Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 326: Old Zhu forces Emperor Tianyuan to write a surrender letter, Mobei Province [Please follow up]

Emperor Tianyuan waited fearfully in the square for more than half an hour before the Ming army responsible for escorting him allowed the Northern Yuan emperor and his ministers to enter the station.

When they passed the Peking Railway Station building, came to the side of the railway, and saw the train up close, the Northern Yuan Dynasty's emperors and ministers could not help but feel shocked and amazed.

"This carriage is actually mostly made of iron, and it seems to be high-quality iron!"

"The wheels and the tracks underneath are also made of fine iron. If we used all that to forge weapons and armor, how many could we produce? How can the Ming Empire be so extravagant?"

"Look, the car windows are made of pure transparent crystal instead of window paper!"

"Luxury, it's really luxurious!"

"···"

Emperor Tianyuan listened to the ministers' whispers and looked at the "crystal" windows of the carriage in front of him, feeling puzzled for a moment.

He couldn't help but turn his head and ask Shi Liemen beside him, "Prime Minister, you often advised me to be frugal and save money to use for military expenses."

"But the Ming Empire actually used so much fine iron to build train carriages, and even used a lot of crystal. Isn't this much more extravagant than I was in the past?"

"Why did the Ming Empire not decline, but instead became stronger and more powerful, and its army became more powerful?"

Shi Liemen didn't really understand, but he still adhered to the principles he learned from Han culture and said with a firm tone: "Your Majesty, the reason why the Ming Dynasty was able to replace our Yuan Dynasty was destiny. Zhu Yuanzhang had the help of heaven."

"But he is so extravagant and ignorant of frugality. The prosperity of the Ming Dynasty cannot last long. Your Majesty, after going to the Ming capital, will not necessarily be sentenced to death. If you can survive, please endure the humiliation and bear the heavy burden."

"Zhu Yuanzhang is already very old, but Your Majesty is in his prime. Perhaps you can emulate Goujian, the King of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period, and restore the Yuan Dynasty!"

"Gou Jian?" Emperor Tianyuan, not a good student of Han history, frowned upon hearing this. "He's the one who tasted King Wu's feces to identify his illness?"

By the end of the conversation, Emperor Tianyuan had a look of disgust on his face, and it was obvious that he had a very bad impression of Goujian.

Shi Liemen didn't expect that Emperor Tianyuan's memory of Goujian was so unique, and was speechless for a moment.

Then he felt that even if the Ming Dynasty really collapsed after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, there was no hope of restoring the country with Emperor Tianyuan in this state.

"Alas, it seems that the Yuan Dynasty has really run out of luck - I should think about how to save my life in the capital, and even seek better treatment."

The Shilie Clan thus gave up Emperor Tianyuan and the idea of ​​restoring the Yuan Dynasty.

Afterwards, the Northern Yuan emperor and his ministers boarded the carriage in an orderly manner under the guidance of the Ming army. After sitting down in the carriage, they were naturally curious about everything inside the carriage.

Some of them didn't even have the expressions that prisoners should have on their faces. If you didn't know, you would think they were about to travel to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

When the whistle sounded again and the train clanged to life, Emperor Tianyuan couldn't help but wonder, "Is this immortal beast hungry? Or hasn't it had enough rest? Why is it running so slowly?"

Wang Bi, Marquis of Dingyuan, was in this carriage and almost couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

He then explained, "This train isn't pulled by some magical beast, but by a steam engine—and there's no such thing as a machine being hungry or rested."

"As for the speed of this train, it's slow now, but it will speed up after a while."

When Emperor Tianyuan heard that the train was not pulled by the immortal beast, he refused to believe it. He thought that Wang Bi was lying because he was afraid that they would know the secret of the immortal beast.

He then tentatively asked, "General Wang, what is the Righteous Qi Machine? How can it pull so many carriages?"

Wang Bi said, "The steam engine is a machine developed by Mr. Technology and his team. I can't really explain what it is."

