Chapter 52 Extraordinarily smooth in dealing with people

Li Lianying has been a slave in the palace all her life, and through decades of experience, she is familiar with the scramble in the palace of feudal dynasties.Between the empress and the empress, between the empress and his officials, and between the officials and his officials, in order to fight for power, there are many contradictions, intrigues, intrigues, and mutual deception.Especially the eunuchs who were slaves were often expelled, scolded, and executed.Although Li Lianying was famous for a while, she always walked on thin ice and lived in fear.Because in front of him, An Dehai, who was very popular in his early years, became the ghost under the sword of the governor Ding Baozhen in Jinan, which greatly shocked the young Li Lianying.Learn from the past and take it as a warning.The latter, Wang Junru, the eunuch in charge of the case, was sent to Shengjing for falling out of favor and executed in secret.The young eunuch Guan Liancai was beheaded at Caishikou because he dared to speak out in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Li Lianying knew that being with a king is like being with a tiger, and the Holy Lord Lafayette she served was by no means benevolent.Not only that, inside and outside the palace, princes and ministers, officials big and small, none of them are idle people, and no one would take eunuchs seriously.If you want to have a long-term foothold, you must be humble, be a good slave honestly, and behave in a humble manner.Therefore, someone once said that Li Lianying was able to protect her life and never lose her favor because of the four words of guarding against arrogance and pride.After many years of tempering, he has a deep city, inside and outside the palace, he has a rigorous attitude, does his best, and never slacks off in everything.

Even when he is proud, he never shows off, shows off, indulges carelessness, and always beware of provoking right and wrong.At the same time, whenever his subordinates made mistakes and made Empress Dowager Cixi angry, he dared to take the blame, and always said to Empress Dowager Cixi that it was the fault of slaves, he was not strict with his subordinates, and asked Empress Dowager Cixi to punish him.In this regard, the Empress Dowager Cixi admired his attitude of taking responsibility bravely. Perhaps out of her preference for him, Cixi dissipated her anger and did not pursue it.Not only is he always servile in front of Cixi, he opens his mouth to the old lady and shuts his mouth to the Lafayette, even in front of the princes and ministers. Whenever and wherever he meets the prince or ministers, he always bows and stands aside, saying that a certain prince is good. Or a certain adult is waiting.The Chinese always say that it is not surprising that many people are polite, and Li Lianying made many friends because of this.

Throughout his life, he likes to make friends from all walks of life, such as princes, county kings, Baylor, Beizi, six ministers and nine ministers, officials of Hanzhan Kedao, governors of other provinces, officials in frontiers, and celebrities in Beijing, etc. He has a deep friendship with him. There is no shortage of people.He is usually good at making friends and building relationships, and he is clever at taking advantage of the trust of the Empress Dowager Cixi in him, and using a little power in his hands to solve some problems for them.Therefore, he gained the trust of some important court officials, such as Prince Gong Yixin, Prince Chun Yixuan, Prince Qing Yikui, Prince Duan Zaiyi, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Rong Lu, Sun Yuwen, Yuan Shikai, Cen Yuying, Cen Chunxuan , Sheng Xuanhuai, Zaixun, Puxing, Pulan, Gangyi, Lishan, Lianyuan, Zhao Shuqiao, Jiang Guiti, Jiang Chaozong, etc., all have deep friendship with him.Of course, some of them spoke good words in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi in order to honor her breath, so as to gain the trust of the Empress Dowager Cixi, keep her favor, and protect herself.As a result, Li Lianying became a figure who supported the sun and the moon, and even the people in the capital feared him three points, but respected him three points.

According to the descendants of the Li family, the number of eunuchs used by the Empress Dowager Cixi was no less than four or five hundred at a time. He was very strict with those under Li Lianying's jurisdiction, fearing that they would lose face if they did something wrong.When he first became the general manager, he often used a mantra to frighten his subordinates: whoever is dishonest will be sent to clean up the stubble, which is a second cleanse.In fact, all the eunuchs know that there is a system of eunuchs sweeping stubble in the palace, but it is a rare thing in a hundred years. Those who are not reborn from jade stems will not be tortured again, not even one person in ten thousand This strange phenomenon is not just for anyone who wants to ask someone to clean up the stubble.On the contrary, Li Lianying is very protective of the people below, trying not to let them suffer, such as distributing rewards, try to balance, everyone has a share.Another example is the queen mother's leftover imperial food, which is sometimes rewarded to the maids and eunuchs, and Li Lianying is asked to share it. If anyone is absent, he will set aside a portion.For another example, when the grandparents and parents of a certain eunuch died of illness, Li Lianying personally went to ask for leave for them in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, asking for favors and money.Therefore, his subordinates feared him, respected him, and thanked him.

