When it comes to Hejun, people's first reaction is corrupt officials, "greed" can be described as the biggest label on Hejun, he is not only a slave in front of the emperor, but also the core of power in power.
He was greedy, and the common people hated him to the bone; He is polite and martial, and he can mix well above the court.
No matter how the emperor changed, Hejun was loyal to only one person, but the result was that he left thousands of family properties and an insatiable insult, and became the laughing stock of the world.
First, the imperial examination failed to win the court, and there was another way to go straight up
Hejun is a famous corrupt official in history, and our image of Hejun, mostly influenced by film and television dramas, is a bloated and greedy and somewhat cute fat man, but the real image of Hejun in history is very different from our impressions.
The famous scholar Ma Weidu once said that people only know that Hejun is a big corrupt official, but they do not know that he also has many outstanding points, he is well-read, talented, proficient in many languages, and has outstanding abilities and talents.
So the question is, how did Hejun go from a failed candidate to the peak of power step by step?
According to historical records, Helong was born in the 15th year of Qianlong, a family of military attachés, and because of his ancestral battle exploits, the family was able to hereditarily become a third-class light car captain. Since he was a child, he was very handsome, and he had great ambitions, he was familiar with scriptures, he was very knowledgeable at a young age, and he mastered the four languages of Chinese, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan.
But the sky did not go as expected, and he unfortunately failed to take the imperial examination at the age of 21, and he was very annoyed at that time, but he did not sink because of this, and he did not waste time to study, because he firmly believed that I was born to be useful. Because of his father's early death, he became a third-class lieutenant, and although this was only a small position, he worked very hard and worked meticulously.
Soon, he was selected to join the honor guard of the Qianlong Emperor's travels because of his quick work, and since then he has had the opportunity to contact the Qianlong Emperor.
Second, the knowledge helps Hejun to make a blockbuster
The books that Wakan read came in handy in a serendipitous incident.
Once, when a felony in the Qing Dynasty was arrested, the Qianlong Emperor ordered him to be kept under strict surveillance, but the felon's escape anyway. At that time, Qianlong was on the way, and when he heard the news, he was very angry, so he said: "Tiger out, turtle jade destroyed in the middle, who is the fault?" ”
At that time, most of the entourage around the emperor were military attachés, and they looked at each other one by one, and they could not understand what the emperor wanted to express, only Hejun, who had read poetry books, understood it, and answered the emperor's words: "The guardian cannot shirk his responsibility." ”
Qianlong was surprised when he heard this, so he called Helong over to ask questions, and when he learned that he had read the book, he began to discuss it with him. In the face of the emperor's inquiry, Helong was neither humble nor arrogant, and answered like a stream, which surprised Qianlong, thinking that Helong was a wizard with both civility and martial arts, so he made an exception to promote Helong, which was also the real beginning of Hejun carp's leaping over the dragon gate.
Since then, Hejun has officially stepped into the officialdom. In the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty, it is impossible to go far if you rely only on knowledge and talent, and Helong is not only a sneaky horse as shown in film and television dramas, in fact, his ability in all aspects is outstanding.
Third, insatiable greed and shrewdness come together
If Hejun's emergence in front of the emperor was a stepping stone to officialdom, then he was really reused in the Li Gongyao case. Li Gongyao was a big corrupt official during the Qianlong period, and after being reported, he initially pleaded not guilty, and many case-handling personnel were helpless and did not know how to open a breakthrough.
At this time, Hejun stood up, he started with Li Gongyao's butler, and under some coercion and temptation, all Li Gongyao's cronies chose to betray, and these people truthfully confessed Li Gongyao's crime of corruption. Faced with ironclad evidence, Li Gongyao finally had to plead guilty and plead guilty.
Hejun's ability in Li Gongyao's case was once again recognized and appreciated by the Qianlong Emperor, so he began to entrust him with important tasks, and Helong also became popular and became the emperor's confidant, and his ability to be good at flattery finally came into play.
Compared with Hejun's own ability, his kung fu can be said to be more than enough, because he really serves the prince like a father, and can always grasp Qianlong's mind, which is also his superiority - in front of Qianlong, he never called himself a vassal, but humbly called himself a slave.
This kind of harmony won the trust of the Qianlong Emperor, and his status rose with it, and after he gradually took control of power, he began to give full play to his strengths and shine in all aspects.
At that time, Qianlong was profligate, and Helong devoted himself to replenishing the internal affairs government for his expenses, and the finances of the entire Qing government appeared to be in good order under Helong's management. Every year, Qianlong takes Helong to Rehe Mountain Resort, during which many ethnic minority dignitaries come to face the saint.
At this time, Helong's ability to be proficient in minority languages came in handy, and he could not only translate well, but also offer advice to the emperor from time to time, which made Qianlong very comfortable.
During the Qianlong period, many countries in the world would send envoys to pay tribute every year, including the powerful United Kingdom, and Qianlong entrusted the affairs of foreign liaison to Helong.
Once, the British delegation visited, and there was a disagreement with the Qing Dynasty over the issue of salutes, and Helong was not humble or arrogant, persuaded the British, and finally came to meet according to the Qing etiquette. Later, the British wanted to open a trade route with the Qing Dynasty, but Qianlong did not agree, so Helong mediated with the British as a diplomat, causing Britain to abandon this idea, and the British called Helong a "mature politician".
With the increasing power, Hejun slowly began to sink into it, he began to corrupt, using various means to engage in money and power trading, and together with a group of corrupt officials to bring disaster to the imperial court, eradicating dissidents, and Hekan, who was good at business, took advantage of it and accumulated tens of thousands of family assets for himself.
4. Loyalty to one person throughout your life
The most valuable quality in his life was his loyalty. Qianlong became happy and profligate in the later period, and in his eyes, only the prosperous era he created could not listen to the slightest rebellion. While helping the imperial court suppress the peasant uprising, Helong lied to Qianlong about the peace of the world, which made Qianlong feel dependent on him.
After Qianlong Zen gave up to Jiaqing, he did not want to enter retirement prematurely, so he tried to limit Jiaqing's power. The two emperors were harmonious on the surface, but in fact, they were tense and like water and fire. Hundreds of officials of the imperial court sided with the new emperor, because Jiaqing was the real Qing emperor in the future.
And Helong was loyal to Qianlong from beginning to end, and although he could not stop the course of history, he still helped Qianlong to restrain Jiaqing without hesitation. It was also during this period that Hejun's power reached its peak - he began to become unscrupulous, and gradually became a thorn in the eyes and flesh of the Jiaqing Emperor.
After Qianlong's death, Jiaqing immediately cured Hejun's sin, and Helong knew that he had exhausted his qi, and did not make too many excuses, but silently chose to kill himself in prison. After Hejun's death, his home was also ransacked, and to the world's shock, his family property had reached the level of wealth rivals, so there was a saying that "Hejun fell, Jiaqing was full".
Hejun was a well-deserved elite talent during the Qianlong period, but this could not hide his later greed. From a fallen scholar to a powerful man, Hejun's life has completed a gorgeous transformation, but in this process, he indulged his greed and finally fell into the stigma of a corrupt official.
Resources:
"Qing History Manuscript", etc