Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 616: The Underworld: Qin and Ming
"Buzzing..."

Fifty-six years of dust and dirt, time has passed in the blink of an eye.

Four hundred and fifty years into the Ming Dynasty, when almost everyone thought that the Ming Dynasty had perished in Zhu Zhongjian's generation, rays of light appeared in the sky again.

The brilliance that descended this time was extremely limited, and the place where it descended was confined to the front of Zhu's Fengtian Palace.

But even with a limited population, the territory of the Ming Dynasty was still expanding at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"No, Zhu Chongba, your Ming Dynasty has not perished!"

In the territories of various dynasties in this world, the founding emperors of each dynasty said this sentence with gritted teeth, and Old Zhu in the Fengtian Hall also stopped writing with the convenient brush in his hand.

"The Ming Dynasty didn't fall?"

Old Zhu murmured in disbelief, and Zhu Di in the Daming Palace also took off his sunglasses, staring with eyes wide open as he felt the earth shaking.

"The Ming Dynasty didn't fall?"

At the same time, on a mountain hundreds of miles away from Nanjing City, Zhu Gaoxu, who was on an outing with Guo Yan and others, also stood on the top of the mountain, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hands, and looking into the ever-expanding distance.

"It seems that the emperor is just a figurehead. If he were a real emperor, he wouldn't have just this little bit of brilliance."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled, and Zhu Gaochi beside him panted and said, "How can you feel tired after becoming a ghost?"

"It's probably because you, the eldest brother, are too weak and not as brave as my second brother." Zhu Gaosui told the truth.

"Bullshit, and Third Brother, you should call me Big Brother!"

Zhu Gaochi insisted that Zhu Gaosui call him "big brother", trying to be equal to Zhu Gaoxu in addressing him. However, Zhu Gaosui raised his chin without any concern and said, "Let's go down first and talk later."

"Ouch……"

Looking at the road down the mountain, Zhu Gaochi's face wrinkled as if he had eaten bitter gall.

Amid the bickering, they also felt the expansion of the Ming Dynasty.

Ten thousand miles, eleven thousand miles, twelve thousand miles, thirteen thousand miles…

In their opinion, the territorial expansion of the Ming Dynasty finally stopped at 13,420 miles.

In this way, the Ming Dynasty was probably greater than all previous dynasties.

"Haha! My Ming Dynasty is invincible!"

On the grassland, Zhu Houzhao stood on the roof of the car and raised his hands with all his strength, feeling very happy!
At this moment, the founding emperors and capable rulers of all dynasties except the Ming Dynasty could not help but sigh in admiration.

At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang put down the brush in his hand and walked out of the Fengtian Hall.

Outside the Fengtian Hall, thousands of people wearing new Hanfu were listening to explanations from people around them.

Soon, they learned about what happened in this world and were shocked.

When they first arrived in this world, Daming, they even thought that this was a place with higher technology.

Because the entire Forbidden City is extremely clean and tidy, flying cars can be seen everywhere in the sky.

The current human world has just caught up with the technological level of Zhu Gaoxu's previous life, but the Ming Dynasty in this world has already surpassed it by many years in terms of people's livelihood and entertainment.

Looking down at this world from the air, train-shaped spaceships are suspended in the air, connecting the islands and continents of various dynasties.

Millions of people in this world can ride this car to exchange what they have.

On the street, neon lights are flickering, and the virtual projection screen is installed in an object similar to a bracelet. Two black and white thin sheets attached behind the ears are bone conduction headphones.

"Your descendant Zhu Bomu pays respect to the Emperor Taizu Gao..."

Zhu Bomu, with a nervous look on his face, was brought forward to introduce himself. Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and then pressed the bracelet.

Along with fingerprint sensing, a tablet-sized video interface appears.

Lao Zhu stretched out two fingers, and the screen instantly became ten feet long and wide.

"A loving family group video call."

Old Zhu spoke in a deep voice, and then the huge electronic screen was divided into more than a dozen screens.

A few seconds later, faces appeared on the screen. Zhu Yuanzhang turned off everyone's voice and looked at Zhu Bomu who was dumbfounded.

"Tell me, how did the world change after Zhong Jian died?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words brought Zhu Bomu's thoughts back to reality, and he began to explain to the screen.