After hearing this, Shi Liemen, Yaozhu and others on the side were even more impressed with "Uncle of Technology" - since they had traveled south from the grassland, they had heard the name "Uncle of Technology" many times, and it seemed that many of the changes in the Ming Dynasty today were related to this person.

While they were talking, the train was indeed getting faster and faster, and gradually it felt like it was catching up with a galloping horse.

Emperor Tianyuan looked at the passing scenery outside the window and was stunned for a moment...
···
On the eighth day of the third month in the twentieth year of Hongwu's reign, the captured and surrendered Northern Yuan emperors and ministers were sent to the capital of the Ming Dynasty and paraded through the streets.

Because the Ming Dynasty had been established for twenty years, the younger generation was no longer the one that grew up under the brutal rule of the Mongols, so they did not have too strong hatred for the rulers and ministers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Even the older people, after so many years, only hate the Mongolian nobles, officials and local gentry who directly oppressed them, rather than Emperor Tianyuan.

After all, Emperor Tianyuan inherited the throne after fleeing to the grassland.

Therefore, although the emperor and his ministers of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were paraded through the streets and watched by many people in the capital, they were not pelted with vegetable leaves, rotten eggs, or the like.

Even so, seeing the happy smiles and various discussions of the Ming people around them, the Northern Yuan Dynasty's rulers and ministers felt humiliated.

"Is the one leading the group the Tartar Emperor? Why doesn't he look like a Tartar? He looks more like a Han Chinese than a Tartar?"

"I heard that the Tartar emperor's mother was Korean, so that's why he looks like us Han people."

"Are Koreans like us Han people?"

"More like a Mongolian, perhaps."

"This Tartar emperor looks so fair and clean, it's obvious he can't fight. No wonder he destroyed our Ming Dynasty." "Who says he doesn't?"

"···"

At this moment, Emperor Tianyuan wished that he didn't understand Chinese, so that he wouldn't have to feel even more ashamed and humiliated by the discussions of the people around him.

Fortunately, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's order, the captured Northern Yuan emperor and his ministers entered the outer city through Jiangdong Gate, then entered the inner city through Qingliang Gate, and then passed through the Dongshengong Temple area, and then passed through Liren Street and Taiping Street and were sent to the imperial city through Xihua Gate. The distance they had to go through was not long, and it was not a special parade.

Therefore, this humiliating scene for Emperor Tianyuan did not last long.

Zhu Yuanzhang planned to hold the ceremony of presenting captives to the Taimiao after the army returned triumphantly. This time, he only wanted to meet Emperor Tianyuan and others first, so the venue was chosen to be the Wuying Palace.

When he arrived at the Wuying Palace, Emperor Tianyuan saw from afar the old man with a white beard sitting high on the dragon throne. He felt as if he was pierced by his sharp gaze, and his heart trembled, and he knelt down.

"Toghon Temur pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

"Flat body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's calm tone, Emperor Tianyuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he felt humiliated and wanted to die when he was paraded through the streets, when he really stood before Zhu Yuanzhang, his mind was filled with thoughts about how to survive.

Zhu Yuanzhang noticed the Tianyuan Emperor's reserved attitude and said, "Your ancestors, Temujin and Kublai Khan, were both heroes. Temujin, in particular, rose from a minority tribe on the grasslands and eventually built a vast empire spanning Eurasia. He was truly a great ruler."

Although it was the first time that Emperor Tianyuan heard the term "Eurasian Continent", he could roughly understand its meaning. When he heard Zhu Yuanzhang praising the ancestors of the Borjigin clan, he subconsciously straightened his body.

But when he thought that he was now a prisoner and his life and death were in the hands of others, he hunched over again and lowered his head.

Zhu Yuanzhang then changed the subject, "However, whether it is Temujin or Kublai Khan, they are only good at conquering the world, but not good at governing."

"Especially Kublai Khan, who came south to occupy our Han Chinese lands, ruled over the Han people and ascended the throne, but he did not know how to treat the Han people well. Instead, he treated them like slaves and practiced tyranny."

"So after Kublai Khan's death, the throne of your Mongol Yuan Dynasty changed hands frequently, causing chaos in the court and the local areas, and causing even greater suffering for the people of the world."

