多爾袞 Duō'ěrgǔn

In the fifth year he opened military agricultural colonies at Yi Department, took the nine forts west of the city of Jin Department and reaped their grain. He also took two forts west of the Xiaoling River. He repeatedly defeated Ming troops between Xingshan and Songshan. Edit

In the siege of Jin Department, the princes and beile moved their camp thirty li away from the city, and also ordered one officer from each banner to lead five armoured men from each niru back first. The emperor sent Ji'erhalang to take over command and conveyed a decree questioning and rebuking him; he replied: "Your servant considered that the enemy troops were in the three cities of Jin Department, Songshan and Xingshan, and all were pasturing their horses elsewhere. If they came to attack, we could take turns to resist them. For that reason I sent men back to pasture and to repair armour and weapons. The grass was exhausted at the old camp, and I proposed moving the camp to pasture; the fault truly lies with me." The emperor again sent a decree: "I love you more than all my sons and younger kinsmen, and have given you alone the richest gifts. Now you have disobeyed orders to this extent; judge yourself." The prince himself said that his crime deserved death, and the emperor ordered him reduced to prince of the Second Rank, fined ten thousand taels of silver, and deprived of two niru. Edit

In the sixth year he again besieged Jin Department. Hong Chengchou led a hundred and thirty thousand men to be stationed at Songshan, and the prince repeatedly attacked him; the enemy galloped for six days and camped at Qijiabao, intending to station at Gaoqiao. The prince asked the emperor to camp between Songshan and Xingshan, and divided his troops to camp on the southern hill of the Wuxin River, making a camp stretching to the sea. The Ming troops repeatedly [...] advanced again; the emperor raised the yellow canopy and directed the battle, and the Ming troops pulled back. The prince, with Luotuo and others, hastened along the road to Tashan and attacked them across their middle, and many Ming troops died; he then fired cannon and took the four forts outside Tashan, seizing Wang Xixian and others. Soon Beile Dudu and others took over the command, and the prince briefly went back, and then came out again. Edit

In the seventh year he took Songshan and captured Chengchou, took Jin Department, and Dashou surrendered again. He then went on to take Tashan and Xingshan. Then the three cities were razed, and the army returned; when merit was assessed, he was restored as prince of the First Rank. Edit

In the eighth year Taizong died, and the prince, with the princes, beile and high officials, escorted Shizu to the throne. The princes, beile and high officials proposed that Ji'erhalang, Prince Zheng of the First Rank, assist in government together with the prince, and swore: "Any who do not act impartially in assisting in government, and arrogate greatness to themselves, may Heaven and Earth punish them!" Adali, a prince of the Second Rank, and Shuotuo, a beizi, urged the prince to establish himself; the prince exposed their plot, and put Adali and Shuotuo to death. Soon afterwards, with Ji'erhalang, he proposed that the princes and beile be dismissed from administering the affairs of the Six Ministries. Edit

In the first month of the first year of Shunzhi he refused gifts from Korea, and told Ji'erhalang and the high officials: "The king of Korea, because when I took Ganghwa Island I spared his wife and children, constantly sends me private gifts. In the late emperor's time he surely heard of it and accepted them; now that I am assisting in government, in justice there should be no private dealings, and I ought not to accept them." He therefore forbade gifts from foreign countries to the princes and beile together. Ji'erhalang gave orders to the high officials that in all matters they were to report to the prince first, and in signing names his name was put first. From then the prince began to monopolise government. The gushan ejen Heluohui and others denounced Haoge, Prince Su of the First Rank, as resentful; in council he was stripped of his rank, and the high officials Yangshan and others were sentenced to death for flattering and attaching themselves to him. Edit

