Bringing the Railway to Daming

Only after Zhu Gui finished speaking did he notice that Zhu Yuanzhang looked displeased.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang snorted and said, "Trying to kill three birds with one stone? If we really let you go to Western Europe to establish a vassal state ahead of time, either you will suffer a crushing defeat and lose your life, or you will destroy the place—our Great Ming Dynasty is going to dump goods on Europe. How can we dump goods if it's destroyed?"

Zhu Gui was taken aback upon hearing this, then said unwillingly, "Your subject will just be careful not to destroy Europe."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Although the Holy Roman Empire is now divided into many small countries, they are all influenced by the Papacy, and some monarchs even need the Papacy's permission to succeed to the throne."

"Even Aragon, France, England, and other countries were influenced by the Papacy—their previous alliance against the Ottoman Empire is the best proof of this."

"If you actually land on the coast of Western Europe, unless you believe in that so-called God-given religion, even if you establish yourself there, you will be attacked by the surrounding countries."

"By then, how will you control the pace of the war? You're really all talk and no action!"

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was showing signs of anger, Zhu Gui immediately wilted. Among Zhu Yuanzhang's sons, Zhu Biao was probably the least afraid of him. No matter how impetuous the others were, they would easily wilted or be afraid when faced with Zhu Yuanzhang's criticism.

After reprimanding Zhu Gui, Zhu Yuanzhang called on Xiong Ying and asked, "What are your thoughts?"

Zhu Xiong Ying pondered for a moment and said, "Grandfather, I think Uncle Thirteen is right about something—if we want those European countries to sign agreements with us, we must first subdue them."

"However, as my grandfather said, if we establish vassal states in Europe, it will be difficult to control the war, at least for now."

"Therefore, we might as well send more troops to the Western Sea Commandery, select one or two countries to attack, and force them to sign an agreement with us. Then we can use them as a breakthrough point to make other European countries accept our agreement and even regard it as common sense."

After Zhu Xiong Ying finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang showed a rather satisfied smile, and even Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan couldn't help but nod slightly in approval.

"Your idea is much better," Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile. "Then how many more troops do you think should be sent?"

Zhu Xiong Ying glanced at Zhu Gui and said, "Grandfather, if I may be so bold as to say something, rather than sending the imperial guards there, it would be better to have a prince like Uncle Thirteen, who wants to establish a vassal state in Europe, lead his guards there instead."

"Firstly, it can serve as a training ground to continue accumulating military merits; secondly, it can allow Uncle Thirteen to learn about Europe and prepare for establishing a vassal state in Europe in the future."

Zhu Gui was originally somewhat jealous and resentful of Zhu Xiong Ying—he and Zhu Xiong Ying were the same age, but Zhu Xiong Ying always received Zhu Yuanzhang's praise for what he said, while he was always criticized by Zhu Yuanzhang for what he said, so he was naturally unbalanced.

Hearing Zhu Xiong Ying speak up for him now, he was surprised and his goodwill towards Zhu Xiong Ying increased greatly; he even looked at her with gratitude.

Zhu Xiong Ying continued, "Of course, even if Thirteenth Uncle and his guards were recruited in advance to form a vassal state garrison, the number of people would still be too small. It would be great if Twelfth Uncle also wanted to establish a vassal state in Europe."

Zhu Bai shook his head immediately upon hearing this, saying, "I plan to establish a vassal state in the Americas; I don't want to go to Europe."

Upon hearing this, Prince Su, Zhu Yan, rolled his eyes, stood up, clasped his hands, and said, "Father, I am willing to lead the Imperial Guard to serve in the Western Sea Commandery!"

Prince Zhu Zhi of Liao and Prince Zhu Quan of Ning rose one after the other and said, "Your subjects are also willing to serve in the Western Sea Commandery!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly surprised and said, "What, do all three of you want to establish vassal states in Europe?"

Zhu Yan said, "Father, I have long had this intention—over the years I have heard my teacher talk about so many things that the Western barbarians have bullied our China in later generations. If I cannot travel through time to cause trouble for the Western barbarian countries in later generations, can't I at least strike a blow against their ancestors?"

Zhu Zhi and Zhu Quan immediately added, "Father, that's what we think too."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Kuan and smiled, "You've taught well."

Liu Kuan didn't know what to say for a moment—he hadn't thought that much about things when he talked about future generations before, had he?
However, he was still happy to see Zhu Yan and others want to attack the ancestors of the Western European countries.

He then boldly suggested, "Your Majesty, the Papacy in Europe is very powerful. Since the Prince of Dai is considering establishing a vassal state in Europe, it would be beneficial if more princes went there, so that they could provide mutual assistance in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying spoke up again, saying, "Grandfather, the power of the European Papacy is indeed very strong, and all countries are affected by it. If our Great Ming wants to break the deadlock, we not only need to let more vassal kings establish their own vassal states, but we also need to introduce external forces, such as the Ottomans."

"Looking at the world today, besides the Chinese cultural sphere centered on Confucianism, there is the Islamic cultural sphere of the Arabs, and the Catholic cultural sphere of the West."

"Europe is the core of the Catholic Church. If we bring Confucianism into the country, it will be easy for European countries to unite against us."

"If we allow Islamic influence to enter Europe at the same time, it will create a three-way balance of power. Even if we cannot eliminate the cultural sphere centered on Catholicism, we can greatly reduce its influence and create favorable conditions for us to divide Europe."

Upon hearing these words, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and Liu Kuan all looked at Zhu Xiong Ying with new respect—they had never imagined that Zhu Xiong Ying's vision had reached such a level! "Hahaha, well said!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed happily, "Truly worthy of being our good grandson! To be able to see the whole world and use the world as a chessboard, we can rest assured that the Ming Dynasty will be handed over to you in the future!"

Zhu Xiong Ying was a little embarrassed and said, "Grandpa, you flatter me. I was just saying it offhand."

Just spouting nonsense?
Princes like Zhu Gui and Zhu Yan, and grandsons like Zhu Yunwen, were all envious, recalling a popular term that Liu Kuan had once mentioned to them—Versailles.

Zhu Gui, who had just been grateful to Zhu Xiong Ying, became jealous and hateful towards him again.

'Why is my dear nephew so good at showing off?'

'Father is so biased!'

He thought bitterly, his obsession with establishing a vassal state in Europe growing even stronger.

In the future, he will definitely build his vassal state into an extremely powerful one, so that his descendants will have the opportunity to launch a counterattack against the Ming Dynasty!

Zhu Yuanzhang was unaware that his praise of Zhu Xiong Ying had caused some of his princes and grandsons to become jealous and resentful.

After laughing, he asked Zhu Biao, "Biao'er, what do you think?"

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Your subject also thinks that Xiong Ying's plan is quite good. In that case, we should focus on maintaining good relations with the Ottomans around the Mediterranean for quite some time."

"However, in order to encourage the Ottomans to take a more proactive approach to Europe, we should perhaps put some pressure on them."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded first, then smiled and said, "You mean to drive the lame Timur to expand westward?"

"Exactly."

In fact, in the years after the Ming Dynasty conquered the Western Regions, it was already driving the Timurid Empire and the Golden Horde to expand westward. If the Ming Dynasty really wanted to destroy these two countries, although it would be difficult due to logistical problems, it was not impossible, and it would have destroyed them long ago.

Zhu Yuanzhang tapped the armrest of his chair with his finger, thought for a moment, and then said, "Alright, let's treat that cripple Timur with courtesy first, then force him to go west and put some pressure on the Ottomans."

Liu Kuan had been listening to the Zhu family's plans for Europe as a semi-outsider, but upon hearing this, he suddenly remembered that the Ottomans had fought against Timur in history and suffered a major setback.

He then said, “Your Majesty, if we proceed with this strategy, we must avoid one situation: a war between Timur and the Ottomans that weakens both sides.”

"Especially the Ottomans, if they weakened in their war with Timur, they probably wouldn't have the strength to enter Europe."

"Therefore, I believe that we should send envoys to the Ottoman principality at an appropriate time to analyze the power balance between their country and Timur's, and encourage them to actively expand westward."

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and said, "We can only do our best in this matter—the Ottoman ruler Bayezid and Timur the Lame are both powerful rulers of their time, and they certainly have their own ideas. They may not listen to our advice completely."

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang turned his gaze back to Zhu Yan, Zhu Zhi, and Zhu Quan.

"Fourteen has been in the army for two years, so he can lead the guards and go to the Western Sea Commandery with Thirteen."

"But fifteen or seventeen is still a bit young. Let's follow our rules and train in the Fengyang Army for two years before going to sea to make a name for ourselves."

Upon hearing this, Prince Zhu Zhi of Liao and Prince Zhu Quan of Ning were somewhat unwilling, but they dared not disobey Zhu Yuanzhang's order and could only agree.

Looking at the expressions of the two students, Liu Kuan found it amusing: one was sixteen and the other was only fifteen. They were indeed too young to go to the Western Sea Commandery now.

Afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang discussed other state affairs with his princes and grandsons. More than an hour later, he led everyone back to the main hall of the Dashan Hall.

Empress Ma had also rested and returned to sit next to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang first inquired about Empress Ma's health, and after hearing that she was fine, he said, "Liu Kuan, didn't you say you were preparing a second film? Let's play it."

"Yes."

Liu Kuan took the tablet from Zhu Huilan and pulled up another movie he had prepared. (End of Chapter)