Emperor Jiaqing never explicitly stated that he regretted killing Heshen, but after careful consideration, you will find that Emperor Jiaqing probably really regretted killing Heshen so quickly. The reason why Emperor Jiaqing killed Heshen
During his reign, Emperor Qianlong showed great favor to Heshen, almost to the point of allowing him to do whatever he wanted. Could it be that Emperor Qianlong didn't know that Heshen was doing whatever he wanted?
Obviously this is impossible. Emperor Qianlong was such a smart man. He naturally understood Heshen and what Heshen did. So why did he tolerate Heshen?
The reason is very simple. Although Heshen was corrupt, he was capable and could help the emperor deal with various difficult matters. This saved Qianlong a lot of worry, so he turned a blind eye to what Heshen did. Close one eye.
The attitude of Emperor Jiaqing towards He Shen is another matter. The relationship between the two is not harmonious.
On the one hand, Emperor Jiaqing hated corrupt and misbehaving ministers like He Shen from the bottom of his heart.
On the other hand, He Shen relied on Emperor Qianlong's favor to fight against Emperor Jiaqing many times, and Emperor Jiaqing's authority was seriously challenged. Even when Emperor Qianlong was the Supreme Emperor, He Shen still helped Emperor Qianlong find ways to control the imperial power, while ignoring Emperor Jiaqing.
All this made Emperor Jiaqing hate Heshen deeply, so shortly after Emperor Qianlong's death, Emperor Jiaqing immediately dismissed Heshen and asked him to continue serving the late emperor. The reason why Emperor Jiaqing regretted killing Heshen
Emperor Jiaqing should have been satisfied after killing Heshen. He got rid of the stumbling block and gained huge wealth. It was like killing two birds with one stone. However, what happened next made Emperor Jiaqing begin to doubt life.
On the one hand, after He Shen was killed, Emperor Jiaqing himself did not have enough ability to control his ministers. Some ministers lost restraint and became more and more arrogant, which made Emperor Jiaqing feel helpless.
On the other hand, although Heshen was greedy, he was good at making money, so the treasury was not empty during the Qianlong period. Heshen even paid for the expenses of Emperor Qianlong's many trips to the south of the Yangtze River. After He Shen was killed, Emperor Jiaqing no longer had a wealth-generating expert like He Shen, so after He Shen ran out of money confiscated from his house, Emperor Jiaqing had to start worrying about finances again.
In the face of these troubles, we have reason to believe that Emperor Jiaqing did regret killing Heshen later, at least regretting killing him before he could find someone who could replace Heshen. . This situation is a bit like the situation when Emperor Chongzhen killed Wei Zhongxian.