Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 272: The Ming Dynasty must possess Malacca! Has the Northern Yuan Dynasty been restored? [Subscribe]

When Zhu Yuanzhang first decided to embark on the great voyage of discovery, he fully realized the importance of the Strait of Malacca when he examined the global map.

Maritime transportation in later generations was far more developed than it is today. It is conceivable that the Malacca Strait must have been even more important.

Although he knew this, Zhu Yuanzhang still felt that he could learn a lot of useful knowledge from the following video, so he paid more attention.

The video starts with an animation, and a familiar female voice is heard narrating.

"On March 2021, 3, the super container ship 'Ever Given' was sailing in the Suez Canal when it suddenly encountered an accident without any warning."

"And it happened to be blocking the Suez Canal. For a time, cargo ships traveling between the Middle East and Europe had to queue up in long queues, and the blockage lasted for six days."

"During this period, the market panic and oil price fluctuations took several months to fully dissipate..."

The video first played the real footage of the incident, and then used global shipping maps to further explain the importance of maritime choke points such as Suez, Panama, and Malacca.

"Maritime chokepoints like the Suez Canal are as important to the smooth functioning of the global economy as the aorta is to the human body."

"After all, although we humans live on land, 90% of our cargo transportation depends on the sea."

"Especially in modern society, almost no country can be independent of maritime trade. Even a young man in inland Africa who has never left his village may be wearing clothes imported from a major Eastern country."

"It can be said that the saying 'whoever controls the ocean controls the world' made a hundred years ago is still true today..."

If you control the ocean, you can control the whole world?

This sentence immediately left a deep impression on Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others.

As his understanding of later technology deepened, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that with such advanced technology in the future, especially the large-scale construction of railways, high-speed railways and other land transportation tools, as well as large airplanes, the dependence on ocean transportation would be greatly reduced.

Now it seems that this idea is probably wrong.

Considering the vastness of the ocean and the enormous size of ships built in later times, shipping by sea will likely be more economical than land or air transport for quite some time.

In this case, controlling the world's maritime transportation routes will undoubtedly become even more important.

Then, the video showed a global map again, mentioning eight important sea routes in the world.

"If you look at the global map, you'll see eight maritime choke points that dominate shipping, including the Suez Canal."

"In addition, there are the Panama Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Cape of Good Hope, the Bosphorus, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Strait of Malacca."

"Which one is the most important for our country? Without a doubt, it is the Strait of Malacca."

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang quickly stood up and paused the video himself.

Then he shouted to Li Gui, "Go get a global map!"

"Yes."

Li Gui responded and quickly asked two young eunuchs to bring in a screen with a global map hanging on it.

Zhu Yuanzhang added, "Biao'er, take the tablet and mark the eight key sea choke points mentioned above. If possible, the Ming Dynasty will control all eight of these places!"

Zhu Biao also realized the importance of these eight maritime choke points. He immediately came over and picked up his tablet computer to make a comparison and mark the islands on the global map.

Zhu Yuanzhang then said to Liu Kuan, "These eight names are too difficult to remember. Were they all given by the Western Barbarians?"

Liu Kuan said: "In later history, it was the Western Barbarians who initiated the great voyages of exploration and made many great geographical discoveries. These place names were naturally given by the Western Barbarians, and some were even named after Western Barbarians."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, "Now that our Great Ming has begun its great voyages, these many places will be discovered by our Great Ming navy, and they will all become names we are familiar with."

Liu Kuan was delighted to hear this and flattered him generously, "Your Majesty is wise."

Zhu Yuanzhang added, "The name Cape of Good Hope is fine. We all understand it at first glance, so there's no need to change it. We'll change the names of the other seven places later."

At this time, Zhu Biao took the tablet back and put it away, then played the video and continued.

"The Strait of Malacca is the main channel from East Asia to the Indian Ocean coast, Europe, and the Middle East energy production areas. Most of the oil imported by China and Japan passes through here..."

Next, the video talks about the advantages of Malacca compared to other nearby sea routes such as the Sunda Strait and the Lombok Strait.

"The Strait of Malacca has inherent advantages. Not only is the journey shorter, but it is also very close to the equator and is basically in the equatorial doldrums, with calm seas and favorable conditions for navigation."

“The Strait of Malacca also has its shortcomings, such as its shallowest point being only 25 meters, which can prevent some supertankers and supercontainer ships from passing through.”

"But the Sunda Strait next door is even worse, with the shallowest point being only 20 meters. There's also an active supervolcano, Krakatoa, in the middle of the strait, which poses a certain risk."

"The Lombok Strait, which is farther away than the Sunda Strait, is actually deeper, with the deepest point reaching 250 meters, but it's too far away..."

Next, the video talks about how the Sunda Strait prospered in history due to Dutch colonial rule.

Later, the British became the maritime hegemon and set their sights on the Strait of Malacca, so Malacca gradually replaced the position of the Sunda Strait.

Singapore, which was regarded by the British as the gateway to the Far East, also rose as a result and replaced Batavia, a major maritime trading city built by the Dutch in Southeast Asia.

"If you look at a map, Singapore is a tiny place that requires a magnifying glass to find. It is much smaller than neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia."

"But the difference in per capita GDP between them is outrageous. Malaysia's total GDP is even lower than Singapore..." Through the video, Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao and others got to know Singapore, a tiny country in later generations.

