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

Chapter 1059 The Queen Mother and the Emperor

Compared with the smooth progress of Wang Fuzhi and his entourage in Europe, in the far Far East, in the Liaodong region, Dorgon, the regent of the Qing Dynasty, was also in high spirits.

After the death of Empress Dowager Zhezhe, Dorgon jumped from being a regent prince to the regent prince, took control of the Qing government, entered and left the palace freely, and even had a semi-open affair with Bumbutai.

Because of Bumbutai, Dorgon treated the young emperor well. Not only did he not have the idea of ​​replacing him, but he assisted him wholeheartedly. This was probably related to the fact that Dorgon had no son. Although Dorgon had many wives and was never short of women around him, he just didn't have a son. In his heart, other women were nothing at all. Only Bumbutai was his white moonlight.

Although he was addicted to the gentleness of life, which was also a wish for him, Dorgon did not give up the plan to marry Bumbutai. In his opinion, he, the regent, was equivalent to the real emperor, and it was not important whether it was in name or not. Moreover, for the Manchus, it was nothing for a younger brother to marry the deceased brother's wife. If it were not for Huang Taiji's promotion of the Hanization system, coupled with the restraint of other forces of the Eight Banners within the Qing Dynasty and the reaction of the Han officials, Dorgon would probably have done it a long time ago. In fact, Dorgon also made this request privately, hoping to formally marry Bumbutai, and promised that as long as Bumbutai was willing to marry him, he would definitely support the little emperor like his own son.

But his request was rejected by Bumbutai. Although Bumbutai was young and inconspicuous in Huang Taiji's harem, this woman was not as weak and indecisive as she seemed.

On the contrary, Bumbutai was an extremely smart woman. She knew her own strengths and weaknesses very well, and she understood Dorgon's thoughts even better.

As the concubine of Huang Taiji, the current mother of the Qing emperor, and the only empress dowager of the Qing dynasty after the death of Empress Dowager Zhezhe, her status is extremely noble. But compared with her own status, Bumbutai cares more about her son, the current Shunzhi Emperor Fulin. Bumbutai clearly knows that there is no one else she can rely on, not even Dorgon, and only her son Fulin can be truly trusted and guarantee the source of everything in the future.

Bumbutai temporarily gave herself to Dorgon and even acquiesced to Dorgon's attack on her aunt, Empress Dowager Zhezhe. Everything she did was for her son. She was well aware of Dorgon's powerful position in the Qing Dynasty, and she knew that Fulin's throne was not so stable. Not to mention that Dorgon, as the regent prince of the Qing Dynasty and the younger brother of Huang Taiji, had the intention of competing for the throne when Huang Taiji died. The existence of Hauge alone was like a thorn that made Bumbutai worried.

After all, Hauge was the true successor of Huang Taiji. If Dorgon had not interfered, Hauge would have become the emperor of Qing long ago. Although Hauge is in Korea now, he controls Korea with a large number of troops and is in a hostile relationship with Dorgon. Bumbutai is really worried that once Hauge defeats Dorgon, he will use the victory to depose her son and replace him. If it comes to that, one can imagine what the fate of her and Fulin will be.

Therefore, within the Qing Dynasty, Bumbutai could not rely on many people, and Dorgon was the most important one. With her own charm and means, and taking advantage of Dorgon's feelings for her, Bumbutai had to think about her son and herself, even if it cost her some money.

In this way, Bumbutai used means to make Dorgon willing to assist the young emperor and provide shelter for them. This was her only choice at present. As for the emotional issues between the two, Bumbutai was not as devoted as Dorgon. Everything she showed was a false appearance, just for exploitation.

"Mother! Mother!" On this day, Bumbutai was reading memorials in the harem. She was not well educated and was only a twelve-year-old girl when she married Huang Taiji. Although Bumbutai's family background was not bad, as the daughter of a Khorchin prince, her surname was Borjigit, and Borjigit also had another name - Borjigin, which was the surname of the Golden Family.

However, although the Borjigit clan of Khorchin is a member of the Golden Family, they are not direct descendants of Genghis Khan, but a branch of the Golden Family. But even so, such an identity is considered noble in Mongolia.

But Bumbutai was a woman, and in Mongolian customs, women were often much lower in status than men, even those of noble birth. In addition, she was married to Huang Taiji at a very young age and had not received much education before marriage. When she became Huang Taiji's concubine, Bumbutai's cultural level was extremely low, and she could not even speak Chinese, let alone read and write.

It was not until later that Bumbutai, who became Huang Taiji's concubine, slowly learned these things in Shengjing. However, due to her basic knowledge, her ability was limited to recognizing some characters and being able to speak Chinese fluently.

