Bringing the Railway to Daming

Dover Castle is not small, but it is not very big either.

Led by a spy familiar with the layout of the palace, Zhu Gui quickly toured all the main palaces or rooms, only to be greatly disappointed.

Here, besides a set of heavy, old-looking leather and horn armor, stand statues one after another.

These statues were no different from those Zhu Gui had seen in England; they were either women with bare upper bodies or men with bare bodies. Although Zhu Gui was not good at calligraphy, painting, or sculpture, he also felt that these statues had no artistic value.

It wasn't until they finally arrived at what was said to be the study where the King of England handled his daily affairs, and saw that there were still many parchment scrolls and a few paper books left in the study, that Zhu Gui nodded.

"Go back and find some people to collect all the books in this study and other rooms in the castle, and prepare to send them back to the Dai Kingdom."

"Oh, right, take all the armor and statues that can be moved as well."

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied one of the officials following behind.

At this moment, the spy officer Vincent, who was responsible for guiding Zhu Gui, tentatively asked, "Does His Highness the Prince of Dai really like antiques?"

Zhu Gui said, "You have a good eye, kid. That's right, I do like antiques. In fact, it's not just me; Prince Jin and Prince Ning also like them."

"Let me put it this way, a few of us, along with the Prince of Shu and other vassal kings who remained in the Ming Dynasty, are planning to work together to build a museum of Western countries."

"This museum specializes in collecting treasures, antiquities, and even books from various European countries—do you understand now?"

Vincent was originally an Englishman exiled in France. By a twist of fate, he was recruited by Prince Ning, Zhu Quan, and became a spy. He was quite talented in this field and later distinguished himself on many occasions, eventually becoming a deputy commander of the Prince Ning's spy unit.

Vincent is undoubtedly a very intelligent person to have come this far.

After listening, his eyes darted around, and he said, "Speaking of which, Dover Castle did indeed have some treasures and antiquities accumulated by the royal families over the years, but Henry IV moved most of them away when he fled."

"However, there are still some nobles in the city who did not have time to escape. The treasures and antiques they have accumulated are definitely no less than those of the royal family, and may even be several times more."

Zhu Gui's eyes lit up, and she asked, "Really?"

Vincent said, "How could I dare to deceive His Highness the Prince of Dai?"

"Good." Zhu Gui smiled and then instructed, "I have another order for your intelligence team—to collect as much evidence as possible of the crimes committed by these nobles in London, and as quickly as possible."

Vincent asked, "Your Highness, is the evidence based on the Ming Dynasty law or the English law?"

Zhu Gui: "Any benchmark is acceptable."

Vincent immediately understood and thought: His Highness the Prince mainly wants to punish these English nobles. In that case, the fabricated evidence will suffice.
Feeling that he had received Zhu Gui's hint, Vincent immediately smiled and clasped his hands in a fist salute, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter well."

"Yes, if it is handled well, I will speak well of you to Prince Ning."

"Then I will thank Your Highness in advance."

Afterwards, Vincent left, and Zhu Gui stayed in Henry IV's "study." He casually picked up a scroll of parchment, looked at the incomprehensible English on it, but his mind was elsewhere.

"Having watched so many videos about later periods during the Ming Dynasty and listened to so many historical accounts from teachers, the most infuriating thing is that the incompetence of the Qing Dynasty allowed Western countries and the Japanese invaders to invade China."

"Now, we have established several vassal states in Europe, first conquering France, and now we have invaded Great Britain."

"Once we've conquered these countries and sent their treasures back to the Ming Dynasty, we can build a museum showcasing the Western nations. I wonder what you, Teacher, would think when you see it? You'd surely be very pleased, wouldn't you?"

Despite Zhu Gui's poor academic performance, he genuinely cared deeply for his teacher, Liu Kuan.

Because when Liu Kuan taught at Dabentang, although he never showed mercy to poor students like him when he needed to be reprimanded and punished, he never discriminated against them—Zhu Gui felt this.

Moreover, Liu Kuan's natural science classes were not only interesting, but also taught students a lot of useful knowledge. Naturally, the feelings of royal students like Zhu Gui towards him were very different from their feelings towards other teachers in the Grand Hall.

As members of the Ming Dynasty royal family, they were also very angry about the humiliation that Western countries had done to China in the past. Now that they had the opportunity, they naturally wanted to "take revenge".

