Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 250 The Great Upheaval of the Hongwu Era

The three little ones made a ruckus for quite a while before finally stopping.

The three of them used to playfully fight like this all the time, and Zhu Biao was used to it.

More than ten minutes later, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He were both kicked several times, and there were large footprints on their buttocks.

Ji He, in particular, was slow-moving and was caught by Zhu Di, who wrapped his arms around his neck and delivered several punches and kicks.

Although I wasn't bruised or swollen, my butt hurt and I was limping when I walked.

However, Zhu Di was also held down by two people, and the three of them rolled on the ground, resulting in injuries to each other. It was a case of injuring the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred of their own.

After they finished making a fuss, Zhu Biao laughed and said, "Alright, stop making a fuss. Let's not go out this time."

"Great-Grandfather, I strongly suspect you did this on purpose."

Zhu Yunfeng rubbed his lower back and plopped back down in his chair, grinning as he said, "You must have taken a bribe from Lao Si."

"What benefits can the fourth brother give me? I'm just happy to see you guys back."

Zhu Biao smiled again and said, "What are your thoughts and insights from this trip to the end of the Ming Dynasty?"

The three of them looked at each other.

Zhu Di couldn't help but sigh, "My gains are actually great. If I hadn't gone to the late Ming Dynasty this time, I really wouldn't have seen the hardships of the people."

"Yes, to be honest, many things are only in history books. Even if I come to Hongwu, at least Hongwu has ended the chaotic period."

Zhu Yunfeng also said, "But you can only truly understand what it means to have a barren wasteland and millions of corpses when you actually go to the late Ming Dynasty. I didn't see the cannibalism firsthand, but I heard a lot about it."

Ji He nodded in agreement: "On my way back to Changsha from Nanjing, I heard that there was a severe drought in Henan and that people were cooking and eating the people who had starved to death. Just hearing about it made me feel nauseous. I'm glad I live in the 21st century."

"The country has protected us too well. In fact, even in the 21st century, there are still tragic scenes. It's just that we have become strong, eliminated hunger and famine, and everyone can have enough to eat and wear."

Zhu Yunfeng leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. As if recalling the scenes he had seen at the end of the Ming Dynasty, he said, "Now that I think about it, sometimes when I was out in the countryside, I would see rotting bones everywhere. It was truly terrifying."

"What's that compared to what you've done? Actually, whether you're in modern times or during the reigns of Emperor Hongwu or Emperor Chongzhen, you've been well protected. What I saw in Shaanxi was truly terrifying."

Zhu Di pointed to the northwest and said, "When you passed through Wuguan, did you see corpses in village after village, or even county after county? After you arrived in Shaanxi, did you see any dilapidated villages with pots of bones burning over fires? The meat has all been eaten. Shaanxi is desolate everywhere. Even the grass roots and tree bark have been eaten. There is no human habitation for hundreds of miles. You are surrounded by rotting corpses, while I am scattered bones lying randomly on the road. What you can see is always a dense mass of dead people."

Are you two both that scary?

Ji He looked around and scratched his head; he hadn't actually been there for long.

Because Zhu Yunfeng was going to Beijing, he returned to Changsha from Nanjing and had been moving supplies.

The southern region was relatively better off; at least many areas were not severely affected. Therefore, compared to Zhu Yunfeng and Zhu Di, he didn't actually feel the impact as deeply.

"Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi were the areas most severely affected by disasters at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The land was truly barren, and the disaster victims swarmed like locusts, eating everything edible."

Zhu Yunfeng recalled the scene when he passed through Henan and Hebei and sighed: "It's pitiful. There's really nothing I can do for them. Being able to get some food so that the survivors can live is already the limit."

"But this is already very good."

Zhu Biao said, "You've saved many lives, haven't you?"

"Ah."

They felt somewhat heavy-hearted and sat down to rest for a while before Zhu Yunfeng asked, "Grand Duke, how is the Ming Dynasty now?"

Zhu Biao reached for the teacup on the table, took a sip, looked at him with a knowing smile, and said, "Do you know how big the Ming Dynasty's territory is now?"

"How big?"

Zhu Yunfeng was puzzled.

He last returned during the Spring Festival last year, almost a year ago. In the rapidly changing Ming Dynasty, he was completely in the dark and knew nothing about the situation.

"check it out."

Zhu Biao pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper from the pile of official documents next to him, unfolded it, and a brand-new world map appeared before everyone's eyes.

The Ming Dynasty did not actually complete its industrialization.

Even in the 21st century, many African countries lack any industrial capacity and are no different from primitive tribes.

Is it that they don't want to?

No.

Industrialization is not a simple or easy thing.

It's not just about having machines and equipment; it also requires highly qualified personnel and the participation of technical staff.

