Chapter 22 Section IV and Arsenic and Aggressive Silver

Relying on tribute alone cannot guarantee that the emperor's life will be comfortable enough.Because there are too many places where the emperor's family needs to spend money.As the saying goes, courteous reciprocity.Although the process of collecting folk treasures by accepting tributes is easier and more enjoyable than that of ordinary collectors, it is impossible not to pay any price, not to mention that Qianlong was a very "exquisite" person who would never blindly take advantage of power.Apart from some vain titles, his rewards are mainly silver taels.Because it is not easy to be sympathetic to collectors, and to show the emperor's style, the amount he rewards is not only quite fair, but sometimes even too generous, which requires a lot of money.In addition, the palace manufacturing office makes all kinds of gadgets, the Ministry of Internal Affairs purchases all kinds of materials, and the small ones are for the concubines and children during the New Year. There are huge needs everywhere.The emperor who grew up in Jinshan Yinhai was generous in nature, generous in writing and high in vision. He strived for excellence in everything and reached the pinnacle.However, as mentioned earlier, the ancestral system stipulated that the emperor's personal expenses should not increase the burden on the people, so these expenses did not come from the national treasury, but had to be raised by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which had limited financial resources.In fact, in order to open up financial resources, Qianlong had used a lot of brains.He once sent officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Kyakhta to buy Russian fur goods and sell them in the interior for resale, hoping to make a lot of money.However, due to the incompetence of the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there was not much profit, and some furs could not be sold at high prices, so they had to be apportioned to weaving everywhere, which made the emperor very angry. ("Fur Trading and Fashion in the Capital of the House of Internal Affairs in the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty") In addition, the emperor also allowed the House of Internal Affairs to issue usury loans to merchants and sell the operating rights of some licensed commodities in order to make huge profits.However, due to the lack of financial experts, the income of the Ministry of Internal Affairs still increased very slowly despite having the greatest convenience in power-money transactions.In his later years, the emperor's thirst for wealth became more and more fierce, and he also felt more and more suffering from lack of money.

It is against this background that the criminal justice system was planned by Hearsen. For the biggest embezzler in Chinese history, people have done enough and detailed research.However, people tend to exaggerate too much the hard work embodied in the rocket-like rise of arsenic, while ignoring the unique mentality of Qianlong in his later years.In fact, the phenomenon of Hearsenic is just a product of Qianlong's special psychological needs in his later years.If he had never had the opportunity to climb so high in Qianlong's youth, of course, he would not have fallen so hard later.

In his later years, Qianlong was plagued by two contradictions: one was the political creed of monopolizing power and deteriorating health; the other was the constant flood of material desires and the promise of "not increasing the burden on the people". Although the health condition has become more and more difficult to support daily government affairs, Qianlong never thought of sharing the power with the important officials in the court.He is well aware that these important ministers have been operating in the court for many years and have deep roots. Once they share the highest decision-making power, they will easily attract a large number of dependents, form cronies, and lead to chaos.In order to ensure the monopoly of power, the old emperor urgently needs a handy crutch, or a capable personal secretary to help him handle daily government affairs and implement specific decisions.First of all, this person should have no root or background in the court, no gang or faction, and no seniority.Only in this way will he bow his head and obey his ears and be absolutely loyal to the emperor.Second, and more importantly, he must be quick-witted, decisive, talented, and able to actually handle some complicated affairs on behalf of the emperor, otherwise it would be difficult for Qianlong, who is known for being picky, to see him well.

In the autumn of the 40th year of Qianlong (1775), the emperor went on a tour.The old emperor was lonely on the journey, so he kindly chatted with a new guard who was accompanying him on horseback.First they asked him how old he was, what his last name was, and then asked him when he entered the palace and where he worked as an official.The personable guard replied that he was 26 years old, Niu Hulu's name was He Wen, and he had just been selected as the guard of the Qianqing Gate.The young man's language is fluent and decent, and his attitude is respectful and calm.The emperor became interested in him, so he asked about his fame and background.He Wen said that when he was 18, he took part in the provincial examination and failed.Qianlong asked: "Can you still remember a few sentences from the papers from that year?"

