Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 132: Police Dog and Female Detective, Central and Southern China in the Early Ming Dynasty [Please Subscribe]

Zhu Yuanzhang noticed Liu Kuan's movements and asked, "Liu Kuan, why are you shaking your head?"

Liu Kuan said, "I simply feel that His Royal Highness Prince Lu is still young. If he is to preside over the Six Gates, His Majesty must carefully select the right people to assist him, one civil and one military."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed, "If you don't tell us about this, we can save ourselves the trouble."

When Zhu Tan saw that he was not blamed for "eavesdropping" but got a good job instead, his face was immediately filled with joy and he simply came to the side of the emperor.

"Father, I think the police dogs in this movie are also very good. Perhaps our Ming Dynasty can also train hunting dogs to help catch criminals."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the police dog named "Xiaotian" in the movie.

They rely on their keen sense of smell to search for missing informants in the chaotic city, assist in apprehending criminals in the dreaded vehicle chase, cooperate with soldiers in placing explosives, and can even navigate through gunfire and test traps (mines) made of explosives without fear of life or death.

Although he was eventually killed by the enemy's musket, he had made great contributions and died heroically.

If the Ming Dynasty could really train such a powerful hunting dog, it would indeed be of great use.

He nodded and said, "Your idea is good. We in the Ming Dynasty can indeed train hunting dogs to catch criminals."

"There are so many useful technologies in the future. Even if we envy them, the Ming Dynasty cannot produce them all at once. But as long as these hunting dogs are trained properly, they should show results in a few years."

Zhu Ying, watching the limelight being stolen by the little boy, Old Ten, was very unwilling to accept this and quickly said, "Father, I think we can train military dogs—not to kill the enemy, but as long as they can help spies discover the enemy clan in advance, it's worth a try."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded approvingly and looked at Zhu Ying. "Training military dogs is indeed worth a try—I'll leave this matter to you. But like Old Ten, you must not interfere with the classes at the main hall."

"Finally I got a job!"

Zhu Ying cried out in excitement and replied loudly, "I obey your command! I will not delay my studies!"

Seeing that Old Zhu seemed to be in a good mood today, Liu Kuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, have you noticed the policewoman in the movie?"

Old Zhu was very smart. He immediately understood Liu Kuan's idea and asked with a smile, "Do you want the Ming Dynasty to recruit female police officers like in the movies?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, although women are not as strong as men and are not as convenient in fighting as men, they do have other advantages."

"Firstly, women are usually more careful and more likely to notice certain details in a case."

"Secondly, women in disguise can more easily approach criminals, lowering their vigilance. Furthermore, in some special situations, women can also play an unexpected role."

Zhu Yuanzhang actually felt that women were not suitable to be constables and were not suitable for fighting and killing.

But he thought, since there are female police officers in later generations, there must be a reason for it.

Besides, this was not a major matter concerning national policy, and since Liu Kuan had brought it up, he might as well give him some face.

So he nodded, "Then allow all police stations and the Six Gates to recruit female detectives."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood today. After hearing Liu Kuan's flattery, he couldn't help but jokingly said, "If I don't agree with what you said, I'm not wise."

Liu Kuan said shamelessly: "Your Majesty has always been wise."

What he was thinking was that everything is difficult at the beginning. If Old Zhu could agree to let a woman serve as a patrol officer today, he would agree to let women serve in other positions in the future.

With the development of light industries such as textiles in the future, women will earn as much as men, their status will naturally rise, and they will have fewer restrictions.

In Liu Kuan's view, no matter how men and women debate in the future, in this feudal era, it is absolutely right to remove some of the constraints on women and allow them to make more contributions to social development.

While Liu Kuan was thinking about this, Lao Zhu said something else with emotion.

"This movie is truly exciting, and the battle scenes are thrilling. However, even though they ultimately triumphed and successfully captured the drug lord and brought him back to China, it still feels frustrating."

"I just took a quick glance at the map in the movie. That Golden Triangle should be located in the area of ​​present-day Pegu, Siam, and Lancang, right?"

"Since these countries have never been united in later generations, how powerful can they be?"

"Since the imperial court has decided to investigate the case thoroughly, avenge the victims, and restore their innocence, why not send a large army to the border to force these three countries to cooperate in the investigation?"

