With the popularity of the TV series "Iron Tooth Copper Tooth Ji Xiaolan", the image of a big corrupt official with an oily head and a slippery head, a fat head and big ears, and a big corrupt official who does not learn and has no skills has gradually become a household name, so is there really a person in history? What about the real Washu?
There was such a person in history. However, the real Hezhen was not only handsome in appearance, known as the "first handsome man in Manchuria", but also, knowledgeable and versatile, and the official was a scholar of the Wenhuadian University and the chief military minister, and his power was only under Qianlong.
However, after Qianlong's death, he was immediately subjected to the fate of raiding his family, and the family property copied out was equivalent to the sum of the 15 years of state treasury income of the Qing Dynasty, so he was called "a thousand years of great greed". In the end, a white aya ended his legendary life.
How did He yan, who grew up with his parents killed, step by step to the peak of power, and what caused the tragedy of his life?
One. A difficult and determined boyhood
Born in 1750 (the fifteenth year of Qianlong), he was originally named Shanbao (善保), zizhi zhai (字志斋), surnamed Niu Hulu (祜禄氏), a Manchurian Zhenghongqi (正红旗人), and a hereditary third-class light car lieutenant. His father's name was Chang Bao, and he was then the deputy governor of Fujian. The young Hezhen could have grown up without worry, but when he was 3 years old, the family suffered a sudden misfortune, and his birth mother died because of the birth of her second son and Lin.
Wakan, who lost his mother at an early age, had a strong sense of independence and determination, and was deeply appreciated by his father. In order to give his children a good education, Chang Bao set up a private school at home, let the brothers receive enlightenment education at home, and sent the Hezhen brothers to the Xian'an Palace official school. Soon after, Chang Bao fell ill and died. This year, He yan was 9 years old.
After the death of his father, his stepmother could not treat the Washu brothers well, and since then, the brothers have a difficult life and rely on each other for their lives, and The psychology of The Brothers has undergone a major change. He realized that only by himself could he change his destiny, and learning became the only way he could change his destiny. This firm belief made him extra diligent in his studies.
The Xian'an Palace Official School, where He yan studied, was a school run in the Forbidden City after Yongzheng ascended the throne in order to strengthen the ideological education and control of the clan and the children of the Eight Banners. The students of the school are either the children of famous and noble people, or the children of high-ranking officials. In terms of curriculum, there are mainly cultural courses such as Manchu, Han, Mongolian and classic history, in addition, there are military courses such as riding archery and learning weapons, and the learning content is relatively comprehensive. The vast majority of the teachers here are Hanlin, who have entered the academy, or who are well-known people with special knowledge. Among the various schools in the Qing Dynasty, this school was actually a national high-level cadre training school at that time.
Soon after entering school, due to the death of his father, He yan was excluded from school and had nowhere to complain. In the face of adversity, he not only gradually cultivated his old and stable, moody personality. Out of thinking about the future, he studied literature and martial arts with great effort, laying a solid foundation for the future of Huang Tengda.
During his studies, the knowledge he learned can be roughly divided into two categories: cultural knowledge and martial arts classes such as riding and shooting. Learning martial arts is a strong point for the Manchus, and the 9-year-old Hezhen is already very skilled in hunting on horseback. The prey was initially used only for the family to make ends meet, but when there was surplus, it was sold at the market, sometimes in exchange for books. This was the beginning of Washu's learning to do business, and he revealed his talent for gathering wealth at the beginning. In terms of cultural knowledge, one is the Manchu language, writing and history; the other is the Han Chinese writings, including the "Classic", "History", "Zi", "Collection", etc., the vast works of the Han people deeply attracted He yan, familiar with the classics so that he can be qualified to work as the president of the later "Four Libraries"; the third is the language of ethnic minorities, including Mongolian and Tibetan, because the Manchurian nobility must be combined with Mongolia and Tibet to rule the Han, so this lesson is very important, but because it is too difficult, scholars at that time, whether Manchu or Han, are rarely involved. At that time, the examination of the four books and five classics, but for the Manchus who were better born, they could directly inherit the official position without passing the examination, coupled with the difficulty of learning Chinese, so there were not many people in the Manchus who learned Chinese, and even fewer people who were proficient, which made Hezhen stand out in this school for the children of the Manchurian nobility. Hard work pays off. Hezhen's efforts were eventually rewarded handsomely.
Two. A highly valued official career
In the sixteenth year of Qianlong, the xian'an palace officials moved to the Xihua Gate, which was a necessary place for officials to go to the dynasty. He yan's daily diligence attracted the attention of YingLian, who was then the governor of shangshu and directly subordinate to the punishment department. Yinglian family is thin, the son died early, only one granddaughter, in order to find a good home for his granddaughter, he often went to the Xian'an Palace to study around, and he took a fancy to he who was witty, steady, and moody.
