Me and Empress Dowager Cixi

Chapter 4 Train Staff
At that time, there was a rule in the palace that no matter where the queen mother was going to visit, she must be the first to go in. If someone was inside, he had to retreat outside first. Qualified to go inside.So, before the Queen Mother stepped into the train, someone went up and drove all the workers off the train, and took them to a place where the Queen Mother could not be seen, where they bowed their heads and knelt there, quietly waiting for her old man's birthday. get in the car.It was only a few minutes, but it was an unforgettable scene: a long row of golden royal trains, the fire had already been ignited, black smoke continued to rise from the chimney, and the steam was also fully stored in the boiler. But there was no one there.Finally, the Queen Mother finally sat firmly in her compartment, and the cooks and drivers straightened up and went back to work.

Qingshan was exhausted physically and mentally during the [-] days just because of our trip to Fengtian. Difficulties were presented one after another, and none of them could be avoided.The first is the workers on the train. There is a rule in the palace that women cannot be served by men. Therefore, the Queen Mother ordered that the eunuchs in the palace must be used to do all the work instead of the workers.But how can this work?The eunuchs are very good at managing palace affairs and have rich experience, but handling the train is another matter entirely. They don't even understand some of the most basic knowledge on the railway, so how can they make the train reach Fengtian smoothly? Woolen cloth?

In the end, it was Qingshan who talked and talked to dispel the queen mother's idea, and promised her that no matter what the circumstances, the workers on the train would never peep at her old lady's face.Even so, the queen mother seemed to be a little worried, so she gave another order that sounded absurd.She wants all the workers on this imperial train to dress up as eunuchs—with boots on their feet and hats on their heads.Think about it: those workers with dusty faces and working in the smoke and fire all day, wearing hats with small umbrellas, how nondescript they are!Let them wear black satin boots and colorful brocade robes, sweating profusely next to the coal pile, what kind of picture will it be!However, no matter how unbelievable it may seem, it has become a reality.The Empress Dowager's words are the law, who dares to disobey it!

Let me talk about the three drivers first, and they obeyed the order and dressed up as eunuchs.One of these three people is driving, one is responsible for watching the road, and the other is responsible for substituting.There is no need to explain when driving; if there is an abnormal situation, such as obstacles on the railway, the person watching the road is responsible for notifying the driver in time; as for the substitute, if someone wants to rest, he is responsible for stepping up one by one.For example, if the driver wants to take a break, the driver who watches the road will take his place, and the substitute driver will watch the road.

The work of these three people is not trivial, and it is not too much to need as many helpers, but at this time there are only these three people.The official driver can usually sit on a chair steadily, but in this imperial train, only the empress dowager can sit, and everyone else can only stand, so he can only sit on the chair. Stand open.Ordinary cars do not have the task of watching the road, even if there is, there is nothing wrong with sitting there, the work should be very easy.But here, he was kneeling besides squatting, which didn't seem so easy.This is the etiquette and majesty that the empress dowager pays attention to.

Let's talk about the people in charge of burning the fire.There are two people watching the stove, one is working, the other is resting next to it, and when the other is tired, the other will start.The other two people, one is specialized in supplying coal, he will use a shovel to transport the coal to the side of the stove, so that people who watch the fire can pick up the coal; Get down there and save the coal men some strength.The person mentioned last is the most tiring. Think about it, he needs to stand on a high place, but the train is always moving, so he can’t stand very straight, he needs to bend down to stand firmly; what about sitting?Of course not, the queen mother is here.Therefore, his posture is the most uncomfortable, half squatting half standing, it is very strenuous.Therefore, his work is tiring, slow and unsafe.Even so, he still wears a hat on his head, boots on his feet, and a eunuch's finery and brocade.The other three were no exception, sweating profusely in front of the stove in the same outfit.

In any case, the train set off, and all the costumes and ceremonies continued as Her Majesty ordered.I always think in my mind that these people must have undergone a lot of training before, so no matter how unhappy they are, there has never been anything wrong.I know this very well. I have been to them several times with the permission of the Queen Mother. Those people are all sad and not at all happy. I know that the Queen Mother must not know this, so I just turned a blind eye .Their bosses must be unwilling in their hearts, and they can't let go of their hands and feet if they want to work. No train before made them suffer like this.Dressing up is the most important thing. No matter how you wear the court hat and fancy clothes, you can’t get used to it; secondly, you can’t sit down no matter how hard or tired you are; lastly, in order to avoid shocking the holy car, you can’t honk the horn under any circumstances. Or ring the bell.

