Li Lianying, one of the most famous eunuchs in Chinese history, was very favored by Empress Dowager Cixi, and he spent 53 years in the palace, including more than 40 years.
As a person who held state power, Cixi certainly had many excellent eunuchs around him, but Li Lianying was able to stay with Cixi for so long, mainly because he had three strengths that made him mix with Cixi, these three strengths were mind, skill, and talking.
1. The chief eunuch
There were some strange punishments in ancient China, because ancient China was a feudal society, in which the emperor was the supreme of the Ninth Five-Year Plan, and the remaining ordinary people were arranged according to class. Therefore, the emperor holds the power of life and death, which can take the lives of others and destroy the bodies of others.
At that time, there was a punishment called palace punishment, but I don't know why the people who were later punished by this punishment gradually became a profession, that is, eunuchs. There are many stories of eunuchs gaining power in Chinese history, but if you want to talk about eunuchs, you have to mention Li Lianying. He was a very powerful eunuch in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, mainly pulled up by Empress Dowager Cixi.
According to historical records, at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the military and political power of the state was in the hands of Empress Dowager Cixi, who blindly chose to seek peace with the Western powers regardless of state affairs and only cared about enjoying her own life. It is such a person who attaches great importance to Li Lianying, and has given Li Lianying a special amount of rewards in terms of money and power.
Some of them were not even eunuchs from all dynasties, and he became the head of eunuchs in the entire palace when he was 26 years old. But in fact, Li Lianying was a very skilled person, and during his period as the head of the eunuchs, he was very kind to the people under him.
This also shows that he is very sleek in his handling of people, and he can serve his master, Empress Dowager Cixi, and get along well with his subordinates, so he can become the leader of the eunuchs, on the one hand, because Cixi promoted him, on the other hand, he also has his own ability.
2. Cixi's favorite courtiers
At first, Cixi had other eunuchs to serve, but later because this eunuch had a green eye for Cixi and became more and more arrogant in his handling of people, he provoked many ministers in the imperial court to play like Cixi, and later Cixi was not happy, so he drove him out of the palace, and it was Li Lianying who replaced him later.
The fact that Li Lianying was the red man in front of Cixi's eyes, the whole imperial court knew that there were even rumors and legends, if you want to enter the dynasty as an official, you must make a good relationship with Li Lianying, so that you can make your career go more smoothly. The rumors are false, because Li Lianying is a very measured person, and although he is greedy for money, he will not do anything that affects the government.
Because he was a very careful man, he was also worried that the ministers of the imperial court would unite against him. However, this kind of rumor can also reflect from the side that Cixi really loves Li Lianying. Li Lianying spent 53 years in the palace, most of which was spent with Empress Dowager Cixi.
Three, three major advantages
History records that Empress Dowager Cixi was a poor and extravagant person, her residence was built to the fullest luxury, and her eating and wearing were the best in everything, so the eunuchs and servants who served her around her must also be the most outstanding. Cixi was a very picky person, and Li Lianying's ability to become a eunuch who was favored by Cixi must be because he had strengths that other eunuchs did not have.
First of all, he was a man of great skill, and his hands were skillful. Usually, when the eunuchs and the servants are serving the master, they need to comb and dress the master's hair, plus pounding their shoulders and pinching their backs. Mental skill is a professional need for them, if once the hand is more stupid, accidentally combing the hair when pulling pain, or pounding the shoulder when the hard work may be a matter of losing the head.
But Li Lianying has always done a good job in this regard. Li Lianying's second advantage is that his mind is very flexible and single-minded, because his job is to serve Empress Dowager Cixi well, so he always considers problems from Cixi's point of view, puts himself in her shoes, does not let go of any detail of his life, and grasps all the preferences of Empress Dowager Cixi.
However, the imperial palace was a strange place, especially in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, when various factions in the imperial court fought with each other, and Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor were also constantly vying for dominance over the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, Li Lianying was in this, especially Empress Dowager Cixi's personal eunuch, and he must handle the relationship between all parties, otherwise he would become a thorn in the eye of others.
Therefore, he fully supported all of Cixi's decisions on the surface, but secretly during the time when Cixi imprisoned the Guangxu Emperor, Li Lianying felt that it was possible that the Guangxu Emperor would become the master of the country in the future, so he secretly paid a lot of attention to him, so even later the Guangxu Emperor was always somewhat grateful to him. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that he can handle the relationship between many parties in the palace.
The third advantage of him is that he is very good at talking, so that on the one hand, he can usually speak to relieve Cixi's boredom, on the other hand, if he encounters some more embarrassing situations, he can help Cixi play round. Once Cixi almost lost an adult, because Cixi liked to listen to the play, and after listening to the play, the opera singer was like Cixi asking for a reward.
I hope that Cixi can personally write a blessing word to give to the drama team. However, I did not expect that cixi culture was not in place, and I could write a blessing word wrong, and I wrote more than one stroke to show it. Therefore, this drama does not dare to take Cixi nor is willing to give, for fear of spreading it out to Cixi's reputation is not good, but everyone does not know how to open their mouths, this time is Li Lianying standing up.
He made a round field in the middle, and he said that Cixi was a blessed person, and the blessing words written were a little more than the blessings of ordinary people. In this way, he not only helped Cixi play a round field, but also praised Cixi. Li Lianying had done a lot of things like this, enough to show that he had a pleasing mouth, so he blamed Cixi for favoring him.
Whether it is his mental skill or his ability to speak, it is the skill he needs to be a good eunuch, so from the perspective of work, Li Lianying is a eunuch with strong business ability
4. Summary
There are various occupations in this world, but no matter what profession you are engaged in, the most important thing is business ability, even the eunuch Li Lianying of the Qing Dynasty is also like this, li Lianying has always been able to get the favor of Empress Dowager Cixi, mainly because he is skillful and can speak, and each of these three advantages can be reflected, he is a eunuch with strong professional ability.