What jokes did Cixi make when she tried to take the train under the persuasion of the Westernization Minister?

When Empress Dowager Cixi took the train for the first time, she made three ridiculous demands. First, she must let herself get on the bus first; Second, all the men in the car must be eunuchs; Third, everyone in the car must stand except himself and the emperor.

At the beginning of the Westernization Movement, the first railway was built in the Qing Dynasty with the help of foreigners. Cixi was also curious about the newly built railways and trains, so at the suggestion of Minister Li Hongzhang, she decided to take the train to feel it herself. However, as soon as Cixi got on the train, she immediately pulled her face down. She felt confused and angry when she saw a driver sitting in front of her. She thought she was the queen mother of a country and let others sit in front of her. What a scandal! So immediately put forward three requirements:

First, everyone in the car, including the driver and crew, must stand all the time. Cixi has been sitting in the palace, and the eunuchs in the palace have been waiting on her. Who dares to say that Cixi is equal? On the train, someone dared to sit with Cixi, which made her unbearable. No way, the driver can only be angry that he has been standing and driving, enduring great inconvenience.

Second, Cixi must get on the bus first. She doesn't understand that the train needs to let the driver and staff go up first to make preparations. She only knows that no matter when and where, she can't lose her rules and lose face. She felt that getting on the bus behind someone else's ass was a disgrace to the queen mother and a disrespect for herself.

Third, all men in the car must be clean. Cixi believes that it is against the rules of the palace to let a normal man be a driver himself, and it must be served by eunuchs. This frightened the foreign drivers who drove. Finally, Cixi agreed not to clean herself, but the coachman had to wear the clothes of the eunuch in the palace.

These three demands put forward by Cixi are simply absurd. The foreigners present saw a big joke, which fully exposed her ignorance and how closed and backward the Qing Dynasty was under the great wave of world development.