Bringing the Railway to Daming

On December 18th of the 27th year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, formally abdicated.

When Crown Prince Zhu Biao ascended the throne, he continued to use the Hongwu reign title in December, and changed it to Wenlong in January of the following year.

That year, Zhu Biao was forty years old. He had been the crown prince for twenty-seven years since he was made crown prince in the first year of the Hongwu reign.

On the eighth day of the first month of the first year of the Wenlong reign, all government offices of the Ming Dynasty opened, and Zhu Biao, in his capacity as Emperor Wenlong, issued a series of edicts.

For example, Zhu Xiong Ying, the eldest son of the legitimate wife, was named the crown prince, and Lady Lü was named the empress.

He also conferred the title of Prince Yu upon the second prince Zhu Yunwen, the title of Prince Yue upon the third prince Zhu Yuntong, the title of Prince Heng upon the fourth prince Zhu Yunxuan, the title of Prince Xu upon the fifth prince Zhu Yunxi, and the title of Prince Chen upon the sixth prince Zhu Yunyan.

In other words, Zhu Biao's five sons, excluding Zhu Xiong Ying, were all granted the title of prince, following the example set by Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, according to the current rules of the Ming Dynasty's vassal states, all princes who remain within the Ming territory, like the meritorious nobles, inherit their titles in a downgraded manner after three generations. Unless they make great contributions and the court grants them an imperial decree granting hereditary succession, their titles can be passed down unchanged.

In addition, only one son of a prince can inherit the title; other sons are not granted titles. However, the restrictions on the prince's other sons in areas such as military service, politics, and business are much more lenient.

Therefore, although Zhu Biao enfeoffed five sons as princes in one go (one more than in the original history), he did not need to worry about the national treasury being over-spent as a result.

In fact, he is considered to have few sons as the eldest son—several brothers now have more sons than him.

Before long, the Lantern Festival had passed, and Zhu Yuanzhang began to "make a fuss" about moving to the Fengyang Imperial Palace.

"Father, the renovation of Fengyang Palace will take some time to complete. Please wait until the weather is completely warm in February or March before going there, so that you and the ladies will not catch a cold."

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Biao took time out of his busy schedule to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "How could it freeze? If the heating pipes aren't installed, can't we just burn charcoal? Before the heating pipes were installed in the capital palace, everyone burned charcoal for warmth, and no one froze!"

Seeing that this tactic wouldn't persuade Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao had to come up with another idea, saying, "Father, didn't you want to take a camera to tour the landscapes of our Great Ming? As far as I know, the Imperial Workshop should have some results soon. Why don't you wait a few more days in the capital and take the photographic equipment with you to Fengyang?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked, "Are you serious? You're not lying to me?"

Zhu Biao said helplessly, "How could I possibly lie to Father about this?"

Actually, he had only heard Liu Kuan mention it briefly, and he wasn't sure if the suitable photographic equipment could be produced in February or March.

But as long as Zhu Yuanzhang can stay in the capital for another month, his goal will be achieved—the matter of the photographic equipment can be explained again.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said, "We can stay in the capital until mid-February at most. At that time, regardless of whether the Imperial Workshop can provide a suitable camera, we will go to Fengyang."

Zhu Biao nodded, "Alright, I will certainly not stop Father Emperor then."

When Zhu Biao returned to Fengxian Hall, he saw Zhu Xiong Ying processing memorials at a large desk on the left side of the hall, just like he had twenty years ago, and a smile of satisfaction appeared on his face.

Zhu Xiong Ying rose and bowed, then asked, "Did Father Emperor persuade Grandfather to relent?"

Zhu Biao laughed and said, "I used the camera from the Imperial Workshop as bait to get your Emperor Grandfather to agree to stay until mid-February."

“A month should be enough.” Zhu Xiong Ying nodded, then changed the subject and said, “Father, if the Imperial Crafts Academy really comes up with a suitable camera, then our Ming Dynasty’s household registration system should be reformed.”

Zhu Biao said, "With cameras and photographs available, the household registration system should undergo some reforms, but there's no need to rush. We can first apply photographs to official appointment documents, official files, and the military."

"Firstly, it is more important to establish archives containing photos of these people; secondly, it can accumulate experience for future reforms of the household registration system."

"Moreover, even if the Tiangong Institute develops a suitable camera and photographic equipment, it will probably take a considerable amount of time to mass-produce it. It may even be unable to mass-produce it for some reason, just like with wireless telegraph machines."

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "In any case, it's a good thing to develop a suitable camera and photographic equipment as soon as possible—why don't I take some time to have my teacher supervise the work of the relevant research institutes?"

Zhu Biao immediately understood that Zhu Xiong Ying was actually trying to urge Liu Kuan to hurry up.

He didn't ask Zhu Xiong Ying why she thought that way, but said, "Scientific research can't be rushed. Besides, the Tiangong Institute has other things to do, so don't urge your teacher."

Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't help but say, "Teacher spends half the day reading newspapers and magazines every day he's on duty. How can he be busy?"

Zhu Biao chuckled, "He didn't personally develop the camera, so what's the point of urging him?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying stopped, but then said, "This afternoon, I will be going to inspect the Institute of Surgical Medicine, which will probably take two or three hours."

The Institute of Surgical Medicine was established by Zhu Xiong Ying to reform medicine. He initially intended to implement comprehensive medical reforms, but Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao ultimately heeded Liu Kuan's advice to continue developing traditional medicine while simultaneously developing new medicine from scratch using scientific methods. This new medicine began with surgery.

