Bringing the Railway to Daming

Looking around, Liu Kuan saw that there weren't many people at Zhu Yuanzhang's table.

Besides Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying, there were also Cao Guo Gong Li Wen, Wei Guo Gong Xu Da, Xin Guo Gong Tang, and the imperial son-in-law Mei Yin, who was granted the title of Zhongxin Bo.

To be honest, Liu Kuan was quite surprised by the appearance of Xu Da and Tang He—this was the first time the two had attended a movie screening banquet.

Historically, Xu Da died in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign (1388) from a carbuncle on his back at the young age of fifty-four.

Thanks to Zhu Yuanzhang's reminder and the significant improvement in medical conditions in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da, now 64 years old, is not only alive and well but also in relatively good health.

However, Xu Da has not served as a military commander for several years. Currently, his main positions are Grand Councilor, Deputy Head of the Capital Army Academy, and Left Commander-in-Chief of the Army Governor's Office.

As for Tang He, he lived a relatively long life in history, passing away in the 28th year of the Hongwu reign at the age of 70.

Now, however, he is seventy-one years old, with white hair and beard, and looks very old. Moreover, three years ago, Tang He completely retired, relinquishing all titles except for the title of Duke of Xin, and is now enjoying a life of leisure at home.

Looking at Tang He, Liu Kuan saw that although Tang He was old, he looked quite well and might live for a few more years.

Li Wenzhong is relatively "younger," now fifty-seven years old. In addition to still serving as the Left Vice-General of the Naval Commandery, he also holds the positions of Grand Councilor and Deputy Head of the Capital Naval Academy.

In fact, among the top nobles of the Ming Dynasty, Mu Ying and Lan Yu are the closest to the Zhu family. However, both of them are currently serving in various posts, guarding their respective regions—Mu Ying is in Yunnan and Lan Yu is in Japan.

If these two were also in the capital, Liu Kuan wondered if they would have been summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang to participate in the movie-watching banquet as well.

Liu Kuan came to the table, first bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying, and then greeted Xu Da and the other two with a bow before taking his seat.

Zhu Huilan, Su Caiwei, and the children were also seated at different tables—Zhu Huilan sat at a table with the princesses, Su Caiwei sat at a table with the wives of Li Wenzhong and others, and the children sat at separate tables with their peers according to gender.

After Liu Kuan sat down, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Liu Kuan, there aren't many more times for us old folks to get together, so we've taken this opportunity to invite Xu Da and Tang He over as well. You don't mind, do you?"

'Is this something I can mind?'

Liu Kuan thought to himself, but smiled and said, "Of course I don't mind."

Tang He, stroking his silvery-white beard, laughed and said, "I've long heard that the palace organizes a film screening banquet every year, specifically to watch videos and movies played by Marquis Jiangning. Today, I'm finally able to witness it. I'd die happy."

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Tang He, "On such a happy day, why are you talking about death? We've said it before, if you can see this year, you can see next year too—however many years you live, you can see with us for as many years!"

"Hehe, that's great." Tang He grinned, revealing several gold teeth embedded in his mouth. His face was round and rosy, and he didn't have too many wrinkles.

Although Xu Da didn't say anything, he clearly showed a look of anticipation.

Who wouldn't want to experience something as amazing as videos and movies?

At this moment, Zhu Biao said, "Father, let's eat first, and then watch it together, shall we?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, "We will proceed according to your plan."

Zhu Biao then stood up, said a few words, and then ordered the palace servants to serve the dishes.

Old Zhu comes from a humble background and is now quite old. He enjoys lively gatherings and therefore doesn't have the habit of remaining silent when dining with others.

He took the lead in talking with Xu Da, Tang He, and Li Wenzhong, but the conversation still revolved around national affairs.

"Last year, the third brother, along with the thirteenth brother and a few others, managed to establish a foothold in the Kingdom of France in Western Europe."

"According to the third brother's telegram, those countries in Western Europe do not even have firearms at present. Although they have some elite cavalry, archers and infantry, they are no match for them at all."

"Therefore, in the past six months, they have basically not lost any of the battles they have fought in France."

"The Pingyi Guard of the third brother and the 'Four Kings Guard' of the thirteenth brother have both looted a lot of gold and silver treasures and recruited a lot of local farmers as escorts. Currently, the Pingyi Guard has more than 3,000 escorts, and the Four Kings Guard has more than 6,000 escorts."

"This strength is already quite formidable, and the Grand Duke of Burgundy, who is the French regent, is even more wary of them. Therefore, the thirteenth prince has sent several telegrams requesting that France be destroyed directly so that he can establish a vassal state there."

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Tang, who was usually very talkative, was now engrossed in gnawing on a well-cooked braised pork knuckle, remaining completely silent. This showed that although he was old, his mind was still sharp; he knew he had long since retired and was no longer suited to participate in discussions of national affairs.

Li Wenzhong spoke first: "The Prince of Dai is still a bit too hasty. As far as I know, France is one of the major powers in Western Europe, with a population of over ten million and national strength no less than that of Japan before."

"Since the court has decided to enter their country under the guise of mercenaries, they should first establish a foothold before making further plans. They should just follow the plan. Why are they already clamoring to destroy France after only half a year?"

