During the Qianlong Dynasty, the largest ** Heshen, who was reused by Qianlong in his early twenties, has always stayed by his side, and his power is tilted towards the government and the opposition; After Qianlong's death, Emperor Jiaqing was in charge of the government, and He Shen was arrested in front of Qianlong's mourning hall, and He Shen, who was only 49 years old, was given to commit suicide within a few days.
In just over 20 years, He Shen's greedy family property is equivalent to 15 years of income in the Qing Dynasty;
"As soon as Heshen falls, Jiaqing is full", in the history of more than 200 years in the Qing Dynasty, Heshen is a unique existence.
Our impression of He Shen generally stays in the role of He Shen played by Wang Gang, who likes to slip around and shoot horses, meet left and right, like financial management very much, and quarrel with "iron-toothed copper-toothed Ji Xiaolan".
But in fact, the real He Shen in history is not just a **: he is very good-looking, talented and knows how to "do what he likes"; usEveryone knows that he is greedy for money, but they don't know how powerful he is!
In this article, let's get to know: the different Heshen.
There are many hardships in the youth
He Shen's original name was Shanbao, and his surname was Niu Hulu, one of the eight major surnames in Manchuria;
Niu Hulu's clan, especially the two yellow flags, has produced many meritorious heroes and queens, such as:
Eyidu, one of Nurhachi's five great meritorious ministers, Ji Bilong, one of Kangxi's four auxiliary ministers, and Qianlong's biological mother, Empress Xiao Shengxian.But it's a pity that He Shen is not from these famous families, he was born in Zhenghongqi, and his ancestors are just ordinary children of the Eight Banners. It's just that after He Shen was on the rise, his whole family was ordered by Qianlong to raise the flag to the Zhenghuang Banner.
In 1750, He Shen was born in an ordinary martial arts family, and his father Chang Bao once served as the deputy capital of Fujian and the second rank official.
He Shen's original name was Shanbao, the word Shaobao, the number Qian'an, Manchuria Zhenghongqi, and the close minister of Emperor Qianlong. He Shen's family is illustrious and he is a classmate and friend of Emperor Qianlong. His father was kind and kind, and he was the commander of Manchuria with the Yellow Flag.But Heshen's childhood was unlucky:
's mother died of dystocia when she gave birth to her younger brother He Lin, and her father also died of illness when He Shen was only 9 years old.
After his father died of illness, He Shenyu's younger brother He Lin was almost swept out of the house, and he was able to stay with the help of an old family member and a side house of his father. It is precisely because I tasted the hardships of the world early,Let He Shen understand: He must work hard so that he doesn't have to continue to send people under the fence.
Later, He Shen and his younger brother were admitted to the Xian'an Palace, Xian'an Palace was originally the place where the Kangxi Emperor imprisoned the abolished prince Yinren, and after the death of the abolished prince in 1724, the Xian'an Palace was vacant.
In the sixth year of Yongzheng, Emperor Yongzheng aimed to set up a palace school in Xian'an Palace, and specially let the children of the Eight Banners Sect come here to study.
It's just that when He Shen was admitted to Xian'an Palace School, Xian'an Palace School had already moved to Xihuamen.
He Shen and his younger brother He Lin received a very good education here, but in fact, many children of the Eight Banners Sect did not study well in Xian'an Palace, after all, they had fixed money and food, and most of them did not have to worry about their livelihood, so they naturally did not put too much effort into studying.
But unlike Heshen and his younger brother Helin, after his father died, he lived a life under the fence, and if he wanted to get rid of his dissatisfied life, he could only work hard in secret.
He Shen can not only be familiar with the four books and five classics by heart, but also have attainments in poetry and songs, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and he has also learned the four languages of Manchu, Mongolian, Chinese and Tibetan, which is indeed very rare.
It is worth mentioning that He Shen was a teacher Wu Xinglan when he was studying in Xian'an Palace, Wu Xinglan was originally just a small person, and entered Xian'an Palace in 1763 to learn as a teacher.
Later, after He Shen became Qianlong's confidant, Wu Xinglan was also reused, but in turn worshiped his original student He Shen as a teacher.
He Shen worked extra hard in Xian'an Palace, and his natural talent was outstanding, and the other children of the Eight Banners and the princes and nobles praised He Shen, and He Shen also won a good reputation for it.
