Bringing the Railway to Daming

After arriving in Fog City, Zhu Gui and his party went directly to Dover Castle, which Zhu Gui has now renamed the "Headquarters of the Three Feudatories".

After the three of them sat down in Zhu Gui's study, one after another, white women brought them tea and snacks.

These white women not only had fair skin, but most of them were also tall and looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old (they were actually younger). They wore the hairstyles of Ming Dynasty palace maids and were dressed in palace maid costumes.

After the white women finished serving tea and left, Zhu Mo turned his gaze away from one of the women and said, "Thirteenth Brother, these white women wouldn't happen to be English, would they?"

Zhu Gui laughed, "Among them are three English women, but most are French women we brought from Dai. So, Twenty-first Brother, which one have you taken a fancy to?"

Zhu Mo was a lecher, but because the Imperial Clan Court and the law in the Ming Dynasty kept him in check, he didn't do anything outrageous.

At this point, he didn't hide anything and chuckled, "I've taken a liking to one of them."

Zhu Gui laughed and said, "We have plenty of beautiful white women here. Twenty-first brother, just tell me which one you like. But there's something we have to say upfront—most of these white women have a strong body odor, so they need to take perfumed baths every day."

"In addition, white women are often good-looking when they are young, but they tend to look older as they get older."

Zhu Mo laughed and said, "I don't need Brother Thirteen to remind me of that—it's not like I haven't been with white women back in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Gui thought so too.

Nowadays, he and the four vassal states of Ning, Su, and Liao sell countless white young men and women to the east every year. Some of them are inevitably bought by merchants and sent to brothels for profit.

Nowadays, the people of the Ming Dynasty are becoming increasingly wealthy. In addition, the law prohibits the buying and selling of people in the Ming Dynasty, and parents and other elders are not allowed to send their daughters or other younger relatives to brothels for any reason. Therefore, it is almost impossible to find women from the Ming Dynasty in brothels.

In earlier years, there were many Korean and Japanese women to replace them, but later it became difficult to find Korean and Japanese women in the country.

As a result, merchants who ran brothels set their sights on women from overseas—among whom white women from West Asia, Europe, and North Africa were the most popular, followed by Indian women.

Of course, there are also a few people with unusual tastes who like Black women, and the darker the Blacker the woman, the better.

Therefore, the brothels and brothels of the Ming Dynasty today are almost entirely populated by white women, with a few brown and black women, and a small number of women originally from Japan and Korea.

Someone of Zhu Mo's status would naturally not go to brothels to find pleasure, but it would be easy for him to buy a few beautiful white women as maids or concubines. Some people would even take the initiative to send such "overseas maids" to his residence.

While Zhu Gui and Zhu Mo were discussing white women, King Zhu Song of Han said, "After all, we have invaded the British Isles, and England has even been destroyed by us. Thirteenth Brother, aren't you afraid that English women will be secretly harmed by them if you keep them by your side?"

Zhu Gui laughed heartily upon hearing this, and after laughing, he said, "Twentieth Brother, you're overthinking it—do you really think that these European women receive a school education like some women in our Ming Dynasty and know how to be loyal to the emperor and love their country?"

“Among these women, only a minority could read some words and understand some basic principles. Most of them were illiterate and knew nothing about patriotism.”

"Besides, we don't just take anyone in as a maid. Usually, it's someone with family members and whose background we can find out."

"I see." Zhu Song nodded in realization. "It seems I was overthinking it."

Zhu Gui said, "Alright, we can talk about women's matters another time. Let's get down to business for now. Saran, find the map of the British Isles and hang it up."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Saran, whose appearance was becoming increasingly effeminate, bowed and scraped, and quickly found a map scroll from a pile of scrolls and hung it on the screen.

Then, knowing better, he retreated to a corner.

Zhu Gui said, "You go out first, we'll call you if anything happens."

"Yes, Your Majesty." After Saran left, Zhu Gui came to the screen and said, "Twentieth Brother, Twenty-first Brother, before you came, the court should have informed you of the plan to divide the British Isles, right?"