"After the death of my nephew, the whole world was shaken. I was supported by the rites and laws and ascended the throne to be the emperor. The court was reformed to a system of nominal monarchy."

"Under the system of nominal monarchy, the emperor has the right to propose and make suggestions, but not the right to make decisions."

"Government is governed by the palace, and sacrifices are performed by my people. The pre-Qin rule is the theme of the system of nominal monarchs."

"Under this theme, the emperor was basically stripped of the title of 'autocracy'. Even if the people were to oppose autocracy in the future, they could not oppose the emperor."

"The person in charge of the palace is called the chief assistant, followed by the second assistant, and then the seven cabinet ministers. As for the six ministries, they will also be specialized in their duties and then changed to twelve ministries to adapt to more complex situations."

"Except for the annual allocation of two million taels of Ming Tongbao to the Tian Family, the Tian Family does not need to be funded by the court for anything else."

"In addition, many industries that once belonged to the royal family were handed over to the court for management in the form of a shareholding system. The royal family only received dividends but did not engage in management..."

Before Zhu Bomu finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang glared at him and said, "Doesn't that make me a beggar?"

"Well... you can say that, but in the more than 50 years that I have been in office, the court has never defaulted on paying taxes and levies. Every year, the minimum is 4 to 5 million, and the maximum is more than 6 million. It is simply not enough to spend."

Zhu Bomu explained, while continuing: “After the death of the emperor’s nephew, Zheng Lingyao and other powerful people under Li Yue tried to use the lands of Nanyang, Japan, and Nanzhou to negotiate with the court, hoping to guarantee their power at the time.”

"However, without waiting for the imperial court's reply, Li Yue started the nuclear weapons experiment and announced the establishment of the Great Yan when he was about to succeed."

"Gao Xu, what is that?" Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but open Zhu Gaoxu's voice call. Zhu Gaoxu could only explain it once after hearing it.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and others took a deep breath. He asked Zhu Bomu anxiously, "What happened next?" "Li Yue didn't have this opportunity. Before his experiment reached the final stage, a group of powerful people under his command turned the chaos around and Li Yue died in the chaos."

"But before he died, he burned the nameless book left by Emperor Shiwu and destroyed all the experimental data."

"At the same time, the imperial army approached the border, and Li Yue, Zheng Lingyao and others were killed."

"Wait a minute, what about the people who surrendered?" Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help asking. Zhu Bomu said awkwardly, "They all survived..."

"I..." Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he was about to curse, but fortunately Zhu Bomu explained:
"Don't worry, Grandpa Taizu. Later, this group of people were liquidated by Li Meng and Hu Su."

"Hmm?" Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down: "I have an impression of these two people."

"Yes, the two of them saved our Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Bomu then began to talk about the East-West negotiations after Li Yue was pacified, and how Li Mao and Hu Su were betrayed and abandoned by the dignitaries in the north and southwest, and how Li Mao launched an uprising in the southwest.

Old Zhu felt uncomfortable hearing these things. After all, no matter whether it was Zhu Bohai or Li Mao, all they wanted was to be a figurehead emperor. The difference was that Zhu Bohai wanted the Royal Family to take the blame, but Li Mao didn't. He just wanted the Royal Family to be a mascot to stabilize the Ming Dynasty.

After making a choice, Li Meng's policy is more beneficial to the royal family.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu looked around after hearing what was said: "Li Meng, Hu Su and the others haven't come down yet?"

"They should have come down, but if they didn't come here, they must have been reincarnated."

Zhu Bomu said, and suddenly pointed to the audience, "Grandpa, that's Zhu Bohai!"

"Zhu Bohai!" Upon hearing this, Old Zhu pulled out his leather belt and angrily shouted, "Bring this little bastard up here!"

"Ah?" Prince of Liang Zhu Bohai was caught off guard and taken to the Fengtian Hall by everyone.

"Grandpa, please listen to my explanation!"

"Do you want to hear your excuses?" Zhu Yuanzhang twitched his leather belt in anger:
"I'll let you retain your strength! I'll let you be a nominal ruler! I'll let you encircle and suppress Li Meng and the others..."

