As the most famous ** in history, Heshen's name can be said to be known to everyone, and everyone knows it.
When Qianlong was in power, he relied on Qianlong's backer to do a lot of bad things.
With the death of Qianlong and the succession of Jiaqing, Heshen's good days came to an end, not only became a rat crossing the street, but also was ordered to let Heshen commit suicide for serious crimes such as **.
In order to be able to save his life, he thought of the "life-saving edict" rewarded by Qianlong, and opened the edict with great vigour.
When He Shen saw the three big characters on the edict, he instantly sat on the ground limply, and his eyes instantly became hollow.
So what exactly are the three words on the edict?
He Shen, born in 1750, was born in the Changbao family of the deputy capital of Fujian, and was a member of the Manchu Zhenghong Banner.
His family has made outstanding military achievements in the past dynasties and is highly respected by the imperial court.
When he was a child, He Shen and his younger brother He Lin received enlightenment education in a private school.
The family's prominent position gives them access to excellent educational resources, and they live up to the family's expectations and are diligent and eager to learn.
When they grew up, the two entered the Xian'an Palace official school run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for further study.
It was an institution that specialized in cultivating the Manchu elite, and it was here that He Shen further enriched his knowledge system.
During this time, He Shen showed a great talent for learning.
He is not only proficient in Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian, and Tibetan languages, but he also has high attainments in poetry, calligraphy, painting, and painting. Such an excellent Heshen was highly praised by the teachers, and even the governor of Naoli, Yinglian, spoke highly of his talent.
In the end, He Shen successfully completed his studies under the care of Yinglian.
In 1767, after He Shen graduated, Ying Lian married his granddaughter Feng Shi to He Shen.
This marriage allowed He Shen to establish a close bond with the imperial magnates, laying the foundation for his future development.
Later, He Shen inherited his father's title and became a third-class lieutenant.
During this period, He Shen also participated in the imperial examination, but failed to win, even so, He Shen did not want to give up, but with his own efforts appointed as the third-class guard of the Shangyu Reserve Office, and then, he was transferred to the Luan Yi Guard.
Due to the relatively idle work of the guards at that time, He Shen learned a lot of knowledge and skills during this period.
In a chance opportunity, He Shen showed his talent in front of Qianlong, and as a result, he was deeply loved by Qianlong, and since then, He Shen's official position has soared.
In just five years, He Shen was promoted from a squire to the position of a squire.
During this period, He Shen was still an incorruptible official, but why did he gradually become a **?
After serving as a squire, He Shen and a man named An Ming gave gifts to He Shen, hoping that he would be promoted to the position of secretary.
However, He Shen, who was honest and honest, did not accept bribes from the other party, but still assured him that he would say a few good words to the above to help him get promoted.
An Ming, who got this reply, was quite happy, and he was even more obedient to Heshen.
Soon after, An Ming received the news of his promotion, and in order to repay Heshen for his help, he specially selected a Hetian jade from home to give to Heshen, and Heshen did not accept it.
However, not long after the good days, An Ming received the news of the death of his father at home.
Due to the regulations of the imperial court at that time, as long as the parents passed away, they had to go back to their hometown for three years of mourning.
This made An Ming, who had just been promoted, not want to go back, after all, he hadn't sat in this official position yet, so in order to avoid the rule of mourning, he took the risk to hide this matter.
But what he didn't expect was that this matter was soon found out by Shang Shu, and even implicated He Shen.
After He Shen learned about this incident, in order to evade responsibility, he hurriedly wrote two copies of the notebook, one to the Military Aircraft Department, and one to keep for himself.
On this day, when the court talked about this matter, it was not uncommon to see Heshen's good **, and they all **Heshen shielded An Ming.
But after Qianlong saw the twists and turns of the military aircraft department, he felt that He Shen was deceived by An Ming, so he executed An Ming, but He Shen was only demoted by two levels.
In 1780, after Li Shuyao was reported**, He Shen and others investigated the matter under the order of Qianlong, and He Shen performed very well in this investigation, so he was highly appreciated by Qianlong, and even became Qianlong's cronies.
After the conclusion of this case, He Shen not only annexed most of Li Shiyao's property, but also received Qianlong's reward and promotion.
This sudden power and wealth made He Shen deeply obsessed.
With the passage of time, He Shen is no longer the clean official who does not accept bribes, but has become a **, and even formed a party in private, forming a very large group.
For the ** who once maliciously treated him, He Shen did not show mercy to his subordinates.
After serving as the president of Siku Quanshuguan, He Shen began to prosper*** on the grounds of "private collection of anti-books", and brutalized many civil officials.
Later, after serving as the head of Han Ling Academy, He Shen manipulated the imperial examination system in order to make more money, as long as the money was enough, even if he was a fool, He Shen could let him pass the imperial examination.
If he doesn't pay the money, he will be regarded as a "problematic" by He Shen, and he will do everything he can to make it fail the exam.
This situation led to the fact that at the end of Qianlong, most of the court was Heshen's people.
As time passed, He Shen's ambitions also swelled, and he began to extend his claws to the military attaché.
In order to better control the military attaché, He Shen pointed his finger at Agui's son Addis.
The reason why He Shen targeted Ah Gui and his son was because he knew that Ah Gui had made great achievements and had a high prestige among the military attachés, and if he fell, then many of the remaining military attaches would be panicked.
But it was a difficult thing for him to bring down Gui, and his son was a very good breakthrough.
