Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Gui: "Why are you all looking at me? I mean what I say—if I can't do it, my descendants will!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Alright, thirteenth son, we know you have ambition. Liu Kuan, didn't you just say there were three reasons? What about the last reason for the decline of martial arts in later generations?"

Liu Kuandao said: "Excellent martial arts all develop from actual combat, and most of the period from the mid-to-late Qing Dynasty to the establishment of the new dynasty was a chaotic time, so martial arts practitioners could easily get opportunities for actual combat."

"Once the new dynasty is established and the world is at peace, the laws will become strict again, and martial arts practitioners will not be allowed to use martial arts to injure or kill people. Some martial arts techniques are precisely the kind that can kill people, and once they start, they are likely to cripple or kill them."

"If martial arts practitioners do not get real combat opportunities, their skills will be difficult to improve. As the older generation of martial arts masters pass away one after another, Chinese martial arts will naturally decline."

"When the new China opened up to the world and martial arts were valued by the government and the public, there were many empty moves in the martial arts world that were not practical in actual combat. Later, some foreigners even used this to ridicule Chinese martial arts as being all fancy moves that could not be used in actual combat."

"In addition, some swindlers use the name of Chinese martial arts to swindle and cheat, which makes the reputation of Chinese martial arts even worse."

"On the contrary, Western swordsmanship, boxing, Japanese karate, Korean taekwondo, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and even Indian yoga were very popular in China and were believed by the people."

"Foreign capitalists who treat martial arts as a business have also used it to open various martial arts schools and martial arts clubs in China, taking a lot of money out of the pockets of Chinese people."

"Among them, Korean Taekwondo is the best-run and most popular among young people, with Taekwondo gyms springing up all over China."

For a moment, Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiong Ying and others were all wide-eyed with disbelief. They never expected that such a thing would happen in later generations. When China was bullied by the great powers, Chinese martial arts stood up and became famous overseas, boosting national self-confidence. But after decades of peace, Chinese martial arts were no longer trusted by the Chinese people, who instead believed in foreign martial arts that had been defeated by those martial arts masters of the past.

This is simply unbelievable and incomprehensible!
Zhu Yuanzhang originally intended to end the topic after Liu Kuan finished explaining the third reason, but at this moment he keenly realized that this matter involved a power struggle at the national level.

He then asked, "Why does this phenomenon occur?"

Liu Kuan sorted through his memories and said, "There are two main reasons. One is that although China was at peace at that time, it was still very poor compared to those Western countries, and even Korea and Japan, which were supported by the United States. When a country is poor, it is inevitable to lack self-confidence."

"On the other hand, as I just said, due to decades of peace and the passing of the older generation, the new generation of martial arts practitioners in China lacks opportunities for real combat, and there are indeed very few who can fight."

"In addition, foreign martial arts such as Taekwondo were packaged, promoted and operated with advanced business concepts at that time. They also cultivated some so-called masters through relatively more actual combat and won fame in international competitions. Naturally, they were able to enter China and squeeze the market that originally belonged to traditional Chinese martial arts."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

At this point, Zhu Biao asked, "Didn't the later dynasties do anything in the face of this situation?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "The new dynasty has introduced many policies to support traditional martial arts, but the new dynasty also knows that the fundamental reason lies in the strength of the country."

"In fact, after the new nation opened up to the world for thirty or forty years, its national strength increased, its people became richer, its national self-confidence increased, and it became more confident in its traditional culture."

"Before I came to the Great Ming, there was already a group of people who studied traditional martial arts. They trained using scientific methods, participated in various competitions to improve their combat experience, and modified traditional martial arts to make them more suitable for contemporary martial arts and combat competitions. They have begun to gain a good reputation internationally."

"Some practitioners of traditional martial arts are developing their skills in performance, combining traditional costumes, music, and dance with modern photography and video production techniques to package and promote them, bringing Chinese traditional martial arts back into the view of people around the world and making them loved and even admired by a considerable number of foreigners."

"In fact, besides traditional martial arts, traditional music and musical instruments have also encountered similar predicaments. Fortunately, they have all overcome these difficulties. As China has once again become a world-leading power, Chinese traditional music and other cultures have spread all over the world."

After listening, Zhu Biao said thoughtfully, "I remember my brother-in-law once mentioned a term called 'cultural confidence'—what my brother-in-law just said shows that the people of the new dynasty have regained their cultural confidence, right?"

Liu Kuan nodded with a smile, "That's true."

Zhu Biao laughed and said, "In that case, when our Great Ming Dynasty dumps its goods into the West in the future, we should not only take the opportunity to spread Confucianism, but also send martial artists and artists to promote the excellence of our Chinese martial arts, music, painting and other arts."

"Only by making the Westerners fully respect our culture can we minimize their desire to resist."

Liu Kuandao said: "The cultures centered on Western religions, such as the cultures centered on Islam in West Asia and Central Asia, have been passed down for thousands of years and are deeply rooted in the local areas."

"If you want to undermine their national self-confidence, or to make them respect our culture, you really have to do that."

Zhu Yuanzhang also felt that Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan's discussion made sense, but when he turned his head, he noticed that Empress Ma's face looked tired again.

