Bringing the Railway to Daming

After reading the telegram, Liu Kuan handed it back to the palace eunuch, then asked with a hint of doubt, "Are the Prince of Dai and the Prince of Ning preparing to send troops to attack England? Could it be that the Dai Kingdom has already developed a formidable navy?"

In the telegram, Zhu Gui and Zhu Quan mentioned their plan to cross the sea and attack England.

As for the Su and Liao vassal states, because they were located further east and farther from the Dai vassal state and the Atlantic Ocean, they did not participate in the plan to attack England. Instead, they were responsible for guarding against attacks on the four vassal states by other countries on the European continent during this period.

That's why Liu Kuan asked this question.

Zhu Xiong Ying laughed and said, "The Dai vassal's navy is just a shell; it has less than ten warships with a capacity of over 1,000 liang. So, this time they are using the Jin vassal's navy to cross the sea, or rather, the three vassal states of Jin, Dai, and Ning are jointly attacking England."

Liu Kuan nodded, then asked, "England's firearms development has been quite rapid, but I wonder about the specifics?"

Europe is now a key region for the Ming Dynasty to manage outside of Asia, and as England is one of the major countries in Europe, the Ming Dynasty naturally dispatched many Bright Guards (of Semu origin) to gather intelligence.

Therefore, Zhu Xiong Ying had a considerable understanding of the military situation in England.

He said, "Currently, the few European countries that have begun to imitate firearms are mainly imitating matchlock guns, general cannons, tiger crouching cannons, and our gunpowder."

"However, the quality of the matchlock guns copied by countries like Burgundy, Austria, and Bohemia in Europe was significantly inferior to that of the Ning and Dai tribes. The same was true for the cannons copied, and the gunpowder power was even worse."

"In addition, these countries generally have limited military production capacity, so their firearms equipment rate is not high. Even the most elite troops have a firearms equipment rate of less than 30%."

"However, perhaps out of a need to quickly quell the rebellion, Henry IV of England began spending a large sum of money three years ago to build an elite force of about 5,000 men, with 40% to 50% of them equipped with firearms."

"Furthermore, the quality of the matchlock guns and cannons made in England surpassed those of Burgundy and other countries. Before last winter, Henry IV had already quelled the internal strife and begun to reorganize the domestic affairs."

"Judging from his previous experience, he not only has strong military capabilities, but also excellent diplomatic skills. If he handles domestic affairs well and develops the country for a few years, he may indeed pose a certain threat to the Dai vassal states and other European vassal states of our Great Ming."

Henry IV?

Liu Kuan thought for a moment, then looked helpless.

He didn't know much about European history, and the titles of European kings were complicated and often duplicated, so he really knew nothing about this Henry IV—the last time he encountered the strange fog, it was too short, and he didn't have time to look up any relevant information.

After regaining his senses, Liu Kuan said, "So, Your Majesty also supports the Jin Dynasty's attack on England by the Three Feudatories of Daining?"

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Leaving aside the fact that England now poses a certain threat to the four European powers, historically, the country has relied on its national strength to repeatedly invade China. Doesn't the teacher want to avenge this?"

Liu Kuan was surprised that Zhu Xiong Ying would say such a thing, and immediately replied, "Of course I do."

Zhu Xiong Ying laughed and said, "This time, the court will not openly support the Three Feudatories, but it is prepared to sell a batch of outdated firearms and armor to the Jin Feudatories and the four European Feudatories at a lower price."

Liu Kuan was surprised to hear this, "Does Your Majesty intend to upgrade the firearms of the garrison troops?"

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Nowadays, not only are the troops of our Ming Dynasty's overseas territories mainly equipped with matchlock guns, but European countries have also begun to equip themselves with matchlock guns."

"Under such circumstances, our Ming army naturally cannot still be equipped with matchlock muskets—even though our matchlock muskets are far superior to those made by foreign powers and Europe, there is still no generational gap. Therefore, it is time to replace them with flintlock muskets in large numbers."

"Does the teacher think it's inappropriate?"

Liu Kuan smiled helplessly and said, "As far as I know, the Ming Dynasty has now developed rifles with breech-loading copper-cased bullets in its firearms research. It is certainly feasible to equip the garrison troops with flintlock rifles."

"However, the fact that European countries copied matchlock guns also serves as a reminder to us—although these countries' military industry and even technological level are far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty, they still have a certain ability to copy them."

"It wouldn't have much of an impact if they copied the matchlock gun, but if the garrison troops were to be re-equipped in large numbers, we would need to be more vigilant against the outflow of new firearms such as flintlock guns and hand grenades."

Zhu Xiong Ying laughed and said, "Even if you hadn't reminded me, I would have known about this. Not to mention European countries, even foreign countries overseas, the court will not sell them new firearms such as flintlock guns for the next twenty years. If any counterfeiting is discovered, they will be punished."

Liu Kuan thought to himself that the technical difference between flintlock muskets and matchlock muskets was not significant, and even princes like Zhu Quan, who had studied at the Imperial Academy, could probably figure it out themselves. If there was a real need, even if the Ming court forbade it, they would probably secretly research and produce them.

It remains to be seen how Zhu Xiong Ying will handle the situation after the incident.

I only hope that war won't break out between the Ming Dynasty and foreign powers during Zhu Xiong Ying's reign, otherwise the Ming Dynasty's golden age will be greatly shortened.

However, even if the foreign powers develop their own military industry and research firearms, it would probably take them several decades to catch up with the Ming Dynasty's level—by then, he would probably be buried.

