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

Chapter 986: Going with the flow
"What the Queen Mother said is very true, and I think so too."

Just when Zhezhe thought that Dorgon would express his opposition, demanding severe punishment for Haoge, and was prepared for how to deal with him if he opposed him, no one expected that Dorgon would express his approval. As Dorgon said this, everyone was surprised, especially Duoduo who deliberately put on Dorgon's eye drops. He had an incredible expression. He knew his brother too well, and knew that the contradiction between Dorgon and Haoge was irreconcilable. Now Dorgon actually spoke for Haoge. Could it be that the sun rose from the west?
"No! Brother Fourteen is not a soft-hearted person. He is ruthless and cruel. Is he planning to..." Duoduo quickly reacted. How could Dorgon let Hauge go easily? It would be strange if he didn't punish Hauge to death after catching him. But now he expressed such an attitude. There must be something fishy.

Zhezhe looked at Dorgon suspiciously and felt that his attitude was a bit strange. However, since Dorgon expressed his opinion in this way, it was just what she wanted. On the contrary, she wanted to keep Haoge to contain Dorgon. As long as Haoge was safe, what did it matter if Dorgon had other ideas?

"Since Prince Rui feels the same way, how about we follow Prince Rui's opinion on this matter?" Zhezhe asked again tentatively.

Dorgon nodded and said immediately: "Let's put the matter of Prince Su aside for now. There is no need to discuss his responsibility at the moment. The key lies in the chaos in Korea. Since Prince Su is now in Seoul, let him make meritorious contributions as the Queen Mother said. Stabilizing the political situation in Korea is more important."

"Although most of the Joseon king, crown prince, and princes are gone, Prince Su still has a king, Li Cheng, in his hands. This is a blessing in disguise. I suggest that the Queen Mother and the Emperor issue an order to enthrone Li Cheng, the Joseon king, as the new Joseon king and re-establish the Joseon royal family. In addition, the nobles and ministers of the two classes of Joseon controlled by Prince Su can also be used. As long as the new Joseon king succeeds to the throne, Prince Su can hold the new Joseon king in his hands, and the Joseon rebellion can be quelled."

"Prince Rui's words make sense. What do you think?" Zhezhe nodded in praise. Although she had a bad impression of Dorgon, she also admitted that Dorgon was capable. Just now everyone was arguing about how to deal with Hauge, but Dorgon was considering the stability of the North Korean political situation, and his perspective on the problem was higher.

Now, Zhezhe finally understood Dorgon's plan. It was not that Dorgon did not want to deal with Hauge, but he planned to stabilize Korea first for the sake of the overall situation, and then deal with Hauge after the Korean affairs were over and the Qing Dynasty continued to control the political situation in Korea.

Dorgon had a clear idea of ​​what was important and what was not, and his suggestions were practical. Haoge now controlled Chongshan Prince Li Cheng, the only remaining prince of the Joseon royal family. From a legal point of view, it was reasonable for Chongshan Prince Li Cheng to ascend the throne as the king of Joseon when the king, the crown prince and other brothers were all dead.

Together with the captured and imprisoned group of Korean noble ministers, the Qing Dynasty could completely support a Korean puppet regime that was completely under its control. In this way, as long as the Korean royal family continued to exist, the Korean Lee Dynasty could continue, and the Qing Dynasty could do many things with this righteous cause. Not only could it order the Korean army, nobles, and aristocratic families to end the rebellion in the capacity of the Korean royal family, but it could also use the Korean army to suppress the local areas. In addition, Hauge's army controlled Seoul, so the probability of success was extremely high.

Once this method succeeds, Korea will be more controllable by the Qing Dynasty than before, and the possibility of the Qing Dynasty directly annexing Korea in the future is also very high. With such a territory, coupled with Korea's population and productivity, the Qing Dynasty can solve many problems, which is also extremely beneficial to the future development of the Qing Dynasty.

