1799, the 89-year-old Emperor Qianlong passed away, and the world was covered in mourning for a while.
This light becomes the last bright color of Kangqian and Qianlong prosperous times . On Golden Palace , the emperor of Jiaqing led the ministers to cry, but behind Jiaqing, Heshen was even more sad than the emperor of Jiaqing, who was a son of man.
The mourning of Qianlong was not over yet, just ten days later, an edict entered the Heshen’s mansion from . The above lists his twenty serious crimes, and then put him in jail. The last white silk sent this unprecedented corrupt official to the underworld.
Why was Heshen greedy for so much money? What made Qianlong dote on him?
His life is an unprecedented legend and no future.
History of Heshen’s fortune: Studying to make a profit from a good job
Heshen was born in the Manchu Red Banner. Although his family was one of the eight major surnames in Manchu, his father Chang Bao was mediocre and incompetent throughout his life. At the highest, he only became a general in Fuzhou and was far away from the center of the court, so he had no fame.
Heshen was born when his father was in the deputy commander-in-chief of Fujian. Although his family was not very good at that time, it was definitely not bad. His family could also provide him with a relatively complete education, allowing him to learn both Manchu and Han culture since he was a child.
However, Heshen, who was still calm, encountered his first major setback in his life when he was nine years old: his father died of illness.
Previously, Heshen's mother died because she was difficult to deal with when she gave birth to her younger brother Helin. Now she has lost her father again. Heshen's brothers have also become orphans for a while. Heshen lost his father when he was young and lost his support in his family. His father's other concubines divided up all the property he had always kept.
The experience of a boy made Heshen take on the heavy responsibility of protecting his younger brother early. On the one hand, he studied day and night, and on the other hand, he also went out to find some part-time workers to subsidize his family. He lived in such a difficult environment for several years.
God will always have mercy on hard-working children. With his extraordinary literary talent and insight, the young Heshen was admitted to Xian'an Palace.
Xian'an Palace was a school specially established for the children of bannermen during the Yongzheng period. What we teach here is not only the Confucian 's 's Four Books and Five Classics , but also the culture and policies of all ethnic groups across the country. It was here that Heshen was further improved, and he soon became a genius who was proficient in the languages and writings of the Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan clans.
's life in Xian'an Palace can be said to be the origin of Heshen's advanced career. He was talented and hardworking, so he was deeply favored by his teachers.
also received the attention of a big shot at that time. This big shot was Feng Yinglian, who was the governor of Zhili at the time.
Feng Yinglian
Feng Yinglian often walks in Beijing, and when he has nothing to do, he goes to Xian'an Palace for a walk.
When he arrived at the book hall, he suddenly saw a handsome young man talking to his classmates in the hall. His demeanor, speech and knowledge instantly praised Feng Yinglian, and concluded that this person was definitely not a thing in the pool, and the young man he was concerned about was Heshen.
After multiple investigations and communication with Heshen himself, Feng Yinglian further recognized that Heshen was not an ordinary person.
Although Heshen was still a poor student at that time, despite his family's opposition, he resolutely married his only daughter, Feng Jiwen, to Heshen, who was eighteen years old.
After Heshen got married to his beloved daughter, Feng Yinglian wanted to find an errand for his son-in-law in the court through his connections, but Heshen did not want to easily use his father-in-law's power, but planned to take the imperial examination to prove himself.
Imperial Examination
1769 In the only time in his life, Heshen entered the Imperial Examination Hall as a candidate. This time his opponent was a scholar in the whole world.
Although Heshen has been quick-witted since childhood and has a wider understanding than those candidates who only know the Four Books and Five Classics, he still failed after all.
Heshen originally wanted to put away his frustration and prepare to fight again next year, but Feng Yinglian could no longer wait. In the end, Heshen relied on his identity as a bannerman to find a third-rank guard in the palace.The grade of
is a little lower, but it can be considered as a direct resistance. If you have a little time, you will still have the chance to directly talk to Qianlong.
History of Heshen’s fortune: Qianlong let me rise to the top
Qianlong’s biggest hobby was to play. Fortunately, there was the family fortune left by his grandfather Kangxi and his father Yongzheng , otherwise Qing Dynasty would probably be ruined in his hands.
The day was sunny and there was no national matter in a hurry to handle it. When Qianlong was bored, he looked at the row of guards outside the palace gate in a daze. Soon after, a guard suddenly came to report that a prisoner in the prison in the middle of the capital escaped and was arresting people everywhere in the capital.
When Qianlong heard that this was new, he casually recited a few famous quotes from "The Analects of Confucius" and asked the guards on the spot what they meant. Most of the guards in front of the hall were from warriors and had not been a few years of study, so they were naturally speechless when Qianlong asked questions.
