Many years ago, when I read "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang", what impressed me the most was the talented and beautiful woman Da Yuer.
He provided strategic advice to Huang Taiji, so he was revered as the "chief strategist of the harem". He uses his emotions to control Dorgon and works to ensure that his son Fulin can inherit the throne. After Fulin's death, he also helped his grandson Kangxi rise to the pinnacle of power.
She is on par with any man in terms of insight, strategy, and means.
When we re-examine "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang", we will realize that the character of Zhezhe, who has always been praised as virtuous and dignified, is by no means a simple character.
Zhezhe began marrying Huang Taiji when she was young, and was promoted from Beile Fujin and Great Khan Zhengfujin to the empress of the Qing Dynasty, until she became the queen mother, she always sat firmly at the top of the harem.
Judging from Huang Taiji's harem, whether it is the strategically skilled Concubine Abahai, or the ambitious mother of the eldest son Haoge, or the pampering harem Hai Lanzhu, and the wise Da Yu'er, they are all outstanding.
However, from the beginning to the end, Zhezhe's social status has never changed, and she is reflected in many important events in the play.
Moreover, Zhezhe's ability to gain the recognition and respect of Huang Taiji, a shrewd, capable and suspicious person, is enough to prove that Zhezhe definitely has her extraordinary, she is a ruthless character who has always been underestimated.
Da Yu'er chose to marry Huang Taiji, partly because Zhezhe was cheering her on behind her back.
Zhezhe, as Da Yuer's biological aunt, was immediately attracted by Da Yuer's elegant and upright figure in the year she returned to Horqin to visit relatives. Before leaving, Zhezhe expressed to his father, Mang Gusi: "I have a deep affection for her, and I hope that she can spend time with me and often share with me about my hometown." Please rest assured, in the future, I will definitely find an ideal son-in-law for her who is good at both literature and martial arts! ”
When I first witnessed this scene, I truly believed that the reason why Zhezhe took her away was because he loved Da Yu'er deeply. However, after careful tasting, it is found that this is actually an implicit allusion by Zhezhe to his father Manggusi.
At that time, Dajin's strength was at its peak, and Huang Taiji, as Nurhachi's most powerful son and the most influential opponent of Dajin Khan's throne, undoubtedly had great potential in the future.
However, despite Cheol-cheol's identity as Jeongbokjin, she suffers a pain deep down in her heart - she has a daughter but no son. His wife is a woman known as "Golden Branches and Jade Leaves". Therefore, the concubine in the play once satirized Horqin in private, although she had a beautiful woman, she was never able to give birth to a boy.
In those days, women did not have sons, and although it cannot be called a major fault, it was definitely not a good thing. Because, if a man wants to marry a wife with children, it means that he must prepare a rich property for himself, and this property is often not something that a person can afford. Even a woman like Zhezhe, who is of noble birth and has power behind her, must have a son as her companion if she wants to stabilize her position after marriage.
Since Cheol-cheol has no children, she must be prepared for this.
In order to cement her position in the clan and the alliance between Korqin and Daikin, the most effective strategy was to select some talented and beautiful women to serve Huang Taiji.
Da Yu'er was chosen as a target for two reasons: first, Da Yu'er was not only outstanding in appearance, but also extremely intelligent, so it was easy to win the love of Huang Taiji; She was also very gentle and virtuous, and had a high prestige among the Jurchens in the post-Jin period. From another point of view, Da Yu'er is her biological niece, all she gets is help, there is no threat, whether it is pampering or having children, it is beneficial for her and Horqin.
Of course, Zhezhe also made the worst decision, that is, Huang Taiji did not have a good impression of Da Yu'er. This made him very depressed. But this is not a big problem, and it is also beneficial to marry Da Yu'er to which prince Baylor will marry in the future.
Manggusi has a deep understanding of these suggestions and the implications thereof.
Tribal leaders often chose marriage as the best way to establish friendly relations with their allies, which was also a survival strategy that Manggus believed. If you want to be a visionary politician, then you need to have a deep affection for Daikin. The reason why Mang Gusi married Zhezhe to Huang Taiji in the first place was that he hoped to establish a better relationship with Dajin, and at the same time, he also hoped to win Huang Taiji, who was most likely to inherit the throne of Dajin. Zhezhe did not experience his son's potential pain, and he certainly would not be ignorant of it.
