Now when we talk about corrupt officials, the first people that come to mind should be and Shen . At that time, his official position was not only lower than that of one person, but his wealth was even greater than that of the country. So how rich was He Shen at that time?
It is said that when Heshen was ordered to ransack his home, he found 800 million taels, as well as some antiques and treasures. Together, these were equivalent to the income of the imperial court for fifteen years at that time.
At that time, this data was only approximate. What was the specific number? In fact, there are specific records of Heshen's family copying in the "Records of Renzong of the Qing Dynasty". At that time, except for jewelry and various calligraphy and paintings whose value could not be estimated.
There were 33,551 taels of gold alone and 3,104,095 taels of silver, plus the land, pawnshops, houses and other various workshops under Heshen's name at that time One hundred thousand taels, calculated as silver, is approximately 3.55 million taels. According to the exchange rate at that time, the silver was about 1.18 million pounds. If converted to our current price, plus inflation , it would be about 1.3 billion pounds, which is equivalent to the current RMB 1.1 billion.
He Shen can own so many assets, all thanks to him becoming an important minister with less than one person and more than ten thousand people. However, if we think carefully about He Shen's journey to becoming an official, it was extremely smooth. I accidentally saw an article Unofficial history, this may be the reason why He Shen can have a smooth career.
It is rumored that He Shen was just a small right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. In March of that year, he was promoted to Minister of Military Aircraft, and then in April he was promoted to Minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It didn't take long for him to become Minister of Internal Affairs in August of that year. In March, he was transferred to the deputy commander-in-chief of Manchuria with a yellow flag. In November, he was appointed as the vice-president of the Chinese Embassy and became a first-rank minister of the imperial court at that time. In December, he became the Ministry of Internal Affairs in charge of the affairs of the officers and soldiers of the Three Banners. The steward was also given the privilege of riding a horse in the Forbidden City. Being able to ride a horse around the palace was much more powerful than any other official position at that time.
The speed at which He Shen was promoted is a bit incredible. This speed of promotion was very low not only in the Qing Dynasty , but also in the entire history of our country.
He Shen was not only promoted so quickly within one year, but he also promoted his whole family from Zhenghongqi to Zhenghuangqi. At that time, Zhenghuang Banner was the top three flags among the eight banners of the Qing Dynasty, directly Led by the emperor, Zhenghongqi was only flying five flags at that time.
Why was He Shen so favored by the emperor in the first place? Wasn't there anyone smarter than He Shen? In fact, there is a record in the unofficial history of the time about why He Shen was promoted so quickly, but it was not included in the history books.
It is said that when Qianlong had not succeeded to the throne and was still the crown prince, he once saw a concubine in the palace. The concubine happened to be arranging her hair with her back to Qianlong. Qianlong was only in his twenties at the time. Look Seeing that the concubine was about the same age as him, he probably wanted to tease her, so he went over and covered the concubine's eyes from behind.
Qianlong may have wanted to play a prank, but the concubine didn't know that the prince was teasing him behind the scenes. She happened to have a comb in her hand and threw it back. Unexpectedly, it hit Qianlong's forehead. When the concubine turned around and saw that it was Qianlong, it was too late to regret it. Qianlong's forehead had been smashed and blood flowed. Qianlong knew that he was also at fault, so the matter was settled.
The next day Qianlong went to Yongzheng to pay his respects. Yongzheng saw the wound on the prince's forehead at a glance, and quickly asked what was going on. Qianlong was too guilty to say anything. He couldn't say that I was messing with the concubines in your harem. He must have been injured.
Yongzheng became angry when he saw the prince acting like this without telling him the reason. Qianlong had no choice but to tell the story. When Yongzheng heard this, he was very angry. He not only broke the rules of the harem but also injured the prince. forehead, then ordered the concubine to die. This can just be used to warn Qianlong so that he can't mess with .
But after Qianlong came out of Yongzheng's palace, he thought about it and realized that it was actually his fault and had nothing to do with the concubine, so he hurried to the concubine's palace, hoping to save the concubine.
But when he arrived, the concubine was already dying. Qianlong bit his finger and pressed it on the concubine's neck and said to her, it was me who harmed you. If there is a spirit in heaven, I hope that I will be alive twenty years later. If I meet you again, I will definitely find a way to compensate you.
This incident passed like this. A few years later, Qianlong successfully ascended the throne and became emperor. By chance, Qianlong saw Heshen. He always felt that he had seen Heshen somewhere, but he could not remember. When he thought about it carefully, he realized that He Shen's appearance was very similar to that of the concubine.
In fact, Heshen was a very handsome scholar in history. He was not the one we saw in TV series. Not long after, Qianlong quietly called Heshen to the palace and wanted to ask about his origins. When the two were chatting, Qianlong accidentally saw a birthmark on Heshen's neck, just like when Qianlong pressed his finger on the concubine's neck.
At this time, Qianlong felt that Heshen should be the reincarnation of the concubine. To be sure, Qianlong wiped it with his own hands. This move frightened Heshen. He thought he had made a big mistake, so he hurriedly apologized to Qianlong. , So Qianlong felt guilty about the concubine, and Heshen was also smart, so his road to promotion was smooth sailing, and he gradually became the most trusted person around Qianlong.
Of course, after the death of Qianlong, Heshen's home was confiscated. In the end, when Heshen died, he was sentenced to death by the emperor with Bai Ling just like the concubine back then. Let's not say whether Heshen was really the reincarnation of that concubine. But the ending is the same.
Having said so much, you may question whether this is true, but we said at the beginning that this is an unofficial secret about Heshen. If you don't believe it, just read it as a story and laugh.
If it is not true that Qianlong can trust He Shen so much, then there must be something we cannot see, and they must have secrets that we don't know.
If you find the article interesting or have your own unique insights, please leave a message and we will discuss it together.
