Chapter 14 He Shen grudges against Fukang'an

Fukang'an, courtesy name Yaolin, Fucha family, was born in a wealthy family in Manchuria in the Qing Dynasty.Fu Kang'an's father, Fu Heng, was the younger brother of Emperor Qianlong's first empress, Empress Xiaoxian.Fu Heng successively served as Minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, President of Huidian Pavilion, Bachelor of Baohe Palace and Chief Minister of Military Affairs, and a first-class official.Fu Heng made great military achievements and was relied on by Qianlong. Fu Kang'an is the third son of Fu Heng, and he has a noble status since he was born.Fukang'an started as a bodyguard, successively served as Minister of the Household Department, Minister of Military Aircraft, and succeeded his father as a third-class public.Later, he followed the famous general Agui to send troops to Jinchuan and other places. With outstanding military achievements, he was awarded the first-class title of Jiayong Gong and the title of Jiayong Batulu.Moreover, it was awarded the three-eyed Dingdaihualing. In the nearly 300-year history of the Qing Dynasty, there were only seven people who were able to receive this honor.

Compared with Fukang'an, who has a prominent background, He Shen is far inferior in terms of foundation and status.Fukang'an has repeatedly made military exploits and won the trust of the emperor step by step. Naturally, he looks down on He Shen who has made great achievements without even making an inch of merit. One day, Fukang'an was rewarded by Emperor Qianlong for his military exploits.Knowing that his wings were not strong enough, He Shen intended to make friends with powerful people to strengthen his position, so after retiring from the court, he deliberately waited at the gate of the Golden Palace to wait for Fukang to come out.He Shen bowed to Fukang'an who walked out slowly, and spit out lotus flowers with a smile on his face: Congratulations to the commander-in-chief again. The commander-in-chief is really the pillar of the country. I have admired the commander-in-chief for a long time. If the commander-in-chief is willing to come to my mansion As mentioned above, it is a great honor to be able to flourish.

Knowing the details of He Shen, Fu Kang'an was naturally dissatisfied and couldn't bear to be with him.So he said coldly: "Your Excellency is a great scholar, how dare you accept your big gift?"I've heard that your mansion is magnificent, I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy it, I really can't afford it, I'll talk about the visit later.After finishing speaking, he walked away, ignoring He Shen who was stunned in place.Even though He Shen hated Fu Kang'an very much in his heart, he didn't dare to offend him, so he had to grit his teeth and hold back his breath.

When He Shen was the tax supervisor of Chongwenmen, he collected a certain amount of tax from all the officials who came and went, and his behavior was very rampant.Once, Lu Zhongcheng, the governor of Shandong, went to Beijing to meet the emperor. He didn't know the rules, and when he passed the Chongwenmen tax customs, it was difficult to collect the tax for a while.In desperation, Lu Zhongcheng had no choice but to leave all his luggage outside the capital, and took only one attendant into the city.After Lu Zhongcheng entered the capital, he borrowed clothes and quilts from his friends to live in, which was really embarrassing.

The story spread quickly, and everyone knew that He Shen's tariffs in Chongwenmen were too high, and the geese were too plucked, and the dignified governor of a province threw away his clothes before he could enter the city. system.All the officials in the imperial court knew that He Shen was being favored, so they didn't dare to come out and discuss casually. Later, when Fukang'an learned about Lu Zhongcheng, he couldn't bear such dirty things in his heart, so he reported the matter to Emperor Qianlong, and asked to change the situation of Chongwenmen's excessive taxation.Because the salaries of local officials are meager now, and they have to be exploited after coming all the way to the capital. If things go on like this, the atmosphere in the officialdom will probably get worse and worse.

Qianlong knew that Fukang'an's play was true, but he didn't blame Heshen, because Chongwenmen's tax collection was also approved by him.Although He Shen had no loss, he hated Fu Kang'an even more.But for a powerful person like Fukang'an, who would dare to do anything to him?He Shen had no choice but to continue to endure, but he did not give up the idea of ​​revenge against Fu Kang'an.Soon, He Shen gave Fukang'an a slap in the face, but he did it so well that Fukang'an was speechless. Fukang'an led troops to fight outside all the year round, and his old subordinate Li Tianpei was trained by himself, and he achieved the post of inspector in Hubei.In July of the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong (1789), Li Tianpei came to Beijing from Hubei to report on his duties. He wanted to take the opportunity to bring some gifts to his old superior Fu Kang'an, so he carefully selected some high-quality wood.Since the road had to be taken by water, he used the tank boat specially used by the imperial court to transport official grain to Beijing. According to the regulations, private use of public boats was absolutely not allowed.But Li Tianpei thought it was not a big deal, so he followed on the road.