In the fourth month, on yichou, the emperor took his seat in the Hall of Sincere Reverence and gave the prince the seal of Grand General Who Receives the Mandate, with the imperial banner and canopy, and by edict authorised him to act as expediency required; he led Ajige, Prince Wuying of the Second Rank, Duoduo, Prince Yu of the Second Rank, Kong Youde and others to attack the Ming. On bingyin he set out from Shengjing. On renshen he camped at Wenghou. Wu Sangui, Earl Who Pacifies the West of the Ming, sent a letter from Shanhai Pass asking for troops; the prince, on receiving the letter, turned his army towards him. On guiyou he camped at Xilatala. He replied to Sangui's letter: "Our state wished to make friendly relations with the Ming and repeatedly sent letters, none of which was answered. For that reason we three times put our army in order and entered the frontier, to show our meaning to the Ming and to make them consider carefully the opening of friendly relations. Now we shall not act again in this way, but shall only settle the Central Plain and let the people rest. I heard that the roving bandits took the capital and that the Chongzhen emperor died a terrible death, and my hair stood on end in anger; therefore I lead a righteous and humane army, sinking the boats and smashing the cooking pots, and swear that I will destroy the bandits and rescue the people from fire and water! The earl thinks of repaying the sovereign's favour, and cannot share the same heaven with the roving bandits; this is truly the righteousness of a loyal subject. Do not, because you formerly guarded Liaodong as my enemy, still hesitate to come over; I will surely enfeoff you with your former land and advance you to a feudatory, [...] doubts. Of old Guan Zhong shot Duke Huan of Qi and hit his belt hook, yet Duke Huan used him as 'second father' and so achieved hegemony. If the earl leads [...] the king. The enemy of the state can be avenged, your person and household can be preserved, and your descendants for generations will enjoy wealth and honour for long." Edit

On dingchou he camped at Lianshan. Sangui again sent an envoy asking him to advance quickly, and in the night he passed Ningyuan and reached Shahe. On wuyin, ten li from the pass, Sangui reported that Zicheng's troops had already come out of the frontier. The prince ordered the princes to go out to meet and attack them, and they defeated Zicheng's general Tang Tong at Yipianshi. On jimao he reached Shanhai Pass, and Sangui came out to welcome him, and the prince comforted and rewarded him. He ordered his troops to tie white cloth to their shoulders as a sign and go ahead into the pass. At that time Zicheng, with more than two hundred thousand men, drew up a line from the northern hills stretching across to the sea. Our line did not reach the coast, and the prince ordered: "The roving bandits have rampaged long, fierce and [...]. We can mass our army in a close formation like fish scales, watch for the tail of the enemy line, and strike it when it grows weak; we will surely win. Strive to break this, and the great enterprise is accomplished. Do not disobey command!" When the formation was complete, he ordered Sangui to take the place behind the right wing. In the hand-to-hand fighting a great wind raised the sand, and one could not tell things a foot away. Our army charged out with all its strength and struck at the enemy's central core, with horses swift and arrows fierce. Zicheng climbed to a height and saw it, lost heart, and whipped his horse in flight. Every man in our army was worth a hundred, and they pursued the fleeing for forty li, and Zicheng's army broke and fled. The prince at once, at the head of the army, by authority of an edict, advanced Sangui's rank to Prince Who Pacifies the West. He ordered all soldiers and civilians within the pass to shave their heads. He assigned ten thousand cavalry and ten thousand infantry to Sangui to pursue Zicheng. He then swore to the generals: "This march is to remove the cruel and rescue the people, to destroy the bandits and bring peace to the empire. Do not kill the innocent, plunder goods or burn houses. Those who do not comply with the pledge will be punished." West of the pass, the people who had fled into the mountains and valleys all returned to their villages, shaved their heads and came to submit. On xinsi he camped at Xinhe Station and sent word of victory, and the army then advanced. On the way Ming generals and officials came out to surrender, and he ordered them to hold their posts as before. Edit

