Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 613: The Underworld: Not Pretending to Feel Uncomfortable Zhu Chongba

"Buzzing..."

"Look, look! My Liu family's skills are not bad either!"

On the Emperor Island, when Liu Bang's excited voice rang out, the old Liu family relatives who were on the same boat with him turned pale.

The lake of Emperor Island was now filled with more than ten three-meter-long ships.

Due to the problem of insufficient thermal efficiency, ships driven by internal combustion engines can only travel at a speed of about 60 miles per hour when fully loaded.

Even so, this boat speed can still bring excitement to people.

Liu Bang, Li Shimin, Zhao Kuangyin, and Temujin each drove a boat, and the emperors followed them on the boat, their faces pale.

People like Ying Zheng and Yang Jian got together because they were few in number.

They played passionately in the vast lake on the island, while Zhu Yuanzhang on the shore continued to show off.

"Alas, if you count the time, our Ming Dynasty has been around for almost 312 years. At this time, other dynasties have turned into dust, but our Ming Dynasty is still strong."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words and deeds revealed a sense of superiority, which made the other emperors waiting for the boat very upset.

Apart from the two Song dynasties that split into the Northern and Southern Song dynasties, no dynasty has survived more than three hundred years.

The most embarrassing thing is that the two Song dynasties were not yet unified.

For a time, the Ming Dynasty really became a unique existence.

In addition, Ming Dynasty’s technology was relatively advanced, and most of the technology in this world over the past three hundred years came from Ming Dynasty.

Among them, the use of radio has made communication among countries in this world no longer limited to Emperor Island.

The distance between each dynasty continent is no more than a few dozen miles at the shortest and two to three hundred miles at the longest.

Over the past few decades, almost every dynasty has built radio stations under the command of the Ming Dynasty, as well as small hydroelectric power stations to maintain the power stations.

Compared with them, large hydropower stations in Daming sprang up like mushrooms after a rain.

In addition, some TV programs began to appear under the guidance of Zhu Gaoxu.

Four-inch color televisions came into the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Zhanhe took Zheng He and others to shoot their own TV show, which was about driving a car to tour the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Through them, deserts, snow-capped mountains, grasslands, fjords, river valleys and other terrains appeared before the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Zhu Qiyue and Zhu Houzhao also filmed TV programs observing natural animals.

In addition to these, there are all kinds of TV programs including storytelling and opera.

Of course, Zhu Gaoxu also had people draw ink-and-wash animations, but there were few people who were proficient in them, so the results were mediocre.

At that time, the population of the Ming Dynasty had exceeded three million. Although it was still small compared to the territory, this world already had everything that the human world should have.

Zhu Gaoxu estimated that with another forty to fifty years of development, the Ming Dynasty would be able to reach the technological level of the 21st century.

Of course, this only refers to people's livelihood and entertainment.

In Zhu Gaoxu's imagination, Huaguang sent them back to the Ming Dynasty, and three years passed in a flash.

On this day, Zhu Gaoxu was chatting with Zhu Lao and Zhu Di in the Fengtian Hall, Zhu Qiyue, Zhu Houzhao and others were filming a documentary in the wild, Zhu Zhanhe and Zhu Jianshen were traveling, and Huaguang suddenly descended in front of the Fengtian Hall.

"There's a new person here. It should be Chang Qing's son You Xiao."

Zhu Di stood up, and Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Let's take him in. This time it's been quite a long time, so there should be quite a few people coming."

"Let's do a good job of counting. The cities of Chengdu and Kunming are almost ready for use."

Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was now on the development of the Ming Dynasty in this world. As for the Ming Dynasty in the human world, he had actually already taken a very open-minded view of it.

Of course, this is what he thinks he is "very open-minded".

"Master You, come in and report your achievements to us!"

Zhu Di started shouting, and Zhu Youtang, the youngest in the hall, stood up and walked out. Soon he brought Zhu Youxiao into the Fengtian Hall.

"Don't be afraid, kid. Just tell me what you have to say."

Zhu Yuanzhang put on a amiable expression, and upon seeing this, Zhu Youxiao also stumbled over and told him what had happened during his time in power.

He avoided talking about Yili's love of play and only talked about the development of science and technology in the human world, as well as the increase in population and land.

The popularity of telephones forced a large number of town messengers to switch to delivering letters to towns and villages, resulting in a large number of people losing their jobs.

This situation has forced many people to seek their own way out.

A large number of people who were dissatisfied with their lives in the Ming Dynasty began to move to Beizhou, Indochina, and even Xizhou on their own initiative.

These population movements broke the past geographical concepts based on racial divisions, but also caused more serious social problems within many light industrial countries that were known as the "Ming Dynasty Factories".

