Chapter 3 Origin of the Heshen family

According to the book "Manchurian Clan Genealogy of the Eight Banners of the Imperial System", Heshen's direct ancestor was called Gaha Chaluan, and his banner belonged to the Zhenghong Banner of Manchuria.One of Gahachaluan's descendants was named Niyahana, who entered the pass with the Qing army from idle soldiers and conquered Shandong.Because he was the first to climb the city wall when he attacked Hejian Mansion, he was awarded the title of Batulu (Warrior), and was awarded the third-class light chariot captain (the third grade).Later, through generations, Niyahana's fourth grandson, Chang Bao, took over the position. Since Chang Baotang's uncle Ahadunse died heroically when he followed Emperor Kangxi to the Junggar, Chang Bao was specially awarded the first-class Yunqiwei.By the time of Qianlong, Chang Bao served as the governor of Fujian.After his death, his eldest son Shanbao (ie Heshen) succeeded him.

Heshen is a transliteration of its Manchu name, which means the outline of the three outlines in Chinese.Heshen's baby name was Shanbao, and his character was Zhizhai. He was born in the fifteenth year of Qianlong (1750).Their family entered the customs with other Eight Banners soldiers and civilians in the first year of Shunzhi (1644). After entering the capital (now Beijing), they followed the regulations at that time: all Han people moved out of the inner city, and their houses were lived by Eight Banners soldiers and civilians; According to the provisions of the banner division system, the soldiers and civilians of the Eight Banners strictly divided their residences according to the division of banners.Especially in the early Qing Dynasty, the inner city of the capital had twenty-four metropolitan yamen divided into banners of Manchuria, Mongolia, and Han. Each banner had its own garrison territory, fixed teaching grounds, schools and other facilities.As for the residences of the personnel of each banner, they also live in different areas according to the division of banners.Generally speaking, this regulation remained largely unchanged from the early Qing Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty.The specific regulations at that time were as follows.

The Xianghuang Banner is located in Andingmen (the Qing imperial family belongs to this banner), the Zhenghuang Banner is located in Deshengmen, and the Zhengbai Banner is located in Dongzhimen (the above three banners are the upper three banners, which are led by the emperor himself).Xiangbai Banner is located in Chaoyang Gate, Zhenghong Banner is located in Xizhimen Gate, Xianghong Banner is located in Fucheng Gate, Zhenglan Banner is located in Chongwen Gate, and Xianglan Banner is located in Xuanwu Gate (the above five banners are the lower five banners). According to the historical archives of the Qing Dynasty and the poem annotations of Heshen's "Jia Le Tang Poetry Collection", his family belonged to Erjiala, Zhenghongqi, Manchuria. That is, the east end of Xisi Toutiao), behind the famous ancient temple Guangji Temple (now the residence of the Chinese Buddhist Association), less than an arrow's range from the temple.He Shen and his younger brother He Lin were born here and lived together until his family's banner registration was carried into Zhenghuang Banner, and then moved to the mansion on the shore of Shichahai in Deshengmen, which is the territory of Zhenghuang Banner, which is now Beijing West City. Prince Gong's Mansion on Haixi Street in the district.

Regarding Heshen's origin, many people think that he was born in a humble and humble background, and some even said that his family was born in Baoyi (Manchu, Chinese meaning: servants, servants, etc. for use at home).This view has also affected the international understanding of Heshen.For example, Macartney, the British special envoy who came to China in the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong (1793), wrote in his memoirs "The Interview with the British Envoy of Qianlong": The emperor's prime minister, He Zhongtang, was A Tatar, born in a humble family, is very talented.In fact, this view is incorrect and does not conform to the actual situation.

In the thirty-fourth year of Qianlong (1769), Chang Bao passed away, and the 20-year-old He Shen inherited the post of third-class captain of light vehicles.At this time, this position has been inherited in his family for five generations.Although this is a hereditary fame, the country has been in peace for a long time, and official positions are not as difficult to obtain as they used to be. Therefore, the official position of the third-class captain of light vehicles was already a very common position in the Qianlong period.However, Chang Bao's deputy in Fujian Province has a unified title, but he is a senior military attache with position and power. This official position in the Qing Dynasty belonged to the third rank, which is equivalent to the current position of lieutenant general.And later the emperor rewarded his family with the official position of first-class Yunqiwei, which was not available to everyone among the many soldiers and civilians of the Eight Banners at that time.In addition, Heshen's biological mother is the daughter of Jiamo, Governor of the River, and his stepmother is the daughter of Wu Mitai, Minister of the Ministry of Officials. These are also prominent figures.In the feudal era where the right family was important, which high-ranking official would marry his beloved daughter to someone lower than himself?Where did He Shen come from such a humble background?

In addition, He Shen was awarded the third-class bodyguard in the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong (1772) to pick up the sticky pole.The sticky pole place is a common name for the public, and its official name is Shang (Shang) Yu Spare Place.This department usually consists of ten guards and is mainly responsible for the emperor's daily travel matters.Whenever the emperor travels, he serves beside the emperor's sedan chair, and is responsible for supporting the sedan chair, lighting the lantern, etc., commonly known as a deacon.In addition, there is a treasurer (appointed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs), who holds sticky poles, fishing rods and all utensils.

It is usually said that He Shen used to be an errand in Luan Yiwei, and did Baitanga (Manchu, also known as Baitanga; Chinese translation is servant, deacon), who carried the sedan chair for the emperor, implying that his society The status is very low, but it is a bit rash to draw the conclusion that He Shen's background is low.In fact, the position of Baitang'a was a subordinate officer under the jurisdiction of the Shangyu Reserve Office, a low-level military officer in the Qing Dynasty.Prince Zhaolian of the Qing Dynasty made a detailed description of this in "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records": custom-made, choose the donors among the children of the Eight Banners officials as deacons, and the superiors will help the public, cover, and fish when patrolling. , The matter of the sparrow is called the Shangyu Spare Office.Gai is young and full of vigor, so he is ordered to work hard to prepare for the selection of guards in the city in the future.In fact, it is similar to the Yulin system of the Han Dynasty, but it is more elite than it, because it is good at doting on the system of close servants.From this description, we can clearly know that being able to be Bai Tang'a of Shangyu's spare office not only does not mean that Heshen's social status is humble and humble, but it proves that he is an excellent child of the Eight Banners, and is the emperor's son. The outstanding one selected out of thousands of bannermen youths.Responsible for serving the servants by my side, so as to educate and temper them in various ways, which will definitely be of great use in the future.As the saying goes, there are no small officials around the emperor.Therefore, although He Shen was not born in a noble family, he was born in the middle and upper class military officer's family in the feudal ruling class of Manchuria after all, not from a poor family.