Parallel Ming Dynasty: The more he compared, the more devastated Zhu Yuanzhang became.

Chapter 31 At Zhu Biao's funeral, Zhu Yunwen smiled with emotion.

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In the video footage.

On this morning, Zhu Yuanzhang and his civil and military officials held a grand ceremony to worship Heaven outside the palace.

Having truly witnessed the earth-shaking changes that had taken place in the lives of ordinary people over the past few years, and how their lives had become increasingly prosperous, Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply moved.

He felt grateful that he had not failed the trust placed in him by the people. During his years of ruling, he had enabled the common people to live a peaceful and prosperous life.

All the civil and military officials in the court shouted in unison that the Emperor's mandate of heaven had been bestowed upon the Ming Dynasty, and that the country would be prosperous and the people at peace.

The entire Ming Dynasty was like a valiant warrior in his prime, brimming with boundless vitality and energy.

The entire sacrificial ceremony was a scene of prosperity and flourishing everywhere.

When Zhu Yuanzhang prayed and offered sacrifices to Heaven, Zhu Duo, Zhu Yunwen, and a group of princes and grandsons stood by his side to watch the ceremony. Several years had passed, and they had all grown up a lot.

Zhu Duo, who has never been particularly famous, seems to have no other memorable deeds besides his handsome appearance, extraordinary talent and temperament.

Zhu Duo's expression was calm and his gaze was deep and profound.

Zhu Yunwen, meanwhile, gazed at Zhu Yuanzhang with envy, secretly plotting to possess such awe-inspiring majesty when he ascended the throne.

In the imperial court of the new world, Zhu Yuanzhang wore an unspeakable embarrassment on his face.

The scene playing on the screen right now, which belongs to him, looks so domineering and spirited, but he knows all too well in his heart that at that time, he only thought that all of this was due to his good governance and that this prosperous scene was all his achievement.

But now—

That's such a slap in the face!

That's a complete slap in the face!

The Ming Dynasty's current prosperity is entirely due to Zhu Duo's silent planning and dedicated efforts behind the scenes.

Especially with the scenery of another world as a contrast.

The mere absence of Zhu Duo created such a vast chasm between the two worlds, demonstrating just how crucial Zhu Duo was to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Duo and said in a low voice, "Back then, the person who should have offered sacrifices to Heaven to express gratitude was not me, but you. No, it should not have been offering sacrifices to Heaven to express gratitude, but rather to your unparalleled achievements!"

The people of the entire Ming Dynasty should worship your unparalleled achievements.

"I only did some trivial things," Zhu Duo said, looking completely unconcerned.

"This is no small matter..."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke in a somber tone.

Standing aside watching the two talk, Liu Bowen slowly revealed a gentle and relieved smile on his face.

One was the king to whom he served his entire life, and the other was his prized disciple whom he regarded as his own son.

Liu Bowen never imagined that he would have such a peaceful and happy moment.

"only--"

The thought of Zhu Duo's long-planned scheme stirred up a complex and indescribable feeling in Liu Bowen's heart.

Zhu Duo's plan to rebel was so meticulously crafted that even if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to resist, there was no chance of turning the tide.

Liu Bowen had foreseen this, but he never expected things to turn out this way.

However, this might not be so bad.

At least, Zhu Duo and Zhu Yuanzhang never reached the point of fighting each other.

in the picture.

The manager of the Peace Trading Company bowed and reported to Zhu Duo that the ironclad warships had been fully completed, featuring steam power, an all-metal hull, full outer armor, multi-compartment watertight compartments, a propeller propulsion system, and side armor protection technology. They were temporarily placed under the jurisdiction of the Logistics Department.

However, due to limitations in production efficiency, raw material supply, and other factors, only three ships have been successfully built so far.

Not long after, the Royal Research Institute reported that the breech-loading smoothbore gun had been developed and that the large-caliber breech-loading shipborne gun had also been developed simultaneously.

Zhu Duo immediately ordered that all large-caliber breech-loading naval guns be installed on the ironclad warships, and the complete ironclad warships were thus formed.

The three ironclad warships belonging exclusively to the Peace Trading Company were now all completed.