"We sent a team of elite detectives, and although they ultimately succeeded in apprehending the bandit leader, they also suffered numerous casualties. Furthermore, what if they failed and the bandit leader escaped?"

Seeing Old Zhu asking questions one after another with a puzzled look on his face, Liu Kuan couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He explained, "Your Majesty, the situations between countries in the future cannot be judged with today's perspective. The court in the future had its reasons for doing so."

"At that time, other powerful countries were still eyeing China covetously. They wanted us to go to war with neighboring countries, and then support us from behind and drag China into the quagmire of war."

"Besides, there are several countries on the Indochina Peninsula, and the relationships are complicated. One move could affect the entire country, so it's not easy to fight."

"Of course, the most important thing is that at that time, China was more than a hundred years behind the world because of the three hundred years of ignorance by the Qing Dynasty."

"After the founding of the People's Republic of China, two or three generations have worked hard for decades to catch up, but we have only just made it into the ranks of world powers. We still need time to focus on development. We will certainly not do as our opponents wish and start a war over a major case."

Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised at first, and then became thoughtful.

After several breaths, he said, "I never thought that in later generations, even though they could build such a great cross-river bridge and the huge port of Zhoushan, and possess such capable officials and such elite soldiers, they would still not be the most powerful nation in the world, and would even be targeted by powerful enemies. It's truly incredible."

"But if, as you say, the imperial court of later generations chose to send a team of elite detectives abroad to solve this case at risk, it would indeed be a good solution, apart from being a bit frustrating."

Liu Kuan nodded and said nothing more, so as to prevent Lao Zhu from continuing to talk about this issue that was being watched by the great god of river crabs.

Old Zhu drummed his fingers on the imperial desk and said, "According to what we know from the secret books of the Yuan court, the countries on the Indochina Peninsula you mentioned were all attacked by the Yuan Dynasty at the height of its military power after it conquered the Song Dynasty."

"During the reign of Kublai Khan, the Yuan army conquered Dali and established the Yunnan Province. They then continued southward, conquering a country called Pagan and establishing the Burma-China Province to govern it."

"Unfortunately, the area was mostly mountainous, hot, humid, and full of miasma, making it unsuitable for the Yuan army to station there. Therefore, within a few years, the Yuan court abolished the provinces and established Xuanweisi, military offices, and post stations, allowing the local dignitaries and chieftains to govern themselves, thus turning them into vassal states." "Other states, such as Champa, Lancang, and Chenla, either had their capitals captured by the Yuan army or were nearly destroyed."

"However, when the Yuan army attacked Annan, the easternmost country, the Chen Dynasty had just been established and was quite impressive."

"The Yuan army was defeated by the Chen army three times, and the plan to conquer Indochina failed."

"If not for this, there would have been two or three more provinces like Yunnan under the rule of the former Yuan Dynasty."

After a pause, Lao Zhu continued, "According to the intelligence sent back by the Guangming Guards from the south, Pagan is still fragmented. Aside from Ava and Pegu, the rest are just some princely states and tribes, so there's nothing to worry about."

"As for Annan, the Chen Dynasty is now on the decline. The previous emperor, Chen Shuming, appointed himself the Emperor. He was old and incompetent. After his son died in the war with Champa, he supported his grandson to succeed him."

"Today, the country is plagued by corrupt officials and powerful families. It has lost the grandeur of the Chen Dynasty a hundred years ago."

"As for small countries like Siam, Chenla, and Champa, their rulers may be capable or incompetent, but their countries are small and their populations are few, so they are not worth mentioning."

"Since the Ming Dynasty is determined to dominate the oceans, we must capture the Indochina Peninsula. The opportunity to capture Pagan and Annan only comes once in a century. If we miss it, when another wise ruler emerges in those regions, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to conquer them."

Liu Kuan was quite surprised by Zhu Yuanzhang's words.

Calculating the time, the Guangming Guard was established for only three months, but it had already sent back intelligence from Pagan and Annan.

But he soon came to his senses - perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang had already sent spies to Indochina, and combined with some information obtained from the Yuan court's secret books, he had an understanding of the situation in several countries in Indochina.

