Speaking of corrupt officials, the first impression in many people's minds may be that of Hezhen, and we all know that he is even more greedy than the savings in the treasury.
According to Jiaqing's edict on punishment, there were countless rare treasures hidden in Hezhen's home, about 33,500 taels of gold and about 3 million taels of silver. And he used his position to open many shops in the market, such as opening seventy-five pawnshops, even more than three hundred qianzhuang, and a large number of jade antique shops. Liu Quan, the butler under He yan, because of the "big tree" of He yan, Liu Quan also accumulated more than 200,000 taels of family property.
In fact, many people wondered why He yan embezzled so much money, and even Qianlong's son later confirmed the evidence of He yan's crime, why Qianlong did not seem to perceive the abnormality, and still entrusted He yan with a heavy responsibility. In fact, Qianlong's heart was like a mirror, and later Qianlong also specially warned Jiaqing not to get rid of Hezhen prematurely. It can also be seen from this that Qianlong wanted to make use of Hezhen's extremely strong ability to accumulate wealth and lay the foundation for the financial crisis that had arisen.
According to historical records, the gold and silver treasures copied out of the Hezhen family did supplement the national treasury to a large extent, but Qianlong did not get rid of Hezhen too early, in fact, there were other considerations, that is, many advantages of Hezhen.
1. Outstanding talent and strong ability
The first thing to say is the language talent of Hezhen, who is proficient in the languages of the manchu, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan ethnic groups, and whenever other ethnic groups visit, he acts as an interpreter, and his professional level can also be called a diplomatic expert. Moreover, He Yan played with the unspoken rules of the officialdom, as well as the way of checks and balances of power, and all kinds of major and minor matters inside and outside the imperial court were handled with ease, which was deeply liked by Qianlong. From these aspects, there were very few all-round talents like He yan in the Qing court at that time.
Second, the interests and hobbies are consistent with Qianlong
Qianlong's personality is also relatively elegant, and he is more fond of calligraphy and painting classics and rare treasures, and the same is true of Hezhen, and he has also studied in-depth calligraphy and painting, and has his own achievements in calligraphy, and the treasures of Hezhen are basically the best in fine works, and often take these things to Qianlong.
Third, Qianlong "squandered" and actively operated with Himan
Qianlong's achievements in his life were also relatively numerous, such as Pingding attaching importance to social stability, caring for the sufferings of the people, and exempting the world's money and grain five times, and exempting eight provinces from grain. It also put down the rebellion in the border areas and safeguarded the unity of the country. In addition, Qianlong also went to Jiangnan seven times in his life, and each time it was a big pomp and a big hand. There were also many banquets for thousands of people, collecting and collecting antiques, whether it was society, war, personal selfish desires, all needed a lot of silver, if there was no advice from he Yan, the financial steward, I am afraid that Qianlong's life would not be able to sustain.
Fourth, He Yan was particularly loyal to Qianlong
Whether it is ancient or modern workplace people, as a leader, in addition to paying attention to the ability of employees, but also paying more attention to the loyalty of employees, can be disloyal, it is likely that the stability of the boss will be affected. After all, in history, there have been many powerful ministers with high merit, such as Nian Qianyao and Long Keduo, and even directly threatened the imperial power in the end. As for someone like Hezhen, who has talent, but knows how to restrain in front of his master and is loyal to his master, then he is deeply liked and reassured by Qianlong.
5. Hezhen was a political victim of the consolidation of imperial power
Soon after Jiaqing ascended the throne, he brought out various evidence of Hezhen's crimes to overthrow Hezhen, a move that greatly shocked the courtiers and established a huge political prestige. After all, He Yan has been in this official field for decades, and the power connections are monstrous, and only after he is eliminated can those who regard He Yan as the master can see the situation clearly, be loyal to the new emperor, and achieve a smooth transfer of power.
In this way, Qianlong saw a very long-term impact. Although it is true that Qianlong likes Hezhen, it is only to use him as a pawn to serve Qianlong's imperial skills.