Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 146 The World Behind

It was December of the fifteenth year of Hongwu, and it was already deep winter.

With less than a month to go until the end of the year, the city of Nanjing is brightly lit and bustling with activity.

This year is a snowy year. Heavy snow began to fall in Nanjing in late November.

The flying snowflakes drifted and fell into the Qinhuai River, covering the city of Nanjing in silver and adding a bit of winter chill.

At this moment, people are coming and going on the streets.

"Snacks, hot snacks, cheap and delicious."

"Fresh rice cakes, fresh rice cakes, freshly-cooked rice cakes. Would you like to try some?"

"Candied haws on a stick, there are delicious candied haws on a stick."

"The spices come from the Western Regions. Come and take a look. They are all kinds of good ingredients."

"This year's best autumn tea, Hangzhou's autumn tea, is still tender. Once the hot water is boiled, come and smell the fragrance of the tea."

"Make way, make way. His Royal Highness the King of Wu and the Duke of Chu are on tour again."

After crossing the Zhenghe Bridge and arriving at Jian'an Market, the streets on both sides are lined with newly built buildings, numerous signs, open shops, and small vendors.

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He went out for a stroll on their motorcycles again, followed by several soldiers on three-wheeled motorcycles, fully armed to protect their safety.

Although it was snowing, the snow on the streets had already been cleared by people sent by the government, and the convoys were able to move through them unimpeded.

At this time last year, Jian'an Market had already been built. In the past two years, the imperial court has reclaimed large tracts of unowned land in the city, built buildings and markets, and sold them to merchants, making a fortune.

It not only prospers the city, but also fills the national treasury.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty is not short of money now, but what it lacks is business atmosphere and urban population.

When Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He first came to Daming, there were only two streets in Nanjing, not many people, and even fewer stores.

Now, only three years have passed, and the changes in Nanjing city are beyond imagination. Not only have the streets and markets expanded many times, but the population has more than quadrupled.

Three years ago, the city's population was just over 200,000, and most of them were officials, soldiers, family members, and servants. There were very few ordinary people.

Now there are more than 300,000 to 400,000 ordinary people alone, and the total population has reached more than 500,000, which is barely comparable to a prefecture-level city with a smaller population in later generations.

of course.

This refers to the urban population. If the population of the entire city including the counties under its jurisdiction is included, then the comparison is naturally incomparable.

As two famous street scooters in Nanjing, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He like to ride their motorcycles and electric bikes around the streets when they have nothing to do.

On the one hand, seeing with one's own eyes the changes they have brought to the Ming Dynasty can also give one a sense of accomplishment.

Secondly, it’s so cool to use the privileges.

Imagine that you can run rampant on the streets and do whatever you want. What kind of experience is it that even the county government offices of Jiangning County and Shangyuan County, as well as the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Supervisory Office cannot control you?
Although Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He would not use this privilege to bully ordinary people, when they saw those thugs and bullies bullying the people in the market, they would give them a big beating.

Faced with dozens of rifles pointed at their heads, the other party not only dared not speak out, but even had to smile and nod and bow. It was a very painful feeling.

And it's not just the local thugs and bullies, even many second-generation generals can't escape.

For example, Chang Yuchun's son Chang Mao, Deng Yu's son Deng Quan, Zhou Dexing's son Zhou Ji, and even Lan Yu were beaten by them.

Just in the middle of this year, Lan Yu had people seize the fields in the eastern suburbs. They thought those were unowned lands, but in fact those fields belonged to Zhu Yunfeng's Diannongwei.

The people from Diannongwei went over to argue, but were beaten by the people from Lanyu Mansion.

Upon learning about this, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were furious and took their men to attack Lan Yu's Yongchang Marquis residence.

They kicked the door of Lan Yu's house, had their personal guards point guns at Lan Yu and his guards, and slapped Lan Yu twice in public, not giving any face to Crown Prince Zhu Biao at all.

This matter caused a huge uproar.

Because at this time Lan Yu was not as arrogant and domineering as he was later, and Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He had beaten many second-generation children of nobles, which caused dissatisfaction among some nobles, so they jointly reported it to Zhu.

As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent, while Crown Prince Zhu Biao stepped forward and publicly reprimanded Zhu Yunfeng, Ji He and Lan Yu, giving each of them a beating.

But in fact, there was no mention of Zhu Yunfeng's punishment for beating Lan Yu.

Everyone was helpless when they saw that the prince was obviously defending Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He. Even Lan Yu felt extremely aggrieved and unhappy. In the end, Zhu Biao invited him into the palace and talked with him for a long time before he gave up.

After this incident, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He's status in the hearts of those nobles, officials and even the common people has reached skyrocketing.