In 1767, the talented He Shen married his granddaughter Feng to He Shen;
Two years later, He Shen inherited his father's position and received the title of a third-class lieutenant;
Later, He Shen participated in the examination of Shuntianfu, but unfortunately he did not pass the examination; Even so, He Shen is not worried about his future, which is also the benefit of being a child of the bannerman, not only can he pass the imperial examination to enter the official career, but he can also enter the palace as a guard.
Big opportunity for the little guard
He Shen was born into a military family, and he was the grandson-in-law of the university scholar Yinglian, and was promoted to the rank of third-class guard in 1772.
Not only was he promoted to a third-class guard, but he was also added to the sticky pole as a guard. Those who know the history of the Qing Dynasty know that the sticky pole began with Emperor Yongzheng, which was originally responsible for serving Yongzheng's daily life, and then slowly developed into an institution for Yongzheng to look at the princes and ministers and inquire about intelligence, which can be said to be Yongzheng's most trusted.
In the time of Emperor Qianlong, although the sticky rod was reduced, it was still very close to the emperor, so He Shen had the opportunity to see Qianlong.
There is such a saying:"Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared"., this sentence has been well confirmed by He Shen's body.
In 1775, that is, the fortieth year of Qianlong, Qianlong was walking in the imperial garden, and there were more than a dozen guards following Qianlong, carefully escorting, and He Shen was one of the dozen guards.
Although the weather was good, Qianlong was very angry in his heart, holding a copy of the recital from Yunnan in his hand, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and directly threw the recital to the ground, and then gritted his teeth and said two words: "Faint!" ”
Although the guards didn't know what Qianlong was angry about, they knelt down directly when they saw that the emperor was angry;
Qianlong calmed down a little after getting angry, and said to himself: "The tiger and the rhinoceros both ran out of the cage, and the ghost jade was damaged in the box, whose fault should it be?" ”
"The tiger came out of the box, and the turtle jade was destroyed in the coffin, whose fault is it? ”Suddenly, one of the guards said, "Naturally, it is the fault of the wardens. ”
"It is the warden who cannot shirk his responsibility. ”This guard was He Shen, because there was no one around to speak, and He Shen's answer was very clear.
Qianlong was stunned for a moment, thinking that this guard was not good, so he asked He Shen: "Do you also know the Analects?" Get up and I'll test you.
He Shen kowtowed to Qianlong neatly and respectfully, and then told Qianlong what he had learned in Xian'an Palace unhurriedly.
At this time, He Shen was in his twenties, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, although he was a martial artist, but he looked like a Confucian student.
After He Shen answered Qianlong's question, Qianlong asked He Shen's name and origin, and it was from this time that Qianlong remembered He Shen, a different guard.
Later, Qianlong read "Mencius" on the water pavilion of the Old Summer Palace, because he read carefully and did not notice that it was already dark, He Shen lit a lamp and bowed down to serve Qianlong, and saw that Qianlong was reading Mencius, so he asked Qianlong:
"Your Majesty, you read "Mencius", I don't know which sentence you read? ”Although Qianlong didn't know what He Shen meant, he still told He Shen, and He Shen actually recited the clip note of what Qianlong said;
Qianlong was overjoyed and said again, and He Shen recited the clip note of this sentence skillfully;
The two of you talked for a long time, and Qianlong praised He Shen: "I didn't expect you to be so agile!" ”
"I didn't expect you to be so agile! ”He Shen also talked with Qianlong through these two times, and officially began his career leap:
In October of the 40th year of Qianlong, He Shen was transferred to the guard of the Ganqing Gate;
A month later, he was transferred to the guard of the Qianqing Gate, and concurrently served as the deputy commander of the Blue Banner of Manchuria; He Shen's father's highest official position in his life was the deputy commander, and He Shen was only in his twenties to become the deputy commander, and this was only the starting point of He Shen.
In the first month of the forty-first year of Qianlong, He Shen was promoted to the right attendant of the household department;
Two months later, he walked in the military plane;
In April, he was awarded the post of Minister of Internal Affairs by Qianlong;
In November of that year, he served as the president of the national historian and was rewarded with a crown of wearing a product;
In December, he was in charge of the affairs of the Three Banners of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and allowed him to ride horses in the capital.
It only took him a year to leap from an ordinary guard to an important minister of the court with lightning speed, and the speed of his promotion was really staggering.
