Rule over Ming Dynasty

On the plains, the river shimmers, and every ripple on the water seems to tell the passage of time. On both sides of the Kosi River, lush reeds sway in the wind, making rustling sounds.

Suddenly, several golden pheasants flew up from the grass in surprise, and a dull and suppressed roar came from the hillside ahead.

Under the astonished gaze of Amuguleng, Babur and others, they saw a series of steel objects appear on the hillside and then slowly drive down the hillside.

"Is this... a steel monster?"

"Don't steam trains need rails to run?"

"This is incredible. Could it be a new train developed by the Ming Dynasty?"

……

Although they had already known that the Ming Dynasty had steam locomotives that could run on railways, there were clearly no railways here, yet a steel monster appeared. The Mongolian leaders present were all shocked.

More than a dozen huge tanks slowly drove down the hillside like steel behemoths, their tracks grinding deep grooves in the soft soil, and their long gun barrels flashing metallic light.

"emission!"

Just at this moment, the commander suddenly gave an order.

The tank had already driven down the slope, and after adjusting its direction, the main gun immediately began to roar. Shells, with sharp whistles, cut through the sky and flew towards the Mongolian cavalry.

Finished!

When Amuguleng, Babur and others heard the shocking sound of artillery fire and then opened their eyes to watch the shells flying towards them, their hearts immediately rose to their throats.

thump!
thump!
thump!
……

Shells flew over their heads and poured into the river behind them.

Boom!

As the shells fell into the river one after another, they instantly stirred up water columns several meters high. The river water surged under the strong shock waves, forming white waves.

The explosions were deafening, one after another, as if they were going to tear the entire earth apart.

The fish and shrimp in the river were stunned or even killed by the shock waves in the water before they had time to escape.

"What should we do?" asked a young Mongolian cavalryman in a trembling voice.

The face of an experienced old soldier was etched with traces of time, but his eyes were shining with determination: "If an enemy comes, we will fight him; if water comes, we will block it with earth. Naturally, we will rush up and chop it down!"

砍？
When the young Mongolian cavalry heard this word, he couldn't help but look up at the steel monsters that were shining with metallic light under the sun, and then looked at the scimitar in his hand with the blade already curled.

Ever since he witnessed the power of the flintlock rifle, he knew that bravery was nothing compared to technology.

Just as Amugulung was preparing to fight, he suddenly saw a handsome young man appear on the hillside in front of him. When he saw the other person's face clearly, he was stunned.

This person has fair skin, delicate features, a look of confidence between his eyebrows, and a beautiful jade hanging around his waist. His overall appearance is very similar to Zhu Houxuan.

Although he was not as strong as Zhu Houxuan, he was taller than Zhu Houxuan, which made it easy for people to imagine the line from the poem: "The gentleman is unparalleled in the world, and the man on the street is as beautiful as jade." He was a young man who was pleasing to the eye.

But the most eye-catching thing is his clothes. The extremely luxurious clothes directly reveal his extremely noble identity. He is Zhu Houye, the eldest son of the current Emperor Hongzhi and the Crown Prince of the Ming Empire.

At this moment, the smoke from the tank's muzzle dissipated, and the focus of the whole audience was on the prince who suddenly appeared.

Zhu Houye looked down at the Mongolian cavalry in front of him. Unlike his younger brothers, he was trained as the heir to the Ming Empire since he was a child, and his temperament was far beyond that of ordinary people.

But unlike traditional princes, although he stayed in the capital most of the time, he was often arranged to go overseas to patrol for the emperor, like this time he came to the Governor's Office of the Indian Ocean.

Zhu Houye's eyes fell on his brother whom he had not seen for a long time, and he smiled confidently and said, "Royal brother, this is the territory of the Ming Dynasty. You are about to cause a flood to flood the Dragon King Temple!"

"Prince of the Ming Dynasty, when did the territory of the Lodi Dynasty become that of the Ming Dynasty? How come I didn't know about it?" Babur's eyes rolled and he immediately responded in a loud voice.

Qiu Yue, who was accompanying the prince, immediately mocked him, saying, "You've lost three battles and three times, and you haven't even seen the king's capital. There are so many things you don't know!"

Babur's face turned red when his shortcomings were exposed in public, but what the other party said was true.

As for the ownership of this place, I believe that the Ming Dynasty will not lie. It must have become the territory of the Governor-General of the Indian Ocean.

In fact, he has always been puzzled. With the strength of the Governor-General of the Indian Ocean, it would be an easy task to replace the Lodhi Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty has never taken any action to annex India.

