The Empress Dowager Cixi was a strong woman in the last generation of the Qing Dynasty. She was also a beauty who brought disaster to the country and the people. After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, the Empress Dowager Cixi launched the Xinyou Coup, got rid of the eight ministers Gu Ming, and then poisoned the East Palace. Empress Dowager Ci'an has since mastered the highest power of the Qing Dynasty. Empress Dowager Cixi's life is both glorious and humiliating, and of course pitiful and pathetic. As the supreme ruler of an empire, she has trampled countless men under her feet and made countless men obey her. , this is a miracle among women for thousands of years. Of course, during the forty-eight years of the Empress Dowager Cixi's rule, she signed countless humiliating treaties, ceded countless lands, and paid countless indemnities, which dragged the Chinese nation and people into the endless abyss of losing power and humiliating the country. This It's also true. As a woman, she lost her husband in her twenties, and lost her son in middle age. Later, Emperor Guangxu wanted to launch a coup to imprison her. This was also the greatest sorrow in her life. She had no family ties, no love and no friendship. She can only be married to power for the rest of her life, so her life is destined to be extremely lonely.
It is precisely because of loneliness that the psychology of the Empress Dowager Cixi is even more distorted. The story I am going to tell you below can well reflect the character of the Empress Dowager Cixi, making people feel angry after hearing it. Funny again.
As we all know, when the train was first developed, it was unheard of by the Chinese people. It took a long time before it was known to the Qing Empire. Due to the long-term isolation of the country, people initially regarded the train as a monster and thought that it was a monster. It was a strange skill of Westerners, and the sound of the whistle when the train started frightened the people of the Qing Dynasty, so it was quite difficult to popularize trains in China. At that time, Li Hongzhang submitted a letter to the Empress Dowager Cixi, saying that he wanted to build a railway in the capital. As soon as he handed over the document, the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty exploded and believed that building a railway in the capital was absolutely impossible. The reason turned out to be that the train tracks and strong whistles would destroy the capital. The feng shui of the Qing Dynasty would disturb the tombs of the ancestors, but the matter went unsolved. Later, the great powers signed a treaty with the Qing Dynasty, forcing the Qing Dynasty to allow other countries to build railways to transport troops in the Beijing-Tianjin area, and the Qing Dynasty reluctantly agreed to the construction.
In 1881, the Empress Dowager Cixi was going to Fengtian to worship her ancestors. If she followed the previous rules, she would have to prepare a carriage and have people carry it to Fengtian. However, on a whim, the Empress Dowager Cixi insisted on taking a train. , Logically speaking, this is a good thing for everyone, because taking the train to Fengtian is not only fast and short, but also saves a lot of manpower and material resources. It can be said that everyone is happy, but before taking the train, the Empress Dowager Cixi gave The three rules set by the driver made the driver almost cry!
Article 1: Cixi gets on the bus first, and then the driver can get on the bus.
Everyone knows that it takes a long time for a train to start. It not only requires various preliminary preparations, but also ensures safety. Once something goes wrong, the driver will lose his head, but the Empress Dowager Cixi Not giving the driver time to prepare will put him in a difficult position. Not only must he ensure the normal operation of the train, but he must also not let Lafayette wait for too long. Otherwise, any violation of any of the rules will be a capital offense. As a result, I had to bite the bullet and obey unconditionally.
Article 2: Cixi requires the driver to arrive on the hour!
Why is this? It turns out that Cixi believed that arriving on the hour was a more auspicious time, and Cixi had long heard that the train's time was exactly one second and its arrival at the station was very accurate, so Cixi asked the driver to arrive on the hour, and the driver was confused. Because trains had just been introduced to China at that time, China's supporting technologies in all aspects were not very complete. The drivers also learned driving skills from foreigners. It can be said that they were almost the same as novices. Cixi actually put such high demands on the drivers. It is estimated that the drivers You have to be frightened on the road. If you go faster, if you go slower, you may lose your head.
Article 3: Cixi asked the driver to stand the whole time while driving the train.
Originally, the Empress Dowager Cixi asked the driver to kneel down the whole time while driving the train. Later, after some good talk from the people around her, Cixi reluctantly agreed that the driver should drive standing up. However, the Empress Dowager Cixi still thought the driver was not decent. Later, the driver I had no choice but to work hard. I stood all the way from Beijing to Fengtian. After arriving at the station, I was almost exhausted. It was really hard to cry!
Then the fourth item is left for everyone to think about.