Chapter 67 National Corruption Construction System

After He Shen gathered many party members in the imperial court, he gradually formed a corruption network centered on himself.In this system, there are not only high officials of the court, but also high officials of the frontier (such as the governor of a province, etc.), and even their own housekeepers.Moreover, as Qianlong got older, Heshen had more and more privileges. This net spread wider and wider, and it was pervasive. In the corruption cases in the later period of Qianlong, Heshen had a relationship Inextricably linked, vaguely connected. In Chinese feudal society, whenever a feudal dynasty was founded, it often focused on restoring social economy and stabilizing social order, so production was restored and developed, and social wealth continued to increase.When the Manchu Qing Dynasty first entered the customs, due to successive years of wars, supplies were scarce. Therefore, from Qing Taizu Nurhachi to Emperor Kangxi, they all paid attention to the development of production, garrisoned fields to accumulate grain, and restored national strength.At this time, due to the lack of wealth in the society, most of the civil servants and generals had experienced poverty, and they all sneered at those who took bribes.Therefore, the founding heroes in the entrepreneurial period rarely had such a phenomenon.With the restoration of production and the development of society, social wealth has gradually accumulated, but the salaries of officials have not increased accordingly, so the trend of corruption and bribery has gradually flourished.During the Yongzheng period, there was already a tendency to flood. Yongzheng even implemented a system of high salaries to support honesty, but it was a pity that it eventually became a dead letter.

By the Qianlong period, after decades of recuperation, the society and economy had developed greatly, and the people's lives had also been greatly improved. Officials had also begun to covet ease, which created conditions for bribery.In the later years of Qianlong, corruption of officials in various provinces became common, especially in Hubei and Fujian.Hubei's official administration has been closed, and local high-ranking officials have arbitrarily entangled in supervision and management fees. The source has been exhausted. Fujian's official administration has also become slack, and the camps have not been organized. The officials in these two provinces are greedy and lax. day.It can be seen that before Heshen, the administration of officials had been corrupt.

In fact, all this was caused by Qianlong.He was so happy that he not only wanted to fight in all directions to expand the frontiers and expand the universe, but also paid attention to the enjoyment of life. The treasury was almost exhausted in the late Qianlong period.At this time, he needs someone to work hard to raise money for him to satisfy his various desires.Heshen was exactly the person Qianlong needed. His timely appearance met Qianlong's needs. At the same time, Qianlong also gave Heshen appropriate power. After Heshen took power, the administration of officials became extremely corrupt, which is also due to Qianlong's reasons.He handed over all the power of national finance (the Ministry of Households) and employment (the Ministry of Officials) to Heshen, but no one has effectively supervised Heshen. If there is no check and balance of power, corruption will inevitably occur.Therefore, when financial power and employment rights are concentrated in Heshen, it also means that the roots of corruption have taken root.Qianlong's extravagance and reluctance to use the treasury were all due to Heshen apportioning and taking bribes from the provinces. Of course, Heshen would not only collect money for the emperor, but keep himself out of the matter, he would also take the opportunity to enrich his own pockets.

In order to win Qianlong's favor, Heshen used both soft and hard tactics to teach and persecute officials at all levels to make them pay tribute.The governors of the provinces had to answer correctly. According to historical records, they have station rules and door bags when they go on tour, festivals and birthday gifts in normal times, and help fees on an annual basis.Those who have given thanks privately for promotion, transfer and compensation have not been counted here.The above items are all taken from the prefectures and counties, and all the prefectures and counties are taken from the people.The money, grain and rice have only been doubled in the past few years, and more than doubled in recent years. The governors, governors, vassals (political envoys), jian (according to the inspectors) and the roads and government offices they belong to all know their own way, otherwise the gates, stations, etc. There is nothing to pay for cakes, festivals, birthday gifts, and helping expenses.The prefectures and counties made it clear to people: The reason why I doubled, and multiplied by several times, is actually the cost of government offices, every day is more than a day, and each year is more than a year.The prefectures and counties also rely on the power and influence of the governor, fu, vassal, and standard to obtain from the people. The superiors get half of it, and the prefectures and counties have three people and half.Beginners are afraid, but after one or two years, it will become an old practice, unbreakable.

He Shen gained Qianlong's exclusive favor and trust, and his behavior became even more unscrupulous.He quickly established a nationwide corruption network and a complete corruption system. For example, how much money is required to see his family, how much money is required to enter his house, and how much money is required to finally see him. And those corrupt officials who are following the trend are all willing to make more contributions to it.They knew that with Heshen as the backstage, it was equivalent to hugging half of the emperor's thick leg, so the thieves who corrupted the law became more daring.Regardless of the life and death of the people, they are more greedy than the other, desperately seeking wealth from the people.In addition to filling their pockets, they will also carefully figure out that to cater to the emperor's preferences and needs, they must present all kinds of rare objects and rare treasures in a timely manner, and at the same time present a large amount of money to Heshen to ensure the smooth flow of this road. In this way, He Shen can sit back and enjoy the benefits, waiting for a steady stream of gold, silver, pearls and agates to flow to his house.As a result, He Shen became more complacent about the network he had built, while the local people suffered more and more.

Local officials know that the imperial court cannot always see the specific situation in the local area, so they try all kinds of methods to corrupt the law, bully the people and harm the government.The internal reason for official corruption is the need to pay tribute at various levels. From this point of view, of course, Qianlong and Heshen, who are at the top of the corruption system, are the ones who benefit the most in the end, and Qianlong let Heshen take power for him.Therefore, we can say that He Shen is the core of this corruption network. In the middle and late Qianlong period, corruption had become common practice, and major and serious cases emerged in endlessly.Qianlong finally made up his mind to deal with corruption and killed several corrupt officials, but he didn't know that he himself was the source of this wind. As long as his desire is still there, the wind of corruption will continue to blow.

Seeing that Qianlong could not control this situation, He Shen became even bolder.As the center and hub of the corruption network, Heshen also holds the power to withdraw and withdraw special products and other gifts from the emperor by local officials in various provinces. Heshen used every opportunity to enrich himself.Jiaqing once said: Just because Heshen seized power and accepted bribes, whenever the governor of another province submitted an object, he must first ask Heshen whether it was allowed to be delivered, and Yi immediately approved it without authorization and expressed his right.As for the tributes paid by the governor and others, only one or two pieces were rewarded in the imperial examination, and the rest went to Heshen's private house.

Not only that, He Shen has controlled the Ministry of Officials for decades, and has also controlled the imperial examinations for several years. He used his power to distribute good jobs to his party members and cronies, while disobedient political opponents were dismissed by him on trumped-up charges or demotion.After his cronies found rich jobs in various places, they naturally gave the property they found to Heshen first. In this way, Heshen promoted his cronies↓The cronies hold the real power↓Reap the benefits to be filial to Heshen↓Heshen promotes the cronies again, forming a complete and endless corruption system. In this network, Heshen is obviously in a controlling position. He used this chain to amass a lot of wealth for himself.This chain didn't disappear until Jiaqing took power after the death of Heshen.