The Fate of the Corrupt
Emperor Qianlong’s (1736–1795) biggest mistake was to allow too much power in the hand Heshen (1746–1799), one of the most corrupt officials during the Qing Dynasty who, coupled with his autocratic style of ruling China, caused the end of the Qing Dynasty’s golden era. He was later sentenced to death by slow slicing (lingchi) by Qianlong’s successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, Renzong but subsequently allowed to commit suicide himself.[1]
Renzong also executed both Hu Weiyong, Lan Yu and some 4000 of
their relatives for the alleged conspiracy by the two to usurp the throne, and
most of the ministers of the Six Ministry for corruption of Guo Huan. The
collapse of the Qing Dynasty is, however, not because it did not have a good
system of government. Renzong’s mistake was when he also executed particular
officials who were bold enough to criticise the emperor. This destroyed the
self-esteem and dignity of the officials, causing corruption to worsen within
the bureaucracy. The elitist group then made up of both central and local
officials who surrounded the emperor to safeguard the emperor’s power base. The
elites were both highly corrupt and oblivious to the welfare of the common
people. Soon, cliques were formed when these officials were no longer
interested to choose competent people to serve the national interest but their
personal gains. Zhang further describes them as being “so corrupt and shady
that bribery and the sale of official titles and posts for money were rampant.”
Such a level of corruption during the later Qing Dynasty era, which is
considered as “one of the darkest and most politically corrupt periods in
Chinese history,” has prompted the common saying, “Being three years a Qing
government official is of equal worth to 100,000 taels of silver.” The military
sector also suffered from corruption and they became ill-prepared for a war. [2]
The Emperor Daoguang had 900,000 servicemen in his troops, mainly the Eight Banners (Baqi) and Green Camps (lüying). After entering the Shanhaiguan Pass, the Eight Banners enjoyed various privileges, lived a parasitic existence, and lost all of their martial toughness. Those stationed outside the capital city descended into idleness and indulged in bird-keeping and sparrow-keeping or group gambling. Their equipment was also backward. Primitive cold weapons, such as the knife, spear, sword, and halberd, were still widely used, and the cannons of all key military fortresses were by now 300 years old. The backward weapons and poor military discipline brought about a decline in military strength. In the end, the Qing troops intimidated and robbed ordinary people, becoming incapable of defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity. (Zhang 2015, 411)
Despite efforts by emperors to stem out corruption and bribery
within its rank and file, the problem remained until the collapse of the
eleventh and final Qing Dynasty.
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