Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 195 Empress Ma was completely dumbfounded

Empress Ma was genuinely curious.

On one hand, it's out of curiosity about the future.

Just think about it, how many people aren't curious about what will happen in the future?
Otherwise, why would so many people enjoy fortune telling and similar things?
The goal is to glimpse a glimpse of the future through these things.

No one knows whether fortune telling is accurate or not. Some people always like to speak ambiguously and vaguely.

But now, my own Chongba has had such an extraordinary encounter, and knows about the future.

And this future event is not hearsay, but something Chongba himself experienced.

Under such circumstances, how could Empress Ma possibly tolerate it?

On the other hand, they are also very curious about what their sons will do in the future.

To be honest, Empress Ma really put a lot of effort into raising these sons.

Teaching by example and giving earnest instructions.

Looking back now, all the sons are exceptionally outstanding, except for the second son, who is a bit of a troublemaker.

But now the second child has changed for the better, and he and Minmin are living a happy and fulfilling life together.

It doesn't seem like he'll do anything outrageous in the future.

According to Chongba, he returned during the New Year's Day grand court assembly last year.

As a result, she beat up her sons that very day, which made her think twice.

"That's right!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded vigorously.

At the time, he was beaten up by his own sister with a feather duster for beating up those bastards.

And even though he got beaten up, he didn't dare to reveal the real reason.

Now you can tell all of this to your girlfriend!

"Girl, don't even mention it!"
"If it weren't for those bastards doing such a despicable thing, why would we have beaten them up on the first day of the Lunar New Year?"

Zhu Yuanzhang became uneasy whenever this was mentioned.

Even though this happened in his past life and is unlikely to happen in this life, he still couldn't help but get angry.

"Take that idiot second son for example. Girl, you have no idea how beastly he was after he was enfeoffed. He was simply inhuman!"
When we were in the capital, before he was enfeoffed, we repeatedly told him that once he arrived there, if the Prince of Qin's residence was already built, he should not expand it.

But this idiot, he agreed so readily, then turned around and completely ignored us.

Upon arriving there, they immediately began constructing more palaces, wasting resources and manpower.

Not to mention, for such a worthless woman as Deng, they really did all sorts of inhuman things.

In an attempt to curry favor with the Deng family, they sent people to the coast to buy up jewelry, causing great distress to the local people.

We issued paper money here and issued corresponding orders prohibiting the circulation of gold and silver.

But he went on to plunder gold and silver in Guanzhong, causing widespread resentment among the people.

Commoners went outside the Prince Qin's residence to plead with him to stop, saying that instead of handling the situation properly, he had accidentally killed an old man!

As she listened to Zhu Yuanzhang's story, Empress Ma's breathing became somewhat heavy.

He was clearly angered by what his son had done!
"This guy is incredibly cruel! He and the Deng family take pleasure in torturing and killing palace women."

They would cut out the tongues of palace servants who made mistakes, leave them naked in the snow to freeze to death, or burn them alive, and so on.

Logically speaking, even if someone from the Prince of Qin's mansion made a mistake, they should first be sent to the capital to be punished and executed.

But these two beasts, fearing their deeds would be exposed, secretly tortured and killed them.

Later, in an attempt to please Lady Deng, he even made clothes and headwear that only an empress could wear for her.

He treated Minmin, the Qin King's principal wife, with the same extreme harshness and abuse!
They moved Minmin to another courtyard and locked her up, feeding her only scraps of food each day.

It could be said that they ate worse than the dogs in the Qin King's mansion.

Not to mention their status.

And this Deng woman is no good either; she's a complete slut! A piece of trash!

After arriving in the fiefdom, he colluded with outsiders and engaged in despicable acts.

For example, many folk musicians were recruited to perform songs and dances at the Qin King's Palace, and then they were allowed to stay overnight at the Qin King's Palace.

This has been done more than once or twice.

That idiot second son didn't notice anything at all and kept treating her like a treasure!

When Zhu Yuanzhang talked about this, he couldn't help but grit his teeth.

