Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 537 Husband and God, Sights and Feelings in the Disaster Area!

The girl's eyes shone brightly like starlight: "Actually, I really like the Ming Dynasty, especially the city at night. They light up the streetlights, making the streets as bright as day. It's wonderful!"

Seeing her younger sister Dina Ruoya's joyful expression, Gulizaba couldn't help but smile.

“Yes, the Ming Dynasty is truly magnificent!” Gulizaba sighed softly, her gaze lingering on the passing scenery through the carriage window. “In our vast desert, ironware, which is extremely precious, seems insignificant here. It is everywhere, and ordinary people can own it, and there are many of them.”

Her words were filled with amazement at the technology and civilization of the Ming Dynasty: "They were able to build such wide and smooth cement roads, and those magnificent bridges spanning the great rivers; there were also roaring steam engines, telegraphs that could travel thousands of miles in an instant, and powerful firearms and cannons... All of this is something we in Beshbali have never heard of or seen before."

"No wonder their army was able to occupy our Beshbali so easily. They are indeed too advanced and too developed!"

She whispered, "I'm afraid that even in a hundred years, we might not be able to catch up with the Ming Dynasty."

“When I used to read the Da Ming Daily and saw the descriptions there, I always felt that they were exaggerated and that the people of Da Ming were just boasting. I firmly believed that my hometown, Beshibali, was the most beautiful place in the world.”

A complex light flickered in Gulizaba's eyes: "Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, I realize that the newspapers were not exaggerating at all. The Ming Dynasty truly is a paradise on earth!"

"If I hadn't set foot here in person, I really wouldn't have believed that such a prosperous place existed in the world."

She lowered her voice, her tone tinged with emotion: "The Ming Dynasty decades ago was far from what it is today."

"At that time, although this vast land also had green mountains and clear waters, the lives of the people were no different from those in the desert."

"Back then, there weren't so many iron tools, and people's clothes weren't as neat and clean, nor were they as brightly colored."

"There were no straight cement roads, no roaring steam engines, and no powerful and deadly muskets and cannons like we have today."

Gulizaba gazed into the distance, her eyes filled with admiration and longing: "The reason why the Ming Dynasty has achieved all these amazing accomplishments today is due to that man, His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the man who will soon become our husband."

Dina Ruoya's beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration as she asked, "Is that man really that amazing?"

“Of course!” Gulizaba nodded vigorously, her tone carrying an undeniable certainty. “If it weren’t so, how could he be revered as the Son of the Eternal Heaven and worshipped as a god of the grasslands by so many people on the grasslands!”

She explained, “You should know that the tribes on the grasslands, like us, are descendants of Genghis Khan and are known for their pride and self-restraint.”

Dina Ruya was somewhat confused: "But we've always believed in 'the Lord' since we were little!"

"It's already changed!" Gulizaba quickly corrected, her tone somewhat urgent. "Although the Great Ming once said that it would not interfere with our beliefs, in order to express our absolute loyalty to the Great Ming, Father Khan and my brother have clearly stated that they will no longer believe in 'the Lord,' but instead convert to 'the Supreme Holy Emperor, the Great Master of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Mystery Sect, the Supreme Ruler of Yin and Yang, whose wisdom shines universally and whose benevolence and virtue are widely bestowed to subdue demons and protect the Dao!'"

Dina Ruya frowned slightly, her eyes filled with confusion: "How can one so easily abandon one's unwavering faith in the 'Lord'?"

"Also, the one you mentioned later, his title is way too long, who exactly is he?"

“This is not about abandoning faith in ‘the Lord,’ but about acknowledging one’s roots and returning to one’s origins.”

Gulizaba patiently corrected her sister's words, trying to make her understand the deeper meaning: "We are the descendants of Genghis Khan, the descendants of the Golden Family."

"The one whom Genghis Khan worshipped was the Eternal Heaven, not the 'Lord' you speak of."

She continued, "What we are doing now is simply following in the footsteps of our ancestors and returning to the family's beliefs."

