Looking around, the Queen Mother did not see anything like a stove or a brazier, so she said, "It's so warm! Is this house burning 'Earth Dragon'? ”

As soon as the words came out, they knew otherwise.

The "earth dragon" is to burn charcoal outside the house, through the guò tunnel, and introduce heat into the inside and underground of the house, which is similar to today's "floor heating". The heat of the "earth dragon" is from the bottom up, and now in the house, the warmth wraps the whole body, uniform and comfortable, and the feeling of the earth dragon is warm and cold, which is quite different.

Also, the "earth dragon" heats the ground, and the floating dust rises, which inevitably causes fireworks; Now in the house, there is no unusual atmosphere.

In addition, if the room is too large, such as the main hall of the Forbidden City Palace, the heating effect of the "Earth Dragon" is limited. In the middle of winter, you must add more braziers to barely support it. This hall, Xuan Chang is not under the palace, so warm and comfortable, it may not be possible for the "earth dragon" to do. Besides, this house is three stories high, and the first floor can be heated by a "ground dragon", but what about the second and third floors?

Guan Zhuofan said with a smile: "Back to the Queen Mother, it is not the 'earth dragon' that is burned, but the method of foreigners, copper pipes are installed everywhere in the house, and the heating is sent into the copper pipes, and after a short period of time, the whole house becomes warm." ”

"Oh? So, where did this heating come from? ”

"Back to the Queen Mother, there is a boiler room attached to the house, the boiler boils water, and the hot gas is connected with a pipe."

"Yo, it used water vapor! I mean, there's not a single bit of fireworks! ”

Guan Zhuofan said: "Queen Mother Shengming, that's exactly the case! In fact, this house is also equipped with a stove. It's just that. This stove. It is quite different from the stove we use every day, called a 'fireplace', which is equipped with a special flue and chimney, and when it is burned, all the smoke and smoke are discharged to the outside of the house, and it will not remain in the house at all. ”

After a pause, he continued: "It's the time of day. It's not the coldest time yet, and it's really the cold winter, if you feel that the heating pipe is not enough, you can build a 'fireplace'. Outside the house, even if the snow is falling, inside the house, there is no need to wear wool and cotton, and it is enough to wear a clip. ”

"Is it really that warm?"

"In front of the Queen Mother, how dare the ministers talk nonsense? And. The fire is blazing, and you sit around the fireplace. Reading and tasting tea is also very interesting. ”

The royal sister was leisurely fascinated and said, "That's right...... Well, where is this 'fireplace'? ”

"Queen Mother, please see."

Sure enough, it is a "fireplace", built against the wall, with a marble carved stove frame, which is half a person high, with a golden table clock in the center and a silver candlestick on each side.

"This 'stove' is exquisite." The Queen Mother smiled slightly and said, "However, there are still some days before the thirty-ninth day." ”

If the words are regrettable, Guan Zhuofan knows what they mean. The royal sister said: This trip to Tianjin, I can't catch up with the scene of "heavy snowfall, tea gathering around the hearth", and I will inevitably lose something.

So he said, "There's always a chance." The time is right, and the ministers are invited. ”

When Cixi heard this, she glanced at him obliquely, her eyes were slightly rippling, and the corners of her mouth were smiling, and she said, "What you said by yourself, don't forget it yourself." ”

Guan Zhuofan's heart fluttered, and he hurriedly said: "Yes, keep it in mind." ”

"Well, it's a little hot."

"Yes. The dormitory is on the second floor, uh, please go up to the Queen Mother...... Well, after changing into big clothes, it will naturally be comfortable. The minister led the way, and the queen mother carefully followed the stairs. ”

In an ordinary sentence, the speaker may not be unintentional, the listener will inevitably be intentional, and the face of the Queen Mother is inexplicably slightly red.

Well, it's really hot.

The stairs are so long, and walking in a "flower pot bottom" is really a technical job, neither can you run quickly, but also not suitable to climb high and low, swaying up to the second floor, the breathing of the Queen Mother is already a little urgent.

With a slight respite, I could see that the corridor was spacious, with a thick Persian carpet on the floor, and that there were five or six houses on either side.

Guan Zhuofan led him to the south-facing center room, pushed the door and entered.

This room is so big, in fact, it is a big "suite", the outside room can meet guests, and the inside room is the bedroom.

As soon as Cixi entered, she felt dizzy. This is not only because of the extravagance of the furnishings and the lack of novelties, but also because of the large floor-to-ceiling glass windows on the outside and on the inside, especially the glass windows in the inner room, which occupy almost the entire wall on the south side. The velvet curtains hung up, and the sunlight let in and filled the room.

At that time, in Chinese houses, the window area was small, and the light transmittance of window paper or window screens was far from being comparable to that of glass. Therefore, even if the sun is shining outside, the interior is dim, and it is common to light candles in broad daylight. This is true even in the inner garden of the Imperial Palace.

Such a bright room, the Queen Mother was the first time in her life to see it, quite a little at a loss, and a thought couldn't help but pop up in her mind: "It's so bright, isn't the scene inside all for the outside?" ”

Calm down, react, this is the second floor, and there is no higher place than this house around, but there is no risk of "going out".

