Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 77 Zhu Yuanzhang disappeared again

At the 2025 New Year’s Eve party, fireworks were set off at Orange Island.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, who had just undergone surgery, stood by the river and looked at the night scenery. The fireworks were so magnificent that they were intoxicating.

Compared with Changsha, even the Ming Dynasty’s capital, Jinling, is a thousand times less lively and prosperous.

It's not just about the population, it's also about such development, such global grandeur.

After all, when the fireworks were set off at Orange Island, the number of people who came nearby to watch the fireworks display far exceeded the current population of Jinling City.

At the end of December last year, Queen Ma's operation was very successful. The tumor in her brain was successfully removed and her body recovered.

I just had an operation and can't run around, so I have to stay in the hospital temporarily to recover and rest for a while.

Taking advantage of this rare time, Zhu Yuanzhang accompanied Empress Ma to rest for a few days. At the end of the year, he took her and his grandson out for a walk, which happened to be New Year's Eve, so he could join in the fun.

In fact, it was just December in the Ming Dynasty at that time, because the Ming Dynasty used the lunar calendar, while we use the solar calendar here, so there is a lunar calendar difference.

So it was only a short time since Zhu Yunfeng went to the Ming Dynasty, just over ten days. Empress Ma had already undergone surgery, and it would take another twenty days before Hu Weiyong was executed.

"Modern fireworks are so beautiful, and there are also drone shows. I wonder when my Ming Dynasty will have drones too."

Seeing the magnificent scenery of Orange Island, Zhu Yuanzhang was full of praise.

During this period, he has learned more and more about the modern world, and he also knows that in today's wars, drones have gradually become the mainstream.

"When the time comes, buy some and go play with them."

Ji Hyuk laughed.

"Well, you take care of it."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little itchy when he thought about being able to operate a drone from below and overlook the entire Jinling City.

If we had this thing on the battlefield, wouldn't we be able to fight the war however we wanted?
"Zhongba, look."

Queen Ma, with gauze still wrapped around her head, pointed at the building in the distance and said with a smile, "There are words on it."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked over and saw the words "Peace and prosperity in the country, peace under heaven" written on it, and he couldn't help but smile with both relief and envy.

It is gratifying that in later generations, even though China had fallen into a quagmire, it finally stood up on its own.

What I envy is that my own Ming Dynasty is still stuck in the mud. Although I have climbed out and taken back the Han Chinese territory from the hands of the barbarians, the country is poor and the people are suffering. When will it be prosperous?

Thinking of this, he sighed for a moment: "The prosperous era of China should be like this. If I were born in this prosperous era, how could I be willing to return to such hunger and hardship. But I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the 60 million people of the Ming Dynasty depend on me."

Ji He scratched his head and asked tentatively: "Grandfather, are you serious?"

"Why not?"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned around, looked at him unhappily and said, "Do you think I'm being false? If you had really experienced the scenes when I was young, you wouldn't think I was lying. Besides, to put it bluntly, do you know what these two hundred pounds of meat on your body meant at the end of the Yuan Dynasty?"

"Forehead"

Ji He actually knew what it was, but he still cooperated and asked, "What is it?"

"It's just a pot of soup."

Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly, "There was a drought, a flood, and then there was a plague. There was no one living in the barren land for thousands of miles. People could not find food. They ate tree bark, Guanyin soil, and exchanged their children for food. As an emperor, I often read ancient books and historical records. How could the light words of famine and cannibalism compare to the cruelty and horror I saw with my own eyes? Even though I am now an emperor, when I think back to those years, I feel unbearable. The smell of the human flesh soup cooked in the pot seems to be vivid in my mind."

He looked Ji He up and down and said earnestly, "You are lucky to live in modern times and don't have to go through what we went through back then. But you always think that I only care about power, and you don't know how hard I've been. If I die, the Ming Dynasty will not survive. What will happen to the world, and how many people will die?"

Zhu Yunfeng said several times in front of Zhu Di that Zhu Yuanzhang only cared about power, and Zhu Di was an undercover sent by Zhu Yuanzhang, so Zhu Yuanzhang knew what his descendant thought of him.

But Yunfeng never thought about how many people would die in the Ming Dynasty if he didn't care about power?

If I don't maintain this fragmented country, what will happen to the people in this world?

Twenty-one families entered Shu together, and only one person survived and escaped from Luo Valley.

I would like to tell passers-by not to cover their noses, for the living are not as fragrant as the dead.

If one only cares about power and loses the heart to benefit the people, he will only lose power in the end.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang actually knew better than anyone that peace was hard-won. In order to obtain this hard-won peace, he had to commit more murders to prevent those with ulterior motives from ruining the Ming Dynasty, which had been stabilized with great difficulty.

Listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Ji He thought of something and shook his head, saying, "In fact, we have only enjoyed the prosperity we have today in the last 20 to 30 years. We also had hard times before. The Japanese invaders invaded China and committed numerous atrocities. A veteran who survived the massacre died two months ago. We will never forget this history."