It is learned that it relies on the Strait of Malacca to build ports and develop finance, culture, technology and other aspects, and it occupies a pivotal position in the world.

Seeing this, people with simpler ideas, such as Zhu Chong, could not help but wonder: How many troops could such a small country have? Why didn't the surrounding big countries, or the later Xin Dynasty, conquer it?

But then, the explanation in the video let Zhu Chong and others know the reason.

"Besides the advantages shaped by navigation conditions, 'Malacca Strait hegemony' is also based on a specific international political and economic situation. After all, it is human political and economic power that actually controls the world's shipping routes."

"Take the Suez Canal as an example. If it becomes a war zone and is blocked, fleets from all countries will be forced to go around the Cape of Good Hope."

"On the other hand, precisely because bypassing the Cape of Good Hope is not in the interests of all countries, especially Europe, the Suez Canal cannot become a war zone. Even if there is a war, navigation cannot be hindered..."

After talking about the special international status and security of vital routes such as the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca due to their special locations, the video begins to talk about how the new dynasties in later generations responded to this situation.

For example, railways and high-speed railways can be built to connect by land with the Indian Ocean ports of the Southeast Asian Peninsula (mainly Thailand and Myanmar) and the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan) to avoid the Strait of Malacca.

Another example is taking the Arctic Ocean route, expanding the land route westward through the Western Regions, and increasing land freight volume.

However, the above-mentioned solutions either have various problems that need to be solved or are too expensive, so it is more economical to go through Malacca.

Therefore, later dynasties addressed this issue from a broader perspective, such as developing new energy sources...
Soon the video came to the end and the summary explanation began.

"In short, maritime hegemony is ultimately based on national strength. Singapore, located in a region surrounded by wars, has been able to maintain its prosperity by balancing the influence of various forces."

“Malacca’s maritime advantages are obvious. Instead of trying to completely replace it, we should work on expanding our political and cultural influence.”

"If all Southeast Asian countries recognize and need our country, why should we worry about the Malacca Strait being cut off?"

Seeing the video end, Lao Zhu couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"This video first says that the later Xin Dynasty tried various methods to reduce its dependence on the Malacca Strait; then it concludes by saying that it would be better to expand its own political and cultural influence."

"In my opinion, it all comes down to the country not being strong enough. With rivals like the Bald Eagle and the Western Barbarians, the Xin Dynasty cannot occupy Malacca."

"If we can firmly occupy Malacca, this vital sea route, why would we have so many troubles?"

Zhu Biao also said with emotion, "The Malacca Strait is indeed important. Now that we have started the great voyage, we must occupy this place."

"We must even try to occupy it permanently, so that even if the Ming Dynasty declines in the future, this place will not be invaded by other countries."

"Biao'er, I'm very pleased you can say this." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction. "So, when we divided the overseas vassal areas, we deliberately left the areas around Nanyang out, so that they could become the direct jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty."

"As for the Malacca Strait, it is still under the rule of Srivijaya, while Srivijaya is gradually weakening under the oppression of Majapahit. It can even be said that the country is on the verge of extinction."

"So, we don't have to rush. We can first operate in the Luzon Islands and even Southeast Asia for a few years."

"After Srivijaya is destroyed, we will legitimately defeat Majapahit and seize the Strait of Malacca!"

Although Zhu Biao felt that this practice was contrary to the Confucian doctrine of benevolence and righteousness, and even inconsistent with the kingly way, as he learned more about the disputes between countries in later generations, he had already deeply realized the cruelty of the struggles between countries.

If he softens his heart for a moment and preserves his reputation for benevolence and righteousness, it is likely to bring a lot of troubles and even suffering to future generations.

Therefore, sometimes emperors really have to be thick-skinned and cruel.

He then nodded and said, "I understand."

Zhu Yuanzhang talked with Zhu Biao, Zhu Tan, Zhu Xiongying and others about the things in other videos, and then signaled Liu Kuan to play the second video.

When Liu Kuan played the video and put the tablet away, Zhu Yuanzhang was attracted by the title of the video.

"Mongolia's Environmental Collapse Report: Squeezing It Dry from Top to Bottom!"

The old lady is still the same [Earth Knowledge Bureau]

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw this title, the first question that came to his mind was: How could the country established by the Mongols in later generations still exist?

He then asked, "Liu Kuan, what's going on with the Mongol Empire? Could it be that the Northern Yuan Dynasty never perished, and continued to flourish into later generations?"

Liu Kuan was about to play the video when he heard Old Zhu's question and stopped. "Your Majesty, that's not the case. You forgot what I said before: the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed in the 20th year of the Hongwu reign."

"Could it be that the Mongols later restored their country?"

Liu Kuan shook his head and said, "In modern times, as firearms became increasingly powerful, and later machine guns, the absolute nemesis of cavalry, appeared, the grassland nomadic tribes' advantage in warfare against agricultural countries was almost gone."

"The nomadic tribes on the grasslands have also changed from being good at fighting to being good at singing and dancing. Under such circumstances, how can they have the strength to restore their country?"

"So what's going on with this Meng country?"

In fact, if this matter was told, Old Zhu would probably be unhappy, but Old Zhu kept asking, so Liu Kuan had no choice but to tell him.

　First update.

　　[Tip] If you see a section that doesn't make sense or seems to be missing some content, it may have been censored. Such chapters are almost impossible to modify, so please understand.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)