Cast your favor
When Qianlong began to notice He Shen, he was already over the age of six;
Qianlong called himself a "perfect old man", a little stubborn and self-serving, hoping that the people around him could take his preferences as their preferences and his rights and wrongs as their rights and wrongs, and He Shen just knew Qianlong's character very well and did what he liked.
Qianlong will inevitably have a lot of phlegm when he is older, whenever Qianlong wants to spit He Shen will personally hold the spittoon and serve beside him, even after becoming an important minister of the imperial court, Qianlong favored He Shen is not for no reason.
Of course, He Shen does not only do these things to serve people, he will vote for "Qianlong" in many aspects, such as: Qianlong likes to write poetry very much, and He Shen secretly works hard to improve his level of poetry, not only that, he also studies Qianlong's poems, so that he is familiar with his language and rhetoric, and shows his love for his poems to Qianlong at any time;
When Qianlong wrote poems, He Shen could also deal with a few decent poems;
It is precisely because He Shen imitated Qianlong's poetic style that Qianlong liked it very much and praised it;
After a long time, Qianlong will also ask He Shen to write poems for himself.
He Shen not only imitates Qianlong in poetry, but also deliberately imitates the font, and naturally has more and more common topics with Qianlong.
He Shen greeted him like this, and naturally he would please the old Qianlong, and Qianlong himself felt that he was very close to He Shen.
Qianlong's "hard work" to He Shen will also be "rewarded", such as:
In the forty-first year of Qianlong, He Shen was rewarded with the treatment of riding a horse in the Forbidden City
According to the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty: only important ministers who are more than sixty-five years old and frail or not very convenient to move will have such treatment, and He Shen is only in his twenties, Qianlong rewarded such a generous favor, which can be said to be unique.
Financial management ability, management master
In fact, for He Shen, poetry and songs, horseback riding and archery are just small skills, and his real ability to take care of his family is the ability to manage money.
In 1776, He Shen was promoted to Minister of Internal Affairs, which was responsible for the daily expenses of the imperial family and the Shangsanqi, and naturally the daily expenses were extremely large, basically out of a state of "making ends meet".
Most of the time, he borrowed money from the household department, but soon after He Shen took office, the internal affairs government not only did not need to borrow, but also had a lot of surpluses.
In 1778, Qianlong decreed that He Shen concurrently served as the tax supervisor of Chongwenmen, and according to the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, this position could only be held by the banner man, which shows its importance. After He Shen took office, he not only made Chongwenmen's tax revenue soar, but also became one of the best among the more than 30 tax customs in the entire Qing Dynasty.
Later, Qianlong let He Shen serve as the head of the household department, etc., the silver treasury of the Forbidden City, the bank treasury of the Guangchu Division of the Internal Affairs Office, and the silver treasury of the household department were all managed by He Shen himself, it can be said that in the later period of the Qianlong Dynasty, almost all the financial departments of the entire Qing Dynasty were directly managed by He Shen, which shows Qianlong's trust in him.
In the last years of Kangxi, due to the unclear governance of officials, there was a deficit in the treasury;
In the Yongzheng period, Yongzheng sternly cleaned up the deficit of the treasury;
After Qianlong succeeded to the throne, the treasury was abundant, but because Qianlong was so happy, he spent a lot of real gold, and slowly the treasury was in deficit again.
Qianlong was naturally worried about this matter, and the appearance of He Shen just helped Qianlong solve this thorny problem.
He Shen has a very high talent in financial management, which is indeed beyond Qianlong's expectations.
He Shen will not only manage Qianlong's finances, but also attach great importance to his own industry. His financial management philosophy can be said to be very advanced:
During the Qing Dynasty, those who had spare money would choose to buy land and convert money into real estate. As for Heshen, he likes real gold even more, and Heshen does not hide all his money, but invests it in all walks of life.
He Shen likes to open pawnshops, and there are as many as 12 pawnshops in the capital alone, and several of them are also leaders in the pawn industry;
He also opened a variety of shops, such as hotels, grain stores, porcelain shops, antique shops, bow and arrow shops, etc., involving almost every industry.
In addition, He Shen also designed the logistics industry, and it is said that he bought eighty large carriages, which were used to transport goods;
In the later period of the Qianlong Dynasty, the coal mining industry was just starting, because of the cost of the required inputs, the risk was high, and almost no one dared to set foot in it, and He Shen actually opened two coal mines.
