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Chapter 179 He Shen and Ji Xiaolan

As the Qing army won victory after victory, Qianlong became increasingly proud and complacent. Without the determination and hard work he had in the early days of his reign, land annexation was serious, corrupt officials were rampant, and people's lives became increasingly difficult. However, Qianlong, who sat on the throne, still felt that the Qing Dynasty was still a powerful empire.

Since 1751, Emperor Qianlong made six southern tours to the south of the Yangtze River. Although they were supposed to be water conservancy inspections, each tour was extremely costly and costly, which made the treasury increasingly empty. In order to make up for the shortfall, Emperor Qianlong obtained a large amount of income through donations.

The so-called donation, also known as donating an official position, refers to the rich paying money to buy an official position to enter the official career. In the Qianlong period, it went a step further, with official positions clearly marked with prices, making donations a norm, and for a time, the trend of selling official positions was prevalent.

These officials who entered the city through donations will inevitably double their exploitation of the people after taking office, further exacerbating social contradictions.

Qianlong naturally knew that the donation system had more disadvantages than advantages, but the income from donations was so huge that the Qing Dynasty made this system a norm.

In his later years, Qianlong was very fond of Heshen, which led to Heshen's growing power. Heshen tried his best to flatter Qianlong while amassing power and wealth for himself.

Qianlong also married his favorite youngest daughter, Princess Hexiao, to Heshen's son Fengshen Yinde. However, this marriage chosen by Qianlong plunged his youngest daughter into misery for the rest of her life.

Qianlong had 17 sons, most of whom had died or been adopted out in his later years. Only 5 sons were left to choose from, namely the eighth son Yongxuan, the eleventh son Yongyan, the twelfth son Yongji, the fifteenth son Yongyan, and the seventeenth son Yonglin.

Among them, Yongqi was the son of the deposed Empress Nara, and was not favored by Emperor Qianlong; Yonglin was too young; Yongyan and Yonglian were both born to Concubine Shu, one had athlete's foot, and the other was regarded by Emperor Qianlong as indecisive.

In this way, only Yongyan could be the crown prince. So Qianlong put Yongyan's name behind the plaque of "Zhengda Guangming".

In 1792, Emperor Qianlong, who called himself the "Ten Perfect Man", called his ten wars from 1747 to the present the "Ten Perfect Military Achievements". These ten perfect military achievements were: two conquests of Jinchuan, two conquests of Dzungar, the suppression of the rebellions of the two Khojas, the Qing-Myanmar war, the suppression of the Lin Shuangwen uprising in Taiwan, the invasion of Annan, and two conquests of the Gurkhas.

The Ten Complete Military Achievements maintained the unity of the territory. The Qing Dynasty's territory extended from Kyakhta in the north to the South China Sea in the south, from Lake Balkhash in the west to Sakhalin Island in the east. It was the country with the largest population and the second largest territory in the world at that time.

However, behind these military achievements was the increasingly empty treasury and the increasingly impoverished people. In the same year, the British envoy Macartney led a delegation to China to congratulate Emperor Qianlong on his 80th birthday, but a dispute arose over etiquette.

The Qing dynasty required the envoys to kneel three times and kowtow nine times like foreign vassal states did when paying tribute, but Macartney firmly disagreed. In the end, the Qing dynasty agreed to implement the one-kneeling ceremony. Macartney visited China hoping to establish industrial and commercial trade with the Qing dynasty, but was rejected by Emperor Qianlong.

Macartney believed that the Qing Empire was already overwhelmed. Compared with the rapid development of science and technology in Europe, the Qing Dynasty's complacency had put the country in a state of regression.

In 1795, Emperor Qianlong, then 85 years old, took out the secret decree behind the plaque "Zhengda Guangming" and appointed the fifteenth prince Yongyan as the crown prince. He abdicated the throne the following year and changed the reign title to Jiaqing.

However, although Qianlong abdicated and became the emperor, he still controlled the government and held real power. Four years later, Aixinjueluo Hongli died in the Yangxin Palace at the age of 4.

[Understand Qianlong's favorite men in one breath Qianlong Heshen Qing Dynasty]

He was the most favored man of Emperor Qianlong, the most corrupt official in history, and he was dependent on the empire and had great power. Not only was he handsome, but he was also able to thrive in the corrupt Qing officialdom. Some people said that he was the last straw that broke the camel's back, while others said that everyone knew that he was greedy for money, but they didn't know how powerful he was.

So how did the real Heshen come to be? Why did such a powerful official end up being sentenced to death by white silk? In this video, let us walk into Heshen's life.

Niuhulu Heshen was born in 1750. Heshen was a member of the Manchu Red Banner. When Heshen was 3 years old, his mother died of dystocia and gave birth to his younger brother He Lin before she died.

When he was 9 years old, his father also died of illness, so Heshen had to depend on his younger brother for survival. Fortunately, with the protection of an old servant and his father's concubine, Heshen and his brother were not driven out of the house.

