Chapter 85 Luxury living beats royalty

Having been in a high position for a long time, it is inevitable that you have to be particular about it. The image of corrupt officials in our minds is all people who pay attention to enjoyment, pursue sentimentality, and arty.Their purpose of accumulating money is very direct, it is for immediate enjoyment, and because the money is not earned by themselves, they have always been generous and spend a lot of money. Few people would compare stinginess with corrupt officials, but He Shen is an exception. It is recorded in the history books that He Shen is a miserly person by nature, it can be said that it is easy to make money but difficult to spend it.This may have something to do with the fact that his family suffered many changes when he was young, and he used to rely on borrowing money to survive.He might be frugal by nature, but as the richest man at that time, he didn't have to be so stingy, especially for his subordinates and domestic slaves. He Shen was willing to save as much as he could in this regard, and was unwilling to spend a penny more , This may also be a factor in his ability to quickly accumulate a huge amount of wealth.

He Shen's biological mother passed away when he was young, and his father unfortunately passed away when he was ten years old.Therefore, he takes great care of his family, including his doting wife and concubine, son and daughter-in-law.Sometimes in order to please his family, He Shen would not hesitate to use his power to collect rare treasures from all over the world.Therefore, they lived a life of luxury that surpassed that of the royal family. The powerful He Shen is also very particular about breakfast, and may be overworked and thinking about how to deal with others all day long.Therefore, pearls are eaten for breakfast every day. It is said that fresh pearls have the function of enhancing memory.In particular, he always respected Youjia's wife, Feng Shi, and several concubines he doted on. In order to maintain their appearance, they all scrambled to eat breakfast with pearl powder.

Bribers often say: I am not afraid that you will refuse, but I am afraid that you are not interested.Everyone knows that He Shen likes pearls, and pearl merchants are very popular for a while, especially if you have rare treasures in your hands, you can live in rare goods.In this regard, there is another well-documented story. According to Jiao Xun's "Book of Remembrance", there is a pearl merchant Shi Junshan in Wuxian County in the south of the Yangtze River. He goes out to sea for a period of time every year, and sells the pearls in Yangzhou area. Since pearls are not a daily consumer product, the business has not been very good.Later, after Yangzhou officials learned that He Zhongtang liked pearls, Shi Junshan's pearls became very popular.It is said that every time he returned to Yangzhou after picking pearls, rich businessmen and dignitaries in Yangzhou sent people to welcome him home before entering the city, which really became a sought-after seller's market.Wealthy families often enjoy delicious delicacies, performers sing and dance for entertainment, and celebrities drink poetry and drink.Jun Shan pretends to be a luthier, while Xiao Ran is a painter.Back to reciting poems and writing calligraphy as his business, while Yan Jia waited at his door, Junshan brought out a small box, wrapped in a warm brocade bag, made of red gold pills, if broken, big pearls would be in there. There may be 10,000 yuan, and the lightest one is 8,000 yuan. Fight to buy it, fearing that it will not be available.

Shi Junshan has become a big celebrity since then, and he also took the opportunity to publicize that these pearls were bought by salt merchants and nobles and offered to Zhongtang.Within a day, there were many affairs, but he never forgot in his chest.Although it is recorded in a hundred hands, it cannot be the case.Old beads and those that have been pierced are not suitable for use.Therefore, those who fish for pearls at sea are not afraid of wind and waves, and even if they die, they will not be spared. Today's goods are not so strange.As expected of a businessman, Shi Junshan boasted about his pearls, claiming that the pearls he collected were unparalleled in the world and the number one in the world, and buyers flocked to them immediately.

In the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799), Shi Junshan got a huge pearl shaped like a gourd. Everyone who saw it exclaimed that it was a rare treasure, but Shi Junshan was eager to sell it for a good price.But when he returned to Yangzhou excitedly, none of the giant merchants and dignitaries cared about him. It turned out that He Shen had just been given to death this year.At this time, Shi Junshan finally came to his senses: it was not because his pearls were valuable, but because there was He Shen who liked pearls.A corrupt official's preferences actually affect the market supply and demand of a commodity, which shows that his energy is very large.

Heshen's luxurious life is beyond the reach of not only the common people, but even the relatives of the emperor and dignitaries.According to the description of Heshen’s home by the North Korean envoy who visited China at that time: his home is extravagant and luxurious, imitating the royal family, and it is well-known and attracts the attention of the world.Some Western envoys even claimed that He Shen was the second emperor who was in power for a while.Judging from its flaming power, it is not a lie. It is absolutely impossible to exaggerate the extravagant life of Heshen's family by using the poem "white jade is the king's gold as a horse".Heshen took advantage of his power to order all the tribute items, pearls, strange stones, and various seasonal fruits to go through Heshen first. Presented to the emperor.Therefore, in theory, he has seen what the emperor has seen, and his family has seen what the emperor has not seen. No wonder even Jiaqing was shocked when the house was finally raided.

He Shen lost his parents when he was young, and was often bullied by his classmates at school. He didn't have enough to eat, and even had no clothes to wear. In winter, his clothes were still thin.Therefore, after he gained power, he vigorously searched for money to comfort himself psychologically.It is precisely because he has survived the hard times that he cares more about his family and does not want his family to suffer. This feeling is more prominent in He Shen. If the above scenes make you dumbfounded, then He Shen's extravagant dinner will make you sigh beyond imagination.As long as Heshen is at home, the lunch must be a Manchurian banquet, and several people in Heshen’s family eat a Manchurian banquet, not to mention that they can’t finish the meal, and some dishes are even thrown away before chopsticks are placed, which makes people feel really reckless.But no matter how much Heshen does, he follows Qianlong in everything he does. Qianlong likes to talk about ostentation. As the emperor's confidant, of course his diet must reflect his power, so even if he wastes, he must put on airs.

As mentioned earlier, He Shen is a very stingy person. How could he indulge himself and his family in such a waste of food?This is naturally related to the flattery of subordinates.He Shen has a concubine named Qing Lian, who usually likes to eat lychees, just like the concubine Yang Guifei from the Tang Dynasty who was riding the red dust and no one knew she was from lychees.The lychees that Concubine Yang ate were sent to Chang'an by express from Guangdong on top-of-the-line military horses.He Shen, who has power over the world, loves Qing Lian, and the officials below will naturally not miss this good opportunity to curry favor.In the season when lychees are ripe, officials from Guangdong, where lychees are produced, took the opportunity to send fast horses to the capital.Not only that, officials from other places also presented local seasonal fruits to He Zhongtang.

He Shen is not only very particular about diet, but also pays great attention to clothing.As the saying goes: People are clothes and horses are saddles, and it all depends on it to support the appearance.At first, He Shen wore good clothes out of respect, especially when he was visiting Qianlong, and there was no special requirement.After He Shen was favored, he felt that he wanted to show his majesty and aura, so he gradually became more sophisticated.His dressing style even leads the trend of the times, at least the trend of officialdom.It is said that the buttons on one of his clothes are all made of small Western alarm clocks.At that time, the price of small alarm clocks was extremely expensive, so a piece of He Shen's clothes could support several families at that time.He Shen has a special liking for alarm clocks, so not only does he often hang an alarm clock in the morning, he also hangs a large self-sounding clock by the Weiming Lake. Most of these are tributes from Western envoys, and they are not easily seen even in the palace. .

Heshen's consumption of food and clothing is based on the standard of the imperial palace, and it is inevitable that it will be excessively luxurious.Although no one dared to say no for a while, it was inevitable that some people would be dissatisfied, and it was only reasonable that he was given death in the end.