The emperor was very surprised, his mood was just like Wang Xifeng's first meeting with Xiaohong.When people get old, they tend to appreciate the ability and vitality of young people more. The emperor tried to send He Wen to do a few things, and He Wen's tact and understanding were fully displayed, and the emperor was overjoyed.Qianlong was originally a hero who couldn't rub the sand in his eyes, but he couldn't find fault with arsenic. One year later, in the first month of the forty-first year of Qianlong (1776), He Ashen, 27, was appointed as the right servant of the household department and became a second-rank official.In March, he became the Minister of Military Aircraft, and in April, he was also the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and was rewarded with a first-rank imperial crown.

Since then, he has been steadily at the top of the political hierarchy, from baron to duke, from the right servant of the household department to the secretary of the official department, the scholar of the Wenhua Palace, and the prince and Taibao. , which is unique in the Qing Dynasty.Emperor Qianlong, who was always superior to others, overly observant, and unpredictable, never doubted He Qian's talent and loyalty. Three days before his death, He Ashen offended him, looking back on his life, he wrote such a poem: The stars surround the cold moon, and the prison weeps the lonely officials.

Huan Jing hurt his previous life, Huai Cai missed this body. The five words "Huai Cai misunderstood this body" are not completely justified.He really deserves the word "brilliant".When he was young, he studied at Xian'an Palace School.The school is known for its strict admissions criteria and outstanding quality of education.Can be admitted here, from a certain aspect proves that he is outstanding.Xian'an Gongxue courses include classics and history, minority languages, calligraphy and painting, martial arts riding and shooting, and firearms.Judging from the overall formality of the curriculum, its purpose is very clear, which is to train high-level political talents for the empire.And arsenic most of the homework is pretty good.He is proficient in four languages: Manchu, Han, Mongolian, and Tibetan, and has dabbled in all classics and historical books. He has outstanding writing skills, and his foundation in martial arts is also quite good.

In addition to his excellent academic performance, he has developed in an all-round way and has a wide range of amateur interests. He knows everything about piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and is especially famous for poetry.Qian Yongchan of the Qing Dynasty said that there are "good lines to be found" in He's poems, while Yuan Mei, a great poet at that time, praised He's like this: "When young and young learn poetry, Tonghou is the champion; Bend the bow and Zhu Yanluo, and the pen is strong. Li Moyun." What makes the old emperor feel more comfortable is that his EQ is higher than his IQ, and getting along with people always makes them feel happy.According to historical records, this beautiful man "has a gentle demeanor, is not reserved, speaks freely, likes to be humorous, but is quick-witted, and can always memorize it when he looks at it."He doesn't have the air of a scholar-bureaucrat.According to "Xiao Ting Miscellaneous Records": "Although He Xiang is an extremely human minister, he lacks the stature of a minister. He talks a lot about the market and thinks it is a joke. Taste the ceremonies in the Qianqing Palace. Most of the kings and ministers are handsome and elegant. He laughed and said, "Today is like Sun Wuzi teaching his daughter how to play a soldier!"" He Qian was the only one who could speak like this in front of Qianlong.He is considerate and never uses the emperor's nonsense in everything.He is capable in handling affairs, and Jiaqing has to admit that he is "smart and quick", and he is able to deal with various emergencies with ease.Whenever difficult government affairs were encountered, Qianlong often sent He As to deal with them, and He As was repeatedly praised for his agility and decisiveness.

In the forty-fifth year of Qianlong (1780), he served as an imperial envoy and went to Yunnan to investigate the corruption case of Li Shiyao, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. Because of his decent handling, he was promoted to be the Minister of the Household Department and the Minister of the King before returning to Beijing.When he returned to Beijing, he "presented Yunnan salt affairs, Qianfa, and border affairs in person, and said that he was willing to do so, and agreed to do so."Demonstrated his comprehensive political talent.This is the first important appearance of He Wen's political career, and his performance has been unanimously recognized by the ruling and opposition parties.

