Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 383: Adding a century of national destiny to the Ming Dynasty

Outside Di'an Gate.

In the back hall of the main hall of Zhenwu Temple.

The conversation between Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu continues.

"Dad, Zheng He told me that I treated you badly last time and made you very sad."

Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and said bluntly.

"Did Zheng He say that? Don't listen to his nonsense!"

Zhu Di frowned, subconsciously clenched his hands, and asked, "How did he see that I was sad?"

"That is to say, you really think that I have a bad attitude toward you?"

Zhu Gaoxu raised his head slightly, looked at Zhu Di, and asked softly.

"Zheng He is also an old man who is over [-] years old. I didn't expect that his heart is still so delicate."

Zhu Di did not deny it, but grabbed a few peanuts from the plate and threw them into his mouth. While chewing, he said: "Last time you came to see me, you planned to discuss with me the construction of the Beijing-Iraqi, Beijing-Kunming and Beijing-Nujiang railways. At that time, I did not see you on the pretext of cultivating mysticism and enlightenment. After that, you did not come to see me for half a month, which made me feel really uncomfortable."

The Beijing-Yili Railway is a railway line from Beijing to Ili, the capital of Beiting Province. It passes through Baoding, Zhending, Taiyuan, Yan'an, Qingyang, Liangzhou, Suzhou, Hami, Turpan and other places, with a total length of about [-] inside.

The Beijing-Kunming Railway is a railway from Beijing to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. It passes through Baoding, Zhending, Kaifeng, Wuchang, Changsha, Guiyang and other places, with a total length of about [-] miles.

The Jinnu Railway is a railway from Beijing to Nurgan. It passes through Shuntian, Tianjin, Yongping, passes Shanhaiguan, and then passes through Guangning, Liaoyang, Changchun, Jilin, Futi, Gelin, Fushan and other places. The total length is about More than four thousand nine hundred miles.

These three railway lines were mapped out four years ago by Zhu Gaoxu, who sent a total of more than 800 people from the Ministry of Works and subordinate yamen, and spent two years and six months following on-site inspections along the original land station network. Best rail trunk route.

As far as Zhu Gaoxu is concerned, the construction of these three railways is of extremely great significance to the Ming Dynasty.

As long as these three railways are repaired, the Ming Dynasty Zhili will be connected to the five provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Puchang, and Beiting to the west.

To the south, it can be connected with the five provinces of Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan.

To the northeast, it can be connected with Liaodong and Songhuajiang provinces and Nuerjiang Dusi.

The five provinces of Shan, Shaanxi, and Gansu appear to be located to the west of the capital, but they are also important areas in the north and northwest of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

I won’t go into detail here about the importance of Shanxi’s geographical location. There is the Hexi Corridor in Gansu, which is the gateway to the Western Regions. Puchang and Beiting formed two-thirds of the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty.

Once the Beijing-Iraqi Railway is completed, it will not only have economic significance, but also political and historical significance that will shine through the annals of history.

As for the five provinces of Henan, Huguang, and Yunnan-Guizhou, they are located to the south and southwest of the capital respectively. They are also the confidants and arms of the Ming Dynasty's local territory, so they are not unimportant.

After all, "If you are familiar with Huguang, you will be satisfied all over the world"!
As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, the economy in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River began to develop, and many farmlands appeared.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang immigrated from Jiangxi to fill Huguang, and the Jianghan Plain area in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River entered a period of great development.

As history was changed, the Ming Dynasty did not go through the civil strife of the Jingnan War, the population increased significantly, and Hudangzhou Beach was reclaimed as farmland on a large scale.

Through his influence, the time traveler Zhu Gaoxu led to the rapid improvement of agricultural production technology and level in the Ming Dynasty, and accelerated the diversification of crop structure. In the early years of Qianxi, the Ming Dynasty had a bumper harvest in the two lakes, and the world had enough food.

The construction of the Beijing-Kunming Railway also added a new transportation channel for grain transportation in the capital of the Ming Dynasty and the northern provinces, that is, train transportation in addition to water transportation and sea transportation.

Liaodong, Songhua River, and Nuer River are intertwined with Liaoxi and Heilongjiang. There is me among you, and you among me.

