On the third day of the first lunar month of the fourth year of Jiaqing, the 89-year-old Emperor Qianlong died, and Emperor Jiaqing was finally able to take charge. However, just before the Qianlong funeral was over, Heshen, who lost his backer, was dealt with by Jiaqing. After that, Jiaqing ordered Heshen's home to be copied. According to calculations, the total value of all Heshen's assets is as high as 800 million taels, which is equivalent to the 15-year fiscal revenue of the Qing government.
Therefore, the people always say: "Heshen falls and Jiaqing is full." It can be said that Heshen's family property has just filled the stretched treasury. But there is a very strange phenomenon, that is, the Qing dynasty, who obtained Heshen's 800 million fortune, was always short of money afterwards. This time, the Qing government’s 15-year fiscal revenue was harvested. Why did the Qing Dynasty still lack money?
We know that the reason why Heshen was so rich was the Emperor Qianlong's indulgence. In the middle and late reign of Qianlong, he gradually became greedy for pleasure. In order to satisfy his own desires, he began to favor He Shen, because He Shen always had the means to collect enough money for him to enjoy.
and Shen also took advantage of these opportunities to continuously accumulate wealth and expand their own industries. He also took advantage of his position to form parties with hundreds of civil and military officials for private purposes, resulting in most of the people in the DPRK who were Heshen people. These people followed him in corruption and bribery, which made the court sullen. But Qianlong turned a blind eye to all this.
Although Jiaqing couldn't understand what He Shen did, he couldn't do anything, and even pretended to please him. It was not until Qianlong's death that he dared to officially attack Heshen. Although he knew that Heshen was greedy a lot, he didn't think about the specifics. When he finished copying his home, Jiaqing was also taken aback.
Logically speaking, in the late Qianlong period, the Qing Dynasty had already experienced various malpractices, and the treasury was gradually unable to support it. After Jiaqing got the Heshen family property, it can be said that he has solved his urgent needs. Why hasn't the problem been completely solved? Perhaps some people will misunderstand, whether Jiaqing was defeated? Or is Jiaqing incapable and didn't spend his money on the blade?
is actually not. Facing all the drawbacks left by Qianlong, Jiaqing also worked hard. First of all, various civil uprisings have never ceased since the establishment of the Qing Dynasty. Because of Qianlong's Daxing writing prison, in the last years of Qianlong, the Bailian Rebellion broke out. The imperial court also sent troops to encircle and suppress it many times, but unfortunately it has not been able to completely suppress it.
After Jiaqing took office, the White Lotus Rebellion came back. In order to suppress it, the court fought a nine-year war with it. This war greatly damaged the vitality of the Qing government. It not only sacrificed a large number of Qing troops, more than 20 first- and second-rank officers, but also consumed 200 million taels of military expenditure, which was equivalent to the four-year fiscal revenue of the Qing Dynasty. In this way, one quarter of He Shen's 800 million taels has been used. In addition to the Bailian Rebellion, the Qing Dynasty also faced the southeast bandit rebellion, the Tianli Rebellion, each time the suppression of the rebellion was a big expense.
Although 200 million taels had been spent just to suppress the Bailian Rebellion, Jiaqing, as the emperor, could not ignore other places. During this period, he had to improve the river course and help the victims, so he allocated more than 40 million taels of money for river treatment. Not only that, after Jiaqing took office, he also exempted the disaster-stricken areas from money and food every year, which lost part of his income.
Secondly, when he was worried about the rebellion outside, Jiaqing had to find a way to rectify the government. In the last years of Qianlong, the Qing dynasty's corruption was very serious. After Jiaqing took office, he issued an order to "rectify the bureaucratic government, based on cleanliness", and said that "the style of corruption should be severely punished first."
According to records, at that time, Jiaqing investigated and dealt with corrupt officials. Among them, Zhili Secretary Wang Linan actually embezzled 310,000 taels of silver. According to the law, he would be beheaded if he obtained more than 10,000 taels, and he would be sent to Heilongjiang for less than 10,000 taels. Although Wang Linan was eventually beheaded, one can imagine how many "Wang Linan" there are in the court.
So, in order to save the decline of Qianlong's last years, Jiaqing also spent a lot of effort, but it is indeed powerless. In order to save money, he set an example by not allowing any treasures to be offered to the central government, forbidding others to give valuable gifts on his birthday, and forbidding the people to celebrate him on the day of Longevity.
It's a pity that Jiaqing has limited ability and conservative style, so even though he got 800 million taels from Heshen, it could not solve the problems of the Qing Dynasty. In this regard, he still has to learn like his grandfather Yongzheng.
(references "Drafts of Qing History", "Biography of Emperors in Qing Dynasty", etc.)
