For Chinese people, and are well-known figures of all ages.
In those popular film and television works, He Shen, without exception, plays the role of a corrupt official and a villain.
However, history cannot be denied. Whether in official history or unofficial history, He Shen is a historical figure with an extremely contradictory personality.
He Shen cannot be judged by the simple binary opposition of and , just like he loves his wife until death, but it still cannot stop him from lingering in the flowers.
Heshen is outstanding in his greed for money, and he is even more unique in his lust, that is, he likes women who have been married before.
Some of these women were concubines of officials, some were prostitutes in brothels, and there were even palace ladies favored by Qianlong.
As for why, it turns out that there is another unknown story.
Poor boy marries a golden phoenix
Heshen is an authentic banner man. His father, Chang Bao, was born in the Niu Hulu family of the Manchu Zhenghong Banner. He once served as the deputy governor of Fujian, and his position was equivalent to the deputy commander of the provincial military region.
It stands to reason that Heshen's family background is quite good, and he can be regarded as the second generation of officials.
However, it can only be said that his fate was unlucky. He lost his mother when he was three years old and his father when he was nine years old. In the end, he could only depend on his younger brother He Lin.
Fortunately, Heshen borrowed the light of his Manchu ancestry and was admitted to the Xian'an Palace Official School which was only available to the children of Manchu nobles at that time.
Children from poor families have long been in charge of the family. Here, He Shen is not like other Eight Banners children, carrying cages, walking with birds, hunting and releasing eagles to fight.CricketsWashing away his time.
He studied hard and memorized erudition. He quickly read through the Four Books and Five Classics and became familiar with Manchu and Chinese classics.
In addition, he also mastered Mongolian and Tibetan as well as Western Region secret spells.
As a teenager, Heshen was already very scheming. He took two self-study courses that were not included in the official courses of Xian'an Palace: Qianlong's poetry couplets and Qianlong's calligraphy fonts.
He Shen's idea is very straightforward. If he meets Emperor Qianlong in the future, he must make the emperor feel that only He Shen knows the emperor best in the world.
Later, He Shen once took the imperial examination with confidence, but he felt that he was full of economics but failed to pass the examination.
Fortunately, I was disappointed in the exam room but happy in love.
Xian'an Palace Official School has always been a place of concern for officials at all levels due to its unique source of students.
After all, as long as the people here in are promising, they can rely on their innate family advantages to get to the top first.
Therefore, He Shen, who was "clear and handsome" at that time, could be self-reliant and studied hard, which was very different from other Eight Banners children, which immediately attracted the attention of interested people.
Among them, there was an official named Feng Yinglian, who was the Minister of Military and Aircraft and the Minister of Household Affairs. Although
was almost becoming the top official of in the Qing Dynasty, the decline of the Feng family made him heartbroken.
His son and daughter-in-law, who had high hopes for him, passed away early. He only had a well-behaved and smart granddaughter Feng Jiwen to keep him company.
Feng Yinglian could only give his little granddaughter all his love and always wanted to find a good home for her.
He Shen, known as "the most beautiful man in Manchuria", although his clothes were a little shabby at that time, he had a good image and temperament. His handsome appearance first got the ticket from Feng Yinglian.
So Feng Yinglian began to pay attention to Heshen and investigated him through various channels.
He found that He Shen was "agile and observant", he was very organized and had a high emotional intelligence. "The future is immeasurable."
Therefore, Feng Yingqian, who was sure that He Shen was destined not to be inferior to others in the future, decided to Adhering to the principle of striking first and gaining the upper hand, He Shen's desperate situation was completely ignored.
He directly paid a generous dowry and decided to marry Heshen, the granddaughter whom he regarded as the apple of his eye.
He Shen, who was 18 years old at the time, had not yet graduated from the Xian'an Palace Official School. He was considered a college student and a pure grassroots person.
Feng Yinglian's move was of a gambling nature, but the facts proved that Feng Yinglian was indeed very visionary and experienced.
After getting married, He Shen and his wife Feng Jiwen treated each other with sincere and beautiful feelings.
And Heshen lived up to expectations. With the hereditary third-class light vehicle captain in his family and Feng Yinglian's operation, he quickly joined the entourage of Emperor Qianlong.
His talents were finally put to use.
