Wusong Railway is the first railway put into operation in China. Train tickets are divided into upper, middle and lower classes, and the fares are 730, 360 and 200 respectively. According to the market at that time, pork was about 50 articles per catty. This means that the cheapest ticket can also buy 4 Jin of pork. It can be seen that the train fare of Wusong Railway is relatively expensive.
However, there is an endless stream of passengers. According to the "Shen Bao" report: "The vehicles go back and forth six times a day, but the buses are crowded and empty, that is, people in the city rarely go out for half a step all year round. I heard that they will also take their families with them." The train goes back and forth six times a day, and the bus is so crowded that there is no place to sit. Those city dwellers who don't go out all the year round must bring their families to join in the fun when they hear about such a thing.
However, Wusong Railway has been under great pressure since its construction. Feng Shuguang of Shanghai Daotai greeted the British consul many times and did not allow them to build the railway without authorization. While the British consul continued to build, he adopted a perfunctory attitude, which led to the final completion and operation of Wusong Railway.
When uncooked rice was cooked into mature rice, local officials in the Qing Dynasty had no choice but to acquiesce in its existence.
Soon, a traffic accident happened on Wusong Railway: a pedestrian had never seen a train. When he passed the railway, he saw the roaring train, panicked and was run over by it. If someone dies, it would be terrible now. Local people protested one after another. Feng Shuguang took the opportunity to find the British consul again and demanded that the train driver pay for his life.
The British Consular Court in the Shanghai Concession heard the case, and according to the British Railway Law, the train driver was acquitted. This further angered the locals. In order to avoid further intensification of the conflict, British Consul General Wade ordered the Wusong Railway to be temporarily suspended.
The Qing government stepped up negotiations with Britain, hoping to buy back Wusong Railway. On1October 24th of that year, 10, China and Britain signed the terms of purchasing Wusong Railway in Nanjing: Wusong Railway was bought out by China at the price of 285,000 silver and paid in three installments.
1877, 10 year120 October, the Qing government paid the down payment to buy back Wusong Railway. Despite the strong opposition from Britain and the United States, the railway subgrade was leveled and the station building was demolished. Cars, locomotives, railway tracks, etc. It was transported to Taiwan Province Province.
China's first operating railway, which only existed for a short year, was hastily demolished.
What is the reason why the Qing government demolished Wusong Railway?
At that time, most officials in the Qing dynasty opposed the construction of railways. There are roughly three reasons for opposition. First, the "capital enemy": the railway is conducive to foreigners invading the country and driving straight in. The second kind is "sick people": railways occupy a lot of farmland, demolish houses and graves and destroy geomantic omen. The third is "unemployment": after the completion of the railway, boatmen and shops along the line will have no livelihood and will surely gather into bandits.
Even officials of the Westernization School, such as Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi and Shen Baozhen, thought it necessary to dismantle Wusong Railway.
Li Hongzhang, governor of Zhili, said: "Gyeonggi is the foundation of the world, and the Yangtze River is the financial and Olympic area, but it is the most important and secondary place to defend, and Haikou's slight arrangement on the border of other provinces has setbacks and does not hinder the overall situation." Li Hongzhang believes that Wusong area is the most important place next to Gyeonggi and should not be handed over to others. Wusong Railway should "take back its own management".
Liu Kunyi, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, thinks that Wusong Railway will threaten Wusong Fort's military position: "Although it is not enough to meet the Yangtze River, it can also defend Jiangsu and Songxian."
In a letter to Guo Songtao, Shen Baozhen, Governor of Liangjiang River, said: "There is nothing that the railway brothers are eager to do, such as Wusong, which is not his place. If the goods are loaded and unloaded, it will be difficult to prevent them. "
It can be seen that the Qing government demolished Wusong Railway for political, economic, military and other reasons, not just "destroying Feng Shui".