After the Ming Dynasty controlled Liaodong, Songhua River and Nuer River through railways, it was even less likely that there would be any major changes in Heilongjiang and western Liaoning.

Moreover, grain and other crop output from the northeastern plains can also be transported to the capital via rail.

Since Zhu Gaoxu divided the Nurgan Dusi into four parts (Liaoxi Province, Songhuajiang Province, Heilongjiang Dusi, and Nurjiang Dusi) in the sixth year of Qianxi, the entire Northeastern region of the Ming Dynasty has entered a period of rapid development.

The temperature in the Northeast Plain is low, the sunshine is insufficient, and the climate is cold.

These factors are superimposed on each other, resulting in short farming time and long crop growth cycle in the Northeast Plain.

In a year, the North China Plain can produce two crops of grain, while the Northeast Plain can only produce one crop. This means that once a natural disaster occurs, the livelihood of local farmers will be affected throughout the year.

Cold climate can also make the human body feel uncomfortable.

If there are not enough measures to keep out the cold, it will cause hypothermia in the human body, leading to weakened heart function or failure of heat regulation function and death.

The average winter temperature in Northeast China is about minus [-] degrees Celsius, which requires adequate pre-cold measures.

Before the Tang and Song Dynasties, people living here had to use animal furs to keep warm. However, the number of furs was limited and could not meet the survival needs of a large population.

However, with the popularity of cotton in the Song Dynasty, the population of the Northeast Plain increased steadily, and severe cold was no longer the main factor that plagued local development. At its peak, the Liao Kingdom had a population of 900 million, of which more than [-]% of the population lived in the Northeast.

Because the Ming Dynasty did not have a calamity war like in history, the population of the Ming Dynasty increased instead of decreasing. A large number of immigrants and guardsmen were moved by the court to the northeastern plains to open up wasteland and cultivate land. There were millions of hectares of newly cultivated land in Liaodong Province alone. It is more than double that before the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Coupled with the introduction and improvement of crops such as corn and potatoes, as well as the improvement of science and technology, people who immigrated to the Northeast from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty were able to harvest enough food through hard work.

In addition, the development of mineral resources such as iron, coal, gold, limestone, and agate has given rise to hundreds of mining towns and dozens of larger military industrial towns.

Today, after eight years of rapid development, among the three northeastern provinces of Ming Dynasty, the combined population of Liaodong, West Liaoning and Songhuajiang provinces has exceeded 1000 to [-] million.

Among them, the Liaohe Plain, Songnen Plain, and Sanjiang Plain have been heavily reclaimed, especially the two plains of Liaohe and Songnen have the highest amount of reclamation.

The annual grain production of these two plains alone can meet the needs of the entire population of Liangdu Division in the three northeastern provinces.

That's right, that's the entire population including recruiters, guardsmen, and other officers and soldiers!
At this time, Northeast China had become an important food, industrial and mineral base for the Ming Dynasty.

In short, after the three main railway lines of Jingyi, Jingkun and Jingnu are completed, the construction of branch lines will be started at the same time, just like the northern extension and west extension branch line of Yutong Railway in those days, which can open up the connection with Shuofang and Yunzhong.

In this way, all provinces and capitals in the world except the six capitals of Wusi Zang, Duogan, Yanran, Jinzhou, Jiankun, and Anbei can be connected by railway.

In Zhu Gaoxu's view, once these three railways are successfully built, they will at least increase the national fortunes of the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years.

Therefore, after more than a year of repeated deductions, Zhu Gaoxu felt that with the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, it would take more than ten years to repair these three railways.However, at the beginning of last month, when officials from the Ministry of Industry proposed this plan in court, they encountered strong opposition from officials from the other four ministries except the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites.

Fortunately, officials from Dali Temple, the General Affairs Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and other government offices did not express their stance in court, otherwise the Ministry of Works' proposal would have really aroused public outrage.

So, a few days later, Zhu Gaoxu decided to ask Zhu Di for his opinion while going to Zhenwu Temple to pay respects to Zhu Di.

However, Zhu Di avoided seeing him at that time.

Zhu Gaoxu probably guessed what Zhu Di was thinking, so he didn't continue to force it.

He chose to shelve the matter for the time being and focus on government affairs. After being busy for half a month, he came to Zhenwu Temple again to pay tribute to Zhu Di.