Therefore, when Zhezhe proposed to take Da Yu'er away, Mang Gusi agreed to her proposal after careful consideration and in Zhezhe's firm expression.
Obviously, Zhezhe is only one of Mangu Siguang and many people with good fate, and he also married his granddaughter Hai Lanzhu to the equally powerful Chahar Ministry.
Zhezhe's plan to take Da Yu'er away also provides an explanation for a small part of the play.
Zhezhe once made it clear that when she left Horqin, Da Yu'er had just learned to walk, and this aunt and nephew, who had not seen her for many years, the relationship between them was deep to a certain extent, did they really decide to take Da Yu'er away?
Obviously, Tetsu-che would not do this unless there was some other purpose.
It is for this reason that when Huang Taiji made the prophecy of marrying Da Yu'er, Zhezhe expressed strong support for it. He not only assisted Huang Taiji in dispelling the worries of his aunt and nephew serving a husband together, but also persuaded Da Yu'er to accept the arrangement of fate through factors such as the honor of the family, the life safety of the clansmen, and the life safety of Dolgon.
Zhezhe believed that it was their destiny to marry women from large tribal backgrounds. In marriage, the man is never the master. Since this is a fateful thing, marrying a man with potential and ability is undoubtedly the most ideal choice and destination.
For Zhezhe, Hai Lanzhu was able to obtain the exclusive favor of Huang Taiji, which was completely beyond his expectations.
Cheol-cheol initially had a deep sympathy for the niece. After Hai Lanzhu married a Chahar, her life became very difficult, her husband not only beat her but also scolded her, until her husband unfortunately died, Hai Lanzhu was brought back to Horqin.
Zhezhe originally planned to take advantage of Hai Lanzhu's visit to Shengjing to find a suitable partner among the many princes Baylor, but before she could start her search, Huang Taiji had already developed a strong interest in Hai Lanzhu.
This completely exceeded Zhezhe's expectations.
She never expected that Hai Lanzhu, who was married to someone else, would have such a huge attraction.
However, in terms of emotion, reason, and interests, Hai Lanzhu's marriage to Huang Taiji did not pose a negative impact on her, because in the harem, she not only had a new relative, but also received some support and help.
Therefore, when Huang Taiji decided to seal Hai Lanzhu as Concubine Chen, although Zhezhe was dissatisfied with Huang Taiji's indifference to Da Yu'er, he did not object or raise questions.
Zhezhe's real wariness of Hai Lanzhu was because of the morning incident.
At that time, Zhezhe had risen to the status of empress. The concubines in the harem would go to the empress's place every day to pay their respects, which was not only a traditional Xi, but also to show the important position of the empress in the harem.
However, Hai Lanzhu, who had just entered the palace, was often late when she greeted her in the morning. She is a very successful student in school, but she is such a student, but she always gives people a feeling that she is not up or down. Zhezhe expressed strong dissatisfaction with this, which she believed was because Hai Lanzhu was too narcissistic and didn't really pay attention to her.
After all, in the past, no matter how much Da Yu'er was loved, she never treated her like Hai Lanzhu.
Zhezhe said to Hai Lanzhu, who had just arrived, with dissatisfaction: Looking at the flush on your face, I think your body is much better than before. Sure enough, when people encounter festive things, their appearance and temperament will change significantly.
Hai Lanzhu is not stupid, she senses the implicit meaning of this sentence, which is to remind her not to forget the rules and who is the leader of the harem because she is favored. "Who's the Queen? Although Hai Lanzhu wanted to defend herself, considering Huang Taiji's deep respect for Zhezhe, she still accepted his words.
That night, Huang Taiji asked Zhezhe: I heard that Shanghai Lanzhu came to look for An Chi earlier today.
Before Huang Taiji's words were finished, Zhezhe calmly responded: I'm sure the emperor is here to hold him accountable?
Zhezhe's words successfully stopped Huang Taiji's willingness to defend Hai Lanzhu. He was prominent in the court, but he was often blamed for his mother being a female eunuch. Huang Taiji questioned the queen because of an unruly concubine, realized his fault, and responded euphemistically: No, I was about to tell her that she didn't understand the rules soon after she entered the palace, and you should be more strict with her.
Although they thought it was wrong to do this, Huang Taiji still warned Zhezhe with words, Hai Lanzhu has not been in the palace for a long time, and it is normal not to understand the rules in the palace, so your attitude towards her is too strict.
