Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 615 How Many Years Has the Cross-River Bridge Stand? (Animated Series) [Please Subscribe]

This time, Liu Kuan and Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at the cross-river bridge relatively early, so instead of immediately finding a place to sit down, they strolled and chatted on the bridge.

After walking for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "Although this bridge is maintained and repaired every year, it still looks quite dilapidated. I wonder how many more years it can last."

Liu Kuan said, "I remember reading some information when I visited this bridge in later generations. It said that the bridge was designed to be used for a hundred years. When I came to the Ming Dynasty, it still had more than forty years left to live."

"However, this is a calculation of the bridge's lifespan based on its use and maintenance in later generations. Although the bridge received less maintenance in the Ming Dynasty than in later generations, it also did not experience the same level of heavy traffic as in later generations, and even the frequency of trains passing underneath was not very high."

"More than 20 years have passed now. I estimate that this bridge should still be usable for another 10 or 20 years, but it should not exceed 30 years."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly upon hearing this and asked, "Then do you estimate that by then our Great Ming Dynasty will have the capability to build a new cross-river bridge?"

After listening for a moment, Liu Kuan said, "It's hard to say within ten or twenty years, but if we extend the timeframe to twenty or thirty years, given the current pace of progress in bridge and road construction technology in our Great Ming Dynasty, it should be possible."

Zhu Yuanzhang breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "That's good."

Liu Kuan then added, "In fact, the bridge-building technology of our Great Ming Dynasty is already quite advanced, thanks to some information I obtained from later generations."

"With this Yellow River diversion project, we will build a railway bridge across the Yellow River. In other words, once the Yellow River diversion project is completed, you will be able to take a train directly from the capital to important northern cities such as Beijing."

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful! I just don't know if we'll be able to wait until then to see it for ourselves."

Towards the end, Zhu Yuanzhang's tone became somewhat desolate.

Liu Kuan immediately replied, "His Majesty the Emperor will surely live to be a hundred years old."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said no more about the matter.

The two walked for a while, then turned back.

Zhu Yuanzhang changed the subject, saying, "I heard you suggested that Yunwen go to South America to take up his fiefdom?"

Liu Kuan said, "His Highness Prince Yu mentioned that after establishing vassal states overseas, he intends to focus on farming and development and dislikes warfare. That's why I recommended South America."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I heard that the Yong Kingdom established by the second son in South America is now frequently at war with the Inca Kingdom. Although the scale of the war is not large and the number of troops involved is at most tens of thousands, it has been going on for more than ten years."

"With the second son like this, can Yunwen really settle down and farm in South America?"

Liu Kuan explained, "Your Majesty has forgotten? Historically, the Inca Empire's activities were mainly confined to the western coastal mountain region, at most extending to the western coast of South America."

"As for the eastern part of South America, especially the Uruguay region that I recommended to His Highness Prince Yu to establish a vassal state, there were no indigenous kingdoms at that time, at most some large tribes."

“Once His Highness Prince Yu goes there, he only needs to conquer the surrounding tribes to gradually cultivate the land and build a vassal state.”

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed and said, "Thinking about it, Yunwen is indeed a regrettable child in history—we must have had no choice but to let him inherit the throne."

"I thought that with our arrangements, he could govern the Ming Dynasty well according to the rules of Xiao He and Cao Zhi, but I never expected that his thoughts were completely different from what we instructed him to do. As a result, he ended up burning himself in the fire."

Liu Kuandao said, "In fact, in the original history, there is also a saying that Emperor Jianwen disguised himself as a monk and fled overseas—the charred corpse in the palace was just someone else's."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Even if he were to go into exile overseas, it would be a miserable existence. I only hope that in this life he can live a peaceful and prosperous life as a prince overseas."

As they spoke, the two walked to the table and chairs that had been set up and sat down.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "The computer is broken and can't be repaired, but the mobile phone and tablet computer can still be used, right?"

Liu Kuan said, "I bought my cell phone and tablet several years later than my laptop, so they're still usable. However, my tablet is having some problems; although it's still usable, I estimate it won't last more than a few years." Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Then does that mean we can't organize movie-watching parties anymore?"

Liu Kuan smiled wryly, "If the tablet breaks, I'm afraid that won't work—the phone screen is too small, only a few people can watch it. Besides, the phone probably won't last more than a few years."

In fact, Liu Kuan had been very careful with both mobile phones and tablets for the past twenty-odd years.

Unfortunately, some electronic components have a limited lifespan; even if not used, they will eventually break down. In fact, the fact that his tablet, phone, and even laptop have lasted for so many years without breaking down is already a small miracle—Liu Kuan suspects that these things may have undergone some kind of mutation during his time travel.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "Let's see it once in a while—after next year's Spring Festival, we'll have Xiong Ying organize another movie-watching party. Make sure you prepare accordingly."

Without a laptop, it would be inconvenient for Liu Kuan to find and edit videos, so he replied, "I will do my best to prepare them."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything more and began to sip his tea.

Liu Kuan looked at the ripples on the river and wondered if he would encounter the strange fog again this time.

As a result, he and Lao Zhu waited on the bridge until ten o'clock, but there was still no sign of the strange fog.

Liu Kuan then stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, it seems the strange fog won't appear today. Shall we return?"

Zhu Yuanzhang also showed some disappointment—clearly, although he could no longer use a computer to access the internet and browse videos and news in the future, he still hoped to see the strange fog again.

Such miraculous events, with no danger involved, would be something everyone would want to experience multiple times.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not say anything, nodded, and left the bridge with Liu Kuan, taking a carriage back to the city.

The Ming Dynasty was already capable of producing springs, so the four-wheeled carriage that Zhu Yuanzhang rode in had excellent shock absorption. Although it was summer, there was an ice chest inside the carriage, so it wasn't too hot.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat inside, swaying back and forth, and actually fell asleep.

Liu Kuan originally wanted to chat with Lao Zhu for a few more minutes, but seeing this, he could only sit quietly.

Once they reached the city, the sounds of vendors hawking their wares and other noises filled the air, and Old Zhu finally snapped out of his daze, asking, "Are we almost there?"

Liu Kuan said, "We'll be at Taiping Street in a little while. Would Your Majesty like to have lunch at my residence?"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, "No need, let's go back to Yanfu Palace."

Yanfu Palace was the small palace that Zhu Biao built for Zhu Yuanzhang on the shore of Xuanwu Lake. In fact, Yanfu Palace was the name of a palace in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang did not mind and used it directly.

Just then, a shout from the street caught the attention of Lao Zhu and Liu Kuan.

"Don't miss it! The latest animated film, 'The Legend of Yue Fei: The Great Victory at Yancheng,' will be released on August 14th! How did Yue Fei decisively defeat Wanyan Wuzhu's cavalry? It's absolutely thrilling and not to be missed!"

"Buy your tickets now if you want to see it! Mid-Autumn Festival special offer: only one ticket per string!"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhu Yuanzhang opened the glass window of his carriage and saw a young man on the street selling a stack of magazines and tickets.

He suddenly remembered the young man surnamed Ma who invented "cartoons" back then, so he said, "Go buy two tickets and bring two copies of the cartoon magazine as well."

The guards outside responded and went to carry it out.

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked Liu Kuan, "How is the development of animation these days? Is this animated series 'The Legend of Yue Fei' related to that Ma family?"

(End of this chapter)