Bringing the Railway to Daming

"Perhaps—if you're interested in Madam Shexiang's affairs, wait until we finish listening to the song and have lunch, and then ask Liu Kuan to find out."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile, then touched the screen to continue playing the video.

The video begins with a series of beautiful and majestic landscape scenes - mountains shrouded in clouds and mist, forests in clusters, and gurgling streams.

Although neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Empress Ma had ever been to Guizhou, they could guess that most of these were the scenery of Guizhou in later generations.

Sure enough, the scene changed again. Young men and women wearing traditional southwestern ethnic costumes appeared in various celebratory occasions, singing and dancing.

"On the riverside, cliffs face each other, and the Weining grass and buckwheat flowers are in full bloom. Who hung the moon in the sky, illuminating the words I want to say, flowing into the sea..."

After more than four minutes, the song ended and Zhu Yuanzhang paused the video to reminisce with Empress Ma.

Empress Ma was the first to comment, saying, "Although this song mentions Lady Shexiang in a few lines, expressing her praise, the majority of the content describes the mountains, rivers, and cultural landscapes of Guizhou."

"After listening to it, I felt like the people of Guizhou were enthusiastically inviting outsiders to come and enjoy the mountains and rivers, get close to the local ethnic minorities, and sing and dance together."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Sister, you're right. This song does sound like it has this meaning. I've heard Liu Kuan mention that many places in later generations developed their economies and considered tourism an important industry."

"Some places don't have any special products or industries, but they do have beautiful scenery, beautiful waters, and great culture. We promote them and encourage people from other parts of the country and even abroad to visit them."

"When these people arrive, in addition to spending money on food and lodging, they also buy various local specialties. Some places even charge admission fees. This boosts the local economy – just like how the annual visit to the cross-river bridge has quickly led to the formation of a large market town on the other side of the river."

"If nothing unexpected happens, this song might have been composed by someone in Guizhou in later generations to develop tourism."

Empress Ma had little exposure to government affairs, so this was the first time she'd heard of tourism boosting the economy. She nodded in understanding, "So that's how it is."

After chatting for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to play the third song.

When the name of the song appeared on the screen, they were surprised again. It was called "Grandma".

Zhu Yuanzhang had been emperor for so many years and was quite knowledgeable.

As far as he knew, "A-ma" means "aunt" in some local dialects in southern Zhejiang, while in some dialects in southern Fujian and Lingnan, it refers to grandmother or grandmother-in-law.

So this should be a song praising the elders?

As a result, when the prelude of the video came out, Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised again - it turned out to be a series of pictures of soldiers going to war or after battles, some from the cold weapon era and some from modern times.

Interspersed among them are scenes of old people seeing off young people, releasing carrier pigeons, elders hugging their juniors, and people welcoming the ashes of their children and grandchildren.

Then a strange singing voice appeared, which was catchy and addictive.

"When I was a child, I often heard people say that the one with bound feet was the grandma trapped in the mountains. She and grandpa were arranged to be together, she couldn't read or write, and they had never even met before they got married..."

This song video is shorter than the previous one, only a little over three minutes, and it was quite addictive, so Prince Zhu and Empress Ma finished listening to it in just a moment.

The two looked at each other and realized that they understood what the song was about.

Most of them are set in the context of war. Women raised their children with great difficulty, and then sent them to the battlefield to defend their country, only to face their children's ashes in the end... It is a story of countless families who made such sacrifices and finally established a new dynasty in later generations.

Think about it, wasn’t the Ming Dynasty established in the same way?
How many men died on the battlefields during the Ming army's campaigns? How many parents lost their sons, and how many grandparents lost their grandchildren?
After a sigh, Zhu Yuanzhang said nothing, and didn't even pause the video, letting it continue to play the next song.

But he couldn't help but feel a little resentful in his heart: Why did Liu Kuan have to choose this kind of video that makes people sigh or even feel sad when listening to or watching it during the New Year?
As a result, the next song was even more depressing because it was called "Under the Sea".