"Royal brother, since this is our territory, I will lead my troops to retreat!" Zhu Houxuan looked at those powerful tanks and immediately made a decisive decision to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Zhu Houye suddenly stopped him.

Zhu Houxuan's heart tightened, and he quickly responded in a casual manner: "Brother, what's the matter?"

Everyone looked at Zhu Houye, and Babur couldn't help feeling nervous.

If the crown prince of the Ming Empire were to use this excuse to start a war, given the power of the enemy's new weapons, it would be difficult for their army to escape unscathed.

Zhu Houye's eyes were still clear, and he said confidently: "My father asked me to call you home for dinner! You have been fighting all these years, why don't you take a break today and come back to the capital with me to celebrate the New Year with your family?"

"Royal brother, I just..." Zhu Houye reached out and touched his nose, but he didn't want to give up his Western Expedition.

Boom!

At this moment, the first tank roared, aiming at the hill in front. As the shells landed on the hill, the hill was blown up and rocks flew everywhere, as if a piece of it had been cut off.

This……

Amuguleng watched this and couldn't help but swallow his saliva secretly. Although he has always been proud of the Mongolian cavalry, he still believes that he is no match for the Ming Dynasty's Aegis Battalion. Now that the Ming Dynasty has developed this kind of killer weapon, they have no capital to challenge the Ming Dynasty at all.

Even if he didn't want to admit it, the fact that they were now able to sweep across the former territories of the three Khanates with thunderous force was actually largely dependent on the batch of flintlock rifles given by the Ming Dynasty.

"Royal brother, this is the order from our father! I will give you one day to deal with the matters at hand, and follow me back to the capital tomorrow. I'm afraid you haven't seen Concubine Bei for a long time, right?" Zhu Houye's whole demeanor changed, and he said in an unquestionable manner.

Although he had always taken good care of his younger brothers, even spoiling Zhu Houxuan, otherwise Zhu Houxuan would not have had so much supplies for the Western Expedition.

But since it concerns the emperor's order, he will not be vague at all, and there is no room for negotiation.

Zhu Houxuan sighed inwardly, then nodded and agreed.

"Khan, are you really going to the capital?" Babur said worriedly as he watched Zhu Houye leave.

"The capital is my home. Are you afraid that someone will harm me?" Zhu Houxuan took a glance and then made a decision: "Forget it. The gains from this trip are enough. It is indeed not advisable to rush. Set up governors in various places. This Khan will go to the capital!"

Seeing that Zhu Houxuan had made up his mind, Amuguleng and others naturally bowed and obeyed.

Although Zhu Houxuan was reluctant in his heart, after explaining the important matters, he led his personal guards to the Governor's Office of the Indian Ocean as soon as possible, and then followed Zhu Houye on the journey back to the capital.

Since there are only two months left until the Spring Festival, time is quite tight.

Although Zhu Houxuan was born in Beijing, he was only three years old when he went to Mongolia, so his memory of Beijing is already vague. Although he returned to Beijing several times during this period, each time he came and went in a hurry, and now he is actually full of unfamiliarity with the beautiful mountains and rivers of his motherland.

They set out from India and disembarked at Baigu Port, and the journey began at this southwestern port of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houxuan rode his horse along the Ming-Myanmar Highway. Although their people would clear the road, one could see a constant stream of caravans on the road.

Camel bells ring, mule noses smell, horse hair sweats, and all kinds of goods are on display, from silk, cotton, tea to jewelry and precious medicinal materials.

When Zhu Houxuan was halfway through the journey, he couldn't help but sigh, "This Ming-Myanmar Highway is really busy. I'm afraid there are thousands of caravans passing through this road every year, right?"

"Thousands? The number of merchants passing by every year has already exceeded ten thousand! Back then, my father overcame all objections and only then did our Ming Dynasty have a route to the Indian Ocean. What a brilliant and ambitious move!" Zhu Houye looked at the straight road in front of him with admiration in his eyes.

Zhu Houxuan did not agree, but on the rest of the journey he watched the merchants coming and going. Many of them had happy smiles on their faces. He also felt their peaceful life and understood that the Ming-Myanmar Highway had become one of the most prosperous trade routes in the world today.

After leaving the Ming-Myanmar Highway, Zhu Houxuan followed Zhu Houye eastward along the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze River, the mother river of the Chinese nation, is like a giant dragon winding its way through thousands of mountains and rivers, rushing endlessly, with surging waves and splashing spray, as if nature is playing a passionate symphony.

