Chapter 7 Chapter Six: The Succession of Hong Taiji: A Power Transfer Full of Mysteries

In August of the sixth year of Mingqi and the eleventh year of Tianming in the Later Jin Dynasty (AD 1626), shortly after Nurhaci's death, Yuetuo and his third younger brother Sahalian came to the mansion of their father, Dabeile Daishan, and talked about The political situation after Nurhachi's death.They believe that a country cannot be without a king for a day, and the position of King Khan should not be empty for a long time, and a big plan should be made early.The two young people said to their father: Sibeile Huang Taiji is the most talented and virtuous in the world. He is highly regarded by the old Khan Nurhachi.Daishan agreed with them, and then personally went to communicate with the other big Baylors.In the historical materials, there is no record of anyone making a different voice on this.The next day, all the high-ranking and powerful people in the Houjin Khanate joined hands to elect, and thus, the throne of the Khan was smoothly transferred to Huang Taiji in a peaceful and peaceful manner. (Wang Xianqian's "Donghualu", August of the 11th year of Destiny; "Drafts of Qing History" Taizong Benji first class)

Yue Tuo is the owner of the Xianghong Banner, Daishan is the owner of the Zhenghong Banner, and Sahalian is the leader of the Political Council Baylor.At that time, Huang Taiji was only the owner of the Xiangbai Banner.In terms of strength, Daishan and Yuetuo's father and son are obviously stronger than Huangtai.They did not compete for power by virtue of their strength, but united with others to elect Huang Taiji together. None of them may realize that they have left an extremely brilliant record in Chinese history inadvertently.A nomadic fishing and hunting tribal country, under the peaceful election of everyone, produced the most outstanding and competent leader, which became the most successful and remarkable power transfer in Chinese history up to that time.Their names should be recorded in Danqing history.

Later, this clear and obvious matter was smeared into a mess and twisted.It is not a thing for a good scripture to be recited by the monk with a crooked mouth. On the topic of Huang Taiji's succession to the throne, it is particularly full and typical. The eleventh year of the Heavenly Mandate of the Later Jin Dynasty (1626 A.D.) was not a good year for the Later Jin regime.In the first month, the old Khan Nurhachi personally led his troops to the west, but suffered heavy casualties under the small city of Ningyuan.According to legend, even the old Khan himself was wounded by artillery.

He was already a violent old man, and now he is even more surly.This unparalleled person has become a bit like Mrs. Xianglin. From time to time, she has to recall the glorious history of her invincible and invincible life. No matter what, she can't figure out why she was defeated by the city of Ningyuan. They will sigh that they are exhausted physically and mentally, and they can't cheer up, or they will constantly hate themselves, and feel that everything seems to be unsatisfactory, as if nothing can be assured. ("Records of Emperor Wu of the Qing Dynasty") At around two o'clock in the afternoon on August 11, the people who were in constant panic finally waited for the news of Nurhachi's death.Amidst the gloomy clouds and mist, the princes and princes Baylor carried the old Khan's body back to the Khan Palace in Shenyang City from Kuiji Fort, which was 40 miles away.The next day, around seven o'clock in the morning, there was another news that the Heshuobeiles conveyed Nurhachi's last order to let the concubine be buried for the old Khan.Concubine Abahai is very favored by Nurhachi, and she is the chief wife among Nurhachi's many wives and concubines.Six years ago, Abahai was severely punished by Nurhachi's order to abandon her. Later, Nurhachi took her back to the Khan Palace and let her accompany him underground until her death.

The concubine believed that five days before Nurhachi's death, she had been with her all the time, and the Great Khan had never expressed any intention of letting herself be buried. Reluctantly, the four big belors agreed with each other, and the four young belors, including the three sons of the concubine: 22-year-old Azig, 15-year-old Dorgon, and 13-year-old Duduo also had no objection.It should be noted that at that time, the fourteen-year-old Jurchen was already an adult who married a wife and had children, started a family and started a business. Later, it was also the age when the Qing emperor took charge.This shows that at this moment, Bahe Shuobeile, who is in charge of the state affairs, may indeed have heard of Nurhachi's will.Therefore, the concubine could only commit suicide by hanging herself under their respectful and respectful insistence.Many years later, Dorgon complained that Huang Taiji took his Khan throne, but never mentioned that Huang Taiji forced his own mother to death. It should not be without reason.

According to Nurhachi's arrangement before his death, the three biological sons of Concubine Abahai, Azige, Dorgon and Duoduo, inherited the property of Zhenghuangqi and Xianghuangqi.In the past, the two yellow flags have been held by Nurhachi himself.According to the Eight Banners system, as long as one becomes the leader of one banner, it not only represents a lofty status, but also means owning the land, people, army, cattle and sheep, wealth and all related powers under one's name.The power that these powers can control, no matter in theory or in practice, is at least one-eighth of Hou Jin's total national power.This makes Nurhachi's inheritance quite intriguing.

