Bringing the Railway to Daming

"First, let's go back millions of years, when plate tectonics laid the foundation for the earth's shape, but many of the landscapes we are familiar with had not yet revealed their true forms. It wasn't until the three planetary forces came into play one by one that their veils were lifted."

"Northwest China is located deep in the heart of the Eurasian continent, far from the ocean. Surrounded by mountains, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, it is isolated from moisture, making the region increasingly arid. Rivers and lakes are gradually drying up, leaving only bare sand and gravel."

"They will welcome the arrival of the first planetary force, which is—wind!"

The video then divides into three sections based on the three planetary forces that influence landforms, tracing the geographical formation of China's landforms: "Winds in the Northwest," "Rain in the East," and "Frozen Plateaus."

Like most videos from the Planet Labs, this video focuses on popular science.

However, Liu Kuan's main purpose in playing this video was not to educate Lao Zhu's family about science.

Rather, it's because the video features many stunning landscapes across China—both in photos and various shots.

Empress Ma, whether before or after her marriage to Zhu Yuanzhang, or even after becoming the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, did not travel to many places.

In fact, not only Empress Ma, but also Zhu Yuanzhang was the same.

In his early years as a wandering monk, he mainly traveled in the area north of the Yangtze River in Anhui and the southern part of Henan in later generations. He also personally led troops in battles in the areas of Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and eastern Hubei in later generations. Even the Yuan capital, present-day Beiping, was never visited by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, Liu Kuan chose this video, which features many beautiful landscapes of China in later generations, for Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma to watch—he was worried that Empress Ma would not live to see this year and would never have the chance to appreciate these beautiful landscapes again.

"Thus, at the junction of the most expansive continent and the most expansive ocean on Earth, this extremely beautiful and colorful homeland—China—was born!"

"It is the planet's continuous geological movements and energy cycles that bring it wind, rain, and snow, as well as the rise of mountains and the flow of rivers."

"It is precisely because of the convergence of these planetary forces that China has been able to transcend millions of years, continuously shaping the land and creating such magnificent mountains and rivers!"

At the end of the video, the camera pulls up from a series of beautiful landscapes of China, eventually rising to the starry sky. The blue Earth reappears in the starry sky and turns into night, before disappearing into the Milky Way with countless lights.

The video finished playing, but it took Old Zhu and his family almost half a minute to come to their senses.

Zhu Yuanzhang lamented, "The mountains and rivers are so magnificent, it's a pity we can't go and see them all."

Zhu Biao also remarked with emotion, "That's absolutely true."

Empress Ma smiled and said, "Didn't we see that in this video? Kuan'er, you're so thoughtful."

"This is nothing more than a small favor for me," Liu Kuan said, then changed the subject, "Actually, a large part of the beautiful scenery in the video is so stunning because of the filming equipment of later generations."

"In addition, some places require sufficiently good equipment to visit. For example, the many snow-capped peaks on the plateau are not accessible to ordinary people."

"Even on the plateau, some people experience altitude sickness, and given the current conditions, there is almost no other way but to adapt slowly."

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying also said, "Grandfather, I can also attest that some scenery looks quite ordinary if the angle is wrong."

"For example, the ocean. My grandson was awestruck the first time he went out to sea, but after seeing it so many times, he got tired of it and could no longer look down on the ocean as if his eyes were in the sky."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma both knew that although Liu Kuan and Zhu Xiong Ying's words were true, they were mainly meant to comfort them—after all, they couldn't travel around because of their status.
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "I was just feeling sentimental for a moment. I didn't mean to go sightseeing. There are many things in this world that have gains and losses. Since I have become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I naturally have to take responsibility. I can't just go sightseeing and travel around like Emperor Qianlong, wasting people's money and resources."

In fact, Liu Kuan felt that if Zhu Yuanzhang had not allowed local officials to receive him and had only led several thousand to ten thousand troops on a tour, the money and grain he spent would not have been much compared to the current finances of the Ming Dynasty.

Furthermore, with Zhu Biao overseeing the country, he could travel for months without any problem.

But he didn't say that—who knew if Zhu Yuanzhang would suspect him of plotting something? For example, that he wanted to assassinate him so that Zhu Biao could ascend the throne ahead of schedule.

In short, unless Zhu Yuanzhang himself came to a decision, no one else could bring up this matter.

After everyone had discussed it for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Let's play the second video."

"Yes."

Liu Kuan picked up the tablet, brought up the second video, and started playing it via touchscreen.

The video title quickly appeared before Zhu Yuanzhang and others.

"Who would have thought that Australia could feed the entire population of China?"

Earth Knowledge Bureau

Upon seeing that the video came from another familiar content creator, Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiong Ying, and others couldn't help but smile knowingly.

In their impression, although this video creator's videos were far inferior to those of the Planet Research Institute, they often contained a lot of knowledge, and most of them were of reference value to the Ming Dynasty.

In Liu Kuan's words, it was "full of practical information".

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Zhu Xiong Ying, and others all watched with great interest.

