Entering ChinaAt the time of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Eight Banners fought for the throne almost “you live and die”, and finally were able to enter the Central Plains under the “leadership” of orphans and widows.
So, what was the power structure in the early Qing Dynasty? Why is it that under the premise of internal disputes in the Eight Banners, it can still fight without breaking and move forward?
Nurhachi’s path to integrationDuring the Wanli period, Nurhachi integrated the Jurchen tribes and rose rapidly, opening the prelude to the Ming and Qing dynasties. So, how did Nurhachi consolidate his power?
In the early Qing Dynasty, Nurhachi started a business together with his brother Shulhaqi, and many of the initial “national policies” were formulated together. It can be said that before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the basic pattern of the Nurhachi clique was in a “two-headed government system”. The so-called “two-headed government system” is a Jurchen tradition, in which the two chiefs each rule over a part of the people, and according to historical sources, Nurhachi and Shulhaqi also share property.
When did the two brothers who started their own business together come apart? In August of the 23rd year of Wanli (1595), Shuerhaqi was made the governor of the Ming Dynasty when he paid tribute, which was a balancing act of the Ming Dynasty in the Liaodong region. This aroused Nurhachi’s vigilance, especially Shulhaqi’s marriage of his daughter to Li Rubai, the son of Li Chengliang, which made Nurhachi even more uneasy. In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli (1607), after a battle, Nurhachi executed two of Shurhachi’s generals by military law, and Shulhachi openly contradicted Nurhachi. From then on, Shulhaqi was ready to fight against Nurhachi. In the thirty-seventh year of Wanli (1609), Nurhachi imprisoned him and exterminated his family. At that time, Shuerhaqi’s second son, Amin Su, was friendly with Huang Taiji, which left a residual vein.
The next one to challenge Nurhachi was his son Chu Ying. After Chu Ying was named “Guangluo Baylor”, he gradually ignored his brothers and ministers, and even threatened his brothers: “When I succeed to the throne, I will kill them.” For this reason, Nurhachi took action to limit Chu Ying’s power, causing father and son to turn against each other. In the fortieth year of Wanli (1612), when Nurhachi was on a personal expedition, he asked Chu Ying to stay in the rear, which made Chu Ying very angry, and he began to curse his father. As a result of the father-son struggle, Chu Ying was imprisoned and executed.
After Chu Ying’s death, his second son Dai Shan became the “deputy commander”, and this person maintained his influence until the Shunzhi period. However, Daishan, who had achieved great military achievements, was not the heir, because he and Nurhachi had different political views. Dai Shan is a relatively generous person, and when dealing with the enemy, he often “cuts the grass but does not eradicate the roots”. In the end, Dai Shan, who had a good start, was also kicked out.
What is the “Eight Kings Discussion”?In the seventh year of the Mandate of Heaven (1622), Nurhachi established the eight-king regime, adding four small beylers to the original four major beylers.
The core of the so-called “Eight Kings Discussion Politics” is that Babeile is in charge of the military and political power of Houjin, and major military affairs are discussed by Babeile. In the future, the Great Khan could not appoint himself, and was jointly appointed by Babel, who held the power to “establish the Khan and remove the Khan”.
After the edict was issued, the power structure of the Houjin began to shift from a “centralized system” to a “joint discussion system”. Although Nurhachi still held the supreme power, the day-to-day affairs of the military and government had been decided by the Babel and then approved by the Great Khan. This power structure is clearly a transitional arrangement.
In the eleventh year of the Mandate of Heaven (1626), Nurhachi died of illness. In accordance with the will of “discussing the affairs of the state”, Zhubel discussed the candidates for the new Great Khan.
At that time, only the four Baylors could succeed to the throne. The Great Belle Daishan carried the “punishment” on his back; The second Bel Amin is the child of Shulhazy, and these two people are certainly not suitable. In addition, in the fifth year of the Mandate of Heaven (1620), the three beylers had harmed Dai Shan and formed a beam, and Dai Shan resolutely supported Huang Taiji, and the four beylers finally won.