According to the Chinese imperial power system and tradition, the most important item in the inheritance of national power is the inheritance of the title of emperor. Whoever inherits this title will own everything. The shore of the soil, could it be the king's minister", that's what he said.Those who do not get this title will naturally lose everything.There, the country's fundamental law, all power and system design are developed around this core.This is the fundamental reason why, in traditional Chinese politics, the right of succession is always shrouded in blood and rain.

This was not the case with the Houjin Khanate when Nurhaci died.There, at least in theory and in practice at the time, the Khan's title was not the most important.The reason is that the person who inherits this title needs to be elected by the leader of the Eight Banners, that is, the Eight Heshubeile. If the work and conduct of the Khan are not recognized by the Eight Heshubeile, he may be bombarded. step down.Or in other words, it can also be established that when Nurhachi died, the actual status of King Jinhan was the same as that of any Eight Banners owner.Knowing this, we will naturally understand why Nurhachi was in a sane state when he was dying, but he never designated an heir for himself.

The culture of the Jurchens, which originated from nomadic fishing and hunting, was very different from the Han culture of the farming society. It is absolutely impossible to use imperial politics and Confucian cultural traditions to copy them mechanically, especially in the pre-Qing period.Many literati who were trained in the Han culture interpreted this period of history in a wrong way, and this is the reason. After careful study, we will find that the Jurchens, like many nomadic fishing and hunting tribes living in our country and in the world, had many of the same or similar customs——

For example, they are used to migrating and chasing places with rich aquatic plants.Nurhachi's ancestors had migrated and migrated many times, and Nurhachi moved the capital as many as five or six times, which can be regarded as the legacy of this custom.This is obviously different from the resettlement and resettlement of the farming society.When the Chu and Han were fighting, Liu Bang's base was set in Guanzhong, and it never changed; during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, after Zhu Yuanzhang's headquarters was set up in Nanjing, it was firmly nailed there. These safari tribes were accustomed to living dispersed in small nuclear families, and when collective action was called for, it was up to the people to bring together and organize the brave, the wise, the just.The agreement between them is simple and strict, and those who cannot strictly abide by this kind of organizational constraints are often punished by death.Their judicial system looks crude and simple, but it is very effective.Consequently, they have few permanent prisons, and if they do, they are often empty.The Eight Banners system - from Niulu to Jiala to Gushan Eight Banners and then to the Houjin Khanate grew and developed on this medium.

And those who have the ability to integrate or organize them powerfully on a larger scale become their natural leaders-chanyu, khan, king, etc. This kind of integration or organization is not in line with their original nomadic fishing and hunting life, because it is very difficult to organize them in the vast and almost endless grasslands, mountains and forests, snowy wilds and Gobi.Therefore, the integrated military operations must have the following two situations in order to last for a long time: First, the military operations have achieved outstanding results and can obtain higher economic benefits than nomadic fishing and hunting; second, the leaders who integrated them have been or are being deified .One of the most common practices is to keep telling their people that their royal family has an ancestor from heaven, or that the king himself has received some mysterious authorization.Nurhachi's ancestor was a fairy from the sky. Nurhachi's feet have precious red seven stars. Manchu people do not eat dog meat and love crows because dogs were once appointed by the gods to protect Nurhachi, and crows brought red fruits. , and the legends of the ancestors of Nurhachi who impregnated the fairy and gave birth to Nurhachi belong to this category.Their leader must be a demigod blessed by heaven. The logical consequence of this situation is that although they almost all started their heroic legends with a leader and a group of fraternal fighters, for example, the famous five ministers who followed Nurhaci from the beginning of his army, but in the end God only blessed the leader. The succession of power is exclusively monopolized by the royal family, and other tribes cannot violate this sacred power.This is the political inheritance system based on the principle of royal bloodliness. The Xiongnu who