It seems to be a story about a child who died after being bullied. It sounds much sadder and more depressing than "Grandma." Fortunately, by the fifth song, it finally stops being such a depressing and sad song and turns into a song about love called "Light Years Away."

The singing style of this song was also novel to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma. Although they had heard many love-themed songs in later generations, this song still brought them a different auditory enjoyment.

However, although the tone of this song is not sad or depressing, it is not cheerful either.

Liu Kuan seemed to have intentionally arranged the order of the songs played. By the time of the last song, "Fairy Tale Town", the atmosphere finally became relaxed and cheerful, which also made Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma happy.

After listening to all six songs, Zhu Yuanzhang played it again, but this time he ate while listening to the songs.

The lunch ended about an hour later.

Empress Ma asked the palace maids to clean up the dishes, tables and chairs, while Zhu Yuanzhang waved to Liu Kuan, indicating that he should go to the imperial steps.

Liu Kuan came to the imperial throne, bowed and asked, "What are your instructions, Your Majesty?"

"Since one of the songs you chose is called 'Madam Shexiang', you should know that there was a Madam Shexiang in the Ming Dynasty, right?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Of course I know. In fact, this song originally commemorates the historical Lady Shexiang from Guizhou during the early Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "As far as we know, although this Lady Shexiang took over the post of Shuixi Xuanwei Envoy with her young son after her husband Ai Cui passed away two years ago, this kind of thing is quite common among the minority groups."

"Even in our Han customs, when the lord dies and the young ruler is still young, it's not uncommon for the wife to temporarily assume power on behalf of the son. Why do later generations sing the praises of Lady Shexiang? Could it be that she did something remarkable in the original history?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, throughout history, whether among ethnic minorities, the Han Chinese, or even abroad, there have indeed been many women who have temporarily taken over power for their husbands or sons. There have even been some women who have served as monarchs, but only a handful have been able to perform well. Therefore, those few who did well have been able to be passed down through the ages and praised by future generations."

"Lady Shexiang is such a legendary woman. Historically, she also temporarily took over her husband's position after Ai Cui's death. However, the Guizhou Commander-in-Chief at the time, due to ethnic and gender prejudices, viewed her as a 'Guifang barbarian woman', looked down on her and made things difficult for her."

"At that time, Guizhou was far away from the Ming court, and the post roads were not well built, let alone the telegraph communication we have today."

"Guizhou was hit by a severe drought at the time. The commander-in-chief not only refused to provide assistance to the ethnic minorities, but he also imposed taxes, abused them, and even caused massacres."

"Later, in order to force the Shuixi Yi people to pay taxes, he even captured Lady Shexiang and brought her to Guiyang. He ordered warriors to expose her body and whip her in public, hoping to anger the Yi people and provoke war, so that he could gain military merit."

"Madam Shexiang endured humiliation and dissuaded the forty-eight tribe leaders who had gathered for this incident, exposing the Nadu Commander's sinister intentions and thus avoiding a war in Guizhou."

"Later, she used her connections to appeal to the capital, revealing the true identity of the commander-in-chief to His Majesty. She also reached several agreements with His Majesty that were passed down through the ages and are considered to have laid the foundation for the civilizing of Guizhou by the Central Plains."

"The Yi people of Rushuixi have never rebelled against the imperial court, and are willing to cooperate with the court in clearing mountains, building dangerous roads, and so on."

"Your Majesty, mindful of her profound understanding of justice, not only rewarded her with gold, silver, silk, and other valuables, but also bestowed upon her the title of 'Lady Shunde' and summoned the then-commander-in-chief of Guizhou back to the capital to be punished."

"This is a great story of the Central Plains court governing the minority groups in the southwest, and it will be famous for ages."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "How can such a thing be immortalized? It's only been six or seven hundred years since our time here. How can we be immortalized?"

Although he said this, the smile on his face showed that Zhu Yuanzhang was quite satisfied with his handling of this matter in history.

Liu Kuan also smiled and said, "Although my words are exaggerated, my meaning is correct."

"You kid." Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Liu Kuan and asked, "Who was the commander-in-chief of Guizhou? Don't you remember, or don't want to say?" (End of this chapter)