Chapter 12 He Shen overthrew Li Shiyao

Emperor Qianlong favored Heshen very much. He always wanted to reuse him when Heshen first entered the officialdom. He would also privately laugh at him for serving pets and getting promoted, without real talent.He Shen himself also felt wronged, he urgently needed to show himself.In order to cover up his tongue, Emperor Qianlong quickly gave He Shen a perfect opportunity. In the first month of the forty-fifth year of Qianlong (1780), Haining, who had served as the inspector of Guizhou, dismissed his previous post and was appointed as the governor of Shenyang Fengtian. He came to Beijing to report on his duties. Some performances of provincial and local officials.Haining took the opportunity to sue Li Shiyao, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, for his greed and selfishness, and the money bureau was greedy for hiding things.He Shen also helped, and Qianlong was very angry, so he ordered He Shen to lead the Minister of Criminal Affairs, Kan Ning'a, to Yunnan to handle the case.At the same time, Minister of the Household Department Yinglian and Minister of Military Aircraft Fu Long'an were ordered to search Li Shiyao's property in Beijing.

Li Shiyao, courtesy name Qinzhai, was originally from Tieling, Liaodong, and was originally from the Zhenglan Banner of the Han Army.In the 40th year of Qianlong (1775), his family was carried into the Yellow Banner of the Han Army.He is a descendant of Li Rubai, a famous general in the late Ming Dynasty.At the end of Ming Dynasty, Li Yongfang, his fourth ancestor, originally guarded Fushun.At the beginning of the forty-sixth year of Ming Wanli (1618), he surrendered when Nurhachi led his army to attack Fushun.Nurhachi thought of his meritorious service, awarded him the rank of third-class lieutenant general, and married his granddaughter to him, so Li Yongfang was also called Fushun forehead.Since then, Li Yongfang has made many military exploits, and Li Shiyao's father, Li Yuanliang, even served as a high-ranking official like the Minister of the Household Department.Therefore, from this point of view, Li Shiyao is also a descendant of the old officials of the Eight Banners.In the eighth year of Qianlong (1743), Li Shiyao was awarded the post of Sealing Zhangjing.

It is said in history books that Li Shiyao is short, sharp and quick-witted.When you see your subordinates, you can tell whether they are talented or not by a few words.Sitting tall, talking about the benefits of fertility, or the dark things, if you see it in person, everyone will be terrified.Therefore, in the fourteenth year of Qianlong (1749), when he was awarded the seal of Zhangjing by Yin Sheng in the early years of Qianlong, he was highly regarded by Emperor Qianlong, who considered him a genius in the world, and promoted him to the position of deputy capital. .Someone once suggested that such promotion was against the precedent, but Emperor Qianlong said: After Li Yongfang, An can be compared with other Han troops.Then, Li Shiyao successively transferred to the positions of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Minister of the Ministry of Households, and General of Guangzhou.

In the 21st year of Qianlong (1756), Li Shiyao was promoted to the acting governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and he officially accepted it three years later.Guangzhou has always been a port open to the outside world in China. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Guangzhou was China's only port for foreign trade.All trade is operated by foreign firms (commonly known as Thirteen Banks).However, if the merchants of the Thirteen Banks wanted to maintain their monopoly position, they had to bribe and offer gifts to the local officials in Guangzhou, otherwise it would be difficult to get the support of the government.Therefore, the post of governor of Guangdong and Guangxi has always been a rich job.

Since then, Li Shiyao has successively served as Minister of the Ministry of Households, Commander of the Han Army of Zhenghongqi, Xixun Jiu Zuoling; Governor of Huguang, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, etc., and was awarded the Hall of Martial Arts in the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (1773). bachelor.He served as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi for fifteen years.Until the forty-second year of Qianlong (1777), due to numerous negotiations with Burma, he was transferred to the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. From Li Shiyao's resume, it can be seen that Emperor Qianlong appointed him as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in charge of foreign affairs for a long time, which naturally recognized Li Shiyao's talent.In fact, there is another private reason, that is, Li Shiyao pays the most tribute to the court every year, and Qianlong, who spends money like water, naturally likes him very much.

Li Shiyao paid tribute more than 100 times in more than 20 years, sometimes even eight or nine times a year.The reason why he never gets tired of Shanggong is of course to win Qianlong's trust and favor, but in fact it is also to fill his own pocket.Li Shiyao is respectful to his superiors, but extremely cruel to his subordinates. When his subordinates pay tribute, who doesn't prepare a portion for him at the same time?After being sent to the central government, the emperor saw that there were a lot of tributes, and he only collected some of them symbolically. Most of the rest fell into the hands of military ministers and veterans, and some were returned to Li Shiyao himself.In this way, a large amount of gold and silver property fell into his hands.

