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If we want to talk about the big corrupt officials in China's history, we must be indispensable to Hezhen. After receiving Qianlong's favor, He yan gradually became addicted to the "charm" of money. He used his power to not miss any opportunity to make money, and often held various family banquets to receive gifts. In this way, Ling Hezhen became the first corrupt official of the Qing Dynasty, and the embezzled silver amounted to 800 million taels, which was jaw-dropping.
In fact, Qianlong was not unaware of Hezhen's corruption. It was just that he had a high emotional intelligence, enough to make Qianlong happy, and he had his own standards for doing things, so Qianlong selectively turned a blind eye to him and pretended not to know about his corruption. Therefore, during Qianlong's reign, He yan not only remained unscathed, but also vigorously gathered money with Qianlong's favor. Not only that, Qianlong also left a "Life-Saving Edict" for Hezhen, what was written in it? Let's listen to the lifebuoy slowly.
Qianlong died, and Jiaqing gave death and Yan
After the death of the Qianlong Emperor, He Yan originally thought that he was powerful and powerful, and Jiaqing did not dare to move himself. But unexpectedly, Qianlong had just died, and Jiaqing set his sights on Hezhen. He spared no effort to list 20 counts of Hezhen, all of which were capital offenses. Originally, He yan should have been sentenced to capital punishment, but the Jiaqing Emperor read the "edict to protect his life" and let him commit suicide, leaving him a whole corpse. So, what exactly is written on that "life-saving edict"?
In fact, in the late Qianlong period, in order to avoid secrecy, he did not want to let his reign time exceed that of his grandfather Kangxi, so he passed the throne to Jiaqing in advance, and he became the Emperor Taishang. Therefore, Jiaqing, who had just ascended the throne, did not have real power, and the power of the DPRK and China was still in the hands of Qianlong. As Qianlong's health deteriorated, even his speech became more and more slurred, and later, only Hezhen could understand Qianlong's instructions. Therefore, every time he went to the court, Qianlong first conveyed the instructions to Hezhen, and then conveyed the instructions to the ministers, and even Emperor Jiaqing could only listen to Hezhen. In a sense, Hezhen is the real ruler.
At this time, Hezhen can be described as out of the limelight, even Jiaqing is not comparable. Even sometimes, he only needed to make a small report to Qianlong, and he could suppress the Jiaqing Emperor with great ease. And this is also the reason why Jiaqing finally gave death and Yan. When Qianlong was still alive, Jiaqing couldn't bear it, and when Qianlong died, Jiaqing naturally didn't have to care about others anymore.
"Leave the whole body"
However, he who was in the limelight might not have thought that the Qianlong Emperor would protect him before he died. On a copy of the "Edict of Life Preservation" left to him after his death, only 3 words were written, and these 3 words were "leaving the whole body". The so-called "Zhizi Moruo Father", Qianlong would not be unaware of Jiaqing's thoughts, and the crime of embezzlement of Hezhen was indeed a little serious. Therefore, Qianlong could not keep Hezhen's life after death, and could only tell his son to leave a whole corpse for Hezhen, which may also be Qianlong's last preference for Hezhen.
Before his death, He Yan opened this "Life Preservation Edict", not knowing whether he would be desperate or moved when he saw these 3 words. Perhaps, with our understanding of Hezhen in our eyes, he would scold Qianlong for not saving his life. But whether he was given to commit suicide or sentenced to capital punishment, with his guilt, he basically could not escape death. And the only person who caused this result can only be blamed on himself, and he can't blame anyone. What do you think about that?