Chapter 355 Chapter 354 Taizong Aixinjueluo Huang Taiji

In the 20th year of Ming Wanli (AD 1592), Nurhachi's eighth son, Huang Taiji, was born.According to the official books of the Qing Dynasty, the sound of Taiji is the same as that of Taiji. The Mongols called the heir to the throne Taiji, and they were used to adding names of colors such as yellow and red in front of Taiji.The Han people call the heir to the throne the crown prince, which is also similar to the sound of Huang Taiji.In short, Huang Taiji is a very distinguished name. Huang Taiji was indeed loved by his father.Huang Taiji's biological mother, Yehenala, was the daughter of Yang Jipi, chief of the Yehe tribe.When Yang Jipi saw Nurhachi's extraordinary heroic spirit, he felt that he would be a good match, so he took the initiative to betroth his little daughter to him. The beautiful and charming Yehenala was Nurhachi's sixth wife. The concubines are very favored by Nurhachi.A child is more precious than a mother, and the son she gave birth to has also been loved by Nurhachi.Nurhachi's family has special teachers for educating children, and Huang Taiji has received a certain amount of cultural education since childhood.He is talented and intelligent, and he has a vivid memory of everything he has come into contact with.When he grew up and joined the army, almost all the generals in the Nurha Red Army were illiterate and illiterate, and only Huang Taiji was a "scholar" who was proficient in writing and ink.

Due to the continuous fighting and smoke, his father and brother often went out to fight, and Huang Taiji took charge of housework in his youth.Nurhaci had many wives, children, servants, and property, and the boundary between family affairs and state affairs was not very clear at that time, and the two were often mixed with each other.Handling such complicated housekeeping is a heavy burden for Huang Taiji, and it is also an excellent opportunity for exercise.And the young Huang Taiji did a great job.According to historical records, after he was 7 years old, Nurhachi handed over most of the housekeeping to him, and Huang Taiji was able to do complicated affairs in an orderly manner without his father's guidance.

However, Huang Taiji was not the darling of fate. At the age of 12, he suffered the misfortune of losing his mother.But his father, who is entangled in government affairs and constantly fighting, can't give him too much care and consideration at this time.Therefore, the young Huang Taiji had to get rid of his dependence on his parents early on, and strive for self-reliance in the torrent of life. In the autumn of the 40th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the 21-year-old Huang Taiji followed his father and brother to fight for the first time, and participated in the conquest of the Ula tribe.But Nurhachi just ordered his subordinates to burn the enemy's food and grass everywhere, but did not launch an attack.The vigorous Huang Taiji was eager to charge forward.Nurhachi patiently enlightened him and said that when cutting down a big tree, one must use an ax to cut it one by one, so as to gradually cut down the tree.How can we try to annihilate such a powerful enemy as the Urabbe in one fell swoop?Only by attacking the cities to which it belongs one by one can it be destroyed in the end.After continuous conquests and weakening of Uradu, in the second year, Nurhaci finally wiped out the powerful Uradus.Nurhachi's teachings were also deeply imprinted in Huang Taiji's mind.Later, after he inherited the throne of Khan, he still followed this strategy of "cutting trees" and continued his long-term conquest against the Ming Dynasty, starting with constantly weakening its side branches, and finally cutting off its main trunk.Huang Taiji's outstanding military talents were gradually cultivated during his military career with his father and brother.

Huang Taiji's eldest brother, Chu Ying, is a warrior on the battlefield.In his later years, Nurhachi also intended to train him as his successor.But Chu Ying was narrow-minded, held power and self-respect, and bullied her brothers and officials in every possible way.Huang Taiji and others couldn't bear it, so they reported to Nurhachi.Nurhachi was very angry and ordered Chu Ying to be imprisoned, and later executed because someone accused him of usurping the throne. After Chu Ying lost power, the young Huang Taiji continued to be reused as his father's right-hand man.After Nurhachi proclaimed Khan in the forty-fourth year of Wanli (AD 1616), among more than 10 sons, he selected Huang Taiji, his second son Daishan, his nephew Amin, and his fifth son Mang Gurtai as the four beiles to assist the country in government affairs. . The 4 people are on duty on a monthly basis, and they are responsible for handling all the confidential affairs of the middle school.Huang Taiji lived up to his father's expectations and actively participated in government affairs and military planning and decision-making.In the forty-sixth year of Wanli, Nurhachi publicly declared war on the Ming Dynasty and attacked Fushun.Huang Taiji cleverly offered a clever plan to send soldiers into the city disguised as horse dealers in advance, and then the army came to the city under the cover of night and fired cannons as a signal to cooperate from inside to outside.As a result, Fushun was won in one fell swoop.