Li Shiyao believed that as long as he was favored by the emperor, nothing would happen.What's more, I have been operating in Guangdong and Guangxi for more than ten years. The local officials in Guangdong and Guangxi and the officials of the Guangdong Thirteen Banks were all selected and appointed by him. The relationship is smooth and safe.Qianlong once praised Li Shiyao in front of the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, saying that he had served in various provinces for more than 20 years from general to governor.With a good conscience, you should be grateful for my kindness, serve the public and clean yourself, and repay with your intentions.Those who can be praised by the emperor in front of all the ministers are naturally favored by the emperor.This can be seen from his official resume.

Of course, people who only hope to have a backer but have no characteristics themselves will not be able to gain a long-term foothold in the officialdom.Li Shiyao is indeed a capable man, and his talents are well known.But after a long time, it is inevitable that he will be contaminated with all kinds of bad habits and bad rules in the officialdom at that time.It also breeds arrogance and coquettishness, gradually nostrils, domineering, and easily ignores others.Later, He Shen gradually became popular, and all the ministers flocked to him; Li Shiyao, relying on his seniority and high status, did not take He Shen seriously, and often disrespected He Shen in words and actions, so he offended He Shen.Therefore, He Shen always wanted to find an opportunity to deal with him.

Li Shiyao did have a series of problems such as corruption, accepting bribes, extorting bribes, embezzling, and extorting factions. In addition, Emperor Qianlong already knew that Li Shiyao took the opportunity to enrich himself in the name of organizing tributes.Therefore, Qianlong sent Heshen, the right servant of the household department who was on a tour to the south of Luan, and Kan Ning'a, the servant of the criminal department, as imperial envoys, and rushed to Guizhou and Yunnan quickly.At the same time, Emperor Qianlong ordered Yinglian, the Minister of household affairs in the capital, to lead people to search Li Shiyao's family property in Beijing on the 27th of the first lunar month.

He Shen, Kaning'a and others rushed to Kunming Mansion without stopping.First of all, Zhang Yongshou, Li Shiyao's housekeeper, was arrested and interrogated severely overnight, and finally confessed that Li Shiyao received donations from local officials at all levels for personal gain.On the seventh day of March, Heshen and Kaning'a interrogated Li Shiyao. In the face of the facts, Li Shiyao had to bow his head and plead guilty, admitting that he had received two thousand taels of silver from Zhuangzhao of Yinan Road and a total of eight thousand silver from Su Erfang, a judge of Ludian. Two, received 4,000 taels of silver from Zhang Long, the prefect of Dongchuan, 5,000 taels of silver from Wang Qi, the inspector of Yunnan, and 10,000 taels of silver from Deqi, the prefect of Lin'an, and admitted that he used the opportunity of investigating the case to fill his own pocket.

Emperor Qianlong was very angry with Li Shiyao's corruption. He said in the edict: Shiyao, as a bachelor, has served as the governor.Heshen and Kaning'a were ordered to dismiss Li Shiyao for interrogation and send him to the capital. After the charges were confirmed, Heshen and others planned to sentence him to be executed as a prison marshal, and confiscated his title and awarded it to his younger brother Fengyao. The reason why He Shen sentenced him to beheaded was because he knew that what Li Shiyao did was inseparable from the Qianlong Dynasty's system of encouraging local officials to pay tribute. I naturally like it, so I can't punish it too severely.In order to warn other local officials not to go too far, they also need to put on a show.In the end, Emperor Qianlong still wanted to lenient the net and leave him a way out, so Heshen pronounced the sentence like this, but other people didn't think so. As a result, the sentence originally planned to be executed was changed to beheaded. In the end, Emperor Qianlong issued an edict, the intention of which was very obvious, that is, to let Li Shiyao go.Although most of the governors agreed to sentence Li Shiyao to execution, a few people figured out the intention of Emperor Qianlong, so they pleaded for Li Shiyao.In the end, Emperor Qianlong issued an edict to cut off the supervisor; at the same time, he decided to keep part of Li Shiyao's family property confiscated in the palace, and send the rest to the Chongwenmen Tax Customs for sale, and all the silver gained was handed over to the Guangchu treasurer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for storage; He Shen was rewarded with a yard in his house. The handling of Li Shiyao's case not only shows He Shen's ability to handle affairs, but also shows He Shen's ability to read the holy meaning and speculate on other people's psychology.From then on, Emperor Qianlong favored him even more, and the relationship between the two became closer, and He Shen further flourished in his official career.