"Ah, Li Lianying's head is fake!”
In the summer of 1966, a group of strange people suddenly came to the cemetery of Li Lianying, located in the former site of the 61 School in Enjizhuang, Haidian, Beijing.
As if they had received some order, they frantically excavated Li Lianying's tomb, but they tossed for a long time and couldn't find the entrance.
In the end, under the guidance of an old man, the tomb was successfully opened.
When these people entered the main burial chamber, the situation in the tomb made their scalps tingle, and it was clear that everything in the tomb was intact, and there was no sign of opening, but the coffin seemed to have been moved.
The coffin, which was supposed to be on the coffin bed, is now on top of the stone door.
And the situation after the coffin was opened made everyone even more shocked: the only head that existed in the coffin did not look real.
Could it be?Is the cause of Li Lianying's death different from what is recorded in the history books?
In 1848, Li Lianying was born in Li Jia Village, Dacheng County, Hebei Province, and her original name was Li Yingtai.
Lee Young-tae has been smart since he was a child and is deeply loved by his parents. However, an accidental fall changed his fate.
When he was 7 years old, he went to the temple with his grandfather to burn incense, and on the way home, he accidentally sprained the knee of his left leg, after which the sprain began to swell and fester.
After seeing this, a traveling businessman who sells medicine for a living said that Li Yingtai was suffering from "human facial sores" and that he could be cured by applying medicine for a few days. But this child was born with the life of his parents, and if he wants to crack it, he will either become a monk or a eunuch before he is ten years old.
The medicine of this traveling merchant was quite effective, and within a few days, Li Yingtai's injuries began to improve, and he was healed half a month later.
Seeing that the village doctor could not cure the disease, he let the traveling merchant be cured with a few pairs of medicines, and the people in the village felt that the traveling merchant was a master, and they were also convinced of what he said about "broom star life".
The people in the village pointed and pointed, Li Yingtai could not care, but he couldn't bear to watch his family frown about his affairs all day long.
Two years later, Li Yingtai made a decision, and he said to his grandmother: "I don't want to become a monk, I want to go to Beijing to be a eunuch." ”
In 1856, in the cold spring, Li Yingtai was cleaned by a famous swordsmith in the capital, and half a year later, he was sent to the palace and became a little eunuch in the Cixi Palace.
Soon after entering the palace, Li Yingtai understood that if he wanted to live well in the palace, it all depended on whether he could win the favor of his master.
Those things that are easy to please the master will naturally not be his turn as a new little eunuch, but the opportunity is created by people.
One day, the eunuch who combed Cixi's hair was hit by a board because he accidentally lost a hair, and everyone avoided this close-quarters work, but Li Yingtai saw an opportunity.
He repeatedly asked the eunuch in charge of combing Cixi's hair to comb Cixi's hair, and after spending all the money, he finally got the opportunity to leave the palace.
After leaving the palace, Li Yingtai mixed in the major Fengyue places in Beijing, in the name of selling rouge pollen, carefully observed the hairstyles of the girls who learned Xi, and half a month later, Li Yingtai mastered all the popular hairstyles in Beijing.
After returning to the palace, Li Yingtai combed a hibiscus bun that suited her temperament according to Cixi's face shape.
Cixi looked at herself in the mirror, gentle and lovely, rich and dignified, and suddenly smiled.
In this way, Li Yingtai got his wish and became Cixi's exclusive hair-combing eunuch and successfully achieved his first small goal.
On July 17, 1861 (the 11th year of Xianfeng), the 31-year-old Emperor Xianfeng died in the summer resort.
Before his death, he arranged for eight ministers led by Su Shun to assist the new emperor, and all resolutions could only be implemented with the nod of the Empress Dowager Ci'an.
Emperor Xianfeng's arrangement undoubtedly kicked Cixi out of the center of power, and she was very dissatisfied but helpless.
In order to protect herself, Cixi decided to join forces with the Empress Dowager Ci'an to eradicate the eight ministers.