During the suppression of the Lin Shuangwen Uprising in the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), He Arsenic, as a confidential secretary, provided the emperor with valuable policy suggestions.After the uprising was put down, the emperor specially gave poems and arsenic: Zhongxiangbo Hearsen, the third-class bachelor of the university: Cheng Xun Shuyu, and also proficient in Qing and Han Dynasties.Pang Wujun's book is only clear and broken.Ping Salar, Er once supervised the battle.Confer honor and encourage loyalty, and become Guohan! "Familiar with the Qing and Han Dynasties" is an important political capital of Hearsen.The most important political documents of the Qianlong Dynasty were all written in Manchu, which actually excluded many Han ministers from the highest decision-making circle.Zhang Tingyu, the only minister of the Han Dynasty who participated in the highest secrecy in the Qianlong Dynasty, was also proficient in Manchu, because he had specially studied Manchu after he became a Jinshi.In the later years of Qianlong, the only minister who spoke both Manchu and Han Chinese and who had vision and insights was the only one.Therefore, after the pacification of Gurkha in the fifty-sixth year of Qianlong (1791), Qianlong said: "When the army was used last year, all instructions and opportunities were used in both Qing and Chinese. This was awarded to the Dalai Lama and the Gurkha. It is extremely difficult for those who use both Mongolian and Western characters in the imperial edicts, but he can handle the edicts with arsenic edicts."