troubled the Han Dynasty for more than three hundred years, the Turks who troubled the Tang Dynasty, the Khitan and Liao Kingdom, which troubled the Song Dynasty for more than a century, the Genghis Khan golden family who swept across Eurasia, and the current Jurchen golden caste Aixinjueluo Nurhachi As long as the family is dissected one by one, it will be found that these nomadic fishing and hunting peoples are all abiding by the above principles.With them, the state is unified forever, beginning with the royal family and ending with the royal family.There has never been a dynasty that has been overthrown and replaced within the country, that is to say, state power has never fallen outside the royal family.This is a dream that the emperors of all dynasties have dreamed of for thousands of years in the political and cultural tradition of the Chinese Empire. Finally, the principle of leader election is matched with the principle of succession of royal lineage.From the Shanyu era in the Qin and Han Dynasties to the post-Golden Khanate in Nurhachi, for more than two thousand years, this principle has been firmly playing a role in almost all the above-mentioned nomadic, fishing and hunting tribes in our country. Fundamental system and basic principles.This fundamental system has two meanings: first, the head of a tribal country can only be produced in a royal family that is blessed by heaven and is half-personal and half-divine; second, the head of state must be elected among qualified members of the royal family produce. The tenacious vitality of this system must be related to the following circumstances— There is a huge difference between scattered nomadic fishing and hunting tribes and farming societies: that is, the natural and man-made environments they face are much more scattered, turbulent, and dangerous. The reason why they can be organized and even A common reason for integration into a country is military-related motives such as war and plundering of wealth. Originally, the people of these nomadic, fishing and hunting tribes did not care about what happened in the farming society, but the huge wealth accumulated in the agricultural society and urban civilization awakened their initial desire for material civilization.The gold and silver jewelry, copper and iron utensils, silk and satin cloth, grain and tea there can all effectively improve their turbulent life.So they learned to trade for what they needed, and for this they often had to suffer from each other's deceit, blackmail, insolence, and sometimes genuine treachery.When natural disasters and man-made disasters strike, the situation becomes even more tragic.When they suffer humiliation without getting what they need, war becomes inevitable. People can easily find that these simple and heroic shepherds and hunters have now become extremely brave and capable, fierce and fierce warriors, and this transformation does not seem to need to cross any obstacles.This kind of military adventure can often bring them much greater wealth than nomadic fishing, hunting and trade.Therefore, among different nomadic fishing and hunting tribes, this same adventure has lasted for more than two thousand years, which is the main reason. However, this kind of military action is also an out-and-out desperate gamble. While bringing them wealth, it also brings dangers that are infinitely greater than those of nomadic fishing, hunting and trade.No one can obtain these benefits and resist these risks without the help of others; similarly, without excellent organizers and leaders, people wandering in the mountains, forests and grasslands cannot imagine how to obtain those benefits. Great wealth and income. This kind of benefit and risk is too important for them. Therefore, when they accepted the sacred status of the chief family as the royal family, there must be a compromise consideration based on rational realism plus a certain degree of democracy between the royal family and the fierce fighters who supported them, that is : The heir to power who shoulders the important task of the life and death of the tribal country must exclude those infirm, cowards, slackers, drunkards, fools, greedy misers, villains with bad intentions, unpopular and young people, only those who are wise and brave , people full of vitality, talent and kingly demeanor, or in short, the kind of people who are expected by everyone, can hope to become candidates for the highest power. new leader. In the long history of our country, the leaders of those nomadic, fishing and hunting tribal countries are often dubbed "brave" and "sage". They have been warmly loved by the people for a long time. This is the reason . From the era of the famous Xiongnu leader Maodun until Nurhachi’s Houjin Khanate, this kind of clan chief meeting, tribal chief meeting, adult election meeting, and the Khuriltai meeting of the Mongolian Empire after Genghis Khan until Nurhachi’s lifetime The system