"It is inevitable that a loyal subject will die, a traitor will not escape death, I will not be a loyal minister or a traitor, I will be a courtier, and I will make the emperor happy!"
This joke from the TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" has become a true portrayal of the Qianlong Dynasty's powerful ministers and Yan.
Mr. Xiao Yishan, a member of the Qing Dynasty, believed that the dictatorship of Hezhen was "the biggest reason for the decline in the Qing Dynasty"; even "the vitality of the three dynasties of Kang, Yong, and Qian was lost to the hands of Hezhen alone.".
On the thirteenth day of the first month of the fourth year of Jiaqing, just ten days after the death of Emperor Qianlong, the Jiaqing Emperor impatiently announced the twenty major crimes of Hezhen; on the eighteenth day of the first month, it took only 5 days for the special task force specially convened by the Jiaqing Emperor to find out the many crimes of Hezhen for more than twenty years. Later, the Jiaqing Emperor, who had long been hated by Hezhen to the bone, actually developed compassion, and could not bear to put him to death "according to the great law of rebellion" and "remembered that he had been the first assistant minister, spared him from wantonness, and gave him the gift to kill himself."
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > loyal or traitorous</h1>
At this point, some people may say that even "being given to commit suicide" is the emperor's "gam" and can certainly not be a "loyal subject". But if He yan was not loyal, why did the Qianlong Emperor trust and rely on him so much? So, was Hezhen a "traitor"? The so-called "traitorous subjects" are "ministers who are not loyal to the monarch and use power to deceive the country." He Yan was in power for more than twenty years, and although he had all kinds of bad deeds, he was loyal to the Qianlong Emperor, and did his best to maintain the illusory state of "Qianlong's prosperity", and it is not an exaggeration to say that his "flaws do not hide yu".
Not a "loyal minister", not a "traitor", it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a "corrupt official", right?
Of the twenty major crimes listed by the Jiaqing Emperor, five of them referred to corruption:
1, the pearl bracelet is too much, more than the number of large internal; 2, the whole piece of large gems too much, more than the number of large internal; 3, hidden silver, clothes beyond the conventional; 4, the wall, private warehouse, cellar gold 32,000 taels; more than 3 million silver; pawnshops, money shops worth more than 100,000.
Even if there is no shadow of the Qianlong Emperor behind specific assets such as pawnshops and money shops, during the Qing Dynasty period of "three years of Qing prefects, 100,000 snowflakes of silver", especially in the middle and late Qianlong Dynasty, where officials were corrupt, He Yan, a leader of the imperial court who had been in power for more than 20 years, was it considered a "corrupt official" to own these belongings?
Perhaps, some people will say that the family property of the Hezhen family is as much as 800 million taels of silver, which is more than half of the 20-year fiscal revenue of the Qing court at that time! He Yan, even if he really has the ability to reach the heavens, can he really rely on his own strength to frantically accumulate half of the financial income? And this crazy state will continue for a full 20 years?
If the amount of this family property is true, then Hezhen needs to maintain a huge income of more than 100,000 taels per day for 20 years!
Believe it or not, I don't believe it anyway!
More importantly, after He yan was "given to commit suicide", in the face of the voice of the Manchu dynasty agreeing that "the property of the He yan family is still hidden", the Jiaqing Emperor gave a "strict rebuke and no question" attitude, and even clearly gave the instruction that "there is no need to search for the wealth of the He Yan family too much" on the courtier's recital.
As for he's family property, why didn't the Jiaqing Emperor continue to chase it?
Because if you dig deeper and pursue strictly, it is bound to involve the big boss behind Hezhen, the Qianlong Emperor! Whether He Yan was greedy or not, where did He Yan's huge family property come from, and what was the use, the courtiers were not clear, and the Jiaqing Emperor could not be clear?
In the final analysis, these huge family properties, Hezhen only have the right to custody, and the real right to use them is only in the hands of the Qianlong Emperor alone!
In other words, Hezhen is not a "corrupt official"!
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > so how to position Hezhen in the end? </h1>
As he said in the classic quote of He Yan in "Prime Minister Liu LuoGuo" - "I will be a courtier, and I will be happy with the emperor."
The so-called "rigoku", that is, "the character who uses gags in the court to relieve the king's annoyance and boredom", and Dongfang Shuo in the Western Han Dynasty is the representative figure of "rigger".
Ji Xiaolan, who has been interpreted by many film and television works today as a representative of Zhengchen who is not afraid of the powerful and dares to speak out, is the most typical "rigger" in the eyes of the Qianlong Emperor:
Because you are good at literature, so the envoy leads the four libraries of books, but he is really not advocating excellence, so why talk about state affairs in vain!