In the Battle of Saarhu, Huang Taiji not only took the lead in charging into the battle, but also offered advice and command, and he was already a wise and brave general with a well-equipped command. Huang Taiji is not only very brave on the battlefield, but also calm-headed, decisive and alert when dealing with political affairs, and has a good sense of the overall situation.When Nurhachi was not thinking about things well, Huang Taiji often made suggestions to deal with things more appropriately.There have been long-term conflicts between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Chahar Department of Mongolia.Once, Nurhachi heard that the envoy he sent to Chahar had been killed. He was very annoyed and wanted to kill the envoy of the Chahar tribe.Huang Taiji suggested to his father in time: The rumors may not be reliable, it is better to send someone to the Chahar Ministry, and both sides will release the envoy at the same time at an agreed time.If you don't let it go after the expiration date, it won't be too late to kill their envoys.Nurhachi adopted Huang Taiji's suggestion, but there was no news from the Chahar Department, and there was no movement after the agreed date, so Nurhachi killed the Chahar Department's envoy.In fact, the envoy of Hou Jin was not killed, but was detained, and he fled back afterwards.Huang Taiji thought things through, dealt with them appropriately, and became more and more mature politically.At that time, the envoys sent by North Korea to Houjin reported to their king that Huang Taiji was the bravest and most resourceful among the sons of Nurhachi, and he was one of the princes favored by Nurhachi.

In August of the eleventh year of destiny (AD 1626), Nurhachi died at the age of 68.After the joint consultation of the brothers and nephews, the 35-year-old Huang Taiji was officially elected as Khan.After repeated concessions, Huang Taiji accepted the public opinion, ascended to the position of Hou Jinhan on September 1, and decided to change Yuan Tiancong from next year. When Huang Taiji came to the throne, the situation was not optimistic.Years of foreign wars and heavy military service burdens have made the people of the lower classes in the country weary of war and complained everywhere.The post-golden upper-level ruling group was also unstable, full of conflicts and conflicts.What's more serious is that the conflict between the Manchu and Han nationalities in Hou Jin was quite sharp.Nurhachi spent his whole life in military affairs, struggled to start a business, and made an indelible contribution to the development of Houjin Daye.But in his later years, while achieving brilliant military victories, he also committed serious crimes.In the process of advancing to the Liaoshen area, he insisted on the policy of "killing the Han people and raising the Manchuria", massacring and enslaving the Han people.He shot and killed all Han Chinese who dared to resist, and distributed a large number of captured Han Chinese to Manchu officers and soldiers as aha (slaves).The slaves were forced to do all kinds of heavy labor in the master's manor and family, and they were exhausted year after year.Although Nurhaci later implemented feudalization measures such as "granting land by counting Ding" and "granting land by compiling villages" after the founding of the People's Republic of China, which eased the ethnic conflicts a little, but it was still not thorough.The miserable life forced the Han people in the Liaodong area to rise up to resist. They staged riots and assassinated the Jurchens, which made the Jurchens rulers panic and restless, and there was no peace every year.Nurhachi even ordered that the Jurchens should not walk alone when they go out, but must go with more than 10 people, otherwise they will be fined.This shows the tension between ethnic groups at that time.

Under the complex situation, after succeeding to the throne, Huang Taiji boldly broke through the constraints of his ancestors' laws and traditional habits, and carried out comprehensive reforms and adjustments in various fields such as politics, economy, and military affairs. Huang Taiji first set out to solve the sharp ethnic conflicts.As soon as he came to power, he emphasized that in order to govern the country well, the people must first be appeased, and he focused on appeasing the Han people in a targeted manner.Soon after he came to power, he changed the Jurchens to the Manchus, in order to change the antagonism and hatred between the Jurchens and the Han people in history.Then a decree was issued declaring that all Manchus and Hans would be treated fairly, and both would enjoy the same political and economic rights.

During the reign of Nurhaci, there were a large number of slavery manors in the Liaoshen area - Tuokesuo.Serfs in a humble position were often bullied and harassed by their masters and suffered a lot.Huang Taiji reduced the number of serfs in the manor, and stipulated that each manor could only have 8 serfs, and the rest of the Han people would move out from the manor and be registered as private households.In this way, a large number of Han serfs gained personal freedom.In the third year of Chongde (1638 A.D.), he ordered the liberation of serfs and made them independent farmers.This is of great benefit to Houjin's agricultural production.