"I agree with Prince Rui's opinion!" Fan Wencheng, who had been silent, stood up and said to Zhezhe, "Prince Rui's opinion is far-sighted and is the best way to solve the current North Korean problem. In addition, I have three suggestions, and I sincerely ask the Queen Mother and Prince Rui to agree."

Zhezhe glanced at Dorgon and saw that Dorgon had no objection, so he nodded and said, "Mr. Fan, please feel free to tell me if you have any suggestions."

Fan Wencheng bowed again and said, "Since Prince Su is allowed to govern Korea, I think it is not justified. Prince Su is a prince of the Qing Dynasty. He went to Korea in the name of a prince and a general. The current situation is different, so he should be given a fair name."

“How to correct the name?”

"I think we can appoint Prince Su as the imperial envoy of the Qing Dynasty in the name of the court and give him the post of governor-general of Korea to confirm Prince Su's status in Korea. Only in this way can we legitimately enthrone the King of Korea for the Qing Dynasty and assist the King in governing Korea."

"What does Prince Rui think?"

Dorgon smiled and nodded: "Of course this is as it should be. Without the right name and the right words, Prince Su will not be able to do anything in Korea. As long as the Queen Mother has no objection, this matter can be done."

Zhezhe smiled and said, "Then give him this title, and appoint Prince Su as the Governor-General of Korea, in charge of Korea's military and political affairs, and station him in Korea as our Qing imperial envoy, and then give Korea an imperial decree to enthrone the new ruler of Korea."

After finishing speaking, Zhezhe asked Fan Wencheng what the other two requirements were.

Fan Wencheng continued, "Secondly, Korea is in chaos. Although it will take time to re-enthrone the king and restore order in the Korean capital, Prince Su currently controls Seoul, but he does not have enough troops. I think we should send troops to assist Prince Su, and use both methods to suppress the local areas and put down the rebellion."

"That's no problem." Dorgon nodded without waiting for Zhezhe to ask, "Prince Wuying's army is at the border. His troops should have been stationed in Korea, and they were previously responsible for suppressing the Korean rebels. Since it has been decided to re-establish the Korean royal family, then let Prince Wuying's army return to Korea to assist Prince Su."

"By the way, what is Lord Fan's last request?" Fan Wencheng said, "My last request is to send officials to Korea. Since we want to re-establish the Korean royal family and restore the Korean regime, it is not enough to rely on Prince Su alone. If we want to control Korea, we must have talents from our Qing Dynasty in the court. Moreover, Prince Su is good at military affairs, but a little weak in political affairs. In addition, the current situation in Korea is complicated and needs more assistance. Therefore, I suggest that in addition to Prince Su ruling Korea for our Ming Dynasty, we should also send some capable officials."

Dorgon's heart moved slightly, and his eyes swept towards Fan Wencheng. Fan Wencheng's words sounded reasonable, but in fact they were paving the way for Haoge, or sharing Haoge's responsibility in Korea. Since the responsibility was shared, the guilt of Haoge in the future would be reduced a lot. Moreover, sending officials to Korea to assist was a good thing for both Korea and the Qing Dynasty on the surface, but don't forget that many civil servants in the Qing Dynasty were Han officials. No one could predict what would happen to these Han officials in Korea. Once they secretly colluded with Haoge and used Korea as a base to do something secretly, Dorgon in Shengjing could not control it at all.

By that time, Hauge was not only the governor-general of Korea, but also the de facto emperor of Korea. Although Korea was only a small country, its actual territory was not much smaller than that of the Qing Dynasty today, and its population was nearly 10 million. In addition, Hauge controlled the young king of Korea. If Hauge had the intention to split Korea, it would be a bit troublesome.

"What does Fan Wencheng mean? Could it be that he is secretly colluding with Hauge?" Dorgon thought to himself. Many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but he could not be sure.

"What Lord Fan said makes sense, but Korea is different from the Qing Dynasty. If we want to send ministers to Korea to assist in Korean affairs, let's not talk about whether the Koreans can accept it. Even if Korea accepts it, the Qing Dynasty does not have so many officials to send. How about Lord Fan go to Korea in person? To assist Prince Su?" Dorgon asked tentatively with a smile.

