What is the future of Daming?

After returning to Zhongdu from Nanjing, Zhu Mingzhong still had this question on his mind, but he did not discuss this issue with anyone.

Although he returned to Zhongdu, he did not take back the power of the crown prince, and did not even summon several cabinet ministers, to which the cabinet ministers seemed to have become accustomed to.

For the outside world, since the 25th year of Xingqian, the crown prince has exercised more and more power to supervise the country, and to some extent, perhaps the emperor is there to make arrangements for the future. Instead of feeling different, people felt that it was more beneficial to the country, after all, the crown prince would not rush to the throne.

After experiencing the hasty succession of Emperor Xiaolie (Chongzhen), a series of problems were caused. The officials can better understand why His Majesty did this, in order to hone the crown prince.

Of course, for Zhu Mingzhong, this is a "lazy" behavior.

In the past, the lazy days were always the most comfortable time for Zhu Mingzhong, he would go to play chess with the queen and Concubine Zhao, talk, and like the emperors of previous dynasties, he would summon young and beautiful talents to serve and sleep, in short, as an emperor, he also enjoyed everything that the emperor should enjoy.

However, after returning from Nanjing, his whole body stopped.

Instead of dealing with state affairs, he didn't even have any interest in selecting those young and beautiful talents, but sometimes fished by the lake, staying for a day, but he didn't catch a single fish, because his heart was not here.

In fact, after returning to Zhongdu from Nanjing, Zhu Mingzhong spent every day in cranky thoughts, he would not only think of reality, but also think of what happened before the time travel, I don't know if it is because people are old, and they will always miss their family and friends in another time and space more and more.

The noise in his ears woke Zhu Mingzhong up.

"It's ......"

Sitting up straight with a bang, Zhu Mingzhong saw that he seemed to be sitting in the carriage, and the carriage swayed with a crisp bell from time to time.

This is that?

Covering his head in a bit of a daze.

Zhu Mingzhong looked around suspiciously, this should be a tram that only appeared in old movies, why is he here? The clothes worn by the people around me are a little strange, saying that the suit does not look like a suit, and saying that the tunic does not look like a tunic either.

Looking at the unfamiliar environment, Zhu Mingzhong's mind was completely a mess.

Am I not in the palace?

This is that?

"Am I dreaming?"

In doubt, Zhu Mingzhong closed his eyes and took a deep breath to make himself more awake. At this moment, someone suddenly slapped him violently.

"Ouch!"

The pain in his shoulder made Zhu Mingzhong cry out.

Pain?

Isn't it a dream?

But what is this place?

"What are you still stunned about, don't get off the train quickly, I'm at the station, I'm going to be late for the interview."

The voice was very familiar, and when he raised his head to look at the person who spoke, Zhu Mingzhong shouted in surprise.

"Fengzi!"

It's Zhang Feng, his good friend, why is he here?

Looking at his friend who he hadn't seen for decades, he looked very young, twenty-two or three years old at most. Wearing clothes with a waistline and lapels similar to a suit, it looks a bit like a suit with multiple pockets, but it's different.

"Why are you here?"

"Hurry up, hurry up, you go to Huaihai Company, I'll go to Tiancheng Company, we'll see you here later!"

After getting out of the car, looking at Zhang Feng who was in a hurry, Zhu Mingzhong couldn't understand his anxious appearance at all.

"What are you doing in a daze? It's not easy to find a job now. ”

"Fengzi, talk to me for a while......"

Without waiting for Zhu Mingzhong to speak, he left in a hurry and ran towards a nearby tall building.

Zhu Mingzhong, who had almost come to his senses, was on the street, looking at the buildings on both sides of the street, the buildings were not very tall, and they were all about ten floors high. Walking up the street was only hurried along the sidewalks on both sides of the street, perhaps rushing to work.

In the distance, a tram was passing by, standing on the side of the road with great interest to watch all this, the women were wearing colorful long dresses, looking very similar to many improved versions of Hanfu in later generations, at least very similar, and of course some exposed.

