Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 254: Nantianmen Plan! Lao Zhu suffers another setback [Please subscribe]

"Nantianmen Project! China 2050! (Video Highlights)"

Nantianmen Project?
The name of this video did not confuse many people, but it puzzled many people, including Zhu Yuanzhang.

Before Liu Kuan opened the video, he couldn't help but say, "Nantianmen... this name sounds familiar."

Liu Kuan was about to explain when he heard Zhu Biao say, "Father, the South Heaven Gate is a temple built on Mount Tai by Zhang Zhichun, who was appointed by the Yuan court as the Supervisor of Dongyue and the Supervisor of Taoism in Dongping Road in the third year of Zhongtong in the previous Yuan Dynasty."

"I heard that this temple is located in the low valley between Feilong Rock and Xiangfeng Ridge on Mount Tai. Because it is sandwiched between the two peaks, it looks like the gate of heaven opening out. And because it faces south, it is called the South Gate of Heaven."

"However, some people say that the name Nantianmen comes from Taoist texts - Taoism has the concept of 'three heavenly gates'."

"Because Taoism emphasizes the birth of all things from the three heavens, there is a gate in each of the three heavens. The first is called 'the gate of heaven', the second is 'the gate of central heaven', and the third is 'the gate of south heaven'."

Zhu Biao's introduction not only broadened the horizons of Old Zhu and others, but also of Liu Kuan.

Like most people in later generations, when he mentioned the South Heaven Gate, he thought of the later mythological dramas about heaven, such as Journey to the West. Every time Sun Wukong and others went to heaven, they had to go through the South Heaven Gate.

It feels like the heaven is a large courtyard with only the South Gate of Heaven as the main gate.

At that time, "Journey to the West" had not yet been released, so ordinary people naturally had not heard of the name of Nantianmen.

It was because Zhu Biao read a lot of books and was well-informed that he knew about the Yuan Dynasty sending people to build the "Nantianmen" on Mount Tai.

After listening to it, Old Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Liu Kuan, this video couldn't be about the later Xin Dynasty building a temple on Mount Tai, offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, or even the later Xin Dynasty leader's Fengshan ceremony, right?"

Liu Kuan could hear a hint of contempt in Zhu Yuanzhang's tone.

Firstly, renovating a temple is a waste of money and labor and has no practical effect.

Secondly, after Emperor Zhenzong of Song shamelessly went to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, the emperors who followed him who had any shame were unwilling to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth again - they were afraid that history would record them alongside Emperor Zhenzong's, which would be embarrassing.

In recent years, some unclear-minded civil officials who wanted to seek credit and promotion have submitted memorials to Zhu Yuanzhang, asking him to go to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang scolded them and almost threw them into prison.

So no one dared to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang to climb Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth.

Liu Kuan immediately explained, "Your Majesty, the Nantianmen mentioned in the video does not refer to the Nantianmen Temple on Mount Tai. It is taken from the Nantianmen in Journey to the West. It actually refers to a series of aerospace weapons development plans that may exist in the future Xin Dynasty."

The South Heaven Gate in "Journey to the West"?

A series of aerospace weapons development plans in later generations?

But what does it mean to possibly exist?
Liu Kuan's short sentence left Zhu Yuanzhang and others full of questions and doubts.

After coming to his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What does the South Heaven Gate look like in Journey to the West?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, in later myths like Journey to the West, the South Heaven Gate is the gate leading from the mortal world to the Heavenly Palace. It's like the main gate of a government office, so it's extremely famous in later generations."

"On the contrary, the South Gate of Heaven on Mount Tai is just an ordinary tourist attraction in later generations, and not many people know about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked, "What are aerospace weapons?"

Liu Kuan said, "The explanation is in this video. Why don't you wait until Your Majesty has finished watching the video and then I'll explain it to you?"

"Well, let's watch the video first."

After hearing Liu Kuan's explanation, the others stared at the tablet expectantly.

At the beginning of the video, a city beyond everyone's imagination appears - buildings with strange shapes and dozens or even hundreds of stories high stand in rows, various bridges weave through them like ribbons, and some "planes" also fly in and out of the city.

A line of words appears below: China Chongqing Nantianmen Project Joint Command Center.

Then the scene changes to a certain flight base, where a series of strangely shaped (sci-fi) fighter planes take off directly from the ground and change their shapes in the air.

During this process, fighter planes displayed various weapons that Zhu Yuanzhang and others could not understand at all. It was already good enough that Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others could know what those weapons were by intuition, and more people were simply shocked.

Soon a female voice appeared in the video.

"According to the latest news, Luanniao 3, which returned to Northern Base No. 1 two months ago, has completed its final transformation."

"It is expected to launch on the 22nd of next month and rendezvous with Luanniao-2, which is in geosynchronous orbit. They will then travel together to the second Lagrange point to carry out a deep space test mission."

As the female voice announced, the scene turned to space, and a huge and strange-looking creature was hovering in outer space outside the earth.

Fighter planes were constantly taking off and landing, and all kinds of strange "cannons" and other weapons were changing.

The small words "Luanniao 2" that appeared next to it let everyone understand the name of this creation.

"To ensure the successful completion of this mission, several scientific research teams have already boarded the shuttle and arrived at the Guanghan-3 base on the far side of the moon a week in advance."

"It's understood that this mission is to test the selection of two types of diffusion particle cannons. The test results will directly affect the Luanniao 3, which is currently under construction..."

The video first shows teams of people in space suits boarding strange aircraft (shuttles) and flying directly from the earth to the moon.

But on the back of the moon, which is barren and full of neighbors and deserts, there are buildings.