"So, within less than a hundred years, his virtue was no longer worthy of his position, and his rule was unsustainable. People from all over the country rose up and overthrew the tyrannical Yuan Dynasty!"

"I established the Ming Dynasty in accordance with the will of Heaven and the will of the people. After establishing the country, I treated the people well, allowing them to rest and recuperate, and implemented many benevolent policies. Therefore, I was able to repeatedly launch northern expeditions and destroy your remnants of the Yuan Dynasty!"

"This is all God's will and the will of the people. Do you understand?"

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Emperor Tianyuan couldn't hold back his tears and burst into tears. He knelt down and said, "Your Majesty is right. I know. Woo woo woo..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was not moved by Emperor Tianyuan's crying and asked again, "Are you convinced?"

Emperor Tianyuan kowtowed, his forehead touching the floor, and sobbed, "I am convinced... It was Heaven's will to destroy the Yuan Dynasty, and it was also Heaven's will for the Great Emperor to establish the Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, saying, "Remember, this is not only the will of heaven, but also the will of the people. Now that you understand the truth and are convinced, write a letter of surrender after you leave, expressing your willingness to lead the remaining Yuan tribes to submit to the Ming Dynasty and become its obedient subjects forever."

It was not until this time that Zhu Yuanzhang's true intention in meeting with Emperor Tianyuan was revealed.

He wanted to use Emperor Tianyuan to allow the nomadic tribes that had fled to various parts of the prairie to surrender to the Ming Dynasty with legitimate reasons!

He wanted to make sure that those stubborn and ambitious people who still tried to confront the Ming Dynasty in the name of the Yuan Dynasty and the Borjigin clan would no longer have any moral principles to speak of and no longer have any banners to raise!
A few days later, with the assistance of many Hanlin scholars from the Ming Dynasty Hanlin Academy, Emperor Tianyuan wrote a surrender letter that was "sincere and heartfelt" and "in line with the will of heaven and the wishes of the people", representing the Northern Yuan Dynasty's complete submission to the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty completely inherited the country and even the territory of the former Yuan Dynasty!
Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the officials to print tens of thousands of copies of this surrender letter using the best printing specifications and finest rice paper, and send them to the north urgently.

Let the Ming army soldiers who are still fighting on the grasslands to spread the letter everywhere, and every time it is delivered to a tribe, have someone who understands Mongolian read it out in public to make sure that all the herdsmen in that tribe know about it.

The power of this surrender soon became apparent.

Before this, in March and April, the various tribes on the grasslands rebelled one after another. Although they were easily suppressed by the Ming army each time, there was no sign of stopping. Countless nomadic tribes migrated westward, unwilling to submit to the Ming Dynasty even if they had to leave this familiar grassland.

But by May, as the content of Emperor Tianyuan's surrender letter spread, nomadic tribes that had fled, moved westward, and even rebelled began to surrender voluntarily.

There were even many guides who began to appear to help the Ming army find and eliminate those stubborn elements who opposed the Ming Dynasty.

Halazhang, the son of the former Prime Minister of the Yuan Dynasty, Toghto, and the Grand Marshal of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, asked his guide to lead the Ming army to find the hiding place of the remnants of his army and captured them in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Borjigin Yesüder, who was once supported by the Oirat tribes to become the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, was also betrayed by the Oirat nobles and was surrounded and suppressed by the Ming army. He was shot to death on the spot with a bird gun during the resistance.

By June, when the weather started to get hot, the northern and southern deserts, the eastern and western grasslands were all flat!
All the nomadic tribes on the prairie have surrendered to the Ming Dynasty!
On the first day of July in the 20th year of Hongwu, the Ming court issued an edict to establish the Mobei Province and the Jinshan Regional Command.

The jurisdiction of the Mobei Province mainly included the Mobei grassland and the eastern grassland, while the jurisdiction of the Jinshan Dusi mainly included the western grassland.

As for the grasslands south of the desert, they were divided up by the former northern provinces of the Ming Dynasty...
　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)