Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 17: The Matchmaking of Mandarin Ducks, Metaphysics Traveling Through Time [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

"In that case, let Biaoer go with you to take a look."

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang also wanted to go and take a look, but considering that there were already a lot of memorials piled up that he had not reviewed in the morning, he gave up the idea.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang was subconsciously wary of the cross-river bridge - if he and Zhu Biao went together and something happened to them, such as traveling to the future, then the Ming Dynasty would be in chaos.

It would be better to let Zhu Biao go and take a look first. If there is really something worth seeing in there, it will not be too late for him to go and see it another day.

Zhu Biao responded and left the Dashan Hall with Liu Kuan.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched the two men disappear outside the palace gate and said, "Sister, what do you think of Liu Kuan?"

Queen Ma smiled and said, "He looks like a scholar, but his knowledge is much better than that of ordinary scholars."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and said, "Sister, you have good taste. This Liu Kuan will be a scholar in the future. We are planning to recruit him as a prince consort. What do you think of pairing him with Xuan Le?"

Empress Ma asked, "You've already said you'll marry Xuan Le to Ouyang Lun, why are you changing your mind now?"

Zhu Yuanzhang explained, "Sister, I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. I don't like that boy Ouyang Lun, and I'm afraid Xuan Le will be wronged if she marries him."

"It's only because the Ouyang family was kind to us in the past, and Ouyang Lun is handsome and well-educated, and Xuan Le also likes him, that we ordered a couple to be together."

"But Liu Kuan is obviously more suitable for Xuan Le. I only told you and Xuan Le about promising Xuan Le to Ouyang Lun. Ouyang Lun might not even know about it. I haven't even issued an order, so it doesn't matter if I regret it."

Zhu Xuanle is the youngest daughter of Empress Ma and also her last child. She is fifteen years old this year and is quite favored by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Empress Ma sighed and said, "I think Xuan Le has been secretly in love with Ouyang Lun ever since she met him. I'm afraid it's inappropriate for you to marry her off to someone else without any reason."

"Besides, we teach children to be grateful and repay kindness. Since the Ouyang family has been kind to you, we must repay them."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "There are many ways to repay your kindness. We don't have to marry off our daughter. When Ouyang Lun graduates from the Imperial College, we can give him a prestigious official position."

Empress Ma did not respond to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, but continued, "Xuan Le has been spoiled by you since she was a child, and she is quite spoiled and arrogant."

"Liu Kuan comes from a later era and is quite arrogant. He seems not to be afraid of you. I'm afraid he can't tolerate Xuande's temper and probably won't get along with Xuanle."

"Besides, Huilan, who is a year older than you, is still unmarried, yet you want to marry Xuanle off first. How will Huilan feel? She suffered innocently because of your dismissal."

"Her biological mother, Ah Zhu, served me for many years, and died giving birth to a daughter because of you. We must find a good husband for Huilan so that we can feel at ease."

In Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, the image of Azhu, the personal maid beside Empress Ma more than ten years ago, had long been blurred.

Even if Empress Ma mentioned it, he couldn't remember it clearly. He only remembered that Ah Zhu was a very beautiful and considerate woman.

Not long after Empress Ma followed him out of Haozhou, Ah Zhu had been serving by his side. Although she and Empress Ma were not as close as sisters, their relationship was definitely more than that of an ordinary master and servant.

After Ah Zhu died of complications during childbirth, Empress Ma raised her daughter Huilan as her own.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not forget his daughter Huilan.

There was a reason why he omitted Zhu Huilan.

First, in the 12th year of Hongwu, he issued an edict to select Chen Cheng, the son of the Imperial Censor Chen Ning, as his son-in-law, and planned to marry Zhu Huilan to Chen Cheng after the New Year.

As a result, the Hu Weiyong case broke out in the first month of the 13th year of Hongwu. The Imperial Censor Chen Ning was stubborn and colluded with Hu Weiyong, so he killed all the male members of his family.

As such, it was impossible for Zhu Huilan to marry a dead man who had committed the crime of treason, and the marriage was delayed.

However, because of this, when Zhu Yuanzhang was considering several daughters who were about to get married, he directly excluded Zhu Huilan.

He married off his daughter this time in order to win over Liu Kuan and make him a member of his family.

If Liu Kuan knew that Zhu Huilan had been promised to Chen Cheng but was not married because the Chen family was involved in a major treason case, he would probably harbor resentment and even hatred.

In that case, marrying his daughter to Liu Kuan would backfire.

Another reason was that he subconsciously believed that his and Queen Ma's children were of the direct lineage and had a slightly more noble status.

Therefore, he thought of changing Zhu Xuanle, who had privately promised to marry Ouyang Lun, to marry Liu Kuan instead.

However, Empress Ma had a great influence on Zhu Yuanzhang, and her words just now were very reasonable, which made Zhu Yuanzhang waver in his thoughts.

After a brief pause, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I think Liu Kuan is a simple man. I will summon him to the palace later and you can talk to him."

"Explain everything about Huilan and Xuanle to him and let him make his own choice. That way, no matter what happens in the future, neither he, Huilan, nor Xuanle can blame us."

Queen Ma smiled and said, "Although your words may be irresponsible, your idea is not bad."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and left the Dashan Hall and went to the Fengxian Hall to review the memorials.

···
Zhu Biao recruited more than 3,000 personal soldiers and took Liu Kuan out of the imperial city and headed towards Loujiang Gate.

