Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Gui had already ordered people to bring a few rolls of light and thin silk and a few rolls of gauze.

After the three tailors had saluted, he handed them a few sheets of paper with clothing patterns drawn on them, saying, "Make me a few sets of clothes according to the patterns on these drawings. I'll do it right here. If you have any questions, you can come and ask me."

Several people took the drawings and looked at them, and suddenly they all showed a strange expression.

Because Zhu Gui's painting skills were very poor and the clothes he painted were of strange styles, the pictures looked very abstract to them.

After hesitating for a moment, the oldest tailor finally bowed and said, "Your Majesty, could we redraw the pattern of this dress and then make it after you approve it?"

Zhu Yu was self-aware of his own painting skills, and he was not displeased when he heard this. Instead, he nodded and said, "Okay, but you'd better hurry up."

"Yes."

Immediately, the three tailors redrawn the styles of the clothes while communicating with Zhu Gui. It took more than an hour to redraw the styles of the clothes.

Then the three tailors worked together and the clothes were made faster.

Before lunch, the first piece of clothing was completed, based on the original manuscript provided by Zhu Gui and the revised draft proposed by three tailors.

Because he had participated in designing the clothes, Zhu Yu liked them so much that he put them on immediately.

Then he asked Zhao Bing to bring someone to bring a fitting mirror that was nearly as tall as a person.

The man in the mirror was wearing a round-necked, right-fronted, short-sleeved shirt made of thin scarlet silk - the sleeves only barely covered half of his arms.

In addition to the short sleeves, the hem of the clothes is also very short, barely covering the waist.

Below is a pair of vermilion trousers, the hem of which only reaches the calves.

Both the shirt and the pants are relatively loose, but not as loose as Hanfu.

Seeing this, the tailor took out a belt simply woven from five colors of silk and tied it on Zhu Yu.

"Hahaha," Zhu Yu laughed happily at the dressing mirror. After seeing enough, he turned around and asked, "Am I beautiful?"

However, it was seen that whether it was Zhao Bing and other eunuchs, maids, guards, or tailors, they were all obviously trying to suppress their laughter.

The old tailor, however, managed his expression best. He smiled and praised, "The king is already handsome, and he looks even more radiant in the clothes you designed."

"Hahaha, well said!" Zhu Yu laughed happily again. "Come here, reward the seal carver with fifty strings of banknotes, and reward Master Cheng and Master Cai with thirty strings of banknotes each!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the gift!"

In the next few days, Zhu Gui was almost obsessed with designing new clothes, shoes and hats.

Not only did he design a variety of men's clothing that was similar to modern clothing while retaining the typical feature of Hanfu, such as the right lapel, he even designed a variety of similar women's clothing!

Five days later, after Zhu Gui's initial novelty wore off, he tried on various new men's suits in front of the mirror, but no matter how he looked at them, he felt something was wrong.

He recalled the videos and movies he had watched that depicted later-world urban scenes. His gaze eventually fell on the bun in the mirror. He couldn't help but slap his forehead and mutter to himself, "Yes, those people all have short hair, but I have a bun. I just don't see it right."

When he discovered the problem, he wanted to find someone to cut his hair into the short style of later generations.

But after he opened his mouth to call Zhao Bing over, he stopped himself.

"No, if my father knew about this, he would probably beat me to death. In addition, it would also cause a great impact on the Han people under the rule of my Great Qi."

"At least at the moment, my prestige is not enough for everyone to accept a king who cuts his hair, let alone promote it nationwide."

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu was about to suppress this idea in his heart. But then he couldn't help but think, "Old Sixth is going to establish a vassal state as planned, right? The island of Sulimantan he chose is also very hot, probably even hotter than where I am."

"Perhaps I can ask the merchant to give him a set of clothes I designed, and then send him a telegram to discuss the promotion of short hair - in a tropical country, long hair is really uncomfortable."

Thinking of this, Zhu Yu even thought about how to say this matter...

