Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 535 Zhu Yuanzhang (video download), On Gene Editing Technology [Please Subscribe]

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had heard Zhu Biao describe the strange fog many times, this was the first time he had seen it in person. In addition, since it was a mysterious phenomenon, he was inevitably a little nervous.

Liu Kuan quickly checked his phone signal and, finding one, exclaimed with delight, "It really is that strange fog!"

He then opened WeChat, intending to first check his older brother's Moments to learn about his parents and his brother's family.

While the phone software was still responding (after a while, the phone wasn't as fast as it used to be), he turned on his laptop.

After logging into WeChat, Liu Kuan browsed his elder brother's Moments from the past six months and discovered that his brother, who had once been a senior executive at a mid-sized company, had lost his job last year.

However, judging from the older brother's comments on his WeChat Moments, he had expected this all along—firstly, his company has been declining in recent years and has been laying off employees; secondly, AI is becoming increasingly powerful, and his job will inevitably be replaced by AI.

Fortunately, he has saved a lot of money over the past ten years and his investments have yielded some returns. Now, in addition to his house and car, he has tens of millions of yuan in savings (including financial products such as funds and stocks).

In addition, although his sister-in-law's salary was not high, her job was stable, so the family's life did not fall into crisis because of his unemployment.

Now my older brother writes articles and makes videos online related to his previous work, making him a freelancer.

Judging by his age, his older brother should be over fifty, and his nephew has also been supported through university. It wouldn't be bad if he could find a job with more freedom.

Besides, another unexpected surprise for Liu Kuan was seeing photos of his parents in his elder brother's WeChat Moments—his parents were both in their seventies or eighties, with silver hair, but they looked to be in good health.

As Liu Kuan excitedly browsed his elder brother's WeChat Moments, Zhu Yuanzhang reminded him, "Liu Kuan, the computer is already turned on. How do you use that crappy website?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan immediately helped Zhu Yuanzhang open the small website—as for how to use it, Zhu Biao had already taught Zhu Yuanzhang the basic usage of the notebook many years ago.

Since you can't input information, all that's left is to click with the mouse; it's very simple.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened immediately after he opened the small website.

Even so, seeing so many video titles and images on the webpage, he was momentarily at a loss as to where to begin.

Liu Kuan tried sending a message to his older brother, but found that he still couldn't send it. So he used his phone to search for and download some text and video materials that he needed.

During this process, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Time is short, Your Majesty, please feel free to click and browse as you like."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized what was happening and clicked on a video with a cover that resembled the robes and hat of the Ming emperors, titled "Even unofficial histories wouldn't dare write it like this." Following Zhu Biao's instructions, he watched it at double speed.

After listening for a few minutes, I realized it was a comment from later generations on his construction of the Fengyang Imperial Palace.

Although he was curious to know how future generations would evaluate this matter, he felt it was pointless and immediately turned it off to watch other videos.

"Real footage of the War of Resistance against Japan taken in 1937, every inch of our land was bought with blood (full-color restoration)?"

"The bizarre 'Lu Ban evil arts' that have caused harm?"

"Did these 12% in the north bear the burden and protect the whole of China?"

What makes Luoyang, the "Divine Capital" of China, a city that once captivated emperors and generals, so unique?

Why are Chinese people so obsessed with eating bamboo shoots?

How bizarre is silicon-based life?

"A VR remake of 'The Feather of the Late Ming Dynasty'?"

"···"

As he continued watching, Zhu Yuanzhang found many video titles and covers particularly appealing.

They all downloaded the files as Zhu Biao had instructed them to.

Actually, he was more interested in reading news from later generations, but unfortunately he couldn't find any after searching everywhere. He thought about asking Liu Kuan, but seeing that Liu Kuan was too busy, he didn't say anything.

And just like that, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that it hadn't been long before the webpage became unresponsive.

At this moment, Liu Kuan sighed, "The strange fog lasts for a shorter time than before."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up and around, and sure enough, he found that the strange fog had dissipated. He couldn't help but feel annoyed and said, "I'm still not familiar with this. I haven't downloaded many videos."

Liu Kuan was not in such a hurry for various materials and videos at the moment, and said upon hearing this, "Your Majesty, in fact, the Ming Dynasty already has some of the knowledge it needs. The rest can be developed by the Ming Dynasty itself over time."

