Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Tan was puzzled and frustrated to see that his flattery had upset Zhu Yuanzhang. He had originally prepared some follow-up flattery, but now he didn't dare to say it.

Afterwards, the Zhu family discussed for a while, and at Zhu Yuanzhang's signal, Liu Kuan played the prepared animated film.

After the animations of the producers at the beginning of the film were played one by one, the name of the movie appeared on the screen, which made the younger princes, grandchildren, and even those who had only grown up for a few years like Zhu Tan and Zhu Xiongying, all look surprised.

Because this is the sequel to an animated film they had seen before - "Nezha: The Devil Child Conquers the Dragon King"!
Although older people such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Empress Ma, and Zhu Biao were not very interested in animated films based on traditional mythological characters, they patiently watched the films with their children.

The result was that the more I watched, the more engrossed I became, and my expression kept changing with the plot of the movie. It can be said that I was completely immersed in it.

Liu Kuan, who had watched Nezha 2 three times in private, smiled knowingly when he saw this.

To be honest, when he first downloaded this animated film, he thought it was at best about the same level as the first "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World".

After all, it has almost become common sense that sequels to film and television dramas in the entertainment industry are often worse than the previous ones.

As a result, he was shocked when he watched it privately for the first time. Liu Kuan didn't know how other people felt when they watched it in the future, but in his opinion, Nezha 2 surpassed the first one in terms of animation effects, overall beauty, and visual impact.

Even the spiritual core of the film is sublimated from "going against fate and changing destiny" wrapped in family love, friendship and courage to "protecting the people."

At the same time, the humorous dialogues and hilarious plots in the first film are continued, and the fighting scenes are even more exciting.

The whole movie lasts 144 minutes, more than two hours, but when the movie ends, from the old Zhu to the rd prince Zhu Gao (later named King of Tang) who was only four or five years old, everyone looks like they are still wanting more.

Although they have not watched countless movies like Liu Kuan and appreciate many details of this film, they still think this film is better than Nezha 1.

"Teacher, when will our Ming Dynasty be able to produce such an animated film?" Zhu Xiongying couldn't help asking after he came to his senses.

Liu Kuan was slightly speechless. "How can I say for sure? This animated film should be considered top-tier in the industry in the future. It was completed with a mature animation industry system as its foundation."

"It's hard to say how long it would take for the Ming Dynasty to invent cameras and photographs, let alone produce animated films."

Zhu Xiongying said, "I remember the teacher once talked about the principles of photography, and the difficulty lies in the photosensitive material."

"Our Ming Dynasty is already laying the foundation for the chemical industry, and rubber cultivation is expanding in places like Yunnan and Southeast Asia. I imagine it won't take decades to develop cameras and film, right?"

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "If the chemical industry develops smoothly, we might be able to develop photographic film within 20 to 30 years."

"As for simple photography experiments, we can actually start trying them now."

Zhu Yuanzhang listened to the discussion between Liu Kuan and Zhu Xiongying. He originally thought that he would never be able to see the cameras and photos of the Ming Dynasty while he was alive. Unexpectedly, Liu Kuan changed the subject and said that it was possible.

He immediately said, "Since photography experiments can be carried out, why doesn't Tiangong Academy set up related research projects?"

Liu Kuan explained, "Your Majesty, the simple photographic experiment I mentioned uses sensory materials like tinplate instead of film. The resulting images are grainy and blurry, worse than sketches, and currently cannot be developed into photographs, making them of little practical value."

"That's why I plan to wait until the Ming Dynasty can develop photographic film materials before setting up camera-related research projects."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked again, "Does this photography research project require a huge investment?"

Liu Kuan pondered for a moment and said, "It doesn't take too much."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Why do you have to wait until film material appears? If you start researching now, wouldn't a practical camera be available sooner in the future?"

The money belonged to the imperial court, or in other words, to Zhu's family. Since Zhu didn't feel sorry for it, Liu Kuan naturally wouldn't feel sorry for it either - he also hoped that the camera would be available soon.

So I simply replied, "Yes."

Afterwards, the Zhu family discussed the interesting plot of Nezha 2 for several minutes. Zhu Yuanzhang then stood up and said, "Just like last year's rules, all princes over twelve years old, as well as the heroic Liu Kuan, will follow us to the side hall to discuss matters."

After that, leave first.

Zhu Biao, Liu Kuan and others followed like a tail.

Although there was no one in the side hall before, a heater had already been set up, so people didn't feel cold.

Zhu Yuanzhang gestured for everyone to take their seats and then said, "Sixth and Seventh Sons passed the civil service examination last year and will be sent overseas to establish fiefdoms this year. Second and Tenth Sons have also accumulated sufficient merits. They only need to pass the civil service examination after August 15th this year and will be able to go overseas to establish fiefdoms next year."

"So, today, let's not talk about anything else but the matter of you four becoming vassals."

"Seventh Brother has decided to establish a vassal state in the southwest of the Indian subcontinent. As for Sixth Brother, he previously only said he wanted to go to Southeast Asia, but he hadn't yet decided on a specific location. Shouldn't he have an idea now?"

Zhu Zhen stood up, clasped his fists, and said, "Your Majesty, I have decided to establish a vassal state in Banjarmasin, on the southern coast of Sulimantan."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang stepped down and looked at the large map of the Nanyang Islands. He then turned and said, "We once said that the overseas vassal states would end south of the Nanyang Islands. If you establish a vassal state here in Machen, your future expansion will only be southward."

