Li Lianying's tomb was found in the year, the mechanism was broken, and the purple coffin is now purple.
I thought we were each other's confidants, and even told you about the pain of the sores on the soles of my feet.
Li Lianying, a eunuch who was once regarded as the pearl of Cixi's palm, was once the "second-in-command" of the Qing Dynasty and enjoyed all the wealth. However, after the Cixi Mausoleum returned to the palace, the Empress Dowager Longyu became the largest person in power, and the highest-ranking eunuch was Xiao Dezhang, and Li Lianying's situation became very embarrassing, and her life was in danger at any time.
The relationship between the Empress Dowager Longyu and the Empress Dowager Cixi was not harmonious. After the young Longyu entered the palace, she rarely had the opportunity to see the emperor, so she came to Cixi's side many times to complain.
Cixi comforted her at first, but as time went on, Cixi also began to feel troubled and asked Longyu to find the reason for herself. As a result, Longyu developed a grudge against Cixi.
At the time, Cixi and Li Lianying did not pay attention to this matter, but now the situation has changed.
In ancient times, it was often said that "love the house and the black", but in some cases, there were also cases of "hating the house and the black". When Empress Dowager Cixi was alive, Empress Longyu could not do anything, and after Cixi's death, Longyu could not do anything with her mausoleum, so Longyu transferred all his hatred for Cixi to Li Lianying.
As the empress dowager of the current dynasty, if she wants to deal with a eunuch, no one will refute it, and there may even be many ministers who fan the flames and fall into the trap for Li Lianying.
In addition, Xiao Dezhang, the eunuch beside Longyu, is also a figure that Li Lianying cannot ignore. With Cixi's favor, Li Lianying has turned the entire harem into her own world, and almost all the palace maids and eunuchs obey his orders.
With Xiao Dezhang's ascension, he must regain control of the power of the entire harem, the fastest and easiest way is to kill Li Lianying, just like a tree falling and scattering, as soon as Li Lianying dies, these people will naturally submit to Xiao Dezhang.
Therefore, Li Lianying made a decision: to break the wealth and eliminate the disaster. To put it simply, it is to buy one's own life with money. According to the record of the "Records of the Palace Maids", Li Lianying handed over a large amount of property, including more than 70 boxes of gold, silver and jewelry.
In addition, Li Lianying also generously distributed a large amount of property to her relatives and cronies. However, what did Li Lianying's behavior get in exchange? Before he left the palace, the Empress Dowager Longyu's punishment for him was "original and repaired", which is equivalent to the current official retirement, and he can get a pension from the palace every month, which is a very decent way to leave.
And when he left, not too many people fell for him, which shows that Li Lianying's plan was very successful.
In 1966, a Beijing archaeological team began excavating Li Lianying's tomb, but the tomb was built too strongly, and archaeological work stalled for a time. Luckily, an old local farmer came to the aid and advised them to dig underneath the tomb to find the entrance to the tomb.
So, is Li Lianying happy in her later years after retirement? And what was in his grave?
After this archaeological excavation, Li Lianying's tomb was successfully opened in a relatively well-preserved state. After stepping into the tomb, the archaeological experts were shocked that Li Lianying's tomb was of extremely high standard, not only the construction of the tomb was extremely exquisite, but even his coffin was extremely formal, showing a deep dark red.
According to the identification of the wood, it is very likely to be made of golden silk nanmu, which is extremely valuable and can be called a luxury. However, when Li Lianying's coffin was opened, the archaeologists were instantly dumbfounded, the coffin was empty, there were no treasures to accompany the burial, and even his body was incomplete, only a lone head remained, and the whole body disappeared without a trace.
So what about Li Lianying's body? One speculation is that the Empress Dowager Longyu may have taken his body. Although the Empress Dowager Longyu gave Li Lianying a proper ending so that he could enjoy his old age in peace among the people, it was later found that Li Lianying only handed over part of the property.