Since many previous Ming emperors had done a good job, even though there were many "bold" ideas among the people, the people still believed that the Ming Dynasty would get better little by little.

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he felt something was wrong. After all, after more than ten years in power, he had never had any conflict with the powerful capital and officials. This showed that Zhu Youxiao did not restrict them enough.

Sure enough, when Zhu Youxiao said that he wanted to choose Zhu Cilang as the crown prince, but eventually distanced himself from Zhu Cilang due to pressure from his ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang, who thought he had let it go, couldn't help but scold:
"You are an emperor, but you are being bullied by your subjects. You have been in power for more than 30 years, but you are living a miserable life?!"

"Grandfather, please calm down..." Zhu Youtang pulled Zhu Youxiao to kneel down, and Zhu Youxiao also lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Zhu Di, look at your descendants!"

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Zhu Di's nose and cursed. Zhu Di also glared at Zhu Gaoxu and said, "Second brother, look at your descendants!"

"I'm scolding you now!" Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry when he saw Zhu Di that he picked up a pen and threw it at him. However, Zhu Di was agile and dodged it directly.

"How dare you hide!"

"Father, spare my life!"

Zhu Yuanzhang pulled out his leather belt and Zhu Di ran away.

As the father and son were chasing each other, they bumped into Zhu Yunwen, who had come to watch the fun when he saw Hua Guang.

Zhu Yunwen felt dizzy and before he could react he felt someone lifting him up.

"Zhu Di!"

Zhu Di, who was lying on the ground, saw Zhu Yuanzhang waving the leather belt, and without caring who was next to him, he used his legs and feet to lift him up.

For a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he hit Zhu Yunwen with several belts.

"Ah—Grandpa! It's me!"

Old Zhu was so anxious that his eyes turned red. He didn't care who it was and started beating him hard.

Zhu Yunwen's screams were as loud as those of a slaughtered pig. Zhu Di was occasionally hit by the strange trajectory of Zhu's leather belt and grimaced in pain.

When Zhu Biao and others arrived, they only saw Zhu Di, who was beaten red-faced, and the inhuman Zhu Yunwen.

"father……"

Zhu Yunwen cried out for his father in pain, but Zhu Biao said with a sigh, "It's okay. You won't die in this world. You will be full of energy again after a few days of rest."

After that, Zhu Biao looked at Lao Zhu and said, "Dad, you are not tired, right?"

"Huh...fight later!" Old Zhu took a deep breath and glared at Zhu Di fiercely.

Zhu Di took small steps to move out, while Zhu Gaoxu looked at the farce and said:

"If we don't clean it up for 30 or 40 years, it will probably be difficult to clean it up again."

"Hmm..." Zhu Yuanzhang was heartbroken. He thought that his Ming Dynasty would probably only last for another 300 years.

"Dad, it's been at least three hundred years. Am I lying?"

"How dare you mention it!!"

Zhu Di thought he was being humorous, but Zhu Yuanzhang got so angry that he picked up his leather belt and chased after him.

Zhu Di was so frightened when he saw this that he picked up Zhu Yunwen from the ground and ran away.

"Uncle, put me down!"

"Yun Wen, we uncles and nephews should share the good and bad times together!"

"Zhu Di!!"

"Uh-"

Amid Zhu Yunwen's screams, Zhu Youxiao's arrival came to an end.

Time flies, and seventeen years have passed.

On this day, the glorious light descended again, and Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Cixuan appeared at the gate of Fengtian Hall.

Inside the Fengtian Hall, the people working were still Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and others.

However, this time Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Jianshen had finished filming the documentary and returned to the Ming Dynasty, so there was not much emperor in the Fengtian Hall. "Cixuan, why don't you come in and meet the ancestors and report your achievements to them?"

Zhu Cixuan heard Zhu Youxiao's voice in the chaos, and immediately walked into the hall with doubts. When he saw Zhu Youxiao, he widened his eyes.

“Dad, you…”

"Everyone is dead. This is the underworld, but it's not much different from the human world. Tell me how you did first."

Zhu Youxiao asked anxiously, not because he thought Zhu Cixuan was doing a good job, but because he was worried that Zhu Cixuan would bring about the destruction of the Ming Dynasty.

"After I ascended the throne, I read the wordless book of Emperor Shiwu. Although I am willing to make progress, I lack the ability. I can only continue along the lines of your policies, father."

"During this period, I also built the Dongzhou Canal and the Kunlunzhou Canal, which made trade more frequent. Xizhou completely became the Ming Dynasty's OEM factory."

