Early the next morning, Gao Qiqian and other civil servants left the inn on the side of the train station square and arrived at the station.
They had a very comfortable stay at the inn last night. Father-in-laws and civil servants have never stayed in such a comfortable inn.
The inn has a total of four floors and is built of cement and bricks, similar to modern buildings. The doors and windows are also made of wood, similar to those in the 1950s, and are equipped with flat glass.
After all, Xincheng Glass Factory has now begun large-scale production. Both flat glass and various glass products have begun to be put on the market.
This inn called Zhang Huan Hotel surprised these officials.
Most of them have lived in inns. Inns are bungalows and courtyards. The area is generally not very 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, which are decorated with yellow elm wood. The decades-old elm wood has a rosewood effect. It looks very elegant.
The floor-to-ceiling glass windows adopt the Ming Dynasty style, with large vertical window lattice from top to bottom, which provides good lighting.
The floor of the lobby is paved with frosted bluestone slabs. It looks elegant and prevents slipping.
When they entered the door, 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 have been notified in advance. This group of people is
As an imperial envoy, he must be well served.
The second to fourth floors of Zhanghuan Hotel are guest rooms. The guest rooms are divided into three categories: suites, standard rooms and mixed rooms.
The suite is all on the fourth floor. It is equipped with a bedroom, a living room, and a bathroom. You can take a shower. There is 24-hour hot water here.
With the large-scale use of steam engines, boilers are no longer a rare thing. The Zhanghuan Hotel and the train station have installed heating and boiler equipment. These things are made of cast iron, and there is no difficulty. So hot water can be always available.
Provided. Guests can take a shower.
Whether it is North China or Northwest China, including several cities in the grasslands, they all need heating in winter. In public facilities, heating equipment has begun to be installed.
After all, residents' homes are small and can burn stoves. Large public buildings must have heating.
These three floors have a corridor in the middle and suites and standard rooms on both sides.
These official groups who came back from Jiuyuan City have never seen an inn like this. It is clean and tidy, and comfortable to live in. There is also an indoor bathroom, which is very convenient for going to the toilet in the middle of the night. It is not like staying in an inn before and getting up in the middle of the night.
Go and find the hut. There is a risk of falling if you are not careful.
The only drawback is that this is not an inn, but a hotel, that is, an inn run by businessmen. You need to pay for accommodation. A suite costs up to two coins a night. A standard room also costs one coin a night. Only mixed rooms are the cheapest.
There are four steel bunk beds in the mixed dormitory, and eight people can live in each 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 expedition to the northwest, some officials spent a lot of money and were naturally willing to experience the best rooms. However, some civil servants were usually very miserable. During this expedition, they finally got more than a hundred taels of silver and were reluctant to spend it, so they stayed in
In a mixed room.
I heard from the waiter that the restaurant here is open 12 hours a day. Meals ordered for suites and standard rooms will be delivered to the room.
Gao Qiqian was not short of money. 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 the few ministers who came with him this time, several thousand households from Jinyiwei, and several stall owners from Dongchang to have a drink. It was also a celebration that everyone was safe and sound.
They left the battlefield. This time, there was no military merit or money, and everyone was very happy for a while. They drank until midnight.
At the banquet, everyone agreed on what they would say when leaving the battlefield and what they would report to their superiors when they went back. This needs to be communicated in advance to avoid people from different departments saying inconsistent things and causing trouble.
The next morning, after washing up, we went to the first floor to have breakfast and go through the check-out procedures. The imperial envoy team walked towards the train station building opposite with the servants and salutes.
As they walked, they marveled at the magnificence of this building. They all praised Dingyuan Bo's business as being extraordinary. The momentum alone was shocking to everyone.
Although Zhangjiakou was burned down, its geographical location is too good. It is the hub of trade between the grassland and the mainland. It will definitely prosper again in the future. And now there is a train. In the future, Tianjin Port and Gyeonggi, grassland, and the Western Regions will be connected.
Once connected, this place will only become more prosperous.
Therefore, Yang Fan was willing to spend money to build the largest and most complete train station here. The square is also surrounded by Zhang Huan Hotel, and three-story trading market buildings were built on the other two sides. The east side is called the East Market, which mainly sells goods to the mainland.
Supplies and supplies shipped by sea. The west side is called the West Market, which mainly sells commodities from the grasslands and the Western Regions.
At present, the main buildings of the two large-scale trading markets are still under construction. When they are completed, they will attract investment. Merchants from the Ming Dynasty, the grasslands, and the Western Regions will be attracted to rent shops and open businesses. In the future, Zhangjiakou will develop into a commercial city.
Gao Qiqian and his group walked into the station hall. They checked the tickets first. The tickets were bought by the people at the station with the eunuchs and officials at the ticket collection hall. They were an imperial envoy team, so they enjoyed special treatment and went directly to the VIP channel.
car.
However, these people did not rest in the VIP lounge and wait for the bus. Instead, they walked around the station hall with great interest.
The station hall is five-story hollow, with a huge glass crystal chandelier hanging above it. Inside the chandelier, a carbide lamp is lit. The high brightness produced by the burning of carbide gas makes the crystal pieces illuminated very beautiful.
At this time, there were already many passengers sitting on the benches in the hall. They were all businessmen coming and going.
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, with more than a dozen small restaurants with different flavors.
The third floor is full of 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 a dozen grades of tea, ranging from the cheapest large bowl of tea costing one copper coin to various gaiwan teas. The most expensive is Longjing tea priced at fifty cents a cup, and there are dozens of kinds of refreshments. The decoration is antique and the environment is very nice.
The west annex building is the station's office and is not open to the public.
Chen Shilang from the Household Department 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.