Which foreign company dug a hole for Cixi in order to sell cars to the Qing Dynasty?

In the last dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi had mastered the real power of the empire. At this time, the Qing Empire was forced to open its doors and began to accept new things from the West. For Cixi, she is very old-fashioned. Although the country is weak and the people are weak, she still tries her best to refuse those western things and can't let them land at the gate of the Qing Dynasty. Mercedes-Benz, founded in 1886, is one of the top ten automobile companies in the world and headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. But at the beginning of its establishment, the company's reputation was not great, and it could only be regarded as a slightly larger automobile company. With the continuous development of its business, the elites in most parts of Europe began to accept cars and were interested in buying this fast-running iron guy.

However, no one can imagine that in the conservative Qing Empire, the dignitaries headed by Empress Dowager Cixi had an inexplicable resistance to cars. Despite the proliferation of cars in the Shanghai Concession, animal-drawn carts and rickshaws are still running around Beijing. The manager of this foreign company has long seen that Qingdao is a big market, and if it can be opened quickly, the company's car sales will soar. However, Empress Dowager Cixi, a "stubborn" old lady, is a big trouble. The company sent people to negotiate several times, but the result was in vain. After many failures, the manager came up with a wonderful solution.

The French Morning Post is a very influential newspaper. The company took out a large sum of money and held a super grand car rally through the French Morning Post. The starting point is the capital of the Qing Dynasty, and the end point is Paris, France. He also called on top drivers from all over the world to participate and promised to get a large bonus as long as he won the championship. This activity quickly aroused great interest of car drivers, who organized their own motorcade and provided vehicles by this foreign company-transporting racing cars and contestants to Beijing by sea.

After several racing cars were shipped to Beijing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing government was puzzled by this sudden incident. They don't know what foreigners really want to do I just think these foreigners have nothing to eat and raise. Beijing is far from Paris. Why do they have to suffer such foreign crimes for a game? So Qing officials began to pretend to turn a blind eye and refused to issue the relevant pass documents needed for the competition. They just want foreigners to retreat and go home quickly. But something unexpected happened to these officials. People in Beijing have lived for most of their lives, and no one has seen a car. Such a big iron shell can run very fast without being dragged by cattle and horses. This is no ordinary "fresh scenery". Outsiders love to show off and drive around Beijing all day, causing people to watch. Wherever the car goes, Beijing will be blocked, and even saying "empty" is not an exaggeration.

Officials in the Qing dynasty could not have predicted that several cars would make such a big noise. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing court could no longer sit still, seeing that Beijing had become a "mess". If we don't inform Empress Dowager Cixi, I'm afraid not only the black veil is lost, but also my life is lost. A letter from the foreign minister was given to Cixi. After reading the memorial, Empress Dowager Cixi scolded: "Ordinary stupid slaves are simply stupid." Immediately, she ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to immediately issue relevant documents to foreigners and quickly send these "troublemakers" away. The foreigner who drove around finally got an exit permit and set off from Beijing for Paris. It was bumpy all the way, even to the place where there was no way out. They had to rely on manual handling to get through. In the end, only one car reached its destination and became the champion.

The perfect holding of the rally also made the reputation of this car company soar rapidly. At the same time, the Qing court began to care about cars. Galeries Lafayette often asks why these iron shells can run. In order to strike while the iron is hot, foreign companies immediately chose a good car and shipped it to China, and made it clear that they would dedicate it to the Empress Dowager Cixi, and Galeries Lafayette accepted this point and praised foreigners for their "vision". With the change of Galeries Lafayette's attitude towards cars, not only Shanghai, but also Beijing began to have cars, which brought the ancient capital into line with modern civilization.

This car company really achieved its goal by "curve detour". I have to say that this is also a win-win deal. Only by accepting new things can society further develop and progress and people's lives be better.