In the fifth year of Tiancong (AD 1631), Huang Taiji officially promulgated the "Regulations on Leaving the Master", stipulating that slaves of nobles can be freed by reporting their master's crimes.In the past, due to unbearable ethnic discrimination and oppression, it was common for Han people to flee one after another.Nurhaci imposed severe punishment on the escaped Han Chinese.Regardless of whether they were arrested for escaping or planning to escape, they were all executed.Huang Taiji changed his strategy. He stipulated that those who fled privately or had secret contacts with the Ming Dynasty in the past will not be held accountable.In the future, only those who escaped and were captured will be executed; those who want to escape but fail to take action will not be considered guilty even if they are exposed.Huang Taiji's new regulations were greatly supported by the Han people.Later, Huang Taiji further relaxed the "Escape Law", allowing Han people to escape, even if they were caught, they would not be punished, but they were not allowed to return if they fled to the area ruled by the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, he also changed the policy of treating Han intellectuals and Han officials during the Nurhachi period, recruiting them according to their talents, and bestowing senior officials on Fan Wencheng, Bao Chengxian, Ning Wanwo, Gao Hongzhong and other people with rich political experience and ruling ability.Some surrendered generals who surrendered automatically to the Han people did not hesitate to be crowned kings, which greatly expanded their ruling foundation and stabilized the hearts of the Han people in Liaodong. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he put the development of agriculture at the top of the economic recovery.Aiming at the practice of Manchu aristocrats who were accustomed to conquest and plunder and despised farming, Huang Taiji warned them many times that they should change their minds, recognize the importance of farming, weaving and production, and not just value silk, satin and brocade.He said that silks and brocades were all adornments, and that their absence would do little harm.He repeatedly reiterated that "the purpose of our military conquest is to control the land and population as the foundation of the country. It is not just for profit. The way to make life abundant is to pay close attention to agricultural production." The common people were deeply troubled. Huang Taiji learned from this lesson and paid special attention to cherishing the power of the people and ensuring that the farmers had enough time for production.Although Huang Taiji is the king of a country, he is concerned about the specific links of agricultural production.He has repeatedly emphasized that when arranging crop planting, measures should be taken according to different natural conditions.Rice and sorghum should be planted in low-lying and humid places; miscellaneous grains can be planted in high-lying and dry places.And we should seize the farming season, sow and cultivate in time to ensure a better harvest.Otherwise, once you encounter natural disasters such as insects and waterlogging, you will be caught off guard.

From the perspective of protecting agricultural production, Huang Taiji formulated a series of laws and regulations.He announced a protection policy for large livestock.It is forbidden to slaughter cattle, horses, mules, and donkeys indiscriminately, and it is forbidden for livestock to trample on the farmland. If livestock break into the farmland and damage the crops, the owner of the livestock must be fined in silver and the owner of the livestock must compensate for the damaged crops.In order to strengthen the implementation of the decree on protecting farmers, Huang Taiji set an example and set an example personally.Whenever he marched and hunted, even in the severe cold season, he always ordered his residence to be arranged in the wild, and he never refused to break into the fort easily, for fear of disturbing the people. Huang Taiji's efforts have achieved obvious results.Firstly, ethnic conflicts were greatly eased, and Houjin's agricultural production quickly got rid of the recession, and grain production gradually reached the level of self-sufficiency.By 1639, Houjin had spent as much as 100,000 shi in wine making in one year. Before Huang Taiji inherited the Khan throne, Houjin's handicraft industry was still in its infancy.The scale is limited and the level is not high.The cloth, ironware, ships, etc. produced are far from meeting the needs, and a large amount of materials must be transported in from Ming Dynasty, North Korea and other places.That is to say, Huang Taiji, who came to the throne after Khan, tried to reverse this dilemma as soon as possible, and he took various measures for this.He strongly advocated the cultivation of cotton, promoted spinning and weaving throughout Houjin, and often rewarded textile craftsmen with outstanding skills.By 1633, Houjin's textile industry technology had been greatly improved, and all kinds of fine cloth could be woven, which could meet the needs of Houjin.In terms of mining and smelting, Huang Taiji actively supported mining and smelting, and established many smelting plants.The development of the smelting industry directly led to the production of weapons.Since the fifth year of Tiancong (AD 1631), Houjin has been able to mass-produce extremely powerful "red cannons". The "Red Cannon" played a big role in Huang Taiji's war against the Ming Dynasty and Korea.In addition, under the active advocacy of Huang Taiji, Houjin shipbuilding, ceramics and other industries also made great progress. Along with the recovery and