Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 191 The strange fog reappears! What should I do if I can’t send information while I’m in Daming?
Zhang Bingyi and other Ming army soldiers followed the Zhejie to the Daxiong tribe, only to find that these natives usually hunted sea animals. Although there were land animal skins such as bears and deer, they were not many.

As Li Jun had previously speculated, the population of the Daxiong tribe consisted of no more than thirty males. Excluding the old and the young, there were less than twenty who could be considered young and strong.

There are slightly more women, about forty or so.

Although it is "summer" on the Ice and Fire Island, the native women do not wear much, so it is not difficult to tell the gender, but the mud and dust accumulated on their skin make them look dirtier than the Ming army soldiers. In addition, most of them are short and fat, with small eyes and flat noses, which makes them look very "ugly".

Even so, many Ming army soldiers stared at the relatively young native women with eager eyes.

Fortunately, these soldiers were elite and had relatively strict discipline, and Zhang Bingyi had given instructions in advance, so no one touched the native women.

Zhang Bingyi communicated with the Zhejie and the tribe's shaman, and then looked at the animal skins they had accumulated.

He found that although these animal skins did not look good from a distance, their quality was not a problem, so he took out three bags of coarse salt and exchanged them for a total of thirty pieces.

He also asked Zhejie to find some dried meat from the tribe as a bonus.

Then he left the Big Bear tribe with twenty soldiers - he was afraid that if he stayed any longer, some people would lose control of themselves.

After the meeting, Li Jun said, "These animal skins could fetch a fortune if we brought them back to the Ming Dynasty, but I'm not sure if the dried meat is edible. Besides, the camp has a hunting party out, so they have no shortage of meat. What is Zhang Tongzhi going to do with the dried meat?"

Zhang Bingyi said, "We're exchanging them because we're not sure if they're edible. Through these hides and dried meat, we can understand the skills of these natives in making leather and storing meat... Even if I tell you more, you might not understand."

Li Jun chuckled, "If I knew, I wouldn't be a mere centurion now."

Li Jun then said, "Zhang Tongzhi, it's getting late. How about we camp near this native tribe for the night?"

"The sun is just setting, how can it not be early? I think you are still planning to take advantage of the women from the native tribe." Zhang Bingyi directly pointed out Li Jun's little thoughts.

Li Jun leaned closer and whispered, "As long as everyone keeps quiet after returning home, who will know?"

Zhang Bingyi said, "We are here to deal with this native tribe. If you wipe out their tribe, how will you explain it to the commander when you return?"

"Uh..." Li Jun hadn't really thought about this and scratched his head for a moment.

Zhang Bingyi said, "Let's go back to the camp."

Li Jun had no choice but to return with his soldiers.

The next day, after returning to the transit camp under construction, Zhang Bingyi explained the process of dealing with the Daxiong tribe to Chen Zhongming, Wang Shun and others.

After listening, Chen Zhongming said, "There are less than a hundred men, women, old and young. Such a small tribe doesn't seem to be of much help to the camp."

Zhang Bingyi said, "This tribe is small, but through them we can gradually get in touch with and understand other indigenous tribes on the island."

"Ice and Fire Island is so large, and there's no shortage of prey in the mountains, forests, and seashores. Even though the winter is brutally cold, there won't be too few natives on the island."

"If we can get these native tribes to submit to the Ming, we will not only be able to collect taxes and trade in the future, but we can also recruit laborers from each tribe when needed. This is better than relying solely on the regular troops and surplus soldiers of the garrisons to do the work."

Supervisor Wang Shun nodded and said, "Zhang Tongzhi is right—Ice and Fire Island is so remote, and the winters are so cold, even if the imperial court were to immigrate here, there wouldn't be many households."

"If we can subdue the natives on the island, it will save the court a lot of trouble and increase the population of Ming Dynasty. We can all be credited with a great achievement."

Chen Zhongming said, "Since that's the case, we should focus on subduing the natives of Ice and Fire Island!"

In this way, a small meeting of the top leaders of the exploration fleet determined the basic attitude of the Ming army towards the natives of Ice and Fire Island...
The First Long-Distance Exploration Fleet helped the Thousand Households stationed on Ice and Fire Island build a one-month transit camp.

After the transit camp was built, the fleet also sent ships to explore the coast further north of the East China Sea.

