Bringing the Railway to Daming

Although the Ming Dynasty currently has a population of over 90 million, and its people have a high fertility rate, the population may exceed 100 million in just a few years.

However, for the Ming Dynasty, which had already embarked on the Age of Exploration and was reclaiming and developing land around the world, there was still a great shortage of population.

At this time, it would be a good choice to unite the ethnic minorities in the surrounding areas who were more Sinicized but posed little threat to the central government, with the Han people as the main body. The various ethnic minorities in the southwest were obviously good targets for unity.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty had previously focused on appeasement and pacification of ethnic minorities in the southwest. For example, when Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he bestowed the title of Lady Shexiang upon a female chieftain of the Yi people in order to appease the Yi people in Guizhou.

However, the Ming court would resolutely crack down on those ethnic minorities who refused to submit to the Ming.

Most importantly, most officials in charge of the southwest, especially military generals guarding the local areas, continued the practice of previous dynasties to suppress and weaken ethnic minorities who had already submitted to the court, or deliberately let them fight and keep each other in check.

At the same time, Han people were continuously migrated to areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. When certain conditions were met, the practice of replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials was implemented. In some cases, the practice was even forcibly implemented when conditions were not yet ripe.

Historically, the Yang Yinglong Rebellion in Bozhou during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, and the She'an Rebellion from the Tianqi to the early Chongzhen period, were both related to local officials forcibly replacing native chieftains with centrally appointed officials in pursuit of political achievements.

After Liu Kuan arrived in the Ming Dynasty, during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, the policy of governing the ethnic minorities in the southwest had changed to some extent, shifting from suppression, weakening, and control to leading the ethnic minorities to prosperity and treating them as true subjects.

Now that Emperor Zhu Biao of the Ming Dynasty has said that the court needs to be more friendly to the ethnic minorities in the southwest, the court will surely introduce policies that are conducive to developing the southwest and improving the poor living conditions of the ethnic minorities there.

Liu Kuan also hoped that the Ming Dynasty would take real control of the southwest region as soon as possible.

After listening to Zhu Biao's words, he immediately said, "The best way for the court to govern the southwest is to build roads. Once the roads are built, not only will the court's decrees reach the local areas more quickly, but the southwest will also have more exchanges with the outside world, and the living standards of the people in the southwest will be significantly improved."

"Of course, given the current level of technology in the Ming Dynasty, it will probably take some years of technological accumulation to build a railway in the poor and remote southwest."

"But it is still possible to build ordinary official roads, or even cement roads and asphalt roads, as long as we are willing to spend money and grain."

At present, although the chemical industry of the Ming Dynasty is still very weak, it has already made some progress.

For example, coal coking technology has developed well. In addition to obtaining high-quality coking coal, coal tar pitch has also been obtained, which has led to the further development of technology for building asphalt roads.

Of course, this technology is not yet mature and is still under improvement.

Therefore, the main official roads of the Ming Dynasty today are constructed using traditional methods, with cement roads being the second most common method, followed by asphalt roads.

However, Liu Kuan believed that with the current speed of technological and industrial development in the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the guidance of the data he downloaded from the future, it wouldn't be long before a better asphalt road could be built.

Compared to cement roads, asphalt roads are undoubtedly more suitable as highways for driving, and they also have a longer service life.

Zhu Biao nodded in agreement after hearing Liu Kuan's words, but then sighed, "Money and grain are not the problem for the court now, the problem is the lack of people."

Liu Kuan laughed and said, “Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is short of people. Can’t we get them from overseas? In the past, the United States recruited tens of thousands of laborers from China to build the western railway. In the end, tens of thousands of them became the bones of the people under the western railway.”

"When European powers developed their overseas colonies, they treated the local people as slaves, causing countless deaths from exhaustion."

"Of course, I am not saying that the practices of these European powers in history should be completely imitated by our Great Ming. Our Great Ming does not need to learn from them to use people to the death, but it is feasible to recruit people from overseas to build roads in our Great Ming with lower wages. At least it can make up for the manpower shortage in our Great Ming."

After hearing Liu Kuan's words, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiong Ying, Xu Da, Mu Ying, and others all began to think.

For the Ming Dynasty, recruiting foreigners to work was very rare. While there were many examples throughout history of recruiting foreigners into the army or even into the court as officials, it was very rare to recruit foreigners to carry out infrastructure projects.

Firstly, China has never lacked manpower for infrastructure construction throughout its history, and this was mainly achieved by conscripting laborers.

Secondly, even if foreigners were used, it was because they had become prisoners of war and were used as forced laborers.

Therefore, recruiting foreigners to work, as Liu Kuan described, is definitely a novel concept.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly made a decision, saying, "If the Ming Dynasty wants to build roads at a faster pace, recruiting foreigners is indeed a viable option, and we can give it a try." Zhu Biao said, "If that's the case, I'm afraid we'll need the overseas vassal states to exert more effort. Furthermore, what to do with those foreigners who come to work is also a problem—should they be sent back to their original places, or allowed to stay and become naturalized citizens of our Ming Dynasty?"

