Portrait of grand eunuch Li Lianying (image from a copyright-free website)
Speaking of the biggest eunuch around Cixi, the first thing we think of will be Li Lianying.
Not only because Li Lianying has always accompanied Cixi, but also because cixi is a great eunuch who calls the wind and rain, but also because
He was the only eunuch in history who broke the practice of the eunuch's highest rank of no more than four pins and achieved the second pin of the official residence.
This was unique, and even The Great Eunuch An Dehai before Li Lianying could not do it.
So, how did Li Lianying do it? How did his path to the throne unfold?
01
Li Lianying was born on October 17, 1848 (November 12, 1848) in Dacheng County, Suncheon Province, with his ancestral home in Shandong. When he entered the palace, he was called Li Yingtai, a family of four brothers, and he was the second oldest.
The Li family was originally just a leather maker, and originally the Li family's life in Beijing could be OK, but with the birth of children one by one, the Li family was more and more tight, not only that, but later it owed a lot of foreign debt. There was really no way, So Father Li hit the idea on being a eunuch.
At that time in the Qing Dynasty, the power of eunuchs was very large, and the great eunuch An Dehai, like I mentioned before, was the leader at that time.
"All over the party, all over the city"
This sentence is to describe the Qing Dynasty grand eunuch An Dehai at that time. It can also be seen how powerful the eunuchs were in the Qing Dynasty.
Father Li was able to see this road of soaring yellow and tengda, which ruthlessly sent Li Yingtai, who was only 8 years old at the time, to become a eunuch.
On that day, the weather was gray, and outside a courtyard in Di'anmen, Beijing, there was a painful sound of women and children, the voice was sharp and harsh, and it was shocking at the same time as it was sad for no reason.
This courtyard housed eunuchs who were specially cleansed. At this time, Father Li was about to send his second son Li Yingtai into this courtyard, but Mother Li refused to give up, she knew that once she gave up, then her son Yingtai would survive in this life, and the bad ones would have to die directly. But whether he is alive or dead, he is not a complete man, and this life will be over. No mother would want her son to become a eunuch.
Mother Li knelt on the ground and hugged Father Li's leg tightly and pleaded, but the thin Mother Li could not shake her husband's heart in the end, and Li Lianying was finally sent in by Father Li who was cruel to cleanse her body.
At the beginning, Li Lianying, in addition to recuperating from his injuries, was to learn various rules and etiquette in the palace, until he was 9 years old, he was sent to the Zheng Wangfu as an errand boy.
Since you have become a eunuch, naturally there is only one way to climb up and make more money. However, after entering the Zheng King's Mansion, Li Lianying knew that the eunuch's road to wealth was not so simple, and his father had only heard of a fur before. Not only that, the infighting in the Zheng Palace was also very fierce, and every three to five years there were little eunuchs who died inexplicably. Young Li Lianying not only did not make money in the Zheng King's Mansion, but also trembled every day, afraid that if she was not careful, she would become one of them. And Father Li also regretted it very much after knowing the truth, which was simply losing his wife and folding soldiers. But now it was too late to say anything, Li Lianying had become a small eunuch in the Zheng King's Mansion.
The Li family is worried about Li Lianying, and although Li Lianying is afraid in her heart at this time, she does not feel desperate like her parents. His mentality was very good, saying:
"I can only take one more day if I live."
What a sad word, but this was the truest heart of Li Lianying, who was only 9 years old at the time. In Li Lianying's mind at that time, giving more to his family was his only thought.
Mother Li was distressed to death for her second son, and felt that the family could not stand the second son. Every time I get the money sent by my son, I will keep chanting:
"Other people's children are born with love from their fathers and mothers, but when this child in our family is born, he has to pay off debts for the family."
At the age of 10, Li Lianying was sent to the palace from the Palace of King Zheng. When she arrived at the palace, Li Lianying always remembered her mother's words,
Be careful everywhere, don't do that pit thing, don't have full certainty and don't fight upwards, after all, he doesn't have any background, and if he fights, he will die.