Looking at this unfamiliar street scene with interest, Zhu Mingzhong suddenly had an illusion that he seemed to be in an old movie, but it seemed to be different from the old movie.

"Selling newspapers, selling newspapers, clashes broke out again on the border between Qin and Gui, and Gui issued a statement refusing the mediation of the imperial parliament......"

Suddenly, the newsboy's shouting made Zhu Mingzhong's heart sink, and when he wanted to call the newsboy to come to a newspaper, he saw the newsboy running to the other side.

With his hands behind his back, standing there looking at the street, Zhu Mingzhong had countless questions in his mind.

Of course, the biggest question is what year it is.

Why do you see an old friend, but if it were him, it should be the 21st century, but this ...... Looking at his surroundings, the low-rise buildings, the web-like power lines, the trams, the quaint telephone booths on the streets, all seemed to remind him that this could not be the 21st century.

Even the air, the air is dirty. Occasionally, when driving past a few cars, the choking smell of gasoline and the thick exhaust fumes coming out of the exhaust pipe make people suspect that it is not a car, but a tractor, of course, the sound is a little quieter.

In any case, Zhu Mingzhong does not believe that this is the 21st century.

But why is he here?

When he wanted to look at the building where his friend had entered, suddenly, Edwin felt a feeling of dizziness, and he saw himself in the glass window—his younger self, almost forty years younger.

How is this possible? I'm young again!

"Hello, sir."

Suddenly, the English sound behind him made Zhu Mingzhong tremble, and he didn't know why he realized that this was an extremely rare language.

English is rare?

Standing behind him were two people, two foreigners. A pair of young men and women, the women are very standard-looking, with big waves, extraordinarily charming, and the men are very average, and they are all dressed elegantly.

Stabilized his emotions and smiled. These are a pair of tourists, Shi Yiwen guessed, but how can they not speak Chinese? If their identity is so sophisticated from dressing.

"Hello ......"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Zhu Mingzhong found that he had not forgotten English for so many years, and it seemed that he had learned quite solidly.

"You can speak English!"

They smiled kindly at him, apparently surprised by the fact that he could speak English.

"You're the first person I met in the Celestial Empire who could speak English."

The man suddenly changed his words to Chinese.

"I'm sorry, I made a bet with my sister that we wouldn't meet someone who could speak English in the Celestial Empire, and she said that there must be someone who could speak English, and even though I lost, I was still very happy, at least, I met someone from the Celestial Empire who could speak English."

Belch...... Is this also something to celebrate?

For some reason, Zhu Mingzhong suddenly wanted to celebrate, at least one thing is certain, it seems that China is as strong as it is now, and the strength of the language proves everything.

The two Englishmen in front of him seemed very cordial, not only because of their closeness, but also because of their affection for him who spoke English. Obviously, it is extremely rare for these young people to meet someone who can speak English here, and this is why they are excited.

Yes, you should be thrilled indeed.

Actually, I'm also very excited.

Zhu Mingzhong thought so in his heart.

The eyes of the young woman with big waves in front of her were very bright, and her figure seemed to be very hot, and for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong even wanted to turn over her cards tonight.

But now it seems that he is no longer the emperor.

It seems that my life is not very good right now.

"May I ask you a question?"

Zhu Mingzhong asked softly.

"Sir, is there any problem?"

"It's that year, I mean, uh, according to your time......"

"Our era? I think it's the first few years of the 21st century, and I'm sorry, but few people say that now, even in Europe, after all, the whole world is using the ...... of the Celestial Empire."

What the!

How is that possible?

How can this be the 21st century?

Looking at the classical classic cars passing by on the road, looking at the choking exhaust fumes emitted from the exhaust pipes, and the trams passing by, Zhu Mingzhong suddenly realized that this did not seem to be the era he was familiar with.