Although Zhu Houxuan knew about this mother river from his teacher Zhang Sheng, he took a boat down it himself and admired the magnificent scenery on both sides of the river along the way. He was deeply shocked by the rivers and mountains of the motherland before him.

After more than half a month, Zhu Houxuan arrived at the bustling Shanghai Port and entered Shanghai County to rest.

Zhu Houxuan originally thought that a county town would naturally be shabby and old, but before he entered Shanghai County, he saw that the entire suburbs were extremely prosperous, and there were many things that he had never heard of.

"Is this just a county town of the Ming Dynasty?" When the Mongolian soldiers who followed Zhu Houxuan saw such a scene, they once again refreshed their understanding of the Ming Empire.

Zhu Houxuan has never been a high-profile person. He walked into a teahouse, listened to the melodious Pingtan music, savored the rich aroma of tea, and felt the unique charm of this city.

A few years ago, due to the sinking of the merchant ship Xiyang 14, many people in the Ming Dynasty went bankrupt and were arranged to live in Australia. However, no one expected that there would be a sequel to this incident, and a super enterprise called Australian Steel appeared.

When Zhu Houxuan returned and asked about Australian Steel, Zhu Houye began to talk: "The quality of iron ore in Australia is the best. When Wang Shouren brought back iron ore, the conclusion was already reached. But that sea area belongs to the doldrums, and the currents are east-west, so we didn't start the plan to mine Australian Iron until the steamship appeared! Now Australian Steel is managed by your third brother, and now the market value of Australian Steel exceeds that of Royal Shipping, and it has become the world's largest market value giant. I don't know how many people have benefited from it over the years. According to my father's wishes, Australian Steel will be managed by my third brother, making Australian Steel the world's largest steel supplier."

"Aren't you afraid?" Zhu Houxuan suddenly asked solemnly.

Zhu Houye was puzzled at first, but soon he realized: "Development is the hard truth! If a dynasty stagnates, that is what I fear the most, but as long as our dynasty keeps moving forward, then this world will always belong to our Zhu family! In the past, Jiangnan had no emperor, and the emperor also came to Jiangnan in person, but look at how many families in Jiangnan now worship the emperor! Even though the emperor destroyed the Kong family, all the scholars in the world study for the rejuvenation of the Ming Dynasty, and they all say that the emperor is the greatest emperor in the history."

"Are you afraid that I will really become the overlord of Eurasia?" Zhu Houxuan felt his brother's breadth of mind and magnanimity, and said in an intriguing way.

Zhu Houye glanced at Zhu Houxuan calmly, and answered in all seriousness: "The Ming Dynasty only needs the maritime hegemony of the four oceans! As long as you don't interfere with the territory of the Ming Dynasty, I will not only not regard you as an enemy, but also maintain a brotherly friendship with you forever!"

Zhu Houxuan felt both moved and disappointed when he saw Zhu Houye's statement.

He might be able to become the overlord of Genghis Khan and restore the glory of the Yuan Dynasty, but he would always be a younger brother to the Ming Dynasty, which valued science and development.

As for himself and a group of younger brothers wanting to compete for the throne, he did not believe that his wise father would make a mistake in such a matter. The eldest brother in front of him was the most ideal heir.

Depart from Shanghai Port and take a ship north.

Tianjin Port, known as the "No. 1 Port in the World", witnessed the opening and rise of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Houxuan stood on the deck, looking at the sparkling bay and seeing a modern city in front of him. Huge ships were shuttling back and forth, busy and orderly.

For a moment, he felt like he had traveled through time and space and arrived in a completely new world.

After a brief stop in Tianjin City, Zhu Houxuan took a steam train to his final destination - the world-class imperial capital.

A steam train was speeding along the rails, making a rumbling sound, and the scenery outside the window was rapidly receding.

Zhu Houxuan sat in the carriage. Although it was his first time riding on this legendary steam train, he was not too excited. Perhaps he had been shocked by too many things along the way.

After a long journey, Zhu Houxuan finally arrived at the imperial capital.

He has always been closer to the Northern Yuan Dynasty. After all, he was raised by his grandmother Manduhai, and he has half the blood of the Golden Family, and he is the Great Khan of Mongolia.

It was only the moment he stepped into Beijing that his childhood memories began to recover little by little, especially when he saw the Forbidden City, he suddenly felt like he was back home.

Perhaps, he was the second prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houxuan, from the beginning to the end, and the Mongolian Khan was just another identity. (End of this chapter)