{Original World: Everyone was dumbfounded. A ship made entirely of iron didn't sink?!}

{New World: Isn't this perfectly normal? It's just the most basic principle of density, something we learned in middle school physics. As long as the weight of the displaced water is greater than the weight of the iron ship itself, it's enough for the ship to float.}

{Original World: But this ironclad ship is so heavy, can it even move fast? It definitely won't be very maneuverable, and we might end up as sitting ducks.}

New World: No way! This iron ship is equipped with a steam engine. The power of a steam engine is unimaginably strong. One steam engine can be as powerful as ten strong horses!

Furthermore, the larger the steam engine, the more powerful it could output!

Although the Ming Dynasty is now at the height of its power, with rapid development in all sectors, it can be considered a powerful nation that is hard to rival on land.

However, its coastal defense construction remains very weak.

Recently, Japanese pirates have been frequently causing trouble at sea, intercepting merchant ships traveling to and from the Ming Dynasty, and constantly harassing coastal prefectures and counties, burning, killing, and looting everywhere. This has caused the Ming Dynasty heavy losses and has also effectively cut off the sea routes for trade between the Ming Dynasty and distant countries.

Upon learning of this, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and immediately issued an edict: "No matter the cost, these Japanese pirates must be completely eradicated!"

"I order the Ming Dynasty navy to immediately set out and do everything in its power to suppress the bandits!"

After the Ming navy was ordered to set out, Zhu Duo sat on an ironclad warship and observed the battle from afar with a telescope in hand.

He discovered that although the Japanese pirates' ships were small in size, they were fast, highly maneuverable, and numerous.

This meant that the Ming Dynasty's navy was completely unable to inflict any substantial damage on the Japanese pirates.

Moreover, the Ming navy failed to achieve anything on both of its expeditions.

Even worse, during the third campaign to suppress the Japanese pirates, the Ming Dynasty's soldiers were so eager to annihilate the enemy that they rashly chose to split their forces to pursue them. As a result, they fell right into the trap of the Japanese pirates, who turned around and surrounded one of the Ming Dynasty's lone ships.

"It's time for us to make our move."

Zhu Duo, gazing at the Ming warship that resembled a lion surrounded by a pack of hyenas, naturally wouldn't stand idly by.

"Second Battalion Commander, where the hell are all your naval guns?! Bomb all these Japanese pirate ships to pieces!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The soldiers under his command immediately began loading the naval cannons! The large-caliber naval cannons mounted on the ironclad warships could still accurately hit the Japanese pirate ships around the Ming warships, even from a great distance.

Each shot could accurately sink a Japanese pirate ship.

The soldiers on the Ming warships, which were completely surrounded, were all stunned.

They thought that today they had no choice but to fight to the death, but they never expected that the situation would take such a dramatic turn, and that someone would come to their rescue!

The Japanese pirates' ships were bombarded and destroyed, and they didn't even know which direction the attack came from.

Therefore, after only a few shots, the Japanese pirate fleet was completely routed.

"Who saved us?!"

On the Ming warship, the soldiers were overjoyed and hurriedly looked around.

"Sir, there seems to be a ship on the sea over there!"

A soldier holding binoculars shouted.

The captain of the warship immediately took the binoculars and looked, but even with the binoculars, he could not see very clearly and could only vaguely see three black dots on the sea.

But that's enough.

"Although we still don't know who they are, there's no doubt we're saved!"

The soldiers on the warship were overjoyed to have survived the ordeal.

The warship did not stop either. Now that the battle situation had completely reversed, it was natural to take advantage of the situation and strike the drowning dog hard.

Therefore, they immediately regrouped their troops and began to pursue and kill the scattered remnants of the Japanese pirates.

After this battle, the Japanese pirates suffered a crushing defeat and never dared to plunder Ming Dynasty merchant ships again.

The Ming navy finally delivered the victory report to the imperial palace in Yingtianfu.

The Ming navy did not conceal the fact that a divine force had appeared when the Japanese pirates were defeated, and reported it truthfully.

In the court of the new world.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zhu Duo with a strange look in his eyes.

"Duo'er, I never expected that you were the one who did this."