After all, exceptionally talented individuals like Kagame of Rwanda are rare.

Most African countries suffer from corruption and short-sightedness at the top, are controlled by Western colonialism, and are plagued by domestic instability.

Even if a country is rich in mineral resources, if it cannot find a direction for national development, it will remain impoverished, not to mention the 21st century, even the 22nd century.

The Ming Dynasty was not as backward as Africa, and its upper echelons were quite open-minded and quick to accept new things.

But without education, no matter how much modern equipment you bring in, it will be useless.

Therefore, the current industry of the Ming Dynasty is actually quite simple.

They brought in a lot of modern steelmaking equipment to be used for basic steel production capacity.

Then there are the power generation equipment, which can generate electricity.

The rest consisted of hundreds of types of machinery, such as sewing machines, mixers, bulldozers, brick-making machines, lathes, and printers.

It's basically a matter of taking what's available.

of course.

There is nothing we can do about this.

As the saying goes, "It takes ten years to grow a tree, but a hundred years to cultivate a person." Education is a major national undertaking that cannot be accomplished overnight.

Therefore, this is the only option for now.

Although he lacked basic industrial manufacturing capabilities, he had everything he needed, thanks to the fact that he could buy any kind of machinery from Shandong.

The world map in front of us is a hydrological map drawn by civil officials from the Ministry of Works after the Ming Dynasty expanded its territory. It was then sketched by artists according to the scale of modern maps and finally printed out.

The crowd gathered around. Although the map was certainly not as accurate as those of later generations, the border features and the comparison with modern maps still revealed the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, the entire Northeast had been incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the southern part of the Gobi Desert, which later became Inner Mongolia, had also been included by the Ming Dynasty. Many Mongols surrendered and accepted the administration of the Ming Dynasty, and the territory was even very close to Ulaanbaatar.

Vietnam in the southwest region was destroyed at some point, and there were also places like the Western Regions and Tibet. Although many of these places had submitted to the central government, the local forces were still powerful and often ruled by indirect rule.

However, the practice of replacing local chieftains with appointed officials has now been changed, and new officials have been appointed to govern the area.

As a result, when there was a shortage of officials in the early Ming Dynasty, many scholars and those who had passed the imperial examinations were granted official positions and hurriedly went to the frontier to take up their posts.

"Wow!" Looking at the Ming Dynasty's estimated land area of ​​over ten million square kilometers, Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help but exclaim, "It's that big?"

"hehe."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "The most urgent task right now is to increase productivity, otherwise if we continue fighting, this area will be in jeopardy."

He drew a large circle on the map with a water-based pen and said, "It's all Ming territory."

The three of them looked over.

Where is this circle?
It encompasses what later became Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, the entire Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Khabarovsk Krai, the southeasternmost part of Russia, roughly the size of Vladivostok.

If we consider its actual area, it is estimated to be over 20 million square kilometers, covering half of Asia and Australia, which can be described as a vast land.

"Oh?"

Zhu Yunfeng laughed and said, "Grandpa Taibo has great ambitions."

"You saw it."

Zhu Biao picked up a tablet computer from the side and said, "Look, this is a video taken yesterday with a drone. This shows the changes in Nanjing."

The video is open.

Looking down on Nanjing from above, it was clear that there were no strong winds or heavy snow yesterday. The Imperial Palace stood quietly in the snow, covered in white.

Around the palace, pavilions, towers, carved beams and painted rafters stand in abundance, and tall buildings rise from the ground.

Furthermore, the architectural style is not the modern, square-shaped style of houses, but rather features gable roofs, hanging corners, brackets, and flying eaves, maintaining a simple and ancient architectural style.

In fact, reinforced concrete is not incapable of building such magnificent houses as those in ancient times.

Many ancient houses were built with brick walls, and the gable roofs were constructed with wooden beams, stacked layer upon layer. During the Tang and Song dynasties, there were seven or eight-story pagodas with very beautiful styles.

Modern reinforced concrete houses can still achieve this: brick walls inside, cement outside, steel bars laid, load-bearing beams replaced with the original type, and the outside painted white or red.

Then, the upper layers were constructed in the same way, stacking one layer on top of the other, extending into gable roofs, hanging corners, brackets, and flying eaves, thus completing the combination of modern and ancient architectural art.

There are actually quite a few buildings like this in later generations, especially in the Jiangnan region, where many six- or seven-story buildings are in this antique style.

While this approach might look good on the outside, it would be extremely costly for the developer.

Clearly, ancient architecture was seen as a flashy but impractical decoration by developers. In addition, the protruding parts took up a lot of space and were not conducive to land use, which led to the fact that all the urban buildings in later generations were square cuboids.