After Zhezhe died, Bumbutai became the only empress dowager. For the sake of her son and herself, although she had the protection of Dorgon, Bumbutai also clearly knew that it was better to rely on oneself than on others. So she began to try to learn everything, learning how to read memorials, how to judge problems from a political perspective, and how to assist the young emperor in managing the country. Although it was difficult to learn, Bumbutai still persisted, and her progress was also obvious. At least now she was no longer completely in the dark about the situation in the Qing Dynasty as before, and she learned a lot from it.

"Why are you here? Have you finished reading for today?" Hearing the crisp and familiar voice, Bumbutai looked up and saw the little emperor Fulin running in.

"The get out of class is over, and my teacher praised me today." Fulin was still a child under eight years old, which is equivalent to a first-grade student in later generations. He ran to Bumbutai with a smile, leaned against his mother, and proudly told her about his study today and the praise from his teacher Fan Wencheng.

That's right, Fan Wencheng was the Grand Secretary of the Internal Secretariat, the Minister of State Affairs of the Qing Dynasty, and the teacher of the little emperor. Although Bumbutai's cultural level was not high, she paid special attention to the education of her children like parents in later generations. Before the death of Huang Taiji, he had been promoting the sinicization of the Qing Dynasty and making great use of Han officials. In order to train her son, Bumbutai selected a teacher for the little emperor in the court last year.

After much selection, Bumbutai finally chose Fan Wencheng. First, Fan Wencheng was the most knowledgeable official in the Qing Dynasty, and he was also a Han minister trusted and valued by Huang Taiji. Second, Bumbutai believed that she and her son needed to win over some people in the court to use for themselves, and she could not put all the chips on Dorgon. After all, Bumbutai knew very well what Dorgon was thinking and why he had the current attitude towards her and her son. Moreover, Dorgon's power was getting stronger and stronger, which also made Bumbutai secretly worried. To be on the safe side, they must have a trustworthy person to back them up and find a way to check and balance Dorgon. It was not easy to find such a person in the Eight Banners, but a Han minister was more suitable.

After all, the Qing Dynasty was ruled by the Manchus, and the Eight Banners were the foundation of the Qing Dynasty. The status of Han officials in the Qing Dynasty was somewhat awkward. As outsiders, Han officials were not favored by Nurhaci at that time. It was not until Huang Taiji became the Khan and later the Emperor that the status and situation of Han officials were greatly improved.

But even so, in the eyes of the Eight Banners nobles, Han officials were still just "slaves", and they were the real masters of the Qing Dynasty. In this case, Han officials could only rely on Huang Taiji's trust in addition to banding together for warmth. It was precisely because Huang Taiji valued Han officials to promote sinicization that Han officials were grateful to Huang Taiji and assisted him wholeheartedly.

After Huang Taiji's death, the status of Han officials was much lower than before without his protection. In this situation, Han officials could only find other ways. According to the Han system, the succeeding Emperor Shunzhi was the natural candidate for loyalty. If they could influence the young emperor and wait for him to take power in the future and use them as much as Huang Taiji did, and continue to promote sinicization, it would be the best thing for them.

It was for this reason that Bumbutai and these Han officials hit it off and became natural allies. Others did not know the importance of Han officials, but Bumbutai, who had followed Huang Taiji for many years, understood this truth. Moreover, Han officials were different from Dorgon and other Eight Banner nobles. The orthodoxy of imperial power that they insisted on and recognized was also what Bumbutai needed.

Under such circumstances, Bumbutai persuaded Dorgon with the education of the little emperor and appointed Fan Wencheng as the little emperor's teacher. After Fan Wencheng called himself the emperor's teacher, he paid great attention to the education of the little emperor. As the little emperor became more sensible and his academic performance improved, Bumbutai believed that her choice was correct.

"Oh, what did Mr. Fan praise you for today? What did he teach you?" In front of the little emperor, Bumbutai was like a loving mother, without the usual reserve in front of outsiders. She held the little emperor's hand and asked with a pleasant face. The little emperor smiled and told him what he had learned today and what Fan Wencheng praised him for. After listening to the little emperor's story, Bumbutai's smile became even wider.

"My son is smart!" Bumbutai said with relief, and reached out to touch the little emperor's head: "Mr. Fan is an important minister of your father. He was deeply trusted by your father, and his talent is also admired by your father. You must learn from Mr. Fan and study hard. Do you understand?"

"Mother, I understand. Don't worry, I will definitely learn from you." The little emperor nodded seriously. Bumbutai was very happy to see his well-behaved and sensible appearance. Is there any mother in the world who doesn't love her own children? Especially seeing her son so sensible and obedient, she was very pleased.

The mother and son were talking about the little emperor's studies, and they laughed from time to time when they were happy. At this time, the chief eunuch Wu Liangfu came hurriedly and reported that the regent had entered the palace and was coming this way.

(End of this chapter)