Bringing the Railway to Daming

“The well diggers, burlap sacks, merchants, and postmen in the Hexi plot of ‘Sixteen Sounds of Yanyun’ are the concrete representations of history.”

"History is always written by the people, and only the people can determine the course of history!"

coming!

That feeling is back!
Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself.

As he watched more and more videos from later generations, he increasingly realized that later generations seemed to place particular emphasis on "the people," that is, ordinary citizens.

In China's history over the past two or three thousand years, the vast majority of history and stories have been about praising heroes, kings and generals who left behind great deeds, rather than the ordinary people who remained unknown.

Therefore, even though Zhu Yuanzhang knew the principle that "water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," and knew that "he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world,"

However, he still finds it difficult to adapt to the mindset of valuing the unknown masses in many videos and even films of later generations.

As Zhu Yuanzhang pondered these matters, the historical video about the lingering regrets of the Tang Dynasty finished playing.

After a dozen seconds of silence, someone finally spoke.

Zhu Biao lamented: "In the past, the Tang Dynasty was incredibly powerful, and at its greatest extent, its territory far surpassed that of the Han Dynasty, making all the barbarians submit. Only the Tibetans, relying on the advantages of the plateau, could barely contend with it."

"But even such a powerful dynasty eventually collapsed suddenly due to various internal problems, and its national strength declined from then on, making it difficult to revive."

"The Anxi White-Haired Army, the Guiyi Army, Feng Changqing, Gao Xianzhi, Geshu Han... the Tang Dynasty has truly left behind too many regrets."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Father Emperor lamented that there were many regrets in the history of the Tang Dynasty, but where are the regrets in the history of our Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao both remained silent upon hearing this.

They recalled the historical events that Liu Kuan had discussed in his lectures—if a comparison had to be made, perhaps the Zhu family had wronged even more loyal ministers and generals than the Ming Dynasty.

Tang He, however, remembered a question from before, so he looked at Liu Kuan and asked, "Marquis of Jiangning, what is Li Dingguo's background, and what are his accusations? In the video, the Southern Ming actually granted him the title of a king of a different surname?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan looked at Old Zhu, and seeing Old Zhu nod, he said, "Li Dingguo was originally a bandit and rebel, or of course, one could say he was a peasant army or righteous army."

"What?" Tang He was stunned upon hearing this. "Bandits and rebels?"

This also drew the attention of Li Wenzhong and Xu Da. Xu Da asked, "Could it be that Li Dingguo, like Song Jiang in 'Water Margin,' has been recruited by the imperial court?"

Liu Kuan shook his head. "Li Dingguo was originally from a peasant family in Shaanxi. His family was probably rich peasants, or even small landlords. Due to the natural disasters that struck Shaanxi year after year, the government's ineffective disaster relief efforts, and the local government's exorbitant taxes, he became a vagrant when he was ten years old."

"When he was on the verge of starvation, he joined Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army and was adopted by Zhang Xianzhong along with three other boys."

"From the third year of Chongzhen's reign to the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, he followed Zhang Xianzhong in battles across Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Sichuan, and made many military achievements. The greatest of these was that he used twenty light cavalrymen to pretend to be Ming army messengers and capture Xiangyang City overnight."

After only hearing the beginning, Li Wenzhong, Xu Da, and Tang He all looked puzzled.

They never expected that Li Dingguo was not only a rebel from the Ming Dynasty, but also a famous general among the rebels.

But how did such a person eventually become Prince Li Jin of the Ming Dynasty?

Liu Kuan: "In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign, the largest peasant army at the time, led by Li Zicheng, captured the capital. However, just over two months later, the Qing army, led by the traitor Wu Sangui, led them through the pass, defeated Li Zicheng's Shun army, seized the capital, and then entered the Central Plains."

"In the following year or two, Li Zicheng was pursued to the brink of death by the Qing invaders and eventually died at the hands of the mountain people of Huguang; Zhang Xianzhong died from an arrow wound while fighting the Qing invaders in Sichuan."