"I know this."

Zhu Yuanzhang said softly, "What you have experienced in this modern age can only be repaid by you in the future. What I can do is to collect the interest. In the past, I sent envoys to ask Japan to surrender, but they killed my envoys. Now that the Ming Dynasty has just stabilized, the country is poor and the people are weak, it is not possible to go on a sea expedition, otherwise I would definitely lead my troops eastward. But there is no need to worry now. When my Ming Dynasty becomes strong, we will naturally conquer Japan."

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

Fireworks bloomed brilliantly in the sky, and the waves of the Xiangjiang River rolled not far away.

The Orange Island Bridge was crowded with people watching the fireworks.

Under the illumination of lights all over the city, as fireworks continued to bloom, people cheered and their faces were filled with happiness.

An old man who had experienced the chaotic world of cannibalism stood on the west bank of the Xiang River with his hands behind his back, overlooking the sky.

This prosperous era is truly beautiful.

More than half a month passed in a flash.

According to the Gregorian calendar, it is already the end of January, seven or eight days away from the Lunar New Year.

During this period, Queen Ma still lived in the sanatorium to observe her postoperative condition.

By the way, give Zhu Xiongying another shot of smallpox vaccine.

Smallpox vaccine is hard to find these days.

When Ji He found a doctor and wanted to get his child a smallpox vaccine, the doctor was very surprised and said that this vaccine was almost impossible to find on the market.

After asking, Ji He found out that my country had almost eradicated smallpox as early as the 70s and 80s.

As a result, all smallpox vaccines were discontinued in 03, and the limited smallpox vaccines are currently in the national strategic resource reserve.

Therefore, it is almost unavailable in the market now.

For this reason, Ji He could only make an excuse that the child grew up abroad and had not received various vaccines, and asked the hospital to help find it.

In the end, it was the director of this hospital who had the connections and got a box of reserve smallpox vaccine from a top medical university in the country, which solved the problem.

Empress Ma rested for more than half a month and was almost recovered. Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about the situation in the Ming Dynasty, so he also planned to go back before the New Year.

On January 23rd, the 24th of the twelfth lunar month, it was the Little New Year in the south, and Lao Zhu and his group returned home.

It was the end of the year and there were a lot of cars on the highway. It took me three and a half hours to drive on the highway, which was supposed to take three hours. After getting off the highway, I turned onto the county road to Jixiang Town and drove into the mountains without having to go to Lansha Town to return to Shangfeng Mountain.

At this moment, Zhu Yunfeng's family had changed a lot. Under the financial offensive, in just two months, the fish pond was filled in, and the houses of his sixth and seventh uncles were bought and demolished and rebuilt.

A steel bar factory shed covering an area of ​​about seven or eight acres has been built next to Zhu Yunfeng's home.

Since the factory building is not large and is a light steel structure used for warehousing, it was built very quickly. Although the road into the mountain is not easy to travel, with my country's current infrastructure capabilities, as long as the money is in place, the mountain can be flattened.

Ji He actually came back during this period. Zhu Yuanzhang is not a child, and he knows what he should say and do.

Therefore, when Ji He was away, he stayed in the ward and chatted with Queen Ma.

But it was the first time that Zhu Yuanzhang had witnessed this kind of infrastructure power. The Maybach stopped in the small yard outside Zhu Yunfeng's house. As soon as he got out of the car, he saw that the original fish pond had become a silver-gray steel plant.

He got out of the car and looked around in astonishment. Even Empress Ma was very surprised and asked, "Where is this?"

"Grandma, this is Fengzi's house."

Ji Hyuk said with a smile.

"How come this happened so quickly?"

Queen Ma was somewhat incredulous.

She remembered that she had only been away for about a month.

How could such a large steel house be built in such a short time?

Moreover, there were thick black cables installed above the factory building, connecting the factory building, and one cable went directly to Zhu Yunfeng's home.

“That’s modern speed.”

Ji He raised his head, looked at the tall factory building and said, "This is considered small. A few years ago, a friend of my father contracted a factory building of 20 square meters, um... about 56 acres, and it was built in days." This factory building was actually built by Ji He's father's friend.

Ji He is from the county town. His family owns a building on a street in the county town. They are not wealthy, but they are considered a well-off family.

His father opened a small building materials store on the first floor, so he knew a lot of friends in this field.

“It’s amazing how fast modern things are.”

Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply moved.

He had seen the prosperity of Changsha and had also heard that this magnificent city had only developed in the last thirty years.

However, it is still hard to believe that such a large house could be built in less than two months.

If this happened in the Ming Dynasty, it would probably take a very long time. To build a palace of this size, even if the Ministry of Works worked very fast, it would probably take half a year or even a year.

"The company has developed. We have built several factories in the town to prepare for raising pigs, cattle and sheep next year. We have also recruited many people in various departments. Once the land lease contract is signed in January next year, the development speed will be faster."