In the fifth month, the first day, wuzi, the army camped at Tong Department. Zicheng, a day earlier, had burned the palaces and gone west with his baggage train. The prince ordered the princes and Sangui each to lead his troops in pursuit. On jichou the prince put the army in order and entered the capital; the Ming generals, officials, soldiers and people met him outside Chaoyang Gate, set out the ceremonial escort and asked him to ride in the carriage; the prince said: "I model myself on the Duke of Zhou assisting the child king, and ought not to ride." Because the Duke of Zhou had once carried the screen, they insisted and requested it, and he then ordered that the ceremonial escort be arranged before the prince's own retinue, music was played, he bowed to Heaven, bowed again toward the palace, rode in the carriage, and ascended the Hall of Martial Valour. The Ming generals and officials entered to pay respects and cried "Ten thousand years!" He ordered the officers and men all to mount the walls and not to enter the people's houses, and the people were at peace as before. He held mourning for the Chongzhen emperor for three days and buried him with the rites of an emperor. Of the officials who surrendered, he still had them administer affairs with their Ming offices. Ajige, Prince Wuying of the Second Rank, pursued Zicheng as far as Qingdu, defeated him utterly and took his baggage train. Zicheng fled west, and the gushan ejen Tantai, Zhunta and others were again ordered to lead bayara troops in pursuit as far as Zhending, and Zicheng was defeated and fled. Batai carried an imperial order to comfort and reward them. The prefectures and counties of the capital region asked to surrender one after another, and the gushan ejen Bahana and Shi Tingzhu were sent separately to raid Shandong, Yechen to settle the provinces of Shanxi, and Jin Li and others to pacify Tianjin. Edit

The prince at first ordered the officials and people all to shave their heads, but later, hearing that it went against the people's wishes, decreed that it be relaxed. He ordered officials to be cautioned, talented men to be sought, and the poor of the cities to be relieved. Adopting a proposal of Adam Schall, he revised and corrected the calendar and named it the Shixian calendar. He further decreed: "In the way of nourishing the people, nothing is greater than reducing punishments and lightening taxes. Since the troubles of the late Ming, crafty ways have grown daily, men have set traps and brought suits, ruining customs and wasting wealth, and I privately grieve over it! From now on all begin anew together: for all crimes committed before dawn of the second day of the fifth month, whatever their size, all are pardoned. Those who bring accusations in defiance of this decree shall be punished with the penalty for the offence they charged. Serious cases shall be concluded by the governors and inspecting censors, and unless they concern secret and important matters, no one may enter the capital to appeal over their heads. Pettifoggers who falsely accuse good people shall suffer the counter-penalty, increased by a degree. Of the abuses of the former dynasty none was worse than the additional levies; apart from the Liao levy there were also the levy for suppressing bandits and the levy for training soldiers, several times the regular tribute, lasting twenty years in some places and more than ten in others, so that the empire cried out in distress and no one could be sure of the evening in the morning. There were also further names such as requisitioned purchase and grain and fodder, by which people were cleverly fleeced and ruined. Now I make a pledge with the people: apart from the regular taxes, all additional levies are to be abolished entirely. Officials who do not obey shall be investigated and punished." In the sixth month he sent Tunqika and Hetuo, Dukes Who Assist the State, and the gushan ejen Heluohui and others to welcome the emperor, and the capital was fixed at Yanjing. Edit

