Most of the refugees settled in Qingjiangpu were "guest settlers" who had traveled down the Yangtze River from Sichuan to Jiangnan. Though their usury and ruthless profiteering had much to do with causing this turmoil, they had repeatedly suffered arson and looting in their "homeland," and had escaped with little property. They were now destitute and unemployed, while the riverworks happened to require a great deal of labor. There had originally been nothing wrong with settling the refugees this way.
The warehouse for materials used in the previous dam construction had been burned down. While stones and such were not afraid of fire, all the wooden equipment had been destroyed. Replacing that equipment cost money, and purchasing flood-control supplies also cost money, but the Jiaqing Emperor would not provide any more funds. So the South River Governor's Palace brought out He Shen's old solution again—Atonement Silver. This not only addressed Su Qi's request for assistance with the investigation, but also met the river administration's practical need for money.
From a certain perspective, He Shen truly deserved the words "overflowing with talent." Yet not long after the Qianlong Emperor's death, the Jiaqing Emperor had him arrested and ordered him to commit suicide. Three days before his death, He Shen left a poem on the wall of his prison cell:
Stars circle the cold moon; in chains, a lone minister weeps. Before this scene, I mourn my former life; my talent has led this body astray.
Some hated that their talent went unrecognized, but Heshen hated that his talent had ruined him.
There were many ways to order someone's death: some were given poisoned wine, while others were granted white silk. It was originally a fine white silk fabric, suitable for making women's undergarments. In Chapter Thirty-Six of Dream of the Red