Once Qianlong used "虎兕出晟" to issue an order. When all the followers were confused, only Heshen said "the emperor wants to hold the guardian accountable", thus gaining Qianlong's attention.
Later, He Shen passed many tests by Qianlong and was finally appreciated and promoted by Qianlong.
Qianlong made him the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Through his extraordinary wealth-gathering methods, Qianlong could comfortably travel to the south of the Yangtze River without using the money in the treasury.
When he served as the chief bachelor of the cabinet and the foreman of the military aircraft minister, during Qianlong's military campaign to pacify the Gurkhas, all edicts and edicts were written by Heshen in Manchu, Han, Mongolian and Tibetan languages.
Because Heshen managed things in an orderly manner, Qianlong also specially painted a portrait of Heshen and treated him the same as those generals who had made military exploits. This was a very high courtesy.
It can be said that from a modern perspective, He Shen is a standard "social elite".
And he also used his own efforts to prove that Feng Yinglian had an accurate vision and that Feng Jiwen married the right man.
Feng Jiwen and He Shen gave birth to two sons together. The eldest son Fengshen Yinde was favored by Qianlong and married his tenth princess to him. Fengshen Yinde became the consort of the dynasty, and her husband A wife is expensive.
However, the second son unfortunately died in infancy, which deeply affected the middle-aged Feng Jiwen who lost her son. As a result, she became ill.
The year is 1798. Qianlong has voluntarily abdicated for three years, and the emperor at that time was Jiaqing.
With Heshen's intelligence and years of political acumen, he may also feel that he is about to face a huge danger.
and At this time, his wife was seriously ill, which gave him a huge psychological setback.
With fear for the future, Heshen certainly hopes that his wife can accompany him all the way.
In order to save his wife, he arranged a grand prayer event during the Chinese Valentine's Day.
In the courtyard where the two lived, he had a huge colorful shed set up and placed a number of offerings.
Of course, the tablets of "Cowherd" and "Weaver Girl" Xingjun are placed in the center of the green case.
Afterwards, He Shen and Feng prayed sincerely together, hoping that the two of them could live forever.
It is a pity that God does not follow people's wishes. Although this obviously religious ceremony can have a certain psychological comfort effect.
But in fact, it has no positive impact on Feng's condition.
In the days that followed, He Shen, who firmly believed that "money can make ghosts go around", kept up his efforts and bribed the ghosts and gods with tribute gifts. Feng once again survived the Ghost Festival with narrow escapes.
However, Feng, who was seriously ill, could not survive the Mid-Autumn Festival. That night, Feng suddenly passed away.
The grief-stricken Heshen buried his wife with extremely grand specifications and ceremonies, and also composed six "Mourning Poems".
Among them, poems such as "The spring soil will follow each other" and "Red and purple will destroy each other" express his deep love and never leave her until death. They also show his deep yearning for his wife, which makes people feel of deep sorrow and lingering affection.
My charming concubine and beautiful maidservant will accompany me through life and death
Heshen's love for his wife is unquestionable, but it would be completely wrong to say that he is a dedicated person.
Greed for money and sex are originally human instincts.
He Shen, who was in power for a while, was powerful and wealthy. Naturally, he had many concubines and lived a debauched life.
He Shen was definitely a young man who had achieved great success. He had already achieved great success in his early thirties, and even made Feng extremely happy.
Feng was a woman with an extremely docile temperament. With her acquiescence, He Shen took in several concubines.
Among He Shen's many concubines, there were not a few women who were married.
Among them, the eldest aunt that Heshen valued most was originally the concubine of Secretary Cao of the Ministry of Justice. Wu Qinglian, who later died for Heshen, was the former Suzhou magistrate Wang Danwang's attendant. concubine.
As for Yangzhou Beauty Cardamom , Jiangning Weaving who were devoted to He Shen, Xiaoying and Zi Yan also had a rather unusual experience.
=What is even more shameless is that Su Ling'a, who later became the governor of Liangjiang, gave his daughter Nalan to Heshen as his goddaughter.
If you just like wives, then that's fine. After all, the officialdom at that time was really turbid.
However, 's habit of doing whatever he wants for many years has turned He Shen into a bold, even lawless person.
Not only was he happy to accept the wives and daughters of his subordinates, he also dared to get involved with his boss, Qianlong's woman.