So what are the workers who manage the brakes to do?Their work should be quite difficult. Think about it, these yellow carriages will definitely not let them approach, let alone the roof, otherwise they will definitely lose their heads.And parking at the station must use the hand brake, which is definitely a problem.However, this problem did not bother them in the end.There is a half car behind the tender that is not painted yellow and is used for the workers on the car to rest.Every time it was time to stop, the driver would send someone to jump off the locomotive and run to this half of the car, in order to tell the workers in charge of the brakes that they were going to stop.This requires that the speed of the train should not be too fast, so the speed of the Queen's train is always about fifteen to twenty miles per hour.When it is about to stop, the speed will become slower and slower. The workers who manage the brakes will jump off the half car and run to the car behind which the hand brake is installed, or just wait on the ground. He climbed up in front of him, and used the hand brake to stop the car firmly.In fact, the worker who managed the brakes had already violated the Queen Mother's regulations by bumping into a yellow carriage, but they went up and down very quickly, and the Queen Mother didn't pay attention to it.

This long line of imperial trains, like a yellow dragon, is moving forward slowly.Two large apricot-yellow flags fluttered in the wind on the locomotive. They were the national flags of the Qing Dynasty. On the yellow background were two dragons with their mouths wide open, with a big bead in the middle.The two dragons represent the emperor and the empress dowager, and the beads represent the entire universe. The meaning conveyed by the whole picture is that the world is always in their hands.

Usually when the train arrives at the station, in order to show whether it is safe or not, there will be a worker waving a red or green flag under the train. This time, the Queen Mother’s Queen’s Queen’s train is about to pass, and all the people holding the flag have changed. The lowest is the county level. sir.However, on the road from Beijing to Fengtian, there is only our yellow train, plus ten ordinary passenger cars loaded with guards to protect the Empress Dowager, so the red and green flags in the hands of these officers are just for display, and they can wave them however they want , it doesn't matter if it's wrong.

If you usually take the train, you can go from Beijing to Fengtian in one day and night, but this imperial train actually traveled for three days and three nights.Slowing the train down like this is troublesome enough, and the Queen Mother ordered it to stop from time to time, and the workers on the train were ruined.Not only do they have very little time to rest, but even when they rest, they cannot sit still.I secretly guessed that these people must have been strictly trained, otherwise, how can ordinary people bear such a schedule and work?

No matter how many problems there are, no matter how difficult the difficulties are, these people cannot be troubled.The six men—the engine driver, the fireman, and the man who handled the gates—went to the half car behind the tender when it was time to eat or sleep.They will use very skilled movements to squat or bend over to eat and drink tea. It looks quite strenuous, but they seem to be very skilled.Many Chinese who go out to work can do this movement very freely, and they all squat like that very skillfully.

What about sleeping?Even if these people are used to squatting, it won't work.Sleeping standing up is even more outrageous, right?The discomfort is second to none. The car will definitely shake constantly when walking, and it will fall down when it falls asleep.However, the problem will always be solved, and they came up with a very clever way!People in the palace often use this method.Take me for example, I am not qualified to sit in front of the Queen Mother, I can only sit when she is rewarded by the old lady.Even if the Queen Mother is asleep, I will definitely not find a stool or something to sit on.However, it doesn't matter on the ground, you can sit or lie down.It's just missing a comfy pillow!The point is, whether you are sitting or lying on the ground, as long as your body is not higher than the body of her old man lying on the bed, then the rules are not broken.

The workers have also learned this method.Since sitting down will violate the Queen Mother's order, and squatting can't sleep, let's lie on the floor.The queen mother, the elderly, is either sitting on the throne or lying on the bed, no matter what, she is taller than the person lying on the ground!In this way, they are undoubtedly lower than the Queen Mother.The bed is of course much higher than the floor.

The interior space of this locomotive seems to be twice as large as that of ordinary locomotives. Otherwise, how could it accommodate seven people to work in it?In fact, not all of these seven people were working, but they tried to hide in the half of the service car behind the tender truck. Here, there was not even a stool, a chair, or a table. Prevent these laborers from sitting down privately when no one is paying attention.

Tell me about the clothes of those workers.The eunuch-like brocade gowns were worn on them, and it was almost impossible to clean them. It took only half a day for the soot and oil stains to be covered.How to do it?How nice it is to wash such good clothes and take them home to wear when they are dirty!But the reality is that clothes are changed as soon as they get dirty and thrown out of the car.Because they knew very well that they would be able to drive the train for the Queen Mother at some point in the future, and they would definitely be laughed at if they dressed like this on weekdays, and besides, they were not qualified to wear it.All the funds are borne by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so don't worry about the cost, just replace it with a new one.

At this time, the empress dowager was very at ease sitting on the train, all because of her own practice before.Before the car started, she almost figured out how the train works.Although she didn't go to the locomotive to see it herself, she asked everything she should know, and even personally ordered the imperial train to pass back and forth.In this way, she felt relieved, and felt that the train was nothing, it was completely under her control, and of course there would be no danger.

What's more interesting is that the queen mother was very impressed with this period of life. After several months, whenever she mentioned the life on the train, she could talk to others very clearly, and described it very carefully.

(End of this chapter)