Among the corrupt criminals who were executed in the past dynasties, Hearsen's death was the most calm and elegant one. On the morning of the 18th day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), the emperor sent someone to send a piece of Bai Lian.After seeing Bai Lian, He Wen asked for a pen to inscribe a poem: Fifty years have been a dream come true, let go now and thank Hongchen. When he was full of water and dragons, he believed that the cigarettes were behind him. A person who can write such Zen-like poems before his death should be a person with a little depth, a little understanding, and a little concentration.The sharp-eyed Qianlong would not let a mediocre person be in the position closest to him. In fact, the comprehensive positioning of He and Arsenic should be politicians, economic bureaucrats, poets, scholars, art connoisseurs and losers of political struggles.In the late Qianlong period, he made outstanding contributions in rectifying the national financial system and managing cultural affairs, especially foreign affairs.He edited large series of books such as "Siku Quanshu", "Unified History of the Qing Dynasty", and "Three Links", which are popular in the world. It is said that his contribution is particularly great; Minister, has been responsible for receiving envoys from North Korea, Britain and other countries many times.British envoy Macartney once commented that He Arsenic "maintained his dignified identity" during the negotiations, "has an amiable attitude and a sharp and profound understanding of issues. He is worthy of being a mature politician." These talents alone are enough to make Qianlong inseparable from him.What's more, He Arsenic has another talent that the emperor urgently needs, which is financial management. In addition to his endless reading, wide range of interests, and emphasis on interpersonal communication skills, He Arsenic has many other "modern temperaments", such as the concept of wealth. Traditional scholar-bureaucrats are often clumsy in financial management, but He Wen has a natural business acumen.The concept of wealth in traditional society is static. When people have money, their first choice is always to buy land, turning liquid assets into fixed assets, and "putting it in the ground for peace".However, Hearen has a deep understanding of the great power of cash flow.In front of real estate and cash, he is obviously more interested in cash.In the fifty-seventh year of Qianlong (1792), Xu Wude, the head of the village, had conflicts with others. He entrusted Heshi to help with the lawsuit, and promised to "give away 60 hectares of land or 10,000 taels of silver afterwards."After hearing this, He Qian made it clear, "I don't want acres of land, but I want ten thousand taels of silver."A small part of his income from corruption and bribery is used to expand real estate, and a larger part is used for various industrial and commercial investments, covering finance, real estate, mining, logistics, medicine, commerce and many other industries.He owns 12 pawnshops in Beijing, among which Yongqing Dang, Qingyu Dang, Hengxing Dang, Hengju Dang, etc. are all pawnbrokers.He also operated printing shops, account bureaus, porcelain shops, medicine shops, antique shops, bow and arrow shops, cabinet shops, saddle felt shops, grain shops, hotels, bar rooms, lime kilns, etc.In addition, his family specially prepared 80 large carriages for transportation.The rate of return of these industries is of course much higher than the land rent.Even those real properties, he also chooses to rent them out as much as possible.According to the statistics of the house raid officials later, there were 35 rented houses in Beijing alone, "1,001 and a half". One hundred and ninety-two hanging two hundred and forty texts". (The Palace Museum's "Historical Data Weekly") It can be said that as long as it is an industry that makes money quickly, there will be Hearsenic.It is worth mentioning that at that time, the mining industry had huge risks, complex management, large investment, and slow results. Most people dared not operate it, but Hearen dared to try it.He took a fancy to the coal mining industry as a sunrise industry, and invested huge sums of money to open coal mines in Mentougou and Xiangshan.With the accumulation of a huge family business, the income from corruption is of course the big one, but his own investment income is not insignificant. Traditional scholars are often ashamed to talk about money, but they have a strong sense of contract with arsenic. Before money, brothers and sisters are clear about accounts, although close relatives and friends are also unequivocal.His grandfather, Wu Mitai, who was an official to a university scholar, borrowed 2,000 taels of silver from him. He was worried that his grandfather would not be able to repay the debt in time, so he forced the old man to take his own land deed as a mortgage, and "take the land deed of equivalent value to sign the paper to return it." ("Lang Qian Jiwen") The grandson of his grandfather Yinglian borrowed money from him, and he also borrowed the land deed as collateral. (Message from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, archives of the First Archives of Chinese History) His uncle Mingbao borrowed 15,000 taels of silver from him.His close family member Fu Ming borrowed 1,000 taels of silver from him, and promised that if he could not repay it when the time came, he would "deduct from his monthly work and food allowance".Soon after Fu Ming died, He Qian didn't want him to serve his whole life to get rid of the debt, but asked his son Hua Shabu to pay the debt instead.And the monthly interest rate is 7%, plus the 200 taels of interest owed before, a total of 1,200 taels.Because of his love for money, He Wen even acted as the accountant and cashier in the family: "The peace minister...in and out of gold and silver, all of them