Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 402: Please let Queen Ma take off the burden, Cantonese martial arts golden song [Please subscribe]

In order to avoid making mistakes after arriving in Ming Dynasty, causing trouble for his family and even losing his life, Li Fangyuan had already obtained a copy of "Ming Dynasty Law" and read it carefully.

He naturally knew that if all the noble families and aristocratic families of Goryeo were exterminated according to the "Great Ming Law", no one would be innocent.

"So, Ambassador Zheng is saying that if the Ming Dynasty treats the Goryeo noble families and clans according to what you've learned, it would actually be showing mercy?"

Zheng Mengzhou nodded, "Not bad."

In fact, Zheng Mengzhou also felt that as early as before the Yuan Dynasty, the Goryeo nobles and powerful families had oppressed the common people too much, and this was even more so after they surrendered to the Mongols. Today, more than a hundred years later, Goryeo has reached a point where the people are living in dire straits.

Even the Goryeo court realized the crisis and tried several reforms to survive, but unfortunately they did not have much effect.

If this continues, Goryeo will either change its dynasty or be destroyed.

Now that Goryeo has been forced to submit to the Ming Dynasty, it can be considered a gentle way of national destruction.

"By the way, in addition to the wealthy and powerful families, a large number of Goryeo civilians may also be relocated in batches in the future."

"For example, they migrated to Shaanxi and Gansu, the Western Regions, Jilin, Southeast Asia, and even America, which is said to be thousands of miles away to the east."

"However, large-scale migration is now considered a relatively normal thing for the Ming court. In the past 10 to 20 years, there have been many large-scale migrations within the Ming Dynasty."

Lee Bang-won did not care about the future of the common people of Goryeo. After all, Goryeo would no longer exist, and his Lee family would never be able to obtain the throne again. Why should he care about what those common people did?
What he cares most about is his own wealth and power.

So he asked, "Has the ambassador found out what position the emperor will grant my father? Or what kind of reward will he receive?"

Zheng Mengzhou shook his head, "No."

Li Fangyuan's brows were furrowed into a knot.

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Two days after Zhu Yuanzhang completed the airship flight test on the shores of Xuanwu Lake, he summoned Liu Kuan to the palace to inquire about the matter.

"Since the airship's test flight was successful, I believe it will be deployed to the military in the near future, right?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, although the airship's test flight was successful, it's still a long way from being put into practical use. This is a difficult research matter, so I can't say when the airship will be deployed to the army."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked directly: "Is five years enough? How about ten years?"

Liu Kuan said, "It's hard to say whether it can be accomplished within five years, but it should be achievable within ten years."

"Ten years." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "I'm afraid I won't live to see that time."

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan immediately said, "Your Majesty is in good health and will surely live a long life."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "The Queen has been ill twice since the beginning of autumn. Although she has recovered, her health is obviously not as good as before."

Liu Kuan naturally knew that Empress Ma was ill. He went to visit her with Zhu Huilan at that time and was quite worried. Historically, Empress Ma died in the 15th year of Hongwu. Who knew if she lived a few more years, would she be taken away by another disease?
Although the medical skills of the Ming Dynasty were more advanced than when Liu Kuan first arrived, there was still a huge gap between them and later generations. Many diseases could not be cured or even diagnosed.

Empress Ma damaged her body while giving birth to children for Zhu Yuanzhang in her early years, and it was unlikely that she would live to be seventy, eighty, or even eighty or ninety years old like most old ladies in later generations.

Judging from the perspective of later generations, Empress Ma was only 58 years old this year, which was not considered old.

Unfortunately, this was not in later times, but in the Ming Dynasty.

However, Liu Kuan certainly could not say anything discouraging when Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about Empress Ma's health, not to mention that he personally hoped that Empress Ma would live a long life.

He thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I dare to advise you that the Empress is indeed a little tired from managing the affairs of the harem. Perhaps you could let her take a break from her burdens, plant some flowers and plants, and have one or two smart and sensible children to keep her company. She can rest and relax, and perhaps her health will recover."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Kuan deeply and said, "You have made a bold statement. It's a good suggestion. I will tell the Queen."

Liu Kuan thought: Empress Ma is as important to you as she is to us. How can I not try to prolong her life?
He said, "Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand first, then reminded: "There are not many days left until the New Year, and the songs, videos, and movies should be prepared. Such good things will be rare for the queen and I to see."