development of agriculture and handicraft industry, commercial trade also appeared relatively prosperous.In terms of foreign trade, Houjin traded with the Ming Dynasty, Korea, and Mongolia with local specialties such as ginseng, Dongzhu, and mink, in exchange for daily necessities such as grain and cloth.Within Houjin, Huang Taiji encouraged merchants of all ethnic groups to set up shops to sell goods, open pawnshops, issue loans, and allow grain to be put on the market, but merchants were not allowed to hoard and speculate.In order to dredge Houjin's commercial network, Huang Taiji paid great attention to rectifying commercial taxation, and strictly prohibited relevant officials from taking advantage of their powers, harming public interests, accepting bribes and evading taxes.Xianglan Banner official Fadu evaded 12 taels of silver when he was in charge of the taxation of Xiguanhong and Lanqiao in Liaodong City, and was immediately dismissed by Huang Taiji. After more than 10 years of hard work by Huang Taiji, Hou Jin gradually got rid of the shadow of economic depression, stabilized people's lives, and enhanced national strength, thus laying a relatively solid material foundation for further outward expansion. External expansion requires not only a solid economic backing, but also a strong and skilled military team.Huang Taiji actively expanded the Eight Banners and strictly controlled the armaments, in order to maintain a strong military strength and ensure the victory of foreign wars. Nurhachi's brilliant achievements in the military are closely related to his possession of a powerful force of the Eight Banners.The Manchu Eight Banners, composed of Manchu people who are proficient in riding and archery and have a tenacious style, have strong combat effectiveness.At that time, there was a saying in the Ming Dynasty: "Jurchen is full and invincible." However, the Manchu population is small and the supply of soldiers is limited. During the war, the Manchu Eight Banners continued to reduce their numbers, and foreign wars were still quite frequent, and the scale of wars was also expanding day by day. How can we maintain and develop a strong military team in order to gain an invincible position? Huang Taiji made full use of the abundant source of troops of Mongolian and Han surrendered and looted populations.In addition to the Manchu Eight Banners, he formally established the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Army Eight Banners.As early as the Nurhachi period, Nurhachi began to compile the surrendered Mongols as Mongolian Niulu, which belonged to the Manchu Eight Banners.With the increasing number of Mongolian followers, the number of Niulu is also increasing.In the period of Huang Taiji, large-scale flag weaving activities began.In the seventh year of Tiancong, two Mongolian banners were compiled, called "Youying" and "Zuoying".Two years later, the Chahar tribe was conquered, and Huang Taiji carried out a large-scale expansion of the original Mongolian Niulu and many strong men from inner and outer Harqin Mongolia, and formally established the Mongolian Eight Banners. The banner system is the same as that of the Manchu Eight Banners. The Eight Banners of the Han Army was formally established in the fifth year of Tiancong.Huang Taiji ordered that 1 out of every 10 Han men who belonged to the Manchu Eight Banners be recruited to form a 1,500-strong Han army. It is called "Wuzhenchaoha" (heavy soldiers).The Han army was highly valued by Huang Taiji.Huang Taiji has inspected this team many times. In the second year of Chongde (AD 1637), the Han army was expanded into two banners, the left wing and the right wing, and later expanded to four banners. In the seventh year of Chongde, the Han army expanded to eight banners again. .The Han Army of the Eight Banners was thus customized, and the banner system was the same as that of the Manchu Eight Banners.One big difference between the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Army Eight Banners and the Manchu Eight Banners is that the banner owners of the Manchu Eight Banners are hereditary, while the banner owners of the Mongolian Eight Banners and the Han Army Eight Banners are appointed by Huang Taiji, and those who are incompetent can be removed at any time .All the Manchu, Mongolian, and Han Eight Banners troops were directly commanded and dispatched by Huang Taiji. In order to change the image of the Eight Banners Army burning, killing and looting in the minds of the Han people, before each expedition, Huang Taiji always made a detailed statement of military discipline.For example, it is not allowed to kill Jiangmin, to separate father and son, husband and wife of Jiangmin, to rape women, to trample on seedlings, to drink too much, etc.If a soldier violated military discipline, not only would he be punished, but the general who led the army would also be implicated.Whenever a battle is over, Huang Taiji must make a serious summary and ask his subordinates to report various violations of discipline and deal with them seriously. In the process of Huang Taiji's efforts to promote reforms, he encountered a major obstacle, that is, he lacked sufficient power in his hands.After Nurhachi's death, the situation of "eight kings co-governing" appeared in Houjin.Baylor, the master of the Eight Banners, who possesses great power, manipulates the national decision-making body - the political conference.Military and political affairs are decided collectively, and Khan cannot go against the wishes of the banner owners arbitrarily.If the Khan is mediocre and incompetent, the banner owners still have the right to change the Khan. The ambitious Huang Taiji could not tolerate this situation