When he accompanied Qianlong on his southern tour, Jiangning Mansion paid tribute to a girl named "Black Rose", who was said to be from foreign countries.
Whether it was out of curiosity or not, He Shen was obsessed with this dark-skinned woman.
Later, He Shen, who couldn't restrain his passion, took the opportunity to take charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, bribed the palace eunuch chief, and unknowingly included Black Rose in the list of people who were dismissed from the palace.
Under the nose of the aging Qianlong, Black Rose finally became a member of Heshen's collection of beauties.
Of course, Heshen also paid a heavy price for his greed for money and lust.
After Qianlong's death, He Shen was immediately arrested by Emperor Jiaqing and convicted of twenty major crimes.
One of them is "Marrying a woman who left the palace as a second wife, regardless of integrity."
He Shen once used royal land to build a small building with a unique design and extremely luxurious style, and named it "Milou". In fact, it is his golden house where he hides his beauty.
He Shen arranged the concubines in various unique rooms, while he shuttled between them, living happily and happily all day long.
Before he was convicted in his later years, the wealthy and powerful He Shen doted on his concubine in every possible way, and even spent a lot of money to make her smile.
Wu Qinglian, who was born in the south of the Yangtze River, possesses all the characteristics of a talented and beautiful woman from the south of the Yangtze River and is deeply favored by He Shen.
Because she loved to eat lychees, He Shen spent a lot of manpower, material and financial resources and asked his subordinates to use fast horses to transport lychees from Guangdong to the capital.
This kind of behavior made Wu Qinglian's whole heart be tied to He Shen.
After He Shen was convicted and imprisoned, Wu Qinglian, who learned the news, wrote a desperate poem and then hanged himself.
Heshen met the Yangzhou beauty Cardamom when he accompanied Qianlong to the south of the Yangtze River. Heshen was very fond of this graceful and versatile beauty and continued to dote on her.
On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month in 1799, He Shen was sentenced to death by Emperor Jiaqing. After learning the news, Dou Kao wrote a desperate poem: "The sad water in the ditch flows straight eastward without ever returning it."
Then he jumped into the world and lost his life. Jumping down from the upstairs, "a wisp of black hair fell into the jade tower", she followed He Shen quietly.
The reason why Wu Lianqing and Doukou are willing to be buried with Heshen shows the depth of Heshen's feelings for them, and it also shows their deep love for Heshen.
The eldest second aunt was honored as "Second Lady " in Heshen Mansion. After she entered Heshen Mansion, she was arranged to live in the same courtyard as Feng Jiwen, which shows her important position in Heshen's mind.
When Heshen committed suicide by quoting the silk, Chang Ergu, who was favored and trusted by Heshen, was extremely sad.
However, she has to use her financial management skills to ensure the normal operation of the remaining parts of He's industry, so she must survive strongly.
"The most pitiable thing is that after dusk, we can't wake up from seeing each other in dreams."
expresses her deep love, which is also enough to see the tenderness between He Shen and Chang Er Gu.
He Shen can get the love and following of these women, which can be said to be a blessing he has earned through his lifelong cultivation.
The Rise and Collapse of "He's Business Empire"
He Shen was a wealthy and talented man, so he could win Qianlong's trust and the love of beautiful women.
By virtue of his intelligence and intelligence, He Shen not only reached the pinnacle of men in his career, but also became a highly respected man.
Moreover, with his natural business acumen, apart from corruption, he is also remarkable in management.
Heshen is well aware of the huge power of cash flow . Only a small part of his proceeds from corruption and bribery is used to expand real estate.
And more parts are used for various industrial and commercial investments, covering finance, real estate, mining, logistics, medicine, commerce and many other industries.
Heshen's largest and most profitable business is pawnshops. Heshen has a total of 12 pawnshops in Beijing.
He believed that coal mining was a sunrise industry, so he resolutely invested heavily in opening coal mines in Mentougou and Xiangshan.
He is extremely optimistic about the transportation industry and has built a transportation team with 80 large carriages, specializing in various transportation activities.
The Heshen family's businesses also include porcelain shops, medicine shops, antique shops, grain stores, hotels, lime kilns, etc.
As for the real estate, he also chose to rent it out as much as possible.
