Chapter 17 Take the Emperor Taishang to order the Emperor

He Shen likes to read, of course he knows that Cao Cao used to coerce the emperor to make the princes in history.He admires Cao Cao very much, and his own experience is similar to that of Cao Cao, who climbed up step by step from the bottom.Therefore, when Jiaqing ascended the throne, He Shen thought of blackmailing the Supreme Emperor in order to make him realize his goal of controlling power. Emperor Jiaqing was already thirty-six years old when he came to the throne. He had great ambitions but remained calm and steady. He learned the lesson of his great-grandfather Kangxi's reign when the crown prince stood up and then returned to power.Even after ascending the throne, he still cared about Qianlong carefully, not daring to be sloppy, and served the Supreme Emperor Qianlong carefully.Even if he sometimes disagrees with his father Emperor Qianlong's actions, he never shows the slightest bit of emotion.Regarding He Shen, the favorite minister of the Supreme Emperor, Emperor Jiaqing was full of resentment and dissatisfaction, and could not understand what he did.But he knew that He Shen was always paying attention to and guarding against himself, and if there was a slight mistake, the Supreme Emperor would know immediately.In order to prevent Heshen from grasping the handle and consolidate the successor emperor's throne, Emperor Jiaqing kept a low profile and allowed Heshen to act recklessly and domineeringly.

After testing Jiaqing, Heshen decided that the emperor would not pose a threat to him. In addition, the Supreme Emperor abdicated and refused to give up power. He was still the actual controller of the court, so he became more complacent and overjoyed.The Supreme Emperor has no name and no real energy, and all affairs are still handled by Heshen. Heshen took the opportunity to coerce the Supreme Emperor to make the emperor more powerful. They are all He Shen's subordinates and staff, under his control. In the last years of Qianlong, the Miao people in Hunan and Guizhou revolted, but they could not be suppressed for a while.Unexpectedly, in the first month of the first year of Jiaqing (1796), Hubei, Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu and other provinces broke out the famous and far-reaching White Lotus Rebellion in history.Before Qianlong's death, all military power was in the hands of Heshen, and all military reports had to be reported to him first, and then passed on to the Supreme Emperor and Emperor Jiaqing. controlled by it.

In fact, Heshen, whose official career was flourishing, also thought that once the Supreme Emperor died, the new emperor Jiaqing might not trust him. Therefore, he also made preparations to beware of Emperor Jiaqing, but because Emperor Jiaqing was mediocre and inactive on the surface, he put his own The city was buried very deeply, so He Shen was relieved. He Shen's greed for money even reached the point of insanity. Many people in the government and the opposition dared not speak out against him.Even so, none of the civil and military officials dared to confront him openly. The two emperors couldn't do anything to him, so what can we do?Even the princes of Emperor Qianlong were afraid of him and dared not offend him.In order to elevate his status, He Shen took advantage of the fact that the Supreme Emperor was an octogenarian, with a eccentric and violent temper, and his moods and anger were unpredictable, so he was arrogant enough to intimidate the princes and grandchildren at will.People in the palace would often see him deliberately spreading news after being summoned by the Supreme Emperor: Today Lafayette (Emperor Qianlong) is very angry, and he wants to punish Brother × with dozens of sticks, which often scares the princes and grandchildren. .That's not counting, he still beat Emperor Jiaqing from time to time, his arrogance was very arrogant.

Although Emperor Qianlong was in his twilight years, he was still unwilling to let go of power. However, after all, he was old and frail, his eyesight was weakened, and his energy was not good.He Shen has seen a lot, and he often advises the Supreme Emperor what to do, and sometimes asks Qianlong to tear up and re-draft the decree.Later, after Emperor Jiaqing came to power, He Shen was convicted of one of the crimes: Emperor Kao Liji issued a seal to criticize, and there were untrue parts in the calligraphy and painting.Obviously, this is absolutely intolerable in a feudal autocratic society.Of course, He Shen didn't dare to force the edict casually, and most of the time he used the power of the Supreme Emperor to achieve his own ulterior motives.