He then said, "Alright, let's leave the discussion of martial arts here. Liu Kuan, didn't you prepare a video specifically for the Empress? Play it quickly, and we'll call it a day and go back to rest."

Liu Kuan then noticed the weariness on Empress Ma's face, and immediately replied "Yes," pulling up the video on his tablet.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress, this video is called 'Nanjing Pictorial Guide,' which shows many scenes of the capital city more than 600 years later."

Upon hearing this, not only Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma showed anticipation in their eyes, but also Zhu Biao, Zhu Su, and others.

Liu Kuan touched the screen to play, and the video started.

"Whoosh—!" The screen went black, and the first sound was the train whistle and the clanging of the train as it ran. Then a line of small text appeared on the screen.

"This is a Nanjing you've never seen before."

Then, against the backdrop of the sky just before sunrise, the bridge across the river appeared, and a train sped from Jiangbei towards Nanjing!

"It's a bridge spanning the river!"

Some of the younger princes and grandsons exclaimed in surprise—this was the first time they had seen the cross-river bridge so clearly in a video, not to mention the beautiful scenery.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Empress Ma, and others felt a strange sense of wonder about the opening scene of the video, especially Zhu Biao.

He recalled the time when he was welcoming Xu Da and Tang He's Northern Expeditionary Army outside Yifeng Gate, when a strange fog suddenly appeared, and when the fog dissipated, the magnificent bridge across the river came into view.

Although twelve years have passed, the memories are still as clear as yesterday.

The video opens with a shot of a bridge spanning the river, with cars traveling on the uppermost road and ships navigating the river. The sky and river are bathed in the glow of the sunrise, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

'I had no idea the bridge spanning the river was so beautiful just before sunrise!'

This idea popped into the minds of many members of Old Zhu's family.

The video then begins to use the sky as a backdrop to show Nanjing's various cultural and natural landscapes, as well as modern and ancient architecture, all within the context of the day's passage.

The Nanjing Eye pedestrian bridge features two cable-stayed bridge rings that resemble Nezha's Universe Rings fallen to earth.

Jiming Temple, the foremost of the 480 temples of the Southern Dynasties, is nestled amidst birdsong and fragrant flowers, creating a picturesque scene reminiscent of the Olympic rings.

Zijin Mountain (Zhongshan) and Shijiu Lake boast beautiful and peaceful natural scenery, while Dabaoen Temple, Yuejiang Tower, Hongjue Temple, Wuxiang Temple, Wuxiang Mountain, Foding Pagoda, Niushou Mountain, and Jinniu Lake are also featured in the picturesque landscape.

Empress Ma had visited many of the sights here, especially the Buddhist temples, but she looked at them as if she were seeing them for the first time, her eyes shining brightly.

This is because these scenes were almost all captured with high-definition aerial lenses, and post-production color and lighting adjustments were made, allowing these landscapes to reveal an unprecedented beauty to her.

As the sun rose, the camera returned to the bridge spanning the river, then shifted to the city of Nanjing, allowing Zhu Yuanzhang and others to clearly see the Nanjing metropolis of later generations through aerial photography.

After looking at rows of high-rise buildings, the scene shifts to a street that is not much different from some places in the capital at this time, with the text on it reading: Gaochun Old Street!

Subsequently, the Guanwang Temple, Chaotian Palace, and the ruins of the Ming Palace also came into view.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw the "Ming Dynasty Imperial Palace" in the video surrounded by a circular asphalt road and high-rise buildings, with most of the palace buildings nowhere to be found and replaced by groves of trees and grasslands, a complex and inexplicable feeling welled up in his heart.

Empress Ma, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying felt the same way.

This is their Ming Dynasty palace. After six hundred years of wind and rain, only a few lonely gates and palaces remain?

While Zhu Yuanzhang and others were secretly sighing over the "Great Ming Palace" of later generations, modern and contemporary cultural landscapes such as the Nanjing Museum, Memorial Hall, Presidential Palace, Meiling Palace, Yuhuatai Martyrs' Cemetery, Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, John Rabe's Former Residence, and the Memorial Hall of the Victory of Crossing the Yangtze River appeared one by one.

Liu Kuan noticed that the video showed nearly ten seconds of footage of the Meiling Palace, and that it included shots of the changing seasons.

However, what follows closely are cultural buildings such as the Yuhuatai Martyrs' Cemetery and the Massacre Memorial Hall, making the irony quite obvious.

"The Meiling Palace, known as the premier villa in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, was built upon what? It was built upon the countless soldiers who sacrificed their lives to defend their country, and the hundreds of thousands of civilians who perished in the Nanjing Massacre!"

'I never noticed before, but this video is actually edited with such profound meaning.'

At the same time, the video switched to another familiar scene for Zhu Yuanzhang—his mausoleum!

Hidden among ancient trees, a secluded stone path stretches into the distance, and the camera follows it, with six stone beasts, including elephants, arranged in order, like guards.

Zhu Yuanzhang recognized it as the "gateway" to his mausoleum, which immediately made his eyes widen and gave rise to an extremely ominous suspicion.

Then, the video feed shifted to the Wuchao Gate, which was also dilapidated and hidden by trees.

Seeing that the video didn't show any further footage of the mausoleum, Zhu Yuanzhang's ominous suspicions intensified.

Our grave... was dug up?! (End of Chapter)