The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 427 Wonders and Faith

Young people's emotions come and go quickly, and Zhu Gaochi was not the kind of person who would be sad about the passing of time.

Now his mind is full of achievements and accomplishments, so he won't waste time on personal reminiscences.

He turned around and discussed with Yao Guangxiao how to achieve effective rule over Pandya.

In fact, he soon discovered that he did not have to do almost anything.

The conquered Sindhu people had already taken the initiative to hand over the reins around their necks to them.

The Pandya high castes who escaped the massacre knelt without hesitation when they learned that Yan State was trying to surrender them.

Then, before Zhu Gaochi could even tell them his plan, they had already taken the initiative to shape the Yan State's top leaders into high-caste people.

Not only that, they also actively called on the high-caste people in various parts of the former Pandya Kingdom to accept the rule of Yan State.

The high castes in various places were in a state of panic, but when they heard the news, they were overjoyed and sent important family members to the royal capital to pay homage.

It is also a temptation.

Faced with this situation, Zhu Gaochi and Yao Guangxiao were both stunned.

They knew that the Sindhu people were spineless, but they didn't expect them to be so proactive.

Zhu Gaochi sighed again: "I finally understand why any army can conquer this place."

Yao Guangxiao's expression was very solemn: "We must establish the Han area as soon as possible and strictly prohibit the introduction of Sindhu ideology into the Han area."

The so-called Han area refers to the area where the migrated Han people live.

Zhu Gaochi also knew the seriousness of the matter and said, "Okay, let's follow the original plan and use the Cauvery River as the boundary, with the south of the river being the Han territory."

"Well, it is no longer appropriate to call it the Cauvery River. Let's change it to the Han River."

The Cauvery River…now called the Han River, is a major river in the southernmost part of the subcontinent.

It isolates the sharp corner in the south of the subcontinent, which is roughly the location of Tamil Nadu in India in the previous life.

The area is approximately 100,000 square kilometers.

The river has abundant water power, a fertile delta plain and a natural harbor.

In addition to this great river, the area is home to many other rivers and fertile alluvial plains.

The conditions are very favorable whether for developing industry, commerce or agriculture.

Let’s put it this way, in the past life, there were 60 to 70 million people living here, and the food could be exported.

The innate conditions are really enviable.

When Chen Jingke formulated the partition plan, he designated this place as the Han area.

Of course, this is just a preliminary plan.

As the Han population increases, it will gradually expand northward.

Later, Zhu Gaochi presided over the first national conference of Yan State. The participants were very surprised to see that he was so young.

But no one dared to underestimate this conqueror.

Zhu Gaochi announced that the Pandya Kingdom was abolished and the Yan Kingdom was established.

Apart from the replacement of the top leaders, everything else remains the same; those who were nobles before are still nobles now.

Before these old nobles could be happy, he announced a new piece of news.

All the Sindhu people south of the Han River (Cauvery River) were relocated and resettled elsewhere.

This place will be used as a Han area for Han people to live.

After announcing the news, Zhu Gaochi was actually a little nervous, fearing that these people would stand up and rebel.

However... he found that except for a few high-caste people who looked unhappy, no one else reacted at all.

Those people with ugly faces were because their family core was south of the Han River, and moving there would have a great impact on their family's interests.

But they just looked unhappy and did not stand up to oppose.

For them, migration is just a loss of interests, not fatal.

As a conqueror, the State of Yan must have interests to pursue.

Simply making certain demands on the land and not eliminating them altogether is already the best outcome.

There is no need to conflict with the new ruler over this.

As for the life and death of the lowest class of people, it is completely out of their consideration.

They are just slaves, there are them everywhere, just catch them when they are all dead.

After reaching an agreement with the old nobles, the rest is easy.

The State of Yan did not even need to take any action. These old nobles, eager to show off, took the initiative to drive the people south of the Han River to the north.

The process is too inhumane, so I will not describe it here.

Anyway, when the Han people of Yan State came to this land, they saw corpses everywhere.

Some belong to humans, and some to livestock.

Even decades later, scattered corpses could still be seen in remote corners.

While Zhu Gaochi and Yao Guangxiao were busy establishing a stable rule, Yang Jing was also busy.

He led 10,000 elite troops from the State of Yan to the border to confront the army of the Delhi Sultanate.

The Delhi Sultanate was naturally horrified by the fighting power of the Yan army.

