Legacy of the late Qing Dynasty: Li Yin was favored by Cixi when she combed her hair.

There were several famous eunuchs in the late Qing Dynasty, such as An Dehai, Cui Yugui and Xiao, but the most famous one was Li ―― of course, his reputation was not good. Li Sheng was in the 28th year of Daoguang (1848). Originally from Li Jiacun, he was born in Dacheng County, Hejianfu, Zhili (now Hebei). Unofficial history often says that he is a rogue by nature. He was arrested and imprisoned for selling sodium sulfate privately, but he got away with it and repaired shoes. Therefore, he was nicknamed "Lee".

Shoe-making and shoe-repairing are inseparable from leather and nitrate, but "skin nitrate plum" is not Li's business, but his family's business. Because Li was clean at the age of 8 and entered the palace at the age of 9, I'm afraid it's too late to learn the skill of repairing shoes and selling nitrate. But it doesn't hurt. Hejian House was full of eunuchs in Qing Dynasty, and people often entered the palace to be eunuchs. Fortunately, they really made a fortune. As for Li, she entered the palace because she was bullied at home and found a way out for herself and her family.

At that time, there was a eunuch named Shen in the palace, who was human. He saw that Li had just entered the palace and didn't know anyone. He is very poor. Just then, he got a message. Empress Dowager Cixi heard that a new hairstyle was popular outside, and the eunuch in the palace couldn't comb it well. Empress Dowager Cixi was very unhappy about it. Later, Shen told the news to Li, and asked Li Haohao to consider the combing method of the new hairstyle. After Li Lian, Shen recommended him to Empress Dowager Cixi, and Li Yi showed his skill, which was the beginning of Li's favor.

Empress Dowager Cixi attached great importance to combing her hair, even suspected of going crazy. Since Li appeared, Empress Dowager Cixi appointed Li to do it herself, whether it was tying a bun or issuing a card, otherwise she would feel uncomfortable all day. According to unofficial history's Slave Biography, Empress Dowager Cixi's love for Li is hard to see. Li can even sit and watch the play with Cixi. When the snacks made for Empress Dowager Cixi in the palace meet the food eaten by liai, Empress Dowager Cixi often eats less or lets eunuchs take them away and leave them to Li.

In addition to combing her hair, Li has a special performance, that is, she is good at catering to and speculating the thoughts of Empress Dowager Cixi. Li is humorous and likes telling jokes. Although he didn't read much when he was a child, his jokes were exquisite, round, not vulgar and quite popular. When Empress Dowager Cixi is free, she often asks Li to tell some jokes to amuse everyone. In this case, Li always has the ability to make everyone happy. Even if he tells some political jokes that satirize the government in the street, he can be euphemistic and humorous, so that people can't hear the irony.

As the main manager of the palace, Li is not a hollow reputation. He is also proficient in the management of the palace. For example, Li knows everything in the palace like the back of his hand, and eunuchs often ask him for instructions when they encounter difficulties. When there are festive events in the palace, Li is best at arranging and distributing everything, so that other princes and ministers can have any happy events, especially if Empress Dowager Cixi wants to be "auspicious", she often asks Li to point out the etiquette and layout first to win the favor of Cixi.

After the fall of the Qing court, maids were scattered outside the palace. Later, a maid-in-waiting dictated a book, comparing Li to "Buddha sees good fortune"-"Buddha sees good fortune" is a pear produced in Malanyu, Dongling, with dark skin and unremarkable appearance. It doesn't look attractive, but it tastes sweet, crisp and tender, and Empress Dowager Cixi likes it. Li has this nickname because his appearance is hard to remember, but he is considerate everywhere when he is not at work. "The jargon in the palace is' watertight', which makes the old lady feel at ease and won the favor of the queen mother." "This' Buddha sees happiness' is the star Dai Yue, who gets up early and is greedy for the dark. Don't be busy, be orderly. ..... things like swimming in the lake are arranged in an orderly way. Without his careful consideration, it is difficult to make the old lady feel comfortable. "

