Qianlong died, Jiaqing immediately announced 20 charges against He Shen, and immediately ordered the seizure of family property, and on the 18th, He Shen committed suicide in prison.
In the last three days of his life, that is, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, He Shen wrote "Two Songs to the Moon in Shangyuan Night Prison" with deep affection, in which he reflected on his life: "Talent is injured in the past, and he mistakenly ups and downs. ”
Although this statement is somewhat narcissistic, it is actually true. He Shen is indeed a talented person. First of all, he is a master of language. He Shen was gifted in language, and Emperor Qianlong once spoke highly of him: "He is proficient in Manchu, Mongolian, Chinese, and Tibetan languages, and plays an important role in daily government affairs, especially in ** affairs, he is qualified for the position with his unique language ability, which is his uniqueness." ”
He Shen is known for his excellent memory. According to historical records, Emperor Qianlong once issued a different edict, which quoted a sentence from the Analects: "Whose fault is it that the tiger is out of the sheng?" ”
The ministers were puzzled by this, but He Shen immediately replied: "The warden must not be blamed." Emperor Qianlong was very satisfied with this, and lowered his head to find that the young man had fully understood the meaning of this sentence.
This sentence comes from "The Analects of Ji", Confucius once said: "The tiger is out of the sheng, and the turtle and jade are destroyed in the coffin, whose fault is it?" "Qianlong's purpose is to hold him accountable. On another occasion, when Qianlong was reading Mencius, it was too late to read the annotations on the book, so he ordered a lamp to illuminate it.
After He Shen asked which sentence it was, he actually memorized the entire annotation. This once again proves Heshen's extraordinary memory.
Third, diplomatic wizards. He Shen was known for his diplomatic prowess, especially in August of the 58th year of Qianlong, when he successfully received the British envoy Macartney.
Before the meeting, He Shen and Macartney had many discussions on the etiquette of the reception. At first, He Shen insisted that Macartney should kneel three times and bow nine times when he saw Emperor Qianlong, but Macartney firmly objected.
In this stalemate, He Shen showed his flexibility and proposed a compromise plan, that is, according to the etiquette of receiving the British king, only one knee and half kneeling.
After a skilful handling by Heshen, Macartney praised his diplomatic wisdom as an "experienced and thoughtful statesman."
Fourth, the master of solving cases. He Shen once used his extraordinary case-solving skills to solve cases that others could not solve. In the first month of the 45th year of Qianlong (1780), Haining exposed the case of Li Shiyao, a scholar and governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, and Qianlong ordered the criminal department attendants Kaning A, He Shen and Yushi Qian Feng to go to Yunnan to investigate.
However, Li Shiyao stubbornly resisted, and the case reached an impasse. He Shen adopted a clever strategy and interrogated Li Shiyao's housekeeper Zhao Yiheng, thus finding clues to solve the case.
Zhao Yiheng explained in detail what Li Shuyao had done to He Shen, and He Shen recorded Zhao Yiheng's confession, and then read it out in front of Li Shuyao's subordinates, so that the ** who originally supported Li Shuyao saw that He Shen had the evidence and accused Li Shuyao of his crimes.
With his excellent case-solving skills, He Shen successfully obtained conclusive evidence and forced Li Shiyao to bow his head and admit his guilt. The trial of this case fully demonstrated Heshen's outstanding ability to solve the case.
In other words, as he said himself, "talent misunderstands my body". In fact, we can also see that among the two famous ministers in the late Qianlong Dynasty, Liu Yong's wit is not as good as He Shen, Ji Xiaolan is too bookish and angry, and is not good at flexibility, they have all their advantages and Shen, but their shortcomings and Shen do not.
However, Heshen's greed eventually leads him to the point of no return, so being too smart isn't always a good thing.