···
The tenth day of the ninth month in the twenty-third year of Hongwu.

Zhu Zhen, the King of Chu, who celebrated the Double Ninth Festival in the Ming Dynasty, brought his family, as well as the civil and military officials recruited in the past few years, five thousand immigrants, three thousand guards and their families.

In addition, there were 3,000 orphaned teenagers recruited from Myanmar and trained for two or three years, and 2,000 immigrants, mainly Han Chinese, recruited from Annan through cooperative maritime merchants.

They sailed from Guangzhou on five warships and hundreds of ships, and took more than half a month to reach Hailongdusi. After resting for a few days, they crossed the Karimata Strait in later generations and arrived at the west coast of Sulimantan Island.

However, the western part of Sulimantan Island was not Zhu Zhen's destination for establishing a vassal state. Its climate was hotter and the jungle was denser, making it unsuitable as the starting point for establishing a vassal state.

The most important thing is that according to the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang, there is a part of this area that the court plans to directly rule in the future.

Therefore, the Chu clan fleet sailed eastward along the coastline of Suleimantan Island for another day or two before arriving at the place originally chosen by Zhu Zhen - the capital of South Suleimantan Province in later generations, Banjarmasin!
"According to the intelligence provided by the Bright Guard, there are currently only two nations in the southeastern part of Sulimantan: the Buddhist Kingdom of Tansumpuri and the Hindu Kingdom of Naghadhaha. In addition, there are some indigenous tribes."

"Most tribes in the southeast are governed by these two kingdoms, while some coastal tribes currently pay tribute to Majapahit and are nominally ruled by it, such as Banjarmasin, where we will be landing."

"But that place isn't under Majapahit's direct rule, so once the fleet finds a good harbor and lands, they can simply expel the local tribes and begin building a vassal state."

On the flagship of the Chu vassal fleet, the Juyang, under an awning, Zhu Zhen spoke to the civil and military officials present at the meeting.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qing, the captain of the guards, couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, what if those natives refuse to leave?"

A cold look flashed across Zhu Zhen's eyes as he said, "If you don't want to leave, you will be captured and forced to do hard labor. If you resist, you will be killed on the spot."

"Yes, sir!" Jiang Qing agreed excitedly.

At this time, the aide Chen Ju could not help but say, "Your Majesty, if the natives have already been civilized, we should try to incorporate them into the people. This is the only way to quickly expand the Chu State. Otherwise, relying solely on immigration will result in too slow a population increase."

Zhu Zhen asked, "Then how do you think we should define whether the natives are civilized?"

"This..." Chen Ju pondered for a moment, then said, "I think the key is whether they can communicate. If they can communicate, it will be easier to register them as citizens."

Zhu Zhen nodded and said, "In that case, Mr. Chen will be responsible for communicating with the native tribes."

Chen Ju bowed and said, "I obey your command."

After saying this, Zhu Zhen glanced at everyone and said solemnly, "I repeat, when we establish our Chu state on Suleimantan Island, our main enemy is neither the Majapahit Kingdom nor the local natives, but the harsh climate and environment there."

"Therefore, I hope that after you land, you will urge the military and civilians to strictly follow the hygiene regulations required during previous training!"

"It is strictly forbidden to drink raw water or eat raw food. Wash your hands before eating and use the toilet. If you find any patients, you must report them immediately..."

Zhu Zhen repeated all the requirements for epidemic prevention one by one before stopping.

The civil and military officials under his command also knew that this matter concerned the safety of all Chu vassal immigrants and could not be neglected, so they all agreed solemnly on the spot.

After the meeting, everyone returned to their ships, and soon the fleet arrived at the designated port.

It can be seen that this port has a simple dock built with logs, and there are some wooden houses on the shore that are similar to the southwestern stilt houses.

When the brown-skinned natives, dressed in simple clothes, saw the huge fleet arrive at the port, almost no one fled, but most of them looked on with shock and curiosity. (End of this chapter)