Huang Taiji’s wrist
After Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, he immediately changed the two flags of Zhengbai (Huang Taiji) and inlaid white (Huang Taiji’s son Haoge) to Zhenghuang and Huang, so that Huang Taiji continued to have his own military and financial resources in the name of “Zhenghuang” and “Huang”; At the same time, the original yellow flag and yellow flag were changed to white flag and white flag, which were divided between the brothers Azig, Dolgon, and Dord. In this way, Huang Taiji mastered the strength of the Four Banners as soon as he succeeded to the throne.
In the next step, Huang Taiji began to suppress the three major Baylors.
The first is Amin. When Amin succeeded to the throne, he once talked about the conditions that he wanted to go to North Korea to “secede”, and the newly succeeded Huang Taiji chose to “forbear”, and in the first year of Tiancong (1626), Amin ordered Amin to command two blue flags, two white flags, and red flags, a total of five banners to conquer Korea. As a result, Amin raped and plundered all the way, and he also acted arbitrarily as a commander many times, and even wanted to capture the entire territory of Korea. After the class teacher returned to the court, he actually built a city and a tuntian in the place of the original Shuerhaqi.
This completely infuriated Huang Taiji.
In the third year of Tiancong (1629), Huang Taiji made the first detour to attack the Guannei, and Amin was ordered to guard the four cities of Yongping that had just been broken, but was defeated again and again by Sun Chengzong. Huang Taiji was furious, listed sixteen crimes, and imprisoned Amin. Since then, the blue flag has been controlled by Huang Taiji.
After Amin, it was the turn of the three Bel Mang Gurtai. In the battle of the Daling River, Mang Gurtai’s Zhenglan Banner suffered huge casualties, and Mang Gurtai wanted to withdraw his troops to rest, but Huang Taiji refused. The angry Mang Gurtai came up with a knife and questioned Huang Taiji, angering Tianyan. Originally, it was a technical problem of military mobilization, but it was removed by Huang Taiji from the title of Mang Gurtai’s Great Belle, and after this blow, Mang Gurtai was “infected” and died of illness in the sixth year of Tiancong (1632). Huang Taiji liquidated the Zhenglan Banner and finally appointed his son Haoge as the owner of the Zhenglan Banner. So far, Huang Taiji has mastered six flags.
Eight banners of the Mongolian army and the Han armyIn the sixth year of the Mandate of Heaven (1632), the Mongols who took refuge in the past began to take shape and were incorporated into the Eight Banners Manchu Army. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, in order to increase the number of troops directly under him, the Eight Banners Mongolian Army was newly organized according to the Eight Banners Manchu Army. At first, there were only 40 Niulu, but after expansion, by the seventh year of Tiancong (1633), there were two banners of troops. In the ninth year of Tiancong (1635), after the surrender of Monan, a large number of Mongolian Zhuangding were incorporated into the Eight Banners Mongolian Army, and the flag color and structure were consistent with the Eight Banners Manchu Army, and the Eight Banners Mongolian Army was officially formed. The Eight Banners Han Army formed an army later than the Mongolian Army. After being hit by the red-coated artillery of the Ming army many times, Huang Taiji decided to recruit soldiers who were good at making and using firearms among the captured or surrendered Han soldiers, and also used the system of eight banners to organize the Han soldiers into a separate army. Subsequently, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, and Shang Kexi Sanming led their troops to surrender, and the Eight Banners Han Army was formally established, and the flag system was the same as that of Eight Banners Manchuria and Eight Banners Mongolia.
Follow the example of the Ming Dynasty to form the “Six Departments”The pattern of the Eight Banners is essentially composed of Baylor and flag officers, each flag is independent of each other, do not interfere with each other, although Baylor’s authority covers the vast majority of military and political affairs, but the Houjin during the succession period of Huang Taiji is no longer a simple Manchu regime, the increase in the population of Mongolia and Han makes administrative affairs more and more complicated, and the Eight Banners system alone can no longer adapt, so Huang Taiji began to learn the six management mechanisms of the Central Plains Dynasty.
