Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1021: Hauge’s Dilemma
After the death of Empress Dowager Zhezhe, Dorgon began to truly monopolize power in the Qing Dynasty. Because of Bumbutai, he not only became the regent prince from the assistant prince, but also stopped hiding from the public and began to enter and leave the palace openly.

Bumbutai got what she wanted. When Zhezhe was alive, Bumbutai was secretly worried that her affair with Dorgon would be known by Zhezhe and she would be punished for it. As the biological mother of the emperor, Zhezhe would not execute Bumbutai, but given Zhezhe's status and position, it would be easy for her to abolish Bumbutai's title of Holy Mother Empress Dowager and send her to the cold palace.

After all, Zhezhe was Huang Taiji's empress and the wife of the king at that time, while Bumbutai was just an ordinary concubine of Huang Taiji. Even Fulin was able to become emperor because of Zhezhe. If it were not for Zhezhe's favoritism towards Fulin because Fulin was born to Bumbutai and Bumbutai was her niece, the throne would never have fallen on the young Fulin.

Bumbutai was very clear about this. She was an extremely smart woman and knew very well how she got her current status. Once Zhezhe attacked her, she would have no ability to resist. In order to protect herself, Bumbutai could only think of ways from Dorgon. Only by winning over Dorgon and taking advantage of Dorgon's attachment and love for her, Bumbutai would have the opportunity to become a real empress dowager and thus save her son's throne.

It cannot be said that there was no affection between Bumbutai and Dorgon, but this affection was nothing compared to the imperial power. Bumbutai was not an ignorant young woman. She married Huang Taiji at the age of twelve. What had she not seen and experienced in all these years?
Politics is dirty, love is just a castle in the air, and only power is eternal. Bumbutai knows this too well. Zhezhe's sudden death may be an accident to others, but it is a destined result for Bumbutai.

Bumbutai knew Dorgon too well. She knew that Dorgon's character would never allow Zhezhe to suppress him forever. In the past, Dorgon could fawn on Huang Taiji for self-protection, and now he can only pretend to be good in front of Zhezhe, secretly accumulate strength, and eventually replace him.

During the time she secretly had an affair with Dorgon, Bumbutai had seen through Dorgon's thoughts, but she never revealed her intentions. She used her unique charm and subtle influence to influence Dorgon to do these things, and Zhezhe's death was exactly what Bumbutai expected. Now after Zhezhe's death, she can finally come to the court in the name of the Holy Mother Empress Dowager and get the status of the only Empress Dowager of the Qing Dynasty. This is the best result for Bumbutai.

But this is far from enough. Bumbutai, just an empress dowager, is still not as good as Dorgon as the regent. Although the emperor is his son, he is too young to rule the country. Even if the emperor grows up, Dorgon's power is not comparable to that of the young emperor. Due to the difference between the Eight Banners system of the Qing Dynasty and the Han system, whoever controls the Eight Banners controls the real power of the Qing Dynasty. Dorgon can use secret means to make Zhezhe die unclearly, so won't he use the same method to deal with the little emperor?

After taking the throne of the Empress Dowager, Bumbutai was not dazzled by the current good situation. Instead of directly taking over Zhezhe's power and ruling together with the regent prince as everyone imagined, she showed an attitude of giving in to everything and issued an imperial decree to confer Dorgon the title of regent prince.

This move brought many benefits to Bumbutai. First of all, her attitude made Dorgon very satisfied. In Dorgon's view, Bumbutai was a person who was truly loyal to him. If she didn't have him in her heart, how could she issue this imperial decree? And promoted herself from the assistant prince to the regent prince?
He had done so much for Bumbutai, and he had taken the risk to help her remove obstacles and support her to take the throne of the Empress Dowager. Now Bumbutai was repaying him in this way, and Dorgon was very pleased and moved by Bumbutai.

As for other princes, nobles and ministers, they felt differently. In the eyes of others, it was obvious that Bumbutai issued such an imperial decree because she was forced by Dorgon. Otherwise, why did the empress dowager do the first thing to confer a title on Dorgon when she came to power?

According to rumors, Dorgon had always had some feelings for Bumbutai. The young empress dowager became a widow at a young age, taking care of a son, an orphan and a widowed mother, and her brother-in-law took advantage of the situation. What could a weak woman like her do? This was nothing more than trying to win over Dorgon, and it was also out of helplessness. In this way, other people felt that this woman was a little pitiful, even weak and bullied, and thus tended to sympathize with Bumbutai in their hearts.

This result was exactly what Bumbutai wanted. She wanted to show her situation in front of the people of the world. Only in this way would Dorgon protect her, not only her but also his son. The same was true for other princes and nobles, including Han officials, because they felt the difficulty of her being the empress dowager, and naturally deepened their sympathy for her and the emperor. In this way, not only her position could be preserved, but even the throne of the young emperor would be stable.

