Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 249: The General Who Endured Humiliation, Less Than Ten Seconds of Video? [Subscribe]

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Sasaki Yoshimasa slammed the table in front of him and shouted, "Shut up! How can you guess or criticize the general's thoughts and concerns?!"

After hearing this, the Japanese dignitaries in the hall finally quieted down, but many of them still looked puzzled and unwilling.

Speaking of which, although Ashikaga Yoshimitsu now has a very high prestige in the Northern Court of Japan, he has been in power for less than ten years after all, and his foundation is not solid.

This can be seen from the fact that he kept piling up layers of power buffs on himself, and the fact that the Toki and Yamana clans still refused to submit.

It was precisely for this reason that he appeared weak in the arrest and release of Ming Dynasty merchants, which led to these Japanese dignitaries questioning and shouting at him in court.

In fact, even Yoshimasa Sasaki was dissatisfied with this.

So, after sending away these dignitaries, he went to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's study and reported the process of releasing the Ming Dynasty merchants.

After reporting, he said, "General, wouldn't it be too weak for us to just release those merchants?"

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sighed, "I know that such a decision would appear weak and even undermine the prestige I have worked so hard to build up."

"But if we don't do this, the Ming will surely use this as an excuse to invade next year. And since our country hasn't yet been unified, how can we resist the Ming army?"

Sasaki Yoshimasa frowned and said, "General, are you worrying too much? Let's not even talk about whether Ming Country will go to great lengths to invade the Kingdom of God just for a few sea merchants. Even if they come, they may not be able to win."

"Back then, the Mongols were so powerful, with millions of cavalrymen and countless annihilated nations. However, they were defeated twice when they invaded the Divine Kingdom. On one of those occasions, our Divine Kingdom even received divine assistance."

"Although the Ming Dynasty is strong now, it is far inferior to the Mongols of the past. Even if our Divine Kingdom fails to unify the north and the south, it may not be impossible to defeat them in battle."

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said, "If the Ming army lands in Kyushu and Shikoku, which are controlled by the Southern Dynasty, how can we stop them? If the Ming Kingdom bribes the Toki clan and the Yamana clan, how should we respond?"

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu asked two questions in a row, which left Sasaki Yoshimasa speechless.

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu stood up and walked to the window. Looking at the plum blossoms in the courtyard that were about to bloom, he said, "It will take time to unify the Kingdom of God. Let the Ming Kingdom run rampant for a while. Twenty years from now, this general will let the Ming Kingdom know that the Kingdom of God cannot be insulted!"

Although Sasaki Yoshimasa was emotionally reluctant to accept the idea, he was persuaded by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and asked, "Should we stop the Ming Dynasty from ordering the daimyo to switch from rice to mulberry?"

"Of course we must stop them," Ashikaga Yoshimitsu said, turning around. "The Ming Dynasty's move is likely intended to cause a food shortage in the Divine Kingdom, and we must sell raw silk to the Ming Dynasty to make money. If they really carry out this for several years, the Divine Kingdom will be forced to submit to the Ming Dynasty and will no longer be able to fight."

"Later, I will personally write letters to the daimyo of the northern and southern tribes to let them know the harm of switching from rice to mulberry."

Sasaki Yoshimasa said, "Most of the daimyo of our dynasty would probably listen to the general's advice, but how could the Southern Dynasty listen?"

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sighed again, "I can only explain the righteousness, do my best and leave the rest to fate."

Sasaki Yoshimasa looked at the profile of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that Ashikaga Yoshimitsu seemed to be several years older than a few days ago...

···
After Zhu Di finished dealing with the affairs in Japan, he boarded a ship back to the capital.

After rushing for a long time, we finally arrived the day before the New Year.

After bathing and changing clothes at home, he went to the palace to see Zhu Yuanzhang.

As there was only one day left until the Chinese New Year, Zhu Yuanzhang had a rare opportunity to relax. He tested the mathematics skills of several young princes in the harem. This was a habit Zhu had developed in the past three years. He set an example by himself to convey his emphasis on mathematics.

When he learned that Zhu Di was coming to see him, he sent someone to summon Zhu Biao to Fengxian Hall to discuss matters.

"Your son greets the Emperor, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

After paying formal respects, Zhu Di reported one by one how Shen Ji and other sea merchants and Guangming Guards had been captured, and how he had dealt with them.

In fact, he had written these things in a memorial before and sent it to the capital some time ago, so that Zhu Yuanzhang knew about it. Today he mainly reported the results of the matter and also wanted to seek credit.

Zhu Yuanzhang listened and nodded, saying, "You handled this matter well. You were very courageous and decisive. I will give you a credit."

Zhu Di said, "In fact, Daoyan once suggested that I return to the capital to report this matter to the emperor first, and then rescue those sea merchants and the Guangming Guards after the New Year, but I rejected his suggestion."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, "This Daoyan actually came up with such a vicious plan. It really goes against the compassionate heart of a monk."

