Bringing the Railway to Daming

According to Liu Kuan, last year alone, there were more than twenty newspapers that set up their offices in the capital, and the total number of official and private newspapers throughout the Ming Dynasty was more than one hundred!
Even so, this is because the Ming Dynasty court currently has relatively strict regulations on the establishment and review of publications.

If regulations could be relaxed, there would likely be more privately-run newspapers.

However, although the Ming Dynasty has vigorously promoted school education for more than 20 years and set up various adult literacy classes, the literacy rate among the people has increased significantly. However, most people still lack sufficient judgment and are easily influenced by the opinions of public intellectuals.

After all, even in later societies with such high literacy rates and average levels of education, many people are still influenced by various so-called "news," "media," and "public intellectuals" in their understanding of things, so it goes without saying that this was even more true in the Ming Dynasty at this time.

Therefore, in Liu Kuan's view, it was correct for the Ming Dynasty to manage the newspaper industry with relatively strict rules and methods.

For example, in later generations, if newspapers publish false information, as long as it does not cause particularly serious consequences, they only need to issue a public apology to the person or group and at most pay some compensation.

It can be said that the cost of reporting fake news, especially exaggerating the facts, is quite low.

In the Ming Dynasty, reporting fake news (current events) could result in criminal penalties for everyone from newspaper editors to those who provided the leads. If the news caused particularly serious consequences, the perpetrators could even be exiled or beheaded!

As for those who deliberately exaggerate or distort the facts, they will also be severely punished if found guilty, with the lightest punishment being a fine plus hard labor.

Therefore, although private newspapers and periodicals are becoming increasingly prosperous, Liu Kuan has not yet seen any newspapers and periodicals like those of later generations that deliberately exaggerate, distort, or even make false reports.

This made Liu Kuan feel very comfortable.

Of course, this also made the newspapers in the Ming Dynasty less enthusiastic about current affairs, especially those involving the court and the government.

Most newspapers and periodicals at present are either primarily literary, such as "Selected Essays", "Poetry and Lyrics Monthly", and "Discussions on Classical Texts".

Because traditional literati, primarily Confucian scholars, still make up a considerable proportion of the Ming Dynasty, and these people are not short of money, even those from humble backgrounds can be considered part of the Ming Dynasty's middle class, there is naturally a good market demand for such literary publications.

However, most newspapers and periodicals are magazines like "Tianxia Shuo," which mainly feature geography, folklore, local anecdotes, novels, operas, and miscellaneous talk.

After all, most literate people are merely literate; they cannot be considered scholars. They can understand some simple stories, but they cannot understand those articles based on Confucian classics and doctrines.

Conversely, those with sufficient literary skills may not necessarily dislike reading these kinds of magazines.

Therefore, in recent years, magazines such as "Overseas Scenery" and "World Affairs" have always been the mainstream in the newspaper and magazine industry.

It is worth mentioning that, influenced by the three martial arts novels "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," and "The Return of the Condor Heroes," which were written by writers commissioned by the Liu family based on the story outlines and detailed outlines provided by Liu Kuan, a number of martial arts novels have emerged in the Ming Dynasty in recent years.

Some of them are even comparable to The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes!
Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan had someone buy some to watch in his spare time as entertainment.

Now, Liu Kuan is looking forward to the further development and prosperity of the novel industry in the Ming Dynasty. In another one or two decades, he might be able to enjoy the same carefree reading life as bookworms in later generations in the Ming Dynasty.

Around 3 p.m., an official knocked on the door and said, "Your Excellency, the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Chu have arrived and wish to see you."

Have Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen returned?
He hadn't heard a thing before; these two are really discreet.

Liu Kuan muttered to himself, then got up and followed the clerk out—after all, these two were princes. Although he now held the title of Minister of Works and had been ennobled as a marquis, he could not be presumptuous in front of the princes and had to go and greet them.

Upon exiting the "office building," Liu Kuan spotted Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen not far away, and then he froze.

The two of them were standing under a pear tree!

It's February now, the season when pear blossoms are in full bloom. The tree canopy is covered with pink and white flowers, making it a beautiful sight.

But with two kings standing under the pear tree, the scene is more than just beautiful.

Did these two deliberately stand under the pear tree, or was it unintentional?

Liu Kuan muttered to himself, then smiled and stepped forward to greet them, bowing and saying, "Your Highness Prince Yan and Your Highness Prince Chu have arrived. I apologize for not being able to welcome you properly."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "Why is my brother-in-law being so polite with us?"

Zhu Zhen also smiled and said, "Brother-in-law, please don't mind us disturbing you while you're taking up your post."

"This humble official dares not," Liu Kuan said, gesturing for them to come inside. "Your Highnesses, please come inside to talk. This is not the place for conversation."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "With the spring breeze on our faces and the intoxicating fragrance of pear blossoms, how could this not be a good place to talk? If we could build a pavilion under the trees, and offer some fine wine or fragrant tea, that would be even better."

Hearing this, Liu Kuan was somewhat speechless and could only remind them, "It's fine for others to stand under this tree full of pear blossoms, but it's not so good for the two princes."

Both Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen were very intelligent, and they were slightly taken aback when they heard Liu Kuan's words.

Zhu Di thought to himself: What's wrong with me standing under the pear tree? No ripe pears are falling and hitting me.

No, Liu Kuan was talking about pear blossoms... pear blossoms, me and my sixth brother...

Pear blossoms are white... My sixth brother and I are both princes...

White... King, King plus White?!

Hiss! After understanding Liu Kuan's reminder, Zhu Di gasped and quickly pulled Zhu Zhen away from the pear tree, following Liu Kuan to the "office building".

