With The Death Of Keen Lung The Vigor Of China Reached A Term, And Just As
The Progress Had Been
Consistent and rapid during the space of 150 years,
so now will its downward course be not less marked or
Swift, until, in the
very hour of apparent dissolution, the empire will find safety in the
valor and probity of an English officer, Charles George Gordon, and in the
ability and resolution of the empress-regents and their two great soldier-
statesmen, Li Hung Chang and Tso Tsung Tang.
CHAPTER XV
THE DECLINE OF THE MANCHUS
The favorable opinion which his father had held of Kiaking does not seem
to have been shared by all his ministers. The most prominent of them all,
Hokwan, who held to Keen Lung the relation that Wolsey held to Henry the
Eighth, soon fell under the displeasure of the new emperor, and was called
upon to account for his charge of the finances. The favor and the age of
Keen Lung left Hokwan absolutely without control, and the minister turned
his opportunities to such account that he amassed a private fortune of
eighty million taels, or more than one hundred and twenty-five million
dollars. He was indicted for peculation shortly after the death of Keen
Lung, and, without friends, he succumbed to the attack of his many enemies
incited to attack him by the greed of Kiaking. But the amount of his
peculations amply justified his punishment, and Kiaking in signing his
death warrant could not be accused of harshness or injustice.
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