Southern Ming: A boy soldier at the beginning, supporting the world

Chapter 332 Queen Mother
The Queen Mother was named Bumbutai, and was born in the Khorchin tribe of Mongolia, and was a member of the Borjigit clan. Borjigit, or "Boerjigin" in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, means gray eyes (blue eyes), and refers to the Golden Family to which Genghis Khan belonged.

The Khorchin Borjigit clan has always been the most prominent family on the Mongolian grasslands and the object of marriage for various tribes on the grasslands.

Manchuria had a small population, and marriage with Mongolia was a national policy. Huang Taiji's wife was Bumbutai's aunt, named Borjigit Zhezhe. In the second year of Tianqi, Bumbutai married a Manchu and became Huang Taiji's concubine at the age of thirteen. In the seventh year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji's throne was already stable, and he took Bumbutai's sister Hailanzhu as a concubine, and was extremely fond of Hailanzhu.

Huang Taiji had many concubines, and Borjigit alone had five. Bumbutai was not favored. Although she entered the palace very early, her ranking among the concubines was very low. Fortunately, she gave birth to a son, Fulin. With her son's help, Bumbutai showed outstanding political wisdom in persuading Hong Chengchou to surrender, which also impressed Huang Taiji and his ministers.

After Huang Taiji's death, Hauge and Dorgon fought for the throne, but the two sides were deadlocked. Bumumbutai took a different approach, first committed herself to Dorgon, then used her power to gain the support of Jirgalang, and tried her best to fight for the throne for Fulin.

In the end, even Huang Taiji's eldest son Hauge gladly accepted Fulin's throne.

In this way, Fulin, who was the least likely to inherit the throne, became the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty by coincidence due to the game of forces from all sides.

Fulin was also grateful to Bumbutai, and at the beginning of the year, he conferred the title of "Zhaosheng Empress Dowager" on his mother. This is the famous Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang Wen in the history of the Qing Dynasty, who can be regarded as the most outstanding female politician in the history of the Qing Dynasty, much better than Cixi in the late Qing Dynasty.

After hearing the eunuch Wu Liangfu's crying, Bumbutai was shocked, put down the pipe in his hand, and said, "Wu Liangfu, get up and say it again."

Wu Liangfu stood up and looked up at the Queen Mother. Bumbutai was less than 40 years old, with fair skin, a pretty face, and a charming demeanor. The nights were long, and she stayed alone in her empty room every night. How could she relieve herself when she was bored?
For a moment, Wu Liangfu was a little distracted. I really don't know what Huang Taiji was thinking. Such a beautiful woman was so cold. If I were Huang Taiji, I would definitely ask Zhezhe, Hailanzhu, and Bumbutai to serve him together. The three aunts and nieces serving one husband and sleeping alone in a big bed at night, it's exciting to think about it.

Zhezhe was the empress of Huang Taiji, and Hailanzhu was the most favored woman of Huang Taiji. But Wu Liangfu was not afraid of them, but only of Bumbutai.

The Empress Dowager Zhaosheng in front of her was courageous, flexible, and ruthless. A few months ago, she was still secretly serving Dorgon. After Dorgon's death, she first praised Dorgon highly, then joined forces with Jirgalang to thoroughly purge Dorgon's followers, and even opened Dorgon's coffin and mutilated his body.

Wu Liangfu was not afraid of Emperor Shunzhi, nor was he afraid of Jirgalang, but he was actually quite afraid of the Empress Dowager.

"To reply to the Queen Mother, the Red Bandits are rampant, and the Southern Dynasty is excited. Jiangxi and Fujian have sent news, confirming the death of Zhang Jinglie, Prince Pingnan, and Governor Li. The Emperor is angry and annoyed, and has instructed the servants to inform the Firearms Battalion, the Personal Army Battalion, and the Vanguard Battalion to prepare for a tour of Shengjing."

"Have you delivered the order?" Bumbutai had regained her composure and looked at Wu Liangfu with a squint.

"I know the seriousness of this matter, so I have delayed the announcement and come here to ask the Queen Mother for instructions."

"Yes," Bumbutai nodded and said, "Tell your eunuchs and palace maids that if anyone dares to spread a word of what happened today, they will be killed without mercy."

"Yes!" Wu Liangfu's knees softened and he knelt down involuntarily.

"Pass on my oral order, and ask Prince Zheng to come to the palace immediately to discuss confidential matters in the Qianqing Palace."

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang came to the Qianqing Palace wearing flowerpot shoes, surrounded by a group of eunuchs and palace maids.