However, the Hongwu Ming Dynasty building clearly had not been developed by developers, and the houses were built by royal craftsmen. Although modern materials were used, the techniques were ancient.

The result was that the rooftops of the tall buildings outside the city were decorated with beautiful gables, which went down layer by layer, with double eaves on all four sides. The beams, arches, wooden beams, and eaves were all painted, making people feel extremely amazed.

"So beautiful."

"These houses have a high artistic value, and there are many trees, mountains and rivers around them. In our area, even if they are not villas, ordinary commercial and residential buildings would cost at least 20,000 to 30,000 yuan per square meter in Changsha."

"It is indeed very beautiful, square and orderly, and grand and majestic."

The three little ones praised it highly.

It is truly exceptionally beautiful; the black eaves, white walls, and vermilion beams and pillars, along with the exquisite blue paintings on the beams, arches, timbers, and eaves, showcase a splendid artistry.

Most importantly, there is even a corridor on the outer layer.

The houses are interconnected and protected by railings and upturned eaves, allowing neighbors to even visit each other.

This is unimaginable in modern society where neighborly relations are becoming increasingly indifferent.

of course.

In other words, the buildings currently being constructed are not tall; the tallest one is estimated to be only nine stories. If they were to go any higher, such a corridor design might not be feasible due to the strong winds.

Even so, it's still quite amazing. At least Zhu Yunfeng and his companions had never seen such a beautiful ancient-style high-rise building in their later years.

"Take another look at the road."

Zhu Biao, gesturing on his tablet, said, "Currently, in the old city renovation, I've only worked on Chang'an Street and the area around the Imperial City, including Datong Street. The roads along these streets have been repaired, and the surrounding houses are still under construction. My plan is to first build the residences of various government offices in this area, which will then be distributed to officials as dormitories. The street planning in the city center has also been completed. Jian'anfang, Taiping Bridge, and Dazhong Street should be the city center, planned for commercial and residential development. The remaining areas, such as Shanhefang and Chaotian Palace, will be mainly residential. What do you think?"

The video on the tablet showed a drone flying over the palace and heading towards the city center.

At this time, the city center of the Ming Dynasty had also changed a lot. Compared with the twelfth year of Hongwu, there were many new streets, but the low two- or three-story wooden houses were still there. The streets were paved with bluestone slabs, the roads were narrow, and shops lined both sides, with pedestrians coming and going.

However, the roads around the imperial city are very wide. Of course, there are not many vehicles on the roads, and only officials' carriages travel on them. However, the foundation is quite good, and the city planning has begun to take shape.

"Yes, a three-lane road is at least enough for daily use."

"Indeed, there aren't many carriages in the Ming Dynasty right now. If we widen the roads for now, it will be easier for ordinary carriages to travel."

"It would be awesome if we could set up a car production line someday."

"Let's talk about that in a few years. Even if the Ming Dynasty produces cars, they'll probably be old-fashioned. We'll still have to go to the Middle East to mine oil in the future."

The three children were discussing it animatedly.

Judging from the situation in Nanjing, at least the city itself has already made rapid progress towards basic industrialization.

Within a few years, the steel, textile, and manufacturing industries have been developing rapidly.

But producing cars is a bit unrealistic.

Although we can pull production lines from modern facilities, how can we solve the source problem?

You can't exactly play with steam-powered cars.

So setting up a production line is easy, and even manufacturing internal combustion engines with modern technology is easy, but you have to go to the Middle East at least once to plan automobile manufacturing, which will have to wait until later.

Just then, Zhu Yunfeng exclaimed in surprise, "Look, there are so many more people on the street than when we were strolling around last year!"

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Nanjing's population has exceeded three million this year, and thousands of cargo and passenger ships come and go on the Qinhuai River every day. Take a look here."

As he spoke, he fast-forwarded to his tablet, and the video showed the train station in the northwest of Nanjing.

Nanjing Railway Station was actually built as early as the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign (1388). The first railway line was planned to run from Nanjing to Zhenjiang, a total distance of seventy kilometers.

Zhu Biao personally went to the site to witness the opening of the train service.

With modern resources, opening the first train line was actually very easy. Just buy a steam locomotive, a large amount of rails, and send workers to lay them according to the blueprints.

Building the first line is easy, but extending it nationwide is extremely difficult.

However, in the video, Zhu Yunfeng saw that the originally simple train station had been expanded again, and the original single train line now had as many as eight lines.

With a large number of trains coming and going, heading north or south, and crowds of people outside the train station, it is estimated that trains are still a luxury that only the rich can afford. But at least it shows that passenger and freight transport is booming.

In just one year since he left, the Ming Dynasty has truly undergone another upheaval.

(End of this chapter)