After the Revolution of 1911, among the old and young and many officials of the Qing Dynasty, many people had contact with Li Lianying, but few people talked about Li Lianying. contact and impress him.Zeng Yujun used to be the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture. After receiving the notice of being transferred to the county magistrate of Dacheng County, he went to the house of Yin of Shuntian Prefecture to pay his respects. The governor also apologized to him, saying that he was transferred to Li Lianying's hometown in Dacheng County. . Zeng Yujun had to go to Li Lianying's house to pay a visit to Li Lianying's house out of politeness before taking office.Unexpectedly, Li Lianying treated each other with guest courtesy, one mouthful to another, and when she said goodbye, she personally sent him out of the house.Zeng Yujun also said that the Li family can greet him directly if they have something to do in the future, and he will try his best to handle it.However, Li Lianying said sternly: "Old father, this is not acceptable. If your nephews and clan members do anything wrong, I hope you will strictly control them."Otherwise, you and I will not have a good life in Beijing, and the family style is not good, so I hope Lao Futai will take care of it.The words are sincere, the attitude is very respectful, and there is no affectation at all.During Zeng Yujun's tenure, he really did not find any illegal or unruly behaviors in the Li family.

Li Lianying is famous for his strict demands on his family and individuals, which is also recorded by Wu Yong in "Gengzi Xishou Cong Tan".First, when dealing with the conflict between Wu Yong and Cen Chunxuan, although Li Lianying had a close relationship with Cen Chunxuan's father, Cen Yuying, Li Lianying did not deliberately favor Cen Chunxuan, which made Wu Yong deeply admired.The second is that several important ministers headed by Wang Zhichun tried to tease Wu Yong in front of Cixi, but Li Lianying came forward to secretly protect Wu Yong, who was upright and upright and deeply loved by the Queen Mother, and secretly told Wu Yong about this in advance, so that Wu Yong Always be on guard.For this, Wu Yongyan was always full of gratitude to Li Lianying in his speech and demeanor.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the abuse of officials had already reached the point of dying, and corruption had long been known to all.Even the Empress Dowager Cixi often regards selling officials as the main source of income, and those who spend money to buy officials will try their best to search the people after taking office to recover their investment.Even if you were born in the imperial examination, if you want to make a good job, you have to spend money to manage it. The whole officialdom can be described as dark. Li Lianying has been in the palace for so many years, and it has long been commonplace.I know that most of the rich and powerful eunuchs in the Fan Palace make friends with officials in the court and China, accept bribes unscrupulously, and accumulate money widely.Li Lianying saw that her peers had made a lot of money and bought houses and land. Not only was she jealous, but she also followed suit. The method is to make extra money wantonly, and gather wealth and treasure.In addition to the lunar eclipse money and grains and silver rewards he deserved, he exchanged one hundred thousand taels of high-quality snowflake silver from the Ministry of Internal Affairs every year.

In addition, because he is the Empress Dowager's favor and the chief steward of the palace, no matter whether it is an external official or an internal official, there are many people who ask him to intercede in front of the Empress Dowager, and no one can give him a lot of heavy gifts.However, Li Lianying also has her own rules for accepting bribes. She has always been careful and never reckless.Most of the foreign officials who have no relationship or know nothing about it are turned away, mainly because they are afraid that their words will be loose and leak the news, which will be harmful to themselves.Therefore, he often claims that he does not make friends with foreign officials to show his innocence.In fact, he made friends with many foreign officials secretly, and it is said that they were all introduced by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and most of them were well-known and well-known people.Famous ministers with real power such as Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai.

Although he often received gold and silver treasures from these people, he seldom interceded for them in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, because he was afraid that Lafayette would have doubts about his association with foreign officials, which would also be detrimental to him.In the future, when people ask how things are going, they will prevaricate or support them with the words that Lafayette asks for their disapproval.For those who have some friendship and received a big gift on weekdays, even if they have to do it because of face, they have to wait patiently for the opportunity.She had to wait until the Empress Dowager Cixi mentioned it before Li Lianying would open her mouth, or go to a certain prince or a certain minister to Yuantong.At that time, Yuan Shikai made friends with Li Lianying through his friend Ruan Zhongshu. After some management, he asked Li Lianying for help.Li Lianying first quoted him to Prince Qing, and then let him get acquainted with Ronglu.They took advantage of the legal right to speak at the imperial meeting, sang together, and recommended Yuan Shikai to the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, and then they were allowed to go to the small station to supervise the training of the new army.

