Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 327 Luo Huangdusi, Timur is so bold that he wants to interfere in our family affairs? [Please subscribe]

The prairie in the early Ming Dynasty was no longer the prairie of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

If you look at a map of the Ming Dynasty, you will find two words written in the middle of the prairie - Hanhai.

The vast ocean is not a sea, but a desert.

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, the various grassland areas were later called Mobei, Monan, Eastern Grassland, and Western Grassland.

The area south of the desert, the eastern grasslands, the vast sea and part of the western grasslands became Inner Mongolia in later generations.

As for the present-day southern desert grassland, it was not very large when the Ming Dynasty was strong. Its western part was probably around the Juyan Lake, and its eastern part could be counted as the area south of the Buyuer Lake and north of the Huang River.

When the Ming Dynasty established a province in the prairie, it naturally had to consider how to avoid provincial separatism, especially since the prairie was currently a barbarian land with customs very different from those in the Central Plains.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang divided the prairie into three parts after discussing with his important ministers.

The western grassland accounts for one part, the northern and eastern grasslands account for one part, and the southern grasslands account for another part. The southern grasslands are also divided among Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning.

By the way, part of the eastern grassland was also divided by the Jilin Regional Administration.

On the fifth day after the edict to establish the Mobei Province was issued, Liu Kuan was summoned to Fengxian Hall by Zhu Yuanzhang.

After entering the hall, Liu Kuan first noticed the huge map spread directly on the floor of the main hall.

Although the map was facing him upside down, he could still see a few large characters written vertically on one side - Great Ming Hai Nei Kun Yu Tu (July of the 20th year of Hongwu).

After Liu Kuan saluted, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Liu Kuan, what do you think of this new map we asked someone to make?"

Liu Kuan now had a deep memory of the map of the Ming Dynasty, so after taking a quick glance, he noticed that the main change in this map compared to the previous one was in the north.

The Mobei Province, Jinshan Regional Administration, and Jilin Regional Administration on the map almost included Mongolia and the Central and East Siberia regions in later generations!

Therefore, the map looks quite inconsistent.

Liu Kuan's eyes twitched slightly as he watched, and he thought to himself: Old Zhu, it seems like you are expanding your territory on the map.

Apart from anything else, the Ming army in the area north of the Northern Sea (Lake Baikal) of the Great Prairie may not have run very far.

Liu Kuan would not speak his mind, but instead bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the vastness of the Ming Dynasty now exceeds that of the Han and Tang dynasties."

Liu Kuan was not flattering, he was telling the truth - although the Ming Dynasty had not yet conquered the Western Regions, after owning the prairie and adding overseas territories, its territory was already much larger than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and stepped down from the imperial throne. He walked to the map and said, "The area north of the North Sea is simply too vast. Although I have ordered it to be incorporated into the Mobei Province, I do not intend to establish actual rule over this vast area immediately."

"But I remember you said that this large area has many mineral deposits, which will be of great use to a country entering the industrial age, so we, the Ming Dynasty, definitely cannot give up."

"Do you have any ideas about the governance of this place?"

"Why not establish another Dusi?" Liu Kuan thought for a moment, then explained, "As far as I know, although this vast area is truly bitterly cold, and will become increasingly colder, especially during the upcoming Little Ice Age, there are still a few nomadic tribes living there."

"In fact, even within the Arctic Circle, there were still small groups of people who were later called 'Eskimos'."

"Therefore, I believe we can establish garrisons in places with relatively good environmental conditions and important water sources, emulating the Beiyang Military Commission, and exercise lenient rule over the local nomadic tribes."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and then asked, "Then what do you think this Dusi should be named?"

Liu Kuan bowed again, "Of course, it's all up to your majesty to decide."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "You are being modest now. Can't you give me a suggestion?"

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "Later generations called this place Siberia. It is said that after the Russians arrived, they transliterated the name the locals gave to this land. At that time, the locals claimed to be descendants of the Xianbei."

Xibo and Xianbei do have some similarities in pronunciation, and in fact, the Chinese word "Xianbei" is also a transliteration - its original meaning is probably "a quiet place".

After a pause, Liu Kuan continued, "However, China has actually had a name for this land since ancient times, called 'Luo Wilderness'."

After listening to Liu Kuan's speech, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Although the Xianbei people have been assimilated into the Han and other Hu peoples, using their name would be tantamount to reminding the Hu people that they once had a common ancestor, which would be detrimental to their assimilation."

"It's better to use the name that has been used in China since ancient times. Hmm, let's call it Luohuangdusi."

Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words about deciding this matter, Liu Kuan couldn't help but think in his heart: At this point, the Ming Dynasty has seventeen provinces and nine military governorates.

"Li Gui, bring the map of Central Asia over here."

"Yes."

Zhu Yuanzhang called out, and Li Gui brought two eunuchs and carried a screen with a map hanging on it.

Liu Kuan was slightly surprised when he saw this map of Central Asia, because this map shows the current division of countries and spheres of influence in Central Asia.