It was rumored that Li Lianying had secretly hidden more than 16 million taels after leaving the palace, which made the Empress Dowager Longyu very unhappy. In addition, the Qing Dynasty's finances were exhausted at that time, and a sum of money was urgently needed to maintain daily expenses, so the Empress Dowager Longyu may have taken action against Li Lianying.
This can be seen from the specifications of Li Lianying's tomb, because in the late Qing Dynasty, Li Lianying, who was already an ordinary person, could not enjoy such tomb specifications. The possibility of this situation is that in order to plug the mouth of Li Lianying's family, Longyu took Li Lianying's money, gave him a good tomb, and allowed this eunuch to build a temple, which can be regarded as compensation.
As for Li Lianying's body, it was naturally taken away because of Empress Dowager Longyu's resentment towards him.
Xiao Dezhang was the last eunuch to take power in the history of the Qing Dynasty, and his life was full of ups and downs and changes. When he was young, he was depressed and could only follow the Empress Dowager Longyu and wait for the moment to turn over.
Although he succeeded in ascending to the throne, he only maintained this position for less than thirty years. With Pu Yi's abdication, Xiao Dezhang also had to leave the palace and find his own way out. What is amazing is that after leaving the palace, Xiao Dezhang seems to have opened the second line of Ren Du and mixed up a different life.
He immediately bought a car and a house after leaving the palace, which was very generous. His wealth** is speculated to be Li Lianying, because when Li Lianying broke her fortune to save her life, Xiaode Zhang once said to Longyu that Li Lianying would "raid her home".
Although Longyu did not agree with his approach, as the head of the harem at the time, it was very easy for Xiao Dezhang to deal with Li Lianying, who had become an ordinary person.
Li Lianying's inheritance may have all been taken by Xiao Dezhang, who developed sympathy for Li Lianying at the last moment, even though Xiao Dezhang was also a eunuch. He didn't want Li Lianying to report with his mutilated body, so he took his mutilated body and left only his head for burial, as a way to show his last respect for his peers.
There is also a theory that Li Lianying was killed by his former friend Jiang Chaozong. Jiang Chaozong was one of the powerful generals in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, and his success was inextricably linked to Li Lianying.
It is said that after Cixi's death, Jiang Chaozong publicly stated that he wanted to protect Li Lianying, and Xiao Dezhang did not kill him, probably because Jiang Chaozong had sent a message to Xiao Dezhang. Although Jiang Chaozong protected Li Lianying, this offended Longyu, who cut Jiang Chaozong's funds many times and restricted him everywhere, making him miserable.
At this time, Xiao Dezhang found him again and began to give gifts frequently. At this time, Xiao Dezhang was a big celebrity in front of Longyu, and he could easily help Jiang Chaozong get out of trouble. In desperation, he killed his friend, because he knew that there were some people whose strength he couldn't afford to mess with now.
In ancient customs, there was only one head in the coffin, which usually meant that only one body was found at the time of burial. This led to many speculations about the cause of Li Lianying's death, and some people believed that he was beheaded and died, so Jiang Chaozong's statement that he killed Li Lianying was widely accepted.
Because after leaving the palace, Li Lianying lived in seclusion, and only a friend like Jiang Chaozong could let him show up and suffer this misfortune. Li Lianying's life course can be regarded as a microcosm of the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he witnessed the process of the Qing Dynasty from international prominence to decline, Cixi fled westward, the Old Summer Palace was burned and other major events, Li Lianying personally experienced.
Emperor Guangxu grew up, and Li Lianying has always been a witness.
Li Lianying's death seems to foresee the end of the Qing Dynasty. After his death, the rule of the Qing Dynasty completely collapsed, Pu Yi was forced to leave the palace, the glory of the Forbidden City no longer symbolized imperial power, and the former Qing Dynasty nobles fell into the predicament of being bullied.
But there is also a gratification that with the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the eunuch system has also completely disappeared, and there are no more people in the world who have been deprived of their gender dignity. What are your thoughts on this?