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After the Ming army entered London, it took only half a day to completely quell the English rioters who had broken into the city and the local ruffians who were taking advantage of the chaos, restoring the city to a preliminary "order"—the order established by the Ming Dynasty's Three Feudatories Alliance.

Zhu Gui, on the one hand, sent troops north to meet with the fleeing Henry IV and a small number of nobles, and on the other hand, dispatched troops to attack towns and manors around London to collect grain. Although the Allied Forces of the Three Feudatories had a fleet to handle logistics, it was certainly not as convenient as collecting grain locally in England.

Of course, during this period, conquering those rebellious castles and manors and seizing their wealth was a side benefit.

In just a few days, the most prosperous and wealthy southeastern region of England was taken over by the Triple Triumvirate.

Limited by troop strength, the Tripartite Alliance temporarily halted its offensive, instead focusing on "governing" the areas it had already occupied, as planned...

For the past few days, Jack, his family, and the remaining three maids have been hiding in the main house, afraid to go out. Fortunately, there is a lot of food in the house, some of the maids know how to cook, and there is also some firewood and water, so they are not worried about running out of food for the time being.

That day, Jack and his family were eating bland white bread with worried expressions when there was a sudden, violent knocking on the gate, which made Jack and his family tremble.

Soon, shouts in English came from outside: "Open the door! It's the Allied forces' business!"

"If you don't open the door, we'll just break it down!"

Jack snapped out of his daze and thought: If these people barge in and find out they're deliberately refusing to open the door, they're probably in for a rough time.

So he had no choice but to bite the bullet, run out, and shout, "Don't worry, I'll open the door right away."

The courtyard wasn't large, and Jack quickly arrived at the gate. He peeked through the crack and saw only a few Ming soldiers and a man in a strange black robe. Relieved, he opened the gate.

To bolster his courage, Jack took the initiative and said, "I am Baron Wilson, the owner of this house. What can I do for you?"

The leader of the Ming soldiers exclaimed, "A baron? Very good, that's exactly the kind of noble we've been looking for!"

He then spoke to the man in black in a language that Jack couldn't understand.

Jack's heart sank. He wondered: Why do these Ming soldiers seem to disrespect the nobles? Instead, they seem to be looking for trouble. What's going on?

A moment later, Mingjun, who spoke English, said, “Listen carefully, we’re here to register your household registration—you need to clearly state how many people are in your family, what land, shops, and estates you own, who you were originally, or what you did.”

"Besides, since you are still a nobleman, you should take the initiative to confess your crimes."

"If the crime is not serious, you can use treasures, antiques or coins to atone for it—as for how much property to give up, it depends on the severity of your crime."

After a moment's thought, Jack immediately replied, "General, although I am a baron, I have no power or influence. I have always been a law-abiding citizen and have never committed a crime!"

This seems to come from the Ming army in England. They laughed and said, "You know in your heart whether you have committed a crime or not. If you confess yourself, you can be treated leniently. If you wait for someone else to report you, then your crime will be more serious."

"Think it over carefully. Is it better to confess yourself or wait for someone to report you? Alright, let us in first and tell us about your family situation."

Although Jack thought the Ming soldiers behind him looked like menacing Frenchmen, he had no choice but to take them to the main house.

He was initially relieved to see that Anne, her daughter, and son were not there, thinking that Anne was quite clever for knowing to hide with her daughter.

But when it came time to register, the man in black made him bring out his family members to register in person.

And so, the beautiful Diana appeared before the Ming soldiers, immediately stunning them, including the man in black.

The man in black then said something, and the Ming soldier who spoke English immediately replied, "This official says that His Highness the Prince of Dai is short of a few English maids to take care of his daily life."

“Your daughter is beautiful and comes from a minor noble family, which is perfect for you. Would you be willing to send your daughter to Dover Castle?”

Jack paused for a moment, then asked hesitantly and nervously, "Excuse me, may I refuse?"

The Ming soldier who spoke English said, "So many people would love to be a maid to His Highness the Prince of Dai but can't even get one. Now that you've hit the jackpot and have this opportunity, you don't even cherish it? Besides, the official is only recommending your daughter. Even if she goes, she might not be hired. And you actually want to refuse?"

Upon hearing this, Jack realized that he couldn't refuse.

He looked at his daughter, but couldn't bring himself to agree.

At this moment, Diana said, "Father, I'm willing to go." (End of Chapter)