He Yan is a famous corrupt official in history, there are more than enough in the past and the present, and the official should have served the country and the people, blindly greed is doomed to eat the consequences of itself, and eventually He Yan was sentenced to raid his home, and the courtiers who were once extremely powerful declined overnight.
Officials are greedy and the people suffer. Although the bribes collected by higher-level officials are from lower-level officials, there are not many lower-level officials, and the only way is to collect the people's fat and people's anointing, which eventually leads to the people's misery.
The ascension of the new emperor to the throne is often accompanied by bloody atmosphere, and the best way to gain the trust of the people and stabilize the court to deter other officials is to kill the chicken and scare the monkey, and after Yongzheng took the throne, He yan also became the chicken.
However, before he died, he secretly said to the prisoner next door to him: "If you don't die, go out and help me do a big thing." Could it be that Hezhen wants to get revenge on Yongzheng? Not really. Today, let's talk about this story.
The phenomenon of no official and no greed
With the change of the court, the people who held the imperial power were constantly changing, but the corrupt officials always existed, even under Li Shimin's reform policy, there were still people who acted against the wind. The source of the national treasury was mainly dependent on the common people, and local officials needed to pay tribute to the emperor every year.
So they collected taxes from the people, but they generally did not give it to the emperor completely, but secretly raised the price of the tax, and then kept a part of it for themselves, and the emperor knew about this behavior, but there was no cure.
The emperor could not behead all officials, nor could he guarantee that the next official in office would be incorruptible, Zhu Yuanzhang had beheaded all corrupt officials and showed the public, but in the end it was still a dove to quench his thirst and could not change the style of the officialdom.
Many people say that there are indeed not many officials, but this is not the root cause of corruption. The Song Dynasty was prosperous, and Zhao Kuangyin also greatly improved the salaries of officials, but corruption still accounted for 90% of the officials in the imperial court.
This is also the desire of human nature, in the muddy waters of power and interests, even incorruptible people will be stained, the ancient official institutions are not perfect, usually rely on the inspectors of the supervision agencies, but what if the local officials and the supervision agencies are in the same stream?
Local officials send "protection fees" to officials in the capital, lower-level officials give "greeting gifts" to higher-level officials, officials rush to curry favor on their birthdays, and whenever the examination is held, readers also begin to squeeze their heads to send gifts to invigilators and responsible persons...
All kinds of corruption and bribery have become the unspoken rules of the court, and the emperor can only turn a blind eye, and there is nothing he can do about it. This is the drawback of ancient tyranny, the collusion of power holders with each other can not be shaken, and the common people dare not offend.
He Yan was an official in the dynasty, and the amount of corruption was even more enormous, so did Qianlong really know nothing? Or turn a blind eye to connivance. Many people also have their own views on this.
Corruption is the most harmonious
For thousands of years, the phenomenon of corruption and bribery has not only not improved, but has become more and more serious, and by the time of the Qing Dynasty, there were very few incorruptible people in the entire court. He Yan is the most corrupt, but he is not the same from the beginning, and when he first entered the court, he also refused gifts from others many times.
However, in the muddy waters of the deep court, He yan also began to take a crooked path, committing corruption and bribery. At that time, He Yan handled cases one after another, but it was always an official's corruption and bribery.
In particular, Li Shiyao, whose embezzlement was huge enough to match he had spent a lifetime, changed Hezhen's style of behavior. In Li Shiyao's case, He Yan embezzled a large amount of treasure, gained greater pleasure from it, and was also praised by Qianlong, and his status was gradually promoted.
This case also gave He yan some experience, not only began to accept bribes, but also began to build his own power, forming parties within the imperial court for personal gain, and making his power reach a point where no one could shake it.
At this time, the court also became more chaotic and dirty, and various officials colluded with each other to seek benefits for themselves, and the truly incorruptible people with lofty ideals were almost invisible, and Hezhen was also happy to enjoy it, enjoying the pleasure of fame and fortune.
However, He yan is also very clever, he knows how to please the emperor and win his favor, even if the emperor knows that he is corrupt and bribed, he will have some concerns and will not easily dispose of himself.
Whenever He Yan scavenged rare treasures from all over the place, he would offer them to Qianlong, and he would also offer a huge amount of silver, and Qianlong was naturally very happy when he saw it, and he had his own real talent and practical learning, and often used this to discuss poetry with Qianlong.
Subsequently, He yan also became a relative of the emperor, which was enough to see Qianlong's favor for him, but at this time, he's desire for hezhen also became more and more inflated, in addition to expanding in business, he also continued to form parties for personal gain and eliminate dissidents.
A series of unscrupulous acts of He Yan also offended the other side of the force, that is, Yongzheng, in Qianlong's later years, He Yan took over the power of Qianlong's glory and favor, and for a time became the "Second Emperor" Even Yongzheng had no real power, and was surrounded by traitors installed by Hezhen.
It was not until after Qianlong's death that Yongzheng began to implement plans to eradicate Hezhen and avoid the threat of his power to him, and within half a month, Yongzheng took out dozens of pieces of evidence of Hezhen's crimes, detained him, and ordered him to be raided.
Confessing major matters in prison
Subsequently, the officials went to the hezhen family to raid the house, and seized two to eight hundred million yuan of silver, which exceeded the tax revenue of the entire Qing Dynasty for more than ten years, which was only cash silver, and there were many precious treasures in the treasury of Hezhen, as well as dozens of shops and land, which greatly shocked the courtiers.
After being arrested and imprisoned, he also knew that he only had one death left, and there were many henchmen in custody with him at this time, but he knew that Yongzheng had just ascended the throne and would not kill everyone else, and they would eventually be pardoned.
At that time, Fu Heng's son Fu Chang'an was also among them, and because he had been a close associate of He yan, he was implicated, so He Yan confessed to Fu Chang'an that if he did not die, he would help himself to do a big thing, not for He Yan himself, but for his nephew.
He Yan was indeed a reviled corrupt official, but he was very kind to his family, almost responsive. And he has always liked his nephew, knowing that this nephew has no ability, and worrying about his nephew's future life.
He Yan has a younger brother named Helin, and Helin has a son named Fengshen Yimian. At that time, Hezhen's son Fengshen Yinde had already married 10 princesses and had a future dependence, but his nephew Fengshen Yimian had no source of livelihood.
At the same time, this nephew was also very timid and afraid of things, and for this, He yan asked Fu Chang'an to promise him one thing, hoping that this nephew could get his care of one or two, which was also his only wish before he died. In the end, He yan was sentenced to self-judgment, and Jiaqing did not kill all of Hezhen's henchmen, and even his family was pardoned.
He yan's family ran to their own places, and of course, a few people committed suicide with the martyrdom of hezhen. Later, Fu Chang'an did not die because of this, and he was sent to other places, but it is not known whether Fu Chang'an took care of his nephew for He yan.