In February of the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), Empress Dowager Cixi withdrew the curtain and the Guangxu Emperor took over the government. Since then, on some major issues, mother and son have different political views, doubts have gradually arisen, and two political forces have gradually formed, namely, the "imperial party" and the "post-party.". During this period, no matter which minister without exception had to choose to take sides, it was almost impossible to influence Fengyuan.
However, as a red man around Cixi, Li Lianying, the grand master of Erpinding, was extremely wise, he was able to maneuver between Cixi and Guangxu with ease, and after the death of Cixi and Guangxu, he was able to retreat completely, looking at the Manchu Dynasty, no one could reach it, so why could Li Lianying do it?
In the fierce struggle between the two parties of the empress, what kind of role Li Lianying played, the world's rumors, the opinions are different, and there are many differences. Some say that Li Lianying completely sided with Empress Dowager Cixi and took the opportunity to hold Guangxu hostage and plot to trap Concubine Zhen. Some say that the Guangxu Emperor was imprisoned in Yingtai, and every winter, Li Lianying sent Guangxu to escape from the ice and let the eunuchs break the ice around Yingtai.
Some people even believe that when Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor were seriously ill at the same time, Li Lianying said in front of Cixi that Guangxu heard that the empress dowager was ill and had a happy face. Cixi was very angry when she heard this, and said that she must let him die in front of me and so on. The next day, the Guangxu Emperor ate what Li Lianying had sent, and his illness worsened, and Empress Dowager Cixi died a day later. All kinds of rumors, and so on.
In fact, Li Lianying served in the palace for decades, and when things happened, she always thought deeply and considered the long term, leaving herself a way to retreat. He knew that as a slave of the imperial court, he should not only obey Cixi, but also not take the risk of offending the emperor. After all, the emperor was younger than Cixi, and once Cixi returned to heaven, his head could not be saved.
Therefore, from the beginning of the restoration and reform of the law, and even the ten years of the Guangxu Emperor's imprisonment, Li Lianying was in such a gap, speaking and doing things very carefully, cautiously and cautiously, from the heart, not completely on the side of Cixi, specifically with the Guangxu Emperor, but adopted a moderate and harmonious attitude, and defended the Guangxu Emperor in many ways.
The Guangxu Emperor was very afraid of Empress Dowager Cixi, and every time he saw the empress dowager angry, he would kneel down. Li Lianying was a little distressed to see that the Guangxu Emperor had been kneeling for a long time, so she pretended to reproach and said, "Don't always kneel here, make Lafayette angry, hurry up." Not only did he relieve Guangxu of the siege, but he also asked Empress Dowager Cixi to listen to Shunxin. Therefore, the Guangxu Emperor was very grateful to Li Lianying. This is precisely where Li Lianying's intelligence "has a greater person than others".
After the signing of the Treaty of Xinugu, Cixi returned from Xi'an to Luang via Baoding, and Empress Dowager Cixi's palace was paved with beautiful and well-supplied, followed by Li Lianying. The Guangxu Emperor's bedchamber was extremely cold. It was the middle of winter, and the Guangxu Emperor didn't even have a futon, so he couldn't sleep all night. After Li Lianying learned of the situation, she hugged her own bedding to the Guangxu Emperor, and hugged the emperor's leg and cried, "Slaves deserve to die!" ”
In this regard, the late Qing Dynasty poet Wang Xiaohang wrote in the thirteen poems of the Fangjiayuan Miscellaneous Songs: "The cold world is unrecognizable, and the contempt for the Lord only knows the Empress Dowager' honor." At night, he waited for Dan, and his knees chirped in front of the old yellow door. "The poem is about this matter, Lao Huangmen is a synonym for eunuchs, and this refers to Li Lianying.
For another example, as early as before the "Peng shu change", Zhenfei and her brother sold official affairs, Cixi ordered the eunuch to pass Zhenfei to the Yangxin Hall, and ordered the eunuch to bring a yellow bag, take out a bamboo stick, and scold Zhenfei with a staff. The Guangxu Emperor trembled and knelt down to plead for permission. When Li Lianying saw that Concubine Zhen was really pitiful, she said, "The empress dowager needs not be angry, so as not to hurt the dragon's body, is there no other way?" ”
As soon as this statement came out, Cixi ordered the eunuch to bring Zhenfei back to Jingren Palace and said that she would slowly punish you later. Therefore, both the Guangxu Emperor and Zhenfei were very grateful to Li Lianying.
In October of the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), when the Guangxu Emperor was seriously ill, the imperial brother Zaifeng went to visit, and Guangxu said with tears that yuan shikai had ended up like this, and it was all Yuan Shikai's doing, and he must be killed. In addition, he also said that it was not easy for the general manager Li Lianying to protect him. All these examples are enough to show that Li Lianying's heart is alive and clever, and he will not be stunned to do something stupid that only serves Empress Dowager Cixi and offends the Guangxu Emperor.
Some people may dismiss this view as the author's family statement. So from another point of view, if Li Lianying really made enemies of Guangxu everywhere, what benefits would he get?
In terms of status, at this time, Li Lianying's status as the grand master and the reward of wearing the second title is already incomparable. In her later years, Empress Dowager Cixi could no longer leave Li Lianying, and her trust and favor for him were self-evident. In other words, no matter how much Li Lianying tried to curry favor with Cixi, his status would not change much.
However, if it offended the Guangxu Emperor or even murdered the Guangxu Emperor, then the result was undoubtedly tragic. In the feudal era, the following offenses, especially disrespect for the emperor, belonged to the most heinous, even if no one dared to do anything with cixi when he was alive, then after Cixi's death, Li Lianying would not be allowed to love Xinjue Luoshi, not to be tolerated by the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military ministers, and even more to be tolerated by feudal Gangchang, and the head was different. The author firmly believes that with the wisdom of Li Lianying, it will not be possible to do such a stupid thing that harms others and harms himself.