of Eight Kings discussing politics and Eight Baylors electing Khans all run through the above-mentioned ideas and principles.Not only the succession of supreme power needs to be promoted and approved by such conferences, but also major state issues such as wars and military operations, large-scale religious ceremonies, wealth distribution and taxation, etc. must also be approved or decided at such conferences.Unfortunately, this system has never been able to develop a mechanism to prevent undue desire, ambition and conspiracy, to prevent the abuse of power, force and even violence, etc.No matter whether it is the imperial dynasty of the Central Plains or the nomadic fishing and hunting tribal countries, people living in China have not been able to take this last step, which is really regrettable. But no matter what, in the almost vast and boundless mountains, forests and grasslands, no one is willing to risk their lives and the lives of their clansmen with a villain without reputation or a fool with no ability.Whenever this happens, these tribal states will quickly slide into disintegration and decline.In the history of our country, those nomadic fishing and hunting tribal countries that rose rapidly disappeared into the depths of the historical night sky like meteors, which is the origin of this. As long as we can carefully examine the situation of the post-Golden Khanate before and after Nurhachi's death without prejudice, we will find that everything that happened here is almost exactly the same as that of all nomadic fishing and hunting tribal countries in history.From this, we will be roughly close to the real situation of Huang Taiji's succession to the throne. In the years to come, in the story about Concubine Abahai and her son Dorgon, we will know that her death was preordained, and it is very likely that she did not have much involvement with Huang Taiji.Incorporating Huang Taiji into it and imagining all kinds of conspiracies and poisonous tricks is actually caused by a kind of thinking inertia under the Chinese political and cultural traditions. If you know Huang Taiji, you will probably feel deeply wronged and depressed. In fact, the reason why Nurhachi was lucky and did not disappear into the depths of history like a meteor is largely determined by the following two factors: First, the inheritance of power after his death was basically carried out normally within the framework of the above-mentioned systems and principles.Therefore, the most outstanding one of his descendants-Huang Taiji was promoted to become King Khan of the Later Golden Khanate. Second, after the death of Huang Taiji, Dorgon, another outstanding son of Nurhachi, changed the superficial form of the above-mentioned systems and principles, but he moved around and implemented them in a very strange way under a special situation, avoiding the The fate of the Qing Dynasty was a disaster and a premature decline. After all, Nurhachi's luck has a lot to do with his having such two outstanding sons--Huang Taiji and Dorgon. For Huang Taiji, things may not be as easy as they said at this time. Jurchens, like other nomadic fishing and hunting tribes in history, such as Khitan Liao Kingdom and Genghis Khan Mongolia, implemented a very important system of "divided and undivided families" in property inheritance, and its core is the system of "young sons keep the property" .According to this "young son keeping property" system, the adult sons should immediately separate out and start a family and start a business independently; while the young sons should stay at home to inherit the inheritance of their parents.This system is completely different from the "primitive son inheritance" system in Han culture.It may be for this reason that those Han scholars and experts who are proficient in Chinese court politics often put the Han people’s mindset on others, or regard the inheritance system of property and the inheritance system of politics as one and the same. It happened, so I often had a strong illusion: either that Huang Taiji was playing tricks and robbed his brother Daishan of his class, or that he killed two birds with one stone, forced the empress to death, and took away his brother Dorgon's power. To put it nicely, this kind of statement is wishful thinking ignoring the fundamental system and principles in a heterogeneous culture; To rape the best elements of a different political culture.After all, the most obvious fact is thrown aside: In nomadic, fishing and hunting tribal countries, the economic system of "young sons keeping the property" and the system of election for political power inheritance are not the same thing. They have different characteristics. The nature and function of the system are two completely different systems operating in different fields at the same time.Therefore, in his later years, it is true that Nurhachi especially loved the concubine Ulanara Abahai; it is also true that