Bringing the Railway to Daming

Mu Ying smiled and said, "I wouldn't call myself vigorous in my old age, but thanks to the reminder from Marquis Jiangning and the improvement of medical skills in the Ming Dynasty, I am still in good health. Marquis Jiangning, on the other hand, should exercise more in his spare time."

Liu Kuan said, "I exercise every day, but the intensity is not as high as that of you military generals."

Liu Kuan did have a habit of running and doing exercises every day, but as he reached middle age, with a rich diet and a beautiful wife and concubine serving him, he inevitably gained some weight.

As for his health, he has regular check-ups and currently has no illnesses.

Lan Yu then patted Liu Kuan on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Your body is indeed lacking in exercise. Why don't you ask His Majesty for a leave of absence to travel to Japan and train in my army? I guarantee you'll lose weight."

As she spoke, Lan Yu gave Liu Kuan a knowing look that any man would understand.

Liu Kuan was speechless. He never expected that Lan Yu, a 57-year-old veteran (he was five years older than Mu Ying), would still be so unreliable.

However, Lan Yu's hair is only slightly gray now, she doesn't have many wrinkles on her face, and she maintains a good figure. She can truly be described as vigorous in her old age.

Lan Yu is naturally much more composed now than he was a decade or so ago, but as the saying goes, "It's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature." Now that he is guarding Sun Island and is the highest-ranking military officer there, he has probably done quite a few things that are out of line in secret.

Whether Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao knew this, and what they thought if they did, was beyond Liu Kuan's knowledge.

Thinking of this, he smiled wryly and said, "I would like to ask for leave, but I'm afraid His Majesty will not grant it."

Zhu Biao laughed and said, "My brother-in-law now holds the important positions of Director of the Imperial Academy of Works and Grand Councilor. How can the court leave him? However, when the spring season comes this year, I can grant him a few more days off so that he can take his family to travel to a place a little further away from Yingtian Prefecture."

Liu Kuan said, "Then I thank Your Majesty in advance."

After chatting for a while, everyone sat down at several large round tables, just like last year.

This year, Mu Ying and Lan Yu were added to the main table, but there was still enough room for everyone.

During the meal, Lan Yu couldn't help but say, "I've long heard that Marquis Jiangning plays videos for His Majesty to watch every year. I never expected that we would be able to see them today. It's a great honor."

"Furthermore, I have heard that the Marquis of Jiangning will live for five hundred years. I wonder if you could tell me about what will happen to us after this?"

Liu Kuan was surprised; he hadn't expected Lan Yu to ask this question in this setting. But then he thought, isn't this just Lan Yu's personality?
He subconsciously looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, only to see Zhu Biao looking worried, while Zhu Yuanzhang calmly said, "Since the Duke of Liang is curious about his own affairs after death, the Marquis of Jiangning should tell him about them."

When Liu Kuan heard Old Zhu address him as the Marquis of Jiangning instead of by his name, he knew that Old Zhu was not asking him to speak the truth.

So he said, “The Duke of Liang has made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Although he has made some minor mistakes, he has repented after being admonished by His Majesty the Emperor. He should be able to enjoy his old age in peace.”

"Unfortunately, like other military generals, the Duke of Liang had already damaged his health due to years of fighting, and he did not take care of himself as he got older, so he died before he was sixty."

Lan Yu vaguely doubted the truthfulness of Liu Kuan's words.

But after asking that question, he realized he had been rash and regretted it a little—he was deeply impressed by Zhu Yuanzhang's warning to him not to make mistakes during the Northern Expedition against the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty.

Therefore, he sometimes wondered if he had made some serious mistake in the original history after his northern expedition against the remnants of the Yuan dynasty, which led to his unfortunate end.

But he couldn't ask about such things.

The atmosphere was just right, so he couldn't help but ask Liu Kuan a question.

Although he didn't know if Liu Kuan's words were true or not, they were at least a comfort to him, so he smiled and said, "We've fought on the battlefield for many years, so it's normal to have some health problems. It's good that we can live to be over fifty."

"Besides, we're in great health now, so we'll probably live even longer than in the original story!"

Zhu Biao then reminded him, "When Duke Liang is leading troops in Japan, he should pay more attention to his health and avoid doing anything messy. With regular check-ups and conditioning from renowned doctors, he will surely have many good days ahead."

Lan Yu replied, "Your Majesty, please don't listen to gossip. I did nothing but legitimate business on the Japanese island. I did absolutely nothing of the sort."

Zhu Biao said, "It's good that the Duke of Liang knows what's going on."

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit strange, and also curious about her own future, Mu Ying asked, "Marquis of Jiangning, could you also tell me about my funeral arrangements?"

Liu Kuan said, "It turns out that the Duke of Qian died of illness a few years ago, but he is alive and well now, which shows that the Duke of Qian's fate has changed like that of the Ming Dynasty."

"What about my descendants?" Mu Ying couldn't help but ask.

This made everyone at the table a little nervous.

Xu Da and Tang He had wanted to inquire about their descendants last year, but through other indirect means, they already knew that most of their descendants had not remained loyal to the Ming Dynasty to the end, so they dared not ask further. Now, they naturally worried that the Mu family might suffer the same fate as their two families.

If Liu Kuan were to reveal this, the atmosphere would become even more awkward—although it's unlikely Liu Kuan would say so, they were still worried.

Liu Kuan sighed, "In fact, in the original history, General Mu died of illness at an early age, and the situation in the southwest was different from today, so he was not granted the title of Duke of Qian during his lifetime, but was posthumously granted the title."

