Since Qianlong left, He Shen ushered in his trial.
Just when Emperor Jiaqing decided to send him on the road, He Shen suddenly took out the "life-saving edict" that Qianlong had sent him before.
The moment he opened the "Life-Saving Edict", He Shen was completely dumbfounded, because there were three words written on it that made him very desperate, which were the three?
Father-in-law appreciated
Throughout the Qing Dynasty, there were two very famous corrupt officials, simply put: "There is He Shen in the front, and Li Hongzhang in the back." ”
The "stolen money" accumulated by the two can still be ranked in the country today, and it is possible to become the richest man.
However, He Shen was still relatively honest and honest at the beginning, but the corrupt officialdom life is too easy for people to change.
At first, the conditions of Heshen's family were okay, at least they could eat enough and have money to study, but with the death of Heshen's parents one after another, he and his younger brother were almost homeless.
As a result, the young He Shen realized that if he wanted to survive, he had to have the ability. Naturally, it is learning, so at that time, He Shen and his younger brother He Lin studied very hard.
In the Qing Dynasty society at that time, whether it was a poor family or a nobleman, their children were almost the same, they knew how to eat, drink and have fun since they were young, and some of them could not read a single word when they were ten years old.
As the saying goes, "The children of the poor are in charge of the house early." ”
By the time He Shen was ten years old, he was already proficient in writing an article, and his most basic survival skills were also very proficient.
Later, with his own efforts, He Shen was successfully admitted to a royal school, and most of the students in it came from aristocratic or wealthy merchant families.
Don't look at this group of people staying in the royal school, in fact, many of them came in by money or connections, and few of them were admitted in a down-to-earth manner like He Shen.
Even after entering the Royal School, the group of gentlemen still eat, drink and have fun all day long, and they don't learn anything, and the teachers are helpless when they see this.
Let's take a look at He Shen, at that time, he had learned a lot of skills, and he had learned a lot, which laid a solid foundation for him to be appreciated by Emperor Qianlong in the future.
Children who study so hard must be deeply loved by the teachers, and later by chance, He Shen was appreciated by the governor of Zhili.
He Shen is handsome, tall and thin, and it is said that He Shen's height is about 1.7 meters, which was not bad at the time.
But people at the time were more context-conscious.
For He Shen, who went to school alone in Xian'an Palace, some people were not optimistic. The family background is not good, and everything is in vain.
It was in this situation that Yinglian was still very optimistic about He Shen, and he also married his granddaughter Feng Jiwen to He Shen.
He Shen had nothing at that time, and he actually climbed into a rich and powerful official family, so sometimes don't complain about the environment, and if you don't succeed, it may be because you haven't worked hard enough.
As long as you work hard enough, you will be appreciated one day.
Although the gap between the rich and the poor is very large, and it is a bit of a wrong household, Feng Jiwen did not refuse. Feng Wenwen has a gentle temperament, is a good wife and mother, and she takes care of the house very well.
It is precisely because of this father-in-law's appreciation that He Shen gradually entered the official career, and his highlight life officially began.
He Shen was a third-class guard at the beginning, and someone must have said at this time: "With his study experience, shouldn't he be a civil official?
When studying in Xian'an Palace, He Shen not only learned those book knowledge, but also had courses such as horse riding, archery, spearmanship, and swordsmanship in the school.
Get reused
So He Shen had practiced martial arts at that time, but he was not as accomplished in literature as he was. From this point, it is not difficult to see that letting Heshen be a guard is really condescending.
Later, by chance, He Shen finally found an opportunity to express himself.
At that time, a warehouse was stolen, and Qianlong was very angry when he learned about it.
In order to express his dissatisfaction, Qianlong blurted out: "The tiger is out of the sheng, and the turtle and jade are destroyed in the coffin, which is the fault?" This sentence comes from an essay in the Analects, which means: "Who did it?"
In fact, there is an answer to this sentence, but everyone present does not know.
However, the great talent and Shen read this article, and saw that no one spoke, so he and Shen said bravely: "The warden must not be blamed." ”
Qianlong was shocked and happy when he heard this, so he asked He Shen's name and position. Seeing that this son was extraordinary, Qianlong promoted him to the imperial guard. He Shen became the deputy commander.
Of course, there is more than one such opportunity.
At that time, although the Qing Dynasty had gradually become corrupt, it was okay on the surface. The Tibetan lama knew the importance of currying favor with the Qing Dynasty, so he sent a letter to Qianlong.
This letter can make Qianlong worried, because he really can't understand it.
If you say that Qianlong can't understand it, forget it, even many literati don't know what is written.
At that time, Qianlong knew that He Shen was a young man who was erudite and talented, so Qianlong asked him: "Can you read Tibetan?"
