Early the next morning, Gao Qiqian and other civil servants left the inn on the side of the train station square. Came to the station.
They had a very comfortable stay at the inn last night. The father-in-laws and civil servants have never stayed in such a comfortable inn.
The inn has a total of four floors and is made of cement and bricks, similar to modern buildings. The doors and windows are also made of wood, similar to those from the 1950s. And plate glass was installed.
After all, Xincheng Glass Factory has now begun mass production. Whether it is flat glass or various glass products. They are all starting to be put on the market.
This inn called Zhang Huan Hotel surprised these officials.
Most of them have lived in inns. The inn is also a bungalow and a courtyard. The area is generally not too large, there is a horse pen near the guest room, the sanitary conditions are average, and there is a pungent smell of horse urine.
They were surprised by how clean and tidy the inn was.
The first floor is the lobby and restaurant. Use yellow elm wood for decoration. Decades old elm has the effect of rosewood. It looks very elegant.
The floor-to-ceiling glass windows adopt the Ming Dynasty style, with large vertical strips from top to bottom, providing good lighting.
The lobby floor is paved with frosted bluestone slabs. It looks elegant and prevents slipping.
When they entered, the shopkeeper and his waiters came to greet them. After all, these people are officials. They need to stay here for one night and take the train back to the capital tomorrow morning. The hotel and the station were notified in advance. This group of people are imperial envoys and must be taken care of.
The second to fourth floors of Zhang Huan Hotel are guest rooms. The rooms are divided into three categories: suites, standard rooms and mixed rooms.
The suites are all on the fourth floor. Equipped with a bedroom, a living room, and a bathroom. You can take a bath. Hot water is provided here 24 hours a day.
With the large-scale use of steam engines. Boilers are no longer a rare thing. The Zhanghuan Hotel and the train station are equipped with heating and boiler equipment. These things are made of cast iron, so there's nothing difficult about them. So hot water is always available. Guests can take a shower.
Whether it is North China or Northwest China, including several cities in Yangfan on the grassland. They all need heating in winter. In public facilities, heating equipment has begun to be installed.
After all, residents’ homes are small enough to burn stoves. For large public buildings, heating is a must.
These three floors have a corridor in the middle and suites and standard rooms on both sides.
These officials who came back from Jiuyuan City had never seen an inn like this. It's clean and tidy, and it's comfortable to live in. There's also an indoor bathroom, which is very convenient for going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It's not like I used to stay in an inn and get up in the middle of the night to find a hut. There is a risk of falling if you are not careful.
The only flaw is that this is not an inn, but a hotel, that is, an inn run by a businessman. You need to pay for accommodation. The price of a suite is as much as two yuan a night. A standard room also costs one penny a night. Only mixed rooms are the cheapest.
There are four steel bunk beds in the mixed room, and eight people can live in one room. There are only public bathrooms and toilets on this floor. Each bed only costs ten copper coins a night.
As for where you want to live, it depends on how much you are willing to spend.
During this northwest execution, some officials spent a lot of money and were naturally willing to experience the best rooms. But some civil servants are usually miserable. This time they went on an expedition and finally got more than a hundred taels of silver. They couldn't bear to spend it, so they lived in mixed rooms.
I heard from the waiter that the restaurant here is open at 12 hours. Meals ordered for suites and standard rooms will be delivered to the room.
There is no shortage of money if you rise high and dive high. We directly booked the A-size suite on the fourth floor. This is the best and largest suite in Zhang Huan Hotel.
After Gao Qiqian checked in, he set up a banquet in the living room and invited several ministers, several thousand households from Jinyiwei, and several stall owners from Dongchang who came with him to have a drink. It can be regarded as a celebration that everyone left the battlefield without any danger. This time there was no military merit or money, and everyone was happy for a while. The drinking lasted until midnight.
At the banquet, everyone agreed on leaving the battlefield. And what they reported to their superiors when they went back. This needs to be communicated with everyone in advance to avoid people coming back from each department from speaking inconsistently and causing trouble.
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The next morning, after washing up, I went to the first floor to have breakfast and go through the check-out procedures. The imperial envoys walked towards the train station building opposite with their servants and salutes.
As they walked, they marveled at the magnificence of the building. They all praised Dingyuan Bo's business as being extraordinary. Just this momentum is shocking to see.
Although Zhangjiakou was burned down. However, the location is great. It was a hub for grassland and hinterland trade. It will definitely prosper again in the future. And now there are trains. From now on, Tianjin Port has been connected with the capital, grasslands and the Western Regions. There will only be more prosperity here.
Therefore, Yang Fan was willing to spend money to build the largest and most complete railway station here. The square is also surrounded by Zhang Huan Hotel, and three-story trading market buildings are built on the other two sides. The east side is called the East Market, which mainly sells materials from the mainland and materials shipped by sea. The west side is called the West Market, which mainly sells products from the grasslands and the Western Regions.
The main buildings of the two large trading markets are still under construction. When they are repaired, they will need to attract investment. Attract merchants from the Ming Dynasty, the grassland, and the Western Regions to rent shops and open businesses. Zhangjiakou will develop into a commercial city in the future.
Gao Qiqian and the others entered the station hall. They check tickets first. Tickets were bought by people at the station taking the eunuchs and officials to the ticket collection hall. They are an imperial envoy team, so they enjoy special treatment and go directly to the VIP channel to get on and off the bus.
However, these people did not rest in the VIP room and wait for the bus. Instead, they walked around the station hall with great interest.
The station hall has five floors, with a huge glass and crystal chandelier hanging above it. Inside the chandelier, a carbide lamp is lit. The high brightness produced by the burning of carbide gas illuminates the crystal pieces very beautifully.
At this time, many passengers were already sitting on the benches in the hall. They are all businessmen who come and go.
At both ends of the hall are the east and west annex buildings. The first floor of this building is the waiting room, ticket room, VIP room, etc. The second, third and fourth floors are some service places.
The second floor of the east annex building is full of restaurants of all sizes, including more than a dozen small restaurants with different flavors.
The third floor is filled with small shops selling various goods. While waiting for the bus, you can go shopping and buy some souvenirs and souvenirs.
The fourth floor of the east annex building is the reading room, where you can read some books while waiting for the bus.
There is no charge for reading in the reading room. You just have to buy at least one cup of tea, and you can sit and relax and read.
There are more than ten grades of tea, ranging from the cheapest large bowl of tea worth one copper coin to various types of tea bowls. The most expensive one is Longjing tea, which costs 50 yuan a cup, and there are dozens of kinds of refreshments. The decoration is antique. The environment is very good.
The west annex building is the station's office and is not open to the public.
Chen Shilang from the Ministry of Revenue sighed and said: "Uncle Dingyuan is really willing to spend money. I'm afraid I can't build such a big station without tens of thousands of taels of silver. I don't know if the cost can be recovered. It's so convenient to take the train. travelers."