The sky was not beautiful, and Li Tianpei blocked the water transport privately, making it difficult for the waterway to be full.It just so happened that Heshen's younger brother, He Lin, was the censor of Huguang Road at the time, and was responsible for supervising officials. He soon discovered Li Tianpei's behavior, and it was difficult to decide for a while.why?Because when we seriously investigate, this is a serious crime of false publicity and selfishness. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, Fukang'an will inevitably be involved. If Fukang'an doesn't know, it's okay. It is already very common, besides, Li Tianpei's false public welfare did not cause too serious consequences. In the widespread behavior of false public welfare, it is not a big deal to consign such a small amount of wood without permission, and one can turn a blind eye and close one eye.

He Lin didn't dare to impeach Li Tianpei because of this matter, she was afraid of offending Fu Kang'an behind him, and it would be difficult to get along in the officialdom in the future. He Lin hesitated, so she discussed with her elder brother He Shen who was in court.He Shen was overjoyed when he heard that, he was good at grasping the emperor's mind and knew that Qianlong had recently intended to rectify the administration of officials.Fukang'an and himself have always been at odds. The evidence for this matter is conclusive, and it is an excellent opportunity to attack Fukang'an, and he will not have any losses.Besides, as long as Li Tianpei was impeached for his private affairs, Fukang'an could not be mentioned at all.As long as the imperial envoy continues to investigate, Fukang'an will be implicated sooner or later, but that has nothing to do with his younger brother. It is the investigator who is really troubled.

Therefore, Heshen instructed Helin to use his status as a censor to submit a memorial to Emperor Qianlong. He only needs to impeach Li Tianpei for private use of water transport boats and false public affairs for personal gain, not to mention Fukang'an. Qianlong was furious when he received the memorial, and ordered Agui to investigate the matter thoroughly.The matter was very simple: Li Tianpei used the official ship of water transport to consign the timber privately, but the owner of the timber was Fukang'an, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi.Fukang'an was fighting in Annan at that time, and the houses in the capital were being renovated, requiring high-quality wood, and the area around Hankou, Hubei has always been a place where wood gathers.So Fukang'an entrusted his old subordinates to buy the letter and transport it to Beijing.Li Tianpei knew that the money could only be paid by himself, and that the meat buns beat the dog and never came back.However, due to sympathy, he couldn't shirk it, and he didn't want to spend too much money on himself, so he loaded the purchased wood together on the court's grain ship in Huguang to transport the wood to the capital to save freight.This kind of behavior of false public benefit was discovered by Yushi Helin, which led to the impeachment of Li Tianpei.

As the imperial envoy in charge of this matter, Agui knew the stakes and felt very tricky.He knew very well that this was He Shen demonstrating against Fukang'an.Agui felt that it was inappropriate to magnify this matter, and deliberately turned it into a small one, so he reported to the emperor: Li Tianpei should be punished for using the official ship, but the congestion of the river and the sluggishness of the waterway are not out of his original intention; buying wood is a blessing. Kang An commissioned, but it was Li Tianpei's personal decision to use the official ship privately. Fu Kang'an didn't know about it. The minister thought that Li Tianpei should be punished, but this matter had nothing to do with Fu Kang'an.

When He Shen heard this, he knew that this was Agui pleading for Fukang'an.He hurriedly played: Li Tianpei's false public service for personal gain is really a serious crime, the emperor should punish him severely, otherwise he would be connivance, and it is inevitable that other officials will follow suit.Qianlong also had the heart to rectify the administration of officials, and he had always admired Heshen, so he was determined to make Li Tianpei's case an iron case, as an example to others. Therefore, he issued an imperial decree to severely punish and order a new sentence: Li Tianpei, the procurator of Hubei, used public affairs for personal gain, resulting in the blockage of the waterway. The consequences were serious. Thinking of his meritorious service in combat, he was sentenced to dismiss and stay in office, and the governor was fined for supporting Lianyin for three years and his salary for ten years. In addition, as the imperial envoy, Agui deliberately shielded him, so he cannot escape the responsibility.Qianlong issued a decree to reprimand Ah Gui: I ordered you to handle the case in order to let you handle the case impartially.Who knows that you blindly cover Fukang'an, which is clearly desecrating the laws of the Qing Dynasty!In this way, Agui was also punished by Qianlong because the proposed crime was too light. Fukang'an fought outside, not only was he not commended, but because of a trivial matter that he didn't understand, he was fined and confiscated ten years of salary, and he was very depressed.Only after he returned to Beijing did he realize that He Shen was behind the scenes.Only then did Fu Kang'an know He Shen's method, and he never dared to be careless to this young man again. He Shen also knew that Fukang'an was an upright man with outstanding military exploits, unlike Li Shiyao's bad conduct and greed, just teach him a lesson.If everyone is an official in the same dynasty, it is best to turn the enemy into a friend. If you are too sharp, it is not good for you.Since then, Heshen deliberately wins over Fukang'an in the court, and Fukang'an does not want to offend Heshen who is being favored, and the relationship between the two parties tends to ease.