"Therefore, both the peasant armies left behind by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had a deep-seated hatred for the Qing invaders. In addition, due to the national righteousness of the distinction between Han and Hu people, these two major peasant armies at the end of the Ming Dynasty eventually surrendered to the Southern Ming court."

"In addition, the Zheng family, the largest pirate group outside the Ming Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty, was also recruited by the court, and Zheng Sen, the core figure of the Zheng family, insisted on resisting the Qing Dynasty."

"Therefore, later generations often used the phrase to describe the end of the Ming Dynasty: 'Pirates guarded the country's gates, and bandits died for the state.'"

Actually, there was no need to say what followed, but Liu Kuan couldn't help but say it anyway. Fortunately, although Zhu frowned, he didn't say anything. Li Wenzhong, Xu Da, and Tang He, upon hearing Liu Kuan's words, looked even more excited.

Pirates guarding the nation's borders?
Bandits die for their country?
What about our Ming Dynasty nobles?
Tang opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't dare to ask.

Connecting this with Zhu Yuanzhang's earlier instructions to him and Xu Da, he had a vague understanding: most of them, the descendants of the founding nobles, had become good-for-nothings and parasites on the country, and some might even betray the Zhu family at the last moment and defect to the new dynasty.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had already planned to let Xu Da and Tang He know about some things that happened at the end of the Ming Dynasty, he still felt ashamed.

Therefore, seeing that both of them fell silent after Liu Kuan finished speaking, he said, "Alright, the events at the end of the Ming Dynasty happened in the original history, but they will not happen again now."

"Our Great Ming Dynasty is now more powerful than the Tang Dynasty of the past. Even if it were to perish one day, it would never be in the way it was in the original history."

Zhu Biao, worried that Zhu Yuanzhang would be angry, interjected, "Brother-in-law, we've already played three videos. Shouldn't we show a movie next?"

Upon hearing that they were going to watch a movie, Xu Da and Tang He immediately shifted their attention.

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I have prepared four videos this time. Are you sure you don't want to watch the last one?"

"There's another video?" Zhu Biao asked in surprise. "What's it about?"

"Later technology".

Future technology?!
Immediately, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying's eyes lit up.

Old Zhu shouted, "Of course I want to watch it—stop dawdling and start playing it now!"

The rest of the Zhu family also showed expressions of anticipation—although many technologies of later generations were too far removed from the Ming Dynasty and could not be realized in a short time, just being able to see them would greatly broaden their horizons.

Under the expectant gazes of everyone, Liu Kuan pulled up the fourth video.

Before the video even started playing, everyone noticed the two titles displayed above the video and on the screen.

"I really floated! [New Exploration of the Craftsmanship: Magnetic Levitation]"

"Magnetic levitation—more than just flying on the ground!"

And the uploader is none other than the well-known [Planet Research Institute].

As the video begins, viewers see a strangely designed railway, unlike those of the Ming Dynasty, with a similarly bizarre but futuristic "train" speeding along at an extremely high speed.

At the same time, a passionate male voice rang out:

"This might be the fastest high-speed train you've ever ridden! 350 kilometers per hour!"

"Even faster than that is China's first high-speed maglev train—which can reach a top speed of 430 kilometers per hour!"

"And this is magnetic levitation in a vacuum tube, where speeds can even exceed 1000 kilometers per hour!"

In the video, a futuristic "train" sped through a glass tube, blurring the surrounding scenery into various colors, making it difficult to see clearly. This sight immediately shocked Zhu Yuanzhang and the others, who stared wide-eyed in astonishment.

Figures like Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying knew that in later times, one kilometer was equal to two li (a unit of distance in China). Therefore, a speed of 350 kilometers per hour is equivalent to traveling 700 li in one hour!

But the video claims that this isn't the fastest; there are two even faster ones—one that can travel 860 miles per hour, and the other that can travel 2,000 miles per hour!

If the Ming Dynasty had such a fast "train," wouldn't it only take an hour to travel from the capital to Beiping?!

Even if you travel from the capital to Anxi Province, or to Yunnan, it would probably only take two hours, right?
Thinking of this, Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying's gazes towards the video became even more fervent. (End of Chapter)