Even though I know these things won't happen again, I still can't help it.

Empress Ma was already dumbfounded.

The things her own brother, Chongba, said about what her second son had done made her question the meaning of life for a moment.

The shock it caused her was immense!

She originally thought that even if her son was bad, he couldn't be that bad.

Who would have thought that the second brother would be such a beast! Doing so many monstrous things!
It seems that Chongba really made the right choice in choosing him!
Let alone Chongba, even he couldn't help but want to give the second brother a good beating after hearing this, to teach the guy a lesson!
Shocked and angry, I also remembered that I had previously planned to arrange another marriage for my second son.

At that time, what they valued most was the daughter of Duke Deng Yu of Wei.

She now understood why Chongba had reacted that way.

And let me tell you, Deng Yu's daughter doesn't look right; she doesn't seem like a decent person.

It turns out that it wasn't that she was incapable, but rather that Chongba already knew what she was going to do in his previous life!

I felt a mix of lingering fear and relief.

Fortunately, his son Chongba had such a wonderful encounter, which nipped these thoughts in the bud and prevented them from actually happening.

Otherwise, putting such a person next to the second son would be a disaster, unimaginable!

Thinking this, her heart skipped a beat again, remembering how she had previously planned to marry the Xie family girl to Tiande as his wife and second wife, but was stopped by Chongba.

Could it be that these things also won't work?

"Chongba, that Xie family woman..."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded vigorously: "Sister, you're right. That Xie woman is no better either."

Problems easily arise when an older man marries a younger woman, and Xie was a woman of questionable character; after marrying Tiande, she quickly began to act recklessly.

Later, she even started having an affair with the steward of his household.

Not only that, they even tried to murder Tiande!

Empress Ma took a breath, her expression turning somber.

How could they do such things and even try to murder Tiande?

It's true what they say: you can know a person's face but not their heart!

While I was annoyed by it, I also felt a little embarrassed by my own judgment.

Before this, I thought both of them were good people and a good match.

Who would have thought that they would do such things after getting married?

Wow... I'm really good at judging people.

“Chongba, what about the third brother? The third brother is different from the second brother.”
Why did you beat up the third brother too?

After calming herself down, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked again.

"The third brother is generally fine. There's only one reason we beat him up: he got into a fight with the cook we sent on his way to his fiefdom."

Then they beat the cook in front of everyone.

That's not the point. The point is that after taking the cook away, they didn't fire him, but kept him by their side and let him continue working as a cook.

Girl, isn't this just asking for trouble?

What if the cook holds a grudge and puts poison in the food? Wouldn't it be a sure thing for the third son to be poisoned? How could he possibly escape?

These close relatives are either left unpunished, or once dealt with, they are immediately sent far away so that they can no longer be around to do these essential tasks.

Otherwise, who knows, they might suddenly become wicked one day.

If someone were to lose their life because of this, that would be such a huge loss, a complete joke!

Everyone has to die, but the way one dies and how long one lives make a world of difference.

If someone dies fighting on the battlefield or doing something commendable for the Ming Dynasty, it's understandable; they can be considered to have died a worthy death.

But if someone beats up the cook or other people nearby, and then gets killed by them using underhanded means, that would be a huge loss.

After listening to what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Empress Ma nodded, feeling that what her son, Chongba, said made a lot of sense.

The third brother deserved to be punished by the heavy-duty thugs, and that was entirely justified.

"Where's the fifth brother? I remember that neither the fifth nor the sixth brother got beaten up that day?"

This shows that they both do quite well in the future.

"Yes, our fifth son is really great!"

When Empress Ma asked this question, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyebrows practically flew up.

"You don't know me, girl. We were misled before. We thought medicine wasn't a particularly good or proper path, and we wanted him to learn martial arts and literature."

Later I learned that medicine treats illnesses and saves lives, which is also the right path and extremely important.

The fifth brother went very far in the field of medicine.