Coming back to his senses, Liu Kuan couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty has a keen eye. Twenty or thirty years later, Annan and northern Pagan were indeed incorporated into the Ming Dynasty's rule. Annan was even established as the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commissioner. Unfortunately, later..."

"The good saint grandson is lost, you don't need to tell me!"

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted Liu Kuan and winked.

Liu Kuan immediately realized that Zhu Yuanzhang was worried that he would reveal Zhu Zhanji's name, which would be heard by Zhu Ying and other princes, who would guess that Zhu Di had later seized the throne.

"It seems that Old Zhu and Zhu Biao have decided to keep the fact that Zhu Di was trying to seize the throne a secret. So I must be careful when I talk about related matters in the future."

"Whatever movies or videos are shown, it's best not to include relevant information, or only show them to Old Zhu and Zhu Biao."

Although many people have watched the previous "The Sword Identity", it only talked about Emperor Chongzhen and did not mention Zhu Youjian's name. Naturally, those who watched it did not know that Chongzhen was from Zhu Di's lineage.

Liu Kuan kept his mouth shut, but Zhu Ying and Zhu Tan became even more curious.

I thought, did the great saint lose Annan which had already been conquered?
Isn’t my father’s holy grandson Xiongying?
Then both of them looked at Zhu Xiongying with strange eyes.

Zhu Xiongying looked confused.

I thought to myself: Did I lose Annan after I ascended the throne? Will I be a tyrant when I grow up?
How can I be worthy of my grandfather and father?

Thinking of this, Zhu Xiongying immediately said firmly in his clear and crisp childish voice: "Grandpa Emperor, don't worry. Since Xiongying has received the teacher's teachings, I will never lose the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration of the Ming Dynasty in this life!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned at first, then he laughed, touched Zhu Xiongying's head and said: "Good boy, you don't have to blame yourself - in this life, your father and I will conquer Annan as soon as possible and govern the people there so that you can't lose it even if you want to, hahaha..."

At the end of the story, Zhu Yuanzhang himself probably found it quite amusing and couldn't help laughing.

Zhu Biao also smiled.

In this way, Lao Zhu and others’ discussion on the movie “Operation Mekong” ended.

Afterwards, Liu Kuan and Zhu Huilan stayed in the palace for about half an hour before returning home.

He is now a family man and also has to keep watch at night.

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With the sound of firecrackers a year old, the spring breeze sent warmth to Tusu.

Thousands of families always exchange new peaches for old ones.

This poem by Wang Anshi is particularly appropriate for the first month of the fifteenth year of Hongwu.

The news of "reopening the imperial examinations" confirmed by the imperial edict a year ago was not delayed due to the New Year. It was spread to the Twelve Provincial Governments of the Ming Dynasty by people traveling from south to north.

Therefore, when scholars paid New Year's greetings and visited relatives and friends during the Spring Festival, most of them had happy expressions on their faces, as if they had already passed the imperial examinations and become Jinshi.

As for the court announcement that mathematics would account for one-third of the imperial examination content, and that natural sciences and various crafts would be selected for examination, not many scholars cared about it.

The imperial examination has been held for eleven or twelve years, so it would be great if it can be held again.

On the other hand, after the Guo Huan case, the Ming Dynasty officialdom was cleansed and the six ministries became nine, and many vacancies suddenly appeared.

Because it takes time for the court to make a decision and for documents to be delivered, many officials who were not involved in the Guo Huan case only received news of their promotion after the government offices opened during the Spring Festival.

Although the officials under Zhu Yuanzhang were in great danger and had low salaries, once they entered the officialdom, few of them did not want to be promoted, even truly honest officials were no exception.

Upon learning that they were going to be promoted, these officials were overjoyed, and their families even set off firecrackers to celebrate.

After the eighth day of the first lunar month.

When all the government offices of the imperial court began to operate, another important news came out.

The imperial court will select the best from the fast-track yamen runners across the country, and recruit talented people from the underworld to form the "Six Gates", which will be affiliated with the newly established police department.

The first place where the announcement of this incident appeared was on the notice boards of the Yingtian Prefecture Yamen and the county yamen of Jiangning and Shangyuan counties.

On the morning of the ninth day of the first lunar month, as soon as the recruitment notice was posted, it immediately attracted many people to watch...
　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)