His phone and computer only had maps from later times, not maps from the present. The fact that the Ming Dynasty was able to produce this map suggests that Zhu Yuanzhang was very likely to have deployed the Guangming Guards to Central Asia and had already obtained a lot of important intelligence from Central Asia.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately stood in front of the map and talked about the situation in the Western Regions and Central Asia.

"You know that the Eastern Chagatai Khanate currently occupies the Western Regions. To its northwest, adjacent to the Jinshan Dusi of our Ming Dynasty, lies the Golden Horde."

"To the west of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate was originally the Western Chagatai Khanate. However, about twenty years ago, a Mongol nobleman named Timur rebelled with other nobles."

"Around the third year of the Hongwu reign, Timur completely seized control of the Western Chagatai Khanate. He initially called himself the 'Grand Emir,' but after moving the capital a few years ago, he changed his title to 'Sultan' to conform to Persian doctrine. It's essentially the same as calling himself emperor here."

"There's no such thing as a country name over there, and Timur didn't inherit the title of Great Khan of the Chagatai Khanate, so we might as well call his country the Timurid Empire."

"In addition to the three major countries just introduced, there are also many nomadic tribes and small countries in the Western Regions and Central Asia."

"However, according to the intelligence sent back by the Bright Guards, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate is already on the decline, while the Timurid Empire and the Golden Horde are rising."

"In reality, Timur's rise to power was only a few years later than ours. And after conquering the Western Chagatai Khanate, Timur did not slack off or enjoy himself, but remained determined to forge ahead."

"Over the past decade or so, he destroyed Khwarazm to the west and attacked the Eastern Chagatai Khanate several times to the east, winning more than he lost."

"Although the two countries are still at war, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate is already showing signs of defeat. Fortunately, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate has gained some benefits from trading with our Ming merchants over the past few years, otherwise I'm afraid the defeat would be even more devastating."

"As for the Golden Horde, it was originally founded by the lineage of Temujin's eldest son, Jochi. It split internally a few decades ago and has been in constant war."

"But about ten years ago, Timur supported the current Great Khan of the Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh, helping him end the civil war and rebuild the Golden Horde. Today, its power is quite strong."

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the dragon throne and asked with a smile: "With the situation in the Western Regions and Central Asia like this, what do you think the Ming Dynasty should do?"

Liu Kuan paused for a moment and said, "Your Majesty's strategic vision and planning have been hailed as first-rate by later generations, comparable to that of Emperor Taizong of Tang. Therefore, I will not embarrass you."

"However, after listening to Your Majesty's introduction to the Timurid Empire, I did remember some things related to that person."

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang was very interested. "Tell me about it."

Liu Kuan said: "In later history, Timur lived as long as Your Majesty, and therefore lived until the beginning of the Yongle period."

"The Timurid Empire he founded would grow increasingly powerful over the next 10 to 20 years, expanding westwards to Western Asia and challenging the Ottoman Empire; southwards to India, and northwards, it may have also fought against the Golden Horde."

"When the Timurid Empire was at its peak, he learned of Prince Jingnan's ascension to the throne. Under the pretext of revenge for Emperor Jianwen and upholding the Ming Dynasty's orthodoxy, he marched eastward, intending to invade the Ming Dynasty."

"However, while leading his army eastward, Timur fell ill and died, and the matter was left unresolved."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked strange at this time.

He never expected that while listening to Liu Kuan talk about the deeds of Timur in later generations, he would actually eat the melon from his own garden again - although he had eaten this melon many times, this time he was eating it from a different angle, and the feeling was different.

After coming to his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the table and angrily said, "Bold Timur, how arrogant! Even if the Jingnan Rebellion broke out in our Ming Dynasty, it was a family affair. How could he have the right to interfere?"

After saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang calmed down and said, "According to what you said, the Timurid Empire is quite threatening..."

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be thinking about a "plot" to deal with the Timurid Empire, Liu Kuan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "Okay, you can leave now."

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Nearly a month has passed in a flash, and it is the third day of August again.

That morning, Liu Kuan got up at six o'clock as usual, washed and had breakfast. Then he took his mobile phone and packed his laptop in his backpack, went out to meet Zhu Biao and a group of guards, and headed to the cross-river bridge.

Unfortunately, he and Zhu Biao waited on the bridge for almost a whole morning, but the strange fog never came.

Before leaving the bridge, Zhu Biao couldn't help but wonder, "Since my brother-in-law traveled here, the strange fog has appeared three times, each time with a year's interval. Why didn't it come this year?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Highness, I have always felt that there is no pattern to the appearance of that strange fog. This kind of thing is extremely rare, so how can we expect it to have any pattern?"

Hearing this, Zhu Biao sighed and said, "My brother-in-law is right. I was greedy."

Liu Kuan went straight back to his house to have lunch. After a short rest for half an hour, he went to Tiangongyuan to work as usual.

After Liu Kuan handled official business for a while, Qiu Qichi brought Shen Lin over.

He said with a cheerful expression, "Director, the third phase of the thermal power station project has been completed and has passed safety inspection. Both I and Director Shen agree that we can choose an auspicious day to begin generating electricity."

　First update.

　　Correct the typo later

　　
　
(End of this chapter)