Liu Kuan agreed and left Fengxian Hall.

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In a blink of an eye, the New Year of the 22nd year of Hongwu passed in a hustle and bustle, and it was the 23rd year of Hongwu.

After the first day, it is the second day.

At noon that day, Liu Kuan, as in previous years, brought his wives, concubines, and children to the Dashan Hall to attend the Zhu family's movie-watching party.

After entering the hall and paying their respects, Liu Kuan placed the tablet computer on the imperial desk. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the slightly blurry screen and said, "This item is extremely valuable. It's best to use it sparingly. Look at this screen; I don't know how much longer it will last."

These words are somewhat like those of the elders in later generations who cherish things.

Liu Kuan looked aggrieved and said, "Your Majesty, I know these things wear out easily with constant use. So, in the past few years, apart from regular charging and research, I've hardly used my computer, phone, tablet, and solar charger. I've kept them sealed away."

"If used frequently, these electronic products would have worn out long ago."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. "It's good that you have an idea in mind. What kind of songs have you prepared this year?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "It's still the same six martial arts golden songs."

Listening to songs was really entertainment for Zhu Yuanzhang. So even though he didn't like martial arts novels, he thought the martial arts hits Liu Kuan found last time were all good, so he naturally didn't mind listening to some more.

Queen Ma smiled and said, "The martial arts golden song is good, the song is nice, and the video is interesting to watch."

Seeing that Empress Ma was happy, Zhu Yuanzhang's mood also brightened up a lot. He said, "Turn up the video."

"Yes."

Liu Kuan turned on the video, handed the tablet to Zhu Yuanzhang, stepped back, and sat down with his wives, concubines, and children to have a big meal.

The other members of the Zhu family ate slowly while listening attentively to the music coming from the throne.

Just listening to the prelude of this first song is very exciting, and then the singing makes people feel their blood boiling after listening to a few sentences.

"Pride in the face of countless waves, blood hotter than the red sun—"

It was the Mandarin version of "A Man Should Be Self-reliant" sung by George Lam, and the video was a compilation of clips from some Republican films showing men practicing martial arts and beating up foreigners and Japanese devils.

After reading it, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and commented, "This song 'A Man Should Be Self-reliant' is quite good. It is both pleasant to listen to and has a high moral. It is very suitable for singing to the soldiers."

Empress Ma smiled and said, "Of course it sounds good—you probably haven't realized yet, this song is a paraphrase of the tune of 'General's Order'."

"Let's just say why it sounds so pleasant."

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to play the video of the next song.

The second song has a good prelude at the beginning, and the video clearly features a handsome young man and a cold and beautiful woman in white as the protagonists, which gives a good impression of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma.

As a result, when the singing came out, they were both stunned.

“Love is joy, sadness, intoxication, emotion, or it may be regarded as a legend in the future…”

Not only was the song spoken very quickly, but the key point was that the two of them couldn't understand what was being said at all.

Fortunately, there were subtitles. After becoming the Ming Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite knowledgeable. After listening to a few sentences, he frowned and said, "It seems to be the dialect from Lingnan?"

Empress Ma had never heard of the Lingnan dialect, so she said, "Although it's a dialect song, it's very pleasant to listen to."

Zhu Yuanzhang was still confused. He had heard some officials from Lingnan speak some dialects, but they were somewhat different from the pronunciation of this song.

But there are many Lingnan dialects, so it is not surprising that there are differences. Moreover, this dialect does not affect the listening experience of the song, and it even sounds different.

At this time, Liu Kuan looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma sitting on the throne, and thought to himself: This work from the later period when Cantonese was popular can be regarded as a fresh experience for the two of them.

The song currently playing is "Mythical Love Words" from "The Return of the Condor Heroes". In fact, he has the Mandarin version of "There Are Lovers in the World" on his computer, but he still chose "Mythical Love Words".

After this, there are three other Cantonese songs, namely "Love of a Lifetime", "Tie Xue Dan Xin" and "Hard to Read Sutra".

Inside the hall, several princes including Zhu Zhen and Zhu Gui, who had been to Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, were explaining science to their brothers and sisters around them.

"This song should be sung in Lingnan dialect, but it is quite different from the dialect we heard in Guangzhou."

"It's quite nice, Brother Qi, do you understand the lyrics? Could you translate it for me?"

"How can I understand this?"

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(End of this chapter)