After all, in the eyes of officials and nobles, it was okay for Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He to fight with Duke of Zheng Chang Mao in the square outside Fengtian Gate, and Chang Mao's title of Duke was stripped.

It was okay to beat the children of nobles. Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial edict to reprimand the children of nobles and asked their parents to discipline them properly.

It would be okay to just attack the nobles who have made military achievements now. You should know that Lan Yu is not the second generation who inherited the title like Chang Mao, but a noble marquis who has made real military achievements.

Since even he was beaten, the rest of the people naturally had to shrink their necks. When facing Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He, who would dare to come and seek death?

For a time, with them around, public security in Nanjing improved a lot.

Logically speaking, Lao Zhu cannot tolerate such things.

Because Lao Zhu is a feudal patriarchal figure, he attaches great importance to rules.

Hu Mei's eldest daughter was Concubine Hu. His second daughter and her son-in-law entered the palace to visit her without following the regulations and were sentenced to death by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, given Old Zhu's character, if it were someone else, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He would have died eight hundred times over.

These included driving a motorcycle around Nanjing, arbitrarily beating up the children of nobles and bullying the common people, and ignoring the palace's ban and entering and leaving at will. Any of these offenses was punishable by death.

But Mr. Zhu had no choice but to accept the situation.

Because Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were too lazy to pay attention to the rules he set, and they only beat up bad guys, with reasons and confidence.

At worst, he would just quarrel with Zhu Yuanzhang. If that doesn't work, he would report it to Empress Ma and see who would suffer.

So Old Zhu was helpless. As long as Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were reasonable and did not trample on his bottom line, Old Zhu actually had no way to deal with them.

This is also thanks to Zhu Yunfeng who made the three rules with Old Zhu at the beginning.

Otherwise, if I have to be submissive and serve Lao Zhu like a dog in the future, it would be really frustrating and uncomfortable.

After strolling around the city for a while, wherever the convoy passed, young girls would glance at them sideways, and from time to time throw them a wink and send them a flirtatious glance.

Two years ago, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were beaten up by hooligans when they were strolling in the streets.

But later everyone knew that they were princes of the current dynasty. Not only were they powerful, but they were also good people. They often performed heroic deeds in Nanjing and spoke up for the people.

The most important thing is that he has not yet married and had children.

For a moment, the girls from decent families who had originally avoided them as if they were lechers regretted their decision.

But you ignored me at first, and now you can't afford me.

Now when Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He travel, they are always accompanied by dozens of personal bodyguards, and hundreds of Jinyiwei secret guards are also accompanying them. Ordinary people can't get close to them at all.

So the girls could only sigh inwardly.

There were some brave matchmakers who went to the Prince of Wu's Palace and the Duke of Chu's Palace to propose marriages.

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were in their own mansion for less than two days a month. They were either in the palace or in Xiandai's home. They only came out for a short stroll, and they were not given any chance at all.

But there are loopholes.

After strolling in the morning, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He returned to the palace. They originally wanted to say hello to Old Zhu and the others before returning to the modern world, but Old Zhu stopped them.

At this moment in the study of the Qianqing Palace, Old Zhu was handling government affairs.

Zhu Biao took the cabinet members to inspect the six ministries. Zhu Di was tinkering with machines in the factory recently. The days passed like this, and life was boring.

"Ancestor, we are leaving now. We won't disturb you anymore." Zhu Yunfeng said hello to Zhu Yuanzhang and prepared to leave. What he was thinking about was going back to play games.

I've recently become addicted to online games and have spent quite a bit of money on them, just to have some fun.

Seeing that they were about to leave, Lao Zhu stopped writing with the pen in his hand and said, "Yunfeng, Xiaoji, wait a moment."

"What's wrong, ancestor?"

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were puzzled.

Old Zhu pondered and said, "You are also 28 this year, right?"

"Twenty-seven!"

Zhu Yunfeng corrected.

Both he and Ji He were born in 00 and will be 2024 years old in 24.

At that time, Zhu Yunfeng graduated from university and stayed in Changsha for a few months. He didn't do well, so he returned to his hometown and stayed there for two years. When he was 24 years old, he met Lao Zhu who traveled through time.

It is now 2027, so naturally I am 27 years old.

It’s just that the ancients paid attention to the virtual age, so in Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes they were already 28. But Zhu Yunfeng didn’t want to be called old, even if he was just one year older. He didn’t want to face the reality that he was about to turn 30.

"Even if you're twenty-seven, you should start a family and a career."

Old Zhu said, "You are now successful in your career. You are rich and powerful, both in the modern world and in the Ming Dynasty. You should marry a wife. Otherwise, will you just be idle all your life?"