It has to be said that Bumbutai has a talent for being a green tea girl. On the one hand, she pretends to be pitiful, and on the other hand, she tries to win over Dorgon to help her. She uses the conflicts and forces on both sides to achieve a balance in order to protect her and her son.

This move was really very clever, even Qin Huairu from the courtyard could not compare to him. Dorgon was proud of being a hero, but he just forgot that heroes have always been tempted by beautiful women. Dorgon now was no different from that silly Zhu, his mind was full of Bumbutai and her son. It can be said that for Bumbutai, he was willing to do almost anything. As long as Bumbutai gave him a smile and a few gentle and caring words, this silly Dorgon would do things for Bumbutai regardless of everything.

The news of the death of Empress Dowager Zhezhe soon reached Korea. When Hauge in Seoul learned about it, he was shocked and immediately sent people to find out how Zhezhe died. Because Dorgon's actions were secretive and several doctors who treated Zhezhe were executed by him, and the first person to raise opinions on the practice of the Great Shaman was not Dorgon, Dorgon just listened to everyone's opinions. In addition, the Great Shaman had a noble status and represented the religious customs of the Manchus. In this regard, even the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty could not do anything to the Great Shaman without a legitimate reason and solid evidence.

Because of these reasons, the information Hauge received was normal, and he could not see any tricks. But Hauge did not think so in his heart. As Dorgon's strongest opponent, he knew Dorgon too well. Although there was no evidence, he concluded that Zhezhe's death must be related to Dorgon. In addition, Bumbutai's rise to power and Dorgon's direct promotion from a regent prince to the regent prince of the Qing Dynasty made Hauge even more suspicious.

"Adulterer! Whore!"

Hauge gnashed his teeth and cursed, then he grabbed the wine jug beside him and poured the wine directly into his mouth without using a wine cup. He took a big sip of the wine, exhaled the alcohol, and his eyes were red.

Hauge was the eldest son of Huang Taiji. He was not much different from Dorgon in age, and the two grew up together. When he was young, Dorgon often came to Huang Taiji's Beile Mansion to play. At that time, Hauge knew that Dorgon and Bumbutai had a good impression of each other, and the relationship between the two was very good.

At that time, Haoge was still young and did not understand the relationship between men and women, but now Haoge has grown up. How could a man in his thirties not understand these principles? So some people say that Dorgon coveted Bumbutai's beauty and secretly bullied Bumbutai. Others may not believe it, but Haoge is sure of it. And in Haoge's view, it is not as simple as Dorgon bullying Bumbutai. Based on his understanding of these two people, the truth should be that Bumbutai had secretly hooked up with Dorgon for a long time. Otherwise, why did Dorgon insist on letting Bumbutai take the throne as the empress dowager after Zhezhe died, and Bumbutai also reciprocated by directly issuing an imperial decree to enthrone Dorgon as the regent prince?

Thinking of this, Haoge felt sad. His father was a hero in his lifetime, but after his death, not only was his concubine taken by Dorgon, but even Bumbutai took the initiative to surrender to Dorgon. This pair of bitches was really infuriating and hateful. If Huang Taiji was still alive, he would have to make sure that this pair of dogs and bitches died without a burial place.

But the father who had always protected him and given him support like a mountain was no longer with him. Thinking of this, Haoge couldn't help but burst into tears. How great it would be if his father was still alive, the Qing Dynasty wouldn't have become what it is now, and he wouldn't be trapped in Korea with no home to return to.

A few days after Zhezhe's death, Dorgon gave himself an order in the name of the Regent Prince of the Qing Dynasty, asking Haoge to return to Shengjing.

On the surface, it was because of a national mourning. As the empress of Huang Taiji, Zhezhe was nominally Haoge's mother. As his "son", Haoge had to go back and send Zhezhe to Zhaoling as a prince to be buried with Huang Taiji on behalf of the underage emperor.

But the problem is that Haoge is not a fool. He has vaguely sensed the conspiracy behind this matter. If Zhezhe was alive, Haoge might not be too worried. After all, Zhezhe is the empress dowager, and he, as the eldest son of the late emperor, should treat him well. Even if Dorgon intends to attack him, Zhezhe will not let Dorgon get his wish. You must know that she can restrain Dorgon as long as she is there, even if Dorgon is the regent prince. Only when the two sides restrain each other and their strength is balanced, can Zhezhe sit securely.

But things were different after Zhezhe's death. After Zhezhe's death, no one in the court could suppress Dorgon. Originally, Jirgalang could have done it, but unfortunately this guy was useless. Although he was nominally the regent prince, he was suppressed by Dorgon in the past few years. The so-called regent was just a title and had no effect at all.

Moreover, Bumbutai was now the only empress dowager in power. She and Dorgon were adulterers, so naturally, Bumbutai would support whatever Dorgon wanted to do. Under such circumstances, how could Hauge dare to go back? It was easy to imagine what would happen if he returned to Shengjing.

(End of this chapter)