for a long time, so from the day he became Khan, he began to actively plan to strengthen the centralization of the monarchy and weaken the power of the powerful.In September of the eleventh year of Mandate of Heaven (AD 1626), Huang Taiji appointed a minister in charge of banner affairs in each of the eight banners. They were directly in charge of all civil affairs in the banners, and they could participate in state affairs with Baylors.Later, Huang Taiji set up two assistant ministers and two dispatch ministers to assist in the affairs of the banner, focusing on criminal law and sending troops to garrison respectively.In this way, the situation in which the banner owners do everything alone was broken, and the power in their hands was dispersed. After Khan's position was initially stabilized, in the third year of Tiancong (1629 A.D.), Huang Taiji announced an important decision at the Baylor ministers' meeting: to remove the power of the three Baylors to take turns in power, and to be represented by the Baylors.Taking this as a starting point, the prominent status of the three major Baylors has been continuously suppressed. The privileges of the three major Baylors have been deprived, and the situation of "eight kings co-governing" has also collapsed. It can be said that Huang Taiji is in control.In the ninth year of Tiancong, Houjin obtained the jade seals passed down from generation to generation from the Queen Mother Sutai of Mongolia.The monarchs and ministers were overjoyed immediately, thinking that this was an auspicious sign.Under the unanimous recommendation of the ministers, Huang Taiji officially became the emperor on April 11 of the following year, and the name of the country was Daqing.He ascended to the throne of "True Dragon Emperor" from Tian Cong Khan of Houjin in one fell swoop. As early as the fifth year of Tiancong, Huang Taiji imitated the system of the Ming Dynasty and established six departments of officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers.Each department is headed by a Baylor who is in charge of the affairs of the department, and there are officials such as Chengzheng, Zhengzheng, Qixinlang and so on.At this time, Baylor and Huang Taiji had transformed from the original parallel relationship to a feudal relationship of monarch and minister. In the fifth year of Chongde (1640 AD), Huang Taiji ordered the abolition of the system of Baylor's presiding over ministerial affairs, and the central government The power of the organization was further concentrated in his own hands. In the first year of Chongde, Huang Taiji established a supervisory agency, the Metropolitan Procuratorate.The Metropolitan Procuratorate has a certain independent nature, and its duty is to persuade the king and impeach the illegal behavior of the ministers.In the same year, Huang Taiji also set up the Mongolian Yamen, which was specially responsible for handling affairs with Mongolia.Two years later, the Mongolian Yamen was renamed Lifanyuan.After the relatively large reform of the administrative organization of the Later Jin Dynasty, it was more conducive to Huang Taiji to strengthen the centralization of the monarchy. After the administrative organization of the Later Jin Dynasty was perfected, it was necessary to establish a team of high-quality officials.Huang Taiji paid great attention to the selection of talents.He said to his courtiers: "Talents are fundamental to governing a country. All of you as courtiers should regard recommending talents as a major event." The implementation of imperial examinations is an important measure for Huang Taiji to select talents.During his reign, Huang Taiji held many exams to select outstanding talents from the students of Manchu, Han, Mongolian and other ethnic groups. Sometimes he also conducted separate assessments on the students of the Han nationality. He plucked them all out of slavery.After passing the imperial examination, a large number of talented intellectuals—mainly Han intellectuals were recruited by Huang Taiji to administrative agencies at all levels to maintain the ruling order of the Houjin Dynasty. As a generation of kings who founded the country and established a career, Huang Taiji left brilliant achievements on the battlefield full of blood and fire.When Huang Taiji inherited the Khan throne, Hou Jin still hadn't gotten rid of the situation of being surrounded by enemies.Huang Taiji once analyzed the situation he was facing at that time: Houjin bordered North Korea to the east, Mongolia to the north, and the Ming Dynasty to the west.Later Jin's expansion activities posed a direct threat to the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia, and North Korea, making them deeply hostile to Hou Jin.They have a common interest in fighting against the later gold. In order to get rid of a dangerous situation, we must first establish a strategy against the enemy.After repeated weighing and thinking, Huang Taiji decided to adopt a strategy of negotiating peace with the main enemy, the Ming Dynasty, first to buy time, and then to make big moves; Mongolia and North Korea are internal worries, which must be resolved first. North Korea has long been a loyal ally of the Ming Dynasty.The Ming Dynasty planned to use North Korea to contain Houjin. The Mao Wenlong Department of the Ming Army was stationed in North Korea, received material support from North Korea, and often attacked and harassed Houjin.In order to conquer North Korea, in January of the first year of Tiancong (AD 1627), Huang Taiji took advantage of the civil strife in North Korea and sent Amin to lead an army of 30,000 to North Korea.The Houjin army raided Yizhou and wiped out the North Korean defenders