When it comes to eunuchs in Chinese history, they are much more famous.
Li Lianying's name, I guess you've heard of it, maybe it can still be ranked.
But ah, he's famous, not because of power and ambition
It's because of his unique identity and experiences.
Li Lianying was born on November 12, 1848 during the reign of Daoguang.
His original name was Li Yingtai, and his hometown was in Hebei, but his ancestral home was Shandong. When it comes to his childhood, it was actually quite bitter, and his family was very poor. In the seventh year of Xianfeng, the family scraped together some money and let him become a eunuch and enter the palace to beg for a living.
Speaking of how Li Lianying climbed up step by step in the palace, the historical record is actually quite vague.
But many sources say that he has a unique skill: combing his hair. This combing of hair seems simple, but in the Forbidden City, from the queen mother to the queen to the concubine, it is just needed. If you can comb people comfortably, it is equivalent to opening the door to promotion.
I heard that Li Lianying also deliberately practiced this technique, and even rubbed a handful of hair oil on her hands to make her hair smoother.
Although history does not clearly say how superb Li Lianying's combing skills are, there are two small things that can prove it. One is that after Li Lianying was developed, he was once said to be a "little grate Li" by the minister. That "grate" is a tool used by women to comb their hair. Another thing is that in 1900, when the Eight-Nation Alliance entered the Forbidden City, the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to escape, and Li Lianying did the makeup and combing her hair.
When Li Lianying first entered the palace, he was still called Li Jinxi, and he mainly worked in Jingren Palace. In the third year of Tongzhi, at the age of 16, he was transferred to Changchun Palace. And what he wants to serve is the Empress Dowager Cixi, who came to power three years ago. At that time, Cixi was only 29 years old. Li Lianying is very smart, can do things, and can tell jokes, so Cixi likes him very much. And the name "Li Lianying" was given to him by Cixi, but later it became "Li Lianying" among the people.
But at that time, the most popular eunuch around Cixi was not Li Lianying, but 20-year-old An Dehai.
In other words, An Dehai, as a big celebrity around Cixi, helped Cixi a lot during the "Xinyou Coup", and he kept telling her and helping, which was simply a right-hand man!
Later, Cixi ascended to the throne, of course, she would not forget the meritorious person, and suddenly promoted An Dehai to a big official, from the six-rank Lanling eunuch to the chief eunuch, this speed is simply amazing!
But An Dehai is young and promising, but he is also a little frivolous, and he begins not to take others seriously.
In 1869, he got the tacit approval of Cixi, and under the pretext of giving the Tongzhi Emperor wedding supplies, he ran out of the capital without permission, showing off everywhere, and also made a lot of oil and water. But what he didn't know was that although he relied on Cixi, he also offended many people, and also violated the rule that eunuchs could not leave the palace. In the end, he was caught by Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong, and beheaded with a knife.
This incident was quite popular at the time, and everyone thought it was a demonstration against Cixi. But Cixi is a powerful person, she first said that An Dehai deserved it, and then killed all his subordinates, and also raided his house in Beijing.
What's more, she also asked people to compile the preludes and edicts of this matter into regulations, stipulating that this kind of thing will be dealt with in the future.
This incident reminded the ministers and made them more aware of Cixi's political skills. Even Li Lianying, who was only in her 30s at the time, was scared. He thought, even if the master likes you again, he will still give up on you at the critical moment.
An Dehai died at such a young age, but his incident had a great impact on Li Lianying's career in the Forbidden City.
On the one hand, An Dehai's incident told Li Lianying that even if you become the chief eunuch, you have to put yourself in the right position.
On the other hand, as soon as An Dehai died, there was no more well-behaved and empathetic eunuch around Cixi.
So Li Lianying worked hard to perform, and finally became the chief eunuch in the Forbidden City at the age of 39.
He knew there was a lot more to come, but there was one thing he would never do – and that was to become the next Andhai.
Li Lianying did have two sons, he was the chief eunuch in the Forbidden City, and he took care of his daily chores in an orderly manner. For festivals and birthdays, he can arrange them very properly, so the Empress Dowager Cixi likes him very much and gives him the nickname "Lafayette"!
I heard that in the court of the Qing Dynasty, someone wrote a book called "Experiences of Court Life in the Late Qing Dynasty", which wrote how inseparable the Empress Dowager Cixi was from Li Lianying. said that the two of them greet each other every day, and the Empress Dowager Cixi often asks Li Lianying to go for a walk and chat with her!