After hearing this, He Shen said modestly: "The minister studied the Tibetan scriptures when he was in Xian'an Palace, so he should know a little bit about it." ”
Qianlong did not hesitate after hearing this, and directly handed the letter to He Shen. After reading it, He Shen said slowly: "Back to the emperor, they mean to let us build a lama temple, and the rest is gone." ”
I don't know if it's really gone or I can't understand it, but Qianlong believed it after hearing it, so he let Heshen overseer go.
With such a talented person by his side, Qianlong is also becoming more and more fond of him, and the two often discuss various issues together.
Although Qianlong has learned a lot, he is a little better than him in many fields.
Of course, He Shen is a courtier after all, and he is still relatively low-key. There is such a minister who thinks about himself, how could Qianlong not love it?
go astray
Qianlong paid more and more attention to He Shen, and He Shen's official position naturally became higher and higher. Everyone saw that he was so highly regarded by the emperor, and began to curry favor with him, which was extremely common in all dynasties.
At that time, many people would send things to He Shen privately in order to be promoted.
One thing to say, He Shen was still very honest at the beginning, and no matter who gave him away, he would not accept it.
Later, according to some experts, the reason why He Shen did not accept bribes at this time was because the gifts given by these people were not big enough, after all, some ordinary things would be rare.
After the later case, He Shen completely tasted the sweetness.
At that time, there was a big corrupt official named Li Shuyao, this person was really bold, and his scandal was almost all known, so everyone jointly wrote a letter to request that this Li Shuyao be investigated and punished.
Qianlong didn't say anything at first, because a considerable part of the money that Li Shuyao embezzled was given to Qianlong, so people didn't want to investigate him.
But as more and more people sued him, Qianlong had no choice but to respond to this matter, and then He Shen was ordered to supervise the case.
He Shen only made a slight move and found a lot of evidence, and if he was punished according to the law, he could be convicted of death, but He Shen did not do so.
After all, Qianlong still likes this Li Shiyao very much, firstly because of the money, and secondly, because people do have some ability, and they usually work quite well.
If He Shen told all the evidence and convicted Li Shuyao of death, then He Shen would not be too uncomfortable later, so He Shen stayed behind, and Li Shuyao successfully survived.
Seeing that He Shen was so sensible, Qianlong was very satisfied with him, he had strong eyesight, talent, and knew how to please the emperor, which was the main reason why He Shen was favored at that time.
In fact, this time Li Shuyao was investigated, and He Shen can be said to have made a lot of money, because most of Li Shuyao's property was carried to his own house by He Shen.
Later, coupled with Qianlong's reward to He Shen, He Shen tasted the sweetness, so he gradually embarked on the wrong path of corruption and bribery.
People, I am not afraid of the temptations around me, but what I am afraid of is that I can't resist the temptation and go astray in the end.
Later, He Shen became more and more bold, and he actually began to steal.
At that time, there were many affiliated countries that paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty, and the items they paid tribute were handled by Heshen.
Seeing that there are good things inside, He Shen will secretly take them. Because Qianlong didn't find out, He Shen stole more and more.
Did Qianlong really not find out? Of course he did. It's just that at that time, He Shen was able to communicate with many outsiders, such as the aforementioned lamas.
Therefore, in order to communicate with the tribute personnel in a friendly manner, Qianlong had to turn a blind eye.
Kangxi once gave the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang a "Fu Word Tablet", and He Shen liked it very much after seeing it, so he later stole this "Fu Zi Tablet" and put it in his own rockery.
Did Qianlong really not know about this series of actions of He Shen? In fact, there were many things that he knew, such as He Shen's corruption and bribery, so why didn't he care?
Qianlong was already old at that time, and he didn't want to toss anymore, so he left this opportunity to his son Jiaqing.
Soon after Qianlong's death, the Heshen family was investigated and punished.
Knowing that he was about to go to hell, He Shen hurriedly took out the "life-saving edict" prepared for him by Qianlong back then.
The moment he opened it, He Shen was completely desperate, because there were only three words on it, "leave the whole corpse".
Qianlong also expected that his son would punish He Shen with death.
According to the law, He Shen will inevitably be punished very cruelly. Qianlong really couldn't bear it, so he asked his son to leave a whole corpse for He Shen.
Since his big backers had already expected that he would die, He Shen had no reason to live, and finally He Shen committed suicide at home, and a generation of big corrupt officials officially ended.
"If you don't want people to know, you can't do anything unless you do it", staying next to the emperor with eight hundred hearts, how could the ministers' little ninety-nine not be discovered?
Therefore, you must be upright, and don't be clever in front of smart people, otherwise the ending will be very miserable!