Bringing the Railway to Daming

About half an hour after the eunuch went to deliver the order, Mu Su, the current commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, arrived at Fengxian Hall.

"See your Majesty, see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Be flat!"

After the ceremony, Zhu Xiong Ying stared at Mu Su and asked, "Who in your Embroidered Uniform Guard is overseeing the Yellow River diversion project?"

Upon hearing this, Mu Su knew that something must have gone wrong with the Yellow River diversion project, but he still replied, "Your Majesty, it is Ji Jiang, the commander of the thousand households."

Ji Jiang?

Zhu Xiong Ying tried to recall, but found no concrete impression of the person in his mind—as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he had too many things to handle every day and too many people to meet. Although a commander of a thousand men was a high-ranking position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it was still difficult for him to remember him.

Immediately, Zhu Xiong Ying tossed the secret report to Mu Su and said, "So many cases of abuse of power, corruption, and bribery have occurred during the Yellow River diversion project, yet the Embroidered Uniform Guard knew nothing about it. What is the reason for this?"

Mu Su picked up the memorial and quickly read it. He immediately realized that the matter was more serious than he had imagined, and hurriedly said, "It must be that Ji Jiang and his gang neglected their duties and failed to supervise effectively. Your humble servant will punish them severely and send other people to investigate this case thoroughly!"

"Is it merely dereliction of duty and inadequate supervision?" Zhu Xiong Ying sneered. "I'm afraid they were also bribed."

Upon hearing this, Mu Su broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Your Majesty, I will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly!"

Zhu Xiong Ying slammed his hand on the imperial desk, stood up, and said in a loud voice, "What is the Embroidered Uniform Guard? The eyes and ears of the emperor! If they can't even supervise such a major project as the Yellow River's course change, what can you imagine how incompetent the Embroidered Uniform Guard is in charge of other affairs!"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard has only been established for a few decades? And it's already so incompetent, even colluding with corrupt officials. What use is this eye and ears to me?!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Su was so frightened that he knelt down and hurriedly said, "It is all our fault, Your Majesty, please calm your anger!"

"Calm down?" Zhu Xiong Ying slammed his fist on the imperial desk again. "Would it do any good if I calmed down? I'll give you three months to thoroughly investigate those in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who colluded with others and neglected their duties!"

"After three months, I will send someone else to investigate the Embroidered Uniform Guard. If there are any more problems, you will be out of a job as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Go to Luohuang Commandery and grow potatoes!"

Go to Luohuangdusi to grow potatoes?

Upon hearing this, Mu Su's heart trembled, and he quickly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your humble servant will certainly rectify the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

After Mu Su left Fengxian Hall, Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Wen Yao, did you see that? We haven't paid attention to cleaning up corrupt officials for just a few years, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard has run into problems."

"It is evident that in governing the world, one must never be negligent in dealing with corruption. If one relaxes even slightly, such people will grow like weeds."

Zhu Wenyao pondered and said, "Father, since the Embroidered Uniform Guard supervising the Yellow River diversion project has run into trouble, does it mean that the Eastern Depot's secret agents planted among them have also run into trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying's expression grew even more somber, and he said, "We will send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly."

Soon after, another crackdown on corruption swept through the Ming Empire, a crackdown that even extended to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the military...
···
···
Meanwhile, in Europe, the Three Feudatories War, which lasted for nearly three years, was also drawing to a close.

In the second year of the Yongle reign, Henry IV's army of the Kingdom of England was no match for the combined forces of the Three Feudatories of the Ming Dynasty, nor could he obtain reinforcements from Scotland and Ireland. So he led the remaining nobles and troops of England to turn around and invade Scotland.

Henry IV was indeed a capable military leader, and with the advantage of superior weaponry, he repeatedly defeated the armies of the Kingdom of Scotland.

Left with no other option, the Kingdom of Scotland negotiated with England and invited the Kingdom of Ireland to join in forming an alliance against the Ming army. However, even with the combined forces of England, Scotland, and Ireland, they were no match for the Jin-Ning Three Feudatories and suffered repeated defeats.

By May of the third year of the Yongle reign, the Allied Forces of the Three Feudatories had not only captured the entire island of Great Britain, but had also conquered Northern Ireland.

The Allied forces of Britain, the Soviet Union, and Ireland could only retreat to southern Ireland and put up a stubborn resistance...
Fog City (London) docks.

Another Ming Dynasty fleet has arrived.

This fleet consisted of many large ships and was divided into three parts. Although they all flew the national flag of the Ming Dynasty, one part also flew a smaller version of the "Han" character four-clawed dragon flag and the "Shen" character four-clawed dragon flag.

Two young men disembarked from the largest flagship of both fleets and met Zhu Gui at the dock.

"Thirteenth Brother!"

"Hahaha, Twentieth Brother, Twenty-first Brother, you've finally arrived!" Zhu Gui patted the two young men on the shoulders and laughed heartily. "If you hadn't come, we would have taken over the entire British Isles!"

It turns out that these two young men were none other than King Zhu Song of Han and King Zhu Mo of Shen, who were about to establish their own kingdoms in the British Isles.

Both men had grown beards and appeared to be in their late twenties. Zhu Song was taller and thinner, while Zhu Mo was relatively shorter and stockier. Of course, Zhu Mo was actually over 1.7 meters tall, and Zhu Song was not thin either.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Song looked helpless and said, "Thirteenth Brother knows that since we are here to establish a fiefdom, we must make many preparations in the country. Although we immigrated here first, we still need to make arrangements for the immigration process."

Zhu Mo laughed and said, "It would be even better if Thirteenth Brother could take them all down, then it would save Twentieth Brother and me the trouble."

Zhu Gui said, “Twenty-first brother, you can’t save yourself trouble—Twentieth brother has already accumulated enough military merits, but you haven’t. If you don’t participate in the remaining battles in the British Isles, it will be illegitimate for you to establish a fiefdom here.”

Zhu Mo said, "I was just saying that; how could I not participate in the war? I brought all my guards with me!"

At this point, Zhu Mo couldn't help but look at another pier at the dock.

There, rows of ragged white men, their hands bound together on a rope, were boarding a transport ship one after another.

Zhu Mo then asked, "Thirteenth Brother, are those all prisoners of war? Why are there women among them?"

Zhu Gui said, "Most of them are prisoners of war. As for the women—those nobles who resisted us all have families. Since they were defeated, their families should naturally be punished."

Zhu Mo rolled his eyes and said, "I heard that in the past two or three years, Thirteenth Brother has sold a lot of white people to the east. I hope he doesn't arrest all the people in the British Isles. Otherwise, Twentieth Brother and I will have no one to use when we establish our own fiefdom."

Zhu Gui glanced at Zhu Mo and said, "You brat, the vassal state hasn't even been established yet, and you're already worrying about the population? If you really want more people, when you go to fight for us in Europe, you won't have to worry about not being able to capture prisoners."

Zhu Mo thought so too, and immediately grinned.

Zhu Song glanced at the gloomy sky and said, "Thirteenth Brother, Twenty-first Brother, it looks like it's going to rain. Let's hurry into the city."

"it is good."

Immediately, the three of them, along with the guards, headed towards Fog City (London) along the cobblestone road. (End of Chapter)