Bringing the Railway to Daming

"It's not without reason that the Romans thought this way. When the Celts, Germans, and Slavs were forming a triumvirate in northern Europe, Rome had already entered the imperial era through the advanced ideas and technologies of Greece, Asia, and North Africa."

"The Romans were quite anxious to see that their little brothers in the north were not advanced or civilized enough."

"So the Romans also used the ancestral skills of the Indo-European people to beat these northern barbarians. While plundering land and plundering wealth, they also took these northern barbarians to Rome as slaves and trained them well."

"That's right. The Celts, Germans, and Slavs were all sources of slaves for the Romans. In particular, the term 'Slav' itself had the meaning of 'slave' in the Roman language."

"So here's the problem: these slaves from the north all look pretty much the same, so how do you classify them as commodities?"

“The clever Romans slapped their foreheads and realized that they would first distinguish people by skin color, such as the Egyptians, who were their friends and those who were very fair-skinned, who were slaves. Then they would distinguish their races by hair color and language.”

"Although the Roman Empire collapsed and the Germanic, Slavic, and Celtic peoples rose up and became the masters of Europe, they had already been driven to Stockholm syndrome by the Romans."

"Besides respecting the ideas and culture passed down from Rome, they also voluntarily accepted Rome's racial theories and discrimination..."

Upon seeing this, those who were more astute, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, suddenly realized that the root of racial discrimination among white Europeans lay in the Roman Empire, or rather, in the Indo-European people themselves.

At this point, the video also came to an end.

The video creator continued, "After learning about the racial history of white Europeans, let's return to the question that was asked at the beginning of this video."

"If Europeans had never had contact with the Chinese, then when they first encountered the Chinese, which European race would they have identified them as?"

"Let's analyze this from a European perspective: First, there's skin color. Because China is located at a lower latitude, people there have darker skin, which Europeans would certainly not consider them white."

“Looking at their black hair and black eyes, it’s even clearer that they don’t belong to any of the Germanic, Slavic, or Celtic groups.”

"Furthermore, for most of its history, China has been a representative of advanced civilization, meaning it has a very high level of civilization. This is very similar to the person at the very top of the European white hierarchy of contempt."

"That's right, they were Romans!"

The video ends here.

This time, instead of being stunned by the video content, everyone couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

Because many people didn't expect that they would be seen by Europeans as most similar to the Romans.

However, according to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others who were familiar with some European history, only the Roman Empire could compare with China. As for the smaller countries like France, England, and Aragon, they were not even comparable to China, let alone to countries like Goryeo, which were former vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Xiong Ying spoke first, "Teacher, according to this video, European racial theories and racial contempt can be traced back to the heyday of the Roman Empire. Doesn't that mean it's still influencing white people in Europe today?"

Liu Kuan nodded, "That's true."

Zhu Xiong Ying's eyes lit up, and he said, "Then can't we use this theory to make European whites think that we Ming people are as noble as the Romans of the past, or even more noble than the Romans?"

Liu Kuandao said, "In theory, it is not difficult to export such ideas and opinions in Europe, but I do not recommend doing so."

"A theory of race and racial contempt is not a good idea. Although it may be beneficial to the rule of other races to a certain extent, it will most likely backfire later."

"In later generations, whether it was the Bald Eagle countries of the Americas or the countries of Europe, they were all quite troubled by racial discrimination in governance."

"Secondly, although the Roman Empire was once powerful in Europe, and its ideas and culture are still respected by European countries today, it has after all declined."

"The so-called Holy Roman Empire was merely a Germanic nation-state with the name of Rome, while the Eastern Roman Empire was now reduced to nothing more than Byzantium, its capital city, barely clinging to life under the Ottoman invasion."

"In the eyes of those insightful people, whether we claim that our Great Ming Dynasty is as noble as the Roman Empire, or even more noble, it does not actually have much deterrent power."

After listening to Liu Kuan's words, Zhu Biao also said, "Xiong Ying, although we also have signs of despising other ethnic groups, that is, when the Han dynasty was prosperous, we despised all barbarians, but when the Han dynasty was suppressed or even defeated by the northern nomadic dynasties, the nomadic peoples despised the Han people for being weak."

"But in the end, it is martial arts, culture, or strength that determine who is superior, rather than purely by race. Moreover, throughout history, Han Chinese dynasties have often employed people of other ethnicities as officials and generals, and nomadic dynasties employed even more Han Chinese."

"It can be said that we don't actually have a racial hierarchy like in Europe. If that's the case, wouldn't using this outdated ideology be like defiling ourselves?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying felt that what Liu Kuan and Zhu Biao said made sense, and immediately said, "Father is right. I did not think things through before."