Li Lianying, Prince Qing Yikuang and Rong Lu have always been in frequent contact. In the early years, Li Lianying spent a lot of money on Yikuang, so they can use each other later, and benefit from each other.In fact, Li Lianying did not have to beg the Empress Dowager Cixi directly, the main thing is to be vigilant at all times, not to lose the big because of small things. Li Lianying was very particular about accepting bribes, but in fact he was very greedy, and he hated anyone who refused to pay for him.There is such a story that Zhang Yinhuan, the servant of the household department, was sent to England to attend the 60th birthday celebration of the Queen of England. When returning home, he passed through Paris, France, and bought two gems, one ruby ​​for Emperor Guangxu and one emerald for Empress Dowager Cixi.But he didn't give Li Lianying anything, and Li Lianying, who always took advantage of him, hated him.Therefore, when the Empress Dowager Cixi was admiring this gem and couldn't put it down, Li Lianying, who had understood the Empress Dowager Cixi's mind, thought it was time to teach Zhang Yinhuan a lesson, so she stood aside and interjected sarcastically: Can't we use red here ?Although the words were simple, they touched the heart of Empress Dowager Cixi.According to the customs of the Qing Dynasty, the clothing and accessories of wives, concubines, and concubines are very strict. Only the main wife can wear red clothing, while concubines can only wear green clothing.Cixi has always been worried because she was originally from the West Palace and was not brought in from the Daqing Gate. Now, stimulated by Li Lianying's words, Cixi also felt that Zhang Yinhuan intended to give the red one to Guangxu and the emerald to herself.Therefore, the sudden change of mood caused people to immediately return the emerald to Zhang Yinhuan.Zhang Yinhuan didn't know the details, so he was worried and worried about planting the root of disaster, but Cixi couldn't use this as a condition for punishing Zhang Yinhuan, so he held a grudge.In the end, Zhang Yinhuan was dealt with. First, because the household department was short of money and food, and second, he supported Emperor Guangxu's reform and was exiled to Xinjiang.At that time, the British envoy to China intervened, saying that Zhang Yinhuan was a friendly envoy to Britain, and doing so would be an unfriendly act to Britain and would affect the relationship between China and Britain.The Empress Dowager Cixi insisted on going her own way and wanted to investigate him, from which we can see Li Lianying's influence on the Empress Dowager Cixi. In the year of Gengzi (that is, the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, 1900), the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, and the Qing army was defeated.After Empress Dowager Cixi hijacked Emperor Guangxu and fled to Xi'an, she ordered Zhang Yinhuan to be executed in Xinjiang on the pretext that Zhang Yinhuan had colluded with foreigners. Li Lianying won the favor of Empress Dowager Cixi in the palace all her life, and she never faded.He also made friends with officials, but kept secret.Some people who were greedy for power and power actually kowtowed to form an alliance with him, calling for brothers and brothers.For example, Sun Yuwen, the military commander, Gao Yunxi, the Taoist priest of Baiyun Temple, and others all became friends with Jin Lan and became brothers of different surnames.Others said that the shameless Zhang Xun, who once garrisoned the capital and later restored it, once worshiped him at his knees and recognized him as a foster father.Even Li Zhongtang Hongzhang, who is well-known at home and abroad, paid homage to Li Lianying with generous gifts before going to Guangdong to take up his post.As for the ambitious Yuan Shikai, he had been very close to Li Lianying since the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), and put a lot of money into Li Lianying's pocket.It is through these people that Li Lianying made a fortune and enjoyed great blessings. There is a saying that Li Lianying was not always popular in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and there are many sayings that he fell out of favor in his later years.One of them said that since the Empress Dowager Cixi launched the Reform Movement of 1898 in the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu (1898), due to Li Lianying's unclear attitude and ambiguous relationship with Emperor Guangxu, the Empress Dowager Cixi believed that he was an unreliable person and began to treat Li Lianying. He snubs.Another way of saying is that Li Lianying has fallen out of favor since Empress Dowager Cixi fled in the 26th year of Guangxu (1900).Some people even said that the reason Li Lianying fell out of favor was because of Cui Yugui's favor. In fact, Li Lianying did not fall out of favor in the heart of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and Cui Yugui's position in the heart of the Empress Dowager Cixi has never surpassed Li Lianying.First, when she fled, Cixi thought that Li Lianying was old, so she often let him sit in the car and follow her to avoid the pain of walking, while Cui Yugui was sent to