However, Li Lianying is quite low-key, although he sometimes remembers that there was a eunuch named An Dehai in the past, because An Dehai lost his head because he was too arrogant.
Once, after the training of the Beiyang sailors, the Empress Dowager Cixi sent Prince Yiyun to review. Yiyun was very smart and knew that Cixi trusted Li Lianying the most, so he asked Li Lianying to go with him to avoid the Empress Dowager Cixi misunderstanding that he was going to form a gang.
Li Lianying went out of the palace this time carefully, dressed plainly, and helped Yiyun hold a cigarette pouch, just like a follower. I don't see any guests at night, and I don't visit others for fear of getting into trouble.
Li Lianying not only learned the lesson of An Dehai, but also knew how to be a better person than him. Once, Cixi and Guangxu returned to Luan Baoding, and Li Lianying went to see Guangxu after waiting for Cixi to sleep. It turned out that Guangxu's room didn't even have a quilt, so he hurriedly took his quilt to Guangxu, and Guangxu was particularly moved.
This story was written by the Restorationist Wang, who may not have liked Cixi very much, so we can't be sure of the authenticity of this story. But whether it's true or not, Li Lianying is still a very good person in the hearts of many people, and Guangxu still calls him "Li Anda"!
Although Li Lianying has a high status in the palace and is favored by Cixi, he actually has many enemies.
Once, Li Lianying accompanied Prince Alcohol to see the navy, and when he came back, he was attacked by a *** named Zhu Yixin. Zhu Yixin said that Li Lianying went out of the palace in violation of regulations, and he was still showing off his power outside, which had a very bad impact. However, although Zhu Yixin is upright, there was indeed a problem with that **, because he heard about it and did not have real evidence. Cixi checked and found that Li Lianying was actually quite well-behaved and did not violate the rules. As a result, Zhu Yixin was demoted to a first-level official.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, the first concerts in the court flew all over the sky, mainly talking about Li Hongzhang, but Li Lianying was also involved. There are several ** that Beiyang generals hooked up with Li Lianying, and also said that Li Lianying interfered with Cixi's decision-making. But speaking of which, no one has come up with evidence that Li Lianying really interfered in government affairs.
In the end, one of the **** was dismissed by Cixi and sent to the army.
Then again, is Li Lianying really that perfect?
Of course not. Everyone knows that he is greedy for money, and many ** have given him gifts, including Yuan Shikai, who is said to have given 200,000 taels at one time**.
In 1902, the eunuchs often mentioned the matter of "soliciting bribes" from local ** along the way, and they always said that one of them was for the "chief eunuch".
But the strange thing is that everyone's negative rumors about him are mainly about greed for money. Maybe in the feudal dynasty, for people in high positions, "greed for money" has become a kind of self-protection.
Cixi probably also thinks that as long as Li Lianying does not interfere in political affairs, does not form a party for personal gain, and is greedy for money, let him go.
In this way, in 1894, Cixi also gave Li Lianying a great honor and rewarded him with a second-grade top and a flower feather. This is against the decision of the ancestors, because Emperor Yongzheng said that the official position of a eunuch cannot exceed four grades.
At that moment, it was the pinnacle of Li Lianying's glory.
When a dynasty goes into decline, even the ruler himself cannot protect himself, let alone a eunuch.
In the winter of 1908, Guangxu and Cixi died one after another, and it was like the Empire State Building losing its two most important pillars. After Cixi's death, Li Lianying guarded her spirit for a hundred days, and then submitted her resignation to the Empress Dowager Longyu and wanted to go home to support her old age. Empress Dowager Longyu held back, but still approved his request.
After 52 years of living in the Forbidden City, the 61-year-old is finally free.
However, the address of his residence after leaving the Forbidden City, like how much wealth he had, remained a mystery.
Although he bought a lot of fields and mansions when he was in the palace, he had little contact with the outside world after leaving the palace, so no one knew that he lived in **. There are rumors that he was at Huanghuamen Street or No. 83 Xicheng Cotton Hutong (now Beijing Huguosi Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital), but these are uncertain.
Although his residence is a mystery, the news of his death is certain.
Li Lianying died on March 4, 1911, less than three years after he left the palace, at the age of 64.
As for the cause of his death, it is another mystery. Some say he died of dysentery, but his family says he was killed by bandits. However, these are just rumors, and there is no way to know what the truth is.
In the end, his family decided to announce that he had died of illness, ending the legendary life of the eunuch.