There is a folk proverb, "When Heshen falls, Jiaqing will be full." How rich is Heshen, who is as rich as the country? It was able to satisfy Emperor Jiaqing's appetite. He Shen is the biggest corrupt official in Chinese history, and he is also the best at amassing money. It is said that he is as rich as the country. So how rich is He Shen? Here is a brief introduction to Heshen's background and how rich Heshen is:
Heshen (1750-1799), Niu Hulu, formerly known as Shanbao and named Shanzhai, was a native of Zhenghong Banner in Manchuria. Although Heshen's family was poor when he was young, he was very eager to learn and was proficient in four languages: Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan. During the reign of Qianlong, Emperor Qianlong relied heavily on Heshen because Heshen was a shrewd and capable man. He even married his youngest daughter, Princess Ten, to Heshen's eldest son Fengshen Yinde.
Because Emperor Qianlong had great favor and trust in Heshen and became the in-laws of Emperor Qianlong, Heshen, who was in great power, felt even more confident. So he took advantage of his power to form parties for personal gain, amass money, and attack political opponents. In addition, He Shen also started business, opening 75 pawn shops and more than 300 large and small banks. He also cooperated with the British East India Company and the Guangdong Ten All three lines of business have business dealings.
On the third day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), Emperor Qianlong died of illness in the Yangxin Hall. As the saying goes, once the emperor is the same as the minister, Emperor Jiaqing had long wanted to eradicate this huge corrupt man - He Shen. Now that Qianlong died, the powerful minister Heshen lost his only support, so Emperor Jiaqing decreed that Heshen would be dismissed from his post and imprisoned, and his family property would be confiscated. In the end, Heshen was ordered to commit suicide.
A partial list of Heshen’s property was inspected: 606 family members, including 600 women, 3,000 houses, 8,000 hectares of fields (estimated at 80 million taels of silver), 75 pawnshops (estimated at 30 million taels of silver), There are 42 houses (estimated at 400,000 taels of silver), 15 antique shops (estimated at 300,000 taels of silver), 1 million taels of silver stored in the cellar, and countless other rare treasures in the mansion.
The Qing Dynasty scholar Xue Fucheng mentioned in "Yong'an Notes" that the amount of Heshen's family property was 230 million taels. , Heshen's family property was 2 billion taels of silver. The Qing government's annual tax revenue at that time was only 70 million taels of silver. Heshen's family property was actually more than the total tax revenue of the Qing Dynasty for 20 years. Judging from these data, Heshen's family property is really as rich as the country. No wonder the proverb "When Heshen falls, Jiaqing will be full" is widely circulated among the people.