Bringing the Railway to Daming

After regaining his senses, Zhu Biao asked in confusion, "Didn't the Japanese invasion fail in later generations? Why did Bei Kong surrender to the Japanese so eagerly?"

Liu Kuandao said: "In fact, at that time, the influence of the Confucius Mansion, also known as the Northern Confucius Mansion, in China had greatly diminished. As early as after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, some pioneers believed that Confucianism was a backward and decadent doctrine in order to save the nation, and the Northern Confucius Mansion was even more filthy."

"Therefore, one or two decades after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Northern Confucian Academy had little influence, and the title of Duke Yansheng was changed to Sacrificial Official more than twenty years after the fall of the Qing Dynasty and no longer existed."

"And Kong Lingyu, who later surrendered to the Japanese, was not a sacrificial official of Confucius, but only the person in charge of the Northern Confucius lineage who remained in Qufu. His words and deeds only represented the behavior of his branch of the Northern Confucius."

"Of course, even so, Kong Lingyu's act of turning the sun down is still condemned by later generations and will be infamous for centuries."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying all showed thoughtful expressions.

Liu Kuan concluded, "In my opinion, both the Northern and Southern Confucian families are equivalent to the aristocratic families of the past, except that they have the title of descendants of Confucius."

"Among them, the Northern Confucian family gained wealth and honor by claiming to be descendants of Confucius and the Duke of Yansheng. In order to preserve this wealth and honor, they have been making petitions to surrender to the emperor for generations."

"On the contrary, the Southern Confucian family was more like an ordinary aristocratic family, less influenced by the reputation of being descendants of Confucius. Or rather, they chose integrity over wealth and honor."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, “According to what you say, the title of Duke Yansheng should really be given to the Southern Confucian Academy. We initially granted the title of Duke Yansheng to the Northern Confucian Academy out of consideration for the Northern Confucian Academy’s influence and to win their allegiance.”

"Now that more than 20 years have passed, the Han people in the north have long since returned to their homeland, and the threat of northern barbarians has even disappeared. There is really no need to indulge the Northern Confucianists anymore."

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying suddenly said, "Grandfather Emperor Emeritus and Father Emperor, although the court has exiled thousands of people under the pretext of investigating the crimes of the Northern Confucian scholars, there are still many descendants of Confucius in Qufu and even Shandong. In addition, there are also many members of the Meng and Yan families."

“Since they enjoy the benefits of being descendants of sages, they should make some sacrifices. Now that our Great Ming is expanding overseas, it is precisely the time to spread Confucianism.”

"Therefore, it would be better to recruit Confucian scholars from the descendants of sages such as Confucius, Mencius, and Yan Hui, and send them overseas to spread Confucianism."

Zhu Biao said, "Most of these sages' descendants are content with wealth and status, and I'm afraid they wouldn't be willing to travel across the ocean to foreign lands to risk spreading Confucianism, would they?"

Zhu Xiong Ying smiled slightly and said, "We can use two methods—first, we can use the official newspapers such as the Da Ming Yue Bao and Da Ming Xun Kan to publicize the deeds of other Confucian scholars who went overseas to spread Confucianism, so that the Confucian community can be proud of them and guide Confucian scholars to go overseas."

"Secondly, the descendants of Confucius, Mencius, Yan Hui, and other sages and near-sages can be evaluated for their role in spreading Confucianism, and this can be linked to the rewards and honors bestowed by the imperial court."

"For example, the direct descendants and close relatives of Confucius were exempt from corvée labor, as were the direct descendants of the Meng and Yan families. Furthermore, they were exempt from taxes on sacrificial lands. If they were unwilling to even emulate the sage by traveling overseas to spread Confucianism, why should they enjoy the legacy of the sage?"

"Those dukes, marquises, and earls who drove out the Tartars and expanded the territory of our Great Ming Dynasty had their titles reduced after three generations. Why should these descendants of the sages lie down and enjoy the sages' legacy for thousands of years? That is too unfair!"

Liu Kuan could tell that Zhu Xiong Ying's words implied an intention to lead Confucian scholars overseas.

But he generally agreed.

The descendants of sages should not lie down and enjoy their lives. Guiding Confucian scholars to go overseas to spread Confucianism can indeed expand the influence of Chinese civilization and help consolidate the overseas territories already occupied by the Ming Dynasty.

He immediately replied, "Your Highness is absolutely right, I agree with this proposal!"

Zhu Biao glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang subconsciously, and seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang did not intend to offer any suggestions, he nodded and said, "Alright, Xiong Ying will find a suitable person to oversee this matter."

"My son, take your orders!"

···
···
The third day of the eighth month of the first year of the Wenlong era (1395 AD).

As people get older, they need less sleep, and since he also goes to bed early, Zhu Yuanzhang woke up around 4 a.m.

After washing up, he suddenly had a whimsical idea: to go to the residences of the princes and grandsons to check whether the princes and grandsons who were now in school were living according to the rules he had set.

Upon inspection, he indeed caught two lazy princes and grandsons, and immediately gave them a good scolding. Even the palace servants who were supervising the two princes and grandsons were also in trouble.

After having breakfast, Zhu Yuanzhang prepared to meet up with Liu Kuan.

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying arrived.

"Grandpa, shall I go across the bridge with my teacher today? To be honest, I've heard of that strange fog many times, but I've never seen it in person."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned upon hearing this. "What are you going to see? Don't you know that strange fog is fraught with unpredictable dangers? You are the crown prince of our Great Ming Dynasty. Your safety is related to the stability of the country. How can you take such a risk so easily?"