However, Li's entry into the palace was not smooth sailing. When An Dehai, who entered the palace with him at the same time, was a red man around Empress Dowager Cixi, Li was still in the lower class. It was not until An Dehai was killed that Li was able to make a name for himself. An Dehai once made great contributions in the "Xinyou coup", but he was arrogant and didn't know how to leave room for himself, so he had to blame himself. On one occasion, An Dehai wanted to go out to the palace to see the scenery, and Empress Dowager Cixi sent him to the south to buy the emperor's robes. Unexpectedly, An Dehai paraded all the way, asking for bribes from local officials. As a result, Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong Province, caught him and put him to death on the grounds that "eunuchs are not allowed to leave the palace". In this respect, Li Yuan is much smarter and lower-key than An Dehai.

1886, Beiyang navy began to take shape, and Li Hongzhang invited the imperial court to send personnel to inspect the military parade. Empress Dowager Cixi intends to send Prince Yi of Alcohol, but Yi is Guangxu's biological father. He was afraid of the suspicion of Empress Dowager Cixi, so he volunteered to be accompanied by the red man Li around Empress Dowager Cixi to show that he had no second thoughts. Empress Dowager Cixi also wanted to take this opportunity to let Li go out to see the world and enjoy the scenery, so Prince Chun went to inspect Beiyang Navy as the official special envoy of the imperial court and Li as the deputy special envoy. It is not surprising that eunuchs from other dynasties made tours as imperial envoys, but it was the first time in history of qing dynasty.

If it was An Dehai, his tail would definitely get stuck in the sky, but Li wouldn't. In order to avoid others gossiping, before leaving, Li replaced the second top hat given to him by Empress Dowager Cixi with the fourth top hat (eunuchs can only take four top hats at most), and then set off behind Prince Alcohol. Along the way, Li didn't have the airs of an imperial envoy, but always followed the alcohol prince and served him well. People who don't know thought that Li was specially sent to wait on the wine prince. In the evening, Prince Chun personally washed his feet, and Li personally gave him hot water. He also said that he had no chance to serve the report before. This time, he must do some filial piety and touch Prince Chun again and again. After returning home, he naturally praised Li's loyalty to Cixi.

During the inspection, Li Ben should be one of the inspectors, but Li deliberately kept his distance from Prince Alcohol and Li Hongzhang. He took a big pipe of Prince's wine, stepped back half a step, lowered his eyebrows and closed his eyes as if he were serving Prince's wine. And along the way, Li didn't casually make friends with local dignitaries like An Dehai. He basically didn't go out, and those expensive gifts that he wanted to ask Li to prepare simply couldn't get in the door. As far as this business trip is concerned, Li earned face for Cixi and blocked the mouths of those ministers. Empress Dowager Cixi also crossed the aisle and said, "It didn't hurt him in vain." .

Li was not always favored by court politics, especially after Guangxu came of age. Due to the constant friction between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, Li, as the head of the palace, inevitably walked a tightrope. On the one hand, he has been favored by Empress Dowager Cixi for many years and should be loyal to Empress Dowager Cixi. On the other hand, Empress Dowager Cixi is old, and Emperor Guangxu will take power sooner or later, so offending any party may bring him fatal disaster. Li's swing was discovered by Empress Dowager Cixi. /kloc-after the coup in 0/898, he gradually lost the trust of Empress Dowager Cixi, while another eunuch, Cui Yugui, took the opportunity to gain power, such as monitoring Guangxu in Yingtai and even throwing Zhen Fei into the well.

According to Dezong's last words, Empress Dowager Cixi fled to the west with Guangxu in the year of Gengzi, and did not return to Beijing until the signing of the Treaty of Xin Chou. When they arrived in Baoding, the group stopped to have a rest. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi's bedroom was beautifully arranged for several weeks. When Li waited on Cixi to sleep, the eunuchs and the people in the internal affairs office also dispersed, or drank, gambled or rested. After Li went to Guangxu's bedroom, he found that there were no eunuchs in it. Only Guangxu sat in front of the oil lamp. Li knelt down and asked, "Why isn't Master sleeping at this time?" Guangxu said, "Look at this room and teach me how to sleep?" When Li saw it, he found that there was not even a quilt in Guangxu's room except mattresses and chairs in the dead of winter.