he particularly loved the three "undivided children" born to the concubine—Azig, Dorgon, and Duduo; It is still a fact that the two yellow flags that he personally served as the banner owner left to these three "undivided sons" as inheritance; even he considered letting the "undivided family"—the youngest son Tuo Lei inherit the Khan throne, like Genghis Khan in his later years. It is also possible that he let his "undivided son" Dorgon succeed to the throne, and then let his elder brother assist Dorgon on his behalf. But none of these important and obvious facts is simpler, clearer, and more important than another fact, that is: Nurhachi obeyed the fundamental system and principles of their culture, and established the highest political power inheritance. And implemented the election system of the successor Khan based on the Eight Banners system.According to this system, under the circumstances at that time, it was impossible for the seat of King Khan to have anything to do with Dorgon, who was only fifteen years old but was only fourteen years old by more than a month.Economically, according to the system of "the youngest son keeps the property", he can inherit Nurhachi's Two Yellow Banner inheritance with one brother and one brother, but under the election system, if he wants to play a role in politics, he can only do so in the future. In order to cultivate enough prestige.Nurhachi died too early, so that the fourteen-year-old Dorgon did not have time to develop enough talent and prestige. He needed time to realize this during the years of Huang Taiji's reign. In fact, what Huang Taiji faced was exactly this kind of election system that was implemented quite thoroughly, and his victory was precisely the victory of this system. The 43rd year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (AD 1615) was a very important year in the development history of the Later Jin Khanate.In this year, Nurhachi first ordered the execution of his eldest son, Chu Ying, and then formally established the Eight Banners system, formally setting up five ministers who heard the lawsuit and governed.These five ministers of state who helped him govern the country were all old brothers who joined the army with him, and they may have had friendship with him as sworn brothers.Four years ago, after Nurhachi's younger brother Shuerhaqi was imprisoned and killed, only these five people were the oldest and most outstanding among the people who lived and died together.They are He Heli, E Yidu, Hu Erhan, Fei Yingdong and An Feiyangu. When compiling the Eight Banners, the principle of bloodliness of royal family inheritance was completely run through.The distribution of the Eight Banners is as follows: Nurhachi leads the two yellow flags, Daishan leads the two red flags, Nurhachi's fifth son Mang Gurtai leads the Zhenglan flag, the eighth son Huang Taiji leads the inlaid white flag, Nurhachi's eldest grandson Du Du leads the Zhengbai flag, Nurhachi Amin, the nephew of the Chinese Communist Party, led the inlaid blue flag.The five founding veterans may have contributed more than any of the above-mentioned children of the royal family, but none of them have anything to do with the position of the Eight Banners.We know that the Eight Banners system is not a pure military system, but divides the land, people, army, finance, judiciary, civil affairs, etc. of the Houjin Kingdom into eight. One-eighth of the masters of the Houjin Kingdom.Or it can be said this way: The Later Golden Khanate has actually been divided into eight small countries, and the owner of the Eight Banners is the leader of the country. The above-mentioned five "founding fathers" were set as the five ministers of state affairs, which is probably Nurhachi's compensation for their many years of life and death.In fact, at this time, the Banner Master was the supreme arbiter of banner affairs, and the five state ministers were marginalized under the lofty name and honor. Five years later, in the forty-eighth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty and the fifth year of the Destiny of the Houjin Khanate (1620 A.D.), in March of this year, Nurhachi's second concubine Gundai was charged with a crime, and Nurhachi ordered her to be abandoned.Soon afterwards, Gundai was killed by her own son.The villain who killed his own mother was Mangurtai, one of the later Four Great Baylors.It should be said that without Nurhachi's hint or acquiescence, no matter how bastard this guy is, he probably would not have committed such evil deeds.Shortly after killing his mother, Mang Gurtai was designated by Nurhachi as one of the four belors who governed the country, known as the three belors. In September, Nurhaci expressed his desire to establish eight people among his descendants as kings, call them Bahe Shuobeile, discuss state affairs together, and put the king of Khan under the supervision of Bahe Shubeile. In February of the following year, Nurhachi