"Dad, I really didn't mean it."

Zhu Gaoxu recalled this incident, lowered his head and said warmly.

"I know that you were afraid that after meeting me, we, father and son, would quarrel over whether to build those three railways. If we quarreled, wouldn't it be a 'father and son feud'? This would make people uneasy! So! Say, it’s right for you to come see me again after a while.”

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with kind eyes and said calmly: "But, have you noticed that since then, your father and I have changed my attitude toward you."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Di's wrinkled hands and remained silent.

Zhu Di added: "Zheng He is right. From then on, when we meet again, I am really a little afraid of you."

He suddenly stared at Zhu Gaoxu and asked, "Don't you think so?"

"I feel different from before."

Zhu Gaoxu avoided Zhu Di's gaze and said hesitantly: "It's a bit unnatural."

"It's not natural because I'm not used to it. I'm used to you being afraid of me, but I'm not used to dad being afraid of you."

Zhu Di smiled slightly.

"father!"

Zhu Gaoxu raised his head and looked directly at Zhu Di, and shouted emotionally.

"Just get used to it."

Zhu Di stroked his beard and said.

"I can't get used to it!"

Zhu Gaoxu raised his voice a little and said.

"Hahaha!"

Zhu Di laughed heartily.

Zhu Gaoxu leaned forward, held Zhu Di's hands, and said sincerely: "You will always be my father, and I will always be your child. Even if I am 80 years old, I will still be a child in front of you."

Zhu Di thought slowly: "Gao Xu, how old do you think I should be when you are 80 years old?"

"Exactly one hundred."

Zhu Gaoxu replied.

"Now, between the two of us, who should be older?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu's haggard face with loving eyes, and without waiting for the other party's reply, he immediately said: "You're older! Because dad listens to you now."

He paused and then continued: "The older a person is, the younger he becomes. How else should we talk about old children?"

"When I was young, your grandfather was not as patient with me and your uncles as I was with you three brothers. There is one thing that is wrong, and that is a beating."

When Zhu Di said this, he smiled and remembered a past event.

"I forgot what year it was. I seemed to be 14 or 16. I can't remember why. Your grandfather hit me again."

"When he hit me, I subconsciously raised my arm to block him. He didn't expect me to raise my arm. He staggered and almost fell over. From then on, he stopped hitting me. Later, your grandfather asked me to fight with him. Your second uncle and third uncle went to Fengyang to live for a while. Then, when I moved into Chunhe Palace and started to govern, everything was reversed. "

"Your grandpa started to listen to me. Why?"

"It's not because there are no two days in the sky or two masters in the country, but because I have grown up and he is old. It is my turn to support the facade of our old Zhu family. Now, the person supporting the facade has become about you."

Zhu Di retracted his thoughts, looked at Zhu Gaoxu, and said slowly: "Weizhe (Xia Yuanji) left seven years ago, your uncle (Xu Huizu) left four years ago, and Yizhi (Jian Yi) left two years ago. Yes, your brother-in-law (Xu Zengshou) and Jiujiang (Li Jinglong) also left two years ago."

"In the early days of Yongle, Yang Shiqi, Huang Huai, and Yang Rong, who were high-spirited and high-spirited, have now become old and frail veterans."

"Your father and I are getting old too. People often say 'seventy years old'. I am 78 this year, and I am about to become an octogenarian."

"In a few days, it will be the tenth year since your mother left us. I think it's time for me to see your mother."

"Dad! I no longer have my mother, and I can no longer live without you! Moreover, this Ming Dynasty cannot live without you!"

Zhu Gaoxu held Zhu Di's hands tightly, with tears in his eyes.

"Whether it was in the past or now, among the three of you brothers, you have always been the one I have placed my greatest hope on."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with joy and said: "Gaoxu, you are better than dad. Although dad is good at leading troops in battle, he is not good at managing finances, governing politics and supporting the people. In this regard, you are better than dad, much better."

"Of course, people just want to get stronger with each generation."

"Your mother is in heaven, looking at the prosperous Ming Dynasty today, she will definitely smile from ear to ear, right?"

When Zhu Di said this, he couldn't help but smile.

(End of this chapter)