Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "It's no problem for me to tell you about this in advance—after the New Year, I'll prepare to abdicate and let you ascend the throne."

Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, then knelt down with a thud, looking up and saying, "What does Father mean? Your subject has absolutely no intention of ascending the throne!"

Zhu Biao's first thought was that Zhu Yuanzhang was using the abdication issue to reprimand him, so he felt very wronged and aggrieved.

It is said that there is no kinship in the imperial family, but he and Zhu Yuanzhang not only had kinship, but a very good one.

If Zhu Yuanzhang were suspicious of him, he would rather not be emperor, or even crown prince.

Zhu Yuanzhang was also taken aback by Zhu Biao's reaction. He was also stunned for a moment before sighing, "Biao'er, take a closer look at us."

Zhu Biao had been looking at Zhu Yuanzhang, and now, even with a closer look, he still couldn't understand Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I am already sixty-seven this year, and sixty-eight after the New Year. I am already old."

“I didn’t notice it before, but since your mother passed away, I’ve clearly felt that my energy is not as good as before.”

“Since the beginning of this year, you have been in charge of handling state affairs, while we have been assisting from the sidelines. In that case, why must you continue to toil on the throne?”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao suddenly realized that Zhu Yuanzhang's hair and beard had almost completely turned silver-gray, and his face was deeply wrinkled; he was indeed old.

He felt a pang of sadness and couldn't help but say, "Father is not in good health. He should entrust the affairs of state to his son. Why must you abdicate?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, “I have two reasons for abdicating. First, ever since I led the army across the river and captured Jiqing, I have stayed in Yingtian Prefecture and rarely went out.”

"While we are still able to walk, we want to go out and see the scenery inside and outside the Great Wall of our Ming Dynasty, as well as the scenery in the south and north of the Great Wall."

"If the Institute of Craftsmanship achieves results, we'd like to bring a camera to take pictures of everything we see along the way, and show them to your mother in the future."

"Secondly, historically the reign title Hongwu lasted until the thirty-first year of Hongwu's reign. Now we want to make it different—it's not good to drag it out until the thirty-first year of Hongwu's reign, so let's end it early."

"This means that the succession of the Ming Dynasty throne in our timeline is very different from before, and those unpleasant things that happened later will not happen again."

"Besides, we can see that as Xiong Ying grows older, he has many ambitions in national affairs. If you ascend the throne, he will be the crown prince, and you can rightfully realize his ambitions."

Do you understand what I'm saying?

Zhu Biao, his eyes red-rimmed, said, "Your subject understands, but..."

Seeing that Zhu Biao was about to cry, Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to be displeased and said, "You're a grandfather now, why are you crying over such a small thing?"

"Your subject did not, your subject..." Zhu Biao felt distressed and did not know how to say it.

Zhu Yuanzhang: "I am only informing you of this matter, not discussing it with you."

Zhu Biao took a breath and bowed down, "Your subject obeys!"

The next day.

Zhu Biao, accompanied by his entourage, arrived outside the Liu residence to wait for Liu Kuan.

Seeing Liu Kuan leave, he called Liu Kuan into the carriage.

"Your Highness, this humble subject pays respects."

“Brother-in-law, no need for such formalities.” Zhu Biao helped Liu Kuan up, gesturing for him to sit down, and then said, “Brother-in-law, I won’t go with you to the cross-river bridge today. Please take care of yourself.”

Although Liu Kuan was curious as to why Zhu Biao wasn't going this year, he didn't ask.

If he asks, it will seem like he's forcing Zhu Biao to go along, which wouldn't be good.

Zhu Biao then asked, "Brother-in-law, how's the camera development going?"

Zhu Biao's question was too abrupt, and Liu Kuan was taken aback before saying, "We have already figured out how to take black and white photos, but we don't know how long it will take to develop the negatives and film."

"In addition, modern cameras and printing equipment are quite large and the process of using them is relatively cumbersome, so they are not very practical."

Zhu Biao stated frankly, "My father wants a camera. If possible, I hope the Imperial Workshop can urge them to speed up the research on cameras and film."

"If that really doesn't work, we can simplify the current camera equipment so that my father can take it outside to use."

Liu Kuan listened thoughtfully, then nodded and said, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Afterwards, Liu Kuan got off the carriage and, with his entourage, went to the bridge across the river to wait for the strange fog.

Unfortunately, it didn't arrive by noon.

If he hadn't brought a parasol, and even fruit and drinks, he would have been very uncomfortable standing in the sun on the bridge all morning...
Two days later.

After Liu Kuancai finished his inspection of the Photographic Research Institute (formerly the Photosensitive Materials Research Institute) at Qixia Mountain and returned to the city, he was urgently summoned to the palace by someone from the palace.

'What happened now?'

Liu Kuan kept muttering to himself before entering the palace.

Could it be that Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly fell ill?

As for the Prince of Yong and the Prince of Lu returning from the Americas, if they had any questions for him, they could ask Zhu Biao, but Zhu Biao would not send anyone to summon them urgently.

Filled with doubt, Liu Kuan arrived at Fengxian Hall and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that both Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were unharmed. After bowing, he took the initiative to ask, "May I ask what brings Your Majesty to summon me to the palace in such a hurry?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Yu-ei was assassinated by Japanese assassins on Tsushima Island."

"Huh?" Liu Kuan exclaimed in shock, then quickly asked, "How is Xiong Ying?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "He's alright, just some minor injuries. However, he sent a telegram saying that Japan's assassination attempt has clearly reached a dead end, and it's time to close the net and bring Japan under the rule of our Great Ming."

Liu relaxed his tone, then felt that something was off about the matter, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

At this moment, Zhu Biao said, "Brother-in-law, this assassination was actually planned by Xiong Ying—in fact, he believed that the previous strategies of getting the Japanese to 'convert rice paddies into mulberry fields' and 'immigrate' had become less effective."

"Now that the three countries that were split from the former Northern and Southern Courts of Japan are all impoverished and the people yearn for peace, it is unlikely that a major war will break out again, even if the spies of the Bright Guard provoke them."

"The three kingdoms have even begun to secretly communicate, plotting to negotiate peace with each other or even unite against our Great Ming."

"Furthermore, there is a clear anti-Ming sentiment emerging among the Japanese samurai class. If left unchecked, this sentiment may become extremely strong within a few years. At that time, it may very well lead to the formation of a unified alliance among the three countries of Japan to oppose our Great Ming."

"Xiongying felt that the matter of conquering Japan could not be delayed any longer, so he orchestrated the assassination of him by Japanese ninjas as an excuse for our Ming Dynasty to send troops to Japan."

After Zhu Biao finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang said somewhat displeasedly, "What kind of talk is that? Is that an excuse? It is a fact that the Japanese assassinated U.A., and it is also a fact that the nobles and samurai class of the three Japanese countries oppressed and abused the common people. We are sending troops to Japan openly and legitimately to save the poor and suffering people of Japan!"

Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Liu Kuan almost couldn't help but laugh.

He suppressed a laugh and said, "Your Majesty is right. If our Great Ming sends troops to Japan, it will definitely be to rescue the poor people of Japan."

"The oppression of ordinary people by the Japanese aristocracy and samurai class was almost like skinning them alive and drinking their blood. They should have been swept into the dustbin of history long ago."

"Hahaha!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily, a rare moment of joy. "Biao'er, do you see that? Your awareness isn't even as high as Liu Kuan's!"

Although Zhu Biao knew that Liu Kuan definitely supported taking down Japan, he was still somewhat helpless to see Liu Kuan so openly supporting Zhu Xiong Ying's plan.

He then got down to business, saying, "According to the intelligence from the Bright Guard, the most powerful of the three Japanese states, the Northern Court, also known as the Ashikaga Shogunate, has a population of just over three million and an army of just over two hundred thousand."

"The remaining two countries have a population of only about two million and an army of only a few hundred thousand. Moreover, all three countries have various internal problems and have been heavily infiltrated by the Bright Guard."

"Therefore, once the great war against Japan begins, our Ming Dynasty will surely be able to successfully conquer and destroy the three Japanese states. The main reason for summoning my brother-in-law to the palace is to hear his thoughts on governing the Japanese islands after the war."

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan said, "Your Highness, didn't we discuss this before? After Japan is conquered, too many Japanese people should not be left on its original territory."

"From what Your Highness just said, they still have seven million people, right? Then at least six million people will have to be relocated and dispersed elsewhere."

"Moreover, no matter where these people migrate to, the new generation must be ordered to speak Chinese and learn Chinese characters, and it would be best to prohibit them from speaking Japanese."

"It would take several generations, or even a dozen generations, to completely wipe the Hiyori clan out of this world."

Zhu Biao said, "Japan does indeed still have seven million people. But according to you, immigrating six million is no small number, and it will probably take many years to complete."

Liu Kuan said firmly, "Your Highness, Japan is like a poisonous snake lurking beside the Ming Dynasty. It must be killed once and for all to eliminate future troubles."

"We will not do things like genocide that violate the laws of nature and humanity, but we must do things like immigration and eradicating their languages ​​and cultures, even if it takes twenty or thirty years!"

Hearing Liu Kuan's resolute tone, Zhu Biao recalled the heinous crimes committed by Japan during its invasion of later generations, and sighed, "Very well, let's do as my brother-in-law says. Let's discuss the specifics..."

Liu Kuan discussed the post-war governance of Japan with Zhu Biao in the Fengxian Hall for more than an hour before leaving.

Once he left the palace and his excitement subsided (from the anticipation of finally destroying the Japanese), he noticed something.

During the discussion, Zhu Yuanzhang rarely interrupted, acting more like an observer.

This is very different from Liu Kuan's impression of Zhu Yuanzhang as being strong and proactive.

Considering the series of personnel changes in the court in recent days, Liu Kuan suddenly had a certain guess.

'Could it be that Old Zhu is failing? Is he going to pass the throne to Zhu Biao ahead of schedule?'

'No way? '

'My arrival didn't extend Old Zhu's lifespan; in fact, it shortened it?'

'Wait a minute... Old Zhu wants to abdicate and become the Retired Emperor?!'

When the final guess came out, Liu Kuan's expression became extremely strange.

In the eyes of later generations, Zhu Yuanzhang was a power-hungry individual. It is truly surprising that such a person would voluntarily abdicate and relinquish supreme power.

However, as the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, even if Zhu Yuanzhang had abdicated, regaining power would have been a simple matter of a single word.

'Forget it, I can't control their royal family's affairs, and I shouldn't get involved. From now on, I'll focus more on Japanese affairs.'

···
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On the fifth day of the eighth month of the twenty-seventh year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Ashikaga Shogunate of Japan sent ninjas to assassinate Zhu Xiong Ying, the grandson of the Ming emperor, on Tsushima Island. Zhu Xiong Ying was "seriously injured," but fortunately, he was saved by timely medical treatment.

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious upon hearing the news.

The matter was quickly revealed by several influential official and unofficial newspapers, and the government and the public were outraged.

From high-ranking officials to commoners, all who knew of this matter denounced the viciousness of Japan... (End of Chapter)