Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 192: News from Later Times, Lao Zhu Beware [Please Subscribe]

Although Liu Kuan found it hard to accept, when he thought about the fact that he couldn't even send messages on WeChat, it made sense that the Baidu search engine couldn't receive the information he entered.

But doing so seemed to completely cut off his hope of contacting future generations.

This reality made Liu Kuan more rational.

Some ideas flashed through his mind like lightning.

"By the way, I've been missing for two years. Even if my SIM card wasn't cancelled, it should have been shut down due to unpaid bills. How can I still use the 5G network in the future?"

He immediately logged into WeChat again and checked the status of his phone - it turned out to be suspended due to unpaid bills.

It is obviously unreasonable that he can still access the Internet even when his mobile phone is turned off. This shows that compared with later generations, his mobile phone should be in a special state.

Then he tried to recharge his phone, but that didn't work either.

This made Liu Kuan almost lose the idea of ​​making any other attempts.

"I don't know when this mist will clear, so I'd better download something first."

Liu Kuan first clicked on Bilibili, which was his favorite website before he traveled through time. He found several science and history up-loaders similar to "Planetary Research Institute" by following them on the homepage. He then went to their homepages, judged the content of the videos based on the titles, and clicked to download the videos one by one.

After clicking, he realized that whether it was because of the phone or the network, the video download speed was far inferior to the 5G network experience before he traveled through time.

A video of more than ten minutes like this can be downloaded in a few seconds using 5G in a big city.

But now it takes tens of seconds to download one.

Seeing this, Liu Kuan did not look for more videos on Bilibili, but went to download a movie to try.

The movie is a little over two hours long and it took several minutes to download.

Liu Kuan did not look for other movies or videos, but went to read the news of later generations.

"International gold prices have finally fallen after three consecutive months of growth."

"A milk tea shop employee who looks like Cecilia Cheung has become a new internet celebrity."

"South Korea's birth rate hits new low."

"Todai's manned lunar landing program has taken another solid step forward."

"Los Angeles' free shopping has lasted for three days..."

After scanning several news items, Liu Kuan couldn't help but frown.

Because these news gave him the feeling that he had seen them before the time travel, and there was nothing eye-catching or big news.

"It seems that the situation in the future will remain as turbulent as before, but generally stable. That's good."

With this in mind, Liu Kuan clicked on another news video. While watching, he tried to comment below to connect with future generations, but it didn't work.

Then, he opened a certain app and tried to post a book review on the novel "I Help My Wife Become an Empress" that he was reading before he traveled through time, but it still didn't work.

'Forget it, I won't try.'

"My eldest brother was promoted to vice president of the company at the age of 33. He's quite successful in his career and should be able to take good care of my parents... I hope the pain caused by my disappearance will fade away from their hearts soon."

With a sigh, Liu Kuan re-entered Bilibili and prepared to find some technical videos to download to add "foundation" to the development of science and technology in Ming Dynasty.

As a result, he just went in and searched for a while, but before he could choose which one to download, the webpage stopped working.

Liu Kuan looked around and realized that the mist had disappeared at some point, as if it had never appeared.

Looking at the upper left corner of the phone screen, the signal had indeed disappeared.

He went to check the videos and a movie he had downloaded before. Fortunately, they were all downloaded.
···
Outside the cross-river bridge.

Zhu Biao was taken out of the highway by his accompanying guards.

After getting off the horse, he kept staring at the mist on the bridge, waiting nervously and anxiously.

At this moment, he felt a little regretful for not taking Liu Kuan with him, but given the situation at the time, if he had to forcibly take Liu Kuan away, it would have been too inhumane and would most likely have made Liu Kuan feel resentful.

In that case, even if you can keep Liu Kuan's people, you may lose Liu Kuan's sincerity.

If Liu Kuan is unwilling to sincerely help the Ming Dynasty and the Zhu family, it is hard to say how the Ming Dynasty's development will change in the future.