When he was 18 years old, he married Yinglian's granddaughter (Feng). This marriage not only had a firm backing for He yan from then on, but also, Feng's congmin and virtuous, instead of abandoning he Yan Hanwei, also took care of her husband meticulously and soothed his spiritual wounds. He yan also finally felt the warmth of the world, and he was determined to have a successful career and accumulate wealth to repay the kindness of his virtuous wife. Until the death of Feng in the third year of Jiaqing, the relationship between the husband and wife has been very good.
In the second year after marriage, He Yan took the imperial court examination, perhaps not adapting to the examination mode of the Eight Strands of Literature, and the learned He yanming fell to Sun Shan, and from then on, he gave up the imperial examination and hereditary ancestral position of three-riding light car lieutenant. Three years later, he was awarded the third class bodyguard, became a member of the royal honor guard, and finally had the opportunity to approach Qianlong.
There are about four theories about the origins of Hezhen, but either one is related to Hezhen's familiar reading of the classics, indicating that by chance, Hezhen showed his talent in front of Qianlong and was deeply appreciated by Qianlong. Since then, he has been promoted to the throne for more than 20 years, and in the following twenty years, he has been knighted as many as 50 times, and his official positions and promotions have been so fast that they have created the highest in the history of China's feudal dynasty. According to the Qing history archives, we can learn that at the age of 26, He yan had already appointed the household department shilang, the military aircraft minister, the minister in charge of the internal affairs department, and the deputy governor of Manchuria with the blue flag; at the age of 27, he was awarded the vice president of the National History Museum, concurrently served as the commander of the infantry, and concurrently served as the right attendant of the bureaucracy; at the age of 28, he was awarded the chongwenmen tax supervision and the hubu shangshu; at the age of 30, he was awarded the military department shangshu and the imperial minister...
How did he get along with Qianlong and make the Qianlong Emperor reuse him for more than twenty years? Simply put, the reasons for his pampering include the following:
First, He yan is talented and has outstanding work ability. He yan was familiar with the language and culture of the manchu, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan nationalities, which made he a rare talent in handling ethnic issues. In the forty-fifth year of Qianlong, He Yan was appointed as the Shangshu of the Li Dynasty, in charge of Mongolian, Xinjiang, Tibetan affairs and all diplomatic matters. In this year, Qianlong planned the seventieth birthday, in order to welcome the sixth Panchen Lama to come to celebrate the birthday, Qianlong decided to build a Panchen Palace in chengde summer resort, and he who received the task adopted the style of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse and built the palace on the foothills, which not only conformed to the rules and regulations of Tibetan lamaism, but also suited the customs of Middle-earth, which won the praise of Qianlong and his courtiers. In the post of Shangshu of the Imperial Academy, Hezhen not only made outstanding contributions to the management of remote ethnic minority areas, but also brilliantly fulfilled various diplomatic missions, the most prominent of which was the handling of the fact that during the Qianlong period, the British Macartney delegation visited China in the hope of establishing diplomatic relations with China and opening up the Chinese market. After the imposing delegation came to China, it was reluctant to perform the three kneeling and nine prostrations ceremony of the Chinese emperor, and then put forward many weak demands on the establishment of islands and trade in Guangzhou, Zhoushan and other places. He Yan first protected the dignity of the Qing Empire as much as possible in etiquette, and also made the Qianlong Emperor happy. In the ensuing negotiations, Hezhen unashamedly refused the mission's request and fought with Macartney, eventually sending the mission out of the country.
With this alone, He Yan was not enough to win qianlong's trust for more than twenty years. Although as a minister, he and others felt the same way as the companion of the king, but he could serve the king like a father and share sorrow and joy with the emperor.
Second, Hezhen's attendants, such as fathers, were first of all considerate of the emperor in their daily lives. The elderly Qianlong Emperor was also like the usual elderly, like others to flatter and take care of him, and He yan accompanied him around, serving and caring, considerate and thoughtful. Although you are a university scholar and a military minister, whenever Qianlong coughs and spits, he immediately takes a spittoon to pick it up. Not only that, Qianlong was also a well-known filial piety, so He yan was extremely attentive to Qianlong's mother. Whenever the Empress Dowager's birthday was celebrated, Together with the guards, he personally carried the Empress Dowager's phoenix, and Qianlong looked at it in his eyes and couldn't help but value and appreciate Hezhen more in his heart. When the empress dowager died, Qianlong, who had always been filial and obedient, resigned for three days and could not afford to kneel. He Yan understood that all language was pale and powerless at this time, and instead of advising Qianlong to mourn like others, he knelt there from beginning to end, accompanying the emperor around.
In terms of religious belief, Qianlong revered Lamaism in Buddhism, so Hezhen also worshipped Lamaism and carefully studied his classic works. The common religious beliefs enabled the monarchs to be able to communicate with each other in this regard, and Hezhen naturally became a confidant of Qianlong in this regard.
