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The great corrupt official He Yan can be called the first favorite of the Qianlong Dynasty, he became famous at a young age, he was an extremely popular subject, and he was an official in the DPRK for nearly 30 years, and he actually achieved great favor. The most puzzling thing is that He yan's greed is known to the whole world, so why can he still become an official tumbler of the Qianlong Dynasty?
Let's start with the first question:
Did Qianlong know that He Yan was a corrupt official?
As soon as Qianlong died, Jiaqing put the Hezhen family to death, and the total wealth copied out at that time reached 800 million taels of silver, equivalent to the sum of the 15 years of fiscal revenue of the Qing Dynasty. Such a staggering number is by no means something that Hezhen coveted overnight, but is the result of decades of corruption. No matter how cautious he is in doing things, he cannot be flawless for decades.
What's more, He Yan was not a low-key and introverted person, his mansion and the profligate Qianlong Emperor had seen it with his own eyes, and it was obvious that He Yan's extravagant life could not be supported by his normal income alone. The Qianlong Emperor naturally knew this in his heart.
He Yan's style of conduct is very high-profile and there is no shyness, everyone in the government and the public knows, as long as he is willing to send money, there is nothing that cannot be done with the adults, even the Jiaqing Emperor knows that He Yan is both arrogant and corrupt, not to mention the Qianlong Emperor who is closest to He Yan?
Therefore, there is no doubt that the Qianlong Emperor knew that He yan was a corrupt official, and he even knew better than anyone the extent of he yan's corruption.
Then, let's explore the next question:
The Qianlong Emperor knew that He Yan was a corrupt official, so why did he reuse him?
The following is analyzed from shallow to deep, one by one.
First, He yan is good at flattery and can pat himself on the back.
Just as the so-called "thousands of clothes are worn, the horse ass is not worn", even if it is the emperor of the Ninth Five-Year-Old, it also needs to be complimented, not to mention that Qianlong is the best and most happy, and also prides himself on being the "ten perfect old man". Among all the ministers of culture and military affairs, Qianlong was the most comfortable and comfortable when he was with Hezhen, because Hezhen would cater to his thoughts the most, and he could also package his "move of the emperor" as "the act of the Ming King", the most typical of which was "Six Lower Jiangnan".
Qianlong can be called a travel master among the emperors, and he likes to travel the mountains and rivers the most in his life, and he is most enthusiastic about touring the south of the River. However, Xia Jiangnan not only had a long way to go and delayed the government, but also labored the people and hurt their wealth, and the cost was huge, so the Qianlong Emperor, who wanted to become a Ming Emperor, also hesitated.
He Yan saw through the thoughts of the Qianlong Emperor and said: "The ancient saints are like Yao Shun, but the Shang Shu Shun Dian records that Emperor Shun also went on a five-year tour, which shows that since ancient times, the tour has been done by the saints. However, the Holy Emperor and Daoben were similar, and Emperor Shengzu also made six southern tours, and instead of causing public resentment, he was praised as the Ming Emperor of the Ages, not to mention that now that the national treasury is full, the funds for the parade will not have any adverse impact on the country. ”
He Yan's words, quoting the scriptures, completely dispelled the Qianlong Emperor's concerns about playing in the lower Jiangnan. Such a courtier, where does the emperor not like it?
Second, He Yan was intelligent and good at guessing Qianlong's holy will.
The premise of the ass is to first understand what the emperor is thinking, and at this point, no one can match He yan, he is like a roundworm in Qianlong's belly. In this regard, the author will give another example.
When Jiaqing killed Hezhen, he listed 20 counts of his crimes, the first of which was: "When Qianlong had not yet announced the Zen throne, Hezhen presented Ruyi to Jiaqing in advance, leaking secrets as a credit for support." "Then, how did He Yan know that Qianlong was going to give the Throne to the Jiaqing Emperor before his death?"
It was in the later years of Qianlong's reign, after an early dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor, who had always liked to dance and ink, splashed ink in front of Wenwu's close subjects, but the words he wrote this time were a bit special, it was a big "Zen" character. Qianlong practiced Buddhism in his later years, so when other ministers of culture and military affairs saw this "Zen" character, they all thought that the Qianlong Emperor was enlightened and enlightened, and only He yan could see Qianlong's true intentions -- this "Zen" character of Qianlong should not be pronounced as "Zen" [chán], but should be read "Zen Rang" [shàn], his old man was to abdicate the throne and give the throne to the crown prince!
This was He Yan, just a word and a look, he knew what the Qianlong Emperor needed and thought, such a minister, how could Qianlong not love?
Third, both talented and knowledgeable.
He Yan is by no means a traitor and corrupt official in our stereotype, and in real history, he is definitely talented and beautiful, and he is a martial artist. He Yan began to study at the Xian'an Palace at the age of 10, and was not only familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, but also proficient in manchu, Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan languages. The history book evaluates and yan yue: "Little smell of poetry, Tonghou is the champion." Crooked bow Zhu Yanluo, Jian pen Li Moyun. ”
With regard to the knowledge of Washu, here is a more classic example.
In the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (1773 AD), the Qianlong Emperor received a report on his way to travel, saying that "Yunnan is in a hurry, and the Burmese wanton criminals have escaped", at that time Qianlong was very angry and scolded:
"What is the fault of the tiger out of the tree, and the turtle jade is destroyed in the tree?"
”
Qianlong's words made the civil and military officials present look at each other, and no one knew what the saint meant. In fact, this sentence comes from the "Analects of Ji Shi", which means: Tiger rhinoceros and other beasts of prey ran out of the cage, and treasures such as tortoise shell jade were lost in the box, whose fault is it?
At that time, He Yan was just a Luan public guard, but he answered in a loud voice from a distance:
"Long live you, the keepers must not absolve themselves of the blame!"
In other words: the caretaker has an unshirkable responsibility. This sentence is also from the Analects, and it is obvious that He yan understood the meaning of Qianlong.
This was the first official meeting between He Yan and the Qianlong Emperor, and it was in this way that he gained the emperor's favor and embarked on the road to ascension from then on. This year, the Qianlong Emperor was 62 years old, and He Yan was 23 years old.
Fourth, He Yan is indeed a corrupt official, but he is also a capable minister, and the value he creates far exceeds the total amount of his corruption, which is also the most important and deepest reason.
It is undeniable that as a close minister of the emperor, He Yan's ability is very strong, and he has indeed made many contributions to the Qing Dynasty, which even the Jiaqing Emperor who killed him had to admit. He Yan knows how to be corrupt and how to create wealth. For example, the Qianlong Emperor made six southern tours, built 30 palaces along the way, and spent millions of silver taels each time, but did not use one or two pieces of silver in the state treasury, of which the funds for the next few times were all raised by Hezhen.
Why is Hezhen greedy for so much money? This question Jiaqing had also asked him before executing Hezhen, and the answer he had given was: "In addition to people in his position, he can't help himself, mainly for the sake of supplying Qianlong and squandering." ”
Therefore, even though the Qianlong Emperor knew that He yan was a corrupt official, he had to use him, because he needed this wealth-gathering machine, and even more so, he needed this ruling minister.
In addition, although He Yan was both arrogant and corrupt, he was indeed loyal to the Qianlong Emperor and even the entire Qing Dynasty, and he never had the heart to rebel. It was precisely because the Qianlong Emperor knew this that he dared to reuse him with confidence.
Resources:
Draft History of the Qing Dynasty