have plans and calculations, and they are called the exchange." ("Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records") After becoming Emperor Qianlong's personal assistant, his business genius was quickly manifested and quickly gained Qianlong's attention.In the forty-first year of Qianlong (1776), he served as Minister of Internal Affairs.Before that, the agency responsible for the royal finances was often struggling to make ends meet. "When the income of the government is not enough, it calls for the treasury bank of the household department as a relief." Shortly after he took office, he took on a new look, not only making up for the previous deficit, but also showing a surplus.In the forty-three years of Qianlong (1778), the emperor appointed him as the tax supervisor of Chongwenmen. Under his management, the revenue of this tax office jumped to the top of more than 30 tax offices in the country.After these two cannonballs were launched, Qianlong became more and more impressed with Hearen's financial management skills, the so-called "respectful and beneficial in his later years".All the departments related to finance were gradually put under the control of He Qian. He successively served as the minister of the household department, the secretary of the household department, the management of the three treasuries of the household department, and the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. "Yi actually controlled the affairs of the household department by one person, and changed it into a rule, and no ministers were allowed to discuss a word." In Qianlong's eyes, Hearsen was like a magician, always able to create new sources of income unexpectedly. The institutionalization of "criminal silver" is a genius invention of Hearsenic. The silver for negotiating crimes evolved from "penalty".Penalties have existed since ancient times, and deducting the "basic salary" of officials for several months to several years is a common means of punishing minor faults.As the administration in the mid-Qianlong period became more stringent and law enforcement became stricter, the emperor felt that the amount of fines was too small to guard his heart, and he imposed extra-legal punishments, often tens of thousands of fines, which were renamed "criminal silver".The original intention of the emperor was just to make the officials "heartache", and did not want to institutionalize it as a source of income. After He Arsenic came to power, he immediately discovered the beauty of "criminal silver".The power to decide on fines and salaries rests with the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households undertakes to pursue the payment, and the silver taels are also handed over to the state treasury. The process is open and transparent.However, the criminal bill is not customized by the state, so it can be bypassed by the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Accounts, and the Military Aircraft Department is responsible. It is not included in the national finance, but in the emperor's small treasury, and the process and amount can not be made public.Therefore, under the suggestion of He Wen, the emperor approved the institutionalization of the criminal punishment system, and greatly expanded the scope of fines, ranging from major mistakes such as financial deficits to a few wrong words in the memorial. Of. As soon as this move was made, those smart ministers immediately discovered the beauty.Many ministers took the initiative to ask for the payment of criminal charges.For example, Bi Yuan, the governor of Henan Province, asked for a fine of 20,000 taels of silver for "failure to quickly find the important criminals."The willingness to pay heavy punishments for small mistakes not only shows that the ministers are strict with themselves, but also made contributions to the enrichment of the emperor's small treasury quietly, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.Therefore, there are not a few local officials who actively "donate" through this channel.For example, He Yucheng, the governor of Henan Province, accidentally got incense ash on Zhu Zhu's memorial, so he was "in panic all day long" and actively asked himself to ask for a fine of 30,000 taels of silver.The emperor of Dalian felt a little embarrassed about the handwriting, so he issued a decree saying: "It's not that serious. Jia'en waived 20,000 taels of silver, and it's fine to pay 10,000 taels." Of course, there are more ministers who passively pay the crime money.Since the institutionalization of criminal justice, officials have found that their wallets are in danger of being robbed by Hearsen under various pretexts at any time.When you are an official, it is difficult to guarantee that you will not make mistakes.If you make a mistake, you may be fined silver.As for the amount of punishment, it often depends on the amount of the official's family property.For example, because Tan Laogui, a commoner in his jurisdiction, hanged himself to death, Bayan San had to "self-pay" 80,000 taels of crime silver.As for the Techeng amount, because Yu Fang, a commoner in the jurisdiction, had to hang himself, he could pass the customs by paying 20,000 taels.Li Tianpei paid 40,000 taels because of his poor management of the prison, which led to "the deportation of prisoners and the death of heavy prisoners", while Ming Xing paid 30,000 taels because of "a prisoner from Licheng County escaped from prison". Of course, there are more officials who are grateful for this system.For example, in Xining, the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the emperor wanted to behead him in a rage because he "did not manage well and the businessman owed a lot" when doing business for the emperor.He still helped with arsenic, made peace, and told the emperor that the head could not be sold for money, and agreed to pay a fine of 80,000 taels in Xining to settle the