Yousong, Prince Fu of the Ming, proclaimed himself emperor at Jiangning and sent his Grand Secretary Shi Kefa to command the army at Yangzhou, established four garrison commands north of the Yangzi, and placed garrisons along the Huai and at Xu. The prince wrote to Kefa: "Formerly, when I was in Shenyang, I already knew the esteem in which people held Yanjing, and all looked up to the Minister of War. Later, when I entered the pass and defeated the bandits, I was able to meet the scholars of the capital, and in the pure ranks of the court I came to know your younger brother, and once entrusted to his hand a letter of peace and greeting to express my feelings, though I do not know when it will reach you. Lately I hear that along the roads there is much talk, and many say that someone at Jinling has set himself up. The enemy of one's sovereign and father is one with whom one cannot share the same heaven. By the principle of the Spring and Autumn Annals, if a bandit is not punished, the former ruler may not be recorded as buried, and the new ruler may not be recorded as enthroned; this is how rebellious ministers and villainous sons are guarded against, and the law there is most severe. The bandit Chuang, Li Zicheng, raised troops and attacked the palace, and with his own hands poisoned the sovereign and his kin; of the officials and people of the Middle Kingdom, I have not heard that one shot a single arrow. Wu Sangui, Prince Who Pacifies the West, on the far eastern frontier, alone imitated Bao Xu's weeping for troops, and the court, moved by his loyalty and righteousness, remembering the old friendship of successive generations and putting aside the small grudges of recent days, put its brave troops in order and drove out the dogs and rats. On the day we entered the capital, we first honoured the posthumous names of the emperor and empress, divined the site and buried them in their tomb, all in accordance with the rites. Princes of the First and Second Rank, generals and those below were all left with their former enfeoffments, without alteration or reduction. The meritorious, the imperial relatives and the civil and military officials all stand in the court ranks, receiving added favour and courtesy. Ploughing and markets were not disturbed, and not a hair's breadth was molested. We were just planning, when autumn came high and the air turned crisp, to send generals west on campaign; to send a proclamation to Jiangnan and unite troops with those of Hebei, to array the army and rally the ranks, striving with one heart to avenge your sovereign and state and to make plain the virtue of our court. Who would have thought that the gentlemen of the southern provinces, content to rest in ease from morning to evening, would not examine the opportunity, would for the moment admire an empty name, and would suddenly forget the real harm? I am greatly perplexed! The state pacified the capital of Yan, and took it from the bandit Chuang, not from the Ming. The bandits destroyed the ancestral tablets of the Ming dynasty and insulted its forefathers, and our state, not shrinking from the labour of levying and repairing, exhausted its poor revenues to wipe out the shame on your behalf; how should filial sons and benevolent men feel gratitude and seek to repay it? Now, taking advantage of the fact that the rebel brigands have not yet been executed and the royal army is resting for a time, you wish to hold Jiangnan as a stronghold and sit enjoying the fisherman's gain. Judged by reason and feeling, can this be called fair? Do you think the natural barrier of the river cannot be flown across, and that a whip thrown in cannot stop its flow? The bandit Chuang only brought calamity on the Ming and never offended our state; it was only because all within the seas share the same enmity that we specially upheld great righteousness. If now you set up an imperial title and take the dignity of ruler, then there will be two suns in heaven, and you will stand as a formidable enemy. I shall choose the keen troops from the western campaign, turn the war chariots and march east, and even intend to release the one deserving heavy execution and order him to be vanguard. When the whole strength of China is held by a puddle of rebels, and you wish with the single corner of Jiangzuo to resist a great state besides, the numbers of victory and defeat need no milfoil or tortoise-shell. I have heard that the gentleman loves others with virtue, while petty men do so with indulgence. If you gentlemen truly know the times and understand fate, think earnestly of your former ruler, and cherish the worthy prince, you should urge him to give up the title, return to his fief and enjoy blessings and emolument in peace for ever. The court will treat him with the courtesy due a guest of Yu, he will inherit the ritual vessels and goods, and be sworn that his fief will last as long as the mountains and rivers, with a rank above all princes and marquises, so that he does not fail the court's first intention of upholding righteousness, punishing bandits and reviving the extinct and continuing the severed line. As for the eminent men of the southern provinces, if they come lightly over to pay homage, then you shall be dukes and marquises, with rank and land divided, and there is the precedent of the Prince Who Pacifies the West. I trust that you, sir, will truly consider what is to your advantage! In recent times scholar-officials have been fond of setting up high-sounding principles while not caring about the urgency of the state, and each time there is a great matter, they build a house by the roadside and keep consulting; in former times the Song were still undecided in debate when the enemy had already crossed the river, and this may serve as a mirror from the Yin. You, sir, are the leader of men of renown and in charge of the great plan, and must be able to think deeply on the end as well as the beginning; how could you bear to drift with the vulgar? Which to take and which to reject, which to follow and which to oppose, should be decided early. The army's march is imminent, and it may go west or east. The safety or danger of the southern state lies in this one act. I trust that you gentlemen all hold to punishing the bandits, and will not covet a moment's glory for yourselves and so deepen the endless disaster of your former state, to be secretly laughed at by rebellious ministers and villainous sons; I truly place great hope in you! The Record says that only a good man can accept frank words. I respectfully lay open my heart and look forward to hearing your enlightening instruction. The Yangzi and the sky are in view, and I strain my neck in longing; a letter cannot say all that is meant." Kefa soon sent a man with a reply, and its words were for the most part unyielding. Edit

