Bringing the Railway to Daming

On the thirteenth day of the eighth month of the third year of the Wenlong reign, Zhu Gui, the Prince of Dai of the Ming Dynasty, led an army of more than 50,000 to capture Toulouse, a major city in the southwest of the former Kingdom of France, renamed it "Daijing", and established the Dai Kingdom.

Subsequently, Zhu Gui began leading his army in campaigns across the north and south, rapidly expanding the territory of the Dai state.

Because the army of the Prince of Dé possessed a certain number of matchlock guns, tiger-squatting cannons, and even general cannons, and also had the technique of "coffin explosion" to destroy castles and cities, almost no one in the southwestern region of France could stop the army of the Prince of Dé.

By the winter of the third year of the Vincent de la République, the Kingdom of Dai had occupied almost the entire southwestern region of what was formerly France. Its territory stretched from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Mediterranean Sea in the east, encompassing Toulouse and Bordeaux, which were formerly part of France.

It borders the two duchies of Anjou, Bourbon, and Auvergne, and the county of Auvergne to the north, the Kingdom of Aragon to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Gulf of Leon in the northern Mediterranean to the east.

At the same time, "Bodol" was renamed Xiping, becoming the second largest city in the Dai Kingdom.

If we consider the area, the territory is about four or five hundred square miles in circumference, which is not very large.

As the territory of the Dai Kingdom rapidly expanded, the population it attracted naturally increased, and most of them were originally from the Kingdom of France.

Originally, the French people came from multiple ethnic groups, but primarily Franks, followed by people of other races. However, at this time, the French did not clearly distinguish between tribes, and with years of intermarriage and integration among the various ethnic groups, it had long been difficult to tell them apart.

To Zhu Gui and his civil and military officials, these people were essentially Western European barbarians, with little difference between them.

The main problem facing the Dai Kingdom now is that these people have been influenced by religion for many years. If the Dai Kingdom wants to win back the hearts of the people as soon as possible, the quickest way is to accept the Quechua religion that was prevalent in the former France. Even Zhu Gui and his civil and military officials have been baptized.

However, neither Zhu Gui nor his civil and military officials could accept this approach.

However, simply implementing some "benevolent policies" is not enough to truly win over the hearts of the people, so the Dai state is in a bit of an awkward situation in terms of domestic affairs.

Although Zhu Gui focused on military development, as a student of the Imperial Academy and someone who had passed the overseas vassal state examination, he certainly knew the importance of domestic affairs.

On that day, he convened a meeting of the civil and military officials of the Kingdom of Toulouse in the royal council hall (actually a large hall) of the palace in Toulouse to discuss the matter.

"Tell me your thoughts, how exactly should our Dai Kingdom handle matters related to the Jidu Sect?"

Upon hearing this, Xiong Tingrui, Gao Deng, and the other military officers knew that this was not something they were good at, so they all kept their eyes down, their mouths closed, and their minds focused, adopting a strategy of listening without speaking.

Zou Wuji seemed to be thinking of something, but he appeared to be hesitant and unable to make a decision.

In the end, it was Xiang Yin, who was appointed as the prime minister, who spoke first, saying, "Your Majesty, although we do not believe in the Jidu sect, we do not want it to have the same influence as before."

"But if we directly declare a ban on Ketuism, it will not only cause hostility from neighboring countries that believe in Ketuism, but may even lead to a united attack. It may also provoke a rebellion from the former French people who are now under our rule."

"Therefore, I believe that a more gentle approach is needed to gradually free the Dai state from the influence of the Jidu religion."

Zhu Gui asked, "A gentler approach? Could you elaborate?"

Xiang Yin said, "First and foremost, we must vigorously promote and popularize Confucianism, and gradually Sinicize the French from the ground up."

"However, this kind of Sinicization will definitely take a long time, ranging from a dozen years to several decades or even a hundred years."

"Therefore, we need to find two helpers for Confucianism, such as Taoism and Buddhism—compared to Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are more similar to the religion of Nagisa."

"If we use policies such as taxation to guide the French to convert to Buddhism or Taoism, it will probably be easier."

Zhu Gui nodded slightly and said, "If that's the case, we'll have to recruit a group of Taoist priests and monks from the Ming Dynasty." Xiang Yin said, "The immigrants recruited by our Dai Kingdom from the Ming Dynasty haven't been punished yet. Your Majesty can send a telegram to have someone recruit them."

"But I must remind those in charge that they should not recruit truly virtuous monks or Taoist masters—firstly, we can hardly recruit such people; secondly, such monks or masters may not be able to help the French convert to a different faith."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gui immediately said, "Then Mr. Xiang will draft this telegram."

Xiang Yin said, "Your subject obeys."

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When winter arrives, the Dai Kingdom ceases its expansion and begins to sort out its internal affairs, allowing the surrounding large and small countries to relax somewhat.

Meanwhile, countries such as the Duchy of Burgundy also gathered some information about the Dai Kingdom and gained a better understanding of it.

Dijon, the capital of the Duchy of Burgundy.

In Dijon's largest castle, Philip II, dressed in a thick fur coat, looked at the intelligence report about the Kingdom of Dai in his hand, but still couldn't stop coughing.

He coughed for a long time, almost coughing up his heart and lungs, before his symptoms subsided slightly.

"This Prince of Dai from the Ming Dynasty is indeed extraordinary. Not only is his army formidable and he possesses exceptional military talent, but he is also quite adept at governance."

"The intelligence reports that the Dai Kingdom does not absorb the original French nobles, so there are no nobles with actual territories in the Dai Kingdom now, only nominal nobles."

"That is, the ministers and generals under the Prince of Dai—although most of them were granted noble titles, they only received titles, salaries, and rewards."

Charles (Philip II's second son) couldn't help but ask, "How could his men agree to that?"

Philip II said, "I've heard that's how it is in the Ming Empire. The generals under the Prince of Dai are all from the Ming. Why are they unhappy about it?"

"Actually, that's not all. The most important thing is that this king will distribute land to many of his soldiers. Although the land is not much, it can make those soldiers feel like they are knights."

"That's why his French soldiers were willing to risk their lives. Also, they could exchange war merits for land, which is why they were so strong in combat."

Charles, upon hearing this, also became worried. "Father, if this Dai Kingdom continues to expand, won't it threaten our Burgundy?"

Philip II said, “That’s for sure, which is why I studied this King and the Kingdom of Dai in advance—and don’t forget, your elder brother is still in his hands.”

"Although the Prince of Dai greedily demanded 100,000 gold francs from me, which I cannot give, we must still try other ways to get John back."

Charles remained silent.

He wished John would never return—so that he could replace John and inherit the Duchy of Burgundy.

With this in mind, Charles made a decision: he might secretly send someone to contact the King to see how to keep John there forever, or make John disappear from the world.

Philip II was unaware that his second son was already plotting to harm his elder brother.

Looking at the intelligence report, he continued, "Fortunately, the King of Dai and his generals seem to be very resistant to the Church of Ketu, and so far they have not reached any agreement with the churches in the territory."

At this point, Philip II finally smiled slightly, "I truly hope that this King of Dai never accepts Qutlughism; otherwise, the Dai kingdom will surely not last long." (End of Chapter)