When Heshen's home was confiscated, there were 35 rental houses in Beijing alone, "one thousand and one and a half".
It can be said that as long as it is an industry that makes money quickly, Heshen will be there.
Heshen has gathered such a huge industry in just over 20 years, and it is no exaggeration to call it the "He's Business Empire".
These industries are so huge and complex that He Shen alone cannot manage them.
What's more, most of his energy must be spent on accompanying and serving Qianlong, which is the fundamental way to ensure the security of the family business.
Therefore, he was in great need of caring and loyal helpers to help him manage the family business.
At this time, the concubines He Shen took into his house played an incredible and unknown role.
Heshen's concubine is not only the object of his fun.
Those women who have been married and experienced ups and downs in life, they know better how to manage family property and how to avoid property and political risks.
There are indeed many of them who know how to manage money, so they have become He Shen's helpers, even right-hand men.
Among them, the eldest second aunt, known as the "Second Lady", is extremely good at financial management. After personal practice and testing, He Shen let her take charge of the family's finances.
Chang Ergu is a very independent and intelligent person . She has natural intuition and sensitivity to politics and business, and is very good at analysis and reasoning.
Sometimes when He Shen encounters trouble, he always likes to discuss it with her, and she can also give some appropriate suggestions.
What is even more rare is that the eldest second aunt is not only good at managing the family and finances, but is also good at reciting poems, composing poems, playing music, playing chess, calligraphy and painting.
Therefore, as soon as the eldest second aunt entered Heshen's house, she quickly gained Heshen's favor and gained his greatest trust.
Of course, the eldest second aunt was able to live with the main wife Feng Jiwen, and she obviously gained the Feng family's friendship and trust.
Another financial expert is Wu Qinglian. He Shen safely let her take care of part of the He family's property, and naturally it was handled in an orderly manner.
In the first month of 1799, Emperor Jiaqing arrested He Shen and imprisoned him on the fifth day after his father Qianlong's death. He was sentenced to suicide 10 days later, and He's mansion was quickly raided.
Emperor Jiaqing listed the twenty major crimes for Heshen, which is simply a double list of "heinous crimes".
It can be said that there is one emperor and one courtier, two generations of emperors and two heavens.
The results of the house raid were indeed shocking. The total value of Heshen's property was estimated to be about 800 million taels of silver, which was the fiscal revenue of the Qing government for nearly ten years at that time. Therefore, there was a rumor that "Heshen fell and Jiaqing was full."
Although corruption accounts for the majority of this, the income from business operations of Heshen and his concubines also accounts for a considerable proportion, and this is the fundamental reason why Heshen likes women who have been married.
Of course, this is also related to He Shen's origin.
For a long time after the Manchus entered the customs, did not have those pedantic ideas about women's chastity. It can also be said that they were extremely open-minded in the affairs between men and women.
Therefore, when He Shen chose his concubine, he did not care about the woman's background.
When Qianlong died, He Shen was mentally prepared for the defeat of the He family and was able to accept it calmly.
This is because he has made an in-depth interpretation of " A Dream of Red Mansions " and has thoroughly participated in it.
He also once expressed the emotion that "you don't know what you will gain or lose, and the present is the past", and he also "send a message to future generations, if you stay humble, you will grow older."
Even before his death, Heshen still left behind He wrote a fatal song, and he died quite calmly and gracefully: has been a dream for fifty years, and Xie Hongchen has given up now. His day was filled with water and dragon sun, and he recognized the cigarette as his back body.
It can be said that during the ups and downs of life, Heshen once "held up the sky and held up the sun", enjoying golden food, beautiful flowers, and a beautiful family. However, during the downturn, he tied a piece of white silk to the beams of the house, and "a pile of grass disappeared in the barren tomb." ".
He has seen through life in Jue Ming Shi. "Xie Hongchen" can be said to be a true portrayal of his psychology. He just hopes to be by Qianlong's side in the next life.
As the saying goes, when a person is about to die, his words are also good.
Text/Lan Feng Zhuchen
References:
[1] Lu Qingfeng; Tangli, What is the corrupt official Heshen capable of? Wonderful Museum, 2019 (4);
[2] Zhang Hongjie, Heshen died most elegantly Corruption Criminals, Inside and Outside Lantai, 2011(4).