Xu Da said, "The Pingyi Guard and the Four Kings Guard together have 10,000 escort troops. Although that is a lot, it is still too few compared to the Kingdom of France. We should continue to build up our strength."

"Liu Kuan, what do you think?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu Kuan by name directly.

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "My opinion is the same as that of the Duke of Wei and the Duke of Cao." These two were both military experts, and he, who only had a superficial understanding of military affairs, naturally listened to the experts.

Moreover, Prince Zhu Gui of Dai is impatient, and his teacher knows this better than anyone. How could the court's grand plans be done according to Prince Zhu Gui's wishes?
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "The Grand Duke of Burgundy even sent an envoy to the Jin region, hoping that the Third Prince could restrain the two mercenary armies and even recall them. The price was that he would agree to some of the conditions for friendly relations between the two countries that the Third Prince had previously proposed."

“Since you all believe that the matter with France should proceed as planned, let the third brother pretend to talk to the French envoy and delay for another year or two.”

Zhu Biao then said, "Father is right, that's what I think too."

The group ate and chatted for a while, and then Zhu Xiong Ying brought up a topic.

"Starting in the second half of last year, the imperial court dispatched personnel from the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to form a 'Special Investigation Team' to investigate illegal activities by Japanese nobles and samurai in the four provinces of Japan."

"Although a considerable number of Japanese nobles and great samurai have been found guilty of crimes and severely punished according to law, some former Japanese nobles and samurai still remain."

"Therefore, this year we should probably send the 'Special Investigation Team' to investigate again, and the intensity should be increased. The investigation should be carried out strictly so that we can get rid of those nobles and great samurai from the former Japanese as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Li Wenzhong said, "Since Japan has been established as a province, cases must be handled in accordance with the law. If the investigation of illegal activities is too harsh, I'm afraid not only those former Japanese nobles will be investigated, but some ordinary people will also be punished."

"At that time, I'm afraid it will cause public resentment to boil over - the people of Japan are already not loyal to the islands, what if the court's actions incite the people of Japan to rise up in rebellion?"

Seeing that neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Biao intended to speak, Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Has Duke Cao forgotten? If we want Japan Island to become a place of eternal rule for the Ming Dynasty, we should carry out large-scale immigration and relocate the vast majority of the people of Japan Island."

“Those nobles and warriors who were convicted might be executed, but ordinary people were mostly exiled.”

"Similarly, if the people of the Japanese islands really rise up in rebellion, it will give the imperial court a reason to suppress them severely—kill a batch, exile a batch, and then it will be much easier to relocate them later."

Li Wenzhong was stunned.

He originally thought Zhu Yuanzhang was ruthless enough, but now it seems that Zhu Xiong Ying, the current crown prince and the future third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is probably even more ruthless.

Zhu Xiong Ying's actions were utterly devoid of benevolence, and it remains to be seen where he will lead the Ming Empire in the future, whether it will bring disaster or fortune to the Ming Dynasty.

Although his personality was hard to change, Li Wenzhong had experienced a lot over the years and had become more mature. He was no longer the same person who had directly submitted a memorial to the emperor in the thirteenth year of the Hongwu reign.

Therefore, although he felt that Zhu Xiong Ying's words were inappropriate, he did not continue to argue.

Most importantly, he saw that neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Biao had said anything about the matter, so he knew that it was probably a decision made by the three of them and could not be changed.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not good, Tang He immediately changed the subject by talking about some interesting little things, which made the atmosphere at the dinner table better again.

However, they all tacitly stopped talking about national affairs after that.

The meal lasted for almost an hour before it ended.

However, the luncheon started early, before 11 a.m., so it was still before noon when it ended.

After the meal, Empress Lü directed the palace servants to clear the table and, as was customary in previous years, set up a "home theater".

Zhu Yuanzhang then said to Xu Da and Tang He with a smile, "Please take your seats. You two are the elders of this family banquet today, so please sit on our left and right."

Xu Da and Tang He hurriedly cupped their hands and said, "Your Majesty, we dare not!"

“What’s there to be afraid of? Didn’t we say that today is a family dinner? You are all relatives of the Zhu family, and also elders of Biao’er and Xiong Ying. What’s wrong with you sitting in the front? Biao’er, do you have any objections?”

The last sentence was obviously said to Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "That's what I think too. At the family banquet, we should have backups. Duke Wei and Duke Xin, please don't refuse. Your eyesight isn't good. If you don't sit in the front, you'll probably see what's playing on that tablet in a little while."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Xu Da and Tang He awkwardly followed Zhu Yuanzhang to sit down in the first row.

Liu Kuan also realized that in this timeline, after Empress Ma's death, the only people Zhu Yuanzhang could truly care about were his descendants, such as Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiong Ying, and his old brothers like Xu Da and Tang He.

He thought this version of Zhu Yuanzhang was quite good, at least much more humane than the historical figures.

After everyone was seated, Zhu Yuanzhang urged, "Liu Kuan, stop dawdling and quickly bring up the prepared video and play it."

Liu Kuan smiled and replied "Yes," then brought up a collection of songs and videos and started playing them on the touchscreen.

To be honest, this wasn't the first time Xu Da and Tang He had watched videos on a tablet—they had previously used tablets to watch the military parade of later generations.

But watching later-era song and dance performances on a tablet was a first for them, and they immediately widened their eyes, staring expectantly at the screen. (End of Chapter)