At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 466, Around the World Tour

Ye Teng's question really stumped Xu Fan. He thought the affairs of Tianzhu were very big and comprehensive, and even concerned the development of the Han Dynasty for the next hundred years. It was so complicated that it was difficult to make sense of it.

But for Ye Teng, the affairs of the Tianzhu Trading Company were not worth mentioning at all. The Han Dynasty was not a feudal dynasty in the traditional sense, but an empire in a period of great expansion.

The mainstream propaganda of the Han Dynasty was not about maintaining stability, but about spreading civilization and educating the barbarians, which was the manifest destiny of the Han Dynasty. The expansion of the Han Dynasty to various vassal states was recognized and supported by the imperial court.

The elite class of the Han Dynasty also took pride in expansion. Especially under the promotion of Xu Fan, a large number of people who discovered new lands became nobles and achieved a leap in class and family. The atmosphere of the entire society, from top to bottom, was that good men should make contributions and convert barbarians into Chinese.

Hu Hai's behavior was naturally not considered extraordinary, and he would even be supported and admired by the entire Han Dynasty. Others could get the title of baron by occupying a deserted island, and if Hu Hai and his men could really capture the city of Tianzhu, in the eyes of the Han people, their behavior would be heroic.

In Ye Teng's opinion, this was not a big deal. He could just appoint a few viscounts and barons to India and send a veteran marquis to suppress India.

The events in Tianzhu are not even as important as the drought in Guanzhong. If the drought continues this year, the production in Guanzhong will be reduced by at least 30%. Fighting drought is the most important thing for the Han Dynasty now.

Cao Shen said: "If Your Majesty is really worried about the people of Tianzhu Trading Company, then let the Shaofu invest in Tianzhu Trading Company and hold 10% of the shares to monitor their behavior and prevent them from doing anything wrong in Tianzhu and Nanyang."

Then he said, "The discovery of Tianzhu is a good thing. The Nanyang market has been saturated in recent years, and the profits of major shipyards in the Han Dynasty have also declined. Merchants are also unwilling to buy new ships. Although the total volume of maritime trade is increasing, the profits are declining. Now there is a new market, and merchants need larger and more ships, which can drive the development of our Han Dynasty's shipbuilding, textile, and machinery industries."

The shipbuilding industry can be said to be one of the pillar industries of the Han Dynasty. Shipbuilding requires dozens of raw materials such as wood, cloth, hemp rope, paint, nails, etc., which drives dozens of upstream and downstream industries and affects millions of craftsmen. If a crisis breaks out in this industry, the scope of impact will be even greater than that of the textile industry.

"Let Da Tiechui invest in Tianzhu Trading Company." Xu Fan thought about it and decided that investing in Tianzhu Trading Company to monitor their behavior would be a good idea.

However, Cao Shen's words also aroused Xu Fan's vigilance. The Han Dynasty's Age of Exploration had only been in existence for a dozen years, but it had already shown a trend of becoming conservative and gradually dying out. Those sea merchants had even lost the desire to purchase new ships, which was somewhat similar to later generations.

Yongle made seven voyages to the West, but this became the last glory of the Ming Dynasty. From then on, they retreated thousands of miles and finally closed their country to the outside world.

Of course, we all know later that the so-called policy of closing the country to the outside world was just a policy created by the gentry and officials of the Ming Dynasty in order to monopolize the interests of maritime trade.

But this is also related to the fact that they did not need to go thousands of miles away to buy goods like Westerners. The handicraft industry in the Ming Dynasty was too developed in the feudal era. Silk, porcelain, and tea were the jewels in the crown of the handicraft industry at that time. These three treasures were unique in the world only in the Ming Dynasty.

The Spaniards massacred the Inca Empire, burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of atrocities. They plundered the gold and silver of an entire continent, and in the end they had to hand it all over to the gentry of the Ming Dynasty. Who would be willing to take the risk of becoming a maritime merchant when they can make money at home?

If we look at history, we will know that Westerners came to the Ming Dynasty across thousands of mountains and rivers to do trade, while the gentry of the Ming Dynasty just lay at the doorstep to collect money. There were people like Wang Zhi, Zheng Zhilong and others who were a bit adventurous, but at most they only ran the Japan route and the Luzon route. For more than 200 years, they were still trading at their doorstep. The gap between them and the Westerners was more than a little bit.

Born in adversity, die in comfort, our ancestors' words still make sense. The adventurous spirit of the Ming Dynasty was buried by this superior geographical environment.