Gulizaba's gaze turned serious and solemn: "As for the title I'm going to mention later, although it sounds long, you must remember it well and engrave it in your heart!"

"Because from this day forward, he will be the god worshipped by all our people, and he will also be our husband, His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty!"

Dina Ruya looked at her sister in surprise, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief: "You mean, the person we are about to marry is a god?"

“Yes, absolutely!” Gulizaba answered firmly and decisively.

She went on to explain, “At first, when my brother Shamichagan told me about this, I was just as incredulous.”

"However, I paid special attention to observations along the way, and combined the records in the books and newspapers I read, and finally confirmed that my brother had not lied to us."

"The Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty whom we are about to marry is a god worshipped by everyone on the grasslands, the son of the Eternal Heaven."

Gulizaba's eyes revealed a piety and complex emotion: "From now on, he will be our husband and also the god we worship together."

Dina Ruoya parted her cherry lips slightly, staring blankly at her sister, seemingly completely stunned by this earth-shattering news.

Dina Ruya didn't have much resistance to changing her faith.

Although she has reached marriageable age, she is still a young child at heart.

The so-called faith in "the Lord" is nothing more than being influenced by what one has seen and heard since childhood and following the arrangements of one's elders.

Now that the adults are asking her to change her faith, she will naturally obey.

However, the fact that her future "husband" turned out to be a "god" brought an unprecedented and enormous shock to Dina Ruoya, a strange situation she had never imagined.

Suddenly, a shy blush, like the dawn's glow, quietly rose from her fair neck, quickly climbing up her jade-like cheeks, and then spreading upwards, instantly covering her entire delicate face.

Dina Ruoya lowered her head shyly, but her gaze couldn't help but turn to the window beside her, and a faint, indescribable smile had quietly appeared on the corner of her mouth.

The carriage sped along the official road without stopping.

The reason they were able to travel so quickly was that they set off urgently after learning that Zhu Yunwen was about to make a northern tour, hoping to deliver the "two beauties from the Western Regions" to the emperor's side before he returned to the palace.

To avoid being ostracized and suppressed by the concubines in the harem, they first needed to leave a deep impression on Zhu Yunwen.

However, the distance from Beshbaliq to Henan is far greater than that from Nanjing to Henan.

Moreover, the convoy also needs to traverse the vast desert with its endless yellow sand.

In order to save every second, the team had to keep increasing their speed, traveling almost day and night at breakneck speed.

Fortunately, the soldiers sent by Beshbali to escort them were the elite of the elite.

They were agile and resilient, and were able to hold on with great effort.

Although Gulizaba and Dinaruya are women, and princesses at that, they are not the kind of pampered young ladies who never leave their homes.

As noblewomen of nomadic peoples, they practiced martial arts from a young age, often riding horses, and were generally in good physical condition.

In addition, they only needed to lie comfortably inside the carriage, which was a luxurious carriage specially made by the Ming Dynasty with rubber tires and advanced shock-absorbing springs. Therefore, the two sisters had no problems along the way.

Although the journey was somewhat bumpy, it was still within bearable limits. Only Zhu Su, who traveled with the convoy, suffered.

He rode on horseback, traveling day and night, almost completely wearing down his body.

Fortunately, Henan is approaching, and these arduous days are finally coming to an end.

A cold, malevolent glint flashed deep in Zhu Su's eyes.

Zhu Yunwen, I've come for revenge! Just wait to die!
……

Henan, post station.

From the moment Zhu Yunwen decided to travel incognito to the moment he began to act, everything proceeded with incredible speed.

Zhu Yunwen understood a principle well: from a security perspective, the key to a secret incognito visit lies in its surprise, leaving no time for the news to leak out. By the time the "enemy" notices, he has already returned safely.

Of course, necessary security forces are still required to prevent any unforeseen events from occurring.

Zhu Yunwen personally selected more than twenty elite guards, and Xu Miaojin also carefully selected eight female guards.

This team of more than thirty people quickly and quietly left the emperor's residence under the cover of night, heading straight for the depths of the disaster area.