Just when Qianlong felt lost, a handsome guard strode forward and told Qianlong's question that this person was Heshen. When Qianlong's imperial guards saw this man holding a knife forward, they immediately stopped him in front of the emperor.
Seeing Heshen’s answers fluently, Qianlong also held his back and listened to him talking carefully. Seeing that the guard was so knowledgeable, Qianlong asked him to come to him on the spot and discussed academic issues with him.
Not long after, Heshen was promoted to Qianlong's first-class sword guard. From then on, Heshen has been serving Qianlong. He is cautious and has accomplished any requests for Qianlong very well.
also often discuss academic issues with Qianlong. With his extensive knowledge, Qianlong praised him very much. Finally, Heshen became Qianlong's inseparable guard, and his glory began from this moment.
Heshen, who was only an imperial guard for Qianlong for two months, was directly promoted to the Minister of Revenue by Qianlong and was promoted to the second rank of the Ministry of Revenue. Then two months later, Heshen was promoted to the Minister of Military Affairs and officially entered the power center of the Qing .
However, this is not over. Two months later, Heshen was appointed as the Minister of the Interior and directly managed the emperor's small treasury.
This year, Heshen was only twenty-six years old.
Heshen's career was rare in ancient and modern times. Heshen's official position continued to increase, becoming a minister who held several positions and was in power in the court and the opposition, and his status and power were no different.
As for why Qianlong likes Heshen so much, there are many different opinions until today.
But one thing is certain, Heshen is absolutely first-class in his work. Although Emperor Qianlong is very happy with merit and greedy for pleasure, he is also a monarch who cannot hold up the sand in his eyes. If he can rise all the way under his hands, he will definitely win the holy heart when doing things.
Heshen was not a corrupt official from the beginning. The young Heshen rose to prominence when he first entered the court. He had the blood and enthusiasm of a young man. The first thing he thought of was to make good use of his own rights and select talents for the court to keep his reputation during his lifetime and after his death.
As the Minister of Personnel, a small official named An Ming brought a lot of money to Heshen, hoping to arrange a higher position for him.
At this time, Heshen looked at the piles of gold, silver and treasures and was unmoved at all. Instead, he found the man's file and checked it carefully. After reading the file
, he stood up and walked to An Ming, pointed to the pile of gold, silver and treasures and said to him: "You have made great achievements in your original position, and your abilities are outstanding. This is already qualified to promote it, so why bother to do this?"
An Ming was immediately ashamed. Not long after, the imperial court's transfer order came down, and Heshen indeed arranged for him to be promoted.
But perhaps it was a tease of fate. An Ming, who had just received the transfer order, turned around and received an obituary from his hometown. His father died of illness in his hometown and hoped that he could go home as soon as possible.
According to the customs of the Qing Dynasty, the elders of the official's family passed away. No matter how old the official he was in the court, he had to go home to mourn for three years. However, An Ming had just been promoted and did not want to delay his career because of this matter, so he concealed it and refused to report it.
However, the situation in the mid-Qing Dynasty was confusing, and this matter was soon known.Heshen's promotion was too smooth, which naturally caused a large group of people to be jealous. When they learned that An Ming was Heshen's recommendation for promotion, they wrote a letter to Qianlong to impeach Heshen on the grounds of this matter.
However, Heshen also knew about this matter. With his keen sense of smell and understanding of Qianlong and the court officials, he knew very well that if this matter was not handled well, his political life might be ruined.
Heshen was so smart that he got a satisfactory solution after thinking about it: instead of asking you to impeach me, I would rather impeach myself first.
He wrote a memorial to expose An Ming's concealment of his father's death and regretted his crime of misunderstanding. He rushed to Military Affairs Office in front of those ministers. When the memorial to impeach Heshen by the ministers was handed to Qianlong, Qianlong said lightly that Heshen was just a mistake of misunderstanding and demoted him to two levels of minor punishment.
After experiencing this, Heshen finally understood that the people in the court were sinister. At this moment, Heshen suddenly realized: Since you can't tolerate a clean official, then I will simply be a corrupt official and tie you all to my ship.
History of Heshen’s fortune: I am a peerless corrupt
Heshen’s corruption began with a corruption case.
At that time, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou Li Shiyao was reported for corruption. Qianlong attached great importance to this matter and sent three ministers to Yunnan to take charge of the case, and Heshen was involved.
When they arrived in Yunnan, these Beijing officials were also disgraced for a moment and had no clue about the case. The person involved has been jailed, but no matter how he tried, he could not obtain valid information, and the case was deadlocked for a while.
But Heshen naturally had his means. He used Li Shiyao's housekeeper as a breakthrough point and interrogated him day and night. Finally, he obtained evidence of Li Shiyao's corruption from him. Li Shiyao finally pleaded guilty and was sentenced.
