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

Chapter 932 Fu Lin
Fan Wencheng continued, "Prince Rui opposed Prince Su's succession to the throne precisely for this reason. And does Prince Rui really think that the Eight Banners election system he proposed is feasible? No!"

"Prince Rui is just looking for a reason to stop Prince Su from ascending the throne. The so-called Eight Banners recommendation is probably unrealistic in Prince Rui's mind. So from this point of view, Prince Rui is only concerned about his own safety after Prince Su ascends the throne, which is why he is trying his best to stop him."

"What does Mr. Fan mean...?" Queen Zhezhe was a little confused and asked with a frown.

Fan Wencheng smiled faintly and said to Empress Zhezhe: "I have made it very clear that the throne of the Qing Dynasty can only be inherited by the prince of the previous emperor, and it is absolutely impossible to be nominated by the Eight Banners. If the nomination system is implemented, not only will I and the Han officials of the court disagree, but many people in the Eight Banners will also disagree."

"Prince Rui is actually well aware of this. The reason he insists on the recommendation system is simply because he doesn't want Prince Su to succeed to the throne. So, Your Majesty, I dare to ask, if Your Majesty comes forward and eliminates the possibility of Prince Su succeeding to the throne and chooses another prince to inherit the throne, do you think Prince Rui will still object?"

"This...?" Empress Zhezhe was stunned. She had never thought about this. She had always believed that it was most reasonable for Haoge to succeed to the throne. After all, Haoge was older and more prestigious, and there were many people supporting him. If there had not been opposition from people like Dorgon, he would have become emperor long ago. But now Fan Wencheng actually said to set aside Haoge and choose another successor, which surprised Empress Zhezhe.

But after thinking carefully, Fan Wencheng's method was a good one. Fan Wencheng had analyzed it clearly just now, and Empress Zhezhe also thoroughly understood the root of the dispute between the two sides. The key for Dorgon was that Haoge must not be allowed to succeed to the throne, which was the real reason why Dorgon opposed it.

If someone else succeeded to the throne, wouldn't that mean Dorgon would no longer have the same concerns as before? Wouldn't Dorgon no longer oppose just for the sake of opposing?
"Isn't this inappropriate? Prince Su..." Thinking of Haoge, Empress Zhezhe hesitated again. After all, Haoge was the first heir. What would Haoge think if someone else was replaced? Would he agree?
"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry about Prince Su." Fan Wencheng said confidently, "Under the current circumstances, it is impossible for Prince Su to inherit the throne. Although Prince Su has many supporters, there are also many opponents. Unless Prince Su has the courage to directly mobilize the army and use force to suppress all parties and forcibly ascend the throne, he will never be able to become emperor again."

"It's not that I underestimated Prince Su. Prince Su's prestige in the army is indeed high, and his fighting skills are not bad either. However, Prince Su's methods and strategies are far inferior to those of the late emperor, and he is too indecisive. If the late emperor was faced with this situation, he would not have returned to Shengjing when he returned to the army. The late emperor would have returned quietly first, and then secretly arranged, and suddenly launched an attack when everyone was not prepared and thought he was still on the way, directly controlling these people and ascending to the throne."

Hearing this, Empress Zhezhe nodded silently. She knew her husband too well. Fan Wencheng was right. If it was Huang Taiji, he would indeed do the same. He did the same after Nurhaci's death. He planned everything without telling anyone, and then he suppressed all parties with thunder and lightning and ascended the throne of Khan. If Hauge had Huang Taiji's political mind and means, the throne would not have been deadlocked until today. I'm afraid it would have fallen into Hauge's hands long ago.

"Unfortunately, Prince Su did not think of this, so from the moment he led his troops back to Shengjing, he had no chance of becoming emperor. Prince Rui and others would never let Prince Su become emperor smoothly. Even if the two sides used their troops to fight, Prince Rui would stop Prince Su."

