The corrupt official He Yue
Emperor Qianlong served as the emperor for sixty years and achieved victory in both literary and martial arts. He was carefree and proud, calling himself the 'Ten Complete Old Man'. He became increasingly fond of listening to praise, so someone used flattery and flattery to gain his favor and control the power.
Once, Emperor Qianlong was preparing to go on an inspection tour and asked his attendants and officials to prepare an honor guard. The officials will not be able to find the yellow cover used for the honor guard for a while. I'm so anxious that I don't know what to do. Emperor Qianlong was very angry and asked, "Who did this good thing
The officials were stunned when they heard the emperor's questioning. A young captain calmly said beside him, "The person in charge cannot shirk responsibility
Emperor Qianlong turned his face and saw that the Colonel had a clear and composed demeanor. He was happy in his heart and forgot to ask Huang Gai what his name was. The young captain replied, his name is Heshen (pronounced sh ē n). Emperor Qianlong asked him about his family situation and what books he had read, and He Yue answered fluently.
Emperor Qianlong highly appreciated He Xun and immediately announced that he would be in charge of the ceremonial guards, and later appointed him as the imperial guard. He Xun is a very intelligent person. Whatever Emperor Qianlong wants, he handles everything with great satisfaction; Emperor Qianlong loved to hear kind words, so He Xun always said what pleased his ears. Over time, Emperor Qianlong regarded Heshen as a trusted confidant, and Heshen rose step by step. Within ten years, he was promoted from a guard to a grand scholar. Afterwards, Emperor Qianlong also married his daughter and Princess Xiao to the son of Heshen. Heshen and the emperor have climbed into the family line, not to mention their immense power. In addition, due to the aging and declining strength of Emperor Qianlong, major political affairs naturally fell into the hands of He Xun.
He Jun has taken control of the great power, but he has no intention of dealing with other important matters, but he is blindly plundering wealth. He not only accepted bribes, but also openly extorted; Not only do they embezzle secretly, but they also plunder openly. The tribute presented by local officials to the emperor must go through the hands of Heshen. He Yue first chooses the most exquisite and rare ones for himself, and then takes the rest to the palace. Fortunately, Emperor Qianlong did not inquire and others dared not report him, so his greed grew stronger and stronger.
Once, a minister named Sun Shiyi returned to Beijing from the south, preparing to meet Emperor Qianlong, and coincidentally met Heshen at the entrance of the palace. Upon seeing Sun Shiyi holding a box, He Yue asked, "What is that in your hand
Sun Shiyi said, "It's nothing, it's just a snuff bottle
He Yue walked forward and humbly grabbed the box in his hand. Upon opening it, the snuff bottle was actually carved from a large bead. He Jun held it in his hand, looked at it again and again, and praised it repeatedly with his mouth. With a pouting expression, he said, "Good baby! Just give it to me, how about it
Sun Shiyi said calmly, "Ah, it's not possible. This treasure is intended to be presented to the emperor, and it was already reported to the emperor yesterday
He Jun's face darkened as he stuffed the pearl pot into Sun Shiyi's hand and sneered, saying:
I was just joking with you, why bother looking so shabby
Sun Shiyi presented the pearl pot to Emperor Qianlong. A few days later, he bumped into Heshen again and saw Heshen proudly say, "I also got a treasure yesterday. Can you compare it with the one you paid tribute to last time
Sun Shiyi walked over and saw that it was the pearl pot he had presented to Emperor Qianlong. Sun Shiyi casually responded with a few words, thinking to himself, how could this treasure fall into the hands of He Jun? It must have been given to him by Emperor Qianlong. Later, he secretly inquired and found out that He Yue had bribed eunuchs to steal from the palace.
He Xun used his position and power to search for wealth in every possible way. Some courtiers and local officials, knowing his temperament, tried to plunder precious jewels to please He Xun. Big officials oppress small officials, and small officials then exploit the people layer by layer, making their lives increasingly melancholic.
After serving as emperor for sixty years, Emperor Qianlong passed on the throne to Crown Prince Yan, who ascended to the throne as Emperor Renzong of the Qing Dynasty, also known as Emperor Jiaqing.
Emperor Jiaqing had long known about the corrupt and unjust practices of He Yue. After three years, when Emperor Qianlong died, Emperor Jiaqing immediately arrested He Xun and ordered him to commit suicide; And officials were sent to raid the industries of Heshen.
Heshen's wealth was originally well-known, but the result of the raid still surprised everyone. In a long list of house searches, there are records of gold, silver, gold and silver treasures, silk and satin, rare antiques, countless in number. Roughly estimated, it is worth about 800 million taels of silver, equivalent to the income of the court for ten years. Afterwards, it was heard that the large amount of gold and silver treasures seized were all transported to the palace by Emperor Jiaqing. So, some people in the folk made up two rhymes to satirize: "He Yue fell, but Jiaqing ate enough