We cannot allow the Han Dynasty's maritime merchants to continue to be decadent and hide in their comfort zone without making any effort to make progress. We must let them know that the end of the ocean is far more than the few small islands at their doorsteps, and that the world's wealth is more than just spices. This world is so big that their voyage has only taken the first step.

After thinking for a while, Xu Fan summoned Wu Sheng and said, "Select 100 of the best officers from the two fleets in the north and south to come to Chang'an City to report on their duties."

Wu Sheng asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to expand the northern and southern fleets?"

Xu Fan shook his head and said, "I was just trying to verify an idea. At the same time, it's time for me, the Han, to look at the world."

"An idea?" Ye Teng and the others were very curious about what idea the emperor had.

Xu Fan said: "Our ancestors said that our world is round and the earth is flat. I told everyone in the world that the earth is spherical, but no one knows the truth, and no one has ever verified it."

Wu Sheng said firmly, "Of course, your majesty is telling the truth. Our ancestors were wrong. Soldiers at sea have verified that they saw the sails first and then the hull through their telescopes. In addition, the polar day and polar night phenomenon on the Mobei Icefield can only be explained by the fact that the earth is a sphere."

Ye Teng also said: "I also think that your majesty's deduction is correct. Many things that happen in daily life can only be explained if the earth is spherical."

Xu Fan was not only the emperor, but also a master of literature. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, he compiled a book on natural geography, which contained some common sense knowledge. In astronomy, Xu Fan talked about the heliocentric theory and the planetary theory, and then there was all kinds of knowledge about monsoon currents, optics, mechanics, and astronomy. It was very messy and unsystematic. Basically, he would add some content as he recalled it. Later, as the content became more and more, it became the Encyclopedia of the Han Dynasty.

It's not that there are no Han scholars who have opposed Xu Fan's theories. After all, many axioms are counterintuitive. For example, the earth is a sphere, which goes against human vision. The sky is round and the earth is square not because our ancestors said so, and everyone believes it, but because this principle conforms to everyone's common sense and habits.

The axioms that Xu Fan said violated common sense, but there was no convincing deduction process. How could people accept this? The more educated people were, the more they doubted these axioms that Xu Fan said and wanted to refute them. But Xu Fan was just a poor student in 9 years of compulsory education. He only knew the results of many things, but had no idea about the deduction process.

The most direct example is that he knows that the earth has gravity, but if you ask Xu Fan to derive the formula of universal gravitation like Newton, sorry, he doesn't even know how to start the first step. You ask him to write out the derivation formula, isn't that asking too much.

Although Xu Fan was a poor student, he was truly standing on the shoulders of giants, and the answers he gave were the correct answers. The more these Han Dynasty masters of knowledge verified Xu Fan's statements, the more they found that they made sense.

Just like the earth is spherical, scholars of the Han Dynasty refused to accept it at first, but later the phenomenon of polar day and polar night occurred in the north, and sails were seen on the sea. These phenomena can only be explained by the earth being spherical.

More importantly, Xu Fan got several astronomical telescopes, and these great masters of Han Dynasty could clearly see that the moon was a sphere, and they could also see the bumpy craters on the moon, which made many people break down.

There are many myths about the moon in this era, usually about beautiful female mythological characters, such as Wangshu and Chang'e, etc. However, the moon shown by the telescope is so desolate and ugly that it shattered the Taoism of many people.
Later, as the power of astronomical telescopes continued to increase, scholars of the Han Dynasty discovered that not only the moon is a sphere, but also Taibai Star and Mars. In fact, so many stars are spherical. Therefore, based on the existing evidence, the earth where they live is most likely also a spherical star.

Therefore, the heliocentric theory and the theory of the Earth began to be widely accepted by the people of the Han Dynasty. Ye Teng and his group were the supporters of the heliocentric theory and the theory of the Earth.

Cao Shen was a little puzzled and asked, "How does your majesty intend to prove it?"

Xu Fan said: "I plan to send two warships, one sailing from the north to the east. If the earth is spherical, they will definitely return from the west. At the same time, send a warship to sail to the west. After circling the earth, they will definitely return from the north."

Ye Teng was stunned and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is too costly and laborious."

Chinese civilization is not lacking in people with fantastic ideas, such as Zhuangzi, King Mu of Zhou, and even the protagonist of Qi Renyou Tian. But no one has ever sent out two ships to verify an idea. Ye Teng almost pointed at Xu Fan's nose and said that this was the behavior of a tyrant.

Especially people like Ye Teng, even if they accepted the theory that the earth is spherical, no one knew how big the earth was. If they drove a ship to an unknown place like this, the journey would definitely be a life-threatening one, which could even be said to be a disregard for human life.