“Not bad.” Zhu Song and Zhu Mo nodded in unison.

Zhu Gui picked up a pencil and started drawing circles on the screen. After finishing, she said, "Come and take a look. Is it like what I drew?"

The two of them immediately went to the screen.

The screen was divided into three circles: two large and one small.

To the west is a large circle encompassing Ireland and the northwestern part of Great Britain; in the middle is a small circle encompassing the former Prince of Wales territory (with some overflow) and the west coast of central Great Britain, including the Isle of Man; the remaining southern, central, and northeastern parts of Great Britain form another large circle.

Zhu Guidao said, "According to the arrangement of our eldest nephew, the twentieth brother should establish a vassal state in the eastern part of the former England and Scotland, while the twenty-first brother should establish a vassal state in Ireland and the northwest of the former Scotland."

"As for this territory among you, it is the domain of the Western Ocean Commandery that the imperial court will establish. Is that right?"

Zhu Mo said, "That's true."

At the same time, he felt a little uncomfortable because, as far as he knew, the former Kingdom of England was the richest and most powerful country in the British Isles, yet Zhu Xiong Ying had assigned it to Zhu Song.

Unfortunately, he couldn't protest.

Why is it that he hasn't even accumulated enough military merit to establish a fiefdom yet, which is considered premature? Even according to the order, Zhu Song should be the one to choose the place to establish his fiefdom first.

Fortunately, he wasn't a particularly ambitious person. It was better that his vassal state was a bit remote, so that after he established his vassal state and consolidated his rule, he could live the life of a true local emperor.

Unlike in the Ming Dynasty, there were no longer many restrictions, and people could have as many concubines as they wanted without anyone interfering.

Zhu Gui then said, "The imperial court has also ordered us, the Jinning, to replace the Three Feudatories and each select a port city in the southern or eastern part of Great Britain, outside of Longgang and the Thames Estuary."

“We’ve all made our choices—Third Brother chose Bournemouth, I chose Brighton, and Seventeenth Brother (Prince Ning) chose Folkestone. Twentieth Brother, you have no objections, right?”

Zhu Song laughed and said, "This is the power granted to my three elder brothers by the imperial court. The British Isles were also conquered by my three elder brothers' troops. How could I have any objections?"

Zhu Gui said, "Actually, we don't necessarily have to choose these three cities, so if Twenty-first Brother has any objections, you can say so now. If we wait until we report our selection to the court, it will be too late."

Zhu Song said, "Thirteenth Brother, I really have no objection."

"That's good." Zhu Gui smiled and patted Zhu Song on the shoulder. "Next, I'll tell you about the current situation on the island of Ireland, and try to wipe out the Anglo-Soviet-Irish allied forces as soon as possible so that my two younger brothers can establish their own fiefdoms."

"This is the important matter, Thirteenth Brother, please tell us quickly..."

The remaining nobles and troops from England, Scotland, and Ireland were huddled in southern Ireland, with a total force of less than 100,000, and were in dire need of supplies such as food and armor.

A force of less than 100,000 sounds like a lot, more than two or three times the size of the combined forces of the Three Feudatories during the Jin-Ning era. However, most of the soldiers in this so-called "army" were actually farmers temporarily conscripted and had virtually no fighting ability.

Now that the King of Han and the King of Shen have each brought three thousand elite guards, the outcome of the battle is pretty much a foregone conclusion.

On June 13th of the third year of the Yongle reign, the last remaining force of tens of thousands of soldiers of the Anglo-Soviet-Irish allied army was defeated by the combined forces of the three kingdoms at a place called Kell. Nearly 10,000 were killed on the spot by the Ming army, and the remaining 20,000 or so became prisoners after surrendering.

Thus, the rule established by the Celts and Anglo-Saxons in the British Isles from the fifth century AD and even earlier, after going through the tribal era and the seven-kingdoms era, was completely ended by the vassal state army from the Ming Dynasty.

The British Isles thus entered an era of vassal states ruled by the Ming Dynasty... (End of Chapter)