"Liu Kuan, what are you thinking?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"I believe that after we have used them up, we can send most of them back to their place of origin, but we can also give them hope of becoming citizens of the Ming Dynasty."

“We can set some rather stringent conditions. Only those who meet these conditions can become citizens of the Ming Dynasty. This can be considered a way for the Ming Dynasty to attract talents from all over the world.”

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao both nodded, clearly thinking the idea was good.

Lan Yu was not interested in domestic affairs. Seeing that the conversation had come to an end, he couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, when exactly will our Great Ming Dynasty march into the Indochina Peninsula?"

Zhu Yuanzhang: "Since the Duke of Liang wants to know, Biao'er, you can tell me."

"Yes," Zhu Biao replied, and then said, "The main countries in the Indochina Peninsula at present are Annam (which calls itself Dai Viet), Siam, Lan Xang (Lancang), Champa, Ava, Bago, and some smaller states."

"At present, the four countries of Annam, Siam, Lan Xang, and Champa are all relatively strong, but if we do not count Ava and Bago in Myanmar, Annam is the closest to our Great Ming."

"Therefore, if our Great Ming wants to take over the Indochina Peninsula, we must first send troops to Annam—Annam is currently under the Tran Dynasty, but in reality, it is ruled by the powerful Hu family, relatives of the empress."

"According to a secret report from the Annamese Guangming Guard, since the death of the Tran Dynasty Emperor Emeritus more than a year ago, no one in the Tran Dynasty has been able to suppress the Ho family. Therefore, the Ho family is currently secretly preparing to seize the throne."

“This is a good opportunity for our Great Ming Dynasty. After all, Annam was a vassal state of the Great Ming Dynasty before. Without a good pretext, it would be too easy for us to send troops.”

"But if the Hu family usurps the throne, we can use the pretext of helping the Chen family suppress the rebellion to march into Annam, and then, following the example of what happened in Goryeo, we can have the Chen family submit a petition to request annexation."

After listening, Lan Yu wanted to say that with the strength of the Ming Dynasty, there was no need to worry about legitimacy. They could just send troops directly, and no one would dare to disobey. If anyone did disobey, they would be beaten until they submitted.

But he was in his forties or fifties after all, and he wouldn't rashly say those words out loud; he just kept them to himself.

At this point, Liu Kuan couldn't help but say, "In the original history, the Ming Dynasty marched into Annam a few years later on the pretext of the Hu family's usurpation of power. According to historical records, after the Ming army quelled the Annam rebellion, the Hu family slaughtered all the descendants of the Chen family, so they could not find a Chen family member to inherit the throne."

"In addition, there were former officials of the Trần Dynasty who, considering Annam to be the former Jiaozhou of the Central Plains Dynasty, requested that prefectures and counties be established to directly govern it."

"Therefore, the Ming Dynasty established three departments and prefectures and counties in Annam, named it Jiaozhi, and sent officials to govern it in accordance with the Central Plains."

"Unfortunately, it was only about ten years later, during the Xuande era, due to the serious border troubles in the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty, the court transferred away the capable generals in Jiaozhi and a lot of troops, which gave the Annamite gentry an opportunity to rebel."

"Among them, the Le clan, a powerful family in Lam Son, had the greatest influence. They eventually led the rebel army, defeated the Ming army, established the state of 'Dai Viet', and proclaimed themselves Emperor of Dai Viet."

"Of course, in the end, under pressure from the Ming Dynasty, the Le Dynasty still chose to send people to the capital to pay tribute, becoming a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, calling itself a king to the Ming Dynasty, and an emperor to its own people."

Upon hearing Liu Kuan's words, Xu Da, Tang He, Mu Ying, Lan Yu, and others who did not know who the Xuande Emperor was all looked at Zhu Xiong Ying.

According to their calculations, Annam was conquered either during the reign of Zhu Biao or Zhu Xiong Ying. Therefore, the one who lost Annam was Zhu Xiong Ying's descendant, and very likely Zhu Xiong Ying's son.

Zhu Xiong Ying felt very uncomfortable and somewhat depressed under their gaze.

I thought to myself, that was all the work of my fourth uncle's lineage, not me. Why are you all looking at me?

Zhu Yuanzhang noticed Zhu Xiong Ying's frustration and smiled, saying, "Since we know that the loss of Annam by our Ming Dynasty was due to the machinations of powerful clans, then when our Ming Dynasty marches into Annam in the future, we will exterminate all the powerful clans."

Zhu Biao added, "Even if we cannot rightfully exterminate all the powerful clans in Annam, we can follow the example of Korea and Japan and relocate all the local powerful clans and aristocratic families to prevent them from becoming a threat." (End of Chapter)