Zhu Yuanzhang was full of surprise, because when the Ming soldiers reported the arrival of divine soldiers, he thought it was just a rumor. He never expected that the person was Zhu Duo.

Zhu Duo smiled faintly, as if he had already guessed what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to ask, "It was just something I did on the spur of the moment. Besides, the reason I took action in the first place was because many of the merchant ships traveling on the ocean belonged to my Peace Trading Company."

Once the ironclad warships are completed, it will be natural to take the opportunity to eliminate the Japanese pirates at sea.

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone turned serious as he said, "What we can't understand is that you built such ironclad warships without telling us at all. To this day, we still don't know that you have three such powerful ironclad warships!"

Duo'er, wouldn't it be a great thing if we equipped our Ming Dynasty's coastal defense with these ironclad warships?

With such a powerful weapon, wouldn't our Ming Dynasty navy be able to dominate the seas and be invincible?

Zhu Yunwen suddenly felt he had grasped the underlying meaning in Zhu Yuanzhang's words, and a surge of joy filled him. He quickly interjected, "Grandfather, Zhu Duo possesses such powerful ships and cannons, yet he deliberately conceals it. He must have ulterior motives and malicious intentions!"

"shut up!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. He could easily see through Zhu Yunwen's little scheme; he just wanted to use him to suppress and exclude Zhu Duo.

"shut up!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. He could easily see through Zhu Yunwen's little scheme; he just wanted to use him to suppress and exclude Zhu Duo.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang had no doubts about Zhu Duo's intentions; he simply couldn't understand why Zhu Duo hadn't reported the matter for so long.

Zhu Duo smiled again and explained, "Because these three warships are not currently within the territory of the Ming Dynasty."

"Not even in the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart tightened suddenly. Could it be that Zhu Duo had sold these three warships to another country?

"Hmm. I don't know the exact location of these three warships right now."

However, judging by the days, if nothing unexpected happens, we should be returning to the Ming Dynasty soon.

"Are we going back to the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was even more confused by Zhu Duo's words.

Zhu Duo didn't explain further, but instead kept everyone in suspense, smiling as he said, "Your Majesty, you'll find out as you watch on. I think the video will soon reach that part."

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his many doubts and did not pursue the matter further.

He ultimately chose to believe Zhu Duo, who would certainly not do anything to harm the Ming Dynasty.

In the video footage.

Before Zhu Duo returned to Yingtian Prefecture, a shocking piece of news arrived—Crown Prince Zhu Biao had passed away.

This was nothing short of a bolt from the blue for the entire Ming Dynasty.

The sudden death of the crown prince shocked and grieved the entire court, but Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent and did not utter a word.

Upon learning this news, Zhu Duo immediately rode at full speed to Yingtian Prefecture to attend the Crown Prince's funeral.

But who knew—

At the Crown Prince's funeral, Zhu Yunwen's face was full of grief, but in the moment he lowered his head and looked down, he revealed a hint of excitement that he could not hide, in addition to his sorrow.

When this scene was clearly played on the video screen.

People in both worlds and all over the world were in an uproar.

{New World: What?! The Crown Prince has suddenly passed away, and Zhu Yunwen, his biological son, is actually showing joy?! This is hardly the behavior of a proper son!}

{New World: Zhu Yunwen was actually excited after his own father's death? Could it be that he already knew that the emperor would make him the crown prince after his father's death?!}

Or perhaps, the Crown Prince's death was inextricably linked to Zhu Yunwen?

{Original World: This is Zhu Yunwen from your world, not ours, right?}

{Original World: Could it be that the Crown Prince of our world is also such a heartless and treacherous person?!}

{New World: If someone like that were to become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, wouldn't our Ming Dynasty become a nation devoid of filial piety and virtue?}

{New World: I can't even imagine what our Ming Dynasty would become if Zhu Yunwen became emperor!}

The comments section for both the original world and the new world exploded.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been watching the screen intently, widened his eyes, felt a sudden tightness in his chest, and fainted on the spot from anger.

"Father! Father!"

The princes were all terrified.

"Your Majesty!"

Liu Bowen, Qi Tai, and other key ministers were all greatly alarmed.