Eunuch interference in the affairs of the dynasty has always been the most taboo thing for the royal family, and in the Tang Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, it was the most chaotic period for eunuchs. In the Qing Dynasty, in order to learn the lessons of the past, the imperial family strictly forbade eunuchs to give eunuchs too high positions and too much power. Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, eunuchs could no longer be seen interfering in politics.
However, during the Guangxu period, a famous eunuch interfered in the government and was killed by Empress Dowager Cixi. Logically, this eunuch was indeed suspected of causing trouble to the imperial court, and Empress Dowager Cixi gave him death to maintain the power of the royal family. However, after this eunuch was executed, not only the officials of the imperial court and the common people were saddened by it, but even Mr. Liang Qichao personally wrote a biography for him.
What's going on? Why was the eunuch Gan Zheng executed, and Liang Qichao wanted to write a biography for him and call him a "martyr"?
(Guangxu stills)
The eunuch's name was Kou Liancai, who was originally an ordinary peasant and had a good family. Unfortunately, in the early years, my father offended the local landlords, not only did he lose all the fields in the family, but even his father directly sought short-sightedness. For a time, Kou Liancai's home collapsed, and Kou Liancai had to go to the capital to find work to do.
After the introduction of an old eunuch, Kou Liancai became a eunuch and entered the palace, specially combing the hair of Empress Dowager Cixi. Because he was smart and capable, he could handle anything well, and he read some books when he was a child, so he was deeply loved by Empress Dowager Cixi. Later, Cixi sent Kou Liancai to serve Guangxu, but in fact sent him to monitor Guangxu and report his every move.
Kou Liancai's cleverness was also deeply loved by Guangxu, and he would often reward him with something, according to the record: "Su Xian Wen mo is rewarded by the two palaces." Being able to get the praise of Cixi and Guangxu at the same time shows that Kou Liancai does have some skills. So if Cixi liked Kou Liancai so much, why didn't the latter become a figure like Li Lianying, but was given death by Cixi?
(Old photo of Kou Lian)
Kou Liancai stayed by Guangxu's side for a long time, and gradually discovered that he was a good emperor who worried about the country and the people, but unfortunately, the government and government were controlled by the empress, and the emperor did not have room to show his ambitions. Coupled with Cixi's extravagant life, he also saw it in his eyes, so Kou Liancai had begun to stand on Guangxu's side from the bottom of his heart.
For the sake of the country and the people, Kou Liancai became more and more unaccustomed to Cixi's deeds, so he often advised her not to be extravagant and wasteful, but to only care about fun, and to focus on the state in everything. Cixi naturally couldn't listen to him, and whenever this happened, she always reprimanded him impatiently, and gradually didn't like him so much.
Later, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, and finally the Qing Dynasty had to sign the Treaty of Maguan, which not only made the civil and military officials feel extremely humiliated, but even Kou Liancai, a eunuch, was deeply angry about it. He believes that before fighting with Westerners, other people's weapons seem to be more advanced than ours, so it is reasonable to fight without winning. And now fighting with the Toyo people, who were once obviously our vassal states, and who were beaten by us to obedience, but now they have made us miserable, which Kou Liancai could not accept no matter what.
(Kou Liancai stills)
Moreover, after losing, he had to cut the land and pay compensation, and Cixi not only agreed, but also had no guilt, and even blamed the fault on the minister. This time, Kou Liancai decided to persuade Cixi to wake up no matter what. Early one morning, Kou Liancai knelt down in front of Cixi's bed and cried bitterly, and Cixi was very unhappy when he was woken up, and asked him what was wrong. Kou Liancai once again advised Cixi, hoping that she would put the country first and not only care about her own pleasures, so as to apologize to the ancestors.
It is conceivable that this will not only dissuade Cixi, but also anger her. In Cixi's mind, Kou Liancai was just a slave, and this slave disturbed his good dreams early in the morning, so he scolded him and drove him out.
Kou Liancai's repeated verbal advice did not work, and he thought that it might not be too prudent, so he decided to carry out a thorough advice in formal written form. He already knew in his heart that written advice was to interfere in politics, and if he was not careful, his own small life would not be guaranteed, but for the sake of the country's righteousness, he had already put life and death aside.
(Cixi old photo)
In February 1986, Kou Liancailian took five days off, he returned to his hometown, said goodbye to his family and friends one by one, and he knew that when he returned to Beijing this time, he would probably never come back. After these matters were handled, Kou Liancai officially wrote a note and then presented it to Empress Dowager Cixi.
This was originally a thorough exhortation, and when Cixi saw it, she was really completely enraged. So what exactly did Kou Liancai write?
There are a total of ten main contents, in different literature, these ten are more or less different, but the roughly the same: stop the construction of the Yuanmingyuan, stop the railway project, buy back the land cut, prefer to pay compensation rather than cut the land, appoint the crown prince as soon as possible, do not use naval military expenses, and so on.
(Guangxu and Cixi stills)
None of this mattered, the key was that there was one thing that Cixi absolutely could not tolerate, and that was to return the government to Guangxu. Cixi has been in power for a long time, Guangxu is only her puppet, and now a eunuch who dares to ask her to return to the emperor undoubtedly touches Cixi's bottom line. In the end, Cixi took out the regulation that "those who are internally imprisoned and those who are involved in the matter" concluded that Kou Liancai "had fornicated outside the palace and leaked the affairs inside the palace", and handed him over to the Punishment Department for trial.
At Cixi's behest, Kou Liancai was eventually beheaded, and just three days after the book was written, he was taken to Caishikou for execution. At the execution site, Kou Liancai's face still did not change color, he sorted out his clothes, bowed his head in the face of the Forbidden City, and prayed several times in the direction of his hometown, and then said: "Although I am an internal prisoner, everything I have done is loyal to the king's patriotic heart, that is, Cao Shou City, and it can also be seen that the ancestors are underground." "After saying that, he generously went to the sentence.
After Kou Liancai's death, the ministers and the people of the DPRK and the people wept for it, and many scholars and doctors praised him. Later, Liang Qichao wrote the "Biography of the Martyr Eunuch Kou Liancai" in the "Chronicle of the Coup d'état of Wu Shu", praising him as a "martyr" and expressing his admiration for him.
In fact, from the very beginning, knowing that Kou Liancai was executed by Cixi, it is not difficult for us to imagine that he may not be a heinous person, after all, as long as Cixi is not happy, even the emperor cannot escape her poisonous hands. It's just a pity that there are many patriots like Kou Liancai, but in the current environment, they are all like Kou Liancai, becoming the wronged souls of Cixi's men. But their deep feelings of being worried about the country and the people will always remain in the hearts of future generations.
(References "Chengzhai Diary", "Wushu Coup d'état", "Late Qing Dynasty Eunuch Kou Liancai")