Xu Fan said: "Although the cost of sailing around the world is huge, it is not a waste of money and manpower, and the Han Dynasty has reached a time when it has to do this."

Now our Great Han has expanded to the ice field in the north and to the South Pacific Islands in the south. In the east there is a vast ocean that blocks the expansion of our Great Han. In the west, we have also expanded to the Western Regions. The farthest vassal state of our Great Han is more than ten thousand miles away from the city of Chang'an. The expansion of our Great Han has come to a standstill.

Cao Shen said: "Your Majesty, this is not stagnation, but the Han Dynasty is laying a solid foundation. The land area of ​​our Han Dynasty has expanded more than 10 times compared to the Qin Dynasty, but the population of our Han Dynasty is only twice that of the Qin Dynasty. Such a vast territory is enough for our Han people to reproduce and thrive for hundreds of years. Now the people of the Han Dynasty are cultivating in Liaodong, in the desert, in Nanzhong, and in Qianzhong. They have not stopped, but are transforming these barbarian lands into places suitable for the people of the Han Dynasty to live."

This is also the idea of ​​many officials of the Han Dynasty. The territory of the Han Dynasty is unprecedentedly vast, and in this vast country, most of the land is sparsely populated and has not been cultivated. According to the current rate of reclamation of the Han Dynasty, it is enough for future generations to cultivate for hundreds of years. Some people believe that the Han Dynasty should now change its strategy and develop the lands in front of it with peace of mind.

But Xu Fan obviously couldn't accept it. He said: "Even though the territory of the Han Dynasty is so vast, the Han Dynasty still needs to understand this world. I say that the situation that the Han Dynasty is facing now is something that we have never encountered in Chinese civilization. The experience of our ancestors can hardly guide us. Now the Han Dynasty is facing an unknown place. We have to make our own mistakes. The more we try, the more mistakes we make, and the more mistakes and paths we point out to our descendants, the easier it will be for them to find the right path."

"The destiny of our Han Dynasty is to spread civilization to the whole world, but how can we fulfill this destiny if we don't understand this world? These two fleets are the two pairs of eyes of our Han Dynasty. They are responsible for helping our Han Dynasty explore new worlds and find new paths. Only in this way can our Han Dynasty not stand still."

"Just like the discovery of India this time, it has brought tens of millions of dollars to our Han Dynasty. There is more than just India in this world. There must be a continent on the other side of the ocean with a civilization different from our Han Dynasty. Only when our Han Dynasty actively discovers them and communicates with them can our Han Dynasty's industry continue to expand."

The scene fell silent, and Ye Teng and the others were thinking about Xu Fan's words. There was one point they all agreed on, that was that the Han was facing a completely new world.

Ye Teng has been the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty for nearly ten years. Naturally, he understands how many things in the Han Dynasty have never appeared before. Steam engines, steel mills, and rail networks are all new things in the Han Dynasty. Changing with each passing day is not an adjective, but something that is actually happening in the Han Dynasty.

Ye Teng went to Jiuyuan County for inspection again three years ago, and he almost didn't recognize Jiuyuan County. In less than 10 years, the population of Jiuyuan County has increased fivefold, the city area has expanded threefold, there are textile factories everywhere, and the fields outside the city are also reclaimed. Its prosperity and wealth are not inferior to the inland counties of the Han Dynasty. Such changes happen every day in the Han Dynasty.

During the nine years that Ye Teng served as prime minister, there were too many government affairs that the experience of their ancestors could not help them with.

Just like the current infrastructure construction in the Han Dynasty, its scale has far exceeded that of the Qin Dynasty. The rural areas and cities of the Han Dynasty are full of farmers carrying out infrastructure construction, and the county towns are also full of expansion works. The entire Han Dynasty has become a huge construction site. If this happened during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it would have been a waste of money and labor.

But it is something that must be done in the Han Dynasty. Only when the rails and highways are built can the products of the Han Dynasty workshops be circulated throughout the world, and ordinary farmers can get money to feed their families.

If these projects were stopped, the income of millions of farmers in the Han Dynasty would decrease. Instead of disturbing the people, these projects became a measure to increase their income and enrich the people. These infrastructure projects could also promote local development and prosperity. It can be said to be a win-win situation. The people of the Han Dynasty were also happy to build infrastructure in their hometowns, which was completely different from the tyrannical Qin Dynasty.

In addition, the Han Dynasty's increasingly prosperous maritime trade and fishing industry have now become one of the pillars of its fiscal revenue. Ocean-related fiscal revenue accounts for a quarter of the Han Dynasty's income. Our ancestors have never encountered such a thing.

(End of this chapter)