Seeing Heshen doing his best for him, Qianlong was very happy and asked Heshen to be responsible for circumcising Li Shiyao's home. During the search of the house, Heshen saw gold, silver and treasures like a hill, and immediately began to think about taking them for himself.
Finally, only a small part of the treasury was handed over to the state treasury, and a large amount of gold and silver were put into Heshen's pocket. This was Heshen's first time embezzling, and Heshen, who tasted the sweetness, could no longer stop it.
Heshen, who was originally a former minister of the imperial court and was very good at pleasing Qianlong, had already received a lot of rewards, and the greatest gift he received was to form a family with Qianlong.
After Heshen handled the corruption case of Li Shiyao, Qianlong directly arranged for his favorite ten princesses to marry Heshen’s eldest son Fengshen Yinde .
The princess’s marriage was a highlight of Heshen’s life. In addition to the large number of dowry brought by the princess, all the officials of the court rushed to the palace to celebrate.
Heshen naturally accepted all the gifts. At the same time, he also deeply understood that as long as Qianlong had this relationship with him, his family's glory and wealth would be guaranteed.
As time goes by, Heshen's greed has reached the point of lawlessness. In his later years of Qianlong's reign, Heshen took charge of the imperial examinations many times. Scholars from afar flocked to the secret locations arranged by the Hefu in batches to "talk about their feelings" to Heshen.
Fengshen Yinde
Then he can get a high school Jinshi. The scale is so large and the number of people is large. Almost all the enrolled scholars in the late Qianlong period were disciples of Heshen.
At the same time, Heshen relied on the favor of Emperor Qianlong and became the top leader of important departments of the court.
Whenever he goes anywhere, he tries every means to ask for bribes from his subordinates. For a moment, officials of all sizes and big and small know that Heshen is jealous of money. This is no longer a matter of whether the promotion is not a matter of promotion, but that if you want to maintain your official position, you have to give Heshen money, and if you want to be promoted, you have to pay a higher price.
Heshen also took advantage of the opportunity to do things for Qianlong to make money. Heshen's cleverness and ability combined with the hard work of the officials below, so he could always do things for Qianlong, and at the same time he made a lot of money.
Jiaqing
Heshen entered the officialdom in the middle and late Qianlong period. As Qianlong grew older, he abdicated the throne to Jiaqing, but even in the deep palace, he still firmly grasped the highest power of the country.
In his later years, Qianlong could not even speak clearly, but it was strange that only Heshen could convey his meaning to Jiaqing and his ministers in full.
So from the early years of Jiaqing to the death of Qianlong, Heshen almost became the only person in charge of the Qing Empire, and the people jokingly called him the "Two Emperors".
At this time, Qianlong was already shaking, but Heshen seemed to have no intention of stopping. Instead, he even more severely suppressed ministers who opposed him, and used despicable means such as slandering and frame-up to force them out of the core circle of the court.
All civil and military officials in the dynasty were almost all supported by Heshen except Liu Yong and Dong Hao. Emperor Jiaqing had no choice but to face Heshen's greed and presumptuousness. He could only wait until he truly took power before he could bring Heshen down in one fell swoop.
Finally, this day came. Emperor Qianlong passed away in the first month of 1799. Jiaqing, who had been struggling for three years, finally became a mother-in-law for many years, and officially took over the power of the empire.
He has been waiting for too long, and at this time he can no longer wait. Less than half a month after Qianlong's death, Jiaqing sent the favorite minister Qianlong valued the most to reunite with his father.
When the guards arrived at Heshen's mansion, Heshen was having a meal with his family. Maybe he knew the task of this group of people and calmly took out the "life-saving edict" given to him by Qianlong.
Perhaps out of awe of Qianlong's new appointment or awe, Heshen has not opened it to read it after receiving the edict.
At this moment, he handed the edict to the foreman guard, and after opening it, the guard threw the edict directly to Heshen for him to read it himself. This made Heshen's heart completely cold, and he saw three big words in the book: Leave the whole body.
A generation of corrupt officials fell like this, and his life was entirely based on the favor of Emperor Qianlong. Some people say that Heshen was a gift from Qianlong to his son Jiaqing, but the author believes that at least Qianlong really took Heshen to heart when he was there.
He knew Qianlong well. He worked hard to do his best to do everything for Qianlong, and he could even make such an evaluation: Heshen never disappointed Qianlong in his life.
With Heshen's talent, if there was no corruption, he might have achieved a good story, but his desire for profit can only make people sigh.
When Qianlong was still immersed in the psychedelic state of the Kangxi and Qianlong eras, the outside world had undergone earth-shaking changes. It was his indulgence that made Heshen, and it was also the era he founded that made Heshen the corrupt Heshen.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-