He took the initiative to retreat thirty miles, indicating that he had no intention of becoming an enemy of the State of Yan.

Yang Jing also knew that it was not appropriate to start a war at this time, so he went with the flow and stated that both sides would use this as the boundary and not interfere with each other.

Looking at the departing envoy of the Delhi Sultanate, Yang Jing felt very unwilling.

He wanted to take this opportunity to defeat the main force of the Delhi Sultanate in one fell swoop and then destroy the other side as well.

It’s not that he is blindly arrogant, but...he really can’t look down on the fighting power of the Sindhu people.

But the population of Yan State was too small, and it also needed to establish the Han territory and consolidate the occupied territories. Blind expansion would only make itself weak.

Therefore, the best way is to temporarily stop fighting and digest the fruits of victory.

but……

It won’t be long. The Delhi Sultanate will become history by next year at the latest.

This is part of the big plan, and unless something drastic happens, it won't change.

The reason why Zhu Gaochi and his men were confident that they could unify the subcontinent next year was naturally because they had the support of the Ming Dynasty behind them.

After the establishment of Yan State, the imperial court mobilized thousands of large sea vessels to transport various materials and population.

The initial plan is to increase the Han population of Yan State to 500,000 next year.

At the same time, the plan of large-scale enfeoffment was finally implemented.

According to the original plan, five kingdoms, five marquisates and ten earls were enfeoffed.

Those who were granted titles in the kingdom were all Zhu's sons, and they were given titles in order of age.

However, King Zhu Chun of Shu and King Zhu Bo of Xiang refused the enfeoffment and expressed their willingness to devote themselves to the Ming Dynasty.

Both of them are members of Zhu Xiongying's core circle, one is based in Liaodong and the other is based in Indochina. It was agreed long ago that they would not be closed for the time being.

Keeping them all here wasn't entirely due to personal feelings.

The situation in these two places is complicated, and they do require trustworthy generals to be in charge for a long time.

Although the two were not granted fiefs, they were rewarded at the prince's ceremonial ceremony, and their status was second only to the two great kings of the Frontier, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di.

Especially for Zhu Bo, the best news was that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his biological mother to move out of the cold palace.

Although her status as a concubine was not restored, it was a good start.

The other marquises and earls each selected a few from among the founding nobles and new nobles.

Those who were selected were naturally ecstatic, and those who were not selected were disappointed, but they didn't say much.

As long as the great division is true, everything else is easy to deal with.

What follows is various preparations, including official deployment, population migration, material distribution, etc.

The entire court was mobilized and busy around this matter. Chen Jingke was not idle either. Although he was not required to be responsible for specific matters, there were too many things that required his participation in the discussion.

He also attends the daily cabinet meetings.

In addition to government affairs, he was also busy with steam engines.

With the support of the imperial court, personnel, materials, etc. were deployed in a very short time.

But people and materials alone are not enough. For such a large team, management is a big problem.

It can even be said that the management model of this institute directly affects the future research institution establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

Chen Jingke naturally did not dare to take it lightly.

Elite personnel were selected from Luoxia Academy to form the administrative backbone. These people all understand science, so at least there will be no situation where laymen guide experts.

But having backbones alone is not enough, a reliable leader is also needed.

There are such talents in the mathematics research class, but unfortunately, none of them are interested in this position.

He was having a great time working in the mathematics research class, making constant achievements in mathematics, and only came to the manufacturing industry because he had nothing better to do.

What, you mean leaving your name in history?

Those people are really not rare.

Their achievements in mathematics alone were enough to keep their names in history.

When future generations study mathematical knowledge, they must use the various theorems named by them. This is the true way to go down in history.

With no other options, Chen Jingke could only look for talent from outside.

After choosing and choosing, I finally found a suitable one for him.

He has knowledge of science and has no discrimination against all kinds of skills, and most importantly, he also understands administration.

It’s just that person’s identity is a bit special… Wu Bingrang, the director of the Imperial Observatory.

Last time they worked together to make a clock, and later with the help of Chen Jingke, they finally got approval to build a water-powered planetarium.

It can be said that the two of them have some friendship.

The fact that Wu Bingrang was able to be in charge of the Imperial Observatory and survived all these years shows that he had good political ability.

It is most appropriate for him to be the head of this research institute.

But how to convince him... Chen Jingke decided to test the waters first.