"But the prosperity does not belong to the people and the royal family, but to meritorious officials such as Mu Huai and Li Zhen."

"They intermarry with each other, monopolize the upward mobility, impose indirect taxes to collect wealth from the people, and intervene in land, national debt, and the stock market, which intensifies social class contradictions and central and local fiscal contradictions."

"Among them, Li Zhen, the grandson of Li Rusong, the Earl of Pinglu of the Yan Party, offered more than 20 of his children for marriage, and his eldest son Li Huaichen was recommended as the commander-in-chief of the navy."

"If I don't agree, there will be financial problems, and the South has become accustomed to defaulting on tax payments. I can only nod helplessly."

"For seventeen years, I have no one to rely on. I am called the emperor, but I cannot implement new policies."

"Although I intended to use the Zhejiang Party to counter the Yan Party, there was no dispute between the two parties. Until my death, I did not take back too much power. Instead, the people began to think about reform."

After Zhu Cixuan finished speaking, even the hot-tempered old Zhu couldn't help but sigh and said, "It's fate, go and have a rest."

All big problems are the accumulation of small problems.

Zhu Cixuan's abilities were mediocre, but the fact that he was able to keep the Ming Dynasty in order was already an ability.

At least, Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty did not perish, but lived peacefully for 332 years.

If this trend continues, three hundred and fifty years is not impossible.

Thinking of this, Old Zhu was immersed in governing the political affairs of this Ming Dynasty with Zhu Gaoxu.

During this period, as aviation technology advanced, the Ming Dynasty also built Nanjing Airport in Nanjing and opened routes to Bianliang of the Song Dynasty and Karakorum of Mongolia.

When the route was first opened, Temujin was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would bear a grudge and fly a plane to hit him.

Fortunately, Lao Zhu had long since forgotten his grudge and he devoted himself to opening the route.

In the current Ming Dynasty, except for the court's cars, ships and airplanes that use oil, the rest of the people's livelihood technologies use electricity, so only emperors and major heroes from past dynasties can come to visit the Ming Dynasty.

During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang and his men also discovered a problem.

That is, after these emperors left their territories, they would slowly age over time, but once they returned, they would be able to restore their original appearance.

After arriving in the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Ji and others were so happy that they no longer missed the Song Dynasty. After all, the Song Dynasty could only advance science and technology through the scientific and technological personnel of the Ming Dynasty, while the Ming Dynasty focused its main attention on itself.

Although all dynasties at this time were influenced by the Ming Dynasty and had used electricity and electric lights in the imperial palace on a small scale, they were never able to popularize the technology.

In contrast, the Ming Dynasty built an urban area connected by trams. Although it was not large in scale, it was home to more than three million people.

The neon lights of the Ming Dynasty flicker at night, while the daytime is filled with technology such as televisions, fans, air conditioners, and trams.

To Zhao Ji and his men, they were like a group of savages walking out of the mountains, full of desire to explore everything in the Ming Dynasty.

They were like this, and so were Temujin and others.

Since the route was opened and stabilized, this group of guys simply didn't leave, but waited for the emperor's party for ten years, and was sent back home by Hua Guang, repeating this over and over again.

After forty-seven years, the Ming Dynasty had opened flights to all dynasties, and Ming Dynasty television programs also began to be filmed in these dynasties.

If we were not unsure about launching the satellite, people from all dynasties in this world would be able to watch movies and TV.

"For this satellite, we don't have the technology to guarantee a successful launch yet."

"Of course, the most important thing is that after the satellite is launched, it cannot stay in the air, so I have to think of a way."

"Before that, you can first learn the technology of hydropower stations and wind power stations and solve the problem of electricity consumption."

Inside the Fengtian Hall in Nanjing of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke arrogantly, while Ying Zheng, Liu Bang, Liu Che, Li Shimin, Zhao Kuangyin, Temujin and others who were sitting in the hall had indifferent expressions.

After all, they are not as skilled as others in technology, so it's nothing to let Zhu Yuanzhang, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, be the leader.

Of course, if it were in other situations, they would have to compete with Lao Zhu.

"Since there is no objection, then..."

"Buzzing—"

A familiar voice sounded, and representatives of emperors from dozens of dynasties in the hall looked outside.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up. Although he knew that the Ming Dynasty might perish, he was still happy in his heart because he had survived another forty-seven years.

"Alas, I guess it's the arrival of an unworthy descendant. My Ming Dynasty is now 379 years old. It's time for it to fall. I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself."

Many emperors rolled their eyes when Zhu Yuanzhang said this.

"Your Ming Dynasty shouldn't be considered the same dynasty as ours!"

