According to the "Legend of Chu Han", eunuchs were officials in ancient China who served the monarch and his family.
Although it is said that eunuchs are slaves in charge of chores and are not allowed to participate in state affairs, because they get along with the royal family day and night, most of them can win trust, so in some dynasties, there are also cases where eunuchs hold the power of state affairs.
Li Lianying was the chief eunuch of the Cixi period, and he accompanied Empress Dowager Cixi for nearly fifty-three years.
As a result, he became one of the most powerful eunuchs in the late Qing Dynasty, and the first person to call Empress Dowager Cixi Lafayette.
With his sleek and clever personality, he went through the four dynasties of Xianfeng, Tongzhi, Guangxu, and Xuantong, and became Cixi's closest favorite eunuch, so that Lafayette broke the ancestral system of eunuchs living in sipin at most, and personally gave Li Lianying erpin to wear, so that he, who was originally a slave, climbed to the peak of power.
So, how did this great eunuch of the Qing Dynasty, Li Lianying, die? Experts dug up the grave and found the death tragic.
He was sleek and became a red man around Cixi
Li Lianying was purified at the age of seven and entered the palace at the age of eight. It is roughly the same as The time of Anderhay's entry into the palace. At the age of 16, Li Lianying was transferred to Cixi, but at this time, An Dehai was already a well-loved red person in front of Empress Dowager Cixi.
However, Li Lianying was also a very clever and well-behaved person, and he understood from the Andehai incident how to straighten out the relationship between the master and the slave.
Therefore, Li Lianying not only learned to figure out the master's temper and hobbies, but also tried every means to please the master, and was able to be cautious and cautious at all times. In his epitaph, he is also said to be "respectful in matters, lenient in matters, and if there is a year, he has not slackened a little." "That's the secret of his success."
In his later years, Cixi was a companion by his side, and after Cixi's death, he was given a hundred days of filial piety
In the "Insights on Court Life in the Late Qing Dynasty", it is said: "When she lived in the Xiyuan and Summer Palaces, Empress Dowager Cixi often came to Li Lianying: 'Lian Ying! Let's take a walk! Empress Dowager Cixi sometimes summoned Li Lianying to her palace to talk about the art of huang lao's immortality, and the two often talked about late at night. ”
It can be seen from this that in fact, Li Lianying has become a "companion" in cixi's later life that cannot be left for a moment.
After the death of Empress Dowager Cixi on November 15, 1908, Li Lianying wore filial piety for Cixi for 100 days.
Go deep into the jane to eat and pray to the Buddha, and eventually die "normally"
After the expiration of the period of filial piety for Cixi, Li Lianying went out of the palace to retire. Living with his adopted son, it is said that he eats and prays to the Buddha all day long, and from then on the gate does not go out of the second door.
But within a few years, Li Lianying died in 1911. There is a clear record of Li Lianying's death, and in the book "Qing Barnyard Banknotes and Eunuch Temples", it is written that Li Lianying lived well after Cixi's death until finally died of old age. And, according to his descendants, Li Lianying died a normal death.
However, when his grave was discovered, the claim of a normal death was called into question.
The tomb of Li Lianying was discovered, and his death was tragic
After Li Lianying's tomb was excavated in 1966, archaeologists found a red coffin. The coffins are made of fine wood and are beautifully carved.
Although, in Li Lianying's mausoleum, there are many valuable funerary items. But surprisingly, in the coffin, there was only a rotten and clean skull, and a long braid, and there was no body, not even a small bone. At that time, some people threw up when they saw it.
The cause of death is mysterious, and the three possibilities cannot be distinguished
Li Lianying's coffin has no body, and there are only two situations that can be explained: First, his grave has been stolen. Second, when buried, there was no body.
However, there is no evidence that Li Lianying's grave was dug up after her death, and the funerary items in the tomb were not moved.
In this way, it can only be that when Li Lianying is buried, there is no such possibility of a body. From this, it can also be concluded that Li Lianying is definitely not a normal death!
There are three possible causes of death:
1. Killed by Zaifeng.
After Cixi's death, Zaifeng took power, and Li Lianying was believed to be the culprit in poisoning the Guangxu Emperor, so it was rumored that in order to avenge Guangxu, Zaifeng sent people to infiltrate Li Lianying's home, assassinate him, cut off his head, and throw his body into the wilderness.
2. Victimized by miscreants.
It is said that Li Lianying had a niece in Shandong, and because she had no close relatives, Li Lianying went to Shandong to visit. As a result, when he reached the junction of Shandong and Hebei, he encountered robbers, who not only strongly claimed property, but also killed Li Lianying. When the government arrived, only the head was left, and it could only be brought back for burial.
Third, the banquet was attacked
It is said that the infantry commander Jiang Chaozong once invited Li Lianying to dinner, and when Li Lianying encountered robbers on his way home, he was also taken of his life, cut off his head, and threw his body into the Houhai, and when Li Lianying's family arrived, only one head was left, and he could only be buried hastily.
brief summary
All of the above is just a suspicion. How Li Lianying died is probably a mystery that cannot be solved. But it is certain that Li Lianying's death is definitely not as simple as recorded!
References: "Legend of Chu Han", "Late Qing Dynasty Court Life", "Qing Barnyard Banknotes and Eunuch Temples"