Bringing the Railway to Daming

Jiangzuo Wenzong, a high-ranking official, married a famous courtesan and even made her his principal wife?

Upon hearing Liu Kuan's words, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and many others stared wide-eyed, their expressions filled with disbelief.

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately cursed, "How could such a scoundrel become a minister and be called the literary master of Jiangzuo? No wonder our Ming Dynasty perished in history—they really deserve to die!"

Liu Kuan laughed and said, "Actually, it's nothing to later generations to think that he married a famous courtesan and even made her his principal wife. What really makes him despise by later generations is that when the Qing army attacked Nanjing, he and several other cabinet ministers welcomed the Qing army at the city gate and surrendered the city."

"Speaking of which, this man was known as the Jiangzuo Literary Master, and he was famous. He had thought of committing suicide to die for his country. But when he arrived at the Qinhuai River with his famous courtesan wife, he said that the water was too cold and he would not jump. Instead, his famous courtesan wife was so angry that she jumped into the river and committed suicide. He then sent people to rescue her."

"Later, the Qing army demanded that people shave their heads and change their clothes, saying that if you keep your hair, you lose your head, and if you keep your head, you lose your hair. A considerable number of civil and military officials and gentry who had originally surrendered to the Qing rebelled against the Qing because of this. But this person said that his scalp was itchy, so he shaved his head and kept the shameful money rat tail braid."

"Therefore, whenever later generations mention this 'historical figure,' they will use the analogy of 'itchy scalp and water too cold' to mock his cowardice and fear of death."

After hearing this, Zhu Biao and the others were surprised again.

Zhu Biao sighed, "As a renowned literary figure and a high-ranking official in the imperial court, he is not even as loyal and virtuous as a famous courtesan."

Zhu Xiong Ying said, "If such a person can become a so-called literary master, it shows how bad the social atmosphere was in Jiangnan at that time; and if such a person can become a minister, it also shows how corrupt the officialdom was at that time."

Whether Zhu Yuanzhang was genuinely angry or not, he did not offer any further comment on Qian Qianyi.

After a few more words of discussion, seeing that it was already past 11 o'clock, Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and said, "It's getting late, let's have the palace servants rearrange the tables and chairs and prepare for lunch."

Then he helped Empress Ma and they walked together toward the imperial desk.

The others also left their seats.

The palace servants worked quickly, setting up tables and chairs in no time, and began serving dishes on Zhu Yuanzhang's orders.

Zhu Yuanzhang then summoned Liu Kuan to the imperial desk and asked with a smile, "Didn't you say you prepared ten songs? Quickly play them so that we, the Empress and I, can enjoy the music while we eat."

Do you even have to eat while listening to music?
You don't even have time to eat when you're watching songs and videos, okay?

Liu Kuan chuckled inwardly, but responded with a "yes" and pulled up a collection of songs and videos on his tablet.

"Your Majesty, the ten songs I have selected this time may not seem to follow any particular pattern, but they are all classics that were popular in later generations."

After saying that, he put the tablet away and left.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Empress Ma and asked, "How are you feeling, sister?"

Having just watched a movie, Empress Ma was indeed a little tired, but she still replied, "It's okay, let's listen to some music."

Zhu Yuanzhang moved the tablet closer to Empress Ma, then opened the video collection and saw the name of the first song – "Blue and White Porcelain".

The intro to the song began, and soon a man's voice rang out.

"The unglazed porcelain is outlined with blue and white brushstrokes, the intensity gradually fading..."

Is it really a song praising blue and white porcelain?
Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma exchanged a glance, and then watched the video to enjoy this classic Chinese song.

The ten songs Liu Kuan selected this time are, in order: "Blue and White Porcelain", "Red Bean", "Ten Years", "Painted Heart", "Invisible Wings", "Little Dimples", "Persian Cat", "Next Stop Superstar", "A Thousand Years of Love", "Beautiful Myth", and "You'll Be With Me All My Life".

The song compilation is nearly an hour long.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang started eating after reading half of it, prompted by Empress Ma.

As for Empress Ma, she had already started eating, but she now eats very little and has many dietary restrictions, so she stopped after eating only a few things, and instead had more time to enjoy the songs.

after an hour.

After the song and video compilation finished playing and Zhu Yuanzhang had finished eating, he ordered the palace servants to clear the dishes and then visited the "home theater" again. Zhu Yuanzhang then summoned Liu Kuan to the imperial desk and said with a smile, "Liu Kuan, you really put your heart into choosing the songs this time."

Liu Kuan was initially confused—he had simply found a few classic pop songs from later generations, so how could that be considered putting in effort?

Upon careful reflection, Liu Kuan noticed a common characteristic among these ten songs: most of them involved "love".

Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, who had peaceful expressions and smiles, Liu Kuan suddenly understood.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma married when they were still young and had been married for decades, so their relationship may have become somewhat bland.

However, over the past few years, Empress Ma's health has deteriorated day by day. In particular, last year, she was given a "critical condition notice" by famous doctors. Zhu Yuanzhang cherished his marital relationship with Empress Ma even more.

Zhu Yuanzhang probably didn't know how to express this feeling.

The love songs he chose touched Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, and even resonated with them—a precious emotional experience for the elderly couple approaching their twilight years.

Coming to his senses, Liu Kuan smiled and said, "I'm glad Your Majesty and the Empress like it."

Before long, the palace servants set up the "home theater," and Zhu Yuanzhang helped Empress Ma to her seat.

After everyone was seated, Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, this is the arrangement—we will watch three short videos first, and then Her Majesty the Empress will rest for an hour. After that, we will watch the movie and the last video."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Empress Ma and said, "It is time to take a break, but why did you put a video at the very end?"

Liu Kuan smiled slightly and said, "Consider this video my Mid-Autumn Festival gift to Your Majesty and the Empress."

Empress Ma perked up a bit upon hearing this and smiled, "Kuan'er's words make me even more eager to see it."

Then, Liu Kuan pulled up the first video he had prepared on the tablet and started playing it—

Where do China's mountains and rivers come from?

"This film is dedicated to every mountain and every river in our land!"

Planet Research Institute

Seeing that it was another video from the "Planet Research Institute," Old Zhu's family became excited.

"Fracturing, folding, and mountain building!"

"Gale-force winds, torrential rain, and freezing temperatures!"

The video did not disappoint Zhu Xiong Ying and others, featuring cinematic-quality visuals and special effects from the very beginning.

It is unknown how the film was shot in later generations, but it was possible to present many magnificent mountain and river landscapes in the video from an almost divine perspective, with varying sizes and speeds, all in a fitting and appropriate manner.

"It is these invincible forces that have created ten thousand landscapes, ten thousand landforms, and ten thousand rivers and mountains beneath our feet! They have created the most diverse country on this planet—China!"

"So, how did the power of this planet shape China? And how did our magnificent land come into being?"

"In the following video, we will present an epic of geographical evolution that you have never seen before, on a planetary scale!"

"First, let's go back millions of years..."

In the video, a blue planet hangs in the dark night sky, then rotates in reverse, and time seems to go backward. The camera pulls down, and the mountains and rivers of China also change back to how they looked millions of years ago.

Although they had seen similar video effects from later generations countless times, Old Zhu and his family were still awestruck, watching with rapt attention. (End of Chapter)