Welcome to Shi Yuan's History Column No. 1002. During the feudal period of China, the imperial palace was a place of discussion and royal residence, so the requirements for non-royal personnel to enter were particularly strict. The palace women were fine, but the men, except for the guards, could only be eunuchs, and could not have children to prevent the royal bloodline from being affected. But don't think that the eunuchs in the palace can be underestimated, there are many great eunuchs in Chinese history who are either rich or expensive. The most famous eunuch of the Qing Dynasty, Li Lianying, was the most favored person in front of Cixi's body, although he did not directly investigate the power of internal affairs, but he also had a huge influence, and the civil and military officials did not dare to disrespect Li Lianying. Coupled with the many rewards of Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Lianying's wealth during her lifetime was much higher than that of ordinary Qing Dynasty ministers.
Empress Dowager Cixi died in 1908, and Li Lianying, who was backed by Cixi, gradually lost power, and the older (60 years old) no longer pursued fame and fortune, so she left the Forbidden City and returned to her hometown more than a month after Cixi's death, and managed to take away a large amount of gold and silver treasure. Li Lianying died 3 years after leaving the palace, and the treasure for the funeral alone was enough to pull into the tomb for two days, which shows how rich he was before he died, and the cost of building the tomb was also funded by the Qing court, costing thousands of taels. But Li Lianying was only 63 years old when she died, which is not a high life expectancy. According to the revelations of those who were familiar with Li Lianying at that time, Li Daguan did not die of old age or illness, but received too many rewards before his death, and after leaving the palace, he was remembered by lawbreakers, and finally died in 1911. This claim has not been confirmed until experts discovered Li Lianying's tomb and opened the coffin to find a surprising scene.
Li Lianying's tomb is located on the outskirts of Beijing, and from the imperial plaque in the tomb, it can be seen that the owner of the tomb is undoubtedly Li Daguan. Although it does not cover as large an area as the royal cemetery, Li Lianying's tomb is also far from being comparable to that of ordinary dignitaries and dignitaries, and the tomb is built with White Jade, and there are stone tablets in the shape of generals outside the tomb. In order to strengthen the tomb, the texture of the use of triad soil and granite materials, if the tomb robbers want to come hard, the tomb in the face of this material is very likely to destroy the tomb funerary products together, nothing can be obtained, it can be seen that the tomb design is exquisite. Archaeologists have found a large number of precious cultural relics in the tomb, the most conspicuous of which is the Han Dynasty sword that Cixi gave to Li Daguan during his lifetime, which can be said to be a priceless treasure.
However, what surprised the archaeologists the most was not the precious funerary items that had been expected earlier, but the remains of Li Lianying in the coffin, and no one who had seen it did not feel cold on his back. It turned out that there was no body in the coffin, only a head of Li Lianying herself, and the place where the body should have been placed was replaced by clothes and cotton wool, which showed that the corpse had long been separated.
Although there are only rumors of how Li Lianying died, more than 100 years later, it is impossible to specifically verify, but from the scene of experts opening the coffin, it can almost be concluded that this great eunuch who was once a good eunuch did not have a good death.