In the early years of Tiancong (1627), Huang Taiji opened a literary hall and selected outstanding administrative talents from the Manchu and Han dynasties, and these people also constituted a political group around Huang Taiji that gradually implemented sinicization. In the fifth year of Tiancong (1631), the civil officials headed by Fan Wencheng and Ning Wan I built six ministries for the Houjin, each with a Baylor in charge of affairs, and Baylor set up Chengzheng and participated in politics, and Zhubeile was in charge of six affairs. Soon, Huang Taiji simply abolished Baylor in charge of the six ministries and appointed the officials of the six ministries himself.
In the later period of Chongde, the internal affairs of the banner were completely no longer under the control of the banner kings and were transferred to the hands of Huang Taiji. At the same time, the six ministries independent of the Eight Banners also became a powerful tool for the imperial power to control the Eight Banners.
During the Huang Taiji era, the Later Jin basically established a centralized political structure. In 1643, Huang Taiji died violently, and the Ming Dynasty was shaken by the blow of the peasant army.
The key game of the Eight Banners Discussion
After the death of Huang Taiji, there were 7 people with the highest status: Prince Daishan of Li, Prince Zheng Zierharang, Prince Rui Dolgon, Prince Su Haoge, King Azig of Yingwu County, King Duoduo of Yujun County, and Adali, King of Doluo County. The oldest of these 7 people is Dai Shan, the owner of the Zhenghong Banner Banner, who is 61 years old at this time. The second is that the owner of the blue flag, Zilharang, is 45 years old, he is a descendant of Shulhazy, and he is not qualified to succeed to the throne. As for Azig, Dordor, and Adaali, they are only the kings of the county, and the only ones who are really qualified to compete for the throne are Dorgon and Haug.
As the eldest son of Huang Taiji, Hao Ge is the owner of the Zhenglan Banner, and he and the two yellow flags belong to the same three banners, so his current position is very advantageous. However, Dolgon’s side is not weak, although he, Duoduo and Azig are only the current two white flag owners, these three are the half-brothers of Nurhachi and Abahai, and these three are also Hauge’s “imperial uncles”. The blood lineage is higher than Hauge.
In the five days after Huang Taiji’s violent death, the two sides were tense for a while. At this time, Hauge went to meet Zilharang in order to succeed to the throne. But Zilharang said that he wanted to “establish a prince”. Dolgon had already guessed that the intention of the two yellow flags was also to “establish a prince”, but in order to further confirm his attitude, Dolgon went to the Sanguan Temple to meet Hesheri Soni. Sonny was Nurhachi’s bodyguard, and because he was fluent in Manchu, Mongolian and Chinese, he entered the Wenguan to work. When Sonny told Dolgon that the two yellow flags would not be established unless the prince was established, Dolgon knew that if he ascended to the throne, there would be a “civil war” in the Eight Banners. At that time, the regime that Nurhachi and Huang Taiji had built up with great difficulty may be divided.
A fateful day
The kings gathered in the Chongzheng Palace, presided over the meeting of the king, and the kings and Belle were seated separately in the order of the flags, and Sonny and Aobai entered the palace, claiming to appoint the prince, but were driven out by Dolgon; Azig and Dordo persuaded Dorgon to take the throne, but Dorgon did not allow it; Later, Duoduo proposed that Daishan succeed him, but Daishan said that he was old and refused. At this time, it is very important who the two “elders” Daishan and Zilharang support.
Dai Shan spoke first to recommend Hauge to succeed him, and left the venue after speaking. The reason why Dai Shan recommended Hauge is very simple, because with his political qualifications, no matter which side he recommends, he will definitely be in trouble with the other. If Haoge is on the throne, he is the emperor’s uncle in terms of seniority, even if the “civil war” of the Eight Banners really breaks out, he will also have the strength of the Five Banners with three banners and two red flags (the main one with the red flag is the son of Dai Shan), and he will not be afraid of Dolgon. But Hauge himself “died”, and after Dai Shan left the scene, Hauge retreated and advanced, playing the performance of “How can he be in the next place, he can’t take on this heavy responsibility”.