In this era, the social structure was not as highly atomized as in later generations.

Especially in years of famine, people often band together to help each other through the difficulties.

Even when they embark on the journey of fleeing famine, it is usually not a family of three or five people, but rather dozens or even hundreds of relatives, friends, or people of the same clan traveling together.

Therefore, Zhu Yunwen's group of several dozen people did not appear too large or attract attention as they traveled through the night.

As dawn broke, Zhu Yunwen and his entourage arrived at a resettlement site for disaster victims.

Tens of thousands of people gathered here, densely packed, stretching as far as the eye could see.

However, all Zhu Yunwen could see were a few scattered tents.

The vast majority of people lived in the open on the muddy land.

He frowned and said with dissatisfaction, "The imperial court has already urgently allocated 10,000 tents. Didn't Zheng Hongjian and Zhao Qingzhi say that all of these tents have been distributed to the disaster-stricken people?"

Why do all these people still live in the open air?

In the past, during the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible to distribute tents to the people during disaster relief, and the country did not have the production capacity for such items.

However, by now, the industrialization process of the Ming Dynasty has begun to show results.

With its strong textile production capacity and ample resource supply, it is now able to mass-produce a large number of tents.

Most of these tents were distributed to troops stationed in various locations as military supplies, with the aim of meeting the needs of the army during marches and operations.

Not only the new army, which was a regular force, but also Wu Ding, who was under the jurisdiction of the government and controlled by local officials, received a considerable amount of rations.

When Henan was hit by floods and many people’s houses were destroyed, Zhu Yunwen immediately issued an edict to allocate tents from the army’s strategic reserve warehouses to build temporary shelters for the disaster-stricken people.

However, when he arrived at the disaster area and saw the people there, he found that almost no one was living in a tent.

This scene instantly enraged Zhu Yunwen.

Xu Miaojin and her entourage remained calm and did not show much surprise.

After all, in their view, it was perfectly normal for disaster victims to have nowhere to live and to use the sky as their blanket and the ground as their bed.

In disaster relief, the most important thing is to provide them with food so that the victims don't starve to death.

Zhu Yunwen walked up to a middle-aged man sitting on the ground, a gentle smile on his face, and asked softly, "May I ask, fellow villager, has the imperial court distributed rice and grain to you?"

Upon hearing this, the man pointed to a few sparse tents not far away and said, "See those? Those are the soup kitchens set up by the imperial court. They provide soup twice a day, which is not bad. Although we are not very full, we won't starve to death."

A hint of satisfaction appeared in his eyes as he continued, "Yesterday, the soup kitchen even gave each disaster victim a white steamed bun, saying it was a gift from the Empress."

The man's voice was full of gratitude as he sang in a simple and honest voice, "To help us disaster-stricken people, Her Majesty the Empress even sold her beloved jade carvings to raise money to buy us steamed buns!"

He glanced at Zhu Yunwen and his group with curiosity and guessed, "You're from out of town, aren't you?"

"You've come to the right place!"

"The government's policies are great now. As long as we get to this resettlement site, we'll have porridge to eat, and we're guaranteed not to starve."

"There's no need to drag your family along and travel far away to beg anymore."

Zhu Yunwen responded and then asked, "What did you mean when you said you weren't full?"

The man chuckled and said, "The porridge provided by the imperial court is ultimately limited. There are two meals a day, one bowl of porridge each time."

"Let alone strong men like us, even a half-grown child would find it impossible to get enough to eat."

"But what can we do? We're disaster victims."

"One shouldn't expect too much from others' charity."

"As long as you have something to eat to keep you alive and not starve, that's enough."

Zhu Yunwen frowned and said, "But as far as I know, since Your Majesty ascended the throne and implemented the new policies, grain production has increased, and the granaries of local governments are full of grain."

"The floodwaters submerged the people's houses, but not the government granaries."

"Then there shouldn't be a shortage of food, so how come we're still not getting enough to eat?"

The man was taken aback by what he said, and then burst into laughter.

……

(End of this chapter)