Fan Wencheng shook his head and said, "I am weak, and I am afraid that I cannot go to Korea. Besides, the new emperor of our Qing Dynasty is in power. There are hidden dangers inside and powerful enemies outside. I have many things to do in Qing Dynasty, so I cannot go there."

"In addition, I made this suggestion only because of the Korean issue, and I have no other ideas. As for who to send and how many people to send, this should be discussed by the Queen Mother and Prince Rui. How can I go beyond that?"

"Haha, Lord Fan is really cautious." Dorgon smiled without commenting, and did not say whether he agreed or disagreed. He turned to Zhezhe and said, "Queen Dowager, since this matter has been decided, let's do it according to the discussion. What do you think?"

“Yes!” Zhezhe nodded, and then issued an edict on behalf of the emperor as the empress dowager. Dorgon, as the regent prince, then issued an edict together with Jirgalang to enthrone the new king of Korea and appoint Prince Su Haoge as the governor-general of Korea and imperial envoy.

In addition, he ordered Ajige's troops to return to Korea to assist Hauge in suppressing the Korean rebellion. As for Fan Wencheng's suggestion to send ministers to Korea, both of them ignored it as if the suggestion had never been made.

Fan Wencheng did not remind anyone and returned to his original position early, continuing to maintain his previous posture until the meeting was over.

After the court meeting, Fan Wencheng returned to his residence, took off his official hat and sat in a chair, concentrating on thinking about something. After a long time, he sighed and shook his head slightly.

As a bystander, he saw the situation of today's court meeting clearly, and he could see clearly the thoughts of everyone, including the plans of Huang Taiji, Zhezhe and Dorgon.

Unfortunately, although he understood it, he was powerless to do anything about it, especially since only the first two of the three requests he made were accepted, and the last request was never followed up, which made Fan Wencheng feel very regretful.

In fact, Fan Wencheng had no other ideas. Everything he did was for the Qing Dynasty. The reason why he proposed to send ministers to Korea was to better control Korea in the future and to prepare for the possible annexation of Korea in the future. If Korea was not special and the Lee Dynasty was deeply rooted in Korea, Huang Taiji would have directly annexed Korea when he conquered Korea. However, doing so would inevitably cause unrest in Korea, and it would not be so easy to digest Korea as a branch of the Qing Dynasty.

The current chaos in Korea proves this point. How could Korea be so easily annexed by the Qing Dynasty? Huang Taiji had no choice but to adopt the attitude towards Korea later, just to make Korea bow down and exist as a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty.

But now the situation has changed. With the subsequent arrangements, the ruler of Korea is a young ruler. It can be said that the future of Korean politics is under the control of the Qing Dynasty. However, the politics of Korea is different from that of the Qing Dynasty. The two-class nobles and local aristocratic families of Korea are very powerful, so it is difficult to solve them directly.

Fan Wencheng originally planned to start with the Korean court by replacing some of the powerful people in Korea with Qing officials, and then gradually erode them. When the opportunity was ripe, he would eliminate the Korean nobles and local aristocratic families. In this way, he would have the opportunity to directly annex Korea.

Unfortunately, although his idea was good, Dorgon did not agree to it because of various concerns. Although Empress Dowager Zhezhe was not bad in terms of means, she did not have the political foresight, and as a woman, she did not have the courage, so she also did not agree to it, which made Fan Wencheng feel regretful.

Thinking of this, Fan Wencheng couldn't help but think of the late emperor Huang Taiji, and felt sad. If Huang Taiji were still alive, with his wisdom and vision, he would never miss this opportunity. But now it is different. The emperor is still young, the empress dowager and two regent princes are regents, one of the princes has become a decoration, one prince is ambitious, and the empress dowager only wants to maintain a balance. If this continues, the future of the Qing Dynasty is really worrying!
(End of this chapter)