Ji Hyuk said as he took out the house key and unlocked the door.

No one has been at home recently, so in order to prevent the secret of the cellar from being discovered, especially the utility room where the cellar is located, a new anti-theft door was installed.

Pippi the dog and Dandan the cat were sent to the county pet shop for foster care. Ji He only came back occasionally to supervise the construction schedule of the factory and check on the safety of the cellar.

The door opened quickly.

Four people entered the house. No one had lived there for more than a month, and the house seemed to be covered with dust.

But it's still that familiar feeling.

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile on his face: "Let's go back to Ming Dynasty first. I really don't know what those little bastards have done to our Ming Dynasty."

When Ji He heard him call him little bastards again, he opened his mouth and instinctively wanted to say something, but swallowed it back. He thought to himself that they were little bastards, but you, old man, are the Rabbit Master.

Empress Ma smiled and said, "With Biao'er here, what are you afraid of?"

"That's true."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

Arriving at the door of the utility room, Ji Hyuk opened it.

At this time, the utility room has changed a lot.

All the original mess had been cleared away, leaving only a cable running from the wall socket directly into the cellar.

There are also surveillance cameras installed overhead and in the cellar.

Civilian electricity can be converted into industrial electricity, you just need to apply.

But all the wiring in the house needs to be replaced.

With a huge amount of money, the project was completed in just one day.

High-voltage distribution cabinets, generators, transformers, power lines, circuit breakers, low-voltage switch cabinets, distribution panels, switch boxes, control boxes and other power distribution equipment are all placed in the factory.

An electric cable converts the electricity in Zhu Yunfeng's home into high-voltage industrial electricity, which can directly transmit high-voltage current to the stone tablet through a specific connecting device.

Ji He first turned off the connecting device switch, and then turned on the cellar light.

The stone tablet lay quietly on the ground.

During this period, Ji He used surveillance to observe the condition of the stone tablet every day.

But even if it was industrial electricity, the stone tablet was like a bottomless pit, accepting all that came in, with a steady stream of input that seemed to have no end.

It's simply a bottomless pit, burning more money than electrolytic aluminum.

Ji He found that in just over a month, he had spent more than 9 yuan on photovoltaic power. Based on the industrial electricity price of about 9 cents per kilowatt-hour here, he had already consumed more than kilowatt-hours.

"There's nothing unusual about the stone tablet. The power has been turned off."

After finding that there was no problem, Ji He shouted to the people above: "Why don't I go over there first and tell Yun Feng and the others."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang helped Empress Ma and Zhu Xiongying slowly climb down to the cellar.

Ji He then took a tester from the side and pointed it at the stone tablet.

There is no current.

After pressing the first ball, Ji He disappeared in an instant.

"Let's go there too."

Seeing that Ji He was safe and sound, Zhu Yuanzhang also planned to touch the ball.

He has touched this ball many times, and even people have touched it back and forth constantly, so it has become very smooth.

But under the illumination of the incandescent light in the cellar, he unconsciously looked at the second sphere.

At some point, the ball began to flash with a strange light.

'Is it a hallucination? '

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised and reached for the second ball.

There are more than ten pairs of dragons and phoenixes on the stone tablet, and there is a ball in the middle of each pair. However, so far, only the first ball can be passed through, and he has tried the rest.

But today, for some reason, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt that there was something strange about the second ball, and he couldn't help but touch it.

"Whoosh!"

Zhu Yuanzhang is missing.

Empress Ma smiled and said to Zhu Xiongying, "Come on, kid, it's time for us to go over there too."

After saying that, she pulled Zhu Xiongying up and touched the first ball.

"Whoosh!"

Time and space shift.

The space seemed to be rippled.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already in the underground palace of the Ming Dynasty.

But Empress Ma looked around but did not see Zhu Yuanzhang, and could not help but frown.

As she was surprised, she suddenly heard an excited voice: "Father, Mother, you are finally back."

Zhu Di was seen running down the stairs of the underground palace with great vigor and energy. Someone behind him could be heard shouting, "Old Four, run slower."

"Hey, where's dad?"

Zhu Di entered the underground palace, but did not see Zhu Yuanzhang.

Queen Ma was even more surprised and asked, "Didn't you see your father?"

She thought that after Zhu Yuanzhang passed away, he abandoned them, the grandparents and grandchildren, and ran to the Qianqing Palace.

"No."

Zhu Di was puzzled: "Ji He shouted outside the Qianqing Palace, and I came out immediately, but I didn't see anyone at all."

"This"

Queen Ma was stunned.

At this time, Zhu Biao, Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He also went down to the underground palace.

Zhu Yunfeng smiled and said, "As for our ancestor, the Ming Dynasty has changed a lot now. He must be very surprised to see it."

"Chongba, Chongba!"

Empress Ma was already somewhat at a loss. She shouted in the underground palace with a look of horror on her face: "Your father, your father, he is gone!"

(End of this chapter)