"I'm sure Prince Su has understood this now. Both sides are in a situation where it's hard to back down. If the stalemate continues, civil strife may break out. It's like a flood that needs to be cleared. Both sides need a way out. No one else can do this, only Your Majesty."

"As long as Your Majesty, as the Empress, summons all the Eight Banners leaders, nobles, and Han officials to discuss the succession to the throne, and then first confirms that the succession to the throne must be inherited by the son of the previous emperor, and rejects the Eight Banners nomination system, Prince Su and others will certainly agree, and Han officials like me will also agree."

"Although Prince Rui is tyrannical, he has no choice but to give in if the majority agrees and abandon the Eight Banners election system. This way, half of the matter is done."

At this point, Fan Wencheng smiled and said confidently, "After confirming that the late emperor's son will succeed to the throne, all Prince Rui can do next is to oppose Prince Su's succession and choose other princes of the late emperor to inherit the throne. At this time, I will stand on Prince Rui's side and persuade Prince Su to withdraw from the throne for the sake of the overall situation. And most of those who support Prince Su are not really Prince Su's followers, but just insist on the legitimacy of the throne succession. As long as the person sitting on the throne is the late emperor's son, what difference does it make to them whether it is Prince Su or someone else?"

"Under such circumstances, Prince Su is on the weak side. The only thing he can do is to give up the throne and let other princes take over. Then the queen will make the final decision and settle the matter in the name of the queen, and the matter will be settled once and for all."

When Empress Zhezhe heard this, her eyes suddenly lit up and she straightened her back involuntarily. The more she thought about Fan Wencheng's words, the happier she felt. These days, she was troubled by the fight between Haoge and Dorgon for the throne. She didn't expect that Fan Wencheng could analyze such a complicated situation so clearly and come up with an extremely feasible plan.

After thinking about it carefully, Empress Zhezhe believed that Fan Wencheng's idea was the best one. As long as the ownership of the throne was determined, the dispute caused by this matter would disappear. In this way, the Qing Dynasty would avoid possible civil strife, and Shengjing would be able to stabilize. This was a good thing!

However, there is still a problem, that is, if Haoge does not become the emperor, who will be the emperor? Empress Zhezhe immediately asked Fan Wencheng, who had already had an idea in his mind, and immediately proposed a candidate. When Empress Zhezhe heard the name of this candidate, she was very surprised, because the candidate proposed by Fan Wencheng was neither Yebusu nor Shuose, let alone Gaosai and Changshu, but Fulin, who was just a child, which made Empress Zhezhe stunned immediately. How could it be Fulin? Fulin is less than six years old this year. Although he is not the youngest among Huang Taiji's sons, he is far from an adult.

On the contrary, Yebushu and Shuose are both adults, and even Gaosai and Changshu are older than Fulin! Why did Fan Wencheng choose Fulin?
In response to Empress Zhezhe's inquiry, Fan Wencheng gave the following explanation. He told Empress Zhezhe that Yebusu had a bad family background and his mother had been deposed by Huang Taiji. The son born to a deposed wife was not eligible to inherit the throne. Although the other three were not like Yebusu, the mothers of Shuosai, Gaosai and Changshu were all concubines. They did not have a high status in Huang Taiji's harem and were naturally not qualified.

Moreover, Gao Sai was a scholar who liked literature. Such a person could not be the emperor. Chang Shu was mediocre in ability and was not a good candidate. So Fulin, who was less than six years old, was the most suitable. Although Fulin's mother was a concubine, she was later named Concubine Zhuang by Huang Taiji. In terms of status, she was slightly higher than Huang Taiji's other sons. More importantly, there was another reason, which was that Fulin's mother, Concubine Zhuang, was the niece of Empress Zhezhe.

That's right! Empress Zhezhe married Huang Taiji together with her own niece. This situation would never happen in the Ming Dynasty, but it was not uncommon in the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, Empress Zhezhe was not only the aunt and niece of Concubine Zhuang, but also the aunt and niece of Concubine Yuan, the most favored by Huang Taiji, Hai Lanzhu.