As August approached, the temperature began to drop. Considering that the longer the exploration fleet stayed on the Ice and Fire Island, the more food and other supplies it would consume, Chen Zhongming led the fleet back home.

Only a little over 500 garrison troops remained on Ice and Fire Island—although the imperial court planned to establish a thousand-household garrison on the island, it did not require a thousand regular troops. (Previous article has been revised)

After all, the more permanent residents there are in a transit camp, the greater the demand for food and other supplies.

Therefore, the Ice and Fire Island Thousand Households will only have 500 regular troops in the future.

When the remnants of the troops of these garrisons (family members of the regular army) are sent here next year, the thousand-household unit will have more than a thousand people, which is more than enough to maintain the operation of this transit camp.

···
The sixteenth year of Hongwu.

August 3rd, morning.

Capital.

After breakfast, Liu Kuan went to the cross-river bridge.

Zhu Biao also accompanied him as he did last year, and this time he arrived at Liu's house early to meet him and was not late.

In addition, the cross-river bridge also received an order from Lao Zhu yesterday and will be blocked for the morning today.

When they reached the bridge, Liu Kuan and Zhu Biao dismounted, handed their horses to their followers, and walked on the sidewalk on the side.

Seeing Liu Kuan staring at his phone, Zhu Biao asked, "Brother-in-law, will you come to this bridge every August 3rd to try to connect to the future network?"

Liu Kuan said, "It only takes up half the morning anyway. Why not try it once a year? If we can really connect to the network of the future, then Your Highness and Your Majesty will never have to worry about not having movies to watch."

Liu Kuan's last sentence was obviously a joke, which made Zhu Biao laugh.

After the attempt last year, he felt that it was impossible for Liu Kuan to connect to the network of later generations.

It was unprecedented for Liu Kuan to travel to the Ming Dynasty, and he even wanted to connect to the network of future generations in the Ming Dynasty. How could such a good thing be possible?

If there are immortals or gods secretly in charge of this matter, they will definitely not agree.

Therefore, Zhu Biao chatted with Liu Kuan for a few words and then stopped paying attention to his mobile phone operation. Instead, he leaned against the railing of the bridge and watched the river and the scenery on both sides.

Although there are a cabinet and a grand council, the affairs he and Zhu Yuanzhang have to deal with every day are much less than in history.

However, due to the appearance of Liu Kuan, the Ming Dynasty also had a lot of additional affairs, so Zhu Biao still had a lot of state affairs to deal with every day.

Even when he had free time, he usually stayed in the East Palace to accompany his concubines and children.

In addition, he was the prince and his movements were very quiet, so he rarely had the opportunity to go out and play.

Now, with such a good opportunity to enjoy the river view, he naturally did not want to miss it. Zhu Biao had not watched for long and was about to ask Liu Kuan if he had finished his experiment when he suddenly noticed a thin mist on the bridge.

Others soon discovered this anomaly.

Zhu Biao felt something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

At this time, Liu Kuan exclaimed in surprise: "There is a signal!"

When Zhu Biao heard Liu Kuan's words, it was as if a bolt of lightning struck his mind, finally making him realize that something was wrong.

On the day when Liu Kuan, the bridge and the railway traveled to the Ming Dynasty, fog suddenly rose on the river!
Fog was rising at this time, and Liu Kuan said that mobile phones had signals from later generations. Could it be that someone had traveled through time again?
Or maybe Liu Kuan traveled back to the future with the bridge and the railway?

Even, will people like us travel to the afterlife?
Thinking of this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but tense up. He grabbed Liu Kuan's shoulders and said urgently, "Brother-in-law, there's something wrong with this fog. Come with me and leave the bridge!"

Liu Kuan was startled awake by these words, but he immediately stepped back and looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Your Highness, I know there's something wrong with this fog—it's because of this strange fog that cell phones can have signals like those of later generations!"

Zhu Biao frowned upon seeing this and asked solemnly, "What if this strange fog brings you back to the afterlife? You don't want Huilan anymore? Su is still pregnant with your child!"

Hearing this, Liu Kuan became conflicted.

Wang Guangyue and Zhu Biao's guard captain Li Zhanyuan finally understood some of the conversation between the two.

Li Zhanyuan immediately made a decisive statement: "Since the bridge is dangerous, Your Highness, please mount your horse and leave immediately!"

Zhu Biao just looked at Liu Kuan without moving.