She arranged for the eunuch An Dehai to return to Beijing and contact Prince Gong Yi, who remained in Beijing, to eliminate the eight ministers who took care of their lives.
After An Dehai secretly returned to Beijing, Li Yingtai helped Cixi rebel against Rong Lu and assisted him in spying on Su Shun and others.
A few days later, Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an returned to Beijing, and with the cooperation of Li Yingtai and Rong Lu, they successfully avoided the assassination arranged by the Eight Ministers and successfully arrested the Eight Ministers.
After the "coup d'état in Beijing", the empress dowager Ci'an and Cixi began to "listen to the government".
Because of the meritorious service of the eight ministers, An Dehai was promoted to the chief eunuch, and Li Yingtai also won the favor of Cixi, and personally gave the name "Li Lianying", and his status was also rising
In 1869 (the eighth year of Tongzhi), An Dehai was punished on the spot by Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, for swaggering and causing trouble.
Cixi dared to be angry when she learned that it was the Empress Dowager Ci'an's decree, because the Empress Dowager Ci'an held the edict in her hand that decided her life and death.
An Dehai's death reminded Cixi that her life and death were actually in the thoughts of the Empress Dowager Ci'an.
Cixi's worries were seen by Li Lianying, and since he was promoted to the chief manager, he has more deeply realized the truth that only if Cixi is good, he can be good.
He took the initiative to resolve the contradictions between the two palaces in order to maintain Cixi's status.
In order to win the favor and trust of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, Li Lianying diligently went to greet the Empress Dowager Ci'an.
The Empress Dowager Ci'an was approachable and didn't know that Li Lianying's overtures were Cixi's conspiracy against her.
When the Empress Dowager Ci'an was seriously ill, Cixi waited in front of the bed without untying her clothes, and Cixi's initiative to show weakness and concern made the Empress Dowager Ci'an very moved, and she decided to burn the edict left by Emperor Xianfeng to show her trust in Cixi.
The news of Ci'an's burning of the edict reached Cixi's ears as soon as it came, and the sword hanging above her head finally disappeared.
After this incident, Li Lianying completely gained a firm foothold by Cixi's side.
In 1874, 26-year-old Li Lianying was promoted to the chief eunuch of Chuxiu Palace, starting his rocket-like promotion.
As the number one celebrity around Cixi, Li Lianying can be said to be windy and rainy, but this kind of happiness can only be enjoyed by one person, and he can't help but feel a little lonely.
Thinking of his grandmother who loved him the most, the strong homesickness almost overwhelmed Li Lianying, but he knew the rules of the palace and understood that Cixi would not easily agree to him to go back to his hometown.
Despite the slim hope, he decided to give it a try, and on a rainy day, seeing that Cixi was in a happy mood, Li Lianying knelt down and begged Eun to go home to visit her family.
Cixi was in a dilemma, she didn't want to break the rules of the palace, but she didn't want to make Li Lianying sad, and finally she allowed Li Lianying to leave the palace on the grounds of "observing the people's feelings".
When Li Lianying left the palace, she was richly rewarded by Cixi, which can be said to be a return to her hometown.
As soon as he left Beijing, he ordered someone to hang up a big banner with eight big characters written on it, "Li Li, Deputy Chief of the Inner Court of the Qing Dynasty." The wind blew the flag along the way, and it was majestic.
In July 1990 (the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu), Tongzhou was lost, and the Eight-Nation Coalition Army approached the capital.
Cixi wanted to stick to the royal demeanor, but the minister fled, and Cixi's heart swelled with infinite sadness.
At this time, Li Lianying was already wearing a second-grade flower feather and held great power. He understood Cixi's concern and immediately ordered an immediate evacuation.
Fleeing all the way west, Cixi was like a frightened bird, panicking all day long. Many people want to catch her and get rid of her quickly.
A few days later, the righteous Zhang Zhankui took control of Cixi in the chaos, and the Qing army was helpless and had to let go.