Dorgon and Zilharang suddenly proposed to make Fu Lin succeed to the throne and have them serve as regents. The two yellow flags that originally supported Hauge only supported the establishment of the prince, and it didn’t matter which one the “prince” was. Hauge did not realize the true appeal of the two yellow flags, and blindly held it up, indicating that he was far inferior to Dorgon.
Solidarity under compromise and struggle
Dorgon became the biggest winner, because he excluded Hauge, who was the most powerful contender for the throne, and kept the vested interests of the two yellow flags, so that the two white flags and the two yellow flags temporarily “turned into a jade silk”. This also laid a solid foundation for the Qing Dynasty to enter the Central Plains in the future. For Dolgon, he was also forced to give up the throne, but he supported a “young boy” as the emperor, and he and Zilharang jointly became the “regent”, in fact, firmly controlled the government.
By the way, the reason why Fulin was chosen was based on the status of his mother Concubine Zhuang in the harem, but this was certainly not the fundamental reason for Fulin to succeed to the throne. Because of the development of the situation at that time, if you want to control the supreme power, you must balance the forces of various factions, and you must know how to give up some of your power. Therefore, the succession to the throne of Fu Lin is a compromise reached by the entire power class in order to maintain the balance of the political landscape.
In April 1644, one of the two yellow banners accused Hauge of cursing Dorgon, and Dolgon decisively demoted Hauge directly from prince to concubine.
After Hauge was deposed, there were still many factions in the Eight Banners. The two yellow flags did not obey Dolgon’s orders, and the blue flag was panicked because of Hauge’s fate, and the owner of the red flag was killed for discussing state affairs privately, and the white flag Duoduo was Dolgon’s person, and he was also fined for “hooking up” with Fan Wencheng’s wife and hunting without authorization, that is to say, at this time, in the power structure of the Qing Dynasty, not only was the people’s hearts unstable, but there were also obvious factional contradictions. But all factions have the same interest: to take control of the Central Plains. In order to alleviate the conflict, Dorgon launched the Battle of Shanhaiguan, an expedition of the air nation.
Entry and changes in the power structure
In this battle, the Eight Banners Army entered Beijing, and the Qing army became the biggest winner. For Dolgon, as long as a large number of Eight Banners troops were outside, the attention of the court and China was focused on the war, and the young Shunzhi could not pose any threat to Dolgon, and the top of the power structure would always belong to him. However, due to the war situation in the early Qing Dynasty, he had to reactivate Hauge. Hauge is indeed a good fighter. played a series of achievements: in October of the first year of Shunzhi (1644), Haoge restored the title of Prince Su; In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), the Shandong uprising was quelled; In the first month of the third year of Shunzhi (1646), Haoge attacked Sichuan and killed Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
At the beginning of the fifth year of Shunzhi (1648), Haoge had pacified most of Sichuan. Soon after, Hauge returned to the court in victory, and with the help of military exploits, he began to restore some of his power in the court, and even came into contact with another “regent”, Zilharang. Dolgon was aware of this, and began to suppress Hauge and Zilharang. Hauge was convicted, imprisoned, and eventually committed suicide in captivity. Soon after, Zilharan was also deposed. However, Dorgon’s final fate was also hasty, and he died violently in November of the seventh year of Shunzhi (1650), more than two years after Hauge was taken.
At this point, the nobles who participated in the core struggle of the Eight Banners in the Nurhachi and Huang Taiji dynasties basically withdrew from the stage of history. Although Zilharang was restored to the status of prince after the Shunzhi pro-government, it was actually hollowed out. The Qing army has entered the customs, and the era of the prince’s auxiliary government is officially over.