An aunt and two nieces all married Huang Taiji. The aunt became the queen, and one of the two nieces was Huang Taiji's favorite concubine, and the other gave birth to Huang Taiji's son Fulin. Such a situation seemed incredible to the Ming Dynasty, but it was the fact.

From this point of view, Fulin can not only be regarded as the son of Empress Zhezhe, but also the great-nephew of Empress Zhezhe. This baby has the blood of Huang Taiji and Borjigit, and of course he is closest to Empress Zhezhe.

Since the throne had to be re-selected and the queen had no son, Fulin, born to Concubine Zhuang, was the most suitable candidate. As long as Fulin became the emperor, Empress Zhezhe's position would be as stable as Mount Tai, and there was no need to worry that the little emperor would not be close to her when he grew up, because they were all a real family.

Fan Wencheng had actually considered this a long time ago, which is why he took the initiative to say Fulin's name. Empress Zhezhe quickly realized why Fan Wencheng chose Fulin. After thinking about it carefully, she felt that Fulin was indeed the best candidate, and a smile appeared on her face.

Fan Wencheng stayed in the palace for two full hours before leaving. Shortly after he left the palace, Empress Zhezhe issued an imperial decree in the name of the empress, requiring all the eight banner leaders, nobles and civil officials to enter the palace the next day to discuss the unification of the succession to the throne.

Because of the fight between Hauge and Dorgon, many people in the Eight Banners have become anxious. The throne of the Qing Dynasty has been vacant, which is not a good thing for the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, the Qing Dynasty is only in Liaodong, and there is a powerful rival Ming Dynasty in the south. If the throne is not decided soon, the Qing Dynasty will be in trouble when Ming Dynasty reacts.

After days of quarreling, many people were extremely dissatisfied with the fight between Haoge and Dorgon, and they all hoped that the throne would be determined as soon as possible. So when Empress Zhezhe's decree was issued, everyone immediately said that the queen should have done so long ago, and supported the discussion of the throne the next day.

The next day, everyone came to the palace. Empress Zhezhe, who was dressed solemnly, first expressed her attitude, telling everyone that the throne of the Qing Dynasty must be determined immediately and could not be delayed any further. This attitude was agreed by many people. Then Empress Zhezhe followed the instructions of Fan Wencheng yesterday and first determined the legal principle that the throne should be inherited by the son of Huang Taiji, and opposed the possibility of the Eight Banners election system. After this issue was supported by the vast majority of people, Empress Zhezhe then moved on to the question of which son of Huang Taiji should inherit the throne.

As predicted, since Dorgon had no chance to continue blocking the throne with the Eight Banners election system, Dorgon had only one choice, which was to agree to the succession by Huang Taiji's son but not to the succession by Hauge.

As a result, a heated debate broke out again on the scene, but at this time Hauge no longer had the ability to compete with Dorgon, because most of the people who supported him supported him only because of the choice of succession to the throne rather than the reason that Hauge had to succeed to the throne. So when this issue was resolved, many people no longer cared much about whether the throne would be inherited by Hauge or by Huang Taiji's other sons.

At this time, Dorgon also understood the situation and took the lead in strongly opposing Hauge's succession to the throne. Hauge was caught off guard. He was complacent before, but suddenly he was dumbfounded. Before he could react, some people began to nominate other sons of Huang Taiji to inherit the throne. After a while, Fulin was picked out as the candidate. Since Fulin had no problem with his background and was young, and because of his relationship with Empress Zhezhe, he suddenly became the most popular heir.

At this time, Dorgon also felt that it was beneficial for him to have a child as emperor, and he began to agree that Fulin would succeed to the throne. In this way, the situation was hopeless, and Hauge finally lost the possibility of competing for the throne. He had no choice but to agree that Fulin would succeed to the throne. Finally, Empress Zhezhe made the final decision, and everyone expressed their opinions and made the matter official. In this way, the still not very sensible Fulin became the emperor of the Qing Dynasty without even expecting it.

(End of this chapter)