The fifth son wrote "The Compendium of Famine Relief Herbs".

It was to tell the people what wild vegetables they could eat when they encountered a famine and could not survive.

This book is highly regarded in modern times.

Moreover, even Li Shizhen, who compiled the "Compendium of Materia Medica," drew great inspiration from it.

In addition, he also acquired many other medical books.

He is, in a sense, someone who has left his mark on medical history.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed exceptionally pleased as he recounted these matters concerning his fifth son. Empress Ma, upon hearing this, was equally delighted.

After hearing about all the terrible things the second brother had done, hearing how outstanding the fifth brother was made me feel quite good.

"So, that's why you not only stopped preventing the fifth prince from studying medicine, but actually encouraged him to study medicine, let him enter the Imperial Medical Academy, and even told him about a treatment for smallpox, which you then had him research?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded: "Yes, sister, doctors treat illnesses and save lives."

The fifth brother's decision to study medicine is indeed the right path, and there are many roads to travel in the medical field.

Girl, can you imagine that hundreds of years from now, smallpox has been completely eradicated through vaccines?

Future generations will no longer need to worry about smallpox.

When Zhu Yuanzhang spoke of these things, his eyes almost shone with light.

"There is also tuberculosis, which has many drugs and medical treatments available in later generations."

In China, only a few thousand people die from tuberculosis each year.

However, millions of people suffer from tuberculosis.

There weren't as many people dying from colds each year as we do now.

Empress Ma's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

Wow, that's amazing!

Is this even possible? It's simply unbelievable!
"That's not all, girl. Modern medical techniques are simply amazing."

For example, if there is a tumor in the brain, the brain can be opened up, the tumor can be removed, and the person can be safe and sound.

Even some people whose hearts fail can still get a transplant and continue living once a suitable heart is found.

They can replace all sorts of things, including kidneys, liver, and corneas.

For example, if a person loses all four limbs due to an accident, they can be fitted with prosthetics.

Good prosthetics can enable people with broken legs to walk with ease.

Even before I woke up, I had seen the latest prosthetics.

The kind with neural sensors.

For example, if a hand is severed, a prosthesis can be worn on the arm.

Once the brain has a corresponding idea, the nerves will transmit these ideas to the prosthesis.

When the prosthesis receives a signal, it will naturally react accordingly.

It's almost indistinguishable from a real hand..."

Empress Ma listened in stunned silence, as if she were hearing a myth.

I was completely stunned, my head was buzzing.

A person's brain is ripped open, yet they can still live?!

They can even have their heart and liver replaced and still live?!
This...this must be divine intervention!

It's unbelievable!
Smallpox could have been eradicated, and tuberculosis could have been conquered. The number of people who died from tuberculosis in a year was less than that of the common cold today, which was already quite astonishing!

It was like listening to gibberish.

But when she heard her son, Chongba, talking about these things, Empress Ma was even more surprised.

How could people in later generations be so clever? What methods did they use to accomplish such miraculous feats?
Did Chongba go hundreds of years into the future? Or did he go to the celestial realm?!

"So, if Cao Cao had listened to Hua Tuo back then and let Hua Tuo split his head open with a sharp axe to treat him, he might have lived a little longer?"

After staring in disbelief for a while, Empress Ma looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and suddenly changed the subject.

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed upon hearing this: "Sister, you're right. You might actually survive."

Of course, it's more likely that Cao Cao died immediately.

Although Hua Tuo was also a surgical master, there were many intricacies involved in craniotomy.

Putting aside everything else, even the most basic sterile environment, disinfection, and prevention of infection were basically impossible to achieve in ancient times.

If Cao Cao had actually let Hua Tuo split open his head to treat his illness, he probably would have died on the spot.

Even if they don't die on the spot, it's very difficult for them to survive the subsequent bacterial infections, etc.

……

The booming sound of cannons continued unabated.

On the sea surface, there are many broken planks and some shipwrecks.

More often, people died.

The naval battle near Baihua Island is still ongoing.