matter.The 80,000 taels was set very accurately, just enough to wipe out the Xining family.Xining had to sell the real estate owned by the seller to pay the silver taels. Afterwards, he had to send a letter to He Qian to express his gratitude because he saved his head: "The heavens are high and the earth is thick, and I am deeply grateful to the world. .” Under the operation of Hearsen, the crime-discussion silver system injected a large amount of cash into the wallet of the emperor in his later years.According to statistics from the existing "Secret Files", in just 13 years, there were 68 major criminal cases, an average of 5 cases per year.Among them, the number of governors pleaded guilty to 37 person-times, that is, less than one of the three governors in the country has pleaded guilty and fined money.In addition, there were 26 people who pleaded guilty to crimes and fined silver from the Chief Envoy, Salt Administrator, Weaving and Customs Envoys.The amount of silver used for punishing crimes ranges from ten thousand taels, usually around thirty thousand taels, and the highest one found in records was as high as three hundred and eighty-four thousand taels. The following are a few records in the "Secret Records File": In December of the forty-fifth year of Qianlong (1780), Quande paid a fine of 28,772 taels of silver due to fines and customs duties during his term of office in Suzhou Weaving. In the forty-sixth year of Qianlong (1781), Sanbao Zuo handed over 110,000 taels of silver for his own crime. In the forty-sixth year of Qianlong, under Wen Shou's name, a total of 80,000 liang of silver was handed over to discuss crimes. In March of the forty-seventh year of Qianlong (1782), Bayan San handed over 80,000 taels of money for his own crime because of the "case of Tan Laogui's suicide by hanging himself". In October of the forty-seventh year of Qianlong, Yang Chaozheng, the son of Yang Kui, the former governor, handed over 50,000 taels of criminal silver to his father in five years. In December of the forty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, Zheng Ruizuo paid 50,000 taels of official silver under the name of Guodong. In the forty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign (1783), Xining, the salt administration envoy, handed in 80,000 taels of silver for self-crime because of "poor handling of the salt class, and the merchants owed a lot". In March of the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (1784), Fukang'an played on behalf of Bayan San "because of salt affairs" and handed over 100,000 taels of silver for his own crime. In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong's reign, Fan Qingji was fined 80,000 taels of silver "for defaulting on hundreds of thousands of catties of copper in arrears." In the 50th year of Qianlong (1785), Li Zhiying handed over 140,000 taels of silver for self-crime and more than 30,000 taels of silver for customs duties, totaling more than 170,000 taels. On December 26th of the fiftieth year of Qianlong, Zhang Wanxuan, the Secretary of the Fulehun Dynasty, handed over 30,000 taels of silver for his own crime because of "the shortage of ships and the lack of plans to replenish them". In August of the fifty-first year of Qianlong (1786), He Wen and Fu Chang'an acted on behalf of Yade because of the "lack of taxation in Zhejiang". ... According to Qianlong, the crime-discussing silver system is "to get rich with the governor and other salaries, and the blame is still illegal and hard to forgive, so the crime is judged according to the discretion and punished with a small amount."It seems that there is no damage to the state, it does not increase the burden on the people, it also widens the emperor's hand, and it also warns the lawless officials, which really serves multiple purposes.In fact, this is a bad policy with extremely serious consequences. An invariable law of corruption politics is that what individuals gain from corruption is often insignificant compared to the losses caused to the country.Today's officials can grant tens of millions of dollars of land to developers with the stroke of a pen because of the benefits of tens of thousands of yuan, or even just a few "special consumptions".Similarly, the millions of taels of pocket money that Qianlong obtained from the criminal silver system in his later years caused losses to the Qing Dynasty in the hundreds of millions. The so-called cannibals have short mouths and short hands.While enjoying the joy of spending money, it is impossible for the old emperor not to hold his hands high to those officials who actively paid the crime money.Many so-called "law-unforgivable" serious crimes can be forgiven as long as enough silver is paid.Therefore, the punishment for crimes actually does not play a punitive role. Instead, it legalizes corruption and embezzlement in a disguised form. .Anyway, the big deal is to find peace and arsenic, and fine money.Just as Yin Zhuangtu said: "Although the fine is severe, it not only does not move his heart of shame and fear, but also submerges his desire to play." This system makes officials more motivated to become corrupt.After many years of accumulated family business are fined, the first choice of officials is often even more frenzied search.Sometimes, the first choice of officials is to obtain "criminal money" through "crime" because the amount of criminal charges is too large to pay.The younger brother of Chen Huizu, governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, asked him for help because he wanted to pay 30,000 taels of money for the crime.So he illegally embezzled 1,600 taels of silver and handed it over to his younger brother.In the forty-seventh year of Qianlong (1782), Cathay, the governor of Shandong, extorted 80,000 taels of silver from his subordinates, and the amount of silver paid by Guotai's father Wenshou a year ago was exactly 80,000 taels.