#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon

"I mean it's three eggs, Qianlong! What could it cost? Ten taels?" The Qianlong Emperor has grown so remote from his own policies that he no longer even realizes he's being lied to about the price of eggs. But behind that small deception lurks a far more consequential one: Heshen, the favorite who's looted the treasury dry while the aging Qianlong looks away. Now the bill comes due – two rebellions, a drained state, and an emperor who's staged his own retirement without actually leaving. Everyone's walking on eggshells. Something has to break... Time Period Covered: 1775–1804 CE Major Historical Figures: Qing Dynasty: The Qianlong Emperor [1711–1799] The Jiaqing Emperor (Yongyan) [1760–1820] Heshen, Grand Councillor [1750–1799] Rebels & Pirates: Wang Cong'er, White Lotus commander [c. 1777–1798] Zheng Yi, pirate confederation leader [1765–1807] Zheng Yi Sao, pirate confederation leader [c. 1775–1844] Major Sources Cited: Backhouse, Edmund, and J.O.P. Bland. Annals and Memoirs of the Court of Peking. Dai, Yingcong. The White Lotus War: Rebellion and Suppression in Late Imperial China. Kahn, Harold L. Monarchy in the Emperor's Eyes: Image and Reality in the Ch'ien-lung Reign. Murray, Dian H. Pirates of the South China Coast, 1790–1810. Woodside, Alexander. "The Ch'ien-lung Reign," in Peterson, Willard J., ed. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 9: The Ch'ing Empire to 1800.