The Tang Dynasty started from saving Empress Changsun

Chapter 125 The Temptation of America

Shaping cultural identity?

Li Shimin did not express any views, this suggestion is a bit contrary to the education he has always received.

The people can make it known but not know it.

While ridiculing the people for their stupidity, they set up many obstacles to prevent the people from receiving education.

The policy of obscuring the people is in the interest of the ruling class.

What the ruling class is most afraid of is change, because change means risk, and they will even make many anti-intellectual decisions for the sake of immediate stability.

This situation exists all over the world.

In ancient Rome, a man made an invention that could greatly increase the power of the country.He was very happy to find the emperor and offered his technology.

At that time, the Roman emperor gave him five hundred gold coins to buy out the technology, then destroyed it, and warned the person not to pass on the technology.

Because new technologies will bring about changes, and changes will cause instability in the country, so we should not change at all.

The ruling class also likes to find experience in history and regard it as a standard, euphemistically called imitating the sages.

For example, when Li Shimin resettled the surrendered Eastern Turks, so many ministers believed that Sinicization should be implemented. Why did he finally choose a conservative approach?
Because this is a mature method used by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, this method alleviated the border troubles of the great Han to a certain extent, and won stability for the great Han for hundreds of years.

Sinicization of the Turkic people seems to be a good idea, but there is no precedent in history. Who can guarantee that a good result will be obtained?

So even though he knew that Sinicization might be a better way, he still chose Wen Yanbo's conservative approach in the end.The whole tribe respects its customs and habits.

It is undeniable that Li Shimin is an aggressive monarch, but he is still limited by the times, and he is used to being conservative and seeking stability in many policies.

At the same time, people are just tools in his mind. This is undeniable. Is it necessary for tools to understand so much?

The suggestion to shape a sense of civilized identity looks delicious, but no one knows what consequences it will bring, and it is normal for him not to express his opinion.

In his previous life, Chen Jingke often discussed history with people on the Internet, and he had a good understanding of the mentality and thoughts of those ruling classes, so he could guess Li Shimin's thoughts and concerns.

But he knew how to break the situation—to make them feel threatened.

People like Li Shimin will never be caught without a fight, even in the face of desperation, they will give it a go.As long as you let him know that no change is a dead end, he will let go of all worries and change.

What Chen Jingke has to do is to make him feel threatened and at the same time give him enough motivation.

The civilization war is the threat, and the vast unexplored world is the driving force.

It is impossible for Li Shimin to believe everything he said. He will definitely send people to investigate afterwards, and will take corresponding countermeasures when the investigation results come out.

So he wasn't in a hurry if he didn't get a reply, the seeds had already been planted, just waiting for them to take root and germinate.

He also decided to water and fertilize the 'seed' to make it grow faster.

Looking around, I found a gall-shaped white porcelain bottle with a diameter of about [-] centimeters in the study.

He went straight over and took the porcelain vase, picked up a pen and drew a map of the world and said, "The land we live in is not round, but oval. This is the whole map of the world."

Li Shimin's breathing became short again. Even though he knew the world was wider, he couldn't restrain his excitement when he saw it with his own eyes:
"Zhang Heng said 'the sky is like a chicken, the celestial body is round like a bullet, and the earth is like a yellow chicken'. I always thought it was a lie, but I didn't expect it to be true."

Chen Jingke said in admiration: "Zhang Heng is indeed a great scholar, and he can come up with such a close-to-truth answer with the naked eye and experience."

"But the sun is the 'chicken yellow', the earth under our feet is a ball revolving around the sun."

Li Shimin didn't care much about Zhang Heng, the geocentric theory, or the heliocentric theory. His attention was all on this white porcelain vase.

At this time, this ordinary bottle has become a priceless treasure in his eyes.

"Tell me quickly, where are these places and what are their characteristics..."

Before he knew it, he used the title 'Zhen' again.

Chen Jingke knew his mood, so he pointed to the porcelain vase and introduced: "The north of Goguryeo is the sphere of influence of Shiwei and Mohe people, and it is even more bitter and cold here."

"Continuing to the northeast corner, there is a strait through which you can reach another piece of land... During the Zhou Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty, some survivors of the Shang Dynasty went to this land through this strait..."

"For today's Tang Dynasty, there are three most important food crops here. One is potatoes, the second is sweet potatoes, and the third is corn. The yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes can reach more than five shi per mu, and even ten shi with careful care."

Even Li Shimin, who was a little numb after hearing too much shocking news, still couldn't help but exclaim.

"Jing Ke is serious?"

"Really." Chen Jingke said affirmatively.

In fact, what he thought in his heart was, of course, it was false.

It is hard to say that potatoes have not been cultivated with improved seeds, but the original yield of sweet potatoes is very high, and the yield per mu can easily exceed [-] kilograms.Just considering the fertility of the land, he tried to keep the output as low as possible.

But even five shi per mu is still an unimaginable high yield for Li Shimin. You must know that Chu Tang's yield of two shi per mu is considered high yield, and he dare not even think about ten shi.

"I'll send someone to look for good seeds right away." Li Shimin said in a hurry.

Chen Jingke is naturally very happy to see this situation. He gave Li Shimin new sea ships and navigation skills before, but until now there has been no major movement in the court.

There are many reasons, but in the final analysis, they still do not pay attention to the ocean, or the benefits that the ocean brings to them are not great enough.

This time I will tell you about the Americas and the fine breeds, and see if you are in a hurry.

However, considering the actual situation, he still dissuaded: "Sage, don't worry, now is not the time."

"It is thousands of miles away from Chang'an to this strait, and there are many dangers. The survivors of the Shang Dynasty did not reach the opposite land until the casualties. Your Majesty sent people rashly, and I am afraid that many unnecessary sacrifices will be caused."

Li Shimin's heart moved, and he asked: "Since your family knows that there are good breeds, why don't you take them?"

Chen Jingke pretended to be sad and said: "How could we not take it? According to the genealogy records, our family sacrificed hundreds of children and thousands of servants to roughly understand the situation in this continent."

"It's just that on the way back, the fleet was damaged in a big storm, and the ship loaded with good seeds also sank. Only a few ships came back."

"It is precisely because of the failure of this operation that our family's vitality has been severely damaged and we are no longer able to organize such a large-scale high-sea voyage... All that is left is the records about that continent and this rough map."

(End of this chapter)