Even, together with the city in front of him, there is no longer what Zhu Mingzhong remembers, he wants to find the shadow that he is familiar with, but those beautiful and even magnificent buildings, he has definitely not seen them in his life, there are many buildings in the city that look at least hundreds of years old, everything is unfamiliar, not familiar to him.

He walked to the river, trying to find the familiar bridge by the river, and to his disappointment, the bridge connecting the north and the south disappeared as if it had never existed.

The river breeze is blowing.

Standing on the wharf by the river, Zhu Mingzhong looked at the river ship in the river, the steam engine of the river ship spewed smoke, although it burned the best anthracite, but the smoke was still very thick, he turned around and looked at the brightly lit city behind him, there were countless thoughts rolling there in Zhu Mingzhong's mind,

What the hell is going on?

How so?

When the river wind hit, he felt a little cold, and he couldn't help but shrink his body, and couldn't help but want to wrap the clothes on his body tightly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty......"

A faint voice in his ears seemed to come from the sky and reached Zhu Mingzhong's ears, and when he looked at the voice, his vision was hazy, and it took a while to see it clearly. It was a palace maid in a gorgeous palace dress, and she was looking at herself with concern.

"Huh? This is that? ”

"Your Majesty, you fell asleep while fishing."

Looking to the left and right, there is no longer the city of dreams, and there are no steamships passing by in the river.

The things that belong to the 21st century are gone, and the beautiful lake in the palace is still in front of you.

Although Zhu Mingzhong didn't want to admit it, he did have a dream just now.

After discovering that it was just a dream, Zhu Mingzhong unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, a trace of panic rose in his heart.

That night, perhaps in order to relieve his inner irritability, Zhu Mingzhong specially recruited talented people in the palace, but after a dark indulgence, instead of letting the inner emotions get rid of the slightest, everything he experienced in his dream kept appearing in his mind.

In the middle of the night, in front of the mirror, Zhu Mingzhong looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes couldn't be removed for a long time, and now from the mirror, he clearly saw the panic in his heart, what did this panic come from? It was from that dream.

"How so?"

After that strange dream, Zhu Mingzhong couldn't let go of all this no matter what, he couldn't figure it out, he clearly remembered what he experienced in the dream, although the dream was very short, but the scenes in the dream, he didn't dare to forget it at all, or rather, he couldn't forget it at all.

In that dream, everything he knew was replaced, not replaced, but changed.

What kind of change is it?

That change was not a pleaser, although the appearance of that pair of young men and women seemed to tell Zhu Mingzhong that at that time, Europe was still under the shadow of the Celestial Empire, but what else?

Classic cars that run like tractors, streetcars that jingle like trees, steamboats in the middle of the river...... All of this clearly shows that the technology of that era was at least a hundred years behind!

What was it that caused the technology of that era to lag behind by so many years?

With his eyes closed, Zhu Mingzhong kept recalling everything he had experienced in his dream, even though he knew that it was just a dream, and it was just a dream caused by thinking about it during the day and dreaming at night. But he still remembers as much as he can.

In the constant recollection, everything in the dream slowly appeared in his mind, but it was so vague, like a distant dream. What he wants to know most urgently now is what is really going on, what is causing the technological backwardness.

Of course, in the dream, he did not get an accurate answer, and even the abrupt British brother and sister, when they told him the time, were vague and incomprehensible.

But this did not prevent Zhu Mingzhong from thinking about everything he saw in his dreams.

"Is it because there is no competition?"

Slowly, Zhu Mingzhong seems to have found the answer, is this what he has been worried about?

Without fierce internal competition - war, even the impetus for technological progress began to slowly fade, although the industrial revolution was promoted by him by a hundred years, but on the other hand, because there was no competition, it directly led to the slow progress of technology.

Even so slow that it was beyond his imagination, not a hundred years behind, but two hundred years behind!

Could this be God's warning to me?

It is not clear whether it was a warning to him, but one thing is for sure, the backward future he saw in his dream did frighten him.

Is it a warning or a dream? For a while, he couldn't help but feel a little melancholy.