The completion of Ziguangge Railway

Cixi is very interested in this palace train. 1888, she moved to Zhonghai, Haiyuan, and took a Luan Hall as her bedroom, Qin Zhengtang as the meeting hall, and Qingzhai in the north sea view as her dining and resting place. She takes a small train to and from Yiluantang and Jing Qing Zhai almost every day. The carriage of Cixi is yellow silk curtain, the carriage of imperial clan and consorts is red silk curtain, and the carriage of maharaja is blue silk curtain. Because Cixi is superstitious about geomantic omen, she is afraid that the whistle of the locomotive will "roar" and destroy the pulse of Miyagi, so the small steam car does not need to be pulled by the locomotive, but "each car is dragged by four people with ropes". Every time driving, there are many eunuchs holding yellow satin banners on both sides of the track in front of the yellow curtain car, lined up to guide.

It is an extraordinary "anecdote" of Xiyuan and Sanhai, and it is also an extraordinary "anecdote" of this city. It can't directly bring any gospel to business travelers, and it has no direct economic value. However, its importance far exceeds its direct economic value. This is the first railway officially built by the Qing government in the capital. The supreme ruler of the Qing court traveled to and from the Forbidden Palace by steamboat, which played a vital role in promoting the development of railway industry in Beijing and even the whole country.

Li Hongzhang's persistence in steamboats is all here.

When Li Hongzhang rebuilt the Three Seas, he suggested building a railway in Ziguangge and presented a steamboat to Cixi. This is not entirely to please and cater to the enjoyment of Cixi.

1863 (the second year of Tongzhi), Li Hongzhang first proposed to build the China Railway. 1880 (the sixth year of Guangxu), he listed ten advantages of railway management, namely, "national economy, military and political affairs, capital, people's livelihood, transshipment, postal services, mining, investment promotion, ships and passengers, and its benefits are very rich". 1885 (11th year of Guangxu), the Prime Minister's Office of Naval Affairs was formally established, with Li Hongzhang as the meeting. The next year, he called for "putting railway affairs under the management of the Prime Minister's naval yamen" on the grounds that "the opening of the railway can be a great remedy for the military". Li Hongzhang attaches great importance to the development of China railway industry. However, due to the corruption and fatuity of the Qing government, most of the upper-level bureaucrats regarded the advanced railway industry as "strange skills and cunning" and tried their best to stop and destroy it.