···
After leaving the palace, Liu Kuan looked at the sky and saw that the sun was nearing its zenith. He returned to the Imperial Workshop to give instructions to his subordinates and then went home for lunch.

At the dinner table, besides Liu Kuan, Zhu Huilan, and Su Caiwei, only their youngest son, Liu Le'an, was present. The other children were not home for lunch.

Now Liu Le'an is sixteen or seventeen years old and is in his senior year of high school. He has grown into a handsome young man.

However, he only stared at his own bowl while eating, and he picked up food and ate very quickly, as if he couldn't wait to finish eating and leave without his parents noticing.

However, just as he finished eating and was about to put down his chopsticks and leave, Su Caiwei suddenly coughed lightly and said, "Le'an, your school's preliminary test results should be out today, right?" Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan looked at Liu Le'an—he had been so busy with official business these past few days that he had completely forgotten about his child.

Under the gaze of the three, Liu Le'an looked embarrassed, his eyes darting around a few times, and said, "I'm out, but..."

"But what?" Su Caiwei frowned. "Don't tell me you didn't do well on the exam again."

"Mom," Liu Le'an said anxiously, "it's not my fault I didn't do well on the test, the questions were too hard—it's outrageous to give such difficult test questions right at the start of the semester..."

As they were talking, Liu Le'an suddenly started complaining, which almost made Liu Kuan, who was watching the show from the side, burst out laughing.

Zhu Huilan interrupted Liu Le'an in time, saying, "Since the test was difficult, if you didn't do well, your classmates probably didn't do very well either, right? Just tell me, what's your ranking in the class?"

"Mother~" Liu Le'an was not so afraid of his stepmother Zhu Huilan, and put on a begging look.

Seeing Liu Le'an like this, Zhu Huilan and Su Caiwei both looked at Liu Kuan, their meaning clear: Your son is like this, shouldn't you, as the father, educate him?
Liu Kuan had to cough and put on a serious expression, saying, "It's just a diagnostic test. What's wrong with saying you did poorly? Is your poor performance only a matter of the last year or two? You're a sixteen or seventeen-year-old man. Don't lack this sense of responsibility."

Upon hearing this, Liu Le'an gritted his teeth and said, "Total score: 233, ranking 37th in the class!"

After saying that, he closed his eyes, adopting a posture of "giving his life in defiance".

Liu Kuan and the other two were speechless for a moment.

At that time, Daming High School only had seven subjects: Chinese, Mathematics, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, and did not separate students into arts and sciences tracks.

Chinese is worth 150 points, Mathematics is worth 100 points, and the remaining five subjects are each worth 50 points, which means the total score is 500 points.

Not only did Liu Le'an score less than half the maximum in this diagnostic test, but his ranking was even more concerning...

After regaining his senses, Liu Kuan said, "Le'an, if I remember correctly, there are only 39 people in your class, right?"

Liu Le'an's cheek twitched, and he said blankly, "Father is not mistaken."

"Then you'd be third from last?"

"Yes."

At this moment, Su Caiwei, as the biological mother, finally couldn't help but explode—naturally, she wouldn't roar like a shrew, but her face was as gloomy as clouds and her voice as cold as ice.

"Last year you were tenth from the bottom in the class in the final exams. After winter break, not only did you not improve, you even dropped to third from the bottom. In a few months, are you going to bring us back to last place?!"

Seeing that Su Caiwei was truly angry, Liu Le'an quickly said, "Mother, I did neglect my studies during the winter vacation, but I promise that by the midterm exams, my ranking will at least be back to tenth from the bottom."

"You're back to tenth from the bottom? Is being tenth from the bottom something to be proud of?" Su Caiwei was so angry that her voice rose several octaves. She then looked at Liu Kuan and said, "Master, this child must be disciplined strictly, otherwise he might become a spoiled brat."

Zhu Huilan also said, "My husband should fulfill his responsibilities as a father."

Seeing that his wives and concubines were dissatisfied, Liu Kuan had no choice but to say, "Le'an, saying that you'll be in the bottom ten in the midterm exams is a bit of a stretch. You need to at least get into the top twenty in your class in the midterm exams, otherwise you'll lose your allowance for the two or three months between the midterm and final exams."

"Huh?" Liu Le'an was shocked and couldn't help but say, "Father, isn't this asking too much? Isn't it obvious that you don't want to give me pocket money?"

Liu Kuan's face immediately turned cold. "With your grades and attitude towards studying, it's already a favor that you weren't punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall. And you dare to talk back?!"

Although the Liu family usually had a kind father and a strict mother, the children were all very afraid of Liu Kuan when he got angry.

Therefore, upon seeing Liu Kuan's expression, Liu Le'an decisively said, "Your son dares not... Your son will do his best."

"Alright, go to school—be careful on the way."

"Yes, kid, please leave."

Liu Le'an stood up, bowed to the three of them, and then left as if fleeing.

At this moment, Su Caiwei sighed and said, "Of the six children, he is the most disappointing. In the end, it's because he is young and has been spoiled."

Hearing this, Zhu Huilan comforted her, "Don't worry too much—back then, Ruoxue wasn't good at studying either, and she only got into the girls' college because I pulled some strings."

"After a year or two in college, he became more sensible and got into Peking University for graduate studies. I suppose Le'an will also have an epiphany in a couple of years, and be motivated to improve after he has learned his lesson."

Upon hearing this, Su Caiwei gave a wry smile and said, "Madam, please don't speak ill of Ruoxue—that child is far more worrisome." (End of Chapter)