Upon arriving at their quarters, Liu Kuan personally brewed tea for Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen before sitting down.

"May I ask what brings Your Highnesses here?"

Zhu Di kept the matter of standing under the pear tree to himself and said, "We've been overseas for several years and missed our brother-in-law very much, so we came to visit him together."

Zhu Zhen nodded, "Fourth Brother is right, we came here specifically to visit you, brother-in-law."

Liu Kuan cupped his hands in thanks, "Thank you for your concern, Your Highnesses."

Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen exchanged a glance, and then Zhu Di said, "Besides visiting my brother-in-law, we also have some matters concerning our vassal states that we would like to consult with him in person."

Liu Kuan knew that the two wanted to get a free consultation from him, so he was not surprised. He smiled and said, "Your Highness, please ask any questions you may have. I will not refuse to answer them if I can."

Immediately, Zhu Di and Zhu Zhen began to explain the current situation of their vassal states and some of the problems in governing the country—the reason they called them "some" was that they believed Liu Kuan could answer them, or rather, they believed Liu Kuan could know about them.

First was the Yan vassal state.

Zhu Di first set sail to establish his fiefdom in the 21st year of the Hongwu reign (1398), and six years have passed since then. After such a long period of territorial expansion, the Yan state not only possessed the territory of what would later become Bengal, but also occupied most of what would later become West Bengal and Jharkhand, as well as the northeastern part of Odisha and the eastern part of Bihar.

Its territory was roughly the size of two provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

As for the rule that the territory of a vassal state should not exceed five thousand li in circumference within twenty years as stipulated by Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di temporarily covered it up by using the method of "subordinate vassal states".

Zhu Yuanzhang probably knew about this, or most likely he did, but he turned a blind eye.

What troubled Zhu Di was not the issue of territory—during his years in India, he had discovered that given enough time and with the court loosening its restrictions, he could easily conquer a large Yan state.

To put it simply, in his eyes, none of the princely states, kingdoms, or even the Delhi Sultanate in India were truly formidable.

What truly troubled Zhu Di was how to ensure the long-term stability of his Yan state without being assimilated by Indian culture. Zhu Di was worried that, hundreds of years later, Yan would become like those countries in India, forced to spread its legs to meet invaders.

After establishing the Yan state, Zhu Di listened to the advice of Dao Yan and other civil officials such as Chen Ying, Qin Heng, Fang Bin, and Liu Jun, and adopted the method of reforming the Hindu caste system of India to govern the country.

He divided the people under the rule of Yan into four classes, with the highest class being the royal family. He stipulated that the royal family of Yan was born with the right to rule, which was granted by the Ming Dynasty and was sacred and inviolable.

Next were the nobles.

First, there were the civil and military officials who followed him to India to establish a vassal state, as well as all the original Ming Dynasty people who migrated there; second, there were a very small number of native people (locals) who were promoted to officials by him for making great contributions.

The third tier consists of ordinary citizens, mainly natives who voluntarily submitted to the Yan state, and natives who were forced to submit but never rebelled.

The fourth class consisted of the untouchables, mainly including captives and natives who had followed the rebel forces.

This hierarchy is much broader than the original Brahmanical hierarchy.

In addition, Zhu Di stipulated that commoners who could learn Chinese and make certain contributions could be promoted to citizens. Citizens who could speak and write Chinese characters and made great contributions could become nobles.

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan couldn't help but laugh, "The system implemented by His Highness Prince Yan is not much different from the current system implemented in the Ming Dynasty."

"Of course there is." Zhu Di shook his head seriously. "In the Yan Kingdom, if a noble commits a crime against a citizen, his sentence is automatically reduced by one degree; conversely, if a citizen commits a crime against a noble, his sentence is automatically increased by one degree."

"Similarly, if a commoner commits a crime against a citizen, the punishment is increased by one degree; if a commoner commits a crime against a nobleman, the punishment is increased by three degrees. Conversely, if a nobleman commits a crime against a commoner, the punishment is automatically reduced by three degrees."

Liu Kuan wasn't particularly surprised and said calmly, "This seems somewhat similar to the Mongol Yuan dynasty's system."

Zhu Di said, "In fact, according to the local Brahmanical hierarchical system, the two upper classes have almost the power of life and death over the two lower classes. Although mine is similar to the Mongol Yuan dynasty, it is already a much better system than their previous one."

"The main problem I'm facing now is that the Yan state's system of classifying people according to new standards has turned many former Brahmins and Kshatriyas into citizens or even outcasts; while a few outcasts have become nobles because of their merits."

"If this were the Ming Dynasty, it would be quite normal—'Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?' Even if someone was just a farmer, as long as they made enough contributions, they could be ennobled and appointed as a minister."

“But the natives find it hard to accept—they have been influenced by the Brahmanical caste ideology for thousands of years, and the concept of classifying people by bloodline and birth is deeply ingrained.”

“In the past, even if foreign enemies invaded and became the new rulers, they were assimilated into the caste system of Brahmanism. It can be said that the caste system has never changed and has even been continuously strengthened.”

"Therefore, not only do the former Brahmin women and Kshatriyas who have been reduced to citizens or untouchables not accept this new class system we have established, but even the Vaishyas, who are the most numerous, strongly resist the idea of ​​untouchables (Shudras) becoming nobles through meritorious service."

“In the past few years, more than a dozen rebellions have broken out under the rule of Yan, most of which were caused by this incident.”

“If it weren’t for that, my Yan territory could have increased by at least another third—the repeated rebellions have taken up too much of my energy.”

"Brother-in-law, do you think I made a mistake? Perhaps I should have led the immigrants to integrate into the Brahman caste system." (End of Chapter)