But Zhu Biao knew that although it was called surgery, the main project of that research institute was actually dissecting human bodies and conducting various medical research.

Although the bodies being dissected were those of death row inmates, Zhu Biao still felt aversion to such places and even considered them "unlucky."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao frowned and said, "The Institute of Surgical Medicine is too tainted with blood, and its practices are ultimately against human nature. You should avoid going there."

"If I don't go, how can I understand the actual progress of the various research projects? And how can I supervise the researchers?"

Zhu Xiong Ying retorted first, then smiled and said, "Father, rest assured, I am in good health now, and with the protection of the Ming Dynasty's national fortune, I am not afraid of mere bloodshed."

In fact, as someone heavily influenced by Liu Kuan's natural science ideas, Zhu Xiong Ying did not believe in those supernatural beings, ghosts, or fortune-telling at all—he was probably even more pragmatic than Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although Zhu Biao was somewhat stubborn, he wasn't forceful. Hearing this, he didn't try to persuade Zhu Xiong Ying further, only telling him to return to the palace as soon as possible…
···
In the afternoon, Zhu Xiong Ying, accompanied by his guards and other attendants, arrived at Qixia Mountain.

Indeed, although Zhu Xiong Ying did not think there was anything wrong with dissecting human bodies for medical research, he knew that this matter challenged the common people's understanding, so he chose Qixia Mountain as a precaution.

In fact, in his opinion, Zhongshan was the most suitable.

But Zhongshan is where Xiaoling Mausoleum is located, so no matter how bold he was, he wouldn't dare to set up the Institute of Surgical Medicine there.

Qixia Mountain was once associated with legends of immortals, and at certain times, the scenery in the mountain is ethereal and resembles a fairyland.

However, Qixia Mountain now houses not only the "Three Acids and Two Alkalis Experimental Zone" but also other chemical-related research institutes. Last year, a "Surgical Medical Research Institute" was added. If it weren't for the fact that there is a Ming army guarding the perimeter year-round, establishing a restricted area, most unsuspecting people who break in at night would probably think they have stumbled into a demonic realm.

Qixia Mountain is heavily guarded and has strict access control. Even though Zhu Xiong Ying is now the Crown Prince, he still had to go through multiple checkpoints with his waist token before he could reach the "Institute of Surgical Medicine".

Located deep in Qixia Mountain, this place is called a research institute, but it is actually a complex of buildings covering dozens of acres and having more than a dozen independent courtyards.

Because there are already more than a dozen research projects being carried out here at the same time!
Every day, the corpses of death row inmates, and even living death row inmates, are transported here, while discarded human organs are also transported out.

In addition, being located in the mountains, and with the sky overcast that afternoon, Zheng He and his guards and attendants, who had come with Zhu Xiong Ying, felt a distinct chill after entering the valley.

Zhu Xiong Ying, however, remained fearless and spoke a few words to the research institute officials who came out to greet him. He then went into each courtyard to learn about the research progress of each project team.

Zheng He followed them into the first courtyard, where in the spacious basement he saw rows of large, completely transparent glass bottles. The bottles were all sealed, and inside were unknown medicinal liquids, followed by various organ parts.

Such as the heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, large intestine, small intestine, cecum...

Although Zheng He and his guards were of extremely high quality, and most of them had even been on the battlefield and killed people, many of them still felt a twitching in their stomachs at this moment.

The researcher in charge of the project team excitedly introduced, "Your Highness, please look, we have now dissected all the human organs known in traditional medicine and have made extremely detailed descriptions of the internal and external structures of each organ!"

"In addition, we have discovered some organs that have never been mentioned in traditional medicine, or organs or human structures that have been mentioned but not clearly described!"

Zhu Xiong Ying, with his hands behind his back, scanned the glass bottles containing human organs. His handsome face remained calm, but he was actually quite uncomfortable inside. However, thinking of his grand ambition to revolutionize medicine, he forced himself to remain calm.

Upon hearing the researcher mention traditional medicine twice, he couldn't help but frown and say, "The reason I ordered the establishment of this research institute is to build a new medicine from scratch, so that we can discard all the dross of traditional medicine."

"You keep talking about traditional medicine, how can you not be influenced by it? And if you are influenced, how can you be sure you won't be led astray by its dross?!"

The researcher was taken aback, probably not expecting Zhu Xiong Ying to be so angry.

After regaining his composure, he quickly explained, "Your Highness, please don't be angry. We are merely using the name of traditional medicine; we would never dare to use the theories of traditional medicine as the basis for our research."

Zhu Xiong Ying's expression softened slightly, and she said, "You just need to understand this point—I established this research institute under immense pressure. You should produce results as soon as possible, lest I become a laughing stock."

"Yes!"

After inspecting all the dozen or so project teams in the valley, just as he was about to leave, Zhu Xiong Ying suddenly remembered something and instructed the officials seeing him off: "The weather is gradually warming up, so extra attention must be paid to hygiene and disease prevention for the research. If any epidemic breaks out here, I will hold you all responsible!"

Upon hearing this, the officials in charge of the research institute shuddered and hurriedly replied, "Your humble servants will remember!"

After Zhu Xiong Ying walked out of the valley, a light rain suddenly began to fall.

The entire Qixia Mountain was shrouded in mist, while the valley behind Zhu Xiong Ying appeared even more eerie... (End of Chapter)