The people of the capital falsely rumoured that in the seventh or eighth month of autumn the court would move east, and the prince proclaimed that the capital would be established at Yanjing, and warned the people not to believe the rumours that unsettled them. They also falsely rumoured that in the eighth month the people would be slaughtered; before long they again falsely rumoured that the emperor would arrive at the capital and would let the eastern troops plunder at will, killing all the old and strong and leaving only infants. The prince again proclaimed: "The people are the root of the state. Since you have come over with sincere hearts, for what crime would you be slaughtered? Think: now the emperor is bringing the families of officers and men, not less than hundreds of millions, who come with them, and why? To bring peace to the soldiers and people of Yanjing. Yesterday, of the officials who came from the east, more than ten were ordered to serve as governors-general, governors, and provincial and circuit officials, and why? To unify the empire. More than a million taels of treasury silver have already been brought from Shengjing, and later transported without end, and why? To supply the use of the soldiers and people inside and outside your capital. Moreover, I could not bear that the people of Shanxi and Shaanxi should suffer harm, and sent troops to pursue and destroy the bandits, and still regret that they have not been quickly settled; how could I not cherish the soldiers and people of the capital and instead slaughter them? This is something you have seen with your own eyes; why do you wantonly spread rumours? These must be local bandits near the capital and spies of the roving bandits, deliberately stirring up and unsettling people, and the ministries have already been ordered to arrest them strictly. This is proclaimed everywhere to set the minds of the multitude at rest." Edit

In the ninth month the emperor entered Shanhai Pass, and the prince led the princes and officials to welcome him at Tong Department. When the emperor reached the capital, he enfeoffed the prince as Uncle Prince Regent, and granted him a court robe of sable and python. In the tenth month, the first day, yimao, the emperor took the throne, and because the prince's merit was great, ordered Lang Qiu, Minister of Rites, the Vice Minister Lanbai and the qixin lang Wohe to erect a stele recording his achievements, and added gifts of a register and seal, one black fox cap decorated on top with thirteen eastern pearls, one black fox fur coat, together with gold, silver, horses and camels. In the second year, Prince Zheng and others deliberated the ceremonial for the Prince Regent, giving him more courtesy than the other princes. The prince said: "In front of the emperor I do not dare to depart from the rites; for the rest it may be as proposed." The next day he went to court, and the officials knelt to welcome him; he ordered his carriage turned back, and rebuked the Grand Secretary Ganglin and others, saying: "This is the emperor's court gate; why do the officials kneel to me?" The censor Zhao Kaixin memorialised: "The prince is in the close kinship of the emperor's uncle and has also the dignity of Prince Regent; how would officials and people be willing to exclude themselves from the bowing and dancing? But the prince's favours are all the emperor's favours, and when the officials pay their respects to the prince, the degrees of courtesy should be limited, different from audience with the emperor. In this way the officials will not fail to honour the prince, and the prince's wish to honour the emperor will be fulfilled. The emperor calls him Uncle Prince Regent; the prince being the emperor's uncle, only the emperor may call him so. As for officials and commoners, it is proper to add the word 'imperial' above 'uncle', to distinguish high and low and honour the institution." The matter was referred to the Ministry of Rites, which agreed and carried it out. In the sixth month of that year, Prince Yu of the First Rank took Yangzhou, Kefa died there, and the Ming southern capital was thus broken. In the intercalary sixth month, Prince Ying of the First Rank pursued Li Zicheng to Wuchang and went east down to Jiujiang, and the former Ming Marquis Who Calms the South surrendered, and Jiangnan was settled. In the tenth month, the emperor granted the prince a horse, and the prince came to court to give thanks, and an edict said: "At great ceremonies of court congratulation, I receive the prince's obeisance. In minor matters, do not do as the other princes do." The prince replied: "The emperor is still young, and your servant dares not depart from the rites. When the emperor takes the government in person, whatever favours there are, I will not dare to decline." The prince, who had for a long time been regent, was exalted in rank and great in merit, and often cautioned the officials to honour and serve the sovereign, saying: "When the emperor is in the prime of his years, I shall return the government to him." Edit

