theory of marrying experts:

1. Dolgon called himself "the regent of the royal father, and went to the inner courtyard of the palace in person." "Undoubtedly, the queen mother is placed in the wife, and the emperor is placed in the son

status, if the Queen Mother did not marry, she and the royal prince Baylor would never be acceptable, and it was strange that this matter was tacitly acquiesced in by them. ”

2. According to the Korean historical records, in February of the sixth year of Shunzhi (1649), the Qing court sent envoys to Korea to submit the credentials. Zheng Taihe said: "Although there is no such thing in the edict, it seems that it has been too good." The king of Joseon also said, "Yes."

3. The poems of Zhang Huangyan, a relict of the Ming Dynasty. then the two emperors. This shows that the Joseon monarchs and ministers also discovered the mystery of the so-called "imperial father". undoubtedly refers to the marriage of the Queen Mother.

4. In December of the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi (1687), Empress Xiaozhuang Wen was seriously ill and left a will, which was contrary to the funeral system of the emperor and queen of the Qing Dynasty.

Experts who hold the theory of unmarried believe that:

1. Empress Xiaozhuang Wen was already the queen mother in Shunzhi, and with her esteemed status, she would not be buried in the imperial mausoleum after she died.

2. The edict of Shunzhi is empty.

3. Zhang Huangyan's poems are not credible, and some famous Qing historians believe that Zhang Huangyan harbored prejudices against the Qing court, and his poems cannot be used as historical facts.

4. Emperor Kangxi and later emperors always recognized Empress Xiaozhuang Wen as the empress of Emperor Taizong Wen of the Qing Dynasty, and respected her, sang praises and sacrifices. Therefore, the case of "the queen mother's marriage" does not exist at all.

5. The sentence "Cining Palace is full of rotten doors" says that when the Queen Mother got married, the lights inside and outside Cining Palace were full of joy. However, according to the "Qing Shilu", Empress Xiaozhuang Wen moved in after the renovation of Cining Palace in the tenth year of Shunzhi, so the big marriage must be held after the tenth year of Shunzhi (1653), but Dolgon has died of illness in December of the seventh year of Shunzhi (1649), which shows that the "Queen Mother is married" is not credible.