After understanding the meaning of Huang Taiji's words, Zhezhe suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and said calmly: She is the emperor's true love, how can I have the courage to do it?
Zhezhe originally thought that knocking down Hai Lanzhu would allow her to recover her memory, but she didn't expect Huang Taiji to suddenly appear and question him. This made her realize that Hai Lanzhu would not be her assistant, she would only pose a threat to her position.
Of course, Zhezhe would never be stupid enough to go head-to-head with Huang Taiji.
She has an in-depth understanding of Huang Taiji's personality, and he is more inclined to soft power than hard power, so timely reminders are very necessary, because if the question is raised directly, it is likely to provoke Huang Taiji's displeasure and have a bad impact on their relationship.
Therefore, the issue of Hai Lanzhu's request for security has been shelved so far.
After this incident, Zhezhe became more hostile and defensive towards Hai Lanzhu, especially before Hai Lanzhu gave birth to the eighth elder brother full moon, Huang Taiji had already named him the crown prince.
This made Zhezhe feel a deeper sense of crisis. In order to better control Hai Lanzhu, Zhezhe kept mediating for Da Yu'er, hoping to ease the tension between Da Yu'er and Huang Taiji.
In the relationship between Hai Lanzhu and Da Yu'er, Zhezhe longs for Da Yu'er to be favored even more. She believes that the big profit is the most important thing. Although Da Yu'er and Hai Lanzhu are both biological nieces, Da Yu'er knows the rules and proportions very well, so she is pampered, which is beneficial to her and has no disadvantages. However, Hai Lanzhu seems to have surpassed her, which makes her have to step up her guard.
This is also one of the reasons why Zhezhe has always been on Da Yuer's side.
Subsequently, Zhezhe claimed that he left the capital to recuperate due to illness after being refuted by Hai Lanzhu in person, which was full of deep meaning.
In the beginning, the eyes cannot see, and the heart does not feel troubled; Secondly, in order to avoid a direct conflict with Hailanzhu, we need to avoid its edge; Thirdly, her purpose is to let everyone understand that she is sick because of Hai Lanzhu's qi disease, so as to remind Huang Taiji Hai Lanzhu to become arrogant because of her favor.
For Zhezhe, her status as an empress is of paramount importance, and she will not allow anyone to pose a threat to her position. She knew that she had too little power, so she chose to be conservative. However, she knows very well that the love between husband and wife accumulated over the years is in front of her, and as long as she does not make major mistakes, Huang Taiji will not abolish her because of a moment of confusion.
Therefore, it is also a wise choice to avoid the land of strife at the right time. The wisdom of a philosopher lies in his insight into the world and the human heart. From this point of view, Zhezhe's thinking and strategy are not inferior to anyone else.
When I read "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang", I firmly believed that Fu Lin's ascension to the throne was entirely due to Dorgon's full support for the great jade.
Looking back on the whole process of Fu Lin becoming the emperor, I realize that the real driving force behind it is actually my Zhezhe.
Huang Taiji died without leaving a will. As for who should succeed the emperor, this turned into a thorny question in a short time. Zhezhe, as the ruler of the harem, after completing the funeral of Huang Taiji, quickly found the patriarch Daishan and the strategist Fan Wencheng to discuss the matter together.
She first needed to gain an in-depth understanding of the perspectives and ideas of the Eight Banners nobles before preparing for the next step in her plan of action.
Zhezhe was not surprised to hear that there was support for Hauge, because Hauge was the eldest son of Huang Taiji, so it was perfectly legitimate to inherit the throne.
To her surprise, there was another group of people supporting Dorgon, and she asked curiously: Isn't this the saying that "the father dies and the son succeeds"? None of them knew if their son would become emperor or not! Dorgon was actually the younger brother of the Emperor. How to pronounce the word "brother"? Zhezhe felt very embarrassed after hearing Fan Wencheng give a detailed list of the cases of "brother to brother succession" in history.
She believed that those who wanted to inherit the throne only had to choose one of all the princes of Huang Taiji. Unexpectedly, this person turned out to be a woman who "doesn't do his job" and "doesn't know the rules" - who is he? Now there's one more Dolgon, and that's not good news for her.
Whichever prince succeeds to the throne, she will remain in the position of Queen Mother, with the exception of Dorgon. Because he was a narrow-minded man, he thought he should be emperor. In other words, Zhezhe had no intention of allowing Dorgon to inherit the throne from the beginning.