Zhu Zhen said, "I originally wanted to cooperate with the imperial army to conquer the Java Islands in the future, and then expand to the Australian continent." Zhu Yuanzhang, now very knowledgeable, heard this and said, "You want to establish a maritime nation?"

Zhu Zhen said, "Before my brother-in-law came to the Ming Dynasty, ocean transportation was still the main means of transportation. This shows that maritime countries have a great future."

Zhu Yuanzhang: "You do have some ideas."

Zhu Yuanzhang then looked at Zhu Chong and asked, "Second brother, where do you want to be established?"

Zhu Chong had been thinking about the matter of becoming a vassal for several years, so he had already made up his mind. Upon hearing this, he said without hesitation: "Your son wants to go to South America."

"Go so far?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

Zhu Chong pretended to be aggrieved and said, "Father, the good places close to the Ming Dynasty are either not available for vassalage, or have been chosen by my brothers who were already vassalized. If I want to choose a better place, I can only go to South America."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "It seems you just want to run away so that we can't control you."

Zhu Chong sneered, "How could that be possible? I carry a telegraph with me, and I promise to send a telegram every day to greet Father and Mother."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed when he heard this. "A telegram every day—if you really use telegraph machines that much, two wouldn't be enough for you for a few years."

"Well, you're already in your thirties. Since you want to stay away from me, I won't keep you here. I just hope that when you go to South America in the future, you'll remember the lessons of history, refrain from doing anything wrong, and manage your vassal state well."

Zhu Chong replied, "I will remember this."

"Tenth Brother, where do you want to be enfeoffed?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Tan again.

Zhu Tan had long had thoughts about establishing a vassal state overseas, and he also said without hesitation: "Father, I want to go to North America."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "The imperial court has established many garrisons along the coast of North America. If you want to establish a vassal state in North America, you will probably have to land and then develop inland."

Zhu Tan stood up and walked over to the map of Central America. His eyes flashed with cunning as he asked, "Father, since the imperial court established the Xuanguan Guard in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign, they have been operating in Panama for five years now. Surely there should be a shipyard on its east coast, and they should be building seagoing vessels, right?"

"Of course," Zhu Yuanzhang answered, then asked, "Why do you ask this?"

Zhu Tan smiled and said, "My son's idea is to first lead the vassal fleet to the port on the west coast of Xuanguanwei, then disembark and pass through Xuanguanwei to the east coast, and use the sea vessels left on the west coast to exchange for the Xuanguanwei ships on the east coast."

"After transferring to a sea vessel, we will head north to North America and establish a vassal state there."

As he spoke, Zhu Tan came to the map of North America again and pointed to the estuary of the Mississippi River in the future.

After hearing what Zhu Tan said, everyone, including Liu Kuan, was stunned.

No one expected that Zhu Tan's idea of ​​becoming a vassal was so bizarre - he actually took a detour from the garrison that had been run by the imperial court for a long time and ran to the southeast coast of North America.

Afterwards, many princes felt that their minds were opened up.

For example, Prince Su Zhu Liang, who was just 15 years old, and Prince Qing Zhu Zan and Prince Ning Zhu Quan, who were just 13 years old, all looked towards Egypt and Europe.

At this moment, almost the same idea emerged in the minds of the three people: after Jinfan and Xihaiwei have been operating for several years, and have built shipyards and produced ships in the Mediterranean, wouldn't they be able to pass through Jinfan and Xihaiwei, avoid the trouble of going around Africa, and go directly to Europe to establish a vassal state?
Zhu Chong and Zhu Zhen also thought of this.

What the two of them thought was that even if they couldn't go directly to Europe to be established as a vassal state through Jin Fan, they could still learn from Zhu Tan and go through Xuanguanwei to the east coast of America.

But Zhu Zhen felt that since he had already selected the place to establish his fiefdom, and the many preparations he had the shogunate make in the previous year were all targeted, he would have to be cautious in making any changes now.

As the other princes pondered, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You're quite calculating, kid. It's not easy for Xuanguanwei to build ships on the East Coast. If we can exchange them for ships from the West Coast, wouldn't that give you a great advantage?"

Zhu Tan said, "How dare I let the imperial court suffer a loss? If all else fails, I can sell the ship I left on the west coast to the imperial court, and then rent the Xuanguan Guard's ship on the east coast to go to my fiefdom."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "It seems that you are determined to do this?"

Zhu Tan clasped his fists and bowed, "I beg your Majesty to grant me this."

"Well, it's rare that you've come up with this 'borrowing the passage to establish a vassal state' strategy, so I'll oblige you. As for the specifics of borrowing the passage and how to exchange or lease the ships, we'll discuss it in detail later."

Zhu Tan hadn't been very confident that Zhu Yuanzhang would agree to this, as he had always been known to be rather authoritarian towards his sons. But upon hearing that Zhu Yuanzhang had actually agreed, he was overjoyed and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Father!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and returned to his seat.

"Next, while Liu Kuan is free today, if the four of you have any questions about the vassalage, you can consult him. Biao'er and I can also help give some advice."

As Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Zhu Chong stood up and said, "Father, I, your son, would also like to use Xuanguanwei as a transit point to establish a vassal state in eastern North America." (End of this chapter)