In addition, Hezhen is good at greeting and has reached the highest realm of patting the horse. Qianlong loved poetry and calligraphy. In order to cater to Qianlong, He Yan carefully studied his poems and calligraphy works, and worked hard to study them, and achieved profound attainments in this regard. To this day, the historical archives still preserve the documents of the poems of He yan and Qianlong in that year, and the imperial poetry plaques we see now in the Reverence Hall of the Forbidden City in Beijing are written by He Yan. Moreover, He Yan was well aware of the truth that evil came from his mouth, and when serving the emperor, he reminded himself at any time to keep his eyes open and speak slowly; when speaking, he tried to speak as tactfully as possible to please Qianlong.
But power is like a double-edged sword, which can complete a person or destroy a person. The position of the powerful vassal fulfilled Washu's greed and ruined his life.
Three. Crazy money on the road of no return
As the power in his hands grew, so did his greed. Some people say that his crazy wealth is out of retribution for his wife Feng Shi, and some people say that it is out of fear of poverty in his childhood, but it is undeniable that the wealth accumulated by He yan is unprecedented, which also makes him gradually embark on a road of no return.
Generally speaking, his means of accumulating wealth are mainly as follows.
One is the emperor's reward. As the first favorite of the Qianlong Emperor, the source of He yan's property should come from the Qianlong Emperor's rewards. For example, in 1789, Hezhen's son Fengsheng Yinde married Qianlong's most beloved youngest daughter, Princess Gulun and Princess Xiaoxiao, and Qianlong not only rewarded the princess with a large amount of land and Zhuang Ding, but also rewarded the princess with a large dowry, worth millions of gold.
The second is embezzlement, bribery and extortion. He Yan was in charge of the Household Department, as well as the grain depot, the silk satin depot, the paint depot, the Yuanmingyuan tea and dining room, the Selection Office, the ShangsiYuan, the Tai Hospital, the Imperial Pharmacy and other finance-related departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which meant that he was in charge of the economic lifeblood of the country. At the same time, he was also responsible for the manufacture of various items used in the inner palace, and the construction and maintenance of the palace gardens. In fact, although he did not hold the post of the Ministry of Works, he also took the authority of the Ministry of Works into his own hands. In this way, he put the entire country's financial power under his control. These created many favorable conditions for his corruption.
In addition, since Hezhen was at the core of the Qing Dynasty's power, he was extremely well-informed, and for those officials with lower positions who could not get close to the core of power, a lot of information about Hezhen would directly determine their future and destiny. In order to get some news that is beneficial to themselves, many local officials have spared no expense to open up the relationship between Hezhen and Yan, and Hezhen can always benefit them, and over time, the people who give gifts will continue to flow.
From the age of 32, He yan served for a long time as the official Shangshu (equivalent to the minister of personnel and the minister of organization). The duty of the official is to manage the hundred officials, and he can use the convenience of his position to extort the hundred officials. The third is business. From an early age, he had a very high talent for business, and after becoming an official, as his capital increased, his shops also increased. In order to amass wealth, he ran dozens of pawnshops, and also operated a number of grain stores, hotels, antique shops, porcelain shops, gray tile shops, cabinet shops, bow and arrow shops, bar rooms, saddle felt shops, and small coal kilns. In addition, he purchased 80 large carriages and engaged in long-distance trafficking. In the context of everyone in the society at that time looking down on merchants, although He Yan was a high-ranking official, he even disregarded his reputation and associated with merchants, which the Jiaqing Emperor also scolded him as a shameless villain. But among the many commercial activities, what brought him the most wealth was the annexation of land. At that time, the Great Qing Law stipulated that the Manchurians in the banner were not allowed to do business, and from a legal point of view, the operation of Hezhen was illegal and involved the use of power for personal gain. However, objectively speaking, these incomes are all made by Hezhen's own ingenuity and painstaking efforts.
The extreme greed for money made Hezhen a person who was rich and invincible to the country, his power was enough to cause panic in the new emperor, and his money also attracted many dissatisfaction and even covetous eyes, and finally, the new emperor Jiaqing committed suicide with a white practice gift immediately after Qianlong's death. After raiding, his family property was equivalent to the sum of the fiscal revenue of the 15 years of the Qing Dynasty. Most of these family properties fell into Jiaqing's internal affairs office rather than the national treasury, so people often said that "Hezhen fell, Jiaqing was fed". Poor Hezhen, as a result of accumulating wealth all his life, not only has no property at all, he cannot die well, and his descendants are implicated, but also in the historical dimension, he has also become synonymous with corrupt officials, becoming the biggest negative teacher in the history textbooks of China and even the world in the future! The description of "one ugly cover up a hundred handsome" is appropriate! After all, the credit is not worth it!
The handsome and talented Hezhen, just because of a "greedy" word in his heart, ruined his life and ended up with a shameful, sad, and pitiful end. What should his death warn future generations? Different readers will come to different conclusions!
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