Liu Kuan looked around and frowned, saying, "Your Highness, the fog is not exactly the same as it was that day. It's not as thick as it was then."

Liu Kuan remembered clearly that on the day he traveled through time two years ago, the strange fog on the bridge was very thick as soon as it appeared, so thick that he could not see the scenery five meters away.

But now the strange fog has appeared for two or three breaths, and it is still in a thin mist state - he can even clearly see the railing on the other side of the bridge.

After Liu Kuan's reminder, Zhu Biao also discovered this.

When the strange fog appeared two years ago, although he was outside Yifeng Gate, he still remembered that the fog on the river was very thick at first, covering the bridge. The bridge was only revealed after the fog quickly dissipated.

And now, the mist has been there for a while.

At this time, Liu Kuan said again: "We finally have a signal from the future, and I must try to contact them. However, I dare not say what will happen next. Your Highness should leave the bridge first."

After saying that, Liu Kuan ignored Zhu Biao.

He opened WeChat, edited the text and sent it directly to his brother Liu He.

"Brother, I'm Liu Kuan."

I edited a few words quickly, but couldn’t send them out!

"What's going on? Why can't it be sent?"

Liu Kuan immediately opened his Moments and found that he could browse it normally.

And the most recent one was a photo of a family of three that Liu He posted a few days ago - Liu He and his wife Chen Qian were snuggling together intimately, and he was holding a one or two-year-old baby girl in his arms.

In the background is a nice looking restaurant.

The caption reads, 'I was promoted to vice president yesterday, and I’m celebrating with my wife and daughter tonight.'

"It's great that my sister-in-law gave birth to a daughter."

Liu Kuan thought so in his heart, and subconsciously clicked on Liu He’s circle of friends, and happened to see a newly posted circle of friends!
The picture is actually his photo!
The following text is:
"Two years have passed, and there's still no news of my brother. If anyone can provide real, useful clues, the reward is still 100,000 yuan. If you find him, the reward will be 500,000 yuan. (Friends, please share this if you see it. Thank you!)"

After seeing this post on WeChat Moments, Liu Kuan couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears!
Zhu Biao originally wanted to have someone take Liu Kuan away from the bridge together, but he saw him shouting something anxiously with a puzzled look on his face. Before he could figure out what he meant, he saw Liu Kuan bursting into tears.

Although Zhu Biao came from an imperial family, he was a relatively sentimental person. After knowing Liu Kuan for two years, he now not only regarded him as his brother-in-law and minister, but also as a friend.

Seeing Liu Kuan like this, he felt strange and worried, and asked anxiously: "Brother-in-law, what happened?"

Liu Kuan wiped away his tears with his wide sleeves, then showed his phone to Zhu Biao, saying, "I just realized my family has been looking for me, so I lost my composure and embarrassed His Highness. Captain Li, why don't you take His Highness away from the bridge as soon as possible?!"

At the end of his speech, Liu Kuan suddenly shouted at Li Zhanyuan.

Li Zhanyuan originally wanted to take Zhu Biao away by force, but when he saw that Zhu Biao was ready to leave on his own, he did not give the order.

Now, seeing that Zhu Biao was still hesitating for a while and still not getting on the horse, and hearing Liu Kuan's shout, he did not dare to delay and signaled several guards to help him "help" Zhu Biao get on the horse.

Zhu Biao did not resist, but cooperated and got on the horse.

He wanted to order Liu Kuan to go with them, but after opening his mouth, he said nothing.

Then he sighed and said, "Protect Doctor Liu!"

Wang Guangyue thought Zhu Biao would order Liu Kuan to leave, so he was slightly surprised to hear this, but still replied, "As you command!"

As for Liu Kuan, he had forced himself to control his emotions and started to make other attempts - he didn't know how long this strange fog would last, nor did he know if he would encounter it again in the future, so he had to seize the opportunity.

He first tried to reply to Liu He’s latest circle of friends, but still couldn’t send a message.

Sending videos or voice messages to Liu He doesn't work either.

It feels like the cell phone signal has become one-way.

After a few attempts without success, Liu Kuan closed WeChat, opened Baidu, and typed a line of text:

"I'm in the Ming Dynasty, but my phone has a signal from the future, but I can't send messages. What can I do?"

After entering the input and clicking search, Baidu didn’t respond at all!

　Second update.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)