Its scale and influence far surpassed that of the Battle of Poyang Lake in those years.

The two sides fought to a standstill, or one could say it was a one-sided battle.

With so many cannons equipped, and the naval tactics that Zhu Yuanzhang had learned from later generations, the Ming Dynasty's navy was unstoppable in its fight against these pirates.

The two sides are not even on the same level.

Even though their ships are large and their crews are numerous, and they have been sailing the seas for many years.

But even when faced with these groundbreaking innovations, it still doesn't work.

The generational gap between the two sides is simply too great!
Chen Zhili's eyes were completely bloodshot, and he entered a state of frenzy.

Why haven't the cannons on the Ming Dynasty ships exploded yet? How are they still usable?!

He had some knowledge of artillery.

On the one hand, artillery has limited power and a slow rate of fire.

At the same time, artillery has another drawback: it can't fire many shots in a row before the barrel explodes and it becomes unusable.

But now, the cannons on these Ming Dynasty naval warships have fired at least twenty rounds.

But the cannon fire continued unabated, with no sign of a barrel explosion.
What kind of cannon is that? How did it do that?
At this time, eight of his two thousand-ton ships had sunk, making his heart bleed!

In other words, half of his prized two-thousand-ton ships had been lost.

The situation on Bald Old Fang's side wasn't much better.

This wasn't what hurt and angered him the most.

What distressed him most was that despite paying such a high price, they hadn't been able to inflict any significant damage on the Ming Dynasty's navy.

From the beginning until now, it's always been them who's getting beaten up!

"No retreat! No retreat! Keep charging! If you charge, the enemy is dead!"

He roared loudly, ordering his men to wave flags to relay commands and to continue pursuing the Ming navy.

But at this point, even his orders, which were respectfully addressed as "General" by his thieves, were no longer effective.

Even after his orders were given, the warships continued to retreat and flee.

They stopped chasing after the Ming Dynasty's navy to fight.

Fighting against the Ming Dynasty's navy would be tantamount to suicide.

By this time, these pirates were terrified by the repeated bombardments.

All my courage was gone.

They abandoned all illusions and charged forward, ramming and destroying the Ming army's ships with their own.

The Ming army did not give them that opportunity.

In this process, only they died.

If this continues, they'll all die here!
"You bastards, don't back down! Don't back down! Anyone who backs down dies!"

Chen Zhili roared and cursed, but it was no use.

Nobody listens to him anymore.

Even after a while, the people on his ship began to turn and prepare to escape.

The situation on Bald Old Fang's side was not much different from that on Chen Zhili's side.

It was even more chaotic than Chen Zhili's place, and they fled even earlier.

The reason for this is that Bald Old Fang was hit head-on by a shell not long ago.

They smashed his bald head to pieces.

It can be said that everyone is equal before artillery shells.

At this moment, the pirates had only one thought: to escape! To escape for their lives!
Stay away from those terrifying Ming Dynasty naval forces!

With so many of them scattering and escaping, they're sure to get away!

If you don't run, you'll die!

However, Yu Tongyuan was also well-prepared for this situation.

He immediately ordered his men to split up and give chase.

The enemy can escape in separate groups, and we can also divide into small teams to pursue the enemy ships and keep them on our heels.

The war has reached this point; it won't be so easy for the enemy to run away now.

These bastards must be taken down!
You've already come all this way, do you really want to leave?!
"Fire! Yes, fire like that! Bombard them with artillery!"

"These mere pirates dare to act so arrogantly in front of the Ming Dynasty's navy!"

The old man, Wang Dayuan, who had been worried all along, was no longer worried at this moment. Instead, he was on the deck shouting, jumping up and down, gritting his broken teeth, and demanding that the fleeing pirates be dealt a severe blow.

The change before and after is huge, and this reaction couldn't be more realistic.

……

"Chongba, what about the fourth brother? What has the fourth brother done this time?"

"When I looked at you later when you beat up the fourth brother, you didn't hold back either..."

(End of this chapter)