In August of the eighth year of Chongde (1643 AD), Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty died. Huang Taiji did not establish a prince during his lifetime, nor did he leave an edict after his death, and there was no clear system for the inheritance of the imperial throne after the founding of the Qing Dynasty, so that the throne of the Qing Dynasty was unresolved. The so-called "country cannot be without a king for a day", the highest voice at that time belonged to the fourteenth brother of Huang Taiji and Prince Dolgon of Shuorui and the eldest son of Huang Taiji and Prince Haoge of Shuosu. Whether it is "a son inherits his father's business" or "a brother dies with a brother", Hauge and Dorgon seem to be qualified to inherit the throne. However, the Qing Dynasty at that time still used the "Khan Throne Election System" in the post-Jin Nurhachi period for the inheritance of the throne. Dolgon and Hauge's support were evenly matched. In this special context, Dolgon took a different path, proposing to support the ninth son of Huang Taiji, Fu Lin, as emperor, and himself became an auxiliary minister as his uncle regent, thus opening the peak of Dolgon's political career.
Lord Regent Dorgon.
The duty of the auxiliary minister is to help the emperor deal with and decide on major state affairs when the emperor is too young to govern himself. If it is used well, it can stabilize the court situation and stabilize the world during the period before the emperor is in power, and at the same time, it can also set a good example for the emperor. However, there are only a few auxiliary ministers who have left such a good reputation in history, such as Zhou Gong and Zhuge Liang. Most of them are because they can't withstand the power, so they either embark on the "road of no return" of the powerful ministers, or directly "conspire against the usurpation" and are ruined.
Dolgon is a typical example of a "negative textbook". Leaving aside his covetousness and thoughts on the throne, Dolgon controlled the pinnacle of power in the Qing Dynasty during his time as an auxiliary king. suppressed hostile forces, monopolized power, and enjoyed the treatment and specifications of an almost emperor. As a "direct victim", Shunji had a "deep hatred" for this uncle, and completely liquidated him just two months after Dorgon's violent death. Not only did he deny Dorgon's merits, but he also dug up the grave and whipped the corpse to humiliate! It is no exaggeration to say that Shunzhi's dissatisfaction and hatred for Dolgon were all vented in this liquidation, and at the same time, the shortcomings of the auxiliary minister were once again exposed.
Dolgon and Shunzhi.
What is surprising is that Shunzhi, who was deeply "poisoned" by the auxiliary ministers, actually arranged four auxiliary ministers for Kangxi, who succeeded him, before his death. Shunzhi: This is "good scars and forget the pain"? Or does it have another meaning?
Similar to Shunzhi's six-year-old succession, Kangxi was only eight years old when he succeeded to the throne, and he had no ability and conditions to govern at all. Every day in a huge country, there are countless important affairs that need to be dealt with and decided, and it is obviously unrealistic to rely on a young child. Although Xiaozhuang supported the overall situation behind him at that time, after all, she was a woman, separated by generations, and there were countless "negative cases" of harem politics. In desperation, Shunzhi could only arrange for the auxiliary minister to assist Kangxi in handling the government. Shunzhi's arrangement is four auxiliary ministers, which can be said to be well-intentioned.
The four auxiliary ministers arranged by Shunzhi for Kangxi were Sony, Suke Saha, Kubilong, and Aobai. Shunzhi arranged these four people, not only because their identity, status, and qualifications are sufficient, but also because they have commonalities.
Four Auxiliary Ministers.
1. Born with three flags, it is not affected by other clansmen
The eight flags are divided into three flags and five flags, and the upper three flags are relatively the most respected. The upper three flags are the yellow flag, the inlaid yellow flag and the white flag. But this is not the reason why Shunzhi chose the minister of Shangsanqi to assist the government, the real reason is because Shangsanqi has no banner owner, or the banner owner of Shangsanqi is the emperor himself. Among them, the Zhenghuang Banner and the Inlaid Yellow Banner were personally controlled by the Emperor during the Emperor's Taiji period, and the Zhengbai Banner of Dolgon was also transferred to the Emperor after it was liquidated. Among the Eight Banners, the power and influence of the Eight Banners Banner Masters is enormous within each Banner Banner. If the auxiliary minister is from the Lower Five Banners, and the owners of the Lower Five Banners are usually the princes of the royal family. If the owner of the Five Banners decides to rebel, it is very likely to cause unpredictable and serious consequences. In order to avoid this situation, Shunzhi can only choose from the three flags.
Eight Flags. 2. Relatively balanced sorting
Sony is from the Yellow Flag and ranks first; Sukh Saha is the positive white flag and ranks second; Both Curb Pilon and Ao Bai are inlaid with yellow flags and are ranked separately.
Three, four. The four Auxiliary Ministers, with two seats in the yellow flag, are therefore at the bottom of the rankings. Sony of the Yellow Flag ranked first, indicating his identity as a descendant, and after the death of Huang Taiji, Sony was one of the eight ministers of the Two Yellow Flags in the Chongzheng Palace. Sukh Saha was the first to expose the evidence of Dolgon's rebellion after Dolgon's death, and he was a representative figure who surrendered to Shunzhi, which was of great significance to Shunzhi. And this order of Sukh Saha's position also has the effect of balancing the forces of the two yellow flags.
3. There are no royal relatives, all of them are foreign surnames
If the choice of Shangsanqi was to avoid potential risks, and the ranking of auxiliary ministers solved the problem of the balance of power, then deliberately not arranging for the royal family to assist the government was to completely prevent the recurrence of a situation similar to Dorgon. The "shadow" caused by Dolgon to Shunzhi is deep and indelible. Because of the particularity of blood and identity, the royal family has the opportunity to get involved in the throne, which greatly increases the risk of falling on the throne.
The predecessor of the Qing Dynasty was the Later Jin regime established by Nurhachi, and the Later Jin regime came from the Jurchen tribe. The emergence of the Later Jin regime marked the transformation of supreme power from the form of tribal alliance to the Aixin Jueluo family**. The so-called "Khan Throne Election System" is a system in which the leaders are elected within the family by the eight banner lords Baylor, and the supreme power at this time is not exclusive to someone, but more determined by the family. Huang Taiji's ascension to the throne was born under this system.
The Big Four Baylors. Although Shunzhi's throne was also proposed, he was essentially a puppet emperor, and the real power was in the hands of Dolgon, and the clan family was still in power. In this form, the supreme power of the Qing Dynasty wants to become the emperor alone, which can be described as a "long road".
On the one hand, he was aware and experienced by Dolgon, and saw the disadvantages of the circulation of imperial power within the clan family; On the other hand, out of consideration for the transformation of the imperial power of the Qing Dynasty into the emperor, there must be a drastic special measure. Shunzhi rarely arranged four auxiliary ministers who were not members of the royal family, and directly pushed the clan family out of the core power circle.
Although Shunzhi endured great shadow and pressure in his childhood, he still made his own contribution as the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Especially from the perspective of the auxiliary ministers he arranged for Kangxi, Shunzhi has his own experience and means for the control of the balance of power and the transformation of the supreme power of the Qing Dynasty, and it also made an extremely important foreshadowing and foreshadowing for Kangxi to truly control the imperial power in the hands of the emperor alone.