From Beijing to Tianjin, the stops on this road were vacated by the local gentry for the Queen Mother.

Cixi groaned and said: "Drive out the family, let's live in it, this ...... Is it appropriate? ”

Yu'er said with a smile: "The master's heart is really called 'benevolence like heaven'!" Which of these people has only one house? It's all their villa! Moreover, they all take the initiative to serve sincerely! The master thought, take over the driving of the Queen Mother, what kind of face is this? I can't talk about the glory of more than a dozen lifetimes! But if they can pay it, how much money are they not willing to spend? Besides, we will only stay for an hour at noon, and spend the night at night, and then we will be refreshed, and return them as they are—they will not spend a penny or two, and they will earn such a great grace that they will wake up laughing when they sleep! ”

Cixi thought about it carefully, it was true, nodded, and said with a smile: "Yu'er, this little girl went out for a night, her head was also lively, and her mouth was neat, well, not bad!" ”

Yu'er smiled: "Back to the master, the slave is stupid, where can you understand these truths?" This is all what Guan Belle told the slave maid. ”

Li Lianying said: "We don't spend a copper plate here, and we don't have a silver or two on our side, so we can handle such a big thing properly - if we change someone to do it, I don't know how much it will cost?" After spending money, maybe the master will be wronged! The old man in the capital of the capital, you have to talk about it! ”

Cixi smiled slightly and said, "Yes." Well, when we get to Tianjin, will we live like this? ”

Yu'er smiled: "Oh, go back to the master, and arrive in Tianjin." That's a lot of tricks! ”

"It's almost a house. I also prepared a place. But. This one is not new. ”

"It's a Western-style house! This house, after the Xuan army was stationed in Tianjin, began to be built, not long ago, is arranging furnishings, the master arrived in Tianjin, just enough to live in. Guan Beile said that the Xuan army was stationed in Tianjin, and the Queen Mother would come to 'inspect' one day. You have to prepare a 'palace' for the master in advance! ”

Cixi's eyes lit up, but she said, "Yo, is he really so filial? I'm afraid it wasn't for him, right? ”

Yu'er smiled and said, "Look at what the master said! When Guan Beile arrived in Tianjin, he always lived in the Xuanjun barracks, and never once lived outside--this is something that everyone in the big people knows. ”

Li Lianying said: "Master, the slave also heard that the Minister of Trade of the Three Families is noble, and every time he will invite Guan Beile to live in the Yamen of the Three Trades and Trade - the noble life is exquisite, and it is famous. However, each time Guan Baylor declined. The slave has a little insight. Don't know right? - Guan Beile is not like this, and Xuan Jun will not be so capable of fighting! ”

Cixi smiled. said: "Okay, you have a point. In the army, the top is willing to share weal and woe with the bottom, and the bottom is willing to fight with all his life -- that's the reason. Let's take what 'he' said. Well, is the 'trick' you talking about in this Western house? ”

The last sentence is for Yu'er.

Yu'er said: "Master Shengming, it is this house that is fresh and interesting!" The slave had never seen the house with her own eyes, and she couldn't say much about it, but it was just a 'washroom' - it was ours...... Thatched house, it's so interesting! ”

"This 'bathroom', the floor and the walls on all sides, are covered with porcelain tiles -- not one or two, but all of them, and there is nothing to spare. The toilet is also made of porcelain - the most interesting thing is this one! This toilet is completely different from what we use on a daily basis. ”

The toilet, called a 'flush toilet,' is nailed to the ground, Guan said. The bottom of the toilet is connected to a channel underground; The exit of this channel is open by the river. This 'flush toilet' is also connected to a water storage box, and after untying it, as long as the mechanism is pulled, the water in the box will flush into the toilet, flush the filth into the underground channel, and eventually flow into the river, and will not remain in the toilet at all. ”

It's unbelievable.

Horse-drawn carriages, glass windows, can barely imagine what it looks like; But this "flush toilet" is really beyond the imagination of those present.

In the big mirror, Cixi and Li Lianying's faces showed surprised looks.

The Queen Mother raised her head, frowned slightly, and said with a look of hard thinking: "If this is the case, does that mean that in the house, it will not be ...... What's the smell? ”

Yu'er smiled: "Shengming is just a master!" Exactly! Guan Beile also said that this 'flush toilet' is always filled with water. This water separates the channel below. Therefore, the smell in the channel will not be transmitted to the 'bathroom'. The whole 'washroom' is clean and refreshing, even if you sleep in it, it doesn't matter! ”

Li Lianying said with admiration: "Just for a 'flush toilet', you have to dig a long 'channel' underground, how much effort does it take?" Guan Beile's filial piety to his master is really nothing to say! ”

Cixi sighed softly and said nothing more.

This sigh is joyful, surprised, satisfied, sighing, and a hint of sourness, and the situation is complicated.

Of course, the truth is not exactly what Li Lianying said.

The flush toilets of this era are still slightly different from the modern flush toilets. However, one thing is the same: in order to truly function as a flush toilet, it must have a water supply and drainage system. The modern water supply and drainage system, the sewer, is an engineering network, which is by no means as simple as a channel; And building a complete water supply and drainage system for a single house is too exaggerated.

Guan Zhuofan's plan is to build a modern "model community" in Tianjin, and move the world's most advanced architectural planning and municipal facilities into it. In this "model community", after the land leveling is completed, the first project is to build an underground water supply and drainage system. Nominally, the "model community" is the "military land" of the Xuan Army, and although it has been nearly a year since the construction was carried out, the people outside have no idea what is being done inside.

The "Imperial Palace" built for the royal sister is actually just the first "mansion" in this "model community".

This "demonstration community" will be described in a special chapter later, so I will not press it here for the time being.

Yu'er continued: "Guan Beile said that if the master is willing, he can also stay on the warship, 'listening to the waves at the bottom of the pillow', which is also very interesting! ”

Cixi was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Spend the night on a warship? 'He' really figured it out! Still 'listening to the waves at the bottom of the pillow'? You little hoof, you've learned to drag the text! ”

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