Therefore, when Fan Wencheng suggested that in order to prevent a conflict between Hauge and Dolgon, which would affect the stability of the Qing Dynasty, the prince should be re-elected, Zhezhe immediately expressed his support.
In order to carry out the suggestion of another prince, Daizen was assigned to convince Hauge, while Zhezhe was assigned to convince Dorgon. With the support of the ministers, the establishment of children and daughters became the first priority. However, Zhezhe did not intervene personally, but entrusted this task to Da Yu'er, and she solemnly told Yu'er: In this complicated situation of the Qing Dynasty, it is up to you whether you can maintain order or not.
It must be admitted that Zhezhe is indeed good at identifying and appointing talents. She has a deep understanding of Dolgon's affection for Da Yu'er, and she also recognizes that Da Yu'er has a global concept and a character that considers the overall situation, so she has a good chance of success in entrusting Da Yu'er with the task.
When Da Yu'er tried to convince Dolgon, Zhezhe also found Daishan and suggested to him Lifulin. When Dai Shan made it clear that he wanted to discuss the family tradition of "the son is more precious than the mother", Fulin was not among the discussions, and then Zhezhe expressed his opinion:
Big brother, there is a key reason behind the appearance of Fulin. As things stand, it is likely that Dorgon will be in charge of regency. The previous emperor, Hauge, may not be able to match Dolgon, and may need to take steps to protect Hauge. Obviously, in this battle for the throne, the grievances between uncles and nephews are unavoidable. When the two tigers start fighting, who will take control of Dorgon? After years of my care, he finally showed me respect. But all this is not as deep as the deep affection that Yu'er grew up with him since childhood. Jade is very attentive and eloquent, and only she can work with me to control Dorgon and make sure that the Emperor doesn't worry about anything. ”
This is meant to warn Daishan that Haug cannot compete with Dorgon, and you cannot compete with Dorgon. However, the Emperor's last words emphasized that only Haug and Jade had the power to control Dorgon. Therefore, Yu'er's blessing must inherit the throne, and no other prince can replace him.
Under Zhezhe's clear statement, Daiseon, who has always adhered to the relationship between the monarch and the minister, also decided to support Fulin, because he must pay attention to the decision of the queen mother, the queen mother.
Before the Eight Banners Debate was held to determine who would be the next emperor, Zhezhe had already revealed the rules for the selection of heirs to Fu Lin in advance, and warned him many times to choose a suitable heir instead of a round one, so that Fu Lin could smoothly become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
From the time Fan Wencheng proposed the creation of another prince, Zhezhe had already exerted control over everything.
Whether it's persuading Hauge and Dolgon, or persuading Daishan to side with Fulin, or secretly guiding Fulin without Yu'er's knowledge. In fact, she had already expected that Dolgon would definitely be on Fulin's side in the relationship between Bogor and Fulin.
As for why Zhezhe insists on pushing Fu Lin to the top position, the reason behind it is actually quite straightforward:
Fulin has been close to her since she was a child, and Da Yu'er's bond with her is even deeper. When Fulin became emperor, her mother, the Queen Mother, not only sat safely, but also felt at ease. This was something that could not be achieved by the accession to the throne of Bogol, who was born to the noble concubine. Second, the Empress Dowager is one of her favorite women, and she treats her very well. Zhezhe always understood that the attitude of the noble concubine towards her was superficial loyalty, but in fact it was secretly betrayal.
Secondly, since she and Da Yu'er are from the same family, good luck will naturally befall her own family, which will be beneficial to her, Da Yu'er, and Horqin.
Third, her appearance was indeed to respond to Huang Taiji's last wish and ensure Haoge's safety. She has her own opinion on this issue. She knew that if Bogol had inherited the throne, she would have preferred to see a rivalry between Hauge and Dolgon, with the strategy of the concubine. Bogol wanted to take advantage of it, but when she wanted to intervene, her conditions were not accepted.
Judging from Zhezhe's entire life, she either worked hard for the honor of her family, or carefully planned or even calculated in order to consolidate her social status and personal interests.
In that historical period, the fate of women was full of sorrow. Their quality of life, whether good or bad, is based on the influence of the family, the feelings of the husband, the wishes of the offspring, rather than the decisions of the women themselves.