Earlier, Prince Su of the First Rank resented that the prince had not set him up, and was on bad terms with the two princes, Ying and Yu, who were brothers of the prince by the same mother. The prince regarded Prince Yu generously and often forgave him. When Prince Yu campaigned against Sunite, the prince saw him off outside Anding Gate. When he came back, the prince welcomed him at Wulannuo'er. He assembled the high officials and told them that Prince Yu's merit was great, and he should be enfeoffed as Uncle Prince in the regency, and therefore dismissed Prince Zheng from the regency and gave the post to Prince Yu. After Prince Su had pacified Sichuan, the prince picked out his slight faults and had him put to death. Edit

In the twelfth month of the fourth year, the prince, being unable to kneel and bow because of rheumatism, followed the deliberation of the princes and officials that he should perform the ceremony before the emperor only at the New Year's congratulations, and be excused from all others. Edit

In the eleventh month of the fifth year, when the rite at the southern suburb was completed, an amnesty edict said: "The Uncle Prince Regent has governed and pacified the empire and has great merit and toil. Special honours should be added to exalt his merit and virtue, and he is honoured as the Father Prince Regent. This is to be written in all edicts and memorials." Edit

In the second month of the sixth year he commanded the army in person to campaign against Jiang Xiang, the rebel general at Datong, and took Hunyuan. Hearing that Prince Yu was ill with smallpox, he returned first. He sent an order to Xiang to surrender, but did not obtain his submission. Because the army was outside, he cast a seal for the travelling court. He forbade the princes and the Chamberlains of the Imperial Guard to interfere in the government affairs of the ministries and boards and in the promotion and demotion of Chinese officials, and whatever was said, right or wrong, it was punished. In the seventh month he again campaigned against Datong, and Xiang's general Yang Zhenwei beheaded Xiang and surrendered. In the tenth month he moved his troops to attack the two Chuhu'er of Ka'erka, summoning troops from Aohan, Zhalute, Chahar, Wulate, Tumote and the Four Sons tribes to join him. Reaching Katunbulake, he did not see the enemy and so returned. In the twelfth month the princess consort, of the Boerjijite clan, died, and was posthumously raised by register and seal to Principal Consort of the Palace Jing Xiao Zhong Gong. Edit

In the first month of the seventh year the prince took the consort of Prince Su; the consort was the younger sister of the princess consort. He further asked Korea for a woman. He ordered that ministry business that did not need to be submitted in memorials be handed to Mandahai, Prince Xun of the First Rank, Boluo, Prince Duanchong of the First Rank, and Nikan, Prince Jingjin of the First Rank, to manage. In the fifth month he led the princes and beile in hunting at Shanhai Pass; the woman sent by Korea arrived, and the prince welcomed her at Lianshan and married her. He hunted again at Zhonghousuo and rebuked the princes and beile who accompanied the hunt for the disorder of their ranks, and fined them in differing amounts. In the seventh month he decreed that the capital in summer was unbearably humid and hot, and chose a site to build a city as a summer retreat. He ordered the Ministry of Revenue to levy an additional two million four hundred and ninety thousand and more taels of land-and-poll silver on the nine provinces of Zhili, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangnan, Henan, Huguang, Jiangxi and Shaanxi, to be delivered to the capital for use on the works. In the eighth month the prince honoured his own mother, a consort of Taizu, of the Wulanala clan, as Empress Xiaolie Gongmin Xianzhe Renhe Zantian Lisheng Wu, and had her enshrined in the Grand Ancestral Temple. Edit

