What is the story of Cixi’s donkey-drawn carriage?
In 1901, in order to please Cixi, Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili, purchased a Mercedes-Benz car with 10,000 taels of silver as a tribute gift to Cixi on her 60th birthday. This is an open car with a black wooden cabin, yellow wooden wheels and spokes, copper lights, solid tires, two axles and four wheels. There are two rows of seats in the car. The front row is a driver's seat that can only accommodate one person, and the back row is a passenger seat that can accommodate two people. There is also a hood supported by four pillars above the carriage. The hood is decorated with yellow silk tassels. The engine is placed under the passenger seat, and the gearbox next to the engine transmits power to the rear axle. The top speed is 19 kilometers per hour.
After Yuan Shikai got the car, he couldn't wait to transport it to the palace and present it to Cixi. Because of the novel design and exquisite craftsmanship of this car, Cixi had never seen such an advanced and beautiful foreign gadget. She was so happy that she accepted it. At that time, there were no people in the country who could drive a car, but Cixi wanted to have fun riding a car, so she ordered the recruitment of drivers. Later, 11 people took the exam, including one named Sun Fuling. At that time, he specialized in driving horse-drawn carriages for the royal nobles. Because of his cleverness, he was highly appreciated by the Queen Mother, so he was selected to learn to drive, and he learned it quickly. From then on, Cixi took a car ride in the palace whenever she had time. Once, she took a car from the Summer Palace back to the Forbidden City. At this time, the eunuch Li Lianying suddenly discovered that the original carriage driver Sun Fuling was now the driver. Not only was he sitting, but he was also sitting in front of Lafayette. What's so great about this? It is beneath the dignity of Lafayette! So he told Ci Xi: The driver was a slave, and it was unseemly to sit in front of the Queen Mother all day long. So he ordered the driver to kneel and drive. However, the driver was kneeling while driving and could not apply the brakes, which could easily lead to danger. However, Cixi could not be informed of this situation, so the driver had no choice but to remain silent.
One day, Cixi was riding in a car and found that the car was driving very slowly, so she asked Sun Fuling what was going on. Sun Fuling did not dare to say that it was Li Lianying who ordered her to drive while kneeling. She could not apply the brakes and drove so slowly for safety reasons, so she had to make up a lie and say that the car was broken and could not drive fast. Later, the driver almost caused a car accident on the road because he could not use his hands instead of his feet to step on the accelerator and brake. This frightened the princes and ministers, and they all begged Cixi not to take the car. Under the persuasion of the ministers, Cixi had no choice but to be helped out of the car, and another sixteen-carriage sedan was changed midway. Later, Cixi gradually lost interest in riding in the car, and the car sat idle in the Summer Palace. Sun Fuling, the driver who was kneeling while driving, was afraid that he would be in trouble in the future, so he fled Beijing with his family.
Also: In 1902, on Empress Dowager Cixi’s birthday, foreigners gave her a car. Because this thing was new, the Queen Mother was very happy, so she sat in, and the foreigner pulled her around the open space of the garden. Not to mention, the bumpy ride was quite beautiful.
After sitting for a while, she thought, "What's the point of asking a foreigner to drag me all over the yard?" It seemed like there was no one in the Qing Dynasty. She felt uncomfortable, so she stopped the car. The Queen Mother asked the foreigner to get down, and then called a sedan bearer to come and ask the bearer to open the sedan chair. How dare the bearers dare? The foreigner also strongly disagreed, but the Queen Mother had the Queen Mother's idea and asked the bearers to drive. The foreigner knew that the old lady was stubborn, so he had to tell the bearer the essentials. This sedan bearer was so smart that he was able to drive away, which made the Queen Mother happy again. Who said I have no one in the Qing Dynasty? This thing can be driven away by just one person. Isn’t it just an iron beast? But after a while, she felt uncomfortable again. Why was it uncomfortable? She saw that the bearer was uncomfortable sitting side by side with her, so she stopped again. Then he said, little monkey, get up on your knees and drive!
When the foreigner heard the old lady’s order to kneel down and drive, he was surprised and said NONO, can the Queen Mother listen to him? The Queen Mother said so, and the bearer had to kneel down to open the sedan chair. The bearer grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and the accelerator with the other, not to mention starting the car again. The Queen Mother was happy again.
As for the bearer, although he started driving again, the car was swaying as if he was drunk. The Queen Mother was a little scared and shouted to stop: "Stop, stop".
The bearer was already nervous, but the Queen Mother's shout made him even more nervous. He wanted to turn off the accelerator, but he used the wrong hand and pressed the accelerator all the way. The other hand failed to grasp the steering wheel, and the car scurried away! With a "bang", it hit the wall and almost made the Queen Mother escape from the car, but the Queen Mother was frightened.
The eunuchs quickly helped the queen mother out of the car and sat down to calm down. The queen mother became angry and wanted to have the bearer beaten to death. The eunuchs pinned the bearer to the ground. Want to fight. But the foreigner was very righteous and immediately stood up in front of the Queen Mother and said, no, it's not his fault, you can't beat him! The Queen Mother looked at the foreigner and thought that she was the one who told him to kneel down to get rid of him, but it was too embarrassing for her, so she changed her mind and said, slap his mouth. The bearer ate ten big mouthfuls, but his life was not lost.
Since then, Empress Dowager Cixi has never taken a car again. The car is still parked in the Summer Palace.
Another legend is that Cixi saw the driver sitting and sitting in front (also: the sound of the car was buzzing, for fear of scaring the ancestors), she was furious and asked the driver to kneel and drive. But the driver could not drive while kneeling, so he used donkeys and horses to pull the cart.