Liu Kuan was still carrying his bag, but his bicycle was left in the imperial city. This time he was riding a horse, led by a personal soldier.

On the way, Zhu Biao couldn't help asking, "Young Master Liu once said that Yunwen's life and death were unknown after the Jingnan Campaign. Is there any record of him in the history books later?"

After all, Zhu Yunwen is also Zhu Biao's son, so Zhu Biao still wants to know the ending of Zhu Yunwen in history.

Liu Kuan said, "The official history only says that he burned himself to death in the palace. However, unofficial history says that he disguised himself as a monk and escaped, fleeing far overseas."

"Therefore, some people also say that Emperor Yongle later sent Zheng He to the West seven times, one of the purposes of which was to find Emperor Jianwen to eliminate future troubles." The fourth brother sent people to the West seven times to find Yunwen?
At that time, the Ming people's understanding of the Western Ocean actually referred to the later Indian Ocean. Even so, it was a place farther away than the South China Sea, and sailing there was no easy task.

Zhu Biao was puzzled and said, "I'm afraid this statement is unreliable, right?"

Liu Kuan laughed and said, "That's why it's called unofficial history."

"Then why did Emperor Yongle send envoys to the Western Ocean seven times?"

Liu Kuan said, "There are three main theories. The first is to promote national prestige and compel overseas nations to submit to the Ming Dynasty and pay tribute. The second is to combat the remaining Japanese pirates, including Zhang Shicheng's forces, and quell the maritime threat. The third is to conduct official trade, obtain gold, silver, and treasures from Southeast Asia, and enrich the national treasury."

"These three theories are much more reliable." Zhu Biao nodded, then couldn't help asking, "How many years has my fourth brother been in power? How are his achievements in civil and military affairs?"

Liu Kuan didn't expect that Zhu Biao seemed to have turned into a problem baby, as if he wanted to empty his stomach.

Seeing Loujiang Gate in sight, Liu Kuan said, "Your Highness, this is a long story. How about we talk about it again when we have a chance?"

Zhu Biao realized that he had asked too many questions too quickly, and smiled awkwardly, saying, "That's fine."

After leaving Loujiang Gate, Liu Kuan, Zhu Biao and others soon arrived near the bridgehead (Nanbao).

From a distance of several hundred steps, Liu Kuan felt that something seemed to be missing from the bridgehead wall.

Liu Kuan remembered that there seemed to be several lines of eye-catching big red characters on the wall. He remembered the general content, but he could not remember the specific sentences, after all, he had only glanced at them a few times.

Now that he discovered that the big red words had disappeared inexplicably, or had not crossed over with the bridge, Liu Kuan couldn't help but have some doubts.

"Could it be that the Great God Hexie can even affect the bridge after traveling through time and space?"

After muttering something in his heart, Liu Kuan, Zhu Biao and others finally arrived at the gate on the first floor of the bridgehead.

The door is open.

Liu Kuan was still helped down from his horse by others, but Zhu Biao just lifted his leg and got down in a very elegant manner.

Just as the two were about to go in together, Captain Chen Hu clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness, please allow me to take the others in to take a look."

Although Chen Hu was a bit reckless, as a general guarding Zhu Biao, he kept his duties in mind - he was worried that there might be danger in the fort, so he had to eliminate the safety hazards first.

Zhu Biao was not arrogant and nodded, saying, "Be careful."

"Yes!"

Chen Hu responded and walked in cautiously with a dozen soldiers.

Zhu Biao then said to Liu Kuan, "Don't mind, Young Master Liu. Protecting you and me is the duty of these personal soldiers."

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I don't mind such things."

After a while, Chen Hu came out with his personal army.

"Your Highness, there is nothing in this stone building."

Nothing?

Liu Kuan was silent for a moment after hearing this, but he felt that it was reasonable.

He remembered that his friend had mentioned that there was an exhibition hall in the South Fort, which displayed a lot of information, items, models, etc. related to the construction of the bridge.

It was "very reasonable" that neither the big red words on the wall nor the items related to the exhibition hall came through.

Afterwards, Liu Kuan and Zhu Biao went into the fortress together to take a look around.

Zhu Biao could still learn about the reinforced concrete architectural style of later generations through the fort tower, but for Liu Kuan, there was nothing worth seeing.

In addition, Liu Kuan remembered that when the personal troops who explored the railway reported on the Loujiang Gate Tower, they did not mention the railway platform, which meant that they did not see the platform.

For example, Nanjing Railway Station is a very large building. If the exploring troops had crossed over along the railway, it would have been impossible for them to miss it.

Liu Kuan speculated that most things that were not closely related to railways had not traveled through time.

It can even be said that this time travel has a metaphysical nature - some things are traveled through, while some are not, it all depends on what "God" wants to travel through to the Ming Dynasty.

When he reached the top floor, which is the Nanbao Observation Deck, Liu Kuan couldn't help but open his backpack and took out his mobile phone to see if he could connect to the Internet.

As a young man growing up in the new era, Liu Kuan really finds it difficult to adapt to life without a mobile phone and internet.

After unlocking the phone screen with my fingerprint, I saw that the network was still disconnected.

"Maybe I can try again next month, when I travel through time."

Liu Kuan thought so in his heart and prepared to put away his phone.

Zhu Biao, who had been glancing at his phone several times, couldn't help but ask, "What is that thing that Master Liu is holding?"

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(End of this chapter)