What's more, there are thick curtains.

There was a very large four-poster bed in the room, the back of the bed was extremely high, and the part above the mattress was five or six feet up and down, and the upper part was very intricately carved, and on it there were several winged boys, who seemed to be wearing no clothes. The west wall behind the bed is decorated with thick velvet cushions. This kind of decoration is extremely rare in China.

And, uh, inside this room, the mirror...... Isn't it a little too much?

On the dresser, there was a large half-length mirror, set on the wall, more than three feet high, much larger than the "seat mirror" used by the Queen Mother - there was also a "seat mirror" in the room, on top of another table. Next to the dresser, there is a full-length mirror, also embedded in the wall, which is nearly seven feet tall - much bigger than the "standing mirror" that Guan Zhuofan entered before.

In addition, there is a delicate low cabinet on both sides of the head of the king bed; On the top of the cabinet, there is a large mirror with a half, all of which are inlaid on the wall.

This guy, get so many mirrors in...... What do you want to do?

Cixi couldn't help but think of the rumors about the Lu family's mansion built by An Dehai: "The walls of the house are also covered with glass mirrors...... Even the ceiling is full of mirrors! ”

Could it be that the dead little Anzi is crooked, this guy ...... Is there really a ...... "hobby"?

The Queen Mother's cheeks were feverish, and she couldn't help but secretly look up at the ceiling.

Luckily, there are no mirrors on it.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass window is a large terrace with a table and "sofa chairs".

Push the door out, put the fence to the eye, a huge garden, grass and tree pavilions, "water law" statue, of course, at a glance; Looking beyond the wall, overlooking the southern sky, the sky and the lake, the water swallow soaring, also into the eye, is really open-minded!

The bedroom is connected to a terrace, which is a unique design in Chinese architecture. And this is only the second floor, if you go up to the third floor, you want to come to the better scenery.

Cixi stopped and looked into the distance, and the sun shone on her fair and smooth face, shining brightly. She narrowed her eyes, her expression slightly intoxicated.

After a while, Cixi breathed a sigh of relief, turned her head, and said with a smile: "I haven't had time to ask you, what is the name of this place?" It's a piece of Jiangnan scenery! ”

Guan Zhuofan said: "Back to the Queen Mother, this place is called 'Guangang'. Tianjin is located at the bottom of the 'Nine Rivers', with a dense water network and alternating sea and land. ”

After a pause, he said: "The scenery here is good, and the location is also very suitable - not far from Dagukou, and closer to the Xuanjun 'small station' barracks, the queen mother starts from here, parades the army, and can go back and forth on the same day." Therefore, the minister chose this place, thinking that the queen mother was stationed in Tianjin. ”

This place, in fact, is a large wetland, which is roughly the location of Tianjin Guangang Forest Park in the 21st century. In the middle of the 19th century, the area was still very sparsely populated, and the landscape remained "pristine".

Cixi nodded and said, "It's really appropriate. ”

"Empress Dowager Xie's award."

"Well, why is the barracks of the Xuan Army called 'Little Station'?"

Of course, Guan Zhuofan can't say: Yuan Datou is what they called it in the original time and space, I have a bad taste, and "maintain the original discussion" in this time and space.

"Back to the Empress Dowager, the Xuan Army's barracks in Tianjin have a total of three places: Qingxian Horse Factory, Tanggu New Town, and this 'small station'. The place of 'Xiaozhan 'was originally called 'Waterlogging Set'. The minister thought privately that this name was not very elegant; And because of the "waterlogging" between the Jumachang and the new city, after the construction of the avenue connecting Xinma and Ma, the "waterlogging set" is a station of Xinma Avenue, so it was changed to "waterlogging" to "small station", which sounds more handsome. ”

Cixi pursed her lips and smiled, and said, "'Qingjun'? Others name the soldiers, it's not a tiger, it's a leopard, you're chic. ”

The Queen Mother smiled. If the Queen Mother feels that it is inappropriate, please give another name. ”

"What's wrong? That's a good fit. I'm not as knowledgeable as Master Guan. ”

When he said the sentence "I am not as knowledgeable as your Master Guan", between the eyebrows and eyes of the royal sister, there was a spring color, and the tone was close to laughing, "Master Guan" couldn't help but be slightly drunk.

Li Lianying and Yu'er stood on the side, their eyebrows lowered and their eyes were pleasing to the eye, as if they hadn't heard anything.

"Singapore-Malaysia Boulevard? Is that the black road we took when we came? ”

"Queen Mother Shengming, this is the way."

Back inside the house, visit the "bathroom" and "washroom".

Modern houses, how to luxury houses, bathrooms and toilets are also two-in-one, but the place is bigger, the guys have more things, and there are a few more functional areas. However, Guan Zhuofan was worried that some people couldn't figure it out for a while, why did we want to take a bath in the thatched house? Therefore, when designing the "dormitory" of the Queen Mother, the "bathroom" and "washroom" were separated.

However, in the "bathroom", there is space and pipes for installing "flush toilets".

Let's go to the "washroom" first.

When I entered the door, I saw that the four whites fell to the ground, and the legendary "flush toilet" was sitting majestically in the center.

*(To be continued......)