Cixi was so frightened that her face turned pale and she couldn't speak clearly, and Li Lianying was also panicked, worried that Zhang Zhankui would kill Cixi in anger and she wouldn't be able to live.
However, as a close minister of the Queen Mother, Li Lianying could only have the courage to negotiate with Zhang Zhankui.
In the end, under Li Lianying's "matchmaking", Cixi agreed to the four conditions of the rebel army, and swore to love the people to avoid the fate of being killed.
The frightened Cixi could not take a break, and ordered to speed up the journey, and did not order to stop and recuperate until she arrived at Tongguan, Shaanxi.
Tongguan Taishou Shi Xiang has always wanted to be promoted to the Taoist platform, and the Empress Dowager Cixi passed by Tongguan, which made him see an opportunity.
Knowing that Li Lianying was a celebrity around Cixi, Shi Xiang served Li Lianying diligently, hoping that he would say a few good words for him.
Cixi said that the minimum position of the Taoist platform should not be less than 10,000 taels of silver, and Li Lianying saw that it was profitable, so she revealed to Shi Xiang's cronies that it would cost at least 20,000 taels of silver.
The cronies excitedly returned to Tongguan and rushed back to Xi'an without stopping, but because Li Lianying was not there, they mistakenly broke into Cixi's dormitory.
Cixi was furious and ordered people to interrogate, because they were involved in buying and selling officials, the presiding judge could only sentence a crime arbitrarily, and then show the people to the public.
Li Lianying checked the confession and saw that the matter was indeed revealed. But he insisted that this matter was a false accusation, and in order to get rid of the troubles forever, he also suggested that Cixi should repatriate Shi Xiang to his hometown and never hire him.
Shi Xiang's 20,000 taels of silver were lost, and he died on the way home, and a stone in Li Lianying's heart fell to the ground.
In July 1901 (the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu), the Qing Dynasty signed the "Xinchou Treaty" that humiliated the country.
Cixi was not ashamed, but proud, she could finally return to Beijing.
After returning to the palace, Cixi, in order to make up for the losses of the Eight-Nation Alliance, began to indulge in looting gold, silver and jewelry.
She had the idea of "having fun when you have to be happy", no matter how hard the war is outside, as long as she doesn't come to Beijing.
The more faint Cixi became, the more power Li Lianying held as Cixi's confidant, and externally he became Cixi's representative, second only to Cixi, and the ministers of the court and the emperor's relatives were all flattering.
The court was worried about internal and external troubles, and the wind and rain were turbulent, but Li Lianying became the biggest profiteer, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is above 10,000 people under one person, but such days did not last long.
In October, Cixi suddenly fell ill, and Emperor Guangxu was imprisoned in Yingtai by Li Lianying, and he was worried that if Cixi died in front of Emperor Guangxu, his fate would be very miserable.
So Li Lianying began to mention to Cixi intentionally or unintentionally that Emperor Guangxu was seriously ill and could not govern.
Cixi was saddened that Emperor Guangxu had no children under his knees, and decided to make Pu Yi, the four-year-old son of Prince Zaifeng, the heir.
This move was stopped by Prince Qing Yixuan, and according to the etiquette law, Pu Lun should be the first successor, followed by King Gong Pu Wei ......It couldn't be Pu Yi's turn.
Yixuan told Emperor Guangxu the news, and sure enough, Emperor Guangxu also strongly objected.
Li Lianying soon knew Guangxu's idea of establishing Changjun, and he was worried that once Cixi changed his hexagram and did not establish Puyi, it would be detrimental to him.
So, he spread rumors in front of Cixi, saying that Guangxu was very happy that Cixi was sick, Cixi was furious, and instructed Li Lianying to treat Guangxu in the same way as the Empress Dowager Ci'an.
Li Lianying secretly went to Yingtai and poured a package of "white powder" into the jar of Guangxu's boiling medicine.
As soon as Li Lianying came out of Yingtai, she met the queen who was wandering outside, and suddenly had an idea and persuaded the queen to meet Guangxu, and he was responsible for everything.