in the city.At the same time, they divided their troops to attack Tieshan at night, defeated the Ming army stationed there, and forced them to retreat to Phi Island.Then he captured Jianghua Island and captured the Korean princess, prince and clan ministers.The king of North Korea, Li Ji, had no choice but to leave the city and surrender, and signed an alliance with Huang Taiji under the city.The covenant stipulated that North Korea proclaimed itself a vassal to the Qing Dynasty and became a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. It must send a large amount of tribute every year and send the king's two sons to Shenyang as hostages.Then, Huang Taiji sent troops to attack Phi Island and wiped out the Ming army stationed on the island.Huang Taiji won a complete victory in the war against Korea, completely controlling Korea in his own hands. In the northwest of Houjin is Mongolia.At that time, there were many tribes in Mongolia, which could basically be divided into three parts. Among them, Monan Mongolia was located between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty, and its position was particularly important, becoming the focus of competition between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty.The Ming Dynasty spends a lot of money every year to detain the various ministries in southern Mongolia and ask them to resist Houjin.On the other hand, Huang Taiji adopted a two-handed strategy of both soft and hard, backed by powerful force, and actively strived for the ownership of various Mongolian ministries.For the heads of various ministries who returned to the Jin Dynasty, Huang Taiji gave them generous treatment. The most powerful of the various tribes in Monan Mongolia is the Chahar tribe.Lin Danhan, the leader of the Chahar tribe, was proud of his strength and relied on the political and economic support of the Ming Dynasty to resolutely fight against Hou Jin.Lin Dan Khan's rule over the ministries under him was also very cruel. He sent troops to attack and loot everywhere, abused his power, and often extorted various property from the ministries and provoked disputes.Lin Dan Khan's tyrannical rule aroused Tumed and other ministries to join forces to resist, but the result was heavy losses, so he had to ask Houjin for help.Huang Taiji took this opportunity to convene some representatives of the Monan Mongolian tribe to swear an oath in the Shenyang League, and decided to jointly send troops to attack the Chahar tribe.Then Huang Taiji recruited Horqin, Harqin, Aohan and other troops as the leader of the alliance, and marched westward with the Houjin army.The coalition forces defeated the Chahar army in Xierha, Xibotu and other places one after another, and pursued westward to the Altai Mountains before withdrawing their troops.In order to strengthen the control over the various Mongolian ministries that belonged to him, Huang Taiji issued a military order to the various ministries after this western expedition, strictly enforced military discipline, and emphasized that those who did not obey the constraints should be brought to justice. In the sixth year of Tiancong, Huang Taiji once again mobilized the subordinate Mongolian troops and horses to march westward together with the Eight Banners Army.He gathered the leaders of various Mongolian tribes in Zhaowuda (now Zhaowuda League) and made a summary of their performance in sending troops.Then wave the division to rush west.Lin Dan Khan's subordinates defected one after another and their strength weakened. He felt that he could not resist Huang Taiji's soldiers, so he led his troops to flee westward again, crossing the Yellow River, and fled towards Tibet.In the eighth year of Tiancong, Lin Danhan died of smallpox in Dacaotan, Qinghai, and his followers fled.After hearing the news, Huang Taiji immediately sent Dorgon to lead his troops to appease the remnants of Lin Danhan.In the second year, Er Zhe, the son of Lin Dan Khan, led his followers to surrender to Houjin.Since then, Monan Mongolia has been completely controlled by Huang Taiji, and the Ming Dynasty has been seriously threatened on the front line of Mongolia. The Heilongjiang region is the hometown of the Jurchens.During Nurhachi's lifetime, Hou Jin had unified the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, but the middle and upper reaches of Heilongjiang were still outside its control.Huang Taiji inherited his father's last wish and continued to develop power in the middle and upper reaches of Heilongjiang.He continued to pursue Nurhachi's strategy of combining appeasement with military conquest, but he did not place emphasis on force.He instructed the generals of the Northern Expedition to explain to the local people: Our ancestors are all one family, which is clearly recorded in the classics.It is necessary to use the concept of the same clan and the same language to influence the local people, share weal and woe with them, and win people's hearts.Under his appeasement policy, many tribes attached themselves to Huang Taiji and paid tribute to him.By the seventh year of Chongde (AD 1642), the vast area from the coast of Okhotsk in the east to Lake Baikal in the west was included in the Qing territory.Huang Taiji incorporated all the local conquered people into banner registration, appointed officials to manage local affairs, and collected taxes.In this way, Huang Taiji completely wiped out the alien forces in his rear and flanks, and he can free up his hands to cut down the big tree of the Ming Dynasty with all his strength. In 1628, Emperor Qi died tomorrow, and Emperor Chongzhen came to power.At this time, Huang Taiji had completely conquered North Korea, and most of Mongolia had also surrendered. Therefore, he believed that the time had come to attack the Ming Dynasty, and immediately led the army to bypass the strong Ningjin defense line of the Ming army, and went south via Mongolia.The army crossed the Great Wall from Xifengkou, captured Zunhua and other cities, and fought all the way to Beijing.Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty panicked and urgently ordered Yuan Chonghuan to lead the frontier army back to help.Yuan Jun and Huang Taiji fought fiercely under the city of Beijing, causing mutual casualties.During the fierce battle, Huang Taiji played countermeasures and asked his subordinates to disclose to a captured eunuch that Yuan Chonghuan had a secret agreement with Huang Taiji to achieve great things together.Then he let the eunuch go on purpose.Suspicious Emperor Chongzhen received the report, and suddenly became suspicious. Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned for questioning, and was executed by Ling Chi the next year.Huang Taiji got rid of a formidable enemy with the help of Emperor Chongzhen without lifting a finger.Then, he led his army to defeat the Ming Dynasty troops led by Man Gui and others, and conquered Yongping, Zunhua, Qian'an, Luanzhou and other cities one after another.The generals accompanying the conquest asked Huang Taiji to capture Beijing City in one fell swoop. Huang Taiji said that Beijing City can be captured with concentrated forces, but the Ming Dynasty's national power has not yet declined, and the Ming Dynasty cannot be destroyed overnight.It is better to step up the rectification of the army and wait for the opportunity.He arranged for the defense of Yongping, Qian'an and other four cities, and then led the army back to Shenyang. In order to gradually consume the Ming Dynasty and eventually replace it, Huang Taiji continued to attack the Ming Dynasty while pretending to seek peace.From 1634 to 1638, Huang Taiji sent troops into the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty four times.Due to the corruption of the Ming Dynasty, the soldiers of the Later Jin Dynasty galloped back and forth in previous battles, as if entering a land without people.For example, in the first year of Chongde, Azig led his army into the fortress, winning all 52 battles, capturing more than 60 cities, and plundering a total of 180,000 people and livestock.In the third year of Chongde, Dorgon, Yue Tuo and others led the Qing army into the interior of the Ming Dynasty. They fought in the interior for half a year, captured more than 70 cities one after another, and captured more than 460,000 people and animals. The conquest of troops shocked the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time brought serious disasters to the people in the interior.For example, in the eighth year of Tiancong (AD 1634), the soldiers of the Hou Jin Dynasty slaughtered Baoding City. The houses in the city were almost burned to the ground, the streets were littered with corpses, and even the wells were filled with corpses.In the fourth year of Chongde, Jinan was ransacked by the Qing army again. Many innocent people died under the butcher knife of the Qing army. There were as many as 130,000 corpses left inside and outside the city. The scene was extremely tragic.Although Huang Taiji had stated military discipline many times, one of his purposes of launching the war was to plunder and destroy the property and population of the Ming Dynasty, and finally achieve the goal of completely destroying the Ming Dynasty. Before and after Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor in 1636, the body of the Later Jin regime had become stronger, and the threats from Korea and Mongolia had also been lifted.In the face of the changed situation, Huang Taiji made the best use of the situation, and finally abandoned the pretense of negotiating peace with the Ming Dynasty, and turned to conquest.In his letter to Emperor Chongzhen, he also reversed his humble attitude in the past, and declared aggressively: "Since ancient times, the world has not been occupied by one family and one surname. The changes in the way of heaven go back and forth. I don't know how many people have ascended the throne of the emperor." , How can the descendants of the emperor be the emperor for a long time!" The Ming Dynasty was not willing to sit still, and a long-planned decisive battle between the two sides-the Songjin War broke out in the fourth year of Chongde (1639 AD). Jinzhou is located in western Liaoning and is a strong fortress in the defense system of the Ming army outside the pass.The Ming Dynasty stationed a large number of troops here.Although they gave up before, Ningyuan gradually recovered after the victory.Around Jinzhou, there are Songshan, Xingshan, Tashan and other cities, which play a role in defending Jinzhou.In the fourth year of Chongde, Huang Taiji, who made up his mind, first launched a strong attack on Songshan, but under the stubborn resistance of the Ming army, the Qing army's offensive was frustrated, and Songshan was still under the control of the Ming army.In the second year, Huang Taiji sent Jierhalang, Duoduo and others to lead the army to build Yizhou City, where they stationed troops and garrisoned fields as an outpost for capturing Jinzhou.Huang Taiji then successively increased his troops to approach Jinzhou, dug deep trenches outside the city, and besieged the city of Jinzhou. In 1641, the Mongolian army guarding the outer city of Jinzhou under the command of the Ming general surrendered to Huang Taiji because of the might of the Qing army. The Ming army trapped in the inner city was facing a very critical situation.At this time, Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty, was