Huang Taiji has eleven sons. Why is the nine son Fulin who succeeded?

As everyone knows, Huang Taiji’s son Aixinjue Luo Fulin (Shunzhi Emperor) was the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty. However, Huang Taiji had eleven sons in his life. Fulin was neither the eldest nor the youngest but the ninth son. So why did Fulin, the ninth son of Huang Taiji, succeed to the throne of the Qing Dynasty?

Huang Taiji does not have the eldest son in the strict sense in his life, and his eleven sons are all regarded as concubines in etiquette. Among them, the second son Luoge, the third son Luobohui, and the eighth son (not named) all died young and died in front of Huang Taiji, so it is naturally impossible to inherit the throne.

Huang Taiji’s fourth cotyledon Ye Busu, fifth son Shuosai, sixth son Gaosai, seventh son Changshu, and tenth son Taosai are all low-status concubines. He was born without much credit and prestige, neither conformed to the ritual of "children are expensive" and cannot afford supporters. Naturally, it is impossible to inherit the throne.

Huang Taiji has only three sons who can inherit the throne, namely: the eldest son Hauge, the ninth son Fulin, and the eleventh son Bomubogor. Hauge's mother was Huang Taiji's second Dafujin (later abolished), and was regarded as half the eldest son, and his military prestige was unmatched among Huang Taiji sons.

But due to Dorgon's strong competition, the repeated horizontal jumps of the Eight Banners and personal errors, Hauge lost the possibility of inheriting the throne. Therefore, there are only two heirs to the throne of Huang Taiji: Fulin and Bomu Boguol. Both of their mothers were born in Mongolian Borzijit.

Although they are all born in the Borzijit clan, Fulin’s mother Bumubutai (Xiaozhuang)’s natal Mongolian Horqin family was intermarried with Aixinjueluo during the Nurhachi period. An ally, and Bomubogor’s mother, Na Muzhong, was formerly the former enemy of Emperor Taiji, Lin Danhan of Chahar.

But from his mother's origin, Bomubogor is not Fulin’s opponent, not to mention Fulin is an older brother. Because of this, in the case of Hauge's withdrawal, the throne must be a blessing, and Xiaozhuang's role in the process of his son's succession is actually extremely limited.