Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Xiong Ying naturally knew about simplified Chinese characters, since the letters in so many videos and TV dramas from later generations were almost all simplified characters.

As for Pinyin, Liu Kuan had only mentioned it a few times, and he didn't know much about it, so he asked, "Teacher, could you tell me about Pinyin?"

Liu Kuan said, “Even if Your Majesty did not ask, I would still speak. As I have said before, in the late Qing Dynasty and the decades that followed, China was subjected to humiliation by Western powers and underwent profound reflection. Some people even felt that Chinese characters were backward and wanted to overthrow them and create a Chinese system based on the Latin alphabet, modeled after Western languages ​​such as English.”

"However, this matter was not accomplished in the end—which was naturally a good thing for later generations. After all, if Chinese characters had really been abolished back then, it would have been a disguised way of destroying the Chinese writing system."

"Although this was not a good thing, it provided a way of thinking for later writers, which led to the emergence of Pinyin."

"Hanyu Pinyin also borrows from the Latin alphabet, but it takes the essence of the Latin language to better express the pronunciation of Chinese characters."

"The mature Chinese Pinyin system of later generations consists of 21 initials, 24 finals, and 16 whole-syllable recognition."

"Once you are familiar with these letters, you can annotate all Chinese characters with pinyin. This means that even someone who doesn't know many characters can learn the pronunciation of other Chinese characters by using pinyin."

"Of course, the Pinyin system of later generations was invented based on the standard Mandarin of later generations, and the Ming Dynasty probably couldn't use it directly. But we can learn from this idea and invent a Pinyin system that can be used for the official language of the Ming Dynasty."

After listening to Liu Kuan's explanation, Zhu Xiong Ying was surprised again.

It took him two minutes to understand what Liu Kuan meant, but he asked incredulously, "Teacher, are you saying that all Chinese characters can be annotated with phonetic symbols using 21 initials, 24 finals, and 16 syllables?"

“That’s good.” Liu Kuan nodded. “At that time, we can compile a dictionary with pinyin. Then, as long as the people of the Ming Dynasty know pinyin and have a dictionary, they can find out the pronunciation and meaning of a word by consulting the dictionary.”

It's not surprising that Zhu Xiong Ying is the author of the dictionary.

Dictionaries existed as early as the Qin and Han dynasties, only the names varied in different dynasties.

In addition, there have been studies on the phonetic notation of Chinese characters throughout history, and related works have been written, but they are far less convenient than the Pinyin system mentioned by Liu Kuan.

For example, in the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang commissioned Song Lian, Le Shaofeng, and others to compile an official rhyme book for the Ming Dynasty, known as the "Hongwu Zhengyun"—currently, the vocabulary and characters taught to students in elementary schools throughout the Ming Dynasty are based on the "Hongwu Zhengyun".

However, the most important function of the Hongwu Zhengyun was to eradicate the barbarian sounds in the old rhymes and restore the elegant pronunciation of the Central Plains—in fact, the standard Mandarin of later generations contains some barbarian sounds.

Although Zhu Xiong Ying had never seen the dictionary with pinyin that Liu Kuan mentioned in later generations, he still sensed that if such a thing were compiled, it would definitely be more useful than the Hongwu Zhengyun.

However, after a moment of contemplation, Zhu Xiong Ying said, "According to what the teacher said, Pinyin is indeed easier for people to learn Chinese characters. However, whether it is to compile Pinyin in a way that subverts the traditional phonological system or to promote simplified characters, it is not a trivial matter."

"I'm afraid it will take at least five or six years, or even longer, to prepare before it can be officially launched."

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty's concerns are very valid. This matter does indeed require a considerable amount of time to prepare, but fortunately, the Ming Dynasty is not short of time now."

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded, then smiled and said, "I'm afraid even the teacher wouldn't want to take the lead in doing this, would he?"

Liu Kuan was slightly embarrassed. "Your Majesty is wise. I am not even familiar with the Hongwu Zhengyun. How could I possibly do this?"

Although Liu Kuan has been in the Ming Dynasty for more than 20 years, he still speaks with a strong accent from later generations.

In other words, he was someone who couldn't even speak standard Mandarin, so naturally he couldn't be in charge of phonetics and writing.

Zhu Xiong Ying was not surprised and said, "Then I will find someone else to supervise this matter."

After discussing the matter, Zhu Xiong Ying let Liu Kuan leave.

When Liu Kuan left the palace, he found it was almost dark, so he rode his bicycle to the Imperial Workshop to tidy up before transferring to a carriage to return home. Once home, Liu Kuan washed his hands and face and changed his clothes with the help of his maids before going to a side hall to eat with his family.

Of the children, only Liu Ruoxue, Liu Ruoyue, and Liu Le'an remained.

After the meal, the three children went back to their rooms, while Liu Kuan drank tea and read books in the side hall, chatting with his wife and concubine.

Zhu Huilan said, "Husband, I have already found a few promising young men for Ruoxue. Why don't you take a look at them first?"

Liu Kuan was not surprised and nodded, saying, "Okay."

Zhu Huilan immediately had her maid bring a picture album from her study.

While Liu Kuan was looking through the album, Zhu Huilan said, "So far, only these ten people have been selected. They include sons of noble families as well as talented young men from ordinary families who have become famous in the capital in recent years."

"Of course, this 'ordinary family' is relative; it could be the son of a merchant, the son of a small landowner, or the son of a mid- to low-ranking official or general."

Liu Kuan opened the album, which was filled with lifelike portraits of people. It also included two pages of text introducing the person and their family, making the album more than thirty pages long.

Speaking of which, the black and white photos taken by the Ming Dynasty camera are quite clear nowadays, but the "camera" is still quite large, and the shooting process is also quite noisy, requiring human cooperation, so it is naturally impossible for it to become truly widespread.

Therefore, this album contains no photographs, only portraits.

But through these portraits, Liu Kuan could tell that all ten of these young talents were quite good-looking, and in fact, they were all more handsome than he was when he was young.

Besides, they are all quite talented—at least they are all college graduates, and some are even graduate students or are currently pursuing graduate studies.

As for family background, as Zhu Huilan just said, they range from sons of noble families to ordinary wealthy families.

After Liu Kuan looked them over and found that all ten people were fine, he said, "They all look pretty good. You can let Ruoxue take a look herself. If she thinks there are no problems, then you can arrange the follow-up matters."

Zhu Huilan smiled and said, "Then I'll go find Ruoxue now—Caiwei, let's go together."

Su Caiwei sighed with a hint of worry and said, "I'm afraid Ruoxue is too picky and won't be able to choose any of these."

"Don't worry, Ruoxue isn't someone who's all talk and no action," Zhu Huilan reassured her.

After saying that, the two of them went to find Liu Ruoxue together.

Although Liu Kuan really wanted to go, he knew that Ruoxue would be even more embarrassed if he, as her father, were present, so he patiently waited for the result.

About an hour later, the two returned to the side hall.

"How is it?" Liu Kuan asked.

He is still very concerned about his daughter's marriage.

Zhu Huilan smiled and said, "Ruoxue has already agreed, saying she wants to meet all ten of them."

Liu Kuan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, "It's good that she's willing to go see her." (End of Chapter)