There are not many "great eunuchs" in Chinese history who can be ranked as famous, and Li Lianying must definitely be counted as one of them. As the chief eunuch of Empress Dowager Cixi, Li Lianying's power was beyond imagination, and even Prince Gong and the ministers had to give him three points.
Although Li Lianying's reputation may not be good, his filial piety to his mother is well known. After Li Lianying's mother died, he was so sad that he decided to give her mother a beautiful funeral. How beautiful is it to say? The row is large, long, and costly, and the table alone is set up for 35 days.
In 1848, Li Lianying was born in Zhili Province, which is now Hebei Province, and was the second eldest of four sons in the family. Although the Li family's family situation is not so poor that it cannot open the pot, it is not too good. So Li Lianying chose to become a small eunuch at the age of 7, because of her young age, Li Lianying was also bullied a lot in the open and in the dark.
Li Lianying was transferred to changchun palace at the age of 16 and began to formally serve Cixi. At this time, the red person in front of Cixi was not Li Lianying, but An Dehai, who had entered the palace at about the same time as him. An Dehai had one of the biggest problems, that is, he was too arrogant, and it was this reason that he died early, which also gave Li Lianying the opportunity to ascend to the throne.
An Dehai's death made Li Lianying feel afraid, so he began to be cautious in his words and deeds. He treats his master respectfully and courteously, and treats people of lower status than himself with generosity and kindness, so Li Lianying's reputation and popularity in the harem have always been good. In addition, Li Lianying was very good at reading Cixi's thoughts, so she quickly won Cixi's favor. Cixi later changed her name to Li Lianying instead of Li Jinxi.
In the following days, Li Lianying seemed to be hanging on, and at a young age, she sat in the position of Grand Eunuch, the head of the Chuxiu Palace. This year, Li Lianying was 26 years old and had only been in the palace for 17 years. It should be known that the precondition for the selection of the post of Grand Eunuch, the head of the Chuxiu Palace, is that it takes 30 years to enter the palace, which shows that Li Lianying is indeed very capable.
In addition, Li Lianying was also the first eunuch in the Palace to be rewarded with wearing a flower plume, which is undoubtedly a very high symbol of honor, and Li Lianying was the first and last eunuch to have this honor. After a hundred days of filial piety for Cixi, Li Lianying resigned from her post and died at the age of 63.
Although Li Lianying entered the palace from an early age, her relationship with her family is still relatively close. When she learned of the news of her mother's death, Li Lianying was very sad. Then he thought about organizing a grand funeral for his mother, to express his guilt for decades of not being able to accompany and care for his mother.
Because Li Lianying had always behaved very low-key and cautious in the harem, if she rushed to bury her mother for the scenery, it would inevitably cause gossip, so Li Lianying went to Empress Dowager Cixi for consultation. After listening to Li Lianying's return, Cixi even approved him to go home to mourn for his mother.
Perhaps touched by Li Lianying's filial piety, or to prove to outsiders that he is generous to the people around him. Cixi, who had always been generous, directly rewarded Li Lianying with 480,000 taels of silver to prepare for the funeral, and told him that if it was not enough, he would go to Yuan Shikai again. 480,000 taels may be money that ordinary people can't earn in ten lifetimes, and Cixi's move also greatly touched Li Lianying.
In fact, Li Lianying did not seek Cixi simply to ask for money, but Cixi gave it and did not want it. Moreover, even Cixi approved that he could be buried in a beautiful way, so Li Lianying had no scruples to speak of, and then he returned home with 500,000 taels.
Li Lianying's homecoming position was so great that the neighbors could not help but look sideways, and when the Li family brothers learned that Li Lianying had brought back 500,000 yuan to prepare for the funeral, they were really shocked. The Li brothers then followed Li Lianying's instructions and found local squires and villagers with fame and ability to do things to help arrange their mother's funeral.
The people who came to help have naturally seen the world, but what the funeral of 500,000 looks like is something that everyone has not seen and cannot imagine, but Li Lianying's face must not be given. At a time when everyone was at a loss, someone suggested that they could go through ancient books and learn from the best of them to achieve one by one. After pondering it, the people felt that this method was indeed feasible, so they immediately began to implement it.
The crowd worked back and forth for more than ten days, and finally drew up a list. Li Lianying looked at the list and nodded with satisfaction, and said that if the money was not enough, she could find someone to inform him. However, Li Lianying also specially reminded: "Funerals should be based on identity, and must not be crossed, so as not to mess up the etiquette system."
After the list was set, the crowd followed the list. After three months of busy schedules, preparations for the funeral were basically ready. According to the plan set, the funeral should be feasted for 35 days, and the morning, middle and evening should not be left behind three times. Prior to this, Li Lianying had also sent someone to inform the villagers and neighbors that they must come to attend her mother's funeral when the time came.
However, things seemed to have changed a lot from what they had imagined, and in the three days of kailing, almost all the relatives and friends had arrived, but the people from all over the country and the neighbors did not come. Looking at the many tables and chairs vacant in front of her, Li Lianying couldn't help but be angry, reprimanding the Li family brothers for not making friends with people, resulting in no one coming to her mother's funeral.
Looking at the angry Li Lianying, the Li family brothers also felt very wronged. Tell Li Lianying that it is not that the neighbors do not want to come, but that there are soldiers guarding outside the village, and they dare not come in. After his brother mentioned it, Li Lianying remembered that the imperial court had sent 300 elite soldiers to prevent someone from making trouble at the funeral. Li Lianying, who thought of this, hurried to the mouth of the village and told the soldiers to patrol at night and not to guard during the day.
Without the guards of the guards, the people in the four townships and eight neighbors finally dared to enter the funeral site. I have to say that this banquet is very exquisite. About 50 tables at a time, each table has eight people, and there are chicken, duck, fish and meat on the table, cold dishes and hot dishes.
Adhering to the principle that as long as the visitor is a guest, anyone who arrives here can eat and drink as much as they want. In addition, Li Lianying also ordered people to set up eight large vats outside the door, which were piled with raw meat, and the basket next to it was also full of steamed buns, which guests could take themselves. For this reason, some people also told Li Lianying that it would cost too much to be afraid, and Li Lianying said that it is not easy for everyone to live now, so it should be used to help everyone.
It is no exaggeration to say that the pork eaten at the funeral is slaughtered now, and every day people go to the county to buy pigs, and over time, the pigs in the county can not provide for the funeral needs, so they can only go to the surrounding area to buy, which also makes the nearby pork price rise.
The scene on the day of the burial of the coffin is difficult to describe with the word spectacular, in order to make the hearse run smoothly, Li Lianying found dozens of people to build the road a month in advance. The funeral procession was crowded and walked for more than three hours. The paper that had been pierced for several months burned so red that it almost had to roast the surrounding area. In addition, Li Lianying also ordered someone to modify the mausoleum, which took several months to complete.
Li Lianying's silver spent on her mother's funeral was more than 50,000 taels higher than Guangxu's funeral, and a eunuch could reach the point where Li Lianying could already say that no one could surpass it. Although his reputation in the court is not too good, it is undeniable that he is a good son and a good neighbor.
Three years after Empress Dowager Cixi's death, Li Lianying also left this world, and a generation of legendary eunuchs came to an end. There has always been a lot of opinion about Li Lianying's death, and there is no exact statement so far, which has become an unsolved mystery.