Apart from anything else, any targeted trap left by Liu Kuan could cause the Zhu family to suffer a major setback many years later.

Thinking of this, Zhu Biao felt relieved and slowly let out a breath.

"Your Highness, the fog has dissipated!" Li Zhanyuan next to him suddenly spoke.

Zhu Biao looked and saw that the mist on the bridge had suddenly disappeared.

He was about to go up the bridge, but was stopped by Li Zhanyuan. "Your Highness, even though the strange fog has dissipated, there's no guarantee that there won't be danger on the bridge. If Your Highness needs anything, just tell me to do it."

Zhu Biao did not insist on going up the bridge and said, "Send someone to see how Liu Kuan is doing."

"As ordered!"

Li Zhanyuan took the order and immediately sent several guards to the bridge on horseback.

Not long after, these guards came over with Liu Kuan, Wang Guangyue and others.

Liu Kuan looked a little uneasy when he saw Zhu Biao. Recalling what had happened in the mist, he bowed and said, "I was disrespectful and offensive on the bridge before. I beg Your Highness to forgive me."

Zhu Biao was very happy to see Liu Kuan return safely and said, "As long as my brother-in-law is back safely, don't worry about anything else."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Afterwards, Zhu Biao ordered the army to continue blocking the bridge in the afternoon, and then took Liu Kuan and others back to the city.

When they arrived near the imperial city, Zhu Biao said, "Brother-in-law, please come with me to the palace and tell my father what happened just now, so that he won't misunderstand."

Liu Kuan and Zhu Biao both knew that what happened on the bridge today could not be hidden from Zhu Yuanzhang.

So instead of letting Zhu Yuanzhang learn about it from other people and then make random guesses, it would be better for them to go and talk things out in person to avoid misunderstandings.

Liu Kuan also understood this and nodded in agreement. The two of them went to Fengxian Hall together. After paying their respects, Zhu Biao said, "Your Majesty, today your son and I, my brother-in-law, went to the bridge and encountered the strange fog from two years ago. However, this strange fog is very thin now."

"The mist appeared and disappeared in less than a hundred breaths. Nothing else strange happened. However, my brother-in-law's phone received a signal from the afterlife during that time."

Zhu Yuanzhang actually already knew about the mist on the bridge - when the mist first appeared, the general responsible for blocking the bridge sent a fast horse to report to him.

After receiving this news, he was naturally very worried about the safety of Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan.

Just as he was about to go over and take a look himself, someone came to report that Zhu Biao had left the fog and the bridge road and was safe and sound.

This made him feel much more at ease and he no longer had to rush to the scene to find out what was going on.

However, after hearing Zhu Biao's words, Zhu Yuanzhang was still surprised and asked, "Do mobile phones have signals from later generations? Could it be that this fog is really the same as it was two years ago, with the ability to allow people to travel through time and space?"

Zhu Biao looked at Liu Kuan.

Liu Kuan then said, "Your Majesty, this mist may be essentially the same as the thick fog from two years ago, both possessing the ability to connect time and space, but it is far less dense than that time."

"I suspect that this is why the mist didn't allow anyone or anything to travel through time and space. It simply allowed my phone to receive a signal from the future through the mist."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to understand, nodded, and calmly asked: "In that case, have you been able to contact the people in the future? Have you informed your parents that you are safe?"

Zhu Biao heard the hidden meaning in these two questions, but he did not worry about Liu Kuan.

Because he had learned about it on the way back to the city, he knew that Liu Kuan could not send any information, let alone contact the future generations.

Liu Kuan shook his head regretfully. "I don't know why, but after getting a signal on my phone, although I can connect to the internet and browse and download information, I can't send any messages."

"I made many attempts but all failed. I was worried that the strange fog would disappear, so I quickly downloaded several videos and a movie."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, seemingly not doubting Liu Kuan's words.

Then he asked Zhu Biao, "Biao'er, since there's something strange happening on the bridge, it needs to be blocked for a while. Did you give any orders before you left?"