Even if it is a house and other real estate in the hands of He Shen, He Shen will not let them be idle, but let them turn; More than 30 houses in the capital are all rented out, and more than 1,600 taels of rent can be collected every year.
All in all: all the industries that make money, Heshen has been involved.
If He Shen were placed now, he would definitely become a business tycoon.
It's just that he is infamous and has become a generation of powerful ministers, traitors, and big **, which will make us ignore that in fact, Heshen does have real skills.
He Shen finally reaped the fruits of his own life and hanged himself in prison
There has always been a saying that "Heshen falls, Jiaqing is full", but how much is Heshen's family property?
Perhaps only Heshen, a master of financial management, can say clearly, about the list of property confiscated by the Heshen family, the statements are also different, and it is generally believed that 230 million taels were confiscated in the Heshen family**.
He Shen is not only greedy, but also powerful and blessed, weaving his own network of influence.
For example, Fu Chang'an, the youngest son of Fucha Fu Heng (Qianlong's brother-in-law), is a close confidant of He Shen;
and Wu Xinglan, the teacher of Shen Xian'an Palace, naturally does not need to say much;
He Shen's own brother and Lin are also more talented, and He Shen takes care of this only brother very much, and He Lin has become the governor of Sichuan from a small pen style, commanding thousands of troops;
He Shen and his younger brother He Lin are both literate and martial, and they control the military and political power of the imperial court, no wonder Yuan Mu, a genius in the Qing Dynasty, said this:
"The sky and the sun, the brothers share equally. ”Anyone who opposes Heshen in the DPRK and China, Heshen will find ways to suppress him, such as:
Ah Gui, the Minister of Military Aircraft, has always been not in harmony with He Shen, and He Shen always disagrees with Ah Gui;
Songyun, a university scholar, also opposed He Shen and was framed by He Shen and exiled to Mongolia.
In order to monopolize power, He Shen tried his best not to let the ministers meet with Qianlong; In his later years, Qianlong became more and more dim, and he was particularly favored by Heshen, almost no one could shake his position, and even after Jiaqing succeeded to the throne, Qianlong still did not let go of power, and He Shen was known as the "second emperor".
However, from Jiaqing's succession, He Shen's good luck seems to be gone:
In the first year of Jiaqing, He Shen's young son died of illness;
In the same year, He Shen's only younger brother, He Lin, died of miasma;
The following year, He Shen's grandson died, and another year later, He Shen's original wife Feng died of illness;
The various changes in the Heshen family seem to indicate that Heshen is about to come to a catastrophe.
Sure enough, Qianlong, who was 89 years old in Jiaqing, died of illness.
Jiaqing ordered He Shen and Fu Chang'an to guard Qianlong's spirit, and actually put the two under house arrest in the mourning hall.
At the same time, Emperor Jiaqing summoned Zhu Jue to Beijing and planned how to get rid of He Shen and Fu Chang'an: first, he dismissed them from their posts and cut off all contact with the outside world. At the same time, the regulations on He Shen's presence in the Military Aircraft Department were abolished, and Zhu Jue was allowed to regain control of the Military Aircraft Department.
The ministers of the DPRK and China also pushed the wall down, and they wrote to ** and Shen, and Jiaqing pushed the boat to hand over He Shen and Fu Chang'an to the Criminal Department
Only ten days after Qianlong's death, He Shen, who was only 49 years old, was given to commit suicide.
Conclusion
He Shen gave us a really not very good impression, after all, he was a traitor during the Qianlong Dynasty, and he was quickly eliminated by Jiaqing;
But we really can't deny his talent: he worked hard when he was young, and he was also a master of financial management and a master of running a business.
And He Shen also has a side that we are not familiar with: he is single-minded about his wife Feng.
Because of his excellent reputation in Xian'an Palace, He Shen was appreciated by the university scholar Yinglian, and married his granddaughter Feng to He Shen, and He Shen did have a good skin.
After being reused by Qianlong, he was still devoted to his wife Feng, and the only son and daughter of He Shen were born to Feng; If He Shen wants to take a concubine, he must have the consent of his wife Feng, which is indeed rare.
He Shen's personality charm is also very great, and after He Shen hanged himself, his wives and concubines were willing to be buried for him.
It is indeed a pity to say that Heshen, such a talented person, if he is not greedy, will definitely be able to make great achievements and leave his name in history;
But he didn't stick to his bottom line, so he became a traitor in the mouth of our descendants.