ordered Daishan, Amin, Manggurtai, and Huang Taiji to assist him in "assisting the state affairs."The four are on duty on a monthly basis, and Baylor, who is on duty that month, is responsible for handling all military and state confidential matters. (Volume 5 of "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty") A year later, Nurhaci announced the system and principles of governing the country with the Eighth Heshubeile and inheriting the highest power of the country through the election system in the form of the "Khan Yu", which is the proclamation of the head of state. As a result, the Bahe Shuobeile Conference became the seat of the highest state power after Nurhachi. Heshuo means "the square of the four directions, the corners of the four corners of the southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest".Baylor means "lord, lord, master" in Manchu.Literally, Heshuo Baylor means "the master of one party".In "Manchu Laodang", Heshuo Baylor is also often called Gushan Baylor, that is, the banner owner Baylor.This shows that Heshuo Baylor is actually the master of the banner, the most noble rank in the Later Golden Khanate after the Khan.Now, the eight princes named Heshuobeile by Nurhachi are: Daishan, Amin, Mangurtai, Huang Taiji, Azig, Dorgon, Duduo, and Jierhalang.Among them, the four Baylors below Azig are too young. For example, Duo Duo is only eight years old, and Dorgon is just ten years old. Therefore, these four are called the Four Young Baylors. The power they have in theory is determined by Their elder brother, the Big Four Baelor, acted for them. Nurhachi's proclamation is a historical document that has been cited very frequently, but its main spirit is often ignored or distorted.Nurhachi believes that even if a person is very knowledgeable, he is not as good as a lot of firewood.Therefore, it is stipulated that the person who inherits the position of Khan in the future will be selected from among the eight Heshubeiles. The selection criteria are not those who are strong and powerful, but those who are virtuous and able to accept different opinions.If this person becomes the queen of Khan, if he cannot accept different opinions and does not do good things, the eight Heshuobeiles have the right to replace him and pick a good one to continue. Regarding the eight and Shuobeile, the rules are basically the same. If one person says something that is good for the country, the other seven people should agree with it; Replace this Baylor, and pick a good one from among the children and let him do it. Nurhachi asked righteously: "Whether it is changing the Khan or picking Baylor, if he is not willing to listen to everyone's opinions and make an ugly face for others, is it necessary to let this unworthy person succeed and let him do whatever he wants?" (Volume Eight of "Records of Emperor Gao of the Qing Dynasty") In order to make unworthy people unable to do whatever they want, Nurhaci stipulated that: Zhubeile are not allowed to communicate in private to discuss state affairs in private, and one or two people are not allowed to go to see King Khan, and everyone must get together to discuss things.When King Khan and Bahe Shubeile are together, they should sit side by side and worship with the people of the country.Every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the King of Khan would pay homage to his hall son—the temple of the Aixinjueluo family, second to the gods, third to his uncle, and then ascend to the throne, sit side by side with Bahe Shuobeile, and accept the ministers. Kowtow.In other words, King Khan was not only elected by everyone, but everyone also has the right to impeach and remove him, and he is equal to Bahe Shuobeile in terms of identity and etiquette. Down. Obviously, here, the right to khan and the right to the banner are juxtaposed.That is to say, in politics, there are monarchs and ministers and masters and servants between the bannermen and the banner owners, while the banner owners and the banner owners, the banner owners and the Khan are equal and parallel, and everyone decides the military plan together. Each divides and governs its own banner affairs, and there is no monarch and minister system, no distinction between superior and inferior, master and servant. In terms of the most sensitive wealth distribution, that is, the economy, it is stipulated as follows: the population captured in the war must be shared equally by eight families; , Do not take it privately.Even if one person has an inch of land, he still needs eight points. King Khan and Baylor are completely equal, and there is no need to give in to each other.Beyond these eight points, if someone covets and hides property privately, if he covets once, he will be fined once;This is the origin of the very famous "eight points" in the history of the Qing Dynasty.Since then, "eight points" and "not eight points" have formed a big difference in the identification