"In the science fiction novel *The Three-Body Problem*, the Trisolarans successfully launched a surprise attack on Earth, driving all of humanity to Australia, which they then used as an 'Aboriginal Reserve' for Earth's civilization, housing a staggering 4 billion people!" "You have to understand, from the sky, Australia looks like the largest single mound of earth on Earth, a desolate continent isolated in the Southern Hemisphere. The local Aboriginal people have been developing technology here for 50,000 years, yet they remain stuck in the Stone Age, and their population has never exceeded one million."

"Even the flora and fauna here follow completely independent evolutionary paths, making it an ideal place for exile. Today, the white population of Australia is indeed descended from British convicts, and there are only 2700 million of them now."

"To say that the Australian continent can support 4 billion people is obviously impossible. But if we reduce that by 30% to 50%, and it's just enough to support the entire population of China, is that possible? It's actually quite possible."

"The farming potential of this 'lump of soil' far exceeds our imagination..."

The video begins with a plot from the popular novel "The Three-Body Problem," cleverly extending to the question of whether the Australian continent could support the entire population of China.

Then, they began to argue for this possibility from various factors such as the geography and climate of the Australian continent.

During this process, Zhu Yuanzhang and others paid more attention to the geography and climate of Australia revealed in the video.

For example, the southwestern and southeastern regions of Australia can grow crops that require more water, such as rice, while the eastern and northern parts of the continent, although not suitable for rice, can grow relatively drought-resistant crops such as wheat and millet.

"...Therefore, the slowdown, or even stagnation, of large-scale immigration development in northern Australia is ultimately due to population and immigration policy issues. Climate, environment, and indigenous people are only secondary reasons."

"Australia has the vast Northern Wilderness at its disposal and is not in a hurry to develop it. If restrictions on Asian immigration are lifted too soon, the population structure of the North will be completely changed within a few years."

"After all, Australia, with a population of 2700 million, is still too small compared to Indonesia, which has ten times the population, and China and India, which have more than 50 times the population."

"Years from now, when the rest of the world’s population has peaked and the growth potential of traditional agricultural areas has been exhausted, Australia’s vast 'Great Northern Wilderness' will be the largest increase in food production on Earth."

"This could be a far more important strategic resource than copper, iron, oil, and gas..."

After the video, which lasted for more than ten minutes, finished playing, Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao, and others immediately started discussing it.

"I never imagined that Australia had such abundant resources of metals like copper and iron, as well as coal!"

"Moreover, the natives there are still in the Stone Age. Judging from the condition of the natives in the video, they are probably not even as good as the natives of the Americas. They are also fewer in number, so conquering them would be no problem at all."

"However, central Australia is a dry region, which is obviously not suitable for land reclamation and farming."

"If we were to develop Australia, we would definitely start by clearing land and farming along the coast. Why would we need to go inland?"

"···"

Zhu Yuanzhang tilted his head and asked, "Biao'er, what are your thoughts on Australia?"

Zhu Biao said, "Australia is indeed rich in mineral resources such as metals and coal, and its land is also quite vast. But I believe that we do not need to rush to develop Australia at present."

"Why do you say that?"

Zhu Biao said, "Our Great Ming has now embarked on the Great Exploration of the Seas, and in the future, it will surpass other countries in maritime affairs. It can be said that it will be very difficult for other countries to challenge our Great Ming at sea."

“Australia is relatively close to our Great Ming Dynasty, and the natives there are still in the Stone Age. It is unlikely that they could develop without external help.”

"Therefore, I believe that we can postpone developing Australia for a hundred years. It will not be too late to develop Australia after we have developed the Americas and Africa sufficiently."

Zhu Xiong Ying then smiled and said, "Grandfather, what Father means is that Australia is now our Great Ming's backyard, a piece of our own making, so there is no need to rush to send people there."

"After all, our Great Ming Dynasty is already facing a shortage of population as it develops the Americas, India, Africa and other places."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled with satisfaction, "What you said makes sense, that's what I was thinking too."

He then said to the others, “If any of you are thinking of establishing a fiefdom overseas, it is best not to go to Australia—there will be no rivals there, and the natives are unusable. It is not a good place to establish a fiefdom, at least not now.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bai, Zhu Gui, Zhu Yan, and other princes who intended to establish vassal states overseas immediately replied in unison, "Your subjects understand!"

But then Zhu Xiong Ying said, "Grandfather, there are quite a few merchants and adventurers from the Ming Dynasty who venture overseas. What if those people start a business in Australia first?"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Wouldn't that be even better? They can lay a foundation first, which will make it easier for the court to develop Australia in the future."

“The Ming Dynasty will not recognize these people who establish their own countries overseas—unless they can develop to a level of strength comparable to that of the Ming Dynasty within a century.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao, Liu Kuan, and others all laughed.

How did Australia develop to the point where its strength rivals that of the Ming Dynasty today, or even the Ming Dynasty a hundred years from now?

That's absolutely impossible.

Unless a group of time travelers appears over there, and they're the kind who bring a large amount of supplies with them. (End of Chapter)