In 1680, the famous British scientist Newton conceived of a plan for a jet car, but it was unsuccessful, and 89 years later, the Frenchman N. J. Guineu built three-wheeled cars that were steam-powered by gas combustion, but it was very cumbersome, but by this time electric vehicles had already appeared.
After another 10 years, the German engineer Carl Benz successfully tested a two-stroke experimental engine for the first time, and in 1885, Carl Benz made the first Bentz patented motor vehicle, which is recognized as the world's first car, 1885 was the birth year of the car, and the gasoline engine appeared in the same year.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was decaying and backward, the Western countries forcibly opened the door closed by the Qing Dynasty, Cixi was monopolistic, stuck to his own opinions, and soon after, there was a misappropriation of naval funds, the original fund of the Beiyang Navy was 4 million taels per year, Li Hongzhang in order to cater to Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Yizhen, so he agreed to spend part of the naval funds on the construction of the Summer Palace, and then no longer buy new ships, nor did he buy arms, so that the Beiyang Fleet was completely destroyed in the Sino-Japanese War.
In 1896, Li Hongzhang traveled to Europe and the United States, saw foreign skyscrapers, saw cars speeding on the ground, and deeply realized the gap between the Qing Dynasty and foreign countries, this year was the second year of the total annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet, at this time Li Hongzhang may be very regretful of the original decision, but it is useless.
But Empress Dowager Cixi never went abroad, she was committed to maintaining her luxurious life, nor did she consider the development of science and technology, in 1901 Cixi's birthday, Yuan Shikai drove a car, Cixi sat on the car, said a classic quote: "This horse is so fast, it must eat a lot!" "It makes the listener cry and laugh, and it is still hilarious."
From this, we can also see the ignorance of Empress Dowager Cixi, backward thinking, she wants only her own power, but to enjoy a luxurious society, as for the rest, Empress Dowager Cixi probably did not think too much at all, and later Cixi also proposed the conditions for drivers to kneel and drive, which is also shocking, and the emergence of China's first domestically produced car occurred in 1928.
On Empress Dowager Cixi's 70th birthday, officials began to display luxurious birthday gifts, when Empress Dowager Cixi saw the phonograph for the first time and loved it, she loved Western industrial products, collected cameras, electric lights, etc., but Empress Dowager Cixi only cared about her own enjoyment, and did not order people to develop or produce them.
Empress Dowager Cixi once thought that the Guangxu Emperor's change of law was a farce, but when she advocated learning Western technology, she resolutely refused to carry out any form of reform of feudal thought and feudal system, on the one hand, she was proud of her "foresight", on the other hand, she could not stop foreign invaders, and eventually failed.