So he escorted his father and son to the capital for interrogation on the grounds of Addis's "corruption and perversion of the law", and subjected him in front of Qianlong.
During this period, He Shen also presented Qianlong with eight boxes of gold and silver from Addis**.
Seeing this, Qianlong listened to He Shen's slander and was very angry, even if he dismissed all the positions of Addis and sent to Yili to fill the army.
Such a situation also led to Ah Gui sitting in a row and being demoted two levels to stay in office.
He Shen, who saw that his plan succeeded, was very happy in his heart, and in order to be able to control the military attache faster, He Shen extended his claws to Ah Gui's righteous son Huang Mei.
In order to bring it down, Dou Guangnai denounced his "corruption and perversion of the law" at the instigation of He Shen.
In the face of the mutual accusations between the two sides, Qianlong did not hesitate, even if he ordered the investigation to begin, the final result was that Huang Mei's family wealth was as high as 120,000 taels.
In this way, Huang Mei was sentenced to death for ** crimes, while He Shen and Dou Guangnai were promoted to one level each because of their great achievements.
According to records, at that time, He Shen framed nearly half of the military attaches in the court.
Faced with this situation, the other military attaches were panicked, and they were afraid that they would become Heshen's next target.
In addition, He Shen also extended his claws to the business world and criminal syndicates, and he would force the merchants to submit to him, and if they objected, they would be wiped out by the evil forces under He Shen.
Therefore, He Shen also gained great benefits in these, and also had the ability of capital to carry out political struggles.
At the same time, He Shen's status in Qianlong's heart not only soared, but his position advanced by leaps and bounds.
Especially during the Jiaqing period, Heshen's power reached an unprecedented height, and he was called the "second emperor" by many people at that time.
In the second year of Jiaqing, Emperor Qianlong was already very old, and it was inconvenient to deal with national affairs.
Therefore, when Emperor Qianlong was in the last dynasty, he would always let his right-hand man He Shen stand next to him.
Because He Shen was the only person who could fully understand Emperor Qianlong's mind at that time.
Every morning in the court, after the ministers paid their respects to the emperor, He Shen would become like an **emperor, listening to Qianlong's thoughts after listening to Qianlong's report on civil and military**.
He Shen would then manage the affairs of the state according to his own judgment and these ideas.
Therefore, many people in the court called him the "Second Emperor" behind their backs.
Although Jiaqing had ascended the throne and became the emperor at that time, he did not actually have any real power, and the power was in the hands of Qianlong and Heshen, which caused Jiaqing to dislike Heshen very much.
As his power expanded, He Shen gradually began to become unscrupulous, and began to arrange his subordinates to the side of Qianlong and Jiaqing in order to achieve the purpose of restricting their freedom.
Such an approach not only aroused Qianlong's dissatisfaction, but Jiaqing even killed him.
In 1799, Qianlong died, and Jiaqing finally got his own power, and Jiaqing did not act immediately for Heshen, who had restricted him everywhere.
Instead, he first asked him to hold a funeral for Qianlong, and at this time, He Shen did not realize that his life would come to an end.
When Qianlong's funeral was held, Jiaqing convicted He Shen of 20 major crimes such as **, and also raided his home, copying 800 million cars from the CCP.
According to records, the annual tax revenue of the Qing court during the Qianlong period was only 70 million taels, and as a result, the property hidden by He Shen alone was comparable to the tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty for fifteen years.
Therefore, there is a saying among the people that "Heshen falls, Jiaqing is full"!
As for how to deal with He Shen, the advice of the court is Ling Chi, after all, He Shen has committed so many crimes.
But Liu Yong and others suggested giving Bai Aya and letting He Shen commit suicide in prison, no matter what, He Shen was also a minister in the court, and he still had to give some face.
In the face of these two suggestions, Jiaqing chose the latter after thinking about it, and asked his subordinates to send Bai Aya to He Shen who was at home.
When He Shen saw Bai Aya, he only felt a dizziness in his brain, and his legs couldn't stop trembling.
After a period of relief, He Shen's mind was full of how to let himself live, and when he didn't know what to do, he thought of the "life-saving edict" left by Qianlong.
In his opinion, this edict would protect him from death, so he found Jiaqing with the edict and opened the edict proudly in front of Jiaqing.
When he saw the three big words "leave the whole corpse" on the edict, he was directly frightened and sat in place.
In the end, the disheartened He Shen returned home sluggishly and ended his life with the white silk given by Jiaqing.
He Shen, a figure whose name goes down in the history of the Qing Dynasty, is a mirror that reflects the delicate relationship between power, wealth and humanity.
His rise and fall not only revealed the dark side of Qing Dynasty politics, but also profoundly demonstrated the complexity of human nature and the corrosive power of power.
However, the excessive concentration of power and wealth made He Shen gradually deviate from his original intention, and the greed and selfishness of human nature were magnified in him.
He used his power for personal gain and excluded dissidents, which led to the decline of the government and the withering of people's livelihood. Under his influence, the dark side of Qing Dynasty politics became more and more apparent, and social contradictions continued to intensify.
Although He Shen was in power at that time and had unlimited scenery, he could not escape the sanction of fate in the end.
His demise was both an inevitable end and a punishment for his past actions.
The defeat of He Shen sounded the alarm for Qing Dynasty politics and reminded future generations not to repeat the mistakes of the past.