Zhu Xiong Ying couldn't help but ask, "When Father was the Crown Prince, how could he walk on the bridge with his teacher?"

"Your father had no choice back then—now that we've abdicated, we're a more suitable candidate than you, do you understand?"

Although Zhu Xiong Ying felt it was a pity that he could not see the strange fog, he still replied after hearing what Zhu Yuan Zhang said, "Grandson understands - Grandfather, please be careful when you go."

"I know—you should go do what you need to do."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and left the palace with his entourage.

When he arrived at the gate of the Liu residence, it was not yet seven o'clock, and Liu Kuan was having breakfast.

Upon hearing that Zhu Yuanzhang had arrived, they hurriedly led the entire household to greet him and pay their respects, creating a chaotic scene.

After exchanging greetings, Liu Chang'an and Liu Ruoyue ran to Zhu Yuanzhang's side and greeted him affectionately. "Grandpa, what brings you to our house?"

“Let’s ask your father to go with us to handle this matter.”

"Are we going to the cross-river bridge? I want to go too!" Liu Ruoyue said eagerly.

Zhu Huilan immediately scolded, "Ruoyue, your grandfather and father are going to take care of important business. What are you doing going with them? Isn't that just ridiculous?!"

Liu Kuan went to the bridge every year to wait for the strange fog. She was not very supportive of it in the first place. Although she had always encountered danger, she still did not want her daughter to go and take the risk.

Liu Ruoyue was still afraid of Zhu Huilan. She muttered, "If I'm not going, I'm not going. Why are you being so fierce?" and then stopped mentioning the matter.

While Liu Kuan was eating, Zhu Yuanzhang took a stroll around Liu's residence and found that the interior decoration was elegant, even somewhat simple. In addition, there were many toys for children to play with, such as swings, wooden dummy stands, rocking horses, and seesaws.

In addition, there is a private laboratory, but there is nothing worth seeing inside.

Liu Kuan dared not keep Zhu Yuanzhang waiting any longer, so he quickly finished his breakfast and then went with his entourage to the cross-river bridge with Zhu Yuanzhang.

Once on the bridge, Liu Kuan, as before, set out tables, chairs, dried fruit, drinks, and his laptop, and waited patiently.

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed after reading it, "You sure know how to enjoy yourself."

Liu Kuan explained, “We come every year, but we can’t just wait around every time. This five-color drink was made by Huilan herself; Your Majesty can try it.”

After saying this, Liu Kuan poured Zhu Yuanzhang a cup.

After tasting it, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "It's really good, with a unique flavor."

Zhu Yuanzhang wasn't too concerned with the pleasures of food and drink, and since he didn't want to just wait around, he chatted with Liu Kuan.

"Liu Kuan, if you hadn't traveled back to our Ming Dynasty, what kind of life would you be living now?"

Liu Kuan said, "I have been in the Ming Dynasty for almost fourteen years. Normally speaking, I should have already married and had children, living the life of an ordinary worker."

"What is the life of an ordinary worker?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with great interest.

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "I earn a few thousand yuan a month, at most tens of thousands of yuan. Every morning when the alarm clock rings, I hurriedly get up to wash up, and maybe I have to make breakfast for my wife and children."

"After breakfast, I will most likely need to drive my child to school, then my wife to work, and then I will go to work."

"I might go home for lunch, but I'll most likely just order takeout from the company. I'll be busy until six or seven in the afternoon. The company might let us leave on time, but I'm more likely to work overtime until nine or ten o'clock."

"If I need to work overtime, I'll probably have to order takeout or find a restaurant near the company to eat at."

"When I get home at night, I will most likely have to help my child with his/her homework, and maybe even argue with my wife about the child's education, and then argue with my wife about money."

“Finally, I fall asleep exhausted—this goes on day after day, year after year, until my work performance no longer meets the company’s requirements, I’m fired, and then I do some jobs that pay less.”

"But by then, I should have some savings, and my children should be almost grown up, so I can start preparing for retirement."

"Of course, if the child is not capable, you may have to spend your retirement money to buy a house for the child and help them get married... that's about it."

Zhu Yuanzhang listened with a strange expression and couldn't help but say, "Isn't your life a bit boring and stifling?"

Liu Kuan smiled freely, “Your Majesty should know that unless one can become wealthy, it is difficult for ordinary people to live a carefree and unrestrained life, even in times of peace and prosperity.”

"In fact, being able to live the kind of life I just described would be a luxury for some people in later generations, as well as for most ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty during the normal course of history, wouldn't it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it.

Without Liu Kuan, ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty would not have had to suffer from the ravages of war, but most of them would not have lived as well as they do now, and would have lived a miserable life.

And if the Jingnan Rebellion were to occur a few years later, countless innocent civilians would likely perish in the flames of war.

From this perspective, for the vast majority of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty during the normal course of history, being able to live the "suffocating life" that Liu Kuan described in later generations was indeed a kind of happiness.

But then he felt that perhaps such a comparison shouldn't be made...
After regaining his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang said with emotion, "In that case, your coming to the Ming Dynasty can be considered a mutual achievement between you and the Ming Dynasty."

Liu Kuan nodded in agreement, "That's true."

As they chatted, it was already past eight o'clock, and the strange fog still hadn't appeared, so Liu Kuan assumed it wouldn't come.

Just as he was about to relax and enjoy the scenery along the river, he suddenly noticed that a thin mist had risen around him.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang, looking slightly nervous, said, "Liu Kuan, fog has rolled in—is this that strange fog?" (End of Chapter)