"Later, General Mu's two sons, Mu Chun and Mu Sheng, both served as major generals in the Southwest Army. Mu Chun inherited the title of Marquis of Xiping, but died in office in his thirties."

"Later, Mu Sheng inherited the title and participated in the Ming Dynasty's war to recover Jiaozhi. He was awarded the title of Duke of Qian for his merits, and the Mu family thus inherited the title of Duke of Qian, forever guarding Yunnan for the Ming Dynasty."

"At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the last Duke of Qian was named Mu Tianbo. Due to the strength of the Qing Dynasty, he was forced to follow the last emperor of the Southern Ming, the Yongli Emperor, into Burma."

"In order to curry favor with the Qing court, the Burmese king lured more than 3,000 civil and military officials of the Yongli court to the Cursed Water under the pretext of inviting the Yongli Emperor to drink the Cursed Water and swear an oath. He then surrounded the Yongli Emperor with a large army and captured him."

"When Mu Tianbo saw this, he seized the knife and fought back. He killed nine Burmese guards in succession, but eventually died because he was outnumbered. His son, Mu Zhongliang, also died in the cursed water disaster."

After hearing Liu Kuan's words, Mu Ying was stunned and lost in thought for a moment.

The first to speak was surprisingly Lan Yu, who angrily declared, "The Burmese are truly despicable! Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I request that we send troops to conquer all of Burma and annihilate all those who resist!"

Due to national policy, the Ming Dynasty still only occupies northern Myanmar. Although central and southern Myanmar are influenced by the Ming Dynasty, they have not been incorporated into its rule.

On the other side, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Zhu Xiong Ying were also somewhat lost in thought. They hadn't expected the Mu family to be so loyal to the Zhu family. They knew that in the original history, the descendants of the Xu and Tang families had become good-for-nothings and later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. They just didn't betray the Zhu family like that Duke of Cheng.

Therefore, it was originally thought that the descendants of the Mu family would mostly become like the Xu and Tang families, becoming good-for-nothings and surrendering directly to the Qing invaders.

Unexpectedly, the last Duke of Qian, Mu Tianbo, was so loyal and devoted that he accompanied the Zhu family emperor to his final journey.

At the same time, they also confirmed from Liu Kuan's tone that what he said was true and not fabricated.

After regaining his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "I never expected that the Mu family would be so loyal to our Zhu family. Mu Ying, it was worth it for my sister and I to treat you like our own child."

Upon hearing this, Mu Ying thought of Empress Ma, his tiger-like eyes reddening slightly. He said, "I will never forget the kindness shown to me by His Majesty the Emperor and Empress Dowager, and the Mu family will never forget it either!"

Zhu Biao sighed, "It is because our Zhu family descendants are so useless that we failed to protect this beautiful land, and the Mu family perished with our family in the cursed water."

Mu Ying remained silent—this was a difficult question to answer.

Liu Kuan then said, "In fact, the Mu family did not die out because of the cursed water disaster—Mu Tianbo had long seen that the Ming Dynasty was doomed and the Southern Ming Dynasty was also nearing its end. Although he was determined to die for the Ming Dynasty, he also remembered the responsibility of continuing the Mu family bloodline."

"Therefore, while he was still in Yunnan, he arranged for one of his sons to marry into the local chieftain's family."

"By the Qing Dynasty, because the Mu family had been in power in Yunnan for two or three hundred years and had a huge influence, after the Mu family married into the chieftain's family, the chieftain became a very influential chieftain in Yunnan, and the Mu family's bloodline was able to continue."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao nodded, clearly not displeased.

Zhu Yuanzhang commented: "It seems that Mu Tianbo is indeed a clever and capable person, but unfortunately the situation in the Southern Ming is too bad, and the collapse is irreversible."

Xu Da and Tang He were thinking that if their descendants really surrendered to the Qing, they didn't know what kind of life they would have in the Qing Dynasty. They guessed that they would be lucky to live as ordinary people and keep their bloodline alive.
Lan Yu was also pondering this question, unaware that his experience was completely different from others.

Zhu Xiong Ying felt it wasn't appropriate to discuss the events of the late Ming Dynasty in the original history with people like Lan Yu and Mu Ying, and didn't want Liu Kuan to talk about it anymore. Seeing that the topic had come to an end, he said, "Grandfather, Father, let's eat quickly, the food is getting cold."

Zhu Yuanzhang saw through Zhu Xiong Ying's thoughts and immediately gestured for everyone to eat quickly.

Half an hour later, everyone finished eating, and Lady Lü ordered the palace servants to clean up.

After the dishes and other items were cleared away, the palace servants arranged the tables and chairs into a "home theater" setting, and Zhu Yuanzhang led everyone to take their seats in order.

In fact, Xu Da and Tang He had watched videos of military exercises from later generations on tablets, so last year was not their first time watching the film.

For Lan Yu and Mu Ying, this was truly their first time, so even though both of them were generals who had commanded tens of thousands of troops and fought on the battlefield for decades, they couldn't help but get excited at this moment.

However, since the two were still relatively "young," their positions were not as forward as Xu Da and Tang He; Zhu Yuanzhang arranged them in the second row.

After everyone was seated, Liu Kuan used his tablet to play a collection of songs and videos he had prepared.

Because the strange fog appeared at increasingly shorter intervals each time, Liu Kuan had hardly downloaded any song videos, and his stockpile was long gone. Therefore, these six song videos were all ones he had played before, only rearranged and edited by Liu Kuan. (End of Chapter)