Soon he fell ill and said to the beizi Xihan, the Chamberlain of the Imperial Guard Xi'nabuku and others: "I have suffered this great sorrow, and my body is also unwell. Though the emperor is the ruler of men, can he not alone observe the manner of a household and visit me once? You say the emperor is young, but you are all close officials." He then warned them: "Do not take my words and ask the emperor to visit." Xihan and the others went out and tried to stop it, but were too late, and the emperor visited the prince's residence. The prince therefore rebuked Xihan and the others, and it was proposed that they deserved death, but he soon ordered them pardoned. In the eleventh month he hunted again beyond the frontier. In the twelfth month he died at Kala City, at the age of thirty-nine. The emperor, hearing of it, was shocked and grieved. When the coffin returned, he led the princes and officials in white mourning dress to receive it and make offerings outside Dongzhi Gate. An edict posthumously honoured him as Emperor Yi, Maode Xiudao Guangye Dinggong Anmin Lizheng Chengjing, with the temple name Chengzong. In the first month of the following year his consort was honoured as Empress Yi. She was enshrined in the Grand Ancestral Temple. Edit

The prince had no son, so Duo'erbo, a son of the Prince Yu of the First Rank, was made his heir; he inherited the princedom of the First Rank, with a stipend three times that of the other princes, and an edict kept the attendants of his guard, Sukesaha and Zhandai, on as Deliberative Ministers. In the second month, Sukesaha and Zhandai denounced the prince, saying that when he died his maidservant Wu'erkuni was about to follow him in death, and that she had asked for the eight-medallion yellow robe he had made, the great eastern-pearl rosary and the black sable jacket to be placed inside the coffin; that while the prince lived he had wished to station two gushan [Banners] at Yongping in order to plot to usurp the great throne. The gushan ejen Tantai also said that the prince had taken the consort of Prince Su, and had made Prince Su's son come to his residence for an archery contest, where Heluohui had abused him with foul words. Thereupon Ji'erhalang, Prince Zheng of the First Rank, Mandahai, Prince Xun of the First Rank, Boluo, Prince Duanchong of the First Rank, Nikan, Prince Jingjin of the First Rank, and the Chamberlains of the Imperial Guard submitted a memorial saying: "Formerly, when Taizong, the Emperor Wen, ascended on high as a guest of Heaven, the princes and ministers together swore loyalty and supported and enthroned Your Majesty. As Your Majesty was then in tender years, your servant Ji'erhalang was ordered to assist in the government together with Duo'ergun, Prince Rui of the First Rank. Later Duo'ergun alone monopolised power and authority, did not allow Ji'erhalang to take part in the government, and made his full brother Duoduo the Assisting Uncle Prince. He broke his oath and acted wilfully, was arrogant and self-important, and styled himself Imperial Father, Prince Regent. In all the endorsing of memorials and drafting of rescripts, everything was carried out in the name of the Imperial Father, Prince Regent. In his ceremonial guard, music, attendants and residence he usurped the likeness of the Supreme One. He presumptuously declared that, in the order of succession, Taizong, the Emperor Wen, ought not to have been the one established, and so held Your Majesty in check. He framed and coerced Prince Su of the First Rank so that he did not meet a natural death, then took his consort and also seized his property. Still more contrary to reason, he had his natural mother brought into the Imperial Ancestral Temple. His usurpations and presumptions cannot all be listed. Your servants formerly feared his might and swallowed their voices; now, at the risk of death, we report it, and humbly beg that he be severely dealt with." An edict stripped him of his rank and removed him from the temple sacrifices; it also cancelled the posthumous title and temple sacrifices of the Empress Xiaolie Wu, expelled him from the imperial clan, confiscated his property to the state, and returned Duo'erbo to his own lineage. In the twelfth year, Peng Changgeng, Deputy Administrator of the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel, and Xu'er'an, Jingqi nihafan of the First Class, each submitted a memorial praising the prince's merits and asking that his title be restored. The matter was referred to the princes and ministers for deliberation; Changgeng and Xu'er'an were sentenced to death, and an edict banished them to Ningguta. Edit