Wu Liangfu led the way, and before he reached the main hall, he was the first to announce: "The Queen Mother has arrived!"

Shunzhi had a bad relationship with the Empress Dowager. Bumbutai did not rule the country from behind the scenes, but her prestige in the palace was very high, making it difficult for Shunzhi to do as he wished. In particular, Bumbutai strengthened the marriage between Manchus and Mongols and arranged marriages, which made Shunzhi extremely unhappy.

Shunzhi's empress was also a Borjigit, and was the niece of Bumbutai. Fulin did not like her, so Bumbutai gave her another Borjigit, who was her niece's granddaughter.

Fulin received a good Confucian education since childhood, was familiar with classics, history, and literature, and showed special talent in literature. There were twelve emperors in the Qing Dynasty, and Shunzhi was generally regarded as the best writer.

The young emperor yearned for a talented Han woman who was good at writing and gentle and quiet. He had no interest in the illiterate Borjigit and was even more disgusted with the arranged marriage by the empress dowager.

Because of this, the mother and son had some conflicts. However, he had just ascended the throne and was not familiar with the operation of power, so he had to temporarily give in. Hearing that the empress dowager had arrived, Shunzhi hurried out of the palace. The young eunuch was very sharp-eyed and spread a futon on the ground for the emperor to kneel down.

"My sons, please bow to your mother."

"Emperor, get up quickly." Bumbutai helped Shunzhi up and led him into the palace.

Shunzhi followed Bumbutai respectfully, half a step behind him. He glanced at Wu Liangfu and glared at him fiercely.

Wu Liangfu was not afraid. Instead, he felt relieved as if a stone had been lifted off his chest.

"Everyone else, go out." Bumbutai's words were filled with unquestionable authority.

Wu Liangfu's heart sank, and he thought of the idiom "hen crows at dawn". The emperor was present, so the empress dowager shouldn't say this. He looked at Shunzhi carefully, lowered his head, hunched his body, and prepared to leave the hall.

"Wu Liangfu, wait at the door and listen to the lecture."

"twitter!"

In the majestic Qianqing Palace, Shunzhi and Bumbutai were the only ones left. There was only one main seat in the main hall, so it was inconvenient for the two to sit there. Bumbutai took the lead and went to the West Hall, sat opposite Shunzhi, and said, "Emperor, I heard that you are going to visit Shengjing?"

"I have this idea." There was no need to hide it from my biological mother. Shunzhi was very smart and knew that if he didn't get the support of the empress dowager, it would be impossible.

"I want to..."

"Don't even think about it!" Bumbutai interrupted him rudely and asked, "Let me ask you, what achievements did Grandpa Tai make in his life?"

"When Taizu was 24 years old, he raised an army with 13 sets of armor, and it took him 10 years to unify the various tribes in Jianzhou. When he was 57 years old, he was named Khan, established the reign of Tianming, and set up officials and offices. When he was 59 years old, he swore an oath to the heavens, announced the 'Seven Great Grievances', led his army to attack the Ming, and defeated the Ming army in the Battle of Sarhu."

"What achievements did Taizong make in his life?"

"Taizong's military achievements were not as good as Taizu's, but his civil administration was better. He promulgated the "Regulations on Leaving the Lord", developed agriculture, expanded the Eight Banners, organized the imperial examinations, successively conquered Korea, the Mongolians south of the desert, and the tribes of Heilongjiang, recruited the Mongolians north of the desert, and pacified the Han people. He was truly a ruler of the world."

"You have been on the throne for eight years. What have you accomplished?"

The Shunzhi reign had been used for eight years, but Fulin had only been in power for half a year, and most of the time was under the dictatorship of Dorgon.

He blushed and said, "I have no achievements of any magnitude."

"Nonsense!" Bumbutai retorted, "Taizu and Taizong never recovered Shanhaiguan throughout their lives and were always blocked outside the pass by the Southern Dynasty. You pacified Wu Sangui, defeated Li Zicheng, established your capital, swept across the Central Plains, and occupied the world. Your achievements are greater than those of Taizu and Taizong."

"This?" Shunzhi was suspicious and looked incredible.

"Yes, these are all Dorgon's achievements. But Dorgon is your subordinate, and his achievements are your achievements. In the future, history will record you as Taizu and Taizong. But you were frightened by a small red bandit and wanted to visit Shengjing. Isn't it ridiculous?"

Shunzhi suddenly realized and regained his confidence. He kowtowed to Bumbutai and said sincerely: "Without your mother's words, I would have made a mistake."

(End of this chapter)