Qianlong Emperor 6

Author: February River
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-09-01
Features: In the late years of the Qianlong reign, the prosperity was hard to sustain. Represented by He Shen, corrupt officials swallowed the state treasury, poisoned capable officials, and the entire empire was riddled with corruption. Seizing the opportunity, heretical cults incited the people, unrest flared up, and rebellions broke out one after another. Qianlong had to repeatedly deploy troops, sending the renowned general Fu Kang'an to suppress them: annihilating the violent uprising in Pingyi, Shandong, suppressing the small and large Jinchi, and then marching to Taiwan, painstakingly quelling the chaos of Lin Shuangwen. He also sent Zhao Hui and Halanzha to exert all efforts to suppress the rebellion in the western frontier. Meanwhile, the over-sixty-year-old Qianlong, while pouring his heart into selecting a successor, casually designated the 15th prince Yan as heir apparent, sent him to Shandong for practical experience, assisting in military affairs, in hopes of a smooth transfer of power; he also remained ambitious, punishing corruption but promoting integrity, striving to set an example in governance for future generations. However, due to his advanced age and loss of hearing, he was misled by flatterers and sycophants, leading to the dismissal of capable ministers such as Agui, Ji Yun, and Li Shiyao, further declining the state's fortune. The establishment of the Jiaqing era sounded the final chorus of the decline of Qianlong's feudal golden age.