Every time Zhu Yuanzhang spoke a word, his leather belt twitched, and Zhu Bohai also let out screams.

The tragic situation caused everyone on the virtual screen behind to twitch their faces.

Half an hour later, when Zhu Bohai was beaten beyond recognition, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around, panting, and said to everyone fiercely: "When we return to the capital, each of you will come to me and receive ten lashes!"

"Ah?" Everyone couldn't help but say something. Zhu Yuanzhang glared at them and said, "If you didn't work hard, how could the Ming Dynasty have been a vacant emperor for 396 years?!"

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but feel sad: "My Great Ming!"

After he finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said, "You tried too hard, so you have to be whipped!"

"Me?" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't believe it. Zhu Yuanzhang said viciously: "If you had lived ten more years, there wouldn't have been so many troubles later!"

"I..." Zhu Gaoxu was speechless. Fortunately, the whip didn't hurt, so he just had to endure it.

"Oh right, get that thing out now, I'm going to kill everyone in it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to remind Zhu Gaoxu, and Zhu Gaoxu could only nod eagerly: "Grandson will do it as soon as possible."

"What is it?" The other emperors asked curiously. Zhu Yuanzhang showed a smug look on his face: "You will know this later."

After saying this, Lao Zhu threw away his broken leather belt, hummed a little tune and walked into the Fengtian Hall.

Of course, with the arrival of Zhu Bomu and others, the news of the Ming Dynasty's nominal emperor spread. Ying Zheng, Liu Bang, Li Shimin and others couldn't help but mock Zhu again, but they were all retorted by Zhu.

Everyone made harsh words to each other, and the truth would be revealed in a few years.

One day a few years later, as thousands of people gathered in Fengtian Temple Square, everyone put on helmets and pulled down the transparent plastic things that resembled goggles.

They were wearing tights with hundreds of black spots of all sizes on them.

At the same time, a group of people dressed similarly walked out of the Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Biao, Zhu Wenzheng, Zhu Di, Zhu Chong, Zhu Gaoxu...

In the square, a group of military generals including Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Deng Yu, Fu Youde, Feng Sheng, Mu Ying, Li Wenzhong, Zhu Neng, Zhang Yu, Chen Mao, Wang Xuan, Yang Zhan, Qi Jiguang, and Yu Dayou stood in a small square.

Next to them, the civil servants' formation consisting of Li Shanchang, Sun Cheng, Liu Ji, Yu Xin, Xia Yuanji, Wang Shouren, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, Li Dongyang, Lu Yu, Jiang Huai, Sun Chuanting, Yuan Keli and others was also ready.

This scene not only appeared in the Ming Dynasty, but also appeared in the special squares of various dynasties in this world.

Li Shimin and the civil and military officials of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Bang and the civil and military officials of the Han Dynasty, Ying Zheng and the civil and military officials of the Qin Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin, Temujin, Sima Yi, Yang Jian...

These heroic rulers from every dynasty put on that strange costume and wore helmets together with their civil and military officials.

At the same time, in a laboratory somewhere in the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty, the technological emperor, Emperor Muzong Zhu Yizhen, said in a deep voice: "Open it!"

Following his order, tens of thousands of people selected from various dynasties felt a blur in front of their eyes at the same time.

When they came to their senses, they were already dressed in their respective costumes.

They appeared in the palace they had lived in during their lifetime. The emperor wore his crown and robes, and his civil and military officials were also dressed in their own costumes.

"Here we go! In this war game, our Ming Dynasty will conquer all nations!!"

Zhu Yuanzhang held his head high, while Li Shimin, Liu Bang, Ying Zheng, Zhao Kuangyin, Temujin and others were also excited and vowed to become the winner of this war game.

[The wargame simulation copy, Spring and Autumn Kingdoms, is officially opened. 】

After more than sixty years, the first virtual projection war strategy game came into being. The emperor, who was defeated in the war game simulation, vowed to lead his civil and military officials to unify the world.

At the same time that Zhu Yuanzhang made his ambition, Li Shimin, Liu Bang and others also made the ambition to unify the world.

This time, however, their opponents will be much stronger, and their population, territory, and weapons will be at the same level.

"This time, I will be the winner!"

(End of extra chapter…)
(End of this chapter)