of relatives and nobles in the Qing Dynasty, power status and welfare treatment. In terms of military affairs, at least when Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne, the troops led by Bahe Shuobeile were roughly evenly matched, and Huang Taiji did not override the authority of other banner owners to command his army. "One sweat for nothing", in fact, it is no different from Baylor under one banner. The eight banners stand side by side, the eight kings discuss politics, divide the world into eight, and the eight and Shuobeile elect the Khan, which has become the core of the Eight Banners system of the Later Golden Khanate.Obviously, so far, this system is roughly the same in spirit as the systems of other nomadic, fishing and hunting tribal countries that we already know in history, and there is no particularly outstanding originality. (Volume 8 of "Records of Emperor Gao of Qing Taizu"; Volume 38 of "Manchu Laodang Taizu"] It was under such circumstances that Huang Taiji was elected by Bahe Shuobeile as the Great Khan of the Later Jin Khanate of. At that time, among the eight Heshu beiles, Dabeile Daishan was forty-six years old, kind-hearted and unscrupulous. Six years ago, he was humiliated by rumors of an affair with the princess, and he may have automatically withdrawn from the position of Khan. Competition; Erbeile Amin is the son of Shuerhaqi. Although he belongs to the royal family, he is an offshoot and naturally has no advantage in qualifications; Sanbeile Manggurtai is the fifth son of Nurhachi. He is fierce and capable of fighting, but he is notorious.The reason is as mentioned above, to kill his mother to please Nurhachi.In the end, although he won Nurhachi's favor, it is true that this evil deed has ruined his reputation to the extreme.Among the four great belors, only these four belors, Huang Taiji, were clean and free from any blemishes. Huang Taiji, who was thirty-five years old at the time, had been fighting with Nurhachi for nearly twenty years.In a series of major battles, such as the Battle of Saerhu, the Battle of Liaoshen, the conquest of Yehe, and the aid of Horqin, he took the lead and took the lead.Observers at the time believed that Huang Taiji was extremely brave and the soldiers he led were all elite. It is said that when Nurhaci officially challenged the Ming Empire in the Battle of Fushun, he adopted Huang Taiji's suggestion and won by outwitting and sneak attacking.In the Battle of Saerhu, three of the four Ming armies were wiped out. Huang Taiji participated in all the battles against these three Ming armies.Later, whenever there was a battle, Nurhachi had to tell Huang Taiji not to rush to the front line to avoid accidents.Nurhachi believes that Huang Taiji is as important and precious as his own eyeballs, so that he loves him like his heart. (Volume 3 of "Records of Emperor Wu of the Qing Dynasty") Moreover, among the many sons and nephews of Nurhachi, only Huang Taiji knew the three languages ​​and characters of Manchu, Mongolian and Han at that time.This situation shows that Huang Taiji may be the best in terms of literary talent, wisdom, courage and martial arts. The four young Baylors at that time were obviously far from being able to compete with Huang Taiji. Among them, Azig was twenty-two years old at the time. It is said that apart from fighting and fighting, he was not interested in other messy things, including Khan, and was far from Huang Taiji in talent, intelligence, and martial arts; At the age of two, getting the status and wealth of the owner of a banner is already a manifestation of the nomadic fishing and hunting tribe's young son's property protection system, and there should be no more thoughts; Jierhalang is Amin's younger brother and also Shuerhaqi's Although his son, Nurhachi's nephew, is old, he has no competitive advantage.Here, there is only one Dorgon, who has stirred up a lot of gossip.In fact, so many right and wrong tongues are mostly caused by imperial politics, Confucian cultural influence and psychological factors before and after entering the Central Plains, so let's not express it for now. Nurhachi died on August 11th in the sixth year of Mingqi and the eleventh year of Tianming in Houjin (AD 1626); on September 1st, Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne as Khan under the recommendation of Bahe Shuobeile. When electing an heir, Nurhaci's descendants made their choice easily. Daishan's eldest son, Yuetuo, and third son, Sahalian, are generals of the younger generation. They have high military merits, talents, and influence. , not to be taken lightly.The two thought that Huang Taiji was "the most talented and virtuous" and "everyone was very convinced", so they suggested that their father nominate Huang Taiji to succeed Khan as soon as possible. Daishan said that he had this idea a long time ago, "People's hearts are just in line with God's will, and no one will object."So, he