Bringing the Railway to Daming

While Xu Da and Tang He were staring at the screen, Liu Kuan introduced, "The first thing we're playing is six song videos. Some of them have been played before, but there are also some new songs."

As Liu Kuan spoke, the name of the first song appeared on the screen, clearly written as "The Elephant King's Journey".

To be honest, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma originally wanted Ming Dynasty musicians to learn how to play these songs, but later they considered that some of the instruments were not owned by the Ming Dynasty, or that they were different from those of later generations. In addition, Liu Kuan did not understand music, so the matter was delayed and never carried out.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma may have also considered that using a tablet computer for something as simple as playing music would be too wasteful.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others had only heard "The Elephant King's Journey" once or twice, and when they heard it again this time, they still felt that the piece was magnificent and grand.

The video, which is paired with "The Elephant King's Journey," features excerpts from various historical dramas of later generations, depicting grand scenes.

Although the Ming Dynasty now has grand assemblies and ceremonies with all nations paying tribute, Xu Da, Tang He, and others were there back then, as if they were on Mount Lu, and their perspective was completely different from that of today.

Now, the two felt as if they were watching the grand scenes of dynasties from God's perspective, and listening to the magnificent music. Even though they were both old, they couldn't help but feel excited, as if they had returned to the exciting years when they were fighting and conquering battlefields!
Following "The Elephant King's Journey," the series will air "The Unity of the Nine Provinces," "The Water Dragon's Chant," and "Drunken Peace."

Next up are "Loyalty to the Country" and "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven"!
The documentary "Serving the Country with Utmost Loyalty" features various scenes related to Qi Jiguang's army—including Qi Jiguang's suppression of Japanese pirates along the southeast coast and the scene of the last Qi family army fighting a bloody battle at Hunhe River.

"Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven" uses film and television clips related to Zheng Chenggong, Li Dingguo, Zhang Huangyan, Du Yinxi and other pillars and heroes of the Southern Ming Dynasty as video footage.

When the final episode of "Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven" came to a close, several extremely classic scenes appeared one after another.

In the mountains of southwest China, under the banner of the Ming Dynasty, Li Dingguo, upon hearing the news of the Yongli Emperor's death, let his hair down and went barefoot, wailing and weeping, tears of blood streaming from his eyes, crying out in anguish, "I have failed the Ming Dynasty, and I have failed the Emperor! How can I face the world?!"

On Dongfan Island, in a mansion with two large banners bearing the words "Great Ming" and "Zheng," a emaciated middle-aged man lay on his deathbed, on the verge of death.

Suddenly, as if in a final burst of energy before death, he stood up and shouted, "I have no face to meet the late Emperor in the afterlife!"

He then tore his face apart and died!

The scene shifts again to Hangzhou, where a thin, middle-aged scholar is being escorted to the execution ground by Qing soldiers with pigtails. Many grime-covered, emaciated people watch from the roadside.

And so, when this thin, middle-aged scholar was sent to Bijiaofang in Hangzhou, he looked up at the majestic Wu Mountain and sighed, "Such a beautiful land, it's a pity it has been ruined by filth!"

Then, the scene shifts to Li Laiheng setting himself on fire in his mountain dwelling...

As one by one, those who carried the banner of "Great Ming" died in various tragic ways, the banner of "Great Ming" finally fell under the gray sky, and the world turned dark.

This concludes the screening of the new video, "Borrowing Another Five Hundred Years from Heaven."

Even figures like Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying, who had learned about the history of the Ming Dynasty and had heard this song and seen similar videos, remained silent for a long time.

It took about ten seconds for everyone to come to their senses.

Then, with reddened old eyes, Tang He murmured, "Your Majesty, could the people and events in this last song be scenes from the fall of our Great Ming Dynasty in history?"

Normally, given Tang He's tact and diplomacy, he wouldn't have asked that question.