Heshen's ancestors were just low-level soldiers of the Zhenghong Banner, who were awarded the title of Third Class Light Cavalry Commandant for their military merits. By the time of Heshen's generation, although he had a hereditary title, his family was quite poor, so that he was poor and helpless.

Despite this, Heshen and his brother received a good education. They studied in the official school of Xian'an Palace and mastered four languages: Manchu, Mongolian, Chinese and Tibetan. At the age of 20, Heshen inherited the rank of third-class Qingche Duwei and became a palace guard of the Qing Dynasty.

They were all selected from the royal family, nobles, and children of the Eight Banners, and many of them were illiterate. However, Heshen studied hard for several years before entering the officialdom, and even passed the imperial examination for a scholar, which made him stand out from the crowd.

A few years later, Heshen was favored by Emperor Qianlong and was promoted to the imperial guard. He then rose rapidly. At the age of 28, he was promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the commander of the infantry. Heshen was handsome, capable, eloquent, and good at guessing the emperor's intentions.

At that time, Qianlong was already in his 60s and trusted Heshen very much, and he became a hot new upstart at that time.

In 1778, the Minister of Personnel impeached Heshen and instructed Qianlong to demote Heshen to the second level and retain him. Then he gave Heshen a job and made him responsible for the taxation of Chongwenmen in Kyoto.

Soon after, Heshen was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and Imperial Court Minister, in charge of the inner court affairs and serving Emperor Qianlong. At first, Heshen was a relatively honest official and did not accept bribes. The story of Heshen refusing to accept bribes was spread everywhere in the capital, which was completely different from the image of a corrupt official known to later generations. Emperor Qianlong thought Heshen was a young and promising man with integrity, and even married his favorite youngest daughter, Princess Hexiao, to Heshen's son.

However, as Heshen's position became higher and higher, he had more and more people to curry favor with, which made him gradually corrupt. Like other senior officials in the court, he was corrupt and formed cliques for personal gain. Qianlong appointed Heshen as the chief editor of the Sikuquanshu. Heshen took the opportunity to launch a literary inquisition and suppress dissidents. He also took advantage of the opportunity to be in charge of the Hanlin Academy to solicit bribes from examinees and cultivate cliques.

Although Heshen was the most popular person around Emperor Qianlong, the most important official in the court at that time was not Heshen, but Agui, the head of the Grand Council and the Grand Secretary of the Wuying Palace.

After Yongzheng established the Grand Council, it became the de facto political power center of the Qing Dynasty, and the Grand Councilor was the head of the Grand Councilors. Although Heshen was favored by Emperor Qianlong and entered the Grand Council at a young age, he had to be ranked below Agui due to his lack of experience.

How could Heshen, who was at the height of his power, be content with this situation? In 1778, Heshen impeached Pan Sang and Wang Fa, two of Agui's cronies, and Qianlong sent them into exile. Agui was demoted two levels but remained in office.

Soon, Heshen targeted Huang Mei, the adopted son of Agui, for corruption. After verifying the facts, Qianlong ordered Huang Mei to be executed. Agui was not investigated because he was leading troops outside. In fact, Qianlong knew all about Heshen's tricks behind his back, but Qianlong intended to let Agui and Heshen check each other to prevent Heshen from getting carried away.

Heshen kept trying to attack Agui. Agui was already old at that time and was unable to do anything when he saw Heshen's chaotic politics.

In the late Qianlong reign, the government was corrupt and corruption was rampant among officials. Heshen was the most prominent among them. In addition to making money for himself, Heshen also helped the emperor make money. When Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River for the sixth time, he asked the local governments along the way to contribute funds, and completed the southern tour without spending a penny from the court. As for where did the money come from?

Naturally, this was due to the local officials exploiting the people. Qianlong was very proud of Heshen and thought he was capable, so he trusted him even more.

He Shen also invented a very creative system. The so-called "silver for negotiating crimes" system allowed officials who committed crimes to use silver to avoid punishment. Once this system was implemented, the effect was very significant, and officials who committed crimes would not be dismissed or imprisoned.

A fine of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of silver coins could exempt a person from a crime, and Qianlong made a fortune. Corrupt officials also kept their positions. They could continue to embezzle and amass wealth, and the law became meaningless, making corrupt officials even more fearless.

However, the emperor has his own ministers, and Heshen was able to have such great power because of Qianlong's trust. But Qianlong was already very old, and Heshen could only live a few more years.

In 1795, Emperor Qianlong, 10 years old, decided to abdicate early in order not to exceed the reign of his grandfather Kangxi. He made the 85th prince Yongyan the crown prince. In the following year, Heshen and Yongyan did not have much friendship. After learning that Yongyan had been made the crown prince.