came forward to find Erbeile Amin and Sanbeile Manggurtai in person, and after obtaining their approval, Daishan immediately notified his brothers and nephews.What is certain is that the people who were notified should be mainly the Heshuo Baylors, and of course the three Dorgon brothers.The next day, they jointly drafted a letter of persuasion and recommended Huang Taiji to succeed him.There are records that Huang Taiji insisted on refusing because his father did not make himself the heir.As a result, the two sides tossed and tossed from Mao time, that is, between 5:00 and 7:00 in the morning, until Shen time, that is, from 3:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon, and Huang Taiji finally agreed to succeed him. (Wang Xianqian's "Donghualu", August of the Eleventh Year of Destiny) In this regard, there are countless rumors and speculations, and there are also many contradictory records and comments in historical books. , Forged Nurhachi's last words, forced the concubine to hang herself, and thus took away her younger brother's sweat position; in addition, it went back to six years ago, thinking that Nurhachi's concubine accused the concubine of having an ambiguous relationship with Daishan, which was Huang Taiji at all. One-handed planning and envoy, the intention is to kill three birds with one stone, to kill the concubine, the elder brother Daishan, and the younger brother Dorgon in one fell swoop, and so on. These statements are hardly supported by any historical data. They are basically based on extremely imaginative speculation. They bring out the darkest aspects of our country's political and cultural traditions to the fullest. It should not just be caused by the dark and dirty psychology of the literati who fabricated these things. .There are two reasons for this: first, my country’s political and cultural traditions provide too rich materials and too fertile soil for this kind of imagination; second, under this political and cultural tradition, social elites are no longer able to imagine the following scenarios , leaders can be elected by the crowd, not necessarily through conspiracy and violence. In all fairness, we can neither verify nor falsify the above statement.但是有一个故事，却有助于我们理解什么叫断章取义—— 在力主皇太极阴谋夺位一说的学者那里，我们时常会听到一个说法，说是皇太极好用权术，甚至布置阴谋准备取大哥代善的性命，逼得代善跑到努尔哈赤面前，跪倒在地，痛哭流涕地以求避祸。 乍听上去，会觉得这个故事很真实，觉得皇太极这小子真不是个东西，连自己的大哥都要被他如此算计。殊不知，翻翻书就会发现，事情的原委根本就不是那么回事儿。大明天启元年、后金天命六年（公元1621年），一位来到后金的朝鲜使臣满浦佥使郑忠信记录过这个故事： 努尔哈赤有个从弟名叫阿敦，此人有勇有谋，在努尔哈赤部下诸将中表现突出。有一次，努尔哈赤私下问他：“你看哪个儿子可以接班？”阿敦回答说：“知子莫如父，别人不好说话。”努尔哈赤动员他：“唠嗑而已，但说无妨。”阿敦说道：“当然是智勇双全，人人都夸的那一个啦。”努尔哈赤说：“好了，我知道你说的是谁了。”当时，他们两人指的都是皇太极。代善听说后，心里不可能感觉愉快。谁知，等他见到这个阿敦后，感觉到的就远远不仅仅是不愉快了。原因是，这个阿敦告诉他：“皇太极伙同莽古尔泰和阿济格，正在准备干掉你。时机紧迫，你应该有所防范！”就这样，发生了代善向努尔哈赤哭诉的一幕。 可以想见，努尔哈赤必定是觉得难以置信。他立即将三个儿子召来询问，三人也理所当然地否认此事。于是，怒火满腔的努尔哈赤把这个阿敦痛打了一顿，然后戴上镣铐，关进监狱，并罚没了全部家产。 就这么一个莫名其妙的事件，在某些学者那里，除了代善跑到努尔哈赤面前痛哭之外，其他前因后果、来龙去脉一概黑不提白不提，然后一口咬定是皇太极阴谋陷害代善的铁证。甚至做出了皇太极为夺取汗位，阴谋策划长达十五年之久的断言。我们知道，皇太极是三十五岁登上的汗位。按照这种说法，他应该在十九岁时就生活在阴谋策划之中，准备着干掉自己时年三十岁的大哥了。平心而论，做学问若是做到了这个份儿上，也的确让人不知说什么好了。 从常识上判断，上述事情若真是皇太极所为的话，此人的确就称得上是老谋深算兼阴毒狠辣达于极致了。其大匠运斧不着痕迹之处，竟达到如此程度，以至于深受其害的代善要如此不遗余力地、联合所有的和硕贝勒们推举他来继承汗位。 须知，努尔哈赤死后，代善已经成为后金国里资历、行辈最高者，他和他的儿子岳托分别掌管着两红旗，而当时的皇太极只是镶白旗一个旗的旗主。将代善的作为理解成害怕皇太极的报复是有些勉强的。何况阿敏是皇太极的堂哥，莽古尔泰是皇太极的同父异母哥哥，他们二人各领一旗；阿济格、多尔衮、多铎分领两黄旗。他们任何两方联合起来，都比皇太极的实力强大。除非他们都是白痴，否则怎么会众口一词，将皇太极这么一个谋兄弑母的角色推上汗位？ 这种说法有许多难以自圆其说的漏洞。 如果代善多年受到皇太极的阴谋迫害，他那些拥有重兵重权不亚于皇太极且战功卓著的儿子，首先就应该愤愤不平才是，怎么反倒是他们先出来推举皇太极？ 如果皇太极当年曾经串通莽古尔泰图谋过代善，如今又主导伪托努尔哈赤遗诏，串通其他三位大贝勒逼死大妃阿巴亥，并且杀人灭口，将当年在他指使下控告大妃的那个小妃子一起殉了葬的话，则必定形成他政治上的致命伤。阿敏是一个烧杀抢掠成瘾成性的家伙，莽古尔泰则连自己的亲生母亲都敢亲手杀死，这么两个凶狠暴劣的人物，不论在理论上，还是在实际情况下，当时他们每个人的权势差不多都与皇太极势均力敌。然而，当后来皇太极直取他们的权位名利时，居然手握利器却束手就范，这显然是说不通的。 如果皇太极阴毒狠辣到如此登峰造极之地步，为什么又如脑子进水了一样，连斩草除根这样简单的道理都不懂？在十七年执政岁月里，和他有杀母之仇、夺位之恨的多尔衮及其亲兄弟阿济格、多铎，偏偏受到了他的多方关照、栽培与重用。这条威胁最大的祸根被他扶植得树大根深，以至于在他死后，多尔衮有能力把他最有资格继承皇位的皇长子豪格，摆弄得完全没有脾气，只能眼睁睁地看着一个六岁的孩子被推上皇位。 很难想象，一个靠阴谋和残忍夺取了汗位的人，会不明白这些已经涉及了最最根本的皇权继承问题。 晚年的皇太极身心交瘁，曾经多次对自己的身体状况表示忧虑。他执政十七年，有十一个儿子。除三个夭折之外，没有证据能够证明，在漫长的执政岁月里，他曾经有意识地培养、扶植自己的哪一个儿子继承皇位，包括比多尔衮年长三岁，战功、实力、地位、威信都足够崇高，且事实上最有资格继承皇位的皇长子豪格。 除了推举制原则之外，对这一切，的确很难找到更加强有力、更能够自洽的解释。 面对这些，上帝很有可能在微微发笑，因为只有他老人家才知道，皇太极和持上述看法的人士究竟是谁的脑子进水了。 当然，文学艺术作品应是不在此列，因为这些作品的天职就是虚构和想象。 也许换一个角度思考，说不定更接近实际情况。譬如：在一些处于上升期、朝气蓬勃的团体中，我们时常可以发现一种锐意进取、顾全大局的气象。从许多迹象判断，后金汗国应该说是具备此种气象的。努尔哈赤确立了推举制原则，皇太极又的确优秀，于是出现了这种局面。 中原士大夫们没有过这种理论与实践，想要他们准确理解并正确评论这种完全陌生的什么推举制之类的玩意儿，是挺难为他们的。于是对于皇太极继承汗位怀有最大善意的人们，也只能采纳如下解释—— 当时，蒙古部族经常为王子起名叫王台吉，或者黄台吉、金台吉等，据说就是模仿汉语中“皇太子”的谐音。这“皇太子”三字，在女真语中发音便是“皇太极”。于是有人认为这是天意早已预定；也有人认为，生下皇太极时，正值努尔哈赤最为宠爱皇太极的母亲之际，于是为他取了这么一个预示未来的名字。 也有人包括大清朝官方史书认为这些说法根本就是扯淡。姑且存疑。 事实上，上述说法是否正确，对于我们已经并不重要。重要的是，这位皇太极已然被推举成为后金汗国的第二代汗王，他把自己的年号定为天聪，从第二年正月初一开始使用。 皇太极的即位典礼很有意思，证实前面曾经谈到的一些规定，得到了很好的执行。譬如，拜祭堂子——大清皇家萨满教神庙之后，拜神、拜天等等，一切如仪。然后，大家分别对天盟誓。皇太极盟誓的内容，主要是继承遗志，敬兄弟爱子侄，多行正义云云；代善等三大贝勒盟誓的内容大体是：合谋一致，奉皇太极继位，若心怀忌妒，损害汗位，将不得好死等等；其他兄弟子侄则发誓要谨遵父兄教诲，恪尽忠诚之类。 最富有特殊制度与文化意义的情节是：焚香盟誓之后，皇太极率领所有弟弟、子侄诸贝勒向代善、阿敏、莽古尔泰三大贝勒行三拜大礼，表明彼此之间身份平等，并无君臣之别。最后，八和硕贝勒并肩而坐，共同接受百官群臣的叩贺。 至此，大礼成。 从此，我们就要称呼皇太极为天聪汗或者天聪皇帝了。后金汗国也从此进入了一个全然不同于以往的世代。