"That's right. According to what your grandson Zhu Gaoxu said, your Ming Dynasty is already in the industrial age. It's not surprising to live for three or four hundred years!"

"Hey, hey, hey, that's wrong!" Old Zhu put one hand behind his back and waved the other hand:
"When I was in the Ming Dynasty, it was still an agricultural country. It was only later that it entered the industrial stage. Therefore, my Ming Dynasty is still an agricultural country."

"I know you are all feeling unbalanced, but you don't have to worry. After all, our Ming Dynasty may be the last one, and there will be no new people coming in. It is better to let our Ming Dynasty last for a few more decades so that this world will not be too deserted. Don't you think so..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made everyone lose their temper. After all, they already knew what happened to the Ming Dynasty later.

Under the current circumstances, the Ming Dynasty is likely to be overthrown by a bottom-up wave of thought.

"By the way, how about we discuss how the Ming Dynasty fell?"

Ying Zheng suddenly spoke up, and Liu Bang also said, "Yes, in my opinion, the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed because of the rebellion of the royal family and military heroes, which will lead to the people rising up in rebellion."

"No!" Li Shimin stroked his mustache:
"The Ming Dynasty issued a gun ban, and the people had no guns. The powerful and wealthy in the Ming Dynasty helped each other, so it was difficult for the people to rise up in rebellion."

"In my opinion, a new group will rise up among the powerful and capitalists in the Ming Dynasty, and then conflicts will break out between the two sides, and then it will turn into a war."

What Li Shimin said made sense, and Temujin followed suit: "It's useless to say so much now, let's call the Emperor Ming outside in first and ask him about the changes in the Ming Dynasty over the past 47 years!"

"Yes!" Temujin's words won the consensus of everyone.

This group of guys completely ignored Old Zhu's thick-skinned expression and welcomed Zhu Heben from outside in.

Before they came in, Zhu Cixuan had already found Zhu Heben and told him some of the rules of this world.

"I am Zhu Heben, a junior. Nice to meet all the seniors... the ancestors."

Zhu Heben bowed respectfully, and Zhu Yuanzhang could only pretend to be magnanimous and said, "Tell me, how was the Ming Dynasty under your rule? Did it perish?"

Although he pretended to be magnanimous, Zhu Yuanzhang was still a little uneasy.

"The Ming Dynasty has not perished, but the tide of popular thought is indeed rising. I estimate that the Ming Dynasty will be overthrown a hundred years from now because of the tide of thought, but the imperial system will be preserved like a book without words, and it is likely to be a system of nominal monarchs."

After Zhu Heben finished speaking, he began to explain the situation he was facing.

Generally speaking, during Zhu Heben's reign, he could not make decisions on major issues, but he could make decisions on minor issues.

However, the premise for being able to make decisions on small matters is that they do not affect big matters.

In addition, Li Zhen and his son continued to intermarry, and their power expanded from the Yan Party to the Zhejiang Party. Li Zhen's grandson Li Zheng was also very talented.

However, in Zhu Heben's opinion, it is precisely because Li Zheng is talented that Li Zheng will not think of overthrowing the Ming Dynasty, but will try his best to maintain the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

Only in this way can he and the group of people behind him continue to suck blood from the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, Zhu Heben was more worried about the royal family and local military officers without titles.

This group of people are the ones who wish the Ming Dynasty would encounter a crisis.

Only when the Ming Dynasty relaxed restrictions could the royal family rise to prominence and military officers have the opportunity to become nobles.

"In fact, what I am most worried about is Crown Prince Zhu Yizhen."

Zhu Heben said ashamedly: "As long as the Ming Dynasty does not make trouble now, it can still have a hundred years of national fortune, but the prince is determined to reform, this is the fatal point."

After Zhu Heben finished speaking, Li Shimin stroked his mustache and said, "Indeed, the fate of the Ming Dynasty has been determined. If your son messes around, he will only mess up the situation."

"Once the situation is in chaos, we will not follow the will of heaven, but will be destroyed by man-made disasters."

After Li Shimin finished speaking, Liu Bang looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a smile and said, "Emperor Ming, it seems that your Ming Dynasty is not doing well."

"The most feared period in a dynasty is turmoil in the middle and late stages..." Liu Xiu also added.

Zhu Yuanzhang was embarrassed by what they said, but he still pretended to be magnanimous and said:
"Forget it, forget it. Anyway, the Ming Dynasty is almost approaching 400 years old. With no precedent to learn from, let's just let it perish!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words instantly embarrassed the group of emperors who had been in power for two or three hundred years in the hall.

"Damn Zhu Chongba, he just pretends all day long!"

(End of this chapter)