So he went to Chengtian Square and found Wu Bingrang on a construction site.

"Wu Jianzheng, how is the bell tower being repaired?"

Since both parties were familiar with each other, Wu Bingrang did not hesitate to speak politely while looking at the structural diagram:
"It's coming soon."

Chen Jingke smiled inwardly and said, "What do you mean soon? When I asked you half a year ago, you said it was soon. Now it's soon again. You are kidding me."

Wu Bingrang finally raised his head and said, "It's really fast this time."

"It was slow before because the internal structure was still uncertain. After we solved this problem a few months ago, the speed has increased."

Chen Jingke stretched his head to look at the structural diagram... Well, very good, I couldn't understand it at all.

"That's good. There are people in the court who have always been dissatisfied with the bell tower. If you finish it sooner, they won't have to impeach you again."

Wu Bingrang bowed and said, "I would also like to thank Chen Bandu. Without your support, this bell tower would not have been built."

Then he sighed and said, "I am old and have nothing to pursue. My greatest hope for the rest of my life is to repair the bell tower."

"This way, even if I die, I can rest in peace."

Of course, the 28-meter-high bell tower will surely go down in history.

In a certain game, it is a complete wonder building with many added attributes.

It is really worth it for a person to spend his lifetime to oversee the construction of such a building.

Wu Bingrang's original plan was to imitate the water-powered planetarium of the Song Dynasty.

After studying clocks with Chen Jingke, he learned more physics knowledge and decided to improve the original water-powered planetarium.

At Chen Jingke's suggestion, they planned to add a floor higher and get a clock to use for timekeeping.

In this way, the height of the building reached six zhang.

Wu Bingrang was still a little nervous, afraid of being rejected.

When Chen Jingke learned of this height, he gave it a four-word evaluation: petty.

Then he found Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao and proposed to build the bell tower into a landmark building of the Ming Dynasty.

The reason is simple: spectacles can boost public confidence.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao thought it was unnecessary, they agreed when they saw that he was so enthusiastic.

After discussion, they finally decided on a height of twenty-eight zhang.

Upon learning of this height, Wu Bingrang almost went crazy.

Not happy, but sad.

How to build such a tall building?

But since the order came from above, they had no choice but to carry it out.

Originally, Wu Bing wanted them to use reinforced concrete, which is the most cost-effective way.

However, Chen Jingke knew that with the current cement grade, building a super-high building would be a joke with human lives.

The key is that cement concrete has a shelf life, and what he wants to build is a semi-permanent wonder that can be passed down for hundreds or thousands of years.

So granite and steel structure were finally chosen.

This is also the fundamental reason why it has not been completed after more than two years of construction.

Because of this bell tower, Chen Jingke and Wu Bingrang were impeached many times.

But Chen Jingke insisted.

It was the first time that Zhu Xi and Zhu Biao saw him show a special liking for something, so they chose to support him.

Chen Jingke certainly did this not to satisfy his evil taste for creating wonders.

To be honest, spectacles can indeed effectively enhance national identity and sense of honor.

Moreover, the clock tower can deepen people's sense of time.

This will be very important in the future.

With the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, there is no problem in building a bell tower.

It's not a waste of time and money.

Of course, his real purpose is to usher in the era of super-high buildings.

This is the inevitable result of urbanization.

In ancient times, architectural specifications were strictly restricted, and buildings of different specifications were used for different types of people.

If you exceed the standard, you will be held legally responsible, and in serious cases, your entire family may be executed.

Although the law does not have clear regulations on building height, it is assumed that residential buildings cannot be taller than the imperial palace.

In this case, the first step of urbanization is blocked.

Once this bell tower is repaired, everything will be easy.

You can use it as a reference, as long as it is not higher than it.

In the next hundred years, there shouldn’t be any skyscrapers taller than the clock tower, right?
As for a hundred years later...if future generations still cannot solve this problem, then let's change the dynasty.

Others didn't understand his thoughts and were naturally curious as to why Chen Bandu, who seemed indifferent to external things, was so passionate about this clock tower.

There have been a lot of speculations about this.

But Chen Jingke just smiled indifferently and pretended that he knew nothing.

It’s better to leave some unknowns to future generations. I wonder how they will interpret this history.
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Just when Chen Jingke was thinking about how to poach Wu Bingrang, a tattered and lost fleet appeared in the Whale Sea (Sea of ​​Japan).

(End of this chapter)