Heshen was the first to congratulate the prince and gave him a gift, hoping to leave a good impression on his next boss. At the same time, Heshen also placed his confidants around Yongyuan, hoping to reveal Yongyuan's words and deeds. In 1796, Yongyuan officially ascended the throne and changed his name to Yong and the reign title to Jiaqing. Qianlong abdicated and became the emperor, but he still firmly held the real power, and Jiaqing was the emperor in name only.

But he still lived in the Prince's Palace. Who are you? He was not smart and often forgetful. He needed Heshen to help him with government affairs. Even when he went to court, he needed Heshen to convey his ideas. On the other side, the legitimate emperor Jiaqing.

He could only watch Heshen develop his power and become the second emperor. No emperor would be willing to be a puppet. Jiaqing was dissatisfied with his father for not giving up power. But he hated Heshen so much that the leading military minister Agui died the following year.

Heshen finally became the chief military minister, second only to the emperor. Heshen was promoted to Duke for his contribution in suppressing the White Lotus Rebellion. In 1799, Emperor Qianlong passed away.

Heshen's good days finally came to an end. Jiaqing listed 20 major crimes against Heshen, confiscated his property and put him in prison. In the 404th season, the officials who went to confiscate his property seized a total of 8000 hectares of land, 940 million taels of silver, and many shops, banks, gold, silver and jewelry worth a total of 8 million taels.

The equivalent of the 15th year of the Qing Dynasty was called Heshen's fall and Jiaqing's fullness. What kind of person do you think Heshen was?

[Understand Ji Xiaolan's status in the Qing Dynasty in one breath. Ji Xiaolan in the Qing Dynasty history]

He is the iron-toothed and copper-jawed man who outwitted the corrupt official Heshen countless times in the TV series, and he is also the humorous and playful Ji Dayandai. He is very famous, so there are many legends about him, but is the real Ji Xiaolan in history really like this?

Some people say that he was a romantic and talented man who had a concubine, while others say that he was a fat black man who only loved to eat meat. In this video, let us walk into the most real Ji Yun Ji Xiaolan.

Ji Yun, courtesy name Xiaolan, was born in Cang County, Hebei Province in 1724. Legend has it that a turkey ran into his home the day before he was born. It is said that turkeys are female. When Ji Yun was born, his family found that he had pierced earlobes, as if he had worn earrings, and his feet were white and pointed, like the feet of a woman with bound feet. He was simply the reincarnation of a turkey.

The word "Yun" in his name means sunlight, so his name means that he is related to the light monster. Ji Yun also said in his own "Notes from Yuewei Thatched Cottage" that his eyesight was as sharp as a torch in the dark, making the dark night as bright as day, and it was not until he was seven or eight years old that his vision returned to normal.

Ji Yun passed the boy's exam at the age of 7 and was called a child prodigy by poets. He passed the scholar exam at the age of 17 and ranked first in the provincial exam at the age of 24. He was selected as a Hanlin Academy scholar as the fourth in the second class. From then on, he began his long career as a literary courtier.

Unlike the handsome image in film and television dramas, Ji Yun was not good-looking, stuttered, and was nearsighted. At first, he was not valued by Emperor Qianlong and was always in charge of compilation work in the Hanlin Academy. However, due to his erudition, humor, and good at fiddling with words, Emperor Qianlong, who loved writing poetry, liked to have him around at all times. After being appreciated by Qianlong, Ji Yun began to rise step by step.

In 1768, Ji Yun, who should have been appointed to a local post according to the rules, was promoted by Emperor Qianlong to be a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy as an exception, and was forcibly kept in his own place because Ji Yun was too knowledgeable and could not give full play to his strengths in a post outside.

However, in the same year, the triumphant Ji Yun was suddenly brought down. The reason for this was that he informed Emperor Qianlong of the embezzlement of public funds. In anger, Emperor Qianlong exiled him to WLMQ for two years.

In 1771, Emperor Qianlong was preparing to compile the Siku Quanshu, and he was recalled only after being recommended by Liu Yong's father Liu Tongxun. Soon after, he became the chief editor of the Siku Quanshu, which was the most important thing in Ji Yun's life and the beginning of his meteoric rise to fame. He was 50 years old that year.

It is worth mentioning that during the period when Ji Yun was compiling the "Siku Quanshu", Heshen, who was 26 years younger than him, was already the Minister in Charge of the Imperial Household Department and the President of the "Siku Quanshu", and was Ji Yun's immediate superior.

Not to mention that he had a grudge against Heshen, Heshen and he were not on the same level at all. Moreover, after Heshen took charge of the Sikuquanshu, he started a literary inquisition. Some of the senior officials who served as chief editors and proofreaders with Ji Yun were frightened to death, and some had their property confiscated. No one had a good end, except Ji Yun.

Although Ji Yun was a high-ranking official, he was only a literary courtier, and could not be compared with Heshen's overwhelming power. In the eyes of Emperor Qianlong, he was even more like a relief. After Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River for the third time, he went to the Sikuguan to inspect its work.