1795

On 8 February 1795, Emperor Qianlong (乾隆) abdicated in favor of his son, later known to be Emperor Jiaqing (嘉慶). It was a filial act of Qianlong, in order not to have his reign longer than his illustrious grandfather, Emperor Kangxi (康熙).

Despite his retirement, however, Qianlong retained ultimate power until his death in 1799 (making him in reality the longest reigning Emperor in Chinese history).

The plot was simple. Most of the senior government officials were appointed by Qianlong and, by regulation, could not be changed by the new emperor. To make the system even simpler, the old dictator needed to control only one person - Heshen (和珅).

Now, you may come to realize why could Heshen become the most wealthy courtier in the history of China. Qianlong was not all that thick and unaware of all the wrongdoings of his prime minister - the wealth from corruption was the price for the loyalty.

Qianlong was certainly not an economist.

PS. Six days after Qianlong passed away, Heshen was arrested and forced to commit suicide - that's probably Jiaqing's only correct decision throughout his 25 years of reign.