Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 6: Xiao Zhu tries riding a bike, Lao Zhu wants to lock the bridge [Please read]

Zhu Biao looked back and saw that Tang He and hundreds of his personal soldiers had fallen two or three hundred steps away. He felt that this was a rare opportunity.

So he stopped by pulling the reins and dismounted.

Liu Kuan also stopped.

Zhu Biao asked, "Can Master Liu ride a horse?"

Liu Kuan shook his head, "No."

Zhu Biao then said to Mu Ying, "Help Master Liu control the reins."

With Mu Ying's riding skills, riding two horses at the same time is no problem at all.

Liu Kuan also wanted to try riding a horse, but he felt that just getting on a horse was not easy and was much more dangerous than riding a bicycle.

He then shook his head and said, "I won't ride the horse. Although this bicycle is easy to ride, without my guidance, Your Highness will probably need some time to learn it."

Then, Liu Kuan taught Zhu Biao how to ride a bicycle on the main road.

The main thing is to put away the bicycle legs, understand the front and rear brakes, and how to start riding and how to maintain balance.

After Liu Kuan finished speaking, Zhu Biao commented, "It certainly sounds easier than riding a horse."

"Then your highness should try it?"

Zhu Biao nodded, took the bicycle handlebars, and got on it like Liu Kuan.

Shared bicycles are relatively short, and Zhu Biao is about 1.7 meters tall, so he feels very stable when he steps on them.

Then he began to pedal the bike like Liu Kuan.

At the beginning, I rode left and right and couldn't keep my balance.

But because the bicycle was low, he was able to stabilize himself by putting his legs down and did not fall.

After trying for a while, Zhu Biao found the feeling, stopped leaning, and rode forward unsteadily.

Then Zhu Biao rode more and more steadily and faster and faster.

Seeing this, Mu Ying handed Zhu Biao's horse to Lan Yu and said, "You accompany Master Liu, and I will go to protect His Highness."

After saying this, he rode his horse to catch up with Zhu Biao.

Lan Yu looked at Liu Kuan who was walking and grinned, "You don't even know how to get on a horse, do you?"

Liu Kuan said, "Back then, horses were no longer a normal means of transportation. You wouldn't see them often, so it's normal that you wouldn't be able to get on one. Besides, I just didn't want to take the risk, not that I couldn't get on one."

Liu Kuan spoke at a rather fast pace, and there were a few "new words" in it, so Lan Yu only understood the general idea.

Then he couldn't help but ask, "You mean most people don't ride horses anymore?"

"Yes."

"Then how do you guys get there? Are you all riding these bikes?"

Liu Kuan said, "Bicycles were almost eliminated from common transportation back then. We either drove, took a bus, a plane, or a ship to go out... You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Lan Yu was a little dumbfounded.

He really didn't understand much of what Liu Kuan said.

On the other side, Zhu Biao became happier and happier as he rode, and rode faster and faster, with a smile on his face and a cheerful mood, as if he had returned to his childhood and youth.

Before he knew it, he had reached the end of the strange black road.

When I looked up, I saw a familiar tall figure in bright yellow, and subconsciously stepped on the brakes and stopped.

It was Zhu Yuanzhang who arrived.

Standing at the southernmost end of the strange black road.

Zhu Biao remembered the oral instructions that Captain Zhang had conveyed before, and felt uneasy, but he still rode his bike over.

When he got closer, Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was not that ugly.

He stopped the car, bowed and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you, Father."

Mu Ying followed suit and saluted, "Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang first looked at Zhu Biao carefully. Seeing that Zhu Biao was safe and sound, he frowned and said, "You have become so capable that you even dare to disobey my orders."

Zhu Biao smiled and explained, "When the emperor's instructions came, I was already on the bridge. Besides, I am fine."

Although Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Zhu Biao's actions were reckless, there were many civil and military officials around him, and the emperor's personal army was tens of thousands. He took Zhu Biao's face into consideration and did not say much.

In fact, seeing that Zhu Biao was safe and sound, Zhu Yuanzhang shifted his attention elsewhere.

He asked, "What about the strange man on the bridge?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang arrived, Captain Zhang reported everything that happened on the bridge, so he knew that there was a strange man who appeared together with the cross-river bridge.

Zhu Biao said, "He's right behind, with Lan Yu."

As they were talking, Lan Yu and Liu Kuan appeared on the strange black road.

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes slightly and saw that Lan Yu was pulling a horse, but the man was not riding. Without asking why, he directly ordered: "Mu Ying, go and get that man."

"According to the order!"

Mu Ying responded and rode away on horseback.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the bicycle for a few seconds before looking at Zhu Biao and asking, "Is this the iron horse that strange man rode?"

Zhu Biao said, "This thing is called a bicycle, it can also be called a bike or a bicycle. It is very comfortable to ride on this road."

"Have you found out where that man came from? And how did this cross-river bridge come about?" Zhu Biao looked around at everyone and said, "Father, this matter is not easy to announce to the public."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, then waved his hand, "All of you step aside."

The surrounding civil and military officials and personal guards responded and retreated twenty or thirty steps away.

Zhu Biao lowered his voice and said, "That man's name is Liu Kuan, which means benevolent. He is said to be from six hundred years in the future, and so is this bridge."