Even Liu Yong, who was revered by later generations as "Liu Qingtian" and subjectively regarded as Hezhen's greatest rival, "quietly defended himself and was comically ambiguous" for a long period of time, and also took the initiative to turn himself into a "courtier" of the Qianlong Emperor.
As the world often said, "The Qianlong Emperor only had slaves and no ministers; if there were, there were only courtiers." However, unlike the "rigoletto" in the full hall, Hezhen is a "rigoletto" who really does practical things.
Although the Qianlong Emperor was conceited, he was by no means faint, and he was even a rare wise monarch in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and his skillful use of imperial mental techniques and the smoothness of the centralized means were truly breathtaking. Whoever laid the foundation did indeed emerge in the middle of the Qianlong Dynasty; in the hands of the Qianlong Emperor, it was indeed an indisputable fact that the Qing Dynasty had a vast territory, a large population, a unified nation, a developed economy, and a mighty shock to East Asia.
Such a monarch, will he not be able to see the little trick of Hezhen? Or, why did the Qianlong Emperor allow the Heyans to form a party for personal gain, frantically amass wealth, and repeatedly transgress the law?
The reason is very simple, the Qianlong Emperor cannot do without Hezhen!
First of all, as far as the Qianlong Emperor's habits of defeating the family were concerned, without Hezhen's financial management skills, the demise of the Qing Dynasty would probably be greatly advanced.
Then, He Yan formed a party above the court for personal gain, and wantonly gathered the world's overseers, but he never had any specific manifestations that could threaten the power of the Qianlong Emperor. On the contrary, the "military attaché faction" represented by Ah Gui, the "Yushi faction" represented by Liu Yong, and the "opposition" represented by Wang Jie were not accustomed to the Excessive Trust and Reliance of the Qianlong Emperor on Hezhen, and they held their own sign of "being honest and upright for officials" and slackened in government affairs.
He Yan "held the authority in his hands and blackmailed hundreds of officials into the imperial court", and "his power was blessed by himself, and his greed grew day by day", which was absolutely worthy of the three-foot white silk given by the Jiaqing Emperor; but such "Qing officials and courtiers" such as Liu Yong and Ji Xiaolan were "officials in their positions and did not fulfill their responsibilities", so what should be the crime?
As the Yongzheng Emperor said, "The harm of the Qing officials who clean themselves and do not serve the public is worse than the actions of ordinary people", "The Qing officials" do not act, and they are still bent on "flowing for hundreds of generations", and after the fall of Hezhen, they will desperately step on a few feet to correct their own Clean Officials' name! Perhaps, even they themselves had forgotten how they had bowed their knees in front of Hezhen, how they had shouted loudly to Qianlong Shengming, and how they had spoken out.
That is to say, above the Qianlong Emperor's court, it seems that there are many talents, but in fact, they are just a bunch of people who are self-righteous and disdainful of letting vulgar government affairs tarnish their noble souls. Just like the interpretation of "Qianlong Dynasty", if the Qianlong Dynasty at this time did not have Peace, it would be immediately stopped, and even those "Qing officials" could not be issued.
Therefore, although he is a "rigoku", he is an extremely rare "noh".
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > postscript</h1>
If you are not proficient in the way of financial management, can Hezhen supervise the "household department" for so many years? If he is not proficient in multi-ethnic languages, can he become the "Shoshu of the Riken Temple"? If it weren't for He yan but the talent of an army and a country, he would have surpassed a cadre of old ministers to become "first assistant to the cabinet" and "minister of foreman military aircraft"?
Ability, ability to do things, naturally will be appreciated by the leadership, the official position will naturally be promoted; but for those colleagues who have never been in charge but never lack the ability to be jealous, they will not see your ability and pay, and will only think that your promotion is only the result of flattery and flattery.
When your position is too high, these colleagues will instead curry favor with you. However, if you change leaders, you continue to maintain this strong ability to do things, prestige, status, influence and even surpass the new leaders, you can imagine where you will end up.
Perhaps, until the day he was given to commit suicide, he didn't understand what he had done wrong! He is a "courtier," but he does practical things; he is a "traitorous minister," but he does practical things; he is a "corrupt official," but he does practical things; if he is not a "loyal minister," are those "qing officials" who have been busy collecting and extorting evidence of his sins since the day of Emperor Qianlong's death, instead of weeping for the former emperor and scrupulously fulfilling the way of his courtiers, be "loyal subjects"?
References: Qing Shilu , Gaozong Shilu " Qing Shilu " Qing Shi Manuscript • Liechuan 16 " , Miscellaneous Records of Xiaoting "