Li Lianying's courtesy to the queen is not without purpose, he has seen the situation clearly, Guangxu will definitely die, and Cixi will not last long.
Cixi set up the young Pu Yi as the emperor, and she will be the empress dowager in the future, and Empress Guangxu will also hold real power. He became friendly with the queen, which can be regarded as leaving a way back for the future.
On the afternoon of October 21, 1908 (the 34th year of Guangxu), Guangxu died.
After Cixi heard the bad news and cried, she sent a message to issue a happy edict for the new emperor to ascend the throne.
Sure enough, as Li Lianying expected, the queen of Guangxu, that is, the Empress Dowager Longyu, became the biggest winner.
The stone in Li Lianying's heart fell to the ground, but bad news came one after another.
At lunch on the second day, Cixi suddenly fainted and died after a short awakening.
Cixi, who ruled the Qing Dynasty for nearly 50 years, died only one day later than Emperor Guangxu.
After Cixi was put into the coffin, everyone mourned, and after the ceremony, only Li Lianying was still lying in front of the spirit, crying more sadly than when his parents died.
No one dared to come forward to persuade her, until the Empress Dowager Longyu personally stepped forward and said that everything would be up to her in the future, that Li Lianying quickly got up and kowtowed to thank her.
In order to show her loyalty, Li Lianying dedicated all the looted treasures to the Empress Dowager Longyu after Cixi's 100 days of filial piety, and the request to "retire to the South Garden for retirement" was also approved by the Empress Dowager Longyu.
Li Lianying, who has been in the palace for more than 50 years, finally left the palace when she was nearly 60 years old.
After living in the South Garden, Li Lianying rarely went out, and only on the two days of Qingming and the first day of October, he would go to Tanglin to burn paper for Cixi.
In the first month of 1911, Li Lianying was unable to treat due to illness and died in the words of the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Later, the Empress Dowager Longyu issued a decree to give Li Lianying a place to be buried in the cemetery of Enjizhuang in the western suburbs, and gave an altar and a thousand taels of silver for funeral.
If there was no later "grave digging" incident, although Li Lianying died of illness, it could be regarded as a good death, and people would not doubt the cause of his death.
Write at the end
In 1966, Li Lianying's tomb was forcibly excavated by the local authorities in the 61 School of Enjizhuang in Haidian, Beijing, so the situation described at the beginning appeared, the tomb was clearly intact, but the coffin had traces of being moved.
After the coffin was opened, there was only a skull and a large number of burial treasures inside, but Li Lianying's body did not know what to do.
Someone accidentally touched the hair on Li Lianying's skull, and it felt as if she was wearing a wig.
Could it be that the skull is fake?A bold man stepped forward to see that the head was not exactly a skeleton, but was covered with a layer of skin.
Eventually, the head was thrown into the toilet and its whereabouts are unknown.
And the real cause of Li Lianying's death has also aroused public suspicion.
Tong Xun mentioned in the book "Modern Jinghua Historical Sites" that although Li Lianying died of old age, her head was secretly cut off, and the ending was not a good death.
Some people say that Li Lianying was assassinated at the junction of Hebei and Shandong because of debt collection, and some people say that it was in the area of Enjizhuang.
Of course, these rumors cannot be used as evidence to determine the cause of Li Lianying's death, but they also provide some clues to the real cause of Li Lianying's death.
Now, 112 years have passed since Li Lianying's officially certified death, and we do not know whether he died of illness or illness, and there is no way to verify.
Li Lianying, a generation of power supervisors, may never have expected that she would work hard to plan, but in the end she ended up in a "different place".
only sighs, the world is prosperous, the imperial power is rich and noble, life does not bring it, death does not bring it, it is just a passing cloud.
end---
Reference: The Great Eunuch Li Lianying, by Ya Se and Wang Mu.
The Secret History of the Qing Palace", by Ye Wenqing.
The Complete Biography of Cixi", by Gao Yang.
Li Lianying", Si Ren.
Author: Ai Dou
Editor: Kite