ordered to lead an army of 130,000 to break the siege of Jinzhou.Hong Chengchou was a man rich in combat experience. He adopted a strategy of fighting steadily and step by step, and gradually moved closer to Jinzhou, without giving the Qing army any chance to break down.This strategy was correct, but Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty and Minister of War Chen Xinjia wanted to make a quick decision, and repeatedly urged Hong Chengchou to advance quickly.Hong Chengchou had no choice but to speed up his march and led his army to Songshan.Set up camp in the Rufeng Mountain area in the north of the city.The camps of the Ming army continued continuously, and the horse and infantry covered each other, and the military might was quite majestic.Dorgon and others fought the Ming army several times, and lost a lot of troops, so they had to retreat back and guard various key areas.At this time, the Ming army in Jinzhou City took the opportunity to counterattack and regained the outer city.Reports of the successive defeats of the Qing army spread to Shenyang. People in Shenyang were panicked, and Huang Taiji was also very anxious.Dragging his sick body, he personally led an army to the front line to fight to the death with the Ming army. Huang Taiji's imperial conquest greatly boosted the morale of the Qing army.Huang Taiji said to the generals in a tone of victory: "I am only afraid that the enemy will flee in a hurry when they hear that I am leading the army. If God blesses the enemy and has not fled, then I will be defeated like a hound chasing a wild beast." They." He carefully observed the terrain and the formation of the Ming army, arranged the Qing army between Songshan and Xingshan, cut off the Ming army's food supply, and surrounded Songshan City and the Ming army outside the city.After several battles between the two armies, the Qing army seized the Ming army's rations at Bijia Mountain and further tightened the encirclement.Then deep trenches and high forts.The Ming army was invincible after repeated attacks, and because of the loss of rations, the rations were quickly scarce and the morale of the army was shaken. Many generals wanted to break out and rush back to Ningyuan.Hong Chengchou had no choice but to put all his eggs in one basket and ordered the whole army to break through.Unexpectedly, Huang Taiji had already calculated this, and the Qing troops from all walks of life were ready.The fleeing Ming army was blocked and killed everywhere, and the casualties were extremely heavy. A part of the Ming army that broke through to Xingshan was hit hard by the Qing army on the way to Ningyuan.In just 10 days, the 130,000 troops of the Ming Dynasty were completely lost, and more than 53,000 people were beheaded. Only Hong Chengchou led more than 10,000 remnants of the defeated generals to be trapped in Songshan City.In the seventh year of Chongde (1642), Xia Chengde, the deputy general of the Ming Dynasty in Songshan City, surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Songshan City fell, and Hong Chengchou was captured.After some patient persuasion by Huang Taiji, Hong Chengchou finally kowtowed and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.Then, Zu Dashou, the guard of Jinzhou, saw that the situation was over, and surrendered the city.Then Tashan and Xingshan fell into the hands of the Qing army one after another.In the Battle of Songjin, which lasted more than two years, Huang Taiji won a decisive victory. The elite soldiers and generals of the Ming Dynasty are now running out, and Huang Taiji has completely controlled the situation outside the pass. The victory of the Songjin decisive battle brought great joy to Huang Taiji, but his concubine Chen died suddenly during the decisive battle, which caused deep waves in his private life.When it comes to Huang Taiji's private life, one has to talk about his concubines.Huang Taiji is in the position of emperor and has many wives and concubines. There are as many as 15 of them who have given birth to him alone, raising 14 daughters and 11 sons for him.Among his sons, except for the eldest son Haoge who had experienced battles and made outstanding achievements, the rest either died young, or had mediocre talents and mediocre deeds. 在皇太极身边的后妃中，地位最为尊崇的是清宁宫皇后、关雎宫宸妃、麟趾宫贵妃、衍庆宫淑妃和永福宫庄妃。有点奇怪的是，这五位妇人无一是满族人，全部都是蒙古族人。Why does this happen?因为皇太极的婚姻有很强的政治色彩。从努尔哈赤时期开始，后金统治集团为了巩固和扩大自己的政权基础，极力谋求同蒙古族结盟，以便携起手来共同对付明朝。他们采取的行动之一就是与蒙古各部联姻。明万历四十年（公元1612年），努尔哈赤迎娶了蒙古科尔沁部明安贝勒的女儿为妻，这是满蒙联姻的开始。此后，许多后金的贝勒大臣都迎娶了蒙古贵族女子，皇太极后来的皇后也是在努尔哈赤执政时期从科尔沁部迎娶的。 但科尔沁部的孝端文皇后11年里未曾生养儿女，这使得她本人和科尔沁部的王公们都有些不安。天命十年（公元1625年），孝端文皇后的侄女、科尔沁部贝勒寨桑的女儿布木布泰又由兄长陪送到了后金，被皇太极纳为妃，她就是后来的永福宫庄妃。庄妃在五宫后妃中年纪最小，正当妙龄，并且容貌出众，妩媚动人。庄妃为皇太极生了3个女儿、1个儿子，这个儿子便是后来的顺治皇帝福临。庄妃一生历经天聪、顺治、康熙三朝，对清初兴国大业多有贡献。她一直活到了康熙二十六年（公元1687年），享年75岁，死后被追谥为孝庄文皇后。 但是，在众多的妃子中，最得皇太极欢心的乃是关雎宫的宸妃。宸妃海兰珠是永福宫庄妃的姐姐，晚于妹妹9年入宫。为什么会出现博尔济吉特氏姑侄三人入宫侍奉一君的情况呢？原来，在宸妃入宫以前，孝端文皇后、庄妃都未曾生养男孩，科尔沁部的贝勒却是非常希望将来由本部落妃子的儿子继承大位，以保证本部落的尊崇地位，于是便有了再选佳人入宫的打算。而皇太极则久闻海兰珠生得是天姿国色、月貌花容，且禀性贤淑文静，不可多得，也很愿意将海兰珠纳入宫中。天聪七年（公元1633年），哲哲皇后的母亲科尔沁大妃偕同次妃（宸妃、庄妃的生母）来到沈阳朝见皇太极，皇太极招待得极为热情。双方在盛宴言欢之际，定下了皇太极与海兰珠的亲事。第二年，海兰珠由兄长吴克善陪同来沈阳与皇太极成婚。婚后，海兰珠备受皇太极的恩宠，两人情投意合，相亲相爱。皇太极将一腔柔情都付予了海兰珠，在崇德元年（公元1636年）册封后妃时，海兰珠被封为关睢宫宸妃，地位仅次于清宁宫皇后。 崇德二年七月，宸妃生下了一个男孩，这是皇太极的第八个儿子。皇太极非常高兴，马上宣布将皇八子定为皇储，并破天荒地颁布了大清朝的第一道大赦令，在金銮殿、清宁宫等处大宴宾客，盛况空前。谁料想，皇八子出生仅半年就突然夭折了。宸妃受不了这个沉重的打击，从此郁郁寡欢，不思茶饭，身体渐渐虚弱下去。 崇德六年九月，皇太极正在松锦战场上指挥大军对明军展开攻击，忽然传来了宸妃病重的消息。皇太极吃了一惊，将军务托付给将领们，自己启驾奔向沈阳。途中，他特地派大学士希福、刚林等人骑行在前，向宸妃传达自己的问候。十七日五鼓时分，皇太极的车驾刚进沈阳城门，就听到了宸妃病逝的噩耗。皇太极的心几乎碎了，他来到宸妃的灵柩跟前，痛悼离去了的心上人，禁不住掩面大哭起来。他下令：对宸妃的丧殓一切都要从厚发送。 宸妃去世后的第二年，松锦决战结束了，清朝逐鹿中原、定鼎九州已成水到渠成之势。可是皇太极却无法完成这一大业了。多年操劳政务和四处征战，已经耗尽了他的精力，宸妃的去世又给他精神上带来重大创伤，他终于在崇德八年（公元1643年）八月的一个夜晚，在清宁宫内的御榻上离开了人世。谥“文皇帝”，庙号“太宗”。