Zhu Biao said, "I have ordered the soldiers to close the bridge for another afternoon."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. "One afternoon is too short. We have to keep the blockade going for at least three more days before we can lift it."

After saying this, he sent someone to convey this order.

After the eunuch who had delivered the message left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang said sternly, "Liu Kuan, you were a bit rash this time. When you noticed something strange about the fog on the bridge, you should have left immediately with Biao'er."

"It's understandable that you want to contact your afterlife, report your safety to your parents, and take the opportunity to download some videos and movies."

"But have you ever thought about what would happen if you died instead of traveling back or to another place this time?"

"Have you ever thought about what will happen to Huilan after you leave Daming? What about Su and her unborn child? We can take care of them for you, but they are still without husbands after all!"

At the end of his speech, Old Zhu looked extremely stern.

After Old Zhu's scolding, Liu Kuan felt relieved and quickly bowed and said, "This time, I was rash. I know I was wrong!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Since this is your first time experiencing this, your mishandling of the situation is understandable, so I will not hold you accountable."

"However, if this strange fog appears again next time, you must remember: your safety is the most important thing. Things like contacting the afterlife and downloading videos must take a back seat."

"At that time, you can send two people to stay in the strange fog and make sure they are safe and sound after experiencing it. The next time the strange fog appears, we will allow you to use it to try to contact the afterlife and download the video."

"Do you remember it?"

"I'll keep it in mind!" Liu Kuan agreed, but then he couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Your Majesty, although this mist appeared exactly two years after the last one, no one can be sure whether it will appear again two years later... At least, I have a feeling that it won't appear with such regularity."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "No matter when he appears, you must do as I say, even if I am no longer around!"

Since Zhu Yuanzhang had said so, Liu Kuan would not argue any more and said, "Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Alright, you can go back home. I'm afraid Huilan has heard about this and is worried about you."

"Wei Chen retire."

After Liu Kuan left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and then looked at Zhu Biao.

"Liu Kuan said he has not contacted the afterlife. Do you believe him?"

After hearing this, Zhu Biao knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had doubts about this matter.

This is normal - if Zhu Yuanzhang believed everything his subordinates said, he would not have become the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Biao recalled what happened on the bridge and said, "At that time, Liu Kuan first said that his phone had a signal, but after a brief try, he said that the message could not be sent. He did not look like he was faking it at the time. In that situation, it is unlikely that he would react so quickly and pretend so convincingly."

Zhu Yuanzhang listened and said, "What if he had been prepared for such a situation before and had secretly practiced it many times?"

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly and said speechlessly, "Father, I have known Liu Kuan for two years. He is definitely not such a scheming person."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said, "I'm not afraid of ten thousand, I'm afraid of one. From now on, every year on the third day of August, the cross-river bridge must be tightly sealed."

"And deploy 10,000 personal troops at each end of the bridge, each with 30 Shenwei cannons and 300 Huzun cannons!"

"If any suspected enemies from later times reach the Ming Dynasty through that strange fog, we must destroy them even if it means destroying the bridge!"

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Zhu Biao knew that he could not persuade him anymore and could only say: "Your son will remember this."

But I was thinking, if the army from later generations really came through time, how could the Ming Dynasty be able to defeat them?

···
Liu Kuan returned to the mansion and came to his senses when he saw Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei, who was already pregnant.

Zhu Huilan led her maid to change Liu Kuan's outer clothes while asking, "Husband, you look so dignified. Was there something unusual with the test on the bridge today?"

After hearing this, Liu Kuan knew that Zhu Huilan was still unaware of the strange fog that had appeared on the bridge.

Come to think of it, the strange fog disappeared in less than ten minutes, and the surrounding area was blocked by the Ming army. Even if the people saw something strange from afar, it would be impossible for it to reach Zhu Huilan's ears so quickly.

But this matter is not easy to hide.

Therefore, Liu Kuan hesitated for a moment and decided to tell Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei what happened on the bridge.

　First update.

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)