"Chisang, I'm talking about you."

Zhu Yunfeng pushed Ji He’s fat.

At his heaviest, he weighed around 300 pounds, and usually maintained around 280 pounds. In the past two years, he has actually lost some weight and now weighs 220 pounds, but he is still fat.

Ji He curled his lips and said, "Feng Sang, face the reality, the ancestor is talking about you."

"I'm talking about you two, stop playing dumb."

Zhu Yuanzhang knocked on the table and said unhappily, "You are already grown up, do you want to be single for the rest of your life? How about I arrange a marriage for you?"

"NO!"

Zhu Yunfeng firmly disagreed.

"Why?"

"How can we talk about home when the Japanese invaders have not yet been defeated?"

Zhu Yunfeng said righteously: "These little devils killed our Ming envoys in ancient times and slaughtered more than 3000 million Chinese people in modern times. We must avenge them."

"We'll set off in the early spring of next year."

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "With five ironclad ships, hundreds of rapid-fire cannons, and tens of thousands of guns, are you afraid that you can't destroy a single Japanese pirate? Besides, how long do you think you can delay? The army will set out in the spring of next year, and there is no way to hide."

"."

Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He looked at each other.

In the past two years, their family has not urged them to get married.

Although both of them are only children, the richer they are, the more say they have.

He paid off the debt that Zhu Yunfeng's parents owed and gave them a lot of money to make a comeback, so naturally they couldn't say anything.

It's similar for Ji He. They are from an ordinary well-off family. It's good enough that they can come up with 20 yuan to help Ji He buy an Audi. They can't be considered rich.

Now Ji He earns tens of millions a year and is worth hundreds of millions. Not only does his entire family depend on Ji He for support, but Ji He has also become the pride of their family. Basically, no matter what Ji He says, how dare they refute it?

But the status of Old Zhu is different. First, he is the elder and the direct ancestor of Zhu Yunfeng. Second, he is the emperor, with high position and power, and his words carry weight.

So it was obvious that he couldn't stand seeing them idle away and happily all day long, and he wanted them to start a family.

However, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He don't want to get married so soon.

It is difficult to find a virtuous woman in modern society, as more than 99% of people are after their money.

If we look for someone in ancient times, we won't have much in common. Besides, what will happen to our wives and children in the future? If we leave them all in ancient times, it will be troublesome to bring them to modern times.

So it just kept dragging on.

But now that Old Zhu had mentioned it, Zhu Yunfeng had no choice but to say, "No rush, let's talk about it in two years."

"Yes, nowadays, many people get married at the age of 30-40. There is no need to rush."

Ji He also joined in the conversation.

"There's no rush. At your age, many people's children are already in their teens."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "You must give me a definite answer today, or we can get married next year. There are many daughters of nobles, and I will choose one for you personally at that time."

"Let's talk about it next year."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his hand and said, "After we defeat the Japanese invaders next year, I will have other things to do."

"what's up?"

"Aren't you curious about the world behind the stone tablet?"

"The world behind the stone tablet?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

There were so many spheres on the stone tablet that they explored the second world, the Yongle Dynasty.

I don’t know what the world will be like in the future.

It’s just that Old Zhu focused all his energy on building the Hongwu Dynasty and had no time to care about the world behind the stone tablet.

However, the construction of the Hongwu Dynasty is now booming. It cannot be said to be very modern, but at least it has a certain industrial foundation and development is on the right track.

The people have enough food and clothing, trains are being repaired, weapons and equipment are powerful enough, the Ming Dynasty has no enemies, and now its only enemy is itself, so it can develop better.

Therefore, perhaps it would not be a bad idea to look back and explore other worlds. What if it is the Ming Dynasty in another parallel world?
If it were the world of the late Ming Dynasty, it would be interesting.

With the AK in my hand, I can punish Li Zicheng, who destroyed my Ming Dynasty, and the Jiannu outside the Great Wall.

"Well"

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded thoughtfully and said, "This matter should indeed be looked at, but speaking of which."

He looked at Zhu Yunfeng again and said, "What does this have to do with getting married and having children? You should take some time off and marry someone. You can continue to do whatever you want after marriage. Are you afraid that someone can control you?"

"Oh, let's talk about this later. I have something else to do. I'll leave now. I won't bother you anymore."

Faced with Lao Zhu's urging to get married, Zhu Yunfeng fled in panic.

Ji He hurriedly followed behind him.

Looking at their fleeing backs, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said helplessly, "These two bastards."

Forget it.

Let them be.

Maybe after playing for another two years, it’s time to focus on your studies.

Old Zhu thought about it and ignored them and continued to handle government affairs.

(End of this chapter)