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his chin and said, “Our Great Ming should not introduce such racial discrimination ideas, but since the thirteenth prince and his vassals have established themselves in Europe, racial discrimination ideas are already deeply rooted there, and such ideas are indeed beneficial for ruling foreign races, so we might as well give it a try.”

This time, Liu Kuan sided with Zhu Yuanzhang. He said, "His Majesty is right. This idea is indeed beneficial for the Prince of Dai and others to consolidate their rule after establishing vassal states in Europe. Although His Highness the Prince of Dai and his people will immigrate some Han Chinese from the Ming Dynasty, they are still a minority compared to the white people in Europe."

"If we want the Han Chinese in Europe to multiply and grow stronger as soon as possible, then we can indeed let the vassal states such as Dai and Fan use ideas such as racial theory to promote the idea that yellow skin is superior to white skin and that the Han Chinese are superior to the Germans, Slavs, Celts and other Europeans."

Zhu Biao listened with some concern and said, "Thirteenth Brother and his men are fighting against a large number of people in Europe. The Han people have always been treated quite well, which will inevitably make the white people dissatisfied."

"If we use racial theories to promote the idea that Han Chinese are superior to white people and other races, will it provoke white people to rise up in rebellion?"

Liu Kuan said, “Your Majesty, it is certain that some white people will resist the rule and oppression, but as long as the Prince of Dai and his people can continue to suppress them, then eventually the white people in the country will inevitably develop Stockholm syndrome, just as the video just showed.”

"That is, they became more respectful of the Han people and Han culture, and even went so far as to believe, through racial theory, that the Han people were indeed superior to them, and thus were content to be ruled by the various foreign tribes of the Ming Dynasty in Europe."

Zhu Biao nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Although he felt that Liu Kuan's words made some sense, he still felt that something was amiss.

Zhu Yuanzhang, however, said, "Send a telegram to the thirteenth prince and the others later, telling them about the historical origins of racial contempt among European whites, and instructing them to make good use of it."

Seeing that Zhu Biao seemed to disapprove of the move, Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Grandfather, please let me handle this matter."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Alright, it's just a matter of sending a telegram anyway."

Afterwards, the group discussed the issue of racial discrimination in Europe for a few more minutes, and then Zhu Yuanzhang signaled Liu Kuan to play the next video.

Liu Kuan pulled up the third video he had prepared beforehand. Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and the others showed expectant expressions as soon as they saw that the video creator was from the Planet Research Institute.

As for Xu Da, Tang He, and Lan Yu, more attention is paid to the names shown on the video cover.

"Europe's Dragon Vein, a Revolutionary Transformation of Europe!"

The subtitle above the video reads: Europe cannot do without the Alps, just as it cannot do without them.

Such a title left Tang He and Lan Yu momentarily puzzled.

Tang He couldn't help but mutter to himself, 'Could this video be about European feng shui? Is the Marquis of Jiangning trying to instruct the Prince of Dai and his allies on how to seize the dragon veins of Europe when establishing their fiefdoms?'

Lan Yu thought with a bit of frustration, "Why is it all about Europe again? We can't go to Europe at all these days, so we can only look on in envy?"

Liu Kuan did not introduce the video beforehand, but directly touched the screen to play it.

At the beginning of the video, a huge Earth appears on the screen to the accompaniment of grand background music, looking almost real. The camera then rotates and pulls down, quickly focusing on the European region before finally "landing" on a vast mountain range.

At the same time, a man's voice narrating the event could be heard.

"Europe cannot exist without the Alps, just as China cannot exist without the Qinling Mountains!"

"Twenty thousand years ago, a massive ice sheet, equivalent to two Jiangsu provinces, completely froze the entirety of Switzerland, northern Italy, southern Germany, and eastern France, creating a desperate situation!"

"The Ice Age reached its zenith in Europe!"

"Years later, the Alps beneath the ice cap were revealed and quickly became the number one mountain in Europe!"

In this segment, the video uses computer-generated special effects combined with real-world maps to demonstrate the magnificent scene of glaciers covering the Alps region 20,000 years ago.

Although the Zhu family watched intently, their expressions remained calm, as they had seen many videos of this style from the "Planet Research Institute" before.

But Xu Da, Tang He, and Lan Yu, who were watching this kind of video for the first time, were all so shocked that their eyes widened.

Xu Da wondered: How were these scenes filmed in later generations? And how was this video produced?

Tang He and Lan Yu, who were relatively uneducated, both had only one thought in their minds: Shocking, so incredibly shocking!

However, they also realized that the "European dragon vein" mentioned in the video must be the "Alps".

But why did later generations call it the dragon vein of Europe?
This is a question that not only Lan Yu and others want to know, but also Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao, and others. (End of Chapter)