Preamble:
mentioned He Shen, the "first corrupt official" of the Qing Dynasty.
There was a folk saying that "Heshen fell, Jiaqing was full", why do you say this?
After Qianlong's death, Jiaqing issued an order to give death to Heshen and confiscate his family property.
But what Jiaqing never expected was that 800 million taels of silver were confiscated from He Shen's family, which at that time was nearly ten years of tax revenue from the state treasury.
This couldn't help but make Jiaqing ask: "Can you spend all the money you are greedy for?"
He Shen said something very calmly, which made Jiaqing speechless for a moment.
Jiaqing ascended the throne and Heshen fell
He Shen, an ordinary man from a civilian background, became the most relied on minister of the Qianlong Emperor with his extraordinary intelligence and cleverness.
He wields a lot of power and trusts him to the extreme, and even Qianlong's trust in him exceeds his trust in his own heirs.
He Shen controlled the financial power, made a huge fortune, and was rich enough to rival the country, but also laid the line of destruction for himself.
At the beginning of Jiaqing's ascension to the throne, faced with an empty treasury and increasingly rampant corruption, he was determined to carry out a major purge.
As a symbol of corruption in the Qing Dynasty, He Shen naturally became his primary goal to clean up the portal.
On the one hand, Jiaqing wanted to restore the funds of the treasury by attacking Heshen, and on the other hand, he also tried to establish his own prestige and prove that he was not just a shadow of Qianlong.
Faced with the confiscated 800 million taels of silver, Jiaqing couldn't help but question He Shen: "Can you spend all the money you are greedy for?"
He Shen said calmly: "The money I am greedy for is not all used for myself, a lot of his money is used to support Qianlong's government affairs and projects, Qianlong went out on patrol and built palaces, these are huge state activities, many times the treasury is insufficient, he needs to embezzle the gold and silver in his private collection to subsidize." ”
Hearing this, Jiaqing was speechless, and only gave He Shen a glass of poisoned wine, making him break himself.
Jiaqing knew in his heart that He Shen's corrupt behavior had seriously affected the normal operation of the imperial court and the national image of the Qing Dynasty.
He is determined to thoroughly investigate the facts of He Shen's corruption and make it public, so that everyone in the world will know that even the celebrities around Qianlong will not let it go!
Jiaqing punched hard
He Shen's fate was quickly reversed after Qianlong's death, and Qianlong's protection of He Shen was as strong as an umbrella during his lifetime.
However, as soon as the umbrella is put away, the wind and rain will hit uncontrollably.
Jiaqing's liquidation of Heshen is far more than just a simple matter of recovering stolen state property.
and Shen
This is also a symbol of power, a new emperor's suppression of the old ministers, a negation of the old politics of the past, and a symbolic display of power.
Jiaqing's suspicions were not only aimed at He Shen personally, but also extended to the entire imperial court.
He Shen was the center of this network, and through his hands, how many officials were promoted and how many policies were implemented.
Jiaqing knew that if he could not completely remove these hidden tumors, his rule would never be secure.
Prince Gong's Mansion
On a rainy night when Heshen's house leaked, Jiaqing ordered a raid of his family property, and the results shocked the whole country: the confiscated property reached a staggering 800 million taels of silver, equivalent to the income of the national treasury for nearly ten years!
This figure not only reflects Heshen's greed, but also indirectly reflects the chaos and disorder of the government in the last years of Qianlong.
As a result, the state's finances have been temporarily relieved, but this method of cutting down the grass and eradicating the roots may not be able to ensure the fullness of the national treasury for a long time.
Jiaqing knew that in order to truly solve the problem, it was necessary to fundamentally reform the financial and official management system.
But it's a daunting task that involves the workings of the entire empire, and every step is fraught with challenges and risks.
Jiaqing stabilized the imperial court
Although Jiaqing's move caused a great shock at the time, it also brought an important opportunity for the Qing Dynasty to change.
By liquidating Heshen and its network, Jiaqing is actually carrying out a major reshuffle of the entire bureaucratic system.
This not only changed the fate of many officials, but also redefined the relationship between imperial power and bureaucracy.
However, the vacuum of power always needs to be filled.
With the collapse of the huge center of power of Heshen, many new forces began to rise in the court.
These included a number of young reformist officials with new ideas and plans to propel the Qing dynasty toward a more enlightened and effective era of governance.
With the end of the Heshen era, Jiaqing's new policy gradually unfolded in the court.
He tried to weaken the imperial power's over-reliance on a single minister, reform the fiscal system, and increase fiscal transparency, while strengthening the supervision and punishment mechanisms for officials.
Although these reforms encountered many initial resistances, they gradually injected new vitality into the Qing Dynasty.
The life of He Shen is undoubtedly a drama about power, greed, and loyalty.
His talents and exploits are recorded in history as much as his corruption and mistakes.
Although Jiaqing's decision brought a period of tranquility and order, it also showed us that governing a big country requires not only the elimination of corruption, but also far-reaching governance strategies and continuous institutional reform.
For Jiaqing, the attack on Heshen was only the beginning of the road to governing the country.
The challenges he faced were much more than that, with every task testing his wisdom and determination, from fiscal reform to bureaucratic optimization.
History has given a profound lesson here: the prosperity and stability of a country cannot only depend on the elimination of a few corrupt officials, but also requires the establishment of a set of just, effective and lasting political and economic systems.
Epilogue:
By reviewing the stories of Heshen and Jiaqing, we can deeply feel the weight and educational significance of history. This is not only a story about a power struggle, but also a meditation on how to govern a country.
History always repeats itself in different ways, and the lessons learned from these historical events will have a profound impact on the governance of the country today and even in the future.
Emperor Jiaqing
From Heshen's wealth to Jiaqing's heavy blows, this history not only makes us reflect on the nature of power, but also prompts us to think about how to achieve true fairness and justice in modern society.