In the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong, Gaozong issued an edict saying: "Duo'ergun, Prince Rui of the First Rank, served as regent for many years and monopolised the dispensing of favour and punishment. After his death his own followers were the first to denounce him. Yet he entered the Pass, cleansed the capital, and by proclamation settled the Central Plains; his earlier labours cannot be wholly erased. Now his descendants were convicted and his enfeoffment was removed. But when I think of the time when the dynasty was first established, the prince's line was in fact cut off, his tomb precinct is overgrown with brambles, and this is truly pitiable and saddening. Let the Imperial Household Department send officials to repair it, and let the princes and dukes of the nearer branches sweep the tomb and sacrifice there at the proper seasons." In the first month of the forty-third year, there was another edict saying: "Duo'ergun, Prince Rui of the First Rank, swept away the bandit miasma and cleansed the palace precincts. He dispatched the princes in separate directions to pursue and destroy the roving bandits and to pacify and settle the borderlands. He created the institutions and framework, all of which were his planning. Soon he escorted the carriage of Shizu into the capital and completed the work of unification; his merit was the most conspicuous. After his death he was framed by Sukesaha, who was the first to accuse him, falsely charging him with plotting rebellion. At that time Shizu was still in his tender years and had not yet taken personal charge of government, and it was the princes who judged him guilty and removed his title. I consider that, had the prince truly harboured disloyal intentions, with military power in his hands, what could he not have done? Yet he did not take advantage of the moment then, and only after his death was it alleged that the burial garments used the dragon robe in presumption, and this was taken as proof of covetous designs; is there any sense in that? The Veritable Records state: 'The prince assembled the princes and ministers and sent a man to convey his words: "Now I see that the princes and ministers know only how to flatter me and seldom know how to honour the sovereign; how could I tolerate this? Formerly, when Taizong passed away and no successor had yet been established, the Prince of Ying and the Prince of Yu knelt and asked me to take the supreme position. I said: 'If it is truly as you say, I shall cut my own throat.' I swore to die rather than comply, and so we supported the present emperor to accede to the throne. In such a perilous and doubtful time, to make me sovereign was something I would not do even then; now that you do not revere the sovereign but flatter me, how can I tolerate it? From now on, whoever is loyal to the sovereign I shall employ and love; whoever is disloyal to the sovereign, even if he flatters me, I shall not pardon." He also said: "Taizong's kindness in raising me, by which he marked me out from the other sons and younger brothers, was because he deeply trusted that, among the sons and younger brothers, only I could bring them to accomplishment."' Each time I read the Veritable Records to this point I cannot help shedding tears. Thus the prince's intentions and conduct were truly loyal and sincere; he was moved by great kindness and understood the great principle of sovereign and subject. It was by the treacherous scheming of petty men that the case was built up; how can it not be cleared? His title of Prince Rui shall be restored, he shall be posthumously given the name Zhong, and he shall be placed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple to share in the sacrifices. According to the regulations for the tomb park of a prince, his grave shall be repaired, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices shall make offerings in spring and autumn. His title shall be inherited in perpetuity without reduction." Edit

Duo'erbo returned to his own lineage and was enfeoffed as a beile; he was ordered to return again as the heir of the prince, and Chunying, Duke Who Assists the State, his fifth-generation descendant, inherited the title. His fourth-generation ancestor Su'erfa, Duke Who Guards the State, his great-grandfather Saile, Duke Who Assists the State, and his grandfather Gongyibu, Duke Who Assists the State, with the posthumous name Kequin, who had earlier been promoted to Prince Xin of the Second Rank, were now, together with Chunying's father Rusong, Prince Xinke of the Second Rank, all posthumously made Princes Rui of the First Rank. In the fifth year of Jiaqing, Chunying died and was given the posthumous name Gong. His son Baoen inherited. In the fifth month of the seventh year, he died and was given the posthumous name Shen. His younger brother Rui'en inherited. In the sixth year of Daoguang, he died and was given the posthumous name Qin. His son Renshou inherited. In the ninth year of Daoguang, the emperor toured Shengjing and visited the tombs; remembering the Prince Zhong, he extended favour and bestowed the three-eyed peacock feather. In the third year of Tongzhi, he died and was given the posthumous name Xi. His son Dechang inherited. In the second year of Guangxu, he died and was given the posthumous name Que. His son Kuibin inherited. Edit