Li Lianying listened to her mother's words,
In the past seven years, there has been no scramble, no questions that should not be asked, and no questions that should not be seen.
Li Lianying thought that she would live on such a day in this life, but the gears of fate turned, because he was well-behaved and sensible, and he was recommended to do things with Empress Dowager Cixi.
Stills of Empress Dowager Cixi and Grand Eunuch Li Lianying in the TV series "The Great Eunuch" (image from a website without copyright)
02
This is both an opportunity and a challenge at the cost of life.
Doing things around Empress Dowager Cixi is not so simple, and her life is like a layer of window paper separated by Prince Yan, and if you accidentally do something a little bad, you will die. If you want to save your life, the best way is to make Empress Dowager Cixi like you, and once Cixi likes you, she will naturally be more tolerant of you.
Therefore, the eunuch palace ladies who were doing things around Empress Dowager Cixi all wanted to be liked by Cixi.
However, there were people around Empress Dowager Cixi, and there were skilled combing liu hair, Jingyan had a skilled palace maid Rong'er, and the guy who accompanied the empress dowager was firmly controlled by the grand eunuch An Dehai. Not to mention,
Li Lianying has a donkey face and a big catfish mouth, and is not at all happy
。 It was really difficult for such a person to show his face next to Empress Dowager Cixi.
Despite this, Li Lianying was not discouraged, and while he was careful everywhere, he kept thinking about what good way to do it in his brain.
Eh, not to mention, Li Lianying doesn't look good, but her brain is good, and she really thought of one, that is, to learn monkey play.
Why is learning monkey play a good idea?
It turned out that Empress Dowager Cixi liked to watch dramas, especially the plays of Yang Yuelou and Yang Xiaolou's father and son in the capital.
After Li Lianying thought of this method, she went into the Shengping Office of the palace to teach drama even at night to learn drama. However, Li Lianying had a good brain, and he knew that whether it was literary or martial arts, there were already people around Empress Dowager Cixi, not to mention, his face was not good-looking and inappropriate, so he gave full play to his strengths and learned the funny monkey play. I hope to amuse Empress Dowager Cixi and use this as a springboard for the Empress Dowager to appreciate.
After Li Lianying learned monkey opera, she took the stage with the singing team, and things also developed as Li Lianying thought, and Empress Dowager Cixi gradually paid attention to this little eunuch who played monkey opera and gave him a reward.
Since then, Li Lianying has slowly figured out the way to please Empress Dowager Cixi. Moreover, Li Lianying had a good brain and was very good at taking care of people, which was right for Empress Dowager Cixi's appetite, and when empress dowager Cixi was happy, she directly sealed Li Lianying as the second general manager of the inner court, only under the grand chancellor Andehai.
The grand eunuch Li Lianying's counterattack to the throne began.
Li Lianying plays the protector to please Cixi (image from a copyright-free website)
03
If you want to be noble before others, you have to suffer after others.
That's not wrong at all. The great eunuchs in the harem that we know well did not succeed casually, and in addition to the very important luck, the hardships and efforts they put in behind them are unimaginable.
The battle in the harem is like a battlefield, if you are not careful, you will be dead, which is much more cruel and difficult than our current workplace.
But whether it is the power struggle in the ancient harem or the promotion in the workplace today, you must not work hard to forge ahead, unless you are born with good luck, your starting point is the end of other people's struggle.
Therefore, if you want to succeed, you can only pay enough effort to seize the opportunity to climb up when luck comes, otherwise even if the opportunity comes, you can only watch it leave.
Just like Li Lianying, it was he who constantly enriched himself behind his back and constantly studied Empress Dowager Cixi's preferences, so that he could play a good turnaround battle with such a bad card in his hand.
At this point, Li Lianying is indeed worth learning.
What do you think about that?
(For the follow-up story of Li Lianying, please pay attention to my later article, thank you!) ）