Zhu Biao reacted a little slower, but he also understood why Zhu Yuanzhang said that.

Daoyan's words seemed to be asking Zhu Di to play it safe, but in fact they concealed another intention - those sea merchants and Guangming Guards would definitely be severely tortured after being arrested by the Ashikaga shogunate. Over time, even if these people could remain stubborn and not speak out, they would most likely be tortured to death.

By the next year, even if the Ashikaga shogunate released the remaining people, the Ming Dynasty would have a reason to punish them, or even send troops to invade Japan. Using the lives of a few people in exchange for a pretext to invade Japan, isn't that a sinister plot?

Zhu Di was even more pleased to see that Zhu Yuanzhang also did not support Daoyan's plan, but then he became worried: "Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is truly a great man of his time. The words in my letter were full of threats and humiliation, but he actually endured it, released the people, and even gave a lot of gold and silver as an apology."

"Besides, since he knows that the Ming Dynasty is promoting the policy of replacing rice with mulberry trees among the Japanese tribes, I'm afraid he can guess the general intention of this policy and may try to stop it."

"By then, if the Ming Dynasty wants to invade Japan, what pretext should we use?"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "If we want to conquer Japan, isn't it easy to find a reason? For example, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as the Shogun of Japan, controls the military and political power of Japan and treats its ruler as a puppet."

"As the suzerain of Japan, shouldn't we, the Ming Dynasty, help the Japanese king deal with the corrupt officials?"

"Also, as far as we know, the direct bloodline of the Japanese king is in the Southern Dynasty, not the Northern Dynasty. So, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, considering the overall situation, might return power to the king of the Northern Dynasty, but he would never return power to the king of the Southern Dynasty."

"Even if he is willing, the various tribes and the Ming Dynasty that have submitted to him will not be willing. This is a dead knot that cannot be untied."

Zhu Di praised sincerely, "Father is amazing. He has immediately grasped the weak spot of Japan."

"Okay, it's not your turn to flatter me yet. If there's nothing else, go back and have a good rest. Bring your family to the palace to celebrate the New Year tomorrow."

"Yes." Zhu Di responded, then asked, "Will my third brother-in-law come to the palace to celebrate the New Year with me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "After all, he now has a son and a daughter, and he can be considered a family. He must want to celebrate the New Year at home and not mix with us."

"But on the second day of the Lunar New Year, he will come to the palace for a party like last year, playing some music, videos, and movies."

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di both showed anticipation.

Speaking of which, on the third day of August this year, he and Liu Kuan went to the cross-river bridge again to see if they could connect to the network of the future. However, the strange fog did not appear, and they found nothing.

Therefore, the music, videos, and movies in Liu Kuan's hands are still the previous inventory.

For this reason, they had not asked Liu Kuan to organize any movie-watching gatherings in the past year. As for whether Zhu Yuanzhang had asked Liu Kuan to play anything privately, Zhu Biao did not know.

···
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A few days passed in the blink of an eye.

It was the second day of the first lunar month in the eighteenth year of Hongwu.

That afternoon, Liu Kuan took Zhu Huilan to the palace to join the Zhu family's movie-watching party in the Dashan Hall.

After Liu Kuan and Zhu Huilan paid their respects, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked, "Liu Kuan, how many songs and videos have you prepared today?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, I have run out of suitable songs or long videos on my computer, so I have not prepared any songs this time. I have only prepared five short videos, two long videos, and a movie."

Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled and asked, "Wasn't that a short video you played before?"

Liu Kuan explained, "Previous videos were at least ten minutes long, but this time most of the short videos are less than five minutes, or even less than three minutes."

Starting from November last year, the Ming Dynasty implemented the 24-hour system and introduced (not promoted) the two time units of minutes and seconds.

After more than three years of contact with Liu Kuan, Zhu Yuanzhang now has some understanding of the time unit of minutes. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but say, "What kind of content can a three- to five-minute video have? Can it be good?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "In fact, the most popular short videos in later generations are often less than a minute long, and some are even less than ten seconds long."

Less than ten seconds?

That is to say, a little more than one breath (six seconds)?

Lao Zhu's entire family looked at each other in bewilderment. They couldn't imagine what was so interesting about a video that was only a moment long.

Speaking of which, Liu Kuan's mobile phone does have some super short videos that are less than one minute or even less than ten seconds long, but most of them are young ladies from later generations. Now he has locked them up with encrypted files, so naturally he will not share them with Lao Zhu and his family.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not dwell on the length of short videos in later generations. He quickly withdrew his thoughts and said, "Short videos are short videos - everyone sit down and prepare to watch the video."

Old Zhu gave the order, and the whole family soon lined up in the set-up "home theater".

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)