the drudgery of exploring the road and running errands.The second is that after returning to Luan in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), the Empress Dowager Cixi recognized Li Lianying's heir daughter as her goddaughter, and she stayed in the palace for a long time with great favor.In a sense, this move further transformed the relationship between Empress Dowager Cixi and Li Lianying's master and servant.On the other hand, Cui Yugui was expelled from the palace for more than a year. No matter what the reason was, in the eyes of the people at that time, it was disgraceful after all, and Cui Yugui was also dissatisfied with it.Then there are many photos preserved in the Forbidden City, most of which were taken by Yu Xunling after entering the palace in the 29th year of Guangxu (1903). Most of the photos about Cixi were accompanied by Li Lianying every time, and Cui Yugui's is very few.In particular, several photos of the Empress Dowager Cixi as Guanyin Bodhisattva, all accompanied by Li Lianying standing aside as Wei Tuo, fully illustrate the strong master-servant relationship formed between the Empress Dowager Cixi and Li Lianying for decades, and the transcendence of the master. A relationship of the special affection of a servant relationship. Cixi believed in Buddhism in her later years and often pretended to be Avalokitesvara, while Li Lianying mostly pretended to be Wei Tuo.Wei Tuo's full name is Wei Tuotian, and it is called Sedado in Sanskrit.There is also an interesting legend about Guanyin Bodhisattva and Wei Tuo.The birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva is on the 19th day of the second lunar month. Manjushri sent Wei Tuo to the South China Sea to celebrate the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva with a load of presents.Wei Tuo was afraid of delaying time, so he ran in a hurry, sweating profusely. Seeing that he was about to reach the South China Sea, he was really tired, so he sat down on a big rock to rest, and fell asleep unconsciously.After waking up, he continued on his way, looked at Putuo Mountain, and found temples and pavilions hidden in the green bushes, he felt relieved.At this moment, five tigers suddenly jumped out from nowhere and grabbed all the gifts.Wei Tuo was furious, took the pole and beat the five tigers to death.The tiger was killed, but the gift was gone. What should I do?With a mournful face, he wandered outside Guanyin Cave with empty hands.Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva rode the auspicious cloud and saw everything behind him, so he accepted him as a Dharma protector.According to this legend, the statues of Weituo in many temples stand beside Guanyin Bodhisattva. Isn't that why the Empress Dowager Cixi compared herself to Guanyin Bodhisattva and Li Lianying to Wei Tuo?This fully proves Li Lianying's status in the mind of the Empress Dowager Cixi.On October 10, the 30th year of Guangxu (1904), on the day of the Empress Dowager Cixi's Longevity Day, Li Lianying was bestowed with a full boa robe.On September 17th in the 33rd year of Guangxu (1907), Empress Dowager Cixi issued a decree to bestow a scroll of calligraphy and painting on Li Lianying's 60th birthday. On the night after Empress Dowager Cixi's death, Empress Dowager Longyu issued a decree, asking Li Lianying to serve as the guest of honor, while Cui Yugui was allowed to leave the palace on the third day, and disappeared in the palace after that.Li Lianying and Cui Yugui's status is superior to each other. The court eunuchs Liu Xingqiao, Zhao Rongsheng, Feng Leting and others in the late Qing Dynasty once wrote a book about the life of the eunuchs in the late Qing Dynasty based on their own personal experience. The book mentions: Cixi travels in a chariot, Li Lianying (right) and Cui Yugui (left) accompany Cixi At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were many widows among the heroines. Although the Queen Mother in power had a lot of things to do, her life seemed strangely boring.When she is free, she writes, draws some pictures, and watches plays.Among them, Li Lianying, the great eunuch, can best relieve the empress dowager.Li Lianying is the best at serving her and has become the person she can't live without. The relationship between the two seems to be very close.Three meals a day, morning and evening daily routine, Empress Dowager Cixi and Li Lianying sent eunuchs to each other or greeted each other face to face: How are you getting in?Delicious?Not only that, sometimes the Queen Mother would come to Li Lianying's bedroom to visit him in person. In the palace, Cixi and Li Lianying always walked in front, and the rest followed far behind.Sometimes the Empress Dowager called Li Lianying to her bedroom to talk about Huang Lao's longevity techniques, and the two often talked late at night. All kinds of historical data show that Li Lianying never lost her favor in front of the Empress Dowager Cixi.Although Cui Yugui is one of the Empress Dowager Cixi's favorites, compared with Li Lianying, he actually jumped up and down, ran more legs, suffered more, talked more, and hurt more people, but the benefits he gained were much inferior to Li Lianying. up.