After Agui's death, although He Shen was already the Chief Minister of Military Aircraft and the Bachelor of Wenhuadian University, which is generally referred to as the Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, that is, the real Prime Minister, he was not satisfied because he was only an earl in terms of title.Therefore, he took advantage of Lebao's capture of Wang Sanhuai, the leader of the White Lotus Sect uprising army, and wanted to promote himself to the noble rank, and asked the Supreme Emperor Qianlong for permission.In fact, Qianlong had almost obeyed him at this time, and of course he satisfied his request, and soon promoted him to be a duke.For such an important matter, he actually failed to pass the heir emperor Jiaqing at all. Although Emperor Jiaqing was very dissatisfied, there was nothing he could do.

If this kind of thing happens too much, it will give people an impression that the Supreme Emperor can directly promote and confer the positions and titles of officials, while the successor emperor can only acquiesce and approve, without having any opinions of his own.And most of the decisions made by the Supreme Emperor were influenced by He Shen, and the successor emperor Jiaqing didn't have much real power in essence, he was just a puppet.Emperor Jiaqing was also very aware of this, so he had to let Heshen get three points in everything. Although many ministers in the court were angry and complained to Emperor Jiaqing secretly, Jiaqing laughed it off and was not angry. Instead, he often expressed in front of the ministers that he had to rely on Heshen to handle government affairs.The Korean envoys who came to China at that time had such a record: After the emperor ascended the throne, although he was evil and embarrassing, he didn't say a word about it.One day at the He (Shen) Banquet, the Taishang Emperor reduced the horses in the Taipu Temple, and the emperor said alone: ​​From now on, he can no longer ride horses.Those who hear from the banquet ministers will be unlucky if they know Shen.This shows that Jiaqing is a scheming person, he gives Heshen enough face everywhere, looks calm, does not interfere with Heshen's whatever he wants, shows respect for Heshen from time to time, and takes every opportunity to relax Heshen's vigilance.There are also exact records in historical data: since Emperor Jiaqing came to the throne in Bingchen (i.e., 1796), he did not want to do anything, and Heshen or issued a government order to request the emperor's decree, but he often said involuntarily: "Only the emperor (Emperor Qianlong) punished me. How dare you be with me.

Emperor Jiaqing's stooping and forbearance won the praise of the people at that time. They all said that Emperor Jiaqing was smart, wise, and had a city.Said him: Since he came to the throne, Zhiheshen must want to murder, and Weishen listens to all government orders to show his cronies, so as not to arouse doubts and fears. This is wisdom.Emperor Jiaqing's submissive performance not only paralyzed Heshen, but also reassured the power-hungry emperor. By the way, he also won a word of filial piety for himself, which can be said to serve multiple purposes. It is really wonderful. Jiaqing knew that Heshen had been testing him all the time, so whenever Emperor Jiaqing reported something to his father, Emperor Qianlong, he would ask Heshen to speak for him; whenever people around him reported Heshen's various wrongdoings, he often reprimanded them on purpose: Fang Yixianggong (He Shen) manages the affairs of the world, how can you take it lightly.Showed great trust in Heshen.

He Shen was smart all his life, but was easily deceived by Jiaqing, so he had to praise Jiaqing's cleverness and wit again.Regarding Jiaqing, on the one hand, He Shen adopted the method of wooing and getting close, trying to find a way out for himself.For example, before Emperor Jiaqing came to the throne, he sent a letter and presented his wish, actively showing his support, and told Emperor Jiaqing: From now on, the emperor will be responsible for all the basic necessities of life, food, housing and transportation, without using the treasury money.In order to win the favor of Emperor Jiaqing; at the same time, he arranged cronies around Emperor Jiaqing, called assistants, in fact to monitor Jiaqing's movements.Unexpectedly, Emperor Jiaqing had seen through his tricks a long time ago. Not only did he not let these people see his true intentions, but he also took the opportunity to praise Heshen in front of them, thus cleverly hiding Heshen and laying the foundation for the immediate downfall of Heshen in the future. Base.