But he was now very old and frail, and no one knew when he would meet his maker. Now that he learned that the Ming Dynasty in history might have once again fallen to the hands of the nomadic tribes, plunging his beautiful land into bloodshed and enslaving the Han people once more, he couldn't help but ask. Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the "Your Majesty" was addressed to him, and immediately sighed, "Now that things have come to this, we will not hide it from you—in later history, our Ming Dynasty will last for 276 years."

"As for the last song just now, 'Borrowing Five Hundred Years from Heaven,' it does indeed praise the loyal ministers and generals who remained loyal to the Ming Dynasty during its time of crisis and fought and sacrificed for it."

Xu Da, trying to remain calm, asked with a puzzled look, "Your Majesty, with so many loyal ministers and generals, why was the Ming Dynasty still destroyed by the barbarian tribes in history?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, "The Ming Dynasty was not actually destroyed by the barbarians—historically, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was captured by peasant armies. As for the Qing barbarians, they merely took advantage of the situation and seized the country."

"Xu Da and Tang He, your families are now nobles who share the fate of the nation. The reason we called you to watch this video today is to tell you that it was because we left behind so many disasters for the Ming Dynasty that the problems became so deep that they were difficult to reverse, leading to the people's suffering and the destruction of the country."

"We will try our best to ensure that our Zhu family produces fewer incompetent rulers in future generations, or even none at all."

"I also hope that when you return, you will leave behind ancestral precepts, so that your descendants will not sit on the laurels of their ancestors and live a life of idleness and complacency, or even become parasites on the country. Instead, they should strive to work hard and work together with our Zhu family to safeguard the Ming Dynasty."

Xu Da and Tang He immediately stood up, clasped their hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, we will certainly leave behind ancestral instructions so that our descendants will not fail the Ming Dynasty!"

"Good!" Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in satisfaction.

At this moment, Li Wenzhong asked, "Your Majesty, the second to last song just now, which is now used as a military song, 'Serving the Country with Utmost Loyalty,' seems to depict Japanese pirates invading our Ming Dynasty's interior and even reaching the capital?"

There was a scene in the TV series "The Patriot" where dozens of Japanese pirates were showing off their power under the walls of "Nanjing".

Li Wenzhong had attended several film screenings and banquets, and knew some of the events that followed, including that the capital was later renamed "Nanjing" and became the secondary capital.

Therefore, he could hardly imagine what could have happened that would allow dozens of Japanese pirates to swagger around the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be dissatisfied with Li Wenzhong, and said, "Xiongying, you speak!"

"Yes," Zhu Xiong Ying agreed, and then said, "Duke Cao should know that at the beginning of our Great Ming Dynasty, there were Japanese pirates and other pirates who colluded to cause trouble."

"Historically, this problem has never been completely eradicated. Therefore, in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, when the country's strength declined and the coastal defenses were weak, Japanese pirates began to plunder coastal villages and even attack cities."

"At the height of their arrogance, dozens of Japanese pirates once shook off their pursuers and marched to the walls of Nanjing, displaying their power and intimidation. This caused the Ming army to dare not leave the city to fight them, which was a disgrace!"

"Later, a man named Toyotomi Hideyoshi emerged in Japan. He consolidated the power of various daimyo in Japan and harbored wolfish ambitions. He invaded Korea, which was the country after the change of dynasty in Goryeo. He attempted to use Korea as a springboard to invade the Ming Dynasty!"

"Fortunately, there were some wise men in the Ming court at that time who valued national dignity, so they sent troops to Korea and repelled the Japanese invasion."

Upon hearing this, Li Wenzhong exclaimed in astonishment, "Japan is a small country with a small population, yet it harbors such ambitions, wanting to swallow up our Great Ming? How is that possible?"

Liu Kuan couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Duke Cao, Japan has always harbored wolfish ambitions. Five or six hundred years into history, Japan launched a large-scale invasion of China, occupying more than half of China's territory, with the intention of destroying our race and eradicating Han culture."

"Fortunately, countless patriots and ordinary people sacrificed their lives to drive out the Japanese invaders. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Now, Duke Cao should know why His Majesty attacked Japan, and why he relocated most of the original Japanese people, right?" (End of Chapter)