These buildings do not look tall, and are even very short. However, when the camera extends underground along the shuttle and buildings, Zhu Yuanzhang and others realize that the main bodies of these buildings are underground.

There are not only all kinds of strange cabins and rooms inside, but even fields under transparent glass covers!

Old Zhu, Zhu Biao and others unconsciously used the quantifier "栋".

Because these fields are stacked up like a building, layer by layer, and are irrigated under the changing lights, all full of vitality and prosperity!
At this time, a few small words appeared next to it: Guanghan Base No. 3!
Zhu Yuanzhang and his companions had long since learned about the true state of the moon through Liu Kuan. They knew it lacked the legendary Guanghan Palace, Chang'e, maps, osmanthus trees, or Wu Gang. Instead, it was barren, as depicted in the video. But judging by the video, the later Xin Dynasty actually built a "Guanghan Palace" on the moon?
Even growing crops on the moon?!

Doesn't this mean that myths can become reality?!
Seeing this, whether it was Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and others, or women and children, they were all shocked beyond words.

At this time, the woman's voice sounded again.

"According to the latest report from the Nantianmen Joint Command Center, in addition to the already announced 'Xuan Nu' and 'Baidi' aerospace fighters, subsequent military operations will primarily utilize the 'Cheng Ying' unmanned tactical mecha."

“The mountain road winds and twists, the peaks twist and turn. The road is under our feet, but even more so in our hearts. Setbacks are often turning points, and crises are also opportunities.”

Then, the video began to introduce in relatively detail the "Luanniao Space Carrier", "Baidi", "Xuannv" aerospace fighters, as well as the Chengying unmanned tactical mecha, and the various advanced weapons on these fighters and mechas.

Then, it introduced the Tiangong Space Station, Guanghan Moon Base, Jiuzhang Quantum Computing Center, Tianhe Supercomputing Center and other advanced technological creations used to support scientific research and military logistics...
This video collection combines various advanced technologies and even science fiction content from later generations, mainly the "Nantianmen Project", but because it has been streamlined, the total length is only about ten minutes.

Zhu Yuanzhang and others felt like they had only watched for a while when the video came to an end.

The tablet screen went black, and then two words appeared on it - Easter Egg!
Easter egg?

Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao and others were confused by this word.

I thought, it can’t be the literal meaning, introducing a colorful egg, and then this egg can hatch a legendary spirit beast, right?

It's no wonder they think so. In the video just now, all kinds of advanced technological creations and even science fiction creations of later generations are almost all named after elements in traditional Chinese mythology.

So when they see Easter eggs, they think of mythical birds such as the blue phoenix and the phoenix.

The video showed the picture again, but it was an animation (3D animation), showing an even more incredible science fiction scene.

Four words appeared on the screen - Tianting Heavy Industry!
At the same time, a grand and ethereal female voice appeared.

"Heavenly Palace Heavy Industry!"

"Fuxi Big Data Center!"

"Doushi Biopharmaceutical Factory!"

"Nuwa Academy of Life Sciences!"

"Daode Tianzun Supercomputing Platform!"

"Exquisite Tower Defense Matrix!"

"Clairvoyance Space Radar Station!"

"Clairvoyant Universal Sonar System!"

"···"

As one incredible sci-fi creation after another appeared against the backdrop of the starry sky, the Zhu family was shocked.

This easter egg was only a little over a minute long and it was over very quickly, and the video ended as well.

But it took everyone a long time to come back to their senses, not even Lao Zhu.

After several breaths, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a dry voice, "Liu Kuan, aren't all the weapons and artifacts in the video real?"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had already prepared himself mentally to surrender decisively if a new dynasty attacked him after seeing the swarm of drones, the advanced weapons and sci-fi creations in the video still made him feel uncomfortable.

There was no other reason, it was just that the things displayed in it were too incredible, and even made him feel frustrated that the Ming Dynasty would never be able to catch up.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's rare look of frustration, Liu Kuan hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, before I came to the Ming Dynasty, only the Xuannv aerospace fighter jet from the Nantianmen Project was said to have been built. The others were either still in the planning stages or were just fantasies among netizens."

"For example, the sci-fi creations introduced in the final Easter egg are purely fabricated by netizens based on traditional myths. Your Majesty, just take a look at them, don't believe them."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little better after learning that the creatures in the Easter eggs were all fabricated, but he still frowned and asked, "So the Nantianmen Project is real?"

Liu Kuan said, "I can't say for sure. The Nantianmen Project might be real, but it could also be a plan to intimidate and deceive Western powers like the Bald Eagle."

"Think about it, if the Xin Dynasty in the future really had a similar plan, it would definitely be a top secret. I am just an ordinary citizen in the future. How could I know such a state secret?"

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that what Liu Kuan said made sense.

But when he thought of the weapons and creations in the video that were named after mythological figures, he felt uncomfortable.

He felt that compared with the later dynasties, the names of the Ming Dynasty's army, departments, and weapons were somewhat ordinary, and did not reflect the grand ambitions of the Zhu family and the broad prospects of the Ming Dynasty.

"The names of the army and weapons should not be changed randomly, but perhaps we should pay more attention to science, technology, and craftsmanship."

Thinking this in his mind, Zhu Yuanzhang had already made a decision.

When he came back to his senses, he no longer had the heart to ask about the things in the video, because he knew that those were things that the Ming Dynasty would find difficult to catch up with even in three or four hundred years, and there was not much use in understanding them.

So he waved his hand and said, "Play the next video."

"Yes."

Liu Kuan responded and played the last video.

　First update.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)