"Therefore, we don't need to force ourselves to have information that will be useful to the Ming Dynasty in the future," Zhu Yuanzhang said. "We also want to take this opportunity to learn more about the future—Liu Kuan, were you able to look at the news from the future and understand the situation there?"

As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, even though he knew that the events of later generations had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty, he still couldn't help but learn about them.

The saying goes, "Reading history can reveal the rise and fall of dynasties." Therefore, understanding future changes in the situation would undoubtedly have greater reference value for the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Kuan said, "I did take a look at the news from later generations just now. If Your Majesty is interested, I can pick one or two news topics to talk about on the way."

"it is good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, like a child, was delighted upon hearing this.

Liu Kuan then checked the materials and videos that he and Zhu Yuanzhang had just downloaded, then packed up his laptop, mobile phone, and other belongings, and left the cross-river bridge with his entourage.

After leaving the bridge, Zhu Yuanzhang had Liu Kuan sit in his carriage.

Liu Kuan knew that Zhu wanted to hear news from the future, so he didn't hesitate and said, "I just saw a news report—scientists in the Bald Eagle country of the future have modified the genes of the children of the wealthy."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "If I remember correctly, genes are similar to bloodlines, right?"

Liu Kuan nodded, "You can understand it this way—the reason why a child's appearance and even personality are similar to his or her father and grandfather is determined by genes."

"Of course, there are many genes in the human body, some of which are hidden and not obvious, while others will inevitably be revealed."

"At the same time, some of these genes are good, such as a strong physique, high intelligence, and strong immunity; but there are also bad genes, such as congenital diseases, bad personality, and even unattractive facial features."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly as he listened—Liu Kuan had mentioned the matter of "bloodline inheritance" before, and he remembered it vividly.

Liu Kuan continued, "When biotechnology develops to a certain level in later generations, it will be possible to select or even modify genes."

"For example, if someone is short and ugly, they can choose to modify their child's physique and facial features to have a tall, strong, and handsome boy."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but ask, "Are you saying that we can even choose whether a child is a boy or a girl?"

Liu Kuandao said, "Genes can be chosen, so choosing the sex of a child is naturally even simpler."

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and said, "This should be a good thing, right?"

Liu Kuan shook his head. "Later generations have discussed this kind of thing long ago—it may be a good thing for the rich and powerful, but it is mostly a bad thing for the vast majority of ordinary people at the bottom."

"Your Majesty might consider this: the children of the wealthy have an advantage in terms of family wealth, connections, and even the inheritance of knowledge. The children of the poor are far inferior to the children of the rich in these aspects and can only catch up or even surpass them through their own intelligence and hard work."

"But if genes can be edited, then the children of the rich will certainly have tall and strong bodies, higher intelligence, and even longer lifespans."

"In that case, what can children from poor families compare with children from rich families? It will become extremely difficult for them to achieve something beyond that of children from rich families."

"From now on, the children of the rich will always be rich, while the children of ordinary people and the poor will always be at the bottom of society and will find it extremely difficult to change their social status."

"In modern terms, this would completely solidify social classes, making any change impossible. If this continues, society may only become increasingly distorted and eventually collapse on its own."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang initially felt that such a world was indeed terrifying.

Putting everything else aside, if such technology had existed at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, then there would have been no way that a poor peasant boy like him could have overthrown the tyrannical Yuan and established the Ming Dynasty.

Then he thought, if the Ming Dynasty possessed such technology, wouldn't that mean that the Zhu family might truly enjoy the throne forever?
Is it truly possible for the Ming dynasty to last for ten thousand generations?

However, before Zhu Yuanzhang could continue to think in a more "wonderful" direction, Liu Kuan continued, "Besides the problem I just mentioned, there is another more serious problem with altering genes, which is that it will disrupt the human gene pool."

"People think they have mastered gene technology, but they may not have completely mastered it. Many scientists speculate that if human genes are allowed to be altered, it could lead to chaos or even collapse of the human genome in the future."

"The ultimate result is that all of humanity will perish due to genetic problems, or only a very small portion will survive and transform into another species."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't quite understand and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Liu Kuan smiled slightly mysteriously and said, "Let me give you a simple example—since genes can be altered, wouldn't someone want to integrate animal genes into a human body?"

"For example, giving people the ability to breathe underwater like fish, or making their bones lighter and growing wings like birds, and so on."

Zhu Yuanzhang imagined the scene of humans and various animals merging together and immediately shuddered.

(End of this chapter)