Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 115 The Ming Dynasty Flag, the more I think about it, the angrier I get [Subscribe]

Liu Kuan smiled when he heard this.

"Your Majesty, if it were just an ordinary flagpole, it would certainly seem out of place. But if it served an important purpose, then it wouldn't be out of place."

Zhu Yuanzhang was intrigued and asked, "What important use could a flagpole have?"

"Your Majesty, do you know the national flag?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "We only know the country's name, but have never heard of the term 'national flag'. Even the country's name is just a common name. To be serious, it should be 'the title of the world'."

This time it was Liu Kuan's turn to be curious.

He was just a fan of historical novels, not a history expert. It was the first time he learned that the country's name was a common name and that "there is a name for the world."

So he asked, "May I ask your Majesty, what does it mean to have the title of the world?"

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his voice, "All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects. We are the common rulers of the world, and the Ming Dynasty we founded is also the suzerain of all the barbarians. What do you mean by the title of 'world'?"

After hearing this, Liu Kuan suddenly realized that the humanistic worldview of ancient China was different from that of later generations.

Ancient China has always regarded itself as the center of the world - from the perspective of the earth, this cannot be said to be wrong.

China was surrounded by the Four Barbarians and various vassal states, and beyond that were barbaric and uncivilized lands. Countries in these barbaric lands were what later generations considered foreign countries.

It is actually a vassal system.

Therefore, although the ancient word "天下" is different from the later meanings of "world" and "global", it does not only refer to the Ming Dynasty, but is a concept of a larger territory than the country.

That is, the Ming Dynasty and the four surrounding barbarians that have not established their own countries, as well as the vassal states such as Goryeo, Annan, and Ryukyu.

When Zhu Yuanzhang formally established the country's name and announced it at the sacrifice to heaven, what he said was a little different from the play performed by Hu in later generations. It should be: When I ascend the throne as emperor, the world will be named Ming Dynasty.

Coming back to his senses, Liu Kuan saw that Old Zhu was still looking at him. He smiled awkwardly and said, "I now understand what the world is."

"Why don't you tell me what a national flag is?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, you should remember what I said before: since the beginning of the Age of Exploration, exchanges between countries around the world have become increasingly frequent."

"For example, during the middle and late periods of the Ming Dynasty, it came into contact with many non-vassal states, even Western countries as far away as Europe."

"But if we are on a vast ocean that doesn't belong to any country, or on an island or new continent where no other country exists, how can we distinguish between two countries that are not vassal states? We can tell them apart by looking at their flags."

"In addition to distinguishing countries on the global stage, the most important role of the national flag is to unite people and forge the national spirit."

"The Ming Dynasty had not yet begun its great voyages of discovery, and the vast majority of its people were living in the country. Their understanding of their country was not profound, and they didn't even have a sense of 'our country' or 'foreign countries.'"

"But when the Age of Exploration began, some people encountered people from other countries on the oceans and in the New World, or went to other countries to work, and this sense of 'I am a Ming Dynasty person' began to awaken."

"The national flag can give this awareness a concrete basis, making it clearer and more resolute."

"In this way, even if the people go overseas, they will still have the Ming Dynasty in their hearts and be loyal to it, and they will be more cohesive."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up when he heard this and he nodded slightly.

After Liu Kuan finished speaking, he said, "According to what you said, this national flag is indeed a good thing... Then how should we make the national flag of the Ming Dynasty? Are there any necessary requirements?"

Liu Kuan said, "There are no specific requirements, but it must have a certain meaning. It's best if it's related to the country's name, so that people will think of Ming Dynasty when they see the flag."

After a pause, he continued, "In fact, in history, during the middle and late Ming Dynasty, some common people went out to sea and saw that most other ships flew national flags, so they spontaneously flew the Ming flag on their ships as well. This was just a tacit agreement among the people, not officially recognized."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very interested and asked, "What kind of flag is that?"

Liu Kuan said, "Since they are homemade by the people, there are naturally many forms, with the red sun flag and the sun and moon flag being the main ones."

"After seeing these historical materials, some people in later generations assumed that it was the Ming Dynasty flag and designed a Ming Dynasty flag based on it."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Could you draw the flag of the Ming Dynasty? If it suits my taste, it would save me the trouble of thinking about it."

"I can paint."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately asked Li Gui to bring Liu Kuan the paper, pen and paint he requested, and even thoughtfully asked someone to bring tables and chairs.

When Liu Kuan picked up the pen, two of the most widely circulated Ming Dynasty flags in later generations emerged in his mind.

The first one is a flag with a blue background and a red sun and moon drawn by netizens.

It has a blue background, with a circle in the middle consisting of a yellow sun and a white moon, and further out are twelve-pointed red rays.

The second one is a "national flag" that became popular after the TV series "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" was aired.

It has a red background with faint cloud patterns, a golden dragon circling a white sun in the middle, and a large black word "Ming" written in the middle.

The latter flag is quite beautiful and is consistent with most people's imagination of the Ming Dynasty national flag, but Liu Kuan directly rejected it.

For one thing, the figure seems to contain elements of the “sun,” but no corresponding elements of the “moon.”

Second, the name of the Ming Dynasty was "Da Ming" rather than "Ming".

The Qing dynasty deliberately downplayed the power of the previous dynasty when compiling history, which is why it was called "Ming Dynasty" in many historical documents. In the official historical documents of the Ming Dynasty, the country's name was "Da Ming".

Therefore, it would be inappropriate to directly use the second "national flag".

But the first flag did not suit his aesthetic taste, and the blue background looked unfamiliar to him - no matter how he thought about it, the red background seemed familiar to him.

He really wanted the golden dragon on the second flag, but he felt that the red twelve-pointed arrows on the first flag, although rich in meaning, were not beautiful enough.

Thinking of this, Liu Kuan finally had a specific image of the Ming Dynasty flag in his mind, so he began to draw.

The painting was finished soon and Li Gui presented it to the imperial desk. Zhu Yuanzhang smiled as soon as he saw it, because Liu Kuan's painting was indeed a bit crude.

However, he could imagine what the Ming Dynasty national flag would look like - a red background with a green dragon wrapped around a circle composed of a yellow sun and a white moon.

Seems pretty good.

He then asked with a smile: "Why does this national flag have a red background?"

Liu Kuan was well prepared and said, "First, I have heard that the Five Elements of the Ming Dynasty are in the fire element, which corresponds to the color red."

"Secondly, the color red can also remind future generations that the Ming dynasty was won with the blood of Your Majesty and countless soldiers, and we should protect it with blood."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded after hearing this, and his expression became solemn when he thought of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the Ming Dynasty.

Then he asked, "Why is this dragon blue instead of gold?"

Liu Kuan said, "First, it is used to distinguish the red background from the yellow sun and white moon inside. Second, the blue color can represent both the sky and the land and the sea."

"Together with the red background and the sun and moon within, it symbolizes: The Ming Dynasty was founded with the blood of countless heroes, protected by a true dragon, and stands tall between heaven and earth, its rule forever secure and its prosperity unending!"

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and said loudly: "Good, good! The Ming Dynasty will be forever stable and its prosperity will last forever - the meaning of this flag is very much in line with our wishes. It is settled!"

"Li Gui, take this picture and find an artist to paint it exactly as Liu Kuan described. Then ask the officials to make a copy for us. Let's take a look first."

"According to the order!"

Watching Li Gui leave, Liu Kuan asked, "Your Majesty, what about setting up a flagpole in front of Fengtian Hall?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile, "We already approve of the national flag you designed. How could we disagree with the flagpole? Without a flagpole, where would the flag be hung? Just go back and write a petition and submit it to us, and we'll approve it."

Liu Kuan also smiled and said, "I obey your order!"

After Liu Kuan left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the previous discussion about the strangeness of Zhongdu and the method of winning, and his face darkened again.

"Call the prince over."

"According to the order."

An eunuch responded and went to do it.

Soon, Zhu Biao arrived at Fengxian Hall.

He bowed and asked, "I wonder why your Majesty has summoned me here?"

Zhu Yuanzhang recounted the strange things he had experienced in Zhongdu that year, as well as Liu Kuan's speculation about the strangeness and the denial of the winning method by later generations.

Finally, I asked, “What do you think about this?”

Zhu Biao knew about the events in Zhongdu. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "I believe that what happened in Zhongdu was just as Liu Kuan said. It was either a natural coincidence or man-made."

"If it's man-made, I'm afraid it has something to do with Duke Han and even some of the Huaixi nobles."

As for the situation where strange phenomena are caused by natural coincidences, Zhu Biao did not say anything - a son should not blame his father for his mistakes.

Besides, the incident had already happened. Even if he scolded his father, those craftsmen would not survive.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded after hearing what Zhu Biao said. "It seems you share the same idea as me. In fact, when we decided to change Fengyang to the capital, not only did Liu Bowen and other officials from western Zhejiang object, but even officials and generals from Lianghuai also had some objections."

"But because Xu Da, Tang He and other old brothers think the same as me, that making Fengyang the capital is a good thing, it will not only allow us to return home in glory, but also benefit our hometown, so I insisted on doing it."

"After the strange incident in Zhongdu, I was furious and didn't think much of it. But after returning to the capital and calming down, I began to have many doubts about the matter."

"For one thing, there's no real evidence that the craftsman used the magic of victory. They claimed to have found the wooden figure used for the curse, but in reality, it was just someone under them knowing we were determined to kill them and secretly arranged it."

"Secondly, Li Shanchang's secret proposal of the winning strategy seems to be for our own good, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, but is he really that kind-hearted?"

"Once this happens, the most direct consequence is that the palace city will be unusable, and Fengyang will no longer be able to serve as the capital."

"In the following years, many Huai people and nobles harmed the people and violated the law in their hometown. I finally figured out the reason."

"If we make Fengyang our capital, the hometowns of Li Shanchang and the Huai people will become the emperor's feet. Their every move will be directly observed by us, so how can they lord it over their hometowns? They are naturally not happy with our making Fengyang the capital!"

Zhu Biao nodded after hearing this, thinking that this inference was quite reasonable.

Then he asked in confusion, "Since Your Majesty saw through the intentions of Li Shanchang and the others, why did he ultimately give up the idea of ​​making Fengyang the capital?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "First, I believed in the winning strategy at that time. Even if I had doubts, I didn't dare to gamble with the safety of myself and my descendants."

"Secondly, at that time, the civil and military officials in the court were either from the Zhejiang West faction or the Huaixi faction. Neither of these two groups wanted us to establish our capital in Fengyang. Even if we were stubborn, it would be difficult for us to go against them."

"Therefore, after weighing all the pros and cons, we simply pretended not to notice the intentions of Li Shanchang and his men and announced that the capital would be Jinling."

Zhu Biao was impressed again after hearing this and said, "Your Majesty, your choice is correct. Overall, Nanjing is indeed more suitable as the capital than Fengyang."

"So what if he's right?" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted. "When I think about how I might have been fooled by that old bastard Li Shanchang, and how he might have accidentally killed thousands of craftsmen, I can't wait to skin him alive!"

Zhu Biao broke out in a cold sweat when he heard this.

"Father, this is all speculation, without any evidence. You can't blame anyone. After all, Duke Han has made great contributions."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and paced back and forth on the imperial steps, humming, "After hearing your advice, I'm getting angrier the more I think about it... Come, summon Jinyiwei Commander Mao Xiang!"

　It's rare that I have time, so the first update will be posted in the morning.

　　See if I can gather some manuscripts.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)