"Six hundred years later?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, looking surprised.

He thought that person would say that he came from heaven - some ministers here had guessed the same before, suspecting that the person was a banished immortal from heaven.

After all, this cross-river bridge is so shocking that it seems to be something unlike anything in this world.

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "That's what Master Liu said. I don't think he lied."

"Six hundred years later..." Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment, then a gleam of light flashed in his dragon eyes. He said, "If he really comes from six hundred years later, doesn't he know what will happen in the next six hundred years?"

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang had grasped the crux of the matter so quickly, Zhu Biao could not help but show admiration and said, "This is exactly what I was thinking, so I took the risk to talk to him."

"But Master Liu said he might not stay in Ming forever. Perhaps in the next moment, he and this bridge will return to six hundred years later?"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but widen his eyes when he heard this. "Can he and this bridge go back?"

Zhu Biao said: "It's just possible, he can't be sure."

"We must keep him and this bridge!" Zhu Yuanzhang immediately made a decision. "Not to mention that he might know what will happen in the next six hundred years, this cross-river bridge is a blessing from heaven for our Ming Dynasty. We can't let it slip away!"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not mention the benefits of the cross-river bridge because there was no need to say it.

Zhu Biao felt rather helpless after hearing this and said, "Father, Young Master Liu and this bridge are gifts from heaven. If God wants to take them back, we can't stop him."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and said, "Later, we'll send someone to tie up the piers of the cross-river bridge with ropes, and then tie the ropes to the shore and secure them!"

"As for Liu Kuan, we can also tie him up and have someone guard him. I don't believe that this bridge and the person tied up can disappear out of thin air!"

Zhu Biao was stunned and didn't know what to say for a moment.

When he came to his senses, he saw Mu Ying, Lan Yu and Liu Kuan coming to him.

Mu Ying and Lan Yu dismounted their horses swiftly and gracefully. In contrast, Liu Kuan's dismounting was slow and awkward.

This attracted the attention of Ming officials and soldiers not far away.

Mu Ying and Lan Yu knelt on one knee again to salute Zhu Yuanzhang.

Liu Kuan looked Zhu Yuanzhang up and down before he bowed and said, "Liu Kuan greets His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and asked, "Why don't you kneel?"

Liu Kuan glanced at Zhu Biao and said, "In my hometown, according to etiquette, we kneel to heaven and earth, and to our ancestors, but we rarely kneel to living people."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "You mean, six hundred years from now, the common people won't need to kneel when they see the emperor?"

Liu Kuan didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to directly point out his origins.

When he saw that the people in the south were only twenty or thirty steps away and there were only a few of them on the side of the road, he knew that Zhu Biao must have told Zhu Yuanzhang about his origins.

Liu Kuan had no intention of concealing his identity as a "person from later generations."

Furthermore, with the legendary historical figure Zhu Yuanzhang right before his eyes, he felt quite emotional and said, "There will be no emperor six hundred years from now."

There will be no emperor six hundred years later?!

After hearing what Liu Kuan said, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Mu Ying and Lan Yu were all shocked.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly recovered, looked deeply at Liu Kuan, and said, "Don't rely on your later origins to make up stories. How could there be no emperor in this world?"

Zhu Biao and the other two also looked over curiously.

Liu Kuan said: "It's actually very simple. Although there is no emperor in later generations, there are titles such as president, chief executive, and prime minister."

Liu Kuan was scared.

He did not dare to tell Zhu Yuanzhang the detailed systems of later countries after they abolished the imperial system, and only told a small part of the truth.

He was afraid that after Zhu Yuanzhang understood the system of later generations, he would be too wary of him and would not tolerate him - although he was not sure whether it would be permanent, he had to be on guard.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled after hearing this and said, "It turns out that it's just a change of name."

Liu Kuan said: "It's not just a change of name - later generations advocated equality of personality, regardless of status."

"Although this is difficult to fully implement, those in power are indeed becoming more and more approachable to the people. Therefore, in my time, the practice of kneeling before superiors had been abolished for over a hundred years."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly after hearing this, and no one knew what he was thinking, but he did not mention the kneeling ceremony again.

He pointed to the ground below and then to the bridge and asked, "Were these bridges and roads built by people in your time?"

Liu Kuan nodded, "Yes."

"How did you build it? How many civilians did the court conscript? How much money and grain did it cost?"

Liu Kuan said, "This bridge has been under construction for nearly sixty years. It's older than I am. I don't know exactly how much manpower and material resources were spent back then. But I do know one thing: the Ming Dynasty would definitely not be able to build it at this time."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry.

He nodded and said, "Such a magnificent cross-river bridge is indeed incapable of being built by the Ming Dynasty at present. I cannot even imagine how such a bridge could be built by human power."

At this point, he looked at Liu Kuan and continued, "Mr. Liu, if you can stay in the Ming Dynasty and guide the craftsmen to build a similar cross-river bridge, I can appoint you as the Minister of Works."

"I will also grant